MIA

.... this post is going to go on this blog and all of my SAL blogs, too.  You may have noticed that I have been MIA for a couple of weeks now and I am so sorry but I cannot see that changing for a while!  I am uberbusy at work setting up a important project before I go away on leave in a week or so.  At the same time, I am uberbusy at home, trying to get organised to go away for our big trip!

Something had to give, and I promise you, it has not been the stitching but it has been the blogging!  I cannot see that changing in the next week and a half before we go, unfortunately!

Where are we going, I hear you ask?  Well, TraderVic and I are off to Taiwan for DS1 and his wife's Taiwanese wedding - why have one wedding in a year when you can have two?  We attend the wedding then we will be travelling around Taiwan for a while then it is off to a lovely resort in Kota Kinabalu in Borneo for the rest and relaxation part of our holiday  and then Singapore - should be a lovely trip if I can get everything organised, that is!

So, you will not see me on any of the blogs, I do not think between now and mid to late January, I shouldn't think.  I will try to read blogs while I am away but not too sure how much blogging of my own I will get done!

If you are a Facebook friend, keep an eye on my feed if you would like to follow our travels.

Merry Christmas to you all, lots of blessings and a Happy New Year,

See you all next year,

lots and lots of hugs, Kaye

This is my Americana that I have been working on in October, along with numerous other items.  It still isn't done but needs to be by the end of November.

Sorry for the photo of the leaflet being so blurry.  I could not get it focused at all.  Since I took the photo, I have finished the A and the i in the piece.  Lots more to go before the end of the month.

Jackie

Americana Freezer....

See what I have in my freezer now?

 After a quick trip to the supermarket today, I found these Yum Yums!

I can't wait for dessert time!

I do have a new Americana start but I will show you next post.

How are all of your Americana projects going?

hugs, Kaye

An Americana Happy Dance ......

Hello fellow Americana Afficianados,

Well, I have a Happy Dance to share with you all... I finished Liberty Starburst...

Now, I did make one change, if you look at the original pattern:

you can see that there is a piece of blue felt blanket stitched in the centre - well, do you think I could find that piece of blue felt when I was ready for it?  No way, Jose!  Nowhere to be seen, so I improvised:

... and made up my own centre, which I am actually really happy with.  I hope that you all like it, too.

Now, of course, as soon as I wasn't looking for it, I found it! lol!

Anyway, I would like to offer the pattern plus the piece of blue felt to one of you as a gift.  Just comment on this post and in about a week's time, I will draw a winner.

Busy week for me ahead after a fabulously busy birthday weekend (which I hope to post about on my other blog, Kitten Stitching, some time this week), but I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

hugs, Kaye

progress

I was able to make a little progress on my sampler last week-end. But since I forgot my baggie of floss at my daughter's house and only have duplicates of a few colors not much will get done until I can get my floss. I took a picture with my new tablet but don't know how to get it on here.

Let Freedom Ring - September

I didn't have a lot of time to stitch on my Americana piece in September, because other obligations, etc. kept me from pulling it out until Tuesday evening, but I did get some more of the Statue of Liberty done.

Before:

After:

I'm going to continue working on it for the rest of the week, so I should be able to accomplish more in October.

Carmie's Update..

Hi everyone, 

Carmie has  again asked me to post a progress pic on her behalf as she is still in the process of entering the exciting new world of owning a tablet and hopes to be able to post pics herself soon.

This is the latest news on her tablet purchasing:

"Sun [day] I went to teach my grand daughter Jazmin how to make apple pies. She's the one helping me with the tablet. She has it narrowed down for me I should be picking one up next week-end if nothing comes up."

That is great news, Carmie.  Here is her previous progress pic...

Sampler from the cover of Cross Quick premier issue. Aug/Sept 1988, Carmie told me that she has been waiting a very long time to start this sampler!

... and here is her latest progress pic...

This is one very cute Americana design, Carmie.

hugs, Kaye

I have photos of an original design in the works (copyrighted by me) (bottom photo)  as well as somethings that I had finished this year (but stitched a while ago).  First photo is something that I stitched (and adapted) for my DAR chapter.  The next two photos were things for me and were finished items as flat folds.

Carmie's update...

Hi everyone, Carmie has asked me to post a progress pic on her behalf as she is in the process of entering the exciting new world of owning a tablet and hopes to be able to post pics herself soon.

Sampler from the cover of Cross Quick premier issue. Aug/Sept 1988, Carmie told me that she has been waiting a very long time to start this sampler!

Great progress so far, Carmie,

hugs, Kaye

Liberty Starburst....

Hi fellow Americana Afficianados,

I thought it was about time that I showed you my latest patriotic start...  .... It is called "Liberty Starburst" by Summer House stitche workes ...

While I am finding the fine count of linen a bit tricky to stitch on at times (I know, I know, I am being a wimp complaining about 32 ct linen when so many of you stitch on far higher counts but you must remember that I often stitch smalls like this on the train during my commute to and from work!) I am loving the way it is stitching up.  I am over three-quarters done and I hope to have it finished over next weekend.

Have a great week, everyone,

hugs,

Americana Sampler

Found my magazine with the sampler I wanted to do, yeah! Started it on the fabric I thought I wanted didn't care for it so now I'm on my 3rd start, LOL! They say the third time is the charm so I hope I like this fabric. It's not as dark as the one shown but I'm trying to work from my stash. Next week-end I will be at my daughter Erica's to babysit hope she can post some pics for me.
I was looking at tablets last night the salesperson said I could take pics and post with it. The pic one of my other daughters took last week-end never showed up in my e-mail. It was of my Santa.
Stitch on friends!

