Thursday, July 14, 2011

Stitches and Stash

It's been over a month since I last was here. I do have a good excuse though. I've been very much into my new duties as a new moderator on The Stitch Specialists Yahoo group. That is the group in which Abi Gurden designs SALs of her brilliant designs. That's where the Tree of Stitches comes from, and you can see where we are, as I am now caught up:

You can even see the branch in the center of the tree where the little owl will sit, and there will be a little rabbit on the ground and yet another branch on the tree. It's not too late to join in the SAL, and we do have a lot of fun. There will be yet another SAL after this, and another, and another....

And I'm slowly getting caught up with the other two SALs I've gotten into: The bird SAL is my slowest because I had a rough start (a post below explains), and I just recently got my July owl chart, which I have not yet started, but the owls don't take long at all, and they're just so cute!


And though I swore to myself I wouldn't buy any more stash, I'm always in need of hand-dyed threads and fabrics to stitch what I have in my stash, then I saw a few charts I couldn't pass up:


I also must have Little House Needleworks' new reproduction sampler, Melicent Turner's Sampler and the threads and fabric to stitch it. I don't know when I'll get to that or any of what you see here, but that's totally beside the point!

One of my fellow mods on The Stitch Specialists has the same stitching stand as I do, and she does such lovely stitching that she insprired me to drag mine out of the abyss under the basement stairs and put it together. She directed me to a link of her setup, and I asked my son-in-law, a carpenter, to come over to see what I had and the adjustments I needed to have made to get mine up-to-speed so I can adapt it to accommodate my American Dream brand scroll rods and 30" rods I just received. I have a large clamp-on magnifier coming that he's going to attach to my stand and make a new control bar across the top; also make me a 20" set of rods. I dug around and located my needle trolley and the Perfect Stitch tool I bought from the same man who built my Grip-It Legend stitching stand, from whom I can no longer get things as they're out of business. I also have a recliner attachment to my stand which I can no longer remember how to attach, and my SIL promises me that he'll take the time to figure it out for me. I bought everything I thought I would ever need from him and so glad I did now that he's out of business. I even bought their Sit-On stand that can be carried and used anywhere. And I'm so glad I have my handy son-in-law around to fill in the gaps.

So you see... I'm still stitching, but also preoccupied and very busy learning the ropes. I'll really try to be more diligent about reporting in here, as much for myself as anyone. Yes, SusieQ, I will.

18 comments :

Bekca said...

It's good to hear from you Nancy, I hope you've been keeping well. All of your stitching looks wonderful, but I do have a soft spot for those little owls, they're so cute! Best wishes and happy stitching.

Gabi said...

Lovely stitching Nancy. Love your tree and also your SAL pieces.

cucki said...

hello dear, i really love your stitching..so cute..tree is really looking so lovely and the other wip too..i love your stash so much..i also said to myself that i wont buy more but cant help it..lol..
keep well dear and happy stitching xx

Giovanna said...

Great stitching on all pieces - love your tree in particular!

chrisstitches said...

thanks for all the updates as I love following your projects. Congrats on being so busy as the new moderator.
have fun
chris b

Shelleen said...

I am so glad to see you stitching again. Wish we could get our Yahoo group motivated. Nothing seems to work :-(

Susieq said...

I like the tree of stitches. One of my WIP's is Drawn Thread "Box of Stitches" I work on it once in awhile. We'll keep each other more current, OK?

Sunshine said...

Congrats on getting caught up on all the SAL's considering you started all of them late. You're doing a Great job!!! Happy Stitching!!!!

wendy111 said...

You are doing really well with all your SAL's Nancy! They all look great, love the colours in your TOS. And all this while being very busy as the new moderator - congrats

stitchesnscraps said...

I love your SAL's! Your TOS is beeautiful! And your owl and bird SAL's are so cute! Good for you, grabbing all that stash! You nenver know when you need a new start! Thanks for sharing all your progess! I can't wait to see all your stitching gear put together! Please post pics when you can!

Melissa

Jo said...

Beautiful stitching Nancy, the tree is so lovely that I can't see how Abi can top it! Adore your bird SAL, so different. x

Bee said...

All of your WiPs are looking so great! I love the colours on your tree and the bird and owl SALs are really cute! ;-)
How lucky you are to have a carpenter in the family who can help with your stand! (Can you send him over my way?? ;-)) I'm sure you'll soon be stitching away with it and wondering how you ever coped without it, LOL!
Thanks for all your help with TSS, it's getting busier all the while, isn't it? :-)

Sally said...

Your SALs looks fantastic Nancy. I absolutely love the bird one:) Wish I'd discovered that one!

Lovely new stash :)

Justflo said...

Fantastic stitching. love that Tree.

Your SALs are really pretty. Wowee what a stash enhancement. you've got there.

Rita said...

Beautiful stitching and stashing.

Good luck with your stand!

EvalinaMaria said...

Lovely stitching and lovely stash! Thanks for an update!

Katrien said...

Love the stitching.
congrats on your moderating-job

Meari said...

Nice stashing. Good to see you're doing great with your SAL's.

And hey.... I do not have cyber B.O.!!! ROFL