Annette's Acre

My first pieced quilt top….(click to biggify)

Size is approx 36″ x 58″ 

The design showed a thicker border on the right, but I decided to do thinner borders around all four sides instead.  I am very pleased with the result and can’t wait to take it to the quilt shop on Friday to see about having it layered and quilted.  The quirkiness definitely helped hide some less-than-perfect bits.  I do need to work on how I manage the seams on the back, but for my first attempt at a pieced quilt top, I think I did alright

Time to show off two recent bits of exchange stitching.  

ABC Exchange (Hooked on Exchanging blog)

What I received…. a gorgeous pillow.  Love love love this!  Click to biggify…

I also sent a small pin pillow based on the Blackbird Designs “Know Your ABC’s” freebie.  I also did a small fob (recipient initials on the front, mine on the back with the date).  The cord is made from black DMC and metallic threads.

Finishing fabric you may recognize from this pic

Chatelaine Exchange (Chatelaine Board)

Today’s mail brought me this gorgeous ornament based on sampler designs from the Ruby and Sapphire mini-mysteries:

And the back:

I sent a biscornu based on Mini Mandala 1 and a beaded fob:

I hate when time flies by and you’ve nothing to show for it….

Almost nothing.  I did finish my last Mirabilia RR piece over the weekend.  This is a section of Mira’s Morning Glory pixie:

If you want to see the full thing (it’s a very wide picture) click here: Sophia’s RR

Mine came home already and is off to the framer.  I’ll post when it comes home

Next up is a piece for the Chatelaine Exchange and an upcoming ABC Exchange   Someday soon I’ll stitch for me again!

I think we can safely say 2010 will not be a big blogging year.

Anywho… I did finish off the next Mirabilia Round Robin.  Well, mostly… but that story can wait until after the picture:

Click here for full picture.  But be warned… it’s pretty awesome.  Might make you want to stitch a dozen Mirabilia bits.

I started this while I was sick.  My first mistake, apparently. 

The goal was to finish before the end of March, but it took me until April 4th.  My first attempt at pulling all the floss failed miserably (fever,  you know).  I missed five colors and of course, I was missing two of those from the stash (and didn’t want to dig thru other WIPs).  Now, there are two colors of beads required as well.  Somehow my fevered brain decided I had them.  So I didn’t bother getting any more at the LNS.

I’m sure you can see where this is headed.

On Sunday, after finishing all the backstitching, I hit the bead boxes for the beads.  I had neither.  No problem, I’ll just sub some Delicas.   Yeah.  Not so much.  Now, the colors aren’t too crazy… a pale blue and a blue-green.  But what looked close on the monitor looked like crap on the fabric, so rather than use the questionable substitutions, I decided to go ahead and mail the piece off to its next destination (Australia) and send the real beads on to the owner separately.

I’ve never sent off an incomplete RR piece.  I’m not happy.  Definitely won’t be doing it again. (Sending incomplete… someday I’ll do another RR, I’m sure).

Something to note:  Wednesday, the 14th is my 45th birthday.  I’m celebrating with a bit of stash….for me and for you   Yup, a giveaway is in the planning stages!

Thank you for the well wishes

I’m  still coughing, but overall feeling significantly better.  Amazing what good drugs can do.

I did finish a couple books this week and managed a small bit of stitching:

This is He’s a Flake by Little House Needlworks with recommended fabric/fibers/beads.  I did leave off the random snowflakes.  I prefer a simpler look.

I’m making slow progress on the latest Mirabilia RR piece, but after frogging more than once this week, have put it aside for simpler fare until I get past the drugs. 

My TUSAL offering for the month – this is as of 3/15:

Obviously stitching has not been a priority for the last weeks.

Just some odds and ends to share….

First, I snapped this (with my Blackberry) yesterday as I was leaving work:

I was sitting in the vanpool van, this isn’t thru my windshield.  The rainbow was so bright!  It was lovely.

Here’s my Olympic knitting progress:

Sadly, my Olympic goal is not looking good.  This is a two-skein project and I’ve yet to finish the first one (seen on the left).  We shall see.

I did manage to finish the latest in the Mirabilia RR – this is a portion of Violet.

I also finished a couple books… and have to recommend one of them to any fan of good old fashioned sword/sorcery/epic fantasy.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

This is the first in a trilogy and by all that’s holy, do *not* read the blurb for the second book before you finish the first one.  MAJOR spoiler right there!!  It’s got magic, politics, fighting, assassins, heroes and a nice twisty plot

Joe: Hello Stitch fans!!  Welcome to this special edition of “All My Acres.”  Today, we’re reviewing the January Gooooooooooooo…

Fred: Hey, Joe?

