Out with the old, in with the hoard ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Our family certainly did.  The whole family was able to spend Christmas day together eating wonderful food and opening all of the sweet presents.  The kids really had a great time.  I personally received a Lalaloopsy (Goldie Luxe) and a new Crock-Pot, plus some wonderful cookbooks that were on my wish list.  On the stitching front, I have been working on a few holiday themed pieced to keep me in the spirit.  I finished Lizzie Kate Joy to the World this week.  Isn't it just lovely?  The colors are so perfect.  I also stitched the bonus pin keep box piece last night while hanging out with my friends, celebrating my little sister's birthday.

We had a great time.  Lisha is a wonderful hostess!  

The other project I have been working on is the Country Cottage Needelworks Santa's Village series.  As you can see, the first one is complete.  I love the colors on the blustery blue fabric I selected.  This one is going to be so cute.  I only have the first four patterns, but I will get the rest eventually.

So, this year I had hoped to stitch a whole bunch of pieces that I have kitted.  Last year, on the 26th, I made a list of all the patterns that I had everything needed to stitch.  That list included 70 pieces (I know, my hoard is too large).  Well, I stitched about 28 of them, including this Lizzie Kate Autumn Alphabet that I am currently working on.  I was not as productive this year, with the move and building the house and all.  But, that's OK.  This just means that the 2014 list is ready and waiting.  While organizing my new craft room I did something that now that I think about it was a bad idea.  I made a list of all of my stitching patterns.  I organized all of my linens by stitch count.  I combined my and my mother's DMC collection in a wonderful drawer system that Theresa gave me.  It looked so nice.  But it also made me realize I may have a problem.  I am truly a cross stitch hoarder.  I have over 200 patterns just waiting for me to stitch.  I have plenty of fabric and thread to work on these.  So, as part of my "Counting my Blessings" new year, I have decided to not purchase any new cross stitch supplies for the next year.  There is one caveat though, my resolution is suspended with a cost limit when I go to the Silver Needle retreat this summer.

I will work from the same list as I started last year.  For the first few months I think I will just go down the list, working on the projects in sequence.  I may jump around to work on small projects when I feel overwhelmed, but for the most part I will follow the list.  First up are two beautiful pieces that I have been looking at and wanting to stitch, but made myself wait until I finished some WIPs.  Well, on January 1st I am going to start these two lovely pieces.  First is a reproduction sampler from Shakespeare's Peddler Ann Womack.  I love the samplers Theresa chooses.  She has a very creative spirit and a wonderful sense of taste.  This is one she released in 2012.  Love all the red.  The second piece is from Jeannette Douglas.  It is a small one, but I love it.  Once I finish the stitching I resolve to also complete the finishing so it will be useful and not just another piece stuffed in my chest of stitching.

Have a safe and happy New Year!  Those of you in the South, or with a Southern flair, don't forget to eat your black-eyed peas and greens on Wednesday.  (Our family also includes a carrot dish called Copper Pennies, just for added luck).

Hello...Is anyone still listening?

So, how is everyone?  It has been way too long since my last post, but I have a good excuse.  We have been extremely busy.  About this time last year, we decided to build our dream home on our family farm land.  After looking at lots of plans, I came up with just what I wanted and had a local architect draw the plans.  In March, we started.  Fortunately, we had the absolute best builder in the world working on our home.  He was so organized and selected the best teams for every step of the construction.  Our other home sold in May, so we moved in with my parents.  During this same time, my older son graduated from high school.  He is now a freshman in college and doing so well. (Proud of you, Patrick!)  My mother also had major heart surgery and was in the hospital for a full month.  Someone had to stay in the room with her at all times.  So my sisters, father, brothers, aunt, sons husband and I worked out a schedule and she was well taken care of.

This October, we moved into our dream home.  I can not express how happy I am with my new home.  It has everything I have ever wanted in a home.  My kitchen is ... well, perfect.  We had the family Thanksgiving meal here yesterday and just had a great time.  The view from every angle is amazing.  I love being on the land where I spent my childhood.

The stitching is finally getting back to normal.  I didn't cross stitch a lot over the past six months, but I did crochet.  This past September, I enter several items in our State Fair and received 8 blue ribbons and 1 red ribbon (canning).  This has gotten my stitching drive going again, so I am working on several pieces right now.  One is a gift to my friend, Theresa.  As many of you know, she closed her shop, Shakespeare's Peddler, to become the manager at our local animal shelter.  She has worked so hard over the past 6 months.  She and I spent a lot of time together over the past few years, usually meeting for lunch at least once each week.  Since May, we haven't spent much time together.  With her crazy work schedule and everything going on in my life, we just haven't had much free time.  Well, she made the hard decision to quit (I think it was the best decision).  So, now we can get back to doing our thing, and that includes a lot of stitching.  

