Springing to a finish

With spring coming to a close and summer fast upon us it was only fitting that on Friday morning I put in the final stitches on Spring Quakers. I ran out of floss for the backstitching on the final word, Hyacinth, and had to do a bit of improvisation. I cut sections out of the other two green floss which was similar to the dark green and using some last small cuts of floss from the original, I was able to piece all the colours together so that it looked similar to the other backstitches. I wanted this to be complete by next Tuesday since our framer and stretcher John will be dropping by at our stitch night so I'm happy I made my deadline.
This design has been a true joy to stitch!  I love the Valdani floss and will definitely use it again.  Below are a some pics of the different motifs within the design.

I have yet to decide what will fill the void left by this one. The Canadian postal strike will postpone my start on Sixteen Birds since everything I've ordered is in mid-transit, stuck somewhere in postal land.

In the meantime I needed a small, easily portable stitch . I have wanted to stitch a small patriotic Canadian design for some time now. There are very few of them out there. Most of the Canadian designers have larger designs available but I want to make some smaller designs which I can turn into pin pillows. I put out a request on my last post and Karen sent me the link to this VeeandCo freebie called O Canada. I started it on Saturday and managed to get this far.       

I worked on it again yesterday and I'm actually very close to a finish on it now. I have a little bit of backstitching and beading left. While I was in Ottawa on Saturday I went on a little side trip to Fabricland in the hopes of finding some patriotic fabric to finish it off with. Imagine how pleased I was when I found out that not only did they have 5 or 6 different prints to choose from but they had an inventory sale going on as well! I chose 3 different prints at 50% off and also picked up some Warm and Natural quilt batting at 3 for the price of one!

Just prior to the postal strike I had ordered two larger patriotic designs from 123 Stitch.  They're also stuck somewhere out in postal land so I got thinking. I have a copy in my stash of Little House Needleworks America. I dug it out and had a look at it to see if I could do a conversion of the design to a Canadian one. Things looked fairly simple so I then emailed Diane Williams of LHN and asked her permission to make the changes and substitutions. She replied and very graciously told me to go ahead with my changes and enjoy! Friday afternoon was spent graphing the necessary changes such as the Canadian flag for the U.S. one.  A check of my stash found the fabric and floss needed so I'm hoping to get started on this one later in the week.

I've had a productive morning sorting through piles of winter and summer clothing and designating what can go to Goodwill as well as cleaning out my bedroom dresser drawers. As a reward I'm now off to spend a couple of hours stitching on my Wedding Sampler. I need to start putting in more time on this one since the wedding is coming up the latter part of August. Our trip to the cottage is a little less than three weeks away now so I expect I'll be stitching on this one out on the deck at the lake. I'll also take the LHN design with me and Their Song. Now that I'm retired and my vacation time is not limited we've booked two weeks in Muskoka instead of just one. The weather here has been sublime with warm days, cool nights and little rain. I hope it follows us to the lake!

Close to a finish

I can't believe how quickly time has passed since my last post! This has been a very busy spring for us. Last night was the first evening in a week that I had spent at home. I have managed to squeeze some stitching in here and there.  I had really hoped that I would have a finish by the time of this post. I'm oh so close! I'm finishing up the last motif on Spring Quakers. I'm pushing to get this one done before our stretcher and framer returns to our stitching group next week. I want to leave it with him before I head on vacation.  Here are pictures of the last three motifs I've finished in the design. I've also included a picture of the final motif. All that remains is to stitch the mirror image of what I've already stitched in the last motif. Then there are a couple of flower names remaining to be backstitched and that's it!

If you look closely you'll see all the cat hair sitting on top of the stitching. Whenever I'm completely finished stitching a design I have to go over it with my little brush to remove all the cat hair. There's no point in doing it until I'm completely done because I'm only going to end up with more of it on there. Clarisse doesn't sit on my stitching but I think I transfer all the fur from my clothing onto the piece. So consequently she's a part of all my stitches.

Most of the stitching on these motifs was done on the weekend as I patiently waited at the church for Bob while he rehearsed for a concert that took place Sunday evening. Sometimes I get more stitching accomplished while I'm there because there are no other distractions as there are at home. I've enjoyed working on Spring Quakers so much and have decided to go with another large stitch when it's completed. I recently found another Rosewood Manor design that I'm in love with which is a possibility. It's called Sixteen Birds and I found it online quite by accident. I've ordered a copy and it's on its way to me.

 Also here is an updated picture of Their Song. I look forward to working on this again soon but in the meantime I've got to get back to putting in some stitches on my Wedding Sampler.