J: …aaaaaallllllllllsss….  Yes, Fred?

F: I know you’re a frustrated soccer announcer and all, but let’s not overdo, ok?

J: ::sigh::  Someday, Fred.  Someday.

F: Let’s recap the Goals set way back on January 2:

• Finish page 3 of Summer Queen
• Finish MP bookmark
• Finish pink baby blanket for S
• Hit 50 days on the Xbox streak

Definitely do-able on all counts.  How did she do, Joe?

J: Not bad, considering one was impossible.  Let’s go thru them one by one:

• Finish page 3 of Summer Queen

Here’s the current progress pic:

Using the handy Photo-Strater, I’ve highlighted the area where she went above and beyond the goal:

F: Wow!  That’s a good amount of overage there.  Nicely done.

J: Yes.  I think we need to up the ante for February.  But we’ll save that for the end of the show.  Next we have:

• Finish MP bookmark

F:  I know that was done! We saw the picture on January 15th.

J:  And a fine finish it was.  Another Goal to mark “Complete!”

F:  Can we carry that on to the next one?  ”Finish pink baby blanket for S”

J:  I’m afraid that one is still in consideration.  I know the plan was to finish the blanket on a car trip scheduled for yesterday, but unfortunately that trip got cancelled.  I see the blanket sitting on the couch and less than a half skein of yarn to go, so we still have a chance to see a finish yet today.

F: Hmmm… it would be easier if we had some football or baseball on this afternoon.

J: I know.  We do have a How It’s Made marathon.  And there is always the DVD collection.  I think She can do it.

F: As long as She isn’t distracted by….

J: Shhhhh…. stay positive.

F: Got it.  What about the last goal?

J: Sadly, this one was never possible.  If She’d checked her streak numbers on the day She posted, She’d have seen that it was broken on January 1.  So the best we could have hoped for was hitting 30 days.

F:  Did we get that far?

J:  No.

F: Oh.

J: Yup.

F: Ah.

J: So that’s it for the January Goal Recap.  Did you have anything else to add?

F: Why, yes, Joe, I do!  We know She was out of town most of this past week, but there was stitching accomplished and coming home early allowed for another finish in January!  This is the Pagoda Pincushion from one of last year’s Gift of Stitching magazines:

J: Very nice!  Especially that it’s, you know, finished.  Care to share the floss and bead details with the fans?

F: I thought you’d never ask!

• Overdye:  Needle Necessities 1781 – Alpine Meadows
• Floss: DMC 3834
• Beads: Delica 432
• Fabric: 32-count antique white evenweave

J: That means we’ve got three finishes so far this year.  Great way to start.  Are we ready for the February Goals?

F: Absolutely!  I hope you took into account it’s a short month.

J: Why would I do that?

F: Because we don’t want to lose our jobs??!?!

J:  Hmmm… true.  Ok.  ::scribble::  Here we go…..

February Goals:

• Complete all stitching/beading “below the fold” on Summer Queen
• Complete LUV Letters by Primrose Needleworks
• Start/Finish next LHN Ornament:  He’s a Flake
• Start knit scarf for SL

F: I’m not familiar with that second item.  Did She sneak in a new start??

J: It’s the annual Valentine piece for Him [DH].  I guess the usual pillow approach didn’t appeal this year.  Here’s a pic:

F:  How romantic.

J: Pretty much.

That’s it for today’s Gooooooaaaaallllll Edition of All My Acres!  See you mid-month for the regular update!

F: ::sigh::

Lots of stitching time this week as Heroes, Leverage and Fringe were back in addition to some nail-biting football games.  We also watched Bones this week, a new show to our lineup.

This year I’ve joined the Totally Useless SAL!  That’s right, you will be treated to a lovely colorful picture each month!  I even bought a special glass jar for the monthly reveal.  Exciting, eh?

Here’s January:

Ooooo….  Aaaaahhhhh….. See those DMC bands peeking out?  There are a few in there…

I love how I can see exactly what I’ve been working on in the last 4ish weeks by the layers in the jar:

I suspect that later months this year won’t be as clear when I go back to my usual “Barely Managed Chaos” rotation approach.

I finished and *finish-finished* my Michael Powell bookmark last weekend:

One goal complete for January!  w00t!

Knit the next installment of the KrisKnits KAL:

And started the next Little House Needleworks ornament, Pear Tree:

I did put in a little time on Summer Queen, but as I’m thisclose to making the Goal on her for this month, I’m going to hold the picture until then.  I haven’t touched the crochet goal as I’m saving that for a six-hour car trip back from Vegas on Jan 30.  Plenty of time to finish it off