Stitching and Festival Fun!

Hello again!  Yes, here I am, 2 posts in one month, it is a wonder!

I have been diligently doing my exercises for the tennis elbow problem and happy to report I was able to do a bit of stitching this weekend!

The Heaven and Nature Sing SAL started on the 15th and I was determined to put thread to linen.  I did a bit each day since and here is what I have to show for it....  I absolutely love it so far!

I am so happy to have gotten in the groove and accomplished so much.  

Even though it has been only a few weeks since I last wrote it has been a busy and fun time.  

I did get to see Bernard Fowler one last time.  I was fortunate to see him in Bridgeport CT, in a small club.  He really puts on a rockin' show!  

And this has been the PERFECT time for leaf peeping here in the New England area!  This past weekend I took a ride to Rhinebeck NY to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.....

There was the NY State Sheep and Wool Festival.... what a fantastic festival!

It was definitely a feast for the eyes with color and inspiration at every turn.....from knitting to felting to rug hooking.......

 

and yarn EVERYWHERE in EVERY color and texture imaginable!  lol 

Also lots of great accessory items like baskets and shaker boxes.....

And, of course, all the sweet babies that give us the wool to make the yarn!  Baaaaaaaa!

It was a wonderful day, clear and blustery, and full of color.....

These were my festival finds...  some gorgeous alpaca yarn in a variegated black walnut, soooo soft!  And also a new cookbook by Nancy Fuller.  It was so nice to meet Nancy and have her sign my book.  I love her cooking show and how it really celebrates the Hudson Valley area.  

 Since my last post, I had seen a new post on the Sarah Harris SAL blog.... out of the blue!  So it inspired me to pull out all my supplies for her.   She is quite a colorful sampler and will be a compliment to Lucy with the pinks and purples.  To see more about her, the dedicated blog is here!

I hope you have had a great stitchy weekend too!  Here are my impatiens which I am so surprised to see thriving despite the sudden cold snap we have had......   

Have a wonderful new week!  I hope to see you again soon!  xxxxx

  

Autumn Project Planning!

Hi there!  Yes, I am still here even though my posts have been not so frequent.  Sometimes the days seem to go by so swiftly and then other times I just don't feel I have enough stitching to show and tell.

It seems we have jumped right into Autumn, my favorite season of all!

My office had an employee arts show so I finally pulled my Mary Wigham sampler out of the closet and framed her up.....  She is set loosely in the frame so as to protect her but now I think she will go right up on my wall as is!  It was wonderful to see how creative all of my coworkers are in all sorts of mediums!

So there has been a bit of stitching happening, although wish it was more!  I am suffering from tennis elbow and hoping for relief ASAP!

Over the past couple of months I have been up to some fun things along with planning out some future stitching projects.

Have had some German-style celebrating......

Been to NYC!  Here is a small forest growing right next to the MET!  

Everytime I see the MET it makes me think of the movie Moonstruck!  :)

The NYPL had a very special Frank Sinatra exhibit.  I was so happy to finally get there to see it before it closed down.  There was so many extraordinary things to see...many personal artifacts of Sinatras' from before he was famous to all through his career.  Below is one of his bow ties, letters from fans and photos from Herman Leonard.  

And here is a jukebox chock full of Sinatra!  I could play this all day long!

There have been so many pretty sunflowers this season... these I came upon at the Bridgeport Ferry!

Another favorite thing I do every Labor Day is go to the annual library book sale!  Here are a few of my finds this year.   So many people have recommended JoJo Moyes to me so can't wait to read her book.  Just started The Girl on the Train but too soon to give my thoughts on it yet!  

And my fun time would not be complete without some live music in my world!  And while the Stones are no longer in town, Bernard Fowler, backup singer with the Stones, has been and I have gotten to a few of his shows over the past month.  He puts on a super rockin' show!  

And for my stitching there has been some planning....  Kathy Barrick's Heaven and Nature Sing is soooo very sweet.  There is a facebook SAL set up for Oct 15 and looking forward to starting this one!  I went with linen and threads right from my own stash....

And here is another sneak peek of Lucy!  She is the reproduction sampler I have been working on.. I wish I was further ahead but this tennis elbow problem has caused a real crimp in my stitching time!  

