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.

Long time, no see...

So, how's it been? Have you enjoyed the last, what, 6 months since I posted? I hope everyone had a nice end of winter, spring, and summer. It has been crazy busy here. For the past few months I have been in the middle of the revisions for our text. On top of that, I had four classes to teach in the Spring semester (over 400 students total). We also started a new research project in May and I started my own project in June. Just to make my life a little more hectic, I had to teach a summer course because we couldn't find anyone that could cover the course. Needless to say, I have been busy and not ignoring my blog intentionally (well, sort of).

As for stitching, of course I found the time. I would go crazy if I couldn't stitch. I have finished several projects, but thought it would just be easier to start with the ones I am currently working on. First up, I learned to crochet!! My mother is a wonderful crocheting woman. We all have baskets of afghans in our homes that she has crocheted for us. For some reason, I just never got it. She has tried to teach me on several occasions, but it never worked for me. Then enters Katie, my newest sister-in-law. She taught me in five minutes. I have since made a granny square pillow (huge) for our cat, Elvis. I will try to remember to add a photo next post of that. Currently, I am working on my first afghan. It is cute, don't you think?

As for cross stitching news, I am in a Halloween mood right now. The Lizzie Kate Mystery sampler is a great one to stitch. I finished the first section in like two days. The second part arrived at the shop yesterday, so I will work on it soon. If you haven't picked this one up, I highly recommend it.

I also dug out an old pattern from my stash, Sleepy Hollow from Cross Eyed Cricket. Very fun stitch. I am about half way through the first section. The house is completed, so that is a great. Maybe, just maybe, I can finish this one before Halloween.

Theresa at Shakespeare's Peddler released a reproduction sampler in 6 parts as her freebie chart earlier this year. I actually stitched the whole thing and absolutely loved it. Now, I am itching to stitch more of her reproduction samplers. I think I will work on the Jane Pattison for a while. I promise to include photos in the next post. (And I promise that next post will not be in 6 months.)

Have a great day!

Jen

Happy February!!

Wow! Have things been busy around our place lately. This semester is already running like a speed train, with lots of projects and things to do. I haven't had as much time to stitch, but I some progress is being made. I worked on a WIP this past week, Autumn Leaves and Sunflower Seeds from Blue Ribbon Designs. This is a really cute piece worked in silks. I just don't like the 28 ct. fabric I am working on. But, luckily it is more than half done, so I will work through it.

I am also working on the CCN February Cottage. Love this. I don't think it will take much more time to have this one finished. Really cute design and I love the colors.

Finally, look at this cute little ornament that I received in the Santa Ornament exchange over at Hooked on Exchanging. Cindy from NY made this little beauty and mailed it to me earlier this month. I really love the beads and can't wait to add this to my ornament collection. Thanks, Cindy for the beautiful exchange. Plus, I absolutely love the card. Butterflies are one of my favorites.