Now that my life has settled back into a normal routine, I will be much better at posting my progress on stitching.  It is so good to be back.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Where has the time gone...

I have been very bad at posting to this blog for far to long.  Things are a bit crazy, but in a good way.  We are building a new house.  It should be finished in 6  - 8 weeks, but we sold our old house back in May.  So, for the past 3 months, we have been living with my parents in a very small place.  On top of that, my older son graduated from high school and started college, my mother had major heart surgery, and my younger son started high school including marching in the high school band.  Believe it or not, I have made some progress on the stitching front.  I will get my self together and post some pictures soon.

So, we are in the third week of February already!  The days are flying by.  February is a busy birthday month for our family.  Two of my nephews (Tyler and Leif) turned 4 this month.  My son, Patrick, turned 18 (I am not taking that very well, by the way), and I got a year older.  So we have had birthday cake every weekend so far and will have another one this Sunday at our weekly family dinner on the farm.

I have also made some great progress in my stitching.  This weekend, I completed two of the three projects in my rotation.  First, I finished Plum Street Samplers Maxim and Zoya.  I have developed a thing for peacocks these past few years, and this pair was just too cute.  I will finish this as the top of a wooden box.  I need to pick up just the right shade of peacock blue, but can't wait to work on that one. Yesterday, I finished Chessie & Me's Scarlet's Summer House Sampler.  I absolutely loved stitching this one, even with the over-one alphabet.  It is so cute. I think I will finish this on a wooden plaque, similar to the suggestion in the pattern.

My new rotation includes a Jeannette Douglas piece.  I love her samplers and have completed two (Pomegranate and Pears and Pineapple).  Over the past few years I have collected several more, including the thread packs.  So today I will start the Vintage Stitches sampler.  I am really excited about that one because of all the beautiful purples and greens.  In addition, I am continuing to work on the Tournicoton piece, which is more time consuming than I had expected, and With Thy Needle and Threads' March Word Play.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Jen

It's February!!

Wow!  It's already the second month of 2013.  I love February.  First, my birthday is in February.  Also, my first son was born in February.  And, because we live so close to New Orleans, we have Mardi Gras holiday in February.  Plus, who can forget Valentine's Day!  So, it is just a great month!  Well, this February 1st, I finished Stacy Nash Primitive's Christmas at Hollyberry Farms.  Isn't it beautiful!! I am so happy with this finish and can't wait to have it framed.  This was a lot of work, but oh so worth it.

 Now, I am stitching on some smaller projects.  First up is Tournicoton Allons compter violettes.  I love violets.  One of my very first memories after moving to Mississippi in 1976 was picking wild violets on the hillside behind our home with my younger brother and mother.  I am happy to say that we will be building a new home on the same property this year.  I can't wait to walk around in my back yard and pick these same flowers again with my kids, nephews and niece.   Love that family tradition.

I am also working on Chessie and Me's Scarlet's Summer Sampler.  This is so cute.  I worked on it some yesterday and really like stitching this one.

And finally, I am working on Plum Street Samplers' Maxim & Zoya.  I started this last year and got distracted with other projects.  I love the birds, so I can't wait to finish this one.

Well, thanks for stopping by.  Things are always busy around the Regan house, but February is especially crazy.  We have lots of birthdays to celebrate plus my husband just informed me today that I am going with him on a short trip to New Orleans later in the month.  That should be fun.

Stitching Update...I have been busy

So I have been pretty busy the past few days.  Just before Christmas, I made a list of all of the projects that I could easily start without purchasing new fabrics or threads.  Those are the projects I will focus on this year.  Happily, I chose a few easy ones to start with.  I finished this Lizzie Kate Spring Alphabet last week.  What a happy project!  The colors are so bright.  I really enjoyed stitching this one.  A while ago, I stitched the Winter Alphabet in this series and I have the Summer and Autumn in my list to work on this year.  

After finishing the Lizzie Kate piece, I picked up With Thy Needle and Threads February Word Play.  I love this series.  I have finished January, May, October, and November.  This year I hope to finish all the others and display them during the appropriate month.  These are really easy and fast stitches, so this one should be ready in time.  You can see that I have finished most of the words, it just the fun motifs to stitch now.

