Happy New Year Everyone!

We will be having a quiet night here. We have never been big celebrators on New Year's Eve.
Although we live just 25 miles from NYC, we will not be going to Times Square!

Times Square is one of those thing you have to do once in your life, preferably when you are young and more oblivious to the cold!
Keith and I still remember the year we went there. We were 18, just dating a few months, all those decades ago! I wish we had taken pictures.
Now, I prefer to stay home by the fire and watch a good old movie!

On the stitching front, I have made some progress with Freelove Hazard.

Here she is so far:

 She is coming along well, and hopefully I will have my first finish of 2013 before long.

2012 was a good year for finishes, 14 in all.

They were:
1. And They Sinned
2. The Tulip Patch
3. Easter Parade
4. L'Automne
5. The Sarah Whitely Sampler
6. The Most Wasted Day
7. Deep Peace
8. Prairie Schooler Pumpkin ornament
9. Fecelanno (Sears) Sampler
10. Prairie Schooler Cornucopia ornament
11. Prairie Schooler Hen ornament
12. Seek Joy in All Things
13. Early Candle Pocket
14. Count Your Blessings

Here they are (not in order).

2012 Finishes

Don't forget to leave a comment if you would like an opportunity to stitch the Traveling Pattern (see last post). I will pick the winner on January 6th.

However you celebrate, I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

I'll be back next year!

It's Time for The Traveling Pattern to move on!

Yes! She's finished!
I worked hard on this to make it my final finish of 2012.

For those of you who don't know, The Traveling Pattern was started by Sharon ( It's Daffycat ), back in Feb of 2011.
The design is Count Your Blessings, from Shakespeare's Peddler.

Here are the rules as posted on Sharon's original post:

1. Comment on this post, saying you would like to be part of the Stitcherhood.

2. By leaving this comment, you agree (if you are chosen) to stitch the design and send it along to the next person in a timely manner. If this means dropping everything in your rotation to concentrate on this project...so be it. If you can't bring yourself to do this ~ don't sign up.

3. You must have an active blog to participate. If you have a blog but never post to it ~ you won't be chosen to be the next stitcher.

4. This is a giveaway-type Traveling Pattern. That means you must follow it from blogger to blogger to enter each time it is ready to send along. Commenting on this post doesn't make you a guaranteed part of the Stitcherhood.

Here is mine.

Count Your Blessings - Shakespeare's Peddler

I changed the colors in mine to make it look more like my own gray cedar-shingled house.

It is stitched on palest green 40 ct linen, using Sampler Threads.

So there you have it. If you would like a chance to stitch this well-traveled pattern, leave a comment on this post, and I will pick the winner on January 6th 2013.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It is Christmas eve, but not all has been peaceful here.

Over the last two days, we have lost a chicken on each day to a hawk. First we found Lulu, the little red hen, then yesterday it was Dotty, the little Silver Spangled Hamburg. We ran out but it was too late!

Today, I watched them very carefully, and everything seemed ok. No signs of hawks. I went us to the attic to get some ribbon, and I heard the screams. I ran down to find the chickens scurrying everywhere. One by one, they came out of hiding and returned to the coop. That is, all of them except Bev, a very friendly Black Australorp. We looked everywhere for her. By now it was dark. Keith got a flash light and we continued searching. We finally gave up and came inside. It is bitterly cold here tonight. We were getting ready to eat when I asked Keith if he wouldn't look one more time.

Out behind the tool shed is an old wood chipper with a tarp thrown over it. He shined the light under it, and saw her red crop. He thought the worst, but pulled her out. Next thing he knew, her eyes opened! He brought her inside to check her out. She seemed ok, but very stunned, and very cold. She had a very close call! After a few minutes he re-united her with her chicken buddies in the coop.

It sure made my Christmas!

I just wish we could have saved Lulu and Dotty, but atleast we saved Bev. I do not think she would have made it through the night there. The raccoons would have gotten her for sure. I hope she is just dazed and will be ok. Tomorrow will tell.

