Friday, January 21, 2011

New Stash Keep-Her Sampler-Addison Rose/Belle Pepper

Hello to my dear blogging friends! Yes, it has been awhile, have been contemplating a new blog post for weeks now...good grief, am I slow or what? Also have been trying my best to keep up with your blogs, love seeing what you are all doing, but I am a day or two behind now, so hope to get caught up with that this weekend.Must be this age thing...brings on confusion, indecision,laziness, interruptions, every excuse known to man, one can use when they reach that 'senior citizen' title! Anyway, I am here now and without any more excuses...first of all I want to announce that I do have a second blogoversary coming up in a scant four days, so please be sure and come back on the 25th, when I will announce the giveaway, so that you can be sure to sign up! If you not yet a follower, I would love it if you would do that now, because this giveaway is truly just for my followers! You will have time to sign up later, but for the sake of something coming up to make you forget, you might as well get it out of the way, right?

Boy, I feel this is indeed going to be one of those rambling and I hope not boring posts! Please bear with me a bit longer.

I have so enjoyed seeing everyone's works this month, so many yummy designs that have oodles of progress to drool over! Wow, I am duly impressed by everything I have seen! I did decide at year end, that I would at the very least join the Up for a Challenge challenge, by listing and working on 15 (think I have a few more) wips, that I have vowed to work on this year and hoping to finish at least some of them! For me, it would be too hard to work on them one at a time, I am a very slow stitcher and the progress to be made in a day, is minimal for me at best. So I decided to pick two from my list, and work on them for the month (hoping to finish some of them, although I know that there are some baps that are going to take more then one 'swipe'!) and the two I chose for the month of January are CHS Her Sampler:
This is what I managed to get done further on this piece. Although I hope to work more on her this weekend, and possibly get her finished! And let me tell you, I know she isn't large, not at all, not even for me, but the mistakes and subsequent frogging periods I have with this little sweet ditty has about thrown me over the edge! So when I do get her done, you will likely 'hear' my happy dance! I am stitching Her Sampler on 32 ct R&R something or other with the recommended DMC threads. Fun stitch!

....and LHN's Belle Pepper: 

I am halfway pleased with my progress on this sweety of a design, made even sweeter, by my personalization. This will be to honor my youngest granddaughter, Addison Rose. I will also put the year she was born (2010) in the area for a date. I am using 32 ct Pearled Barley (I think, one of my memory lapses of late, seems to be remembering the names of fabrics I have used. I used to be so on target with it, what is up with that?), with the recommended Crescent Colours and Gentle Art fibers, with the exception of two..I changed out the Straw Bonnet to Oatmeal GAST, so it would show up more and also changed the Mulberry GAST to Lancaster Red Weeks, since it is one of my favorite reds.

The rest of the time, I have been stash and stitch dreaming...thinking about all of the lovely projects that I really, really want to finish...some of the larger ones I have started, like Time and Season Sampler by MB, Mary Allen Sampler and Seven Days of Creation by Plum Street Samplers. Then the list that is ever-growing...might as well think about putting it in my sidebar of the blog, right...Ann Raynor, Mary Ann Hutton, Marianne Wenn (destined to be a birthday start next month), Chilvers, Hannah Lancaster (I must be out of my mind!), Villages of Hawk Run, Adam & Eve Sampler by the City Stitcher, Country House Sampler by the Sampler Company, etc. And the list goes on, these are just the BAPS on my mind! LOL

During all of that dreaming, I have been doing a bit of reorganization of stash, and started thinking of how much I have always wanted an antique drysink. There was/is room for one in my family room. I have had for some time two large Longaberger baskets in my family room full of wips, etc. The rest of my stash is all upstairs, in a couple closets and bins. Crazy, I know, but I thought if I could find a nice dry sink, that has at least a couple of drawers, and a cabinet, then I could switch out the storage downstairs! Novel idea, don't you think...well...this is what I came home with the other day:


Yep, an antique dry sink, in really great pristine condition, drawers intact and working and beautiful walnut finish in great shape! I love it!!!!! And I can't wait to fill it!!! I have put off doing that until tomorrow...Saturday is my one day, that I do spend the day stitching, stash diving-organizing and I do it guilt-free!!! My new Stash Keep is waiting....

I appreciate you getting to this point reading my ramblings...things are going great here and I hope they are in your neck of the woods as well! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave some sweet words for me to read, mean the world to me, they do!

Until my blogoversary in four days, stay warm and have some fun with those needles and projects!!!

Love, Jan














39 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

What a terrific find in the purchase of the dry sink! Good for you! Looking forward to seeing it filled up as well as a picture of those Longaberger baskets!

