T is for Tall Year Squared

 I must admit that I love this piece. I don't use it, but it sits next to my computer so I get to admire it.

T is for Tall (Photo Heavy)

 Tall Year Squared by Betsy Morgan is my big finish of the year. Thanks Diane S. and Mary D. for all your help and encouragement.

 Summer panel

 Fall panel.

 Winter panel.

 Spring panel.

 Lid.

Etui open with scissors fob and pin cube.
Several things I would like to mention if you are thinking about this piece. First, I would stitch on one piece of linen paying attention to the direction of the fabric. Having all the different colors is fun, but the construction would have been better with just one linen piece. Secondly, I would have used mat board instead of pellon to make the box. It is just too wobbly and so the panels bow and the lid does not stay on.
Thank you  Inspirations   
It was from their Issue 93.

B is for Barrel

 So I have been working on Tall Year Squared since January of 2018. I had the whole thing stitched but needed help from a friend to get it done. I am SOOOOOO close!

These are the barrel tassels that will go on all four corners of the lid. I had to use a buttonhole stitch around the edges and for the little loop at the top. Aren't they cute?

Psalm 119 Beth

⁹ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
    teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth.
¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches.
¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
    and consider your ways.
¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
    I will not neglect your word. Bible Gateway

What I Accomplished This Weekend

So I managed to get a little done this weekend. It is International Hermiting and Stitching Weekend.

Tall Year Squared is moving forward:

I need to whip the pieces together. That will happen this week, hopefully.

First Christmas Stocking is at a place where there is a lot of confetti. 

I didn't work on Here Lie My Needles but hope to soon.
I did get some work done on MH 1656

I really love all these pieces, but spring is coming and my yard work is calling. We did have snow on Sunday which quickly melted, so the ground isn't quite ready yet.

Are You Ready to Hermit?

Today is the start of the third weekend of the month and it has been designated International Hermit and Stitch Weekend. It is a time to try and take a little extra time to stitch. Do you have to stitch all weekend? No. In fact, if you just do a little, post it. Just link up on Jo's Blog or there is a Facebook Group
I hope to do a little stitching on several projects.
First up is Tall Year Squared:

I hope to get some of the lining pieces done.
Next is First Christmas Stocking:

A little each day this month has been my goal so far.
Here Lie My Needles is my carry along project. I have more done than this photo shows, but maybe I can get some lettering in this weekend.

I also need to get started on MH 1656:

And I do have my map class to start stitching......
Will see what I manage to do before Monday. Hope you get some extra stitching time!

WIP Tall Year Squared

I had high hopes that this would be fully finished by now. No such luck. There are tons of little pieces that need to be put together to get this into a box. I am spending time today making the linings but wanted to show where the project stands today.

I was reading Linda's Blog and she was stating how so few people blog anymore. This is so true. I like Flosstube as well as the next person, but reading a blog is way faster and I find it more helpful. I decided to do the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again this year. I really don't have a theme and I haven't figured out all my posts, but who cares? I feel like I need to challenge myself to blog on a daily basis for a month. Since a personal goal is to get some of my WIPs DONE I will be using the challenge to push this along. At least that is the thought currently. Anyway, I hope some more crafters join the challenge. I don't want to be the lone stitcher in the challenge.

Weekend Progress

Yes, it is Tuesday so I am a little behind. What else is new, right?
Ice dyeing is a fun way to get interesting patterns on your fabric. The fabric must first be prepared by soaking it in soda ash. This lowers the pH so the dye will adhere to the fabric. Then you place the fabric in a container and cover a part of it with either ice or snow. Then a small amount of powdered dye is sprinkled on top. More fabric is placed on top with ice and then dye. Sort of like a parfait.
I thought I might have photos of the process, but I don't. But Dharma does!  Dharma Ice Dyeing
Hope that helps!
I worked on my pumpkin this weekend. I started by basketweaving the lines, but the color was too dark.

 So I went with a lighter color and I think it looks much better.