And finally, I am proud to show my progress on Stacy Nash's Christmas at Hollyberry Farm.  The house is finished, and what an accomplishment.  It is so lovely!  The left border is complete, so you can visualize the finished piece.  I need to add the little fence and a few more motifs, and of course finish the border.  But, after stitching that house, the remaining seems so easy.

Well, I am waiting for a cake to bake and then it is off to the lab today to clean fish tanks.  My older son, Patrick, has travelled to Washington, D.C., with a school group and will be attending the inauguration ceremony today.  He is having such a great time and I am so happy that he had this opportunity.  Honestly, though, I am a bit teary thinking that little guy is practically grown.  He is graduating this year, and I still see a 7-year old when I look at him.

Enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by!

Jen

Downton Abbey!!

Hobbie and the boys gave me a new TV and DVD/Blue-ray player.  That was very nice, but the best part is the player also allows me to connect with Netflix and Amazon Prime.  So, this weekend I watched Seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey.  I am hooked.  I realize that the new season has started, but I don't have access to the channel.  Hopefully, the new episodes will be available through Amazon Prime soon.

So, here's my progress on the Stacy Nash Christmas at Hollyberry Farm.  Isn't is so pretty?  The border is very nice.  I am stitching this on 40ct. Light Exemplar.  I absolutely love this one.  There are 4 pages to the pattern and I have finished page 1 and almost page 2.  I just need to finish the top part of a tree on the right.  Page 3 is a challenging.  There is a huge white house on the bottom left, so that will take some time.  But, I am really enjoying this one.

And, I also spent one day stitching on the Lizzie Kate Spring Alphabet.  Sharon asked about the fabric. This is stitched on 32 ct. Wandering Ivy from Silkweaver.  This piece of fabric has been in my stash for some time and I wanted just the right project for it.  I think this one is perfect.  The colors are so pretty.

Well, this is the first day of the first "real" week of the new year for me.  I'm off to work later this morning to write a few letters of recommendation for graduating students and putting the final touches on the syllabi for my courses.  I think this semester will be a bit more relaxing for me.  I have 4 classes, but all revolve around anatomy and physiology, so at least there's consistency.  Plus, working on the textbook revisions will be along the same thread as well.  We don't have any major travel plans either; except for Patrick.  He is traveling with a few classmates to the Presidential Inauguration.  I am excited for all of them.  This will be a trip of a lifetime.

Have a great week and I hope you have plenty of stitching time.

Happy New Year!!

I guess this is the best time to update my blog.  Maybe this year I will keep up with my blogging.  2012 was a busy year for me, but I so enjoyed myself.  I was fortunate to share so many wonderful times with my family and friends.  Patrick, my older son, is a senior this school year, so he has been very busy, so I have been very busy as well.  

But, this is a stitching blog, so on with the stitching news:

On Christmas eve, I sat down with all of my stitching stash and made a list of the projects that at least had the fabric, and most likely the threads, to complete.  I want to focus on these types of projects this year, since I will have no excuses for working on them.  Well, I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but I have 67 of these projects.  So, no reason for whining about nothing to do this year, right?

                                    

Isn't this so incredibly beautiful.  Stacy Nash is such a creative designer, but I haven't stitch much of her  work.  Theresa challenged me to a stitch off on this one.  Now, Theresa is the fastest stitcher I know, but, she is also pretty busy this time of year, designing and all, so I feel like I might have a chance.  We'll see.  

  

 Next, up on my to do list is this lovely little alphabet from Lizzie Kate.  The weather in south Mississippi changes every few days.  It may be cold today, but it could be in the upper 70s next week, so I wanted something to lighten my mood.  Spring Alphabet was just the thing.  The colors are so sweet.

By the way, my sisters and I have made a promise to check with each other for supplies before buying any new crafting supplies.  Between the three of us and our mother we have over 5 sets of DMC, but not all are complete.  This alphabet project, of course, required one thread that I didn't have.  Luckily, I was able to pick it up at my mother's house last night, saving me a bit of change.

Finally, I have two finishes to share.  These were on the original list of 67 projects.  I finished the Lizzie Kate ABC Stitching Lesson Sampler on December 27th.  The Lizzie Kate Farm Sampler was my traveling project when my family went to Disney World last week.  I finished it Wednesday!  And isn't that little Lalaloopsy just too cute?  These have become an obsession of mine this year.  I have way more than a grown woman needs, but I do love them.