Faithfully Stitching: The Blackwork Stitch Along

First Stitch 01/19/23

Last Stitch 07/11/23

I had decided to stitch one of the borders that they provided but after I stitched two sides of this one I just couldn't get passed how the corners looked. Each corner is designed like this and I felt that the corners do not end in a "perfect" rounding so I ripped it out and made this simple border based on their border which I like much better. Now I need to find some fabric to make this into a pillow, so I will have to find some time to go thru my fabric stash to see what I have and get to the sewing machine.

Once I finished that it was time for my Christmas In July stitching. So I searched for a chart I liked and one that looked kind of simple. So over to Etsy I shall go! LOL I found a bunch of ornaments but decided I wanted it to be all whole stitches so I could work them on plastic canvas - that makes for easy stitching and easier finishing!

This is the design I decided on in the end.

Christmas Mini Ornaments

Shope By Maria

I think they are both cute and whimsical!

So this is my start on the Penguin, my first ornament.

Progress 07/15/23

So that is all for the week; one finish and one new start.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I am up to,

see you next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, July 09, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 07/09/23

Hello everyone! This week I haven't felt much like stitching so while I have still stitched everyday it really wasn't a lot. I think all the confetti stitching may have turned me off this week. I guess sometimes these kind of weeks just happen but I hope to have a better week next week.

Anyways... I did manage to get some stitching in so here it is.

First up is the SAL!

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Designers - Rhona and Eirinn Norrie

Week 27
Progress 07/03/23

Technically it is finished since we have reached week 27. People were asking the designer for a border so there will be some borders available tomorrow and I am sure I will find one I like and will add it to the sampler.

Then it was time for the Dinosaurs and I have already told you about the dread I felt with it this week,

Dinosaurs

Artist - Stephen Michael Gardner

Progress 07/09/23

I hope his week in August will be better!

There is really nothing else happening here. We are just sitting here waiting for the rain that the weather people keep predicting that never seems to show up. So that is it for this week!

Well thank you for stopping by and

I hope to see you again next week!

Sunday, July 02, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 07/02/23

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Here in Arizona we are experiencing some pretty hot temperatures so the streets are deserted because everyone is staying inside in the AC and I can't say I blame them one little bit!

I stayed in all week and just vegged out doing as little as possible aka stitching as much as I can.

I am happy to say that on Monday morning the website for The Blackwork SAL was up and running again! YAY So that was the first thing I stitched this week.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Weeks 25 & 26

Designers - Rhona and Eirinn Norrie

Progress 06/26/23

Tomorrow should be the last release for this piece.
I am going to miss the weekly updates!|

Then I went on to work on the backstitch on Boo Banner. I did finish most of the cross stitch but I left the last few rows undone so that I will be able to combine both pages together.

Boo Banner

Stoney Creek

Progress 07/02/23

After I finished the backstitch I started on the second page.

Tomorrow is the first Monday of the month so that means it is Dinosaur week! So I will be getting that chart out for a week's worth of stitching. After that, since this is July I will start a few Christmas ornaments. This year I am keeping them on the smaller side for a change!

Well that is all I have for this week!
Hope to see you again next week.

Sunday, June 18, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 06/18/23

Happy Sunday Everyone!

This week I have a quick post for you showing the two pieces I worked on.

So first I want to show you the SAL.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Artists - Rhona and Eirinn Norrie

Northern Expressions Needlework

Week 24
Progress 06/12/23
@Tangled.Threads.And.Things

And then I also worked on this older WIP

Shades of Gold

Designer - Nicole Dostal

Progress 06/18/23

Nothing else is happening around here so that is it for the week!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

see you next week with another faithful update!

Now I'm off to spin the wheel to see what I
should take out of the WIP Box for next week.

Sunday, June 11, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 06/11/23

Welcome Everyone! How are you doing this week?

This week was Dinosaur week so let's start with that one. This is a before and after shot of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and his big scary teeth.

Dinosaurs

Artist - Stephen Michael Gardner

Progress 06/10/23

I am pretty darn tired of all the crazy confetti stitches but I see that there are some big areas of the same color coming up... thank goodness! So that is something for me to look forward to that next month. Of course I also worked on the weekly release of The Blackwork Stitch Along!

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Rhona and Eirinn Norrie

Progress 06/11/23

Well nothing else exciting happened this week except that we are having some beautiful hot weather while we wait for monsoon season. The Fire Department has been handing out bags of sand to home owners to help prevent their homes from flooding. Thankfully our home does NOT flood (knock on wood) though our street floods some because we do not have a sewer system here. Instead the water has to flow down to the wash to clear our streets. It is pretty fast moving so we have no real problems.

