Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Finally picked up my framed Village of Hawk Run Hollow on Wednesday, and I'm so pleased with the beautiful framing job which Kathy did over at The Crossstitch Cupboard (Fort Lauderdale).  Karen - the owner of CSC - chose the frame.   I think her choice perfectly suits this piece.  She actually matched the shade of the distressed parts of the frame to a color in the stitched piece, and it looks ideal.  

I stitched this on 40 count Golden Harvest linen by Silkweavers.  The silk flosses I used were a conversion dyed by Vikki Clayton, and I loved stitching with them.  Next BAP is going to be Shores of HRH, but not until I finish the annual Christmas stitching (what am I talking about? I haven't even finished the Halloween stitching I'm working on here! LOL!)

Happy weekend, everyone.  And enjoy your "extra hour of sleep! 

2013 Halloween Blog Hop

Pumpkin Pete says, "Thanks for stopping at the next stop on the Halloween Blog Hop!" 

Your blog hop letter is:

In case you're not able to see, your letter is T

Now follow Pumpkin Pete on over to the next blog on your Halloween Hop:

http://needlespinsanddragonflies.blogspot.co.uk/

Dragonflylotus hand spun threads - discount code!

Sorry I haven't posted in ages. 

Today I wanted to post about the beautiful hand spun wool fibers which I've been using to stitch my LHN Sheep Virtues project. Liz at Dragonflylotus Hand Spun Threads has created a beautiful line of 100% wool fibers specifically for this project, but she has all sorts of gorgeous fibers at her site.

If you're a floss hound like I am, you'll be happy to know Liz kindly gave me a code 

for my followers to use towards 10% off your order through November 4th! 

This code is good towards anything on her site.

 The code for your discount is: CABBAGE

I think her wool fibers are perfect for the LHN sheep (baa baa...) but you'll see all sorts of goodies in a wide pallette of colors at her site. 

 If you hurry on over, she also has a Stash Enhancement Special on the Petite Manzanita Silk Palette which is 40% off until Thursday, October 31st!  GREAT BUY!! :-)

And, speaking of Thursday, it's almost HALLOWEEN! Yikes! 

To get in the "spirit" of the holiday, Saturday night I watched the film "The Conjuring" on demand. 

It's based upon an actual case of a New England house haunting in the early 1970's 

and I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare the daylights out of me!  

Check it out if you like scary movies! 

And let me know afterwards if you'd like to play "hide and clap!"  EEK! 

I'm trying my best to finish up "Away We Ride" by Blackbird Designs before Halloween arrives, 

but I still have quite a bit to stitch.  Hoping today will be a marathon stitching day! ;-)

Have fun browsing Liz's site - and use that code (CABBAGE) 

to try out some of her beauties at 10% off !  

I'm back! Two blogs I highly recommend you visit.

Let me begin today by saying, where in the world did August and September go!? Is it just me, or did those months seem to fly by this year?  I am long past due for a blog post, and today I would like to talk about two blogs which I highly enjoy.  I hope you might take a minute between counting stitches this weekend to check them out.  (Just click the titles below to visit them.)  I probably have mentioned these two before, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but they really are worth a look.

First up is Blacksheep's Bit of the Web which is a quite popular blog that you may already follow.  If not, you owe it to yourself to take a look at Edgar's beautiful stitching (and his travel pics, the mouth watering goodies he likes to cook, and his adorable pooches!)   I should warn you, a visit can be a little enabling if you're a shopper - and what stitcher doesn't like shopping, right?  Maybe I'm just very easily tempted to add to my stash when I see his gorgeous work!  If you stop by today, please remember to wish Edgar a Happy Birthday!!  (Hope he doesn't clobber me for sharing that info!)

The other blog I hope you'll visit is by the award-winning designer Theresa Baird, and it's titled Heart's Ease Examplar Workes.  I am already drooling over her latest design, "Norfolk Diligence," which is due to go on sale sometime this month:

What do you think?  This is DEFINITELY making its way to my stash ASAP! I should note that Theresa also stitches her own models, and I think you'll agree she does beautiful work.  I'm a huge lover of samplers with a well designed house in the design, but I really love the border on this piece (isn't that checkerboard border that transforms into the floral border neat?)  I also love the floral bands in this design, as well as that sun and moon on either side of the house!  

I think I own all of her published sampler charts, and I have started stitching "A Maryland Inspiration," which I love (let's face it, I love ALL her designs!) If you go back through her blog, she has been leading a SAL of "A Maryland Inspiration" with suggested stitching for each month and tips for stitching each section -- I'm behind (of course) but I do love having her previous posts to refer to as I work on this piece.  Here's a pic of Theresa's model and the ribbons she won for this design:

I won't spoil the joy of taking a look at her blog by posting ALL of her model pictures here, but I do hope you'll take a minute to browse the border of her blog where you'll find photos of her models and some pics of future releases. I tend to love Christmas designs (and Halloween!) and I'm really looking forward to the chart for "Belsnickle's Victorian Christmas" when it is published.  I'm sure you'll agree it's going to be one you'll want to add to your own Christmas stitching collection: 

Hope everyone has a great weekend full of stitching and blog hopping!  Kevin 

 

Wild Berries and M Woods

A beautiful sunny day here in South Florida.  Not yet broiling out - but getting there!! I had a guest join me outside for my morning coffee today.  Seems to be enjoying himself.  Think he's thinking, "Now where is that cabana boy with my DRINK?!"  Wish I caught the plants earlier - they're covered with beautiful purple flowers at dawn, but they wither as the day wanes on.  

Finally completed "Wild Berries" and really like how it turned out.  Tomorrow I plan to get over to Cross Stitch Cupboard in Fort Lauderdale to drop this off for framing, along with my Village of Hawk Run Hollow and Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman.   Will be great to see the gang there on Tuesday night. Been WAY too long since I joined the stitch-a-long group!  

And, I had a package arrive here Saturday full of the most GORGEOUS silks by Gloriana (Tudor silks) as well as (gulp) 50 count Lakeside Linen Vintage Meadow Rue.  These were the June sampler of the month selections from The Attic in Arizona, and I can't wait to start this one.  

The photos just don't do these silks justice -- they are MUCH brighter in person, as is the linen. I really need a NEW iPhone as I still have the 3GS model. But, if you zoom in you can see just how teensy this 50 count linen is (the color is beautiful). Sorry about my shadow - was taking pics out in the sun to "try" to get the color right.  Didn't quite work. Oh well! 

 Here's the chart for M. Woods with the model done on a lighter shade of 40 count linen, I believe. 

And, as you saw earlier -- an inquisitive friend had to come out to see what all the fuss was about.  He wasn't too happy that "his" lounge ottoman was being used as my photo studio! 

 AHHHH, much better! 

Happy Monday and happy stitching! Kevin and Seamus 

New Pretties from The Drawn Thread!!

Love all of these!!! 

Autumn Garden

When Skeletons Dance

  Halloween Screen

 Autumn Jumble 

Seamus got a haircut!

And here's Mr. Seamus rockin' his new summer crew cut!  He looks about 20 pounds lighter.  Wish that worked for ME when I get my hair cut!  ;)

Getting there stitch by stitch... Had ANOTHER fiasco with the FROG last night! Grrrr!  This is my third time stitching this tree!! Hopefully, it'll be the "charm," as they say!  I want to get to the bird today! 

No explanation needed.  :-D