Birds of a Feather

My plan to photograph my visitor inspired piece didn't work out as planned.  It has been very overcast today with only small periods of sunshine.  Tomorrow isn't looking much better with a 60% chance of thunderstorms.  I guess that means waiting a little longer to take that snap.

Thankfully I have some other progress that is bird related.  Last weekend I met up with all three of my stitching sisters.  (Our foursome is back in the groove!)  Both Maggee and Sheryl (no blog) had progress on BoaF.  Here's where we were at the end of Saturday:

Top Left - Maggee
Top Right - Sheryl
Bottom - Me

I haven't touched mine since last Saturday so when I pick it up tomorrow it will look the same as it did at the end of last week.

Looks like I will be building the house tomorrow.....

I still haven't decided what I am going to do about the alphabet.  I have a few sayings floating around that I may use instead.  If I go that route I have to figure out what alphabet to use since the one that is charted won't work.  I'm pretty sure that an alphabet from one of my Blackbird Designs books/leaflets would go nicely in its place.  Of course, I will need to decide on the saying as well. Maybe I'll leave it up to a vote.

Don't forget to guess who my visitor was.  Be sure to post your comment on yesterday's post.  You never know what may happen if you guess correctly!

I hope your needles are flying....

Guessing Game

Earlier this week I decided to stop guessing when my computer would be ready and I placed a call to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.  Imagine my surprise when I find that it has been finished since July 24th!  They told me that they tried to contact me but they had the wrong phone number in the computer.  What kind of excuse is that when I left two different phone numbers with them?  Those numbers were there plain as day on my copy of the Service Order.  What is so wrong with people these days that they can't look at a sheet of paper?  Computers are wonderful and all, but they aren't the only answer.  It is a good thing my husband picked the computer up becuase I would have given them a piece of my mind!

Speaking of guessing, no one guessed who my new visitor was.  Now that I have my computer back I can post a much better picture of my guest.  Take a look......do you know who this is?

I will say that my new visitor inspired some wonderful stitching that I will soon share with you.

Good luck with the guesses!

34 Count

I'm going to stitch on 34 count for the first time and I have come up against the ultimate question:

One strand or two?

Opinions, please!!!

Happy Stitches!

(P.S. No ETA on the computer yet...Boy am I starting to miss it!)

Traveling Pattern

Another finish has been sighted.  Check out Lisa V's version here.

Happy Stitches!

Snuck One In

I was able to steal a few minutes at the end of the day for a quick post from my work computer.  I couldn't help myself because I've been itching to show the BoaF progress.  Here is what our pieces looked like at the end of Saturday (7/7/12)....

Left - Mine
Right - Maggee
Bottom - Sheryl

Since Sheryl doesn't have a blog anymore, here is a closeup of hers. (You will have to check out Maggee's blog for hers!)

The color of the fabric is washed out here.  It is more golden than it appears.

 And, of course, I couldn't leave you without a closeup of mine....

I've stitched a bit further than you see here, but not much.  Plus, I'm really thinking about pulling some of the greenish color out of the trunk of the tree.  It is a bit too stripy for my taste, but the longer it sits the more it grows on me.

So, has anyone been able figure out who my visitor was?

Happy Stitches!

Sans Computer

The screen on my netbook has been acting up and I finally took it in to the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Thankfully it is still under warranty.  The bad news is that I will be without it for two weeks.  So, unless I can steal my husband's laptop I will have to resort to phone posting.  Ugh! 

Instead of stitchy pics I will leave you with a crappy snap of the newest visitor to our backyard.  Look closely.....he really blends in to the surroundings.

Time on My Hands

It seems that I've had lots of productive stitching related time on my hands lately. 

Last Saturday two of my stitching buds and I headed to a not so local needlework shop.  It is about 45 minutes away (on a good traffic day).  We love the short trip for a different take on our hobby.  While I was disappointed in the lack of new patterns in the shop, I did manage to pick up some fabric and threads for a couple of projects that are waiting in the wings.

The Gentle Arts Threads and the 32ct Bo Peep Pink Belfast was purchased for the Birds & Berries Needlebook by Blackbird Designs. (Crescent Colours are from my stash.)

The 34ct Legacy Linen in Oaten Scone was purchased for the Summer Harvest Needlebook by Blackbird Designs.

I also managed to stitch and finish a cute little Shepherd's Bush piece for my Friends Through the Seasons exchange.  This was the first time I tried this finish.  I'm pleased with this first time effort and I will definitely use this finish on future projects.

The pillow is sitting on the fabric that I used for the backing.

I've been spending the rest of my free time working on BoaF.  Boy, has my needle been smoking.  Here is where my piece stood shortly after last weekend.....

Part I ~ DONE!

Speaking of smoking, I don't know how the weather is where you are, but temperatures have been smoking here.  We've been in the high 90's to low 100's for the past week and tomorrow with be another 100+ degree day.  With the humidity in the area it means we are under an "Excessive Heat Warning" and the temperatures feel like they are 110 or higher.    They aren't forecasting the cold front to come through until sometime tomorrow and they are talking about it possibly stalling off the coast.  That means we go from extreme heat to lots of rain with violent thunderstorms and damaging winds.  Either way, heat or rain, I guess that means more stitching time on BoaF!

Wishing you cooler stitches!