So I guess that is a wrap on another week!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

see you next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, June 04, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 06/04/23

Hi Friends! I hope all of you are doing well and that your weather is warming up some! We have been warming up and are in the 80s and 90s. In a few weeks we will be in the 100s which is not my very favorite weather but it is up there in the top five and it sure beats being cold!

This week I have stitched on a couple of different pieces and here they are!

First up of course is

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Designers - Rhona and Eirinn Norrie

Week 21
Progress 05/29/23

@Tangled.Threads.And.Things

And then because I wanted to finish this square I also continued on

Marmalade

Designer - Carolyn Manning

CM Designs

Progress 06/04/23

The square is a finish, just in time for Dinosaur Week!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by,

have a great week and I hope you'll stop

by then to see another faithful update!

Sunday, May 28, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 05/28/23

Hello Everyone! This week I returned Nintendo to the WIP box and then I spun the wheel so I could pull a new WIP out of the box. The wheel landed on Marmalade! It is a design by Carolyn Manning of CM Designs and I love her designs but quite honestly a lot of them are all starting to look alike with the only difference being the colors. Not that that will stop me from stitching them!! So here it is...

Marmalade

Designer - Carolyn Manning

CM Designs

This is how it looked when I pulled it out of the WIP Box
Progress 06/23/22

And here it is now

Progress 05/27/23

I will keep it out again this week since this square is not quite finished yet.

The Blackwork Stitch Along
Designers - Rhona and Eirinn Norrie
Tangled Threads and Things

Progress 05/28/23
@Tangled.Threads.And.Things

And that is it for the week except for a couple of celebrations we had recently!

First up; Jacob (my Grandson) received his second Culinary Certificate!

He thought he might want to be a Chef but has since changed his mind and only wants to do home cooking which is fine with us! He hasn't mapped out his future yet but when you are 17 it is generally hard to decide on the rest of your life and he has plenty of time to decide. For now all he wants to do is work and have a good time.

Next up, we had an awesome celebration!
Jacob's High School Graduation!!

Here he is in the processional.
There were approximately 750 students graduating with him.

And here he is with his diploma!

He was extremely happy to have received it.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out what I have been up to.

Have a great week and I will see you next Sunday!

Sunday, May 21, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 05/21/23

Hi there everyone! I hope this finds you happily stitching away on project.

Last week we had power outage (a little Mother's Day gift from the electric company?) so I didn't get to post on Sunday. Then Monday came along and I got into my regular weekly stuff and then I forgot. Anyways, I have been busy stitching and even did a little sewing.

First up is the weekly releases of the Blackwork chart.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 05/16/23
Weeks 19 & 20
#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

So next, do you remember all those weeks ago before I started Batman I spun the Tiny Decisions wheel and landed on Nintendo? I finally got to pull out Nintendo two weeks ago and the next square was Donkey Kong!

Nintendo

Armada Designs

Progress 05/20/23

I am happy to report that Donkey Kong is finished! So when I finished that it was sewing time! I am not a great seamstress by any means but I can make a pillow without any problems!

So I thought maybe I should make some pillows instead of framing Batman. I mean, who doesn't like a pillow right? So I got busy and went shopping to find some backing fabric. Then I set out to make a pillow out of Batman for Matt's birthday.

Batman

Fully Finished 05/20/23

So after I made Batman into a pillow I still had a bunch of fabric leftover that I'll probably never use so I ended making him a set of pillows for either his bed or his chair; which ever he prefers. I gave them to him today and he liked them, so thankfully they were a success!

Now it is time to work on another piece so I just spun the wheel and it landed on a piece called Marmalade from CM Designs.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

see you next week with another faithful update!

I'm off to stitch now!

Sunday, May 07, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 05/07/23

Evening Everyone! I hope that you had a wonderful week.

We have been enjoying warmer days full of sunshine here in Arizona, just the way I like it! I have been busy stitching away so let's get to it.

Dinosaur week was supposed to start on Monday of this week but I pushed it back a few days so that I could finish up Batman.

Batman

I decided to stitch part of it in DMC's Glow in the Dark
floss and now it looks like he is shining his Bat Signal!

Finished 05/02/23

I think I will see about making it into a pillow for his chair.

Then on Wednesday I finally got to Dinosaurs. There was not much progress put in on it this week because it had a short week of four days instead of six; but progress is progress.

Dinosaurs

Artist - Stephen Michael Gardner

Progress 05/07/23

Saturdays are for blackwork stitching.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 05/06/23

Week 18

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

And that is it for this week's stitching!

Now before I started Batman I had spun the project wheel to decide on the next piece and it landed on Nintendo. So tomorrow that is the piece I will pick up for the week.

