Hermitting..... and stashing....

I didn't think I'd get a chance to hermit much this past weekend because we had a ton going on.  My son had a karate clinic that was out of town on Saturday (but I sat and stitched while I was there!) and then a birthday skating party he attended on Sunday (I did not sit and stitch while I was there!).


I worked on 2 pieces, the first was Cathedral.  I started my weekend on the bottom half of page 4:

I was able to finish the page!   Here's a picture of all 4 pages:

I was also able to work on a piece that I'll be giving as a Christmas gift, so I'm only giving you a sneak peek:

This was my first use of silks, courtesy of Ewa.  I'm so loving silk!   The stitching part is finished, now I just need to decide how I'm going to put it together for the gift.   I'll post a picture of the finished product after the holidays.


I'm also so VERY happy to share some images of charts I was recently RAKd/given.   I've said it before and I'm sure I'll just keep saying it...but stitchers know how to spoil each other!!

A wonderful lady that I've met via FB, Karen, sent me QS Elfland Sleeping Fairy.  I just love how all the golden hues and greens meld together...and my favorite is the little lizard in the bottom corner and the flower with the blue center!

I also signed up with some FB fellow stitchers for an October RAK event, partially to help sales for Heaven and Earth Designs, but mostly because it's FUN!!   You are given the name of a participant to send a chart to, and then someone else is given your name (sort of like secret santa).  Kathy from the group sent me these two GORGEOUS charts from my wishlist:

Dragonfly Cottage - I love the watercolors of this piece...and who doesn't love dragonflies?

and Changing Seasons - Fall is my favorite season and I love the colors of the trees with the beautiful green of her dress

I don't know how I'm going to keep from starting all of these beauties!!   I need more than 24 hours in a day so I can work on all my charts!!


Finally....I just want to share that....the Lord of the Rings SAL that I'm participating in is starting in TWO  One and a half Days!!   I am SOOOOO EXCITED to start my Middle Earth Map!!


Thank you, as always...for stopping by and reading through my updates!  I just adore all of you!!


-lesli

Totally Useless......

That's right....it is TUSAL time!  

My October-themed TUSAL jar:

Not too shabby if I say so myself!   I feel like I've been productive!


In other news.... I've been stressing out over my WIPs!   I keep starting new pieces and new SALs.....so my original rotation plans are shot.  A few of the new stitch-a-longs that I'm in run by time versus finishing a page (which I'm used to), so I've taken a shot at coming up with a plan that fits both timed stitching and finishing pages.  I think WIP planning is tougher than rocket science!!

I've also decided to put a few pieces on hold, which you'll see on my On Hold tab.   Once I get caught up on some other items, I'll put these back into rotation (I think!).
I've posted my updated plans in the right side bar (I left what I've finished so far this year and will delete those once 2012 is over). 


Now, I know I mentioned some new pieces I've started.....here's some pics!

QS Seasons 2 - I met a wonderful stitcher, Michelle, on the HAED FB Groups and she RAKd this chart to me a few months ago.  We decided it would be fun to stitch it together as a SAL, which we work on the first week of each month.   Here's my progress from our first week, in October:

Also, I purchased my first hand-dyed fabric from Silkweavers a bit ago, and once I recieved them I just had to get some floss in one of them!   I started QS Dream of Dahlia and here is my progress after 1 day:

I'll take a better picture for her next update...so you can see the gorgeous fabric better!


-lesli

"The board is set, the pieces are moving......

............. We come to it at last, the great battle of our time.” – Gandalf

It's a Lord of the Rings SAL (stitch a long) !!!

Kim of Scully's Cross Stitching spoiled me with a RAK of the hugely gorgeous chart, Middle Earth by Heaven and Earth Designs.  

This chart was re-released in a larger format, to show the details of the map clearer. 


And for an early HAED All Hallows Exchange, Samira from Facebook RAKd me the beautimous The Eternal Promise by Matt Stewart

This chart is also a re-release of the chart that was previously retired.  Michele updated it and it is a bit larger than the original.


The ever so fantastic, Ewa from Cross Stitch and other Musings had the brilliant idea of having a Lord of the Rings SAL!  

We plan to begin on October 25th, as this is the day that Frodo decided to begin his journey of taking the ring to Mordor. 

Anyone is welcome to join us!!  Any HAED LotR themed chart counts (Middle Earth, Eternal Promise, Burden, Gandalf at Bag End...etc...and I see that The Lady of the Mirror was JUST charted!)

No set rules!  I plan to stitch for 5 days, beginning on the 25th of each month.  You can stitch on just the 25th, rotate every week...whatever you like!  Post your updates on your blog site, and/or the HAED Facebook groups.


Now....to get everything ready to start!



-lesli

My Blogaversary Winner!

WOW!!!   I loved all the wonderful comments everyone left for my Blogaversary!  THANK YOU!!  You are all so generous and I appreciate your thoughtfulness :)    The online community of stitchers is amazing, isn't it!?


Here is a full list of everyone that was entered into the drawing:

And......the winner is....(via Random#Generator).....

CONGRATULATIONS TimRachel! 

Your $50 gift certificate to 1-2-3 Stitch is on it's way!

Rachel has a wondeful blog, full of gorgeous stitching!  Check it out here:   TimRachel's Blog



Thank you again to everyone for your kind comments!   Here's to another year!!



-lesli