And over at Our Scarlet Letter Years blog we are planning some New Year stitching already!!  Take a peek here!  Remember waaaaaaay back when I had been planning out Ann Grimshaw?  Well now is the time to go full steam ahead for 2016.  There will more incentive with others to stitch along with!!  But, still, I need to pick a color!!!  LOL!  

I hope to get some more stitching done this weekend if my elbow will cooperate!  

Gigi and I wish you a wonderful Columbus Day weekend!  Enjoy all the beautiful colors Mother Nature is bringing us!  Happy Stitching!  xxxxxx

Summer Lovin'

Helloooooooo Everyone!  Happy Summer!

Thanks to you all for your comments on my last post.  I know my posts have been less frequent but there was just not enough stitching to show and tell!  There have been a few projects in the works along with some Summertime fun too :)

Here is my Scarlet Letter Mary Gail sampler.  She is really lots of fun!  I am stitching her with dmc threads on 36 ct wren linen from Picture this Plus.  

June and July have flown right by.  In the beginning of June I got to meet a fellow stitcher, Chris from Tot Hill Farm, who happened to be in Connecticut!  We got together for dinner at a Turkish restaurant, which was so delicious!  Yummy dips of hummus, carrot and eggplant...a beautiful colorful palette!  

And here I am with Chris!  For those of you who also read Chris' blog you know she is on the left and I am on the right :)   So much fun finally meeting.  I hope our paths meet again.  

From reading your blogs I know many of you have been gardening and enjoying the Summer season outdoors....  I am not much of a gardener but I LOVE flowers, especially taking pics of them!  At my office, there is a garden on the Town Green called the Parade Path.  Here are some pretty pics from along the walk....

My "vacation" this year was a long weekend away... to Buffalo!  Yes, to Buffalo!  to see the Rolling Stones, of course!  And, of course, it was Fantastic!! :)

And I also spent a day in Niagara Falls!!  I had not been there since I was a teen on vacation with my parents so I was very excited to go back again.  It truly is a breathtaking sight!  Rainbows everywhere!  

Niagara Falls - US and Canada

I drove up the Niagara Parkway in Ontario to a sweet little town on Lake Ontario... Niagara-on-the-Lake.   The flowers are so gorgeous everywhere you go.  The color is a feast for the eyes!  

Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Floral Clock

Enjoyed a wonderful al fresco Italian lunch before heading back to the Falls to see them all lit up for the fireworks show!  

Fireworks over the American Falls

So it was a whirlwind of fun in just a few days.  I am still enjoying my Summer weekends from home.  I visited my favorite spot by Candlewood Lake......

And spent some time working on stitching my first reproduction sampler.   I have a real admiration now for the ladies who have done countless samplers like this for us to enjoy.  It has been a learning process for me for sure!  I have finally finished the charting process although I can see I have to make some tweaks along the way!  I have finally started putting some stitches to linen and it is exciting to see it start to take shape.  Here are a few sneak peeks of "Lucy"....

So that is what I have been up to lately.  I hope you are enjoying some Summer sun too!  

Til next time.... Happy Stitching and Happy Summer!!  xxxx

It's Been Awhile......

Hi Everyone!  Yes, I am still here!  Can't believe how fast the months have passed!

You may remember from my last post that I was in the process of moving.. It has taken a bit of time but I am finally all situated.  Pictures hanging on the wall...  and my stitching : )

I have had to do a great deal of downsizing, lots of things sent to Goodwill, but of course not my stitching stash!  I have sorted all my fabrics.... and yet with all this I still don't have the right size or count I need for my project to-do list!  lol!

Gigi has found a new perch........

And I have found my stitching mojo again.....getting back to my many WIPs.  Here is a bit of work on my Red House Sampler.  

Somehow since my last post, it turned from Spring to Summer.....   Mother Nature has bloomed everywhere........

I got back to NYC again.....  met a friend and spent some time in Soho then headed uptown for a club show seeing the lovely Lisa Fischer....

I have also started another new journey... I am charting my first reproduction sampler!  It has been fun learning this process and I look forward to sharing more with you all in the months to come....

So Gigi and I are happy to be settled in our new place.  Can't wait to see what all of you have been up to with your stitching.  Hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend!  xxxx Krista & Gigi too!