Sorry this turned out to be so long!

Thanks for taking a peek at my stitching

see ya next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, April 30, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 04/30/23

Well here we are... another Sunday post and it is also the end of the month.

Just a quick post today so I can get back to my Batman stitching and the new episodes they recently added of Firefly Lane. I loved the book by Kristin Hannah and the series isn't bad either.

I am still stitching The Blackwork SAL and I just love it! There are ten weeks left on this piece and then I think I may have to find another blackwork piece to take it's place. I have many in my 'collection' so I will just need to narrow it down to one; which may be hard!

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 04/29/23

Week 17

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

Next up is Batman. I really wanted it finished by the end of April but I missed that deadline. It looks like it can be finished before the end of the week, but I am always optimistic about finishing my stitching. Though this is not to bad for three weeks.

Batman

Progress 04/30/23

Well thanks a bunch for stopping by,
I always appreciate it and your comments.
I hope to see you next week for another update.

Sunday, April 23, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 04/23/23

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We are having beautiful weather here in my part of Arizona. I know that some of the northern and eastern states are still having horrible weather. My friends in Illinois had snow and tornados this past week. Seems like winter should be long gone but I feel that Mother Nature has lost her way this year. I hope the snow will stop soon for all who are still getting dumped on.

Well, this week I stitched up the next section of the blackwork piece.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 04/22/23

Week 16

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

It is coming along nicely and I love it!

I am also continuing with the stitch on Batman. I finally got all the outlines finished and now I just have to fill in the areas. I like how they put a bat into his cape.

Batman

Progress 04/23/23

I think I should be finished with Batman soon so I can frame it up for Matt.

Well that is it for this week!

Thanks for taking a peek at my stitching

see ya next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, April 16, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 04/16/23

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I know I made some stitching plans last week but I am sad to say... I already deviated from the plan! I spun the wheel and it landed on Nintendo so I gathered all my supplies and sat in my stitching space to read my email first. As I was going through my email I saw this new to me designer, Tango Stitch mentioned so I had to go look. While I was there I spotted a Batman piece and while I am trying to watch my budget, I seen that it is a freebie! A freebie, how can I say no? Matt (my son) collects Batman memorabilia so I knew I just had to do it for his birthday next month. So I moved Nintendo to the side and started Batman.

Batman

This is how it will look.

and this is how it looks now!
Progress 04/16/23

So after I finish Batman I plan to go back to Nintendo. I also worked on my blackwork piece this week.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 04/15/23

Week 15

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

Well that wraps up this week so I am going to get back to my stitching now!

Thanks so much for stopping by and

I hope you'll stop by again next week.

Sunday, April 09, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 04/09/23

Welcome Everyone!

I hope you are all doing great. This week our temperatures FINALLY reached the 70s and 80s which means spring has arrived to my city. I thought it would never get here!

Last week I stitched the same two projects that I have been stitching for the past month. Here is the progress on the SAL piece.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Progress 04/08/23

Week 14

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

Now I am left to wonder what the next section will look like...

Will it be a row of leaves like the other rectangle? For some reason I don't think so, I think they will go in the long rectangle on the bottom. So what will it be? Will it be flowers to compliment the leaves? Or will it be a pattern like the ones around it? Tomorrow's release will tell but in the mean time it is anticipation time...

I also continued to work on the Dinosaur piece. This was my one week for the current month to work on it. Tonight it will go away until it gets a week out in May.

Dinosaurs

Progress 04/08/23

I worked feverishly on this piece so I could get this section finished before I put it away. I now have seven pages of 20 finished which is 41%.

Now I am off to spin the Tiny Decisions wheel to see what WIP I should stitch next. I like using this app because it steers me away from only stitching my "favorite" WIPs. So comeback next week and see what the wheel picked for me!

Until then, thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Sunday, April 02, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 04/02/23

Hello Everyone! I hope that you are having a wonderful day.

I have been working on Dinosaurs and have made some progress. I feel that I will NEVER make enough progress on this piece though and I will be working on it forever and then some. So here is this week's progress.

Dinosaurs

Progress 03/31/23

So that wraps up the March group event, Monogamous March. I am so glad that I participated in it since it helped me to stitch on this incredibly old WIP! Otherwise, it might still be sitting untouched at the back of the WIP box.

I also stitched up the weekly release of the stitch along.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Tangled Threads and Things
Week 13

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

Progress 04/01/23

We are right about at the halfway point of the SAL since there are 27 sections. I wish I had used a darker color thread on this fabric. This fabric (I don't know where it came from) is kind of stretchy and I don't really like that either because I feel that the patterns are not as clear as they could be. But hey, you live, stitch and learn.

