Marvelous Monday Update 9/16/13

WORK
I've hit the 9 month anniversary.  Hard to believe I left a job of 15 years to work for this wonderful company that appreciates its employees.  Last week, they kicked off the Fall sales contest for the account executives (i.e. sales people), but the rest of us were included in the festivities.  Lunch was catered in and we all were scheduled for 1/2 hour to spend at the trade show with our suppliers.  We received a tote bag to fill with all sorts of goodies... pens, cups, chocolate, sweatshirt, hats, flashlights.  I participated in a tug-o-war.  For the next 8 weeks, each time a sales rep makes what the company calls an "A" sale (I forget the dollar amount), anyone who sends them a "way to go!" email gets their name put into a drawing.  Prizes include a TV, tailgate grill, and other things I can't remember.  The company estimates the next 8 weeks will yield 3.5 billion in sales.  Fun stuff!

When the weather isn't stiffling, I've been trying to get in a 45 minute walk during my lunch hour.  I thought I'd share more photos of my travels:

 

 

 

STITCHY STUFF
Tell me this...  Do I really need to start another project?  Of course I do!  When Denise posted about this SAL (stitch-along), I knew I had to do it.  I tried to resist, really!  I downloaded part one with the intention of waiting.  Then I thought, "What's the harm in looking to see if I had a suitable fabric?"  Well, that's all she wrote.  Here's the fabric that jumped out and said, "Please stitch on me!!"

Fabric:  32ct Hand-dyed Luguna - Heritage by Enchanting Lair

Fibers:  DMC 

I know, I know... You want the good stuff, right?  What SAL?  It's a free SAL offered at Les Marottes de Nathalie called Positive Thinking.  It's a French website, so Google Translate comes in handy.  The chart sizes are in cm, so I converted them to inches:

                                         11ct            8 1/2 x 23
                                         14ct            6 1/2 x 18 1/4
                                         16ct            5 1/2 x 16
                                         18ct            5 x 14

Sometimes I rounded up or down 1/8" so don't flog me with wet floss!  The above measurements are for the stitched portion only, so don't forget to add extra for the margins.

So... Who's with me on the SAL?

While I didn't work on JG last week, I did work on two others.  I did a bit of stitching on Balloon Glow.  I don't have a photo update yet, but other WIP pics can be seen HERE.  (Wow, now that *I* look at the photo taken in July, I've made quite a bit of progress.  I guess a new photo is due, lol)

I also started a new "secret" project.  All said and done, this will be a new type of finish for me so I hope it turns out.

Until next time...

Marvelous Monday Update 9/9/13

WEATHER
You know it's going to be bad when the temperature is 72F at 5:30am and the humidity feels 100%.  Cutting through suspended particles with your body feels nasty!  High temp for today is supposed to be 94F.  So, you can just imagine how bad it's going to get.

QUILT UPDATE
Guess what?  The quilt was featured on Saturday's Craft Gossip!  *big grins*  You can see it HERE.   A shout out goes to all my stitchy friends who brought this to my attention.  Even though I subscribe to CG, I hadn't read the issue yet.  Here's a photo of me and my coworkers.  There were actually 11 that worked on it:  some made squares, some did the piecing together, and one did the binding handwork.

The raffle drawing was done last Saturday and a lucky lady in Mt. Carroll, IL won.  For those of you who don't know, the small town of Mt. Carroll is known for it's sauerkraut pizza and the haunted house.  The raffle raised over $600.

STITCHY STUFF
Japanese Garden is coming right along.  I think I'm almost 75% finished with it.  Can you believe it?!  I was hoping that I'd get it done this year, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.

Here's what it looked like before:

 

Here's the progress I made in a week:

 

 

Until next time,

Traveling Pattern is Going...

TRAVELING PATTERN
Like the Wizard of Oz, the Random.org generator has spoken!

 



Who is the next lucky stitcher of Summer Splendor?

Sue, please send me your address privately and I'll get the chart on it's way.

Tuesday Tidbits 9/3/13

WEATHER
On Friday night, a voracious storm barreled through town.  Rumbling thunder, continuous flashing lightning, and torrential rains.  Oh, but that's not all.  We were also blessed with dime and quarter sized hail.

The upside is that after over a week of dripping humidity and 90-100F temps, the storm dissipated both.  Yesterday was a beautiful autumn day with no humidity and temps in the mid 70's.

STITCHY STUFF
The mailart piece I mentioned last week has been delivered to its new home.  That means I can show the fruits of my labor.  Yay!

Design: All Things Bright and Good
Designer: Gail Bussi
Magazine: Just Cross Stitch Sep/Oct 2002
Fabric: 18ct Hand-dyed Aida
Fibers: DMC

A few weeks back, I splurged on the 2001-2010 JCS Collection.  I had a gift certificate that paid for most of it... definitely a worthwhile investment!  I pulled a portion of the above design from the CD.  I just love how the envelope turned out.  The lining of the envelope is the same as the leaf border you see on the outside.  Each leaf it outlined in a glittery gold.  Very pretty.

After finishing Summer Splendor (see previous post), I decided to pull out Japanese Garden and work on it for a while.  Huh.  Is it really true that I haven't worked on it since April?  Here's what it looked like then:

 

 

Traveling Pattern PIF

Summer Splendor was such a fun, quick stitch!  I mostly stitched it during my lunch hour at work.  I took some "creative liberties" with color changes and am thrilled with how it turned out. 

If you're interested in stitching this chart -and- passing it forward, comment on this post.  I will randomly draw a name to pass the chart to on September 7th.  There are a few rules:

1.  You must have an active blog.

2.  You agree to stitch it promptly (ASAP).

3.  Please pass it along to a fellow stitcher via a drawing on your blog.

4.  Post your finish and the history (which is the coolest part!) of where the chart has traveled.

Just look at all the places this chart has been:

•  Kathy at Kathy's Sit and Stitch; Ontario, Canada - Completed March 2012
•  Carol at Stitching Dreams; Pennsylvania, USA - Completed May 2012
•  Lisa at Lisa V's Lounge; Perth, Australia - Completed August 2012
•  Ellen at Stitch Passion; Singapore - Completed August 2012
•  Theresa at Giraffe Crossing; Taiwan - Completed December 2012
•  Tatyana at Girl with Hoop; Russia - Completed May 2013
•  Vicky at Nutmegger's Stitching Works; Connecticut, USA - Completed July 2013
•  Meari at Meari's Musings; Illinois, USA - Completed August 2013

Summer Splendor - LHNPC-36

Designer:  Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  28ct Dusty Rose Charles Craft Evenweave

Fibers:  DMC

Until next time,