Enjoy the weekend!

Shari said...

both pieces look wonderful!!!! I love the personalization on Belle Pepper....that pattern 'talks' to me every time I see it!! Oh my!!!
wow, the dry sink will be great for stash!!! Enjoy your day tomorrow, filling it up!

the striped rose said...

The samplers are coming along nicely. I do quite a bit of "stitching in my head" too! ;)

Melissa said...

Jan, I love what you're stitching! Both are so lovely!

I know what you mean about the dreaming part of stashing. I have "big samplers" swimming in my head too! Not only the ones in my stash but they keep bringing out new ones! It's almost too much for my faint heart! ;-)

Happy Stitching!

valerie said...

Beautiful progress on your samplers! The dry sink is stunning too!

Mel said...

Your samplers are looking great.
And that drawer set is just beautiful! :)

Love to Stitch said...

Your progress pics are great- as long as you are stitching, that is all that matters. I love the list you have to work on-- they are some fabulous ones for sure. You new stash keep is great, looking forward to pics of stash in it!!!!!!!

Margaret said...

What a beautiful dry sink!!!!! Wow! I don't blame you for being anxious to fill it either. lol! Love your WIPs! And your list of samplers to stitch and finish is wonderful! Not sure if I was a follower or not. I should have been! I have the bad habit of putting blogs in my reader and not becoming a follower. lol!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

Oh, Jan! That dry sink is gorgeous! I love it and it is a perfect place to store your goodies! I love Her Sampler. I stitched that about a year ago, I think and have yet to get it framed. Thanks for the reminder! Your other start is looking great too and you really do have some BAPs on the horizon, don't you! I will really enjoy watching your progress and am looking forward to your birthday start of Marianne!

AshleyBeth said...

Oh mother! Just what you need, another place to stash stuff!! Can you hear my sarcasm?! Anywho! Love the Addison Rose piece :)

Susan said...

Oooh--organizing stash is the next best thing to stitching! Have fun putting it in that gorgeous dry sink!

Unknown said...

The dry sink is gorgeous. I so love antique furniture. Great progress on your pieces.

Deborah said...

Jan, your dry sink is gorgeous! Love both of your WIPs. Look forward to seeing how they turn out.

Peggy Lee said...

Beautiful stitching Jan! Love the drysink too. Can't wait to see your progress.

aprilmecheelesdulllife said...

Love the dry sink !!! Youe CHS & LHN looks great !! Hope you have a great day tomorrow .. stitching away !

Stephanie said...

What a find! Love the dry sink and what a great idea for its use! Great progress on your stitching. Can't believe it's been 2 years since you started your blog!! Where has the time gone??

Faye said...

Oh the crazy stuff that swirls in a stitchers head....we are all there!! I LOVE the dry sink...what a gorgeous piece of furniture and I cant think of anything better than to store organized stash in it.... You scored big with this find!!!

Take good care...brrr... Faye

Jackie's Stitches said...

Sometimes I dream of projects I'd like to do. Crazy but I think the swirl in the head is part of the fun!

How wonderful that you found such a great dry sink. It's going to be perfect!

Kathy said...

I love, love the dry sink! It is a great place to store stash.
Love your progress on Her Sampler and Belle Pepper.

Have fun filling the drysink with stash!

KarenV said...

Both your WIPs are beautiful! I loved stitching Her Sampler last year and I intend to stitch the LHN one at some point too. What a lovely idea to personalize it with your granddaughter's name :)

Love the dry sink too, great find!

Nan said...

The dry sink is absolutley gorgeous. What a great find.
Have fun filling it with your stash.
I love how you personalized Bell Pepper.
Happy Stitching!

Karyn said...

Oh, Jan, your WIPs are gorgeous! I am drooling over both your Her Sampler and Belle Pepper, the colors are gorgeous and the way the variations in the house came out is fabulous! I love your personalizing, Addison will have this to treasure forever :)

Your dry sink is fantastic, and I can just imagine all of the goodies that it can hold...wink wink. We do love our stash!

Happy almost Blogoversary, dear friend.

XOXO
Ma

Mary said...

I just love both of the samplers!

And, the dry sink is a fabulous find! I could spend hours/days organizing stash in it. That gives me about as much enjoyment as the actual stitching;)

Littlebit said...

Oh, Jan..I'm gushing over that dry sink!! It's absolutely beautiful beyone words!
Your CHS sampler and Belle Pepper are both so pretty! Love the personalization.
I hope you have the most wonderful weekend!