So as I mentioned above Monogamous March is over and done with! Now Cindy (the group's admin) has created an event for April! It will be called All One April which will follow the same concept as the March event. So, I have decided that I am going to participate but of course I have to make some exceptions to the rules!

The first change I am making concerns Dinosaurs. I will continue working on this piece for one week each month (probably into eternity). I will start on the first Monday (my start day for each week) of the month so that I can continue making at least a little progress.

The other change is that every Saturday I will stitch the new release for The Blackwork Stitch Along so that I can keep up with it.

Of course, I will also spin the wheel to see which WIP I should release from captivity for the month!

And that is the plan, for now anyways! I hope that I can stick to the plan.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading this extra long post.

I felt that if I put it in writing that I might actually stick to the plan.

I hope to see you next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, March 26, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 03/26/23

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I wanted to say Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes. Thankfully, I feel much better now! Now if we could just welcome spring and get rid of the cold weather we will be doing great!

Since it is still March this week I continued working Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs

Progress 03/24/23

And I also added Week 12 to the blackwork piece.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Tangled Threads and Things
Week 12

Progress 03/25/23

And that is it for this week's stitching!

Now I have to figure out next week's stitching. Now the group I am in is planning on doing Monogamous April but I feel like stitching something else for a while and then coming back to this later. Decisions, decisions... what shall it be.

There is nothing else exciting happening around here so I guess that is it all together for this week.

So thanks for stopping by,

hope to see you again next week!

Sunday, March 19, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 03/19/23

Hi everybody. I have just a very quick post today because I have not been feeling to well since yesterday. I think I must have the stinking stomach flu and it is not to fun!

This week I continued to work on both Dinosaurs and The Blackwork SAL.

This week the first one up is Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs

Progress 03/17/23

and may I say I do not like confetti stitches at all!!

As I mentioned above, I also worked on my blackwork piece.

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Week 11

Progress 03/17/23
#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

I also finished up all the borders.

Well that is all for today!

Thanks for stopping by to see this week's progress.
I hope to see you again next week for my next update!

Sunday, March 12, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 03/12/23

Afternoon All, how are you doing today? I hope it is well.

We are doing great over here and our temps are finally back up into the 70s; thankfully! This week I picked a neglected WIP out of "The Box" to work on. I also work on The Blackwork Stitch Along.

So that makes the first one up

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Tangled Threads and Things
Week 10

Progress 03/07/23

#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

Then for Monogamous March my WIP Pick was Dinosaurs! I'll bet you guys didn't see that one coming did you?? This is my second oldest WIP that was started in 2012. The first oldest is a kit of Christmas ornaments from 2004!! The chart for the ornaments is not in with the kit so I need to see if I can find where ever I stuck it so I can pull that out too.

Dinosaurs

This was my starting point

and this is my progress 03/12/23

So that wraps up this week's stitching!

Well thanks for seeing what I stitched over the past week.
I hope to be back next Sunday with more progress on both of these.

Sunday, March 05, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 03/05/23

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I hope your week was a great one. Mine was pretty good. Our weather has been warming up for the weekends and during the week it is chilly and rainy. I hope that with the arrival of spring it will be warm all week and we should start having more daylight hours too. What kind of weather are you having?

This week found me stitching the week nine section of

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Northern Expressions Needlework

Progress 02/28/23
#TheBlackworkStitchAlong

This is now a third of the way stitched!

Then I continued to stitch

Shades of Gold

Progress 03/05/23

I will be bringing out another WIP for the remainder of March as I am participating in Monogamous March with one of my Facebook groups.

Well, this week I did not make it to cleaning up my WIP Box like I planned. I started it and then I needed to move somethings around in my closet and ended up cleaning out my closet instead. Seems like there are always things to clean out of a closet! I packed up some stuff for the next donation pickup and got rid of some other stuff. I hope to do the WIP Box soon so I can kit up a bunch of stuff. For now, I am off to stitch a little more.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by,

see you next week with another faithful update!

Sunday, February 26, 2023

My Sunday Stitchy Update 02/26/23

Hello Friends!

First of all I would like to thank those who wished me well last week when I wasn't feeling that good. I think the combination of the constantly changing weather and the lack of sleep finally did me in. I took a couple of ibuprofens and managed to get in a decent nights sleep and it did the trick and I felt much better the next day. Thank you once again.

I hope you are having a great day today! We have been enjoying a lazy weekend catching up and cleaning off the recordings on TV. They really do accumulate faster than you can watch them every week and so they pile up like so many other things. One good thing is that I can't see this pile of stuff unless I look for it specifically.

This week (during The Bachelor) I stitched the next section of

The Blackwork Stitch Along

Rhona and Eirinn Norrie