A little this, a little that

I can not believe it's been over a month since I last posted. Seems that life has kept me very busy. We finally have a new shower and it only took a week to install. We are having a problem with the caulk curing, so might have to remove it all and re-caulk with a different brand. You'd think that after two days, it would be dry and stay dry. Nope, it gets tacky whenever it gets wet, and seems to wash away. Really annoying.

Summer is nearly over. Isn't that the best thing you've heard in ages? Autumn, with its lovely colors, and cooler temperatures, is just around the corner. Last night, I turned off the a/c and opened a window--was to get down to 45 degrees. Must have because I was very comfortable--and I like being cold when I sleep. Really cold. Don't believe me? I once slept in the truck, parked on the top of a hill in Northern Illinois in the middle of January--and the temps were below zero. (and the truck was not running!) I had no trouble sleeping. And why on earth would I do that? We were visiting my husband's parents and as they are getting on in age, they like to keep the house REALLY warm, like 85 degrees. So, I'm very happy to see the end of summer. The grandkids are back in school and it should be reported that they all like their new teachers. And all they can talk about is Halloween coming. Oh, and birthdays--three of them have birthdays this month.

So, in amongst all the busy-ness of life, I did get a bit of stitching done. First up, Little House Needleworks Reading. I do not know why the fabric is showing up blue because it was stitched on Antique white Belfast, with Crescent Colours. I really enjoyed stitching this one. When these charts were previewed, I decided then and there I was only going to stitch the Quilting one. I am a reader, but the Quilting piece was the only one that really interested me. Guess I changed my mind. Looks like I'll be stitching all four in the series. Am I a sucker for LHN designs, or what?

Here is my stitched piece, Little Women Reading by Little House Needleworks. It was a fairly quick stitch, and has been done for days. (Just kept forgetting that the batteries for my camera needed to be recharged.)
Next up, Indigo Rose's Three Penny Scissor fob. For my birthday, my friend Beth gave me a pair of scissors. She bought the same pair for herself. For her birthday, I stitched her this very same fob, in a purple over-dyed silk, Empress Belle Soie by Crescent Colours. Since the scissors matched, I made myself the same fob, but in my favorite color of blue, Blue Lagoon Belle Soie by Crescent Colors. (side note, if you've not stitched with Belle Soie yet, give it a try. You'll fall in love with this lovely silk floss.)

I did change the chart somewhat. I enlarged the design size from 4 stitches by 4 stitches (woven) to 8 stitches by 8 stitches. On the front, I left an area in the middle unworked to have a place to stitch an initial, this time, mine. The back was worked as Indigo Rose designed it, just a bit larger. You can't see the lovely sheen of the beads--here they appear white but they are the exact color of the darker part of the silk floss. The cording is made of the same silk floss. It's filled with plastic pellets for weight.

Seems like quite a few stitchers have been trying canvas work. Beth has been working on canvas for about 6 months and she is thrilled with it. Nicole has done a few and her's have turned out so pretty--her's look like mini quilts and that always makes my mouth water--so I thought I'd give it a try. This is Two Cabins by From Nancy's Needle. I'm enjoying the work, the learning something new but it will never replace my cross stitching.

If you notice the pine green on the outside border, I've finished up with that green tonight, and the last snowflake has been done. It's very small, only 4 inches by 8 inches but there is a lot of detail in that small piece. And can you believe it? I've had trouble doing the counting. Do I count the threads or the holes? I am finding it hard to understand how I can count wrong so often, when I don't do it very often in my stitching. A lot of frogging went on to get this far.

So, what is next? I'm thinking it's time for another LHN design, and I've chosen Heart and Home Sampler. It's charted for DMC but I think I'll try and find some Crescent Colours overdyed cottons to stitch it in.