What's old is new again.

Hey, Friends!

I’m not sure if this is the first time it has happened to me, but I’m noticing it a lot now.  I’m stitching Mary Gibson, who has been UFO for a couple of years.  My last memory of her was that the border was attracting lots of frogs.  Knock on wood; it seems to be flowing along effortlessly.  I say Yayyy!  Maybe she will stay a WIP until she’s finished after all.  Mary has nine charted pages, and here she is as of today; seven pages done.  She’s bigger than I expected on 40ct – about 14x16. 

Many of us have talked about working on our WIPs this year.  I’m curious: when does a WIP (work in progress) turn into a UFO (unfinished object) in your opinion?  And what are the reasons yours become UFOs?  I usually get distracted by something else – holiday stitching or something new that has my love!

Some are posting lots of great and wonderful 2013 finishes.  My mind asks why I don’t have any finishes… part of my plan for 2013 is to enjoy stitching without pressure or obligation – kind of like the Blogging without Obligation. 

I do intend to get some of those stitched items finished along with others on Stitched: Now to Finish.  Here’s my first of the year – Joy by Blackbird Designs.

 I am the very lucky winner of a mini-fabric sampling giveaway by Kathy Schmitz.  Aren’t the colors great?  Just my style!  You can see a little video of Kathy’s creative process on her site.  Thanks for sharing, Kathy! 

Thanks for stopping by, today and always.  I appreciate your thoughts and comments!

May 2013 be filled with Happy Stitching!

Peace♥Love♥Joy

Charlene♥SC

Au Natural

Hey, Friends!

Oh boy, oh joy --  I’ve been a lucky winner once again!  I won a great giveaway over at Bobbi’s Mostly Stitching blog.  It was a giveaway dedicated to Widgets & Wool Primitives generations of stitching, and I just love the thought and the designs! 

Giveaway from Bobbi

Widgets & Wool Primitives

I first opened the box, and there is a wonderful piece of BBD Blueberry Crumbcake fabric wrapped around more goodies.  I pulled the ribbon, and out fell the four W&WP designs: Springtime Happy Dance (rabbits and tulips), The Love in Your Heart, Black Hat Society (yes!), and Better Not Pout J.  What a wonderful selection!  And then more BBD in the form of a dollie pyn pillow from Prairie Horizon Stitchworks!  Finally, a sweet little sampler magnet that looks quite familiar with its yellow house, flag, and kitty.  It says, This 

Dollie Pyn Pillow & Magnet

needlework of mine can tell, when I was yours I learned well. … 2004.  Is it Moira Blackburn?  Bobbi, thank you so much for your generosity!  I love every piece!

When I sat down with my Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch, I realized that the PSS Rotted but not Forgotted chart was missing.  Not to fear, Just Cross Stitch has a corrections page, and it’s linked there.

I was reading over at Lee Lake Stitcher’s blog that she decided to forgo the hair color and become au natural.  A couple of years ago, I was sick of my hair – way over processed and so far from my natural color I could hardly remember what it should look like.  I saw some girls with what looked like single strands of iridescent tinsel in their hair and thought it was so striking.  Then I thought , if my hair wasn’t colored, I imagine I’d have my own tinsel… wonder how gray it really is?  Then an article about gray hair being chic , owning who you are, redefining beauty at any age.  For a variety of what others say, have a look here.  Now, I know there are some of you who will say – I will always dye my hair - and I say – more power to you!  But from my experience … without the color treatment I no longer have brown splotched door trims, base boards, and towels in my bathroom?  Actually, I had given that up to spend countless hours in the shop with my hairdresser, not to mention the amount of stash money I was spending there.  And so, to date there is not a drop of any residual color in my hair.  There are gray streaks along the front, and quite a few iridescent tinsel strands through the rest – but here’s what I thought would be revealed (or this) – and actually it is like this. It is pulled and straightened here, but it's never as curly as that last image.

Speaking of hair – Pixie went to the groomer last Saturday.  Sometimes our hair looks more alike than others!  They must have gotten a little soap in her eyes – see how pink they are?

Before

After

Thanks for stopping by, today and always.  I appreciate your words of encouragement and all your comments!

I'm grateful for less than 100˚

PeaceëLoveëJoy
and Happy Stitching
Charlene♥SC

Happy Easter

Hey, Friends!

Remember a few weeks ago I was so excited about being a “winner winner, Chicken Dinner?”  Well, now you can see why I was so excited.  Brenda from With thy Needle& Thread was waiting until the new May Wordplay was released, and then she would send it to me!  Woo Hoo! How lucky am I? The great selection of fibers is even more beautiful in person, and the May Wordplay is just as great as all the others.  Thank you so much, Brenda! 

Several of you were anxious to see what I was going to stitch on the fabric I stained with black walnuts last week.  I decided on The Primitive Needle 1632 Angel.  I wondered if it would ‘fade’ into the stain too much.  I did only use black, buttonhole silk from an old lot I had bought when doing embroidery on Crazy Quilts.  It’s a bit heavier weight, and shows up a little more. How do you think it’s going to look? 

Since it’s Easter weekend, our little family will be gathering for a non-typical meal at some point.  Mom asked if I was going to dye eggs, and I told her I doubt it.  Somehow the brightly colored eggs just didn’t seem like what I wanted to do.  Then over at Posie Gets Cozy (Doesn’t she have gorgeous photos?) I saw her Flowered Eggs.  I knew I had to give the onion-skin dyed eggs a try.  I had mentioned to someone the other day that I had dyed linen in an onion-skin bath before.  It's pretty hard to believe that white eggs turn to this luscious shade of almost brown egg color.  Mine didn’t turn out as great as hers, maybe because I decided to use cheesecloth, but they are just fine for us.  I hope y'all have a wonderful Easter celebration -- eggs or not!

Thanks for stopping by, today and always.  Your kind words are always appreciated!

I'm grateful for a taste of real spring!

PeaceëLoveëJoy
and Happy Stitching
Charlene♥SC

January Wins and Finds

Hey, Friends!

The new year has commenced, and it has been much the same.  I’ve been stitching away, but want to wait to show you the progress when it’s closer to completion. Hopefully that won’t be too long since we have a long weekend!    

I'm going to leave this packaged until ready to work on it, so sorry for the glare.  Remember that I was the winner of a prize from Nancy at Victorian Motto?  She has others going on if you haven’t entered! There was a box on my steps when I got home yesterday and I couldn’t figure out what it was… then I saw the return address!  Oh, boy – but why such a big box?  So that the perforated paper wouldn’t get creased – but I hadn’t realized it was this size - about 18 inches long. I chose Forget me Not, and it is wonderful!  There’s also some gold for backing the piece if you wish, and all that wonderful thread! Nancy, all your things are so lovely, and you are so generous! Again, thank you VERY much!

On my way to the chiropractor yesterday I saw a sign at a consignment shop that nearly everything was 50% off… who can resist that?  The shop is in an old house, so in the nursery I found a box of knitting needles.  No, I really don’t knit that much, but when I want to start something, I’m usually using the set of needles that would be just right for the project.  Yes there are KIPs here, too!  In the kitchen I found this set of made in the US – oven proof – heavy brown mugs.  Won’t they be perfect to keep that cuppa steamy while blogging or stitching?

There are just some mornings when we don't want to get out of bed, aren't there?

I’m grateful for Martin Luther King, Jr., and that my workplace observes his holiday.

Thank y’all for each and every comment you send along! 

PeaceëLoveëJoy
and Happy Stitching
Charlene♥SC