Sunday Stitching, Sunshine and a Savings of Sorts.

Sunday stitching and sunshine a great way to start the week.  Spring is in the air though for many not in the weather.
The dreaded Daylight Savings time has us springing forward one hour, I know longer set  my clocks before I go to bed it really doesn't make a difference I don't set an alarm, I am usually awake before daylight peeks through the curtains and really what's going to happen are the timekeeper police going to ticket me for failing to set my clocks ahead at 2:00 a.m.   Though Maxine says it all

I don't mind the change at all, in fact I welcome the later daylight hours in the evenings, I'm already drink my coffee in the darkness of early morning.

Spring is in the air so I thought a little pastel stitching would be a nice change from the greens of the greenman piece. The sampler pattern was traced onto my fabric yesterday afternoon it was a free Bronwyn Hayes pattern from several years back offered on the Red Brolly web-site due to her illness is no longer available.

I began stitching it this morning while sipping coffee and watching the sun come up, though right now the colors are so pastel just white and brown.

I have several of the Bronwyn Hayes patterns from years back when I was a member of her newsletter via her web-site.  I have a few of her patterns and a book or two. While clearing out some clutter a few days ago I came across a CD of old patterns that I copied to disk when I upgraded my computer after I moved here in 2011. Side note: I have replaced my computer two or three times since, out of necessity to read as computer crashed and once when an unwitting friend set an email with a rather nasty virus. 

I was surprised at all the patterns I came across and also surprised that many of those websites and blogs are gone or haven't been updated in years a few of the bloggers did go on to create Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages.

I also traced a Crab Apple Hill Studio design to begin stitching this week The Queen of the Needle

I just love the sweetness of Meg Hawkey's designs and to my pleasant surprise I have a set of tea cup patterns from 2004 which I believe I purchased at a quilt show about 5 years ago.

I have quite a few Crab Apple Hill patterns, it's about time I get some of them traced onto fabric so I can start stitching them.   I have quite of few garden related patterns by several designers including Barb Smith aka Theodora Cleaves, Gail Pan, Kathy Schmitz, Bird Brain Designs.  It may be time to weed out a few of these patterns so sit down and trace every one of them onto fabric and just stitch a way. 
Well time will tell in the meantime I'm linking to Kathy's Quilts today for some Slow Sunday Stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/03/slow-sunday-stitching-finished-middling.html

Slow Sunday Stiching, something old and something new

I hope 2016 started off well for each of you and the rest of the year only getting better with each day. I began my new year with a hike on a new trail in the Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area, the Chornobyl trail. One of my goals this year is to hike a new trail every month so January 1^st I did my first new trail, more detail about this goal for the new year on another post.

Its the first Sunday of the new year and I want to link up on Kathy's Quilts for a year of Slow Sunday Stitching. Here's the link http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/ give it a click if you would like to see what other bloggers are hand stitching.

First I have begun the hand embroidery on block four of the Hocuspocusville Quilt, a sweet pattern by Crab-Apple Hill studio. I hove more of the blocked stitched but didn't snap a photo.

Yesterday I put this cute little free pattern from Crab-apple Hill on my light box to trace, today if I can find the time I will do some crayon tinting.

I also plan to get the hand embroidery started on this piece, it's the first time I am using this  Stick-n-Washaway product, I love the ease of putting it through my printer I just hope stitching through it won't be too difficult.

I have a few other projects lined up for January, once again this year one of my goals will is to be more creative or create more which worked out so well last year. This year I want to focus more on using from my stash, attending more classes and meetings to further my creativity. 

Here is the cover page photo of the witch with the snowman pattern, the actual pattern is here on the website:  http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/media/wysiwyg/SalemSnowman.pdf