I know! People eat these little creatures, but when you raise them from 1 day old, handle them, hand feed them, and name them, you become very attached. I have gotten very used to them running up on my deck to beg for food. They will not like it, but we will not be letting them out for a while, not until this hawk moves on.
Tomorrow they will stay in their pen.

The light you see behind the wreath is from a light bulb.

So, not the most peaceful of Christmas eves, but a Christmas miracle of sorts !

Hope all of you have a very Happy, and Peaceful Holiday!

2012 Tree cutting

I have been very behind in my Christmas planning this year, and I am feeling very rushed! In the immortal words of Archie Bunker, "The holidays have us by the throats again!"
I have a few people on my list who are just impossible to shop for!
I am running behind on the decorating too.

Keith and I made our traditional trip to cut down the tree. This year we went up to Germantown, NY to find it. I think we got a good one!

Here's the video of Keith cutting it down.

TIMBER!

We haven't put it up yet. That will be this weekend.

The Traveling Pattern, TUSAL and some progress on Freelove Hazard!

I am pleased to announce that I will be the next to stitch the Traveling Pattern!
McKenna announced that I had won on her blog, Chic Crafting.
I am already planning the colors!

The New Moon is here once again! Time for the Totally Useless Stitch- A- Long!

Here is my TUSAL jar. It is filled with every color in the rainbow this year!

I had planned a large Christmas project, however since I still haven't received the fabric, I have spent the time stitching Freelove Hazard. I have completed everything inside the inner border, and made a small start on the outer border. The bird was a fun stitch, but the flowers were giving me fits! I wound up doing some frogging. Serves me right for doing all that one-over-one stitching when my eyes were tired!
This is how she looks so far:

I love the bright, bold colors!

Early Candle Pocket

This is the time of the year when all these little stitching projects need to be finished up!

Early Candle Pocket from Needleart Designs - Brenda Gervais

This was a quick stitch on 28 count flax, using DMC floss. The stitching is all one over one.

I backed it with an Indigo reproduction fabric.

If I did it over again, I think I would make it a little bigger, but I do hope to use it as an actual candle pocket in my dining room. I need to find some smaller candles to fit in it.

It feels so good to finish up these stray little projects! Hopefully I can fit in a few more before the end of the year.

Some Progress on Freelove Hazard

I have been spending much of my time finishing up some small items and holiday stitching. I hadn't planned to start Freelove until after the Holidays, but I just couldn't resist anymore!

She is being stitched on 25 count unbleached linen, using silks.The majority of the sampler is stitched one over one, with the exception of the large capital letters, and the border. I was concerned about the floss coverage. One over one looks just fine, but I was afraid that the one over two looked a bit sparse. The instructions were quite clear however, that if silk was used, only one strand should be used. I guess it is a matter of getting used to the look.

Here is what I have so far:

The Rose Is Red

But It Will Fade In

Time The Vilot Sweet

But Quickly Pass The

Prime Such And So

Withering Are Our

Earthly Joys Which

Time And Sickness

Speedly Destroys

Not the cheeriest of sentiments for sure, but it was typical for the time.

Seek Joy in All Things (with Chainsaw Stuffing)!

I am slowly finishing up some of the smaller projects I started.

One of them is Seek Joy in All Things, from Stacy Nash Primitives.

I absolutely loved stitching this!

It is stitched on 28ct Flax linen, using DMC.

I backed it with a rustic plaid.

For the stuffing, I wanted a primitive type, natural stuffing. I had thought of walnut shells, but I was inspired by my own back yard!

We had a huge 200 year-old Silver Maple come down during Sandy. It was quite a job to cut it up into somewhat manageable pieces. This was what was left after the sawing:

Lots of curly-que wood shavings! 

I thought it would be a great way to memorialize the tree!

It worked out pretty well. It is a nice scrunchy, lumpy stuffing, just perfect for a prim pillow.
This is how it looks finished:

I think it fits in well with the natural Holiday decorations.

It seemed a good way to truly "seek Joy in all things". Just my little way of taking something back after the storm!

HA! TAKE THAT SANDY!