Anonymous said...

oh Jan! I love both of your samplers, I have just got Belle Pepper, but I am finiding it hard to find Her Sampler, this is one i have wanted to stitch for so long, it is absolutely beautiful and you are making a great job of it

your dry sink is gorgeous enjoy sorting your stash into it

Lynn said...

Beautiful WIP! I love how you've personalized the one for your granddaughter.
I seem to have a problem remembering details of my stitches so I've started marking them in a journal with the date started, designer, fabric, etc. It's really helped!
Love your drysink. What a great find!

Mary's Stitchin Time said...

Love the new addition to the family room, Jan! What a wonderful place to store your WIPs. I'll be cheering you on for a finish on "Her Sampler" this month! Both chosen pieces for this month's challenge are looking wonderful.

Robin said...

Her Sampler is lovely and the floss colors are just beautiful together. Much prettier than the picture on the pattern.

Your version of Belle Pepper is coming along nicely and what a perfect way to commemorate your granddaughter. I'm sure it will be one of her favorite treasures someday.

Congrats of finding such a beautifully preserved antique dry sink. Looks great in your home!

Natalia said...

Jan, you are brave to join the Crazy Challenge !!! I love your pieces in progress and your dry sink !! I can't wait to see all your stash there.
Thanks so much for your interest in my stitch wallets. I hope you will love them and enjoy them. On their way to you on Monday.. :-)

Sherry said...

So glad to see you post again! I love your WIPs and your list of future starts. The dry sink is wonderful! I would love one of those but have no room for anything else!

Katrina said...

I love that dry sink!!!! Gorgeous and your samplers are both sweet.

Brigitte said...

Oh Jan, stitch and stash dreaming is one thing that I do so often. Whenever I go through my magazines or my charts, or when I browse the various blogs, I see many things that I want to start stitching immediately. If I did it I would be drowning in UFOs, lol. And my dreams always contain lots and lots of BAPs.
Good luck with your stitching challenge. I love both the WIps you have pulled out. Her Sampler is one of my favourites by CHS.

Sherry :o) said...

The dry sink looks great! It should hold a lot too. What is the name of the sampler in your header ("This is the day the Lord has made") and the name of the designer.

Hope you had fun organizing and putting stash away in the dry sink.

Lois said...

Two lovely WIP's. I loved stitching Her Sampler last year so I'm looking forward to following your progress on this one. Love your new place for keeping stash!

Karoline said...

Both samplers are gorgeous & I love your new cabinet.

woolwoman said...

Your antique wash stand is so gorgeous Jan - I'm glad you saw a way to add it into your home. Love your "dream" list - wow some great samplers on that list and some of them are on my list too. I'm slow too so we'll just keep plugging along together - thanks for your comments on my blog - I know it's very hard to keep up with all of them and I appreciate hearing from you sweet friend - Melody

Siobhán said...

Oh my gosh, what a gorgeous find! I love your antique wash stand. What a great idea for storing your stash in it! I keep my stash upstairs but my WIPs are downstairs in project bags, hidden behind the loveseat. It gets pretty sloppy looking when I am working on multiple samplers, which is most of the time. I've also gotten into the (bad) habit of slinging my linen over the top of the love seat so I don't have to put it away. I'm waiting for my DH to fuss about that! LOL

Your WIPs are GORGEOUS!! Lovely progress. Remember slow and steady wins the race, and it's about the enjoyment of the process and not the end result. I know your granddaughter will treasure her sampler! Oh, and your list of BAP samplers that you want to start? ME TOO!! I am just trying to remember that I can only stitch on one thing at a time and can add more things in as I finish things. I hate being reasonable.

Stay warm!

Elizabeth MacGregor-Kirkcaldy said...

Loving your needleworkes in progress, Sugar... they are both coming along beautifully and I think Belle Pepper for Addison Rose is just gorgeous and such a sweet and lovely sampler to celebrate her birth! {Oh and it is Pearled Barley, Sugar!} You know I have both of them on my to stitch list! And I'm loving your list of waiting in the wings to start stitching Samplars... Ann Raynor should be there soon! :) I'm thinking if we cheer each other on we can finish a lot of our WIP's this year! :)

And you know I'm drooling over that dry sink and needing it here for my stash! It's lovely hun and such a wonderful find! As well as your other pretties...

And congratulations on your Blogoversary, my dear! Still haven't made up my mind on the other ~ as you can see... and I'm tired of thinking about it for now...

Blessings and Love you to the moon and back...
Lizzy
xox

TinaTx said...

That is beautiful! Looks like it might hold quite a bit of stash too! Hope you will show us another pic when you get it full. :)