 I have it where I can see it since I put it away to work on Tall Year Squared. I keep hoping that I can get this done this month, but I can tell it won't be done for a bit. Here it is on some lining fabric.

I think I want to do it all on one color and strangely enough, the purple looks the best to me. But it is snowing and I am tired. I may try to assemble the scissors fob, but the rest will have to wait until I meet up with my friends next week.

It's the Weekend!

If you can find some extra stitching time, join the fun! The idea is to take some time on the third weekend of the month and do some stitching.

It is also Friday night which means a stitching party on the Off the Grid Facebook group. The idea is to spend as much time with the needle as possible on Friday night.

You know the real reason for these is to get people to post photos of their stitching and make us think, "Oh! That is so pretty! I need that!"

I am in a dilemma. I would like to continue working on Reptiles so I can get a page finish this month BUT  I need to get some work done on Tall Year Squared so I am ready for a finishing party on Tuesday. (Not sure we are going to FINISH TYS, but we are going to move it forward.) Here is what my kitchen table looked like this afternoon:

Cutting and ironing interfacing. Now I need to add some eyelets and some other stuff. Lots of other stuff....

I had also thought about starting this piece:

I got rid of a canvas (Coverlet?) and framed this piece up. I am meeting my friend on Wednesday and I would like to say I have taken a few stitches on this piece. My major hold up is that we are expecting snow this weekend and stitching on a pumpkin does not appeal.

I should do a little cleaning before the evening. Hope to show you some photos of progress on Monday. Happy stitching!

And It Is Finished!

It took a bit, but I have finished stitching all the bits for Tall Year Squared by Betsy Morgan!
I had to make some decisions and ended up ripping a bit.
Here is what I did:
First I started stitching the scissors fob in the red with purple. I love red and thought it might work.

 I continued with the year and my initials. I thought it was ok.

Then I dug through the colors and started the base. (Yes, the base is stitched!)

 Now that I loved!
So I ripped out my stitching on  the scissors fob and stitched it in Harvest Grape-Glorianna silk.

 

I am glad to see the end of the stitching on this piece. Now to wait for the rest of my group to catch up. This may give me permission to start a new project soon.....

So Close

I am having a love/hate relationship with this piece.

I just realized I never showed a photo of the lid before... Anyway, the lid is almost done, but I still need to stitch the base and the scissors fob. I had so hoped to be done before the end of the month, but life gets in the way. Luckily for me, the rest of the group is not nearly as far. This means I can get all the bits stitched and wait for them to be ready to assemble this etui!
If you want to see what the piece will look like FFO'ed-   Willing Hands by Betsy Morgan.
To purchase the magazine that I am stitching the piece from:  Inspirations Issue 93  .            

The Panels Are Done!

I am so excited that I have finished all four sides of Tall Year Squared!
First my summer panel:

 The frogs are supposed to have little beads, but I don't like how they looked so I left them off.

Here are all the panels in a row:

I am working on the lid. I doubt I will have much stitching time this weekend, but hopefully I can squeeze in a few stitches. Have a great weekend!

Tall Year Squared-Summer

I was so excited when I started this panel. It is the last panel of four and I thought, "Yippee! I can start a new project or go to an old one soon!" Then it dawned on me.....I still have to stitch the top and base of this piece. RATS!

 Now don't get me wrong; I love this piece. I mean, look at the dragonflies!

But I am ready for something else. But I know if I don't keep working on it now, I won't want to finish it later. Maybe I will have something new to show...next month.

Easter Treasure Hunt

 Jo is hosting this fun Blog Hop over at     Serendipitous Stitching                                .
We are supposed to post things that are Easter related or springy.
I looked through my stash and found this Mill Hill bead kit and stitched it up:

 I made it into a card to send off to someone. I wonder who?

I finally finished my spring panel for Tall Year Squared. The fabric is supposed to be a light purple.

The colors are really lovely and I enjoyed stitching this panel.

Here is your letter for the HOP!

Now hop on over to Needle, Pen & Sword for your next letter!