This past Wednesday evening my former coworkers took Bob and I out to dinner to celebrate my retirement. We had a great meal at a Greek restaurant in Cornwall where we were joined by almost 30 others!
Included in the group were my former boss Mitchell and his wife, who are both now retired, our retired pathologist Dr. Macaulay and a former coworker who I hadn't seen for many years. Cathy had met me at the airport in Ottawa when I first arrived for my interview and she also took me all around Cornwall apartment hunting. I worked with her in Chemistry until she left us to work in Ottawa, closer to her family. I was so surprised to see her. As she put it, "I saw you into the lab and I'll see you out!". It was a fantastic get together and at the end of the evening they presented me with a set of Swarovski crystal earrings and matching bracelet. There was also a lovely table arrangement of flowers for me to take home. Another coworker Karen, who now only works casually in the lab, has ordered a Jim Shore piece for me. She knows I love Halloween and cats and so I will receive the Witch Cat whenever her order arrives.  I was overwhelmed! They are such a special group of people. We've had our ups and downs but they have been incredible to work with and I'm going to miss them.  I will continue to see them at upcoming lab events and there are several whom I'm close to that I will touch base with regularily. Please indulge me as I post several pictures from that evening. There are several who regularily read my blog and want to see the photos.

 

Now I have a question for the Canadian bloggers out there. I'm enjoying so much the posts of all the lovely patriotic stitches done recently by our American friends. There are very few Canadian patriotic stitches out there. I'm aware of one by Lizzie Kate as well as Sam Sarah Designs. Are there any others out there that I'm not aware of? Your help would be greatly appreciated. A big thank you to those who have taken the time to drop by my blog and leave your comments. I've enjoyed your visits and hope you continue to pop in on a regular basis.

Now I'm off to drop some mail at the post office. Not sure if it will get anywhere though with all these rotating strikes!

Incredibly busy!

So many people have told me that when you retire you never have time for anything. I'm starting to believe them! It's only 2 weeks since I finished working and I haven't stopped yet. One of the first things I did was to return to the church choir which has been especially busy this month and the next. The weekend of May 21st was a long weekend for us here in Canada and all three of my sons and my two granddaughters came for a visit to celebrate my retirement with me. It was the first time the boys had all been together since Christmas.  We had a blast! There's nothing I like more than when I'm surrounded by my family. Since I'm in need of a hip replacement soon and knowing how much Bob detests gardening, their gift to me was to weed and plant my gardens. Even my granddaughters helped, carrying plants and flowers to and fro. Thank you so much boys! I couldn't have done it without you.

Here's the group after a job well done. Summer had gone for a nap at this point. You gotta admit, Chris' dye job is unique!



Following the long weekend, we've been busy with appointments and spring cleaning. I've hardly touched my stitching at all this month. When I finally did pick it up, I needed a change so I decided on a new start.  Blackbird Designs Their Song had been on my "must stitch" list for some time now. I've searched high and low trying to buy a copy of this OOP chart. I don't know how many ebay auctions I bid on trying to get this lovely. Finally, one of my Tuesday night stitching friends showed me her completed finish. "OMG, where did you find this one?" I asked. She didn't remember but told me that seeing as she was finished with it, I could add it to my own stash if I wanted it. Did I want it?! You betcha! Thank you so much Lori!

Here's a photo of my meager start. I'm stitching this one on PTP Mello with the required Weeks floss.

Spring Quakers is still in the background. I'm working the last side of the design now from the top and am just about finished this big motif.  As for the Wedding Sampler, well I've got both of their names stitched now but have a small bit to frog and restitch. I've put it aside for now but I know that I'll have to pick it up soon again and put in some time on it. I don't want to fall behind with this one. The wedding is not until August but I don't want to be rushing through it at the last minute.

  My latest stash addition was one that I fell for as soon as I saw it. Soar Sampler was designed by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread and was inspired by the family of eagles living in Iowa that captured everyone's attention on the webcam online. The sampler was limited to a printing of only 100 and is no longer available. My husband and I are avid eagle lovers. There are very few of these great birds in our neck of the woods but we have been  fortunate enough to see some on our treks to Muskoka.

The suggested fabric for this design is WDW Onyx but I haven't decided it if I will tackle stitching it on the black. I'm going to have a browse through my fabric stash and see if I can find something suitable.

I love Brenda's designs and definitely want to add some more to my collection.

Although there may not be any eagles in my area, there are some very colourful Cardinals which have been making repeated visits to our feeder. The first few years we had the feeder they would make occasional visits but now they are regular visitors bringing the family with them! In fact I hear one chirping out there right now.

I'll leave you with a picture of the male that graced us with his presence this week. Isn't he a beauty?