Hello friends,

I can't believe it myself but I actually pulled out one of the projects I want to stitch for this SAL and stitched on it. It's the America Sampler by Jean Farish. Meanwhile I looked it up in my stitching diary and it says that I last stitched on it back in 2005. That's quite a while, even for me, lol. And I completed five new states.

This SAL thing definitely seems to work :) And I just hope that the motivation lasts.

Happy stitching!

Let Freedom Ring - August Update

I started working on this on Thursday, August 27th and put it away today.  Here is where it was before I started:

And here it is now:

I finished the top half of the chart and started the bottom half on the left.  I figured out why I set it aside also; there are quite a few mistakes in it and I did a lot of frogging and/or fudging.  I still plan to finish it though.

July, Stars and Stripes and July

Hi Kaye.  I'm excited about this SAL.  Until about 15 years ago I only had heard of and bought kits. (Lots of them. lol)  When I started discovering just charts is when I really fell in love with the Americana stitching.  I am now the proud owner of several dozen charts and am looking forward to having an excuse to stitch them.  The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.

The first 2 were started a few years ago.

I just started this one the the SAL.

Linda

Stars and Stripes

One of my favorite designers is Ursula Michael; I love all of her quilt designs. I'm not very good at traditional sewing, so I don't know if I'll ever learn to quilt. For now, I'll content myself with stitching them! This is Stars and Stripes by Ursula Michael:

I've only just started on the border of the middle quilt, but I'm hoping for more progress by next month.

Happy Stitching!

Kate

American Santa...

... here is my Americana offering for August, American Santa.  This is a freebie from I don't know where stitched on what I think is 32 ct white linen using a variety of speciality threads, colours chosen by me.

I am quite pleased with him - he is going to make a cute ornie.

I am so thrilled that you are all enjoying this SAL - some beautiful stitching and designs have been posted so far.  Thank you for wanting to play with me, lovely stitchers.

hugs, 

Victorian Houses so far!-August15

Unfortunately I didn't work at all on this one. First I had gall bladder surgery. I also had other things to stitch on.
Then I realised I had to have a magnified photocopy of my pattern otherwise I cannot see what I stitch.
Another problem is that the kit says I should stitch with three threads which is strange as the fabric is small count. I stitched only the central line to see where I will be starting and I decided I won't continue with three threads but will go to two.

New to This Blog

   This is my first post to this blog and I want to thank Kaye for letting me join in the fun.  I have been stitching Americana for as long as I have been stitching and it is wonderful to be able to give it a place of its own.
  My 2 favorite pieces are ones I stitched for my husband for Christmas, thankfully not in the same year!  I stitched 272 Words by Primrose Needleworks one year,

and the following year I gave him One Nation by Bygone Stitches.

They are both now hanging together in our dining room.

   I currently have two pieces in my rotation that can be called Americana. This is my meager start on Old Glory by Rosewood Manor.

It has moved into the 'stitch group piece' spot since I've finished the piece that was in that spot and only gets worked on a couple of times a week. It won't be finished this year but maybe next.  The other piece I am working on is Liberty Inn by Plum Street Designs.

Again, still early days so not a lot to show.
  So there you have it.  Hope to have some good progress to show sometime soon!!

Laura
llknbillburg.blogspot.com

Good morning and a first hello.

It's great to be here. When I read about this new SAL blog first I didn't consider joining because I thought I had nothing to contribute to the theme. But then, suddenly, I remembered one of my oldest UFOs - Jean Farish's America Sampler. I can't even remember when I stitched on it the last time, I have to look it up in my stitching diary. Anyway, here is where I am.

The last state I stitched was Montana, and the next will be Nebraska.

And then I saw Ariadne's post with the Victorian houses. And I immediately thought of one of my projects for my Year of BAPs. It's the Gingerbread Mansion that you can find in Ferndale, California, and which is a design by Nancy Spruance.

I bought that chart many years ago and I think it qualifies for this SAL as well. I can't wait to start it.
Thank you, Kaye.

My first Americana project

I have several projects that qualify in my stash, but the first one I've chosen is a UFO that hasn't seen any attention for several years, but was in my pile of items to work on this year. 

It's Let Freedom Ring from Sunset.  This is the completed project.

And this is where I am now.  I'm almost finished with the top half, just a little more flag and the rest of the eagle.

Cathy
http://stitchinggrandmacathy@blogspot.com

Hello! (Edited)

I'm Shelly. I thought I would show what my first patriotic start is going to be. However, because I use an ipad, I can't post any pictures here. But! I have fixed the problem! I am able to post pics here through Picasa Web Albums. I have to take an extra step to do it but it's fast.

This is designed by Marly of Samplers and Santas and is called Sweet Liberty. All I have are the two top lines so not worth it to put up a picture just yet. Time goes by so fast that when the 4th of July comes around, I'm caught unaware with no patriotic stitching! Here's my chance to stitch up a lot! Thanks Kaye!

Victorian Houses

Hello everyone!
I am Ariadne from Greece!
I am so glad I am taking part in this SAL.
Thank you Kaye for organizing this!
My friend Marabeth from the States sends me cross stitch kits she finds in garage sales and thrift stores as we don't have any here because most craft stores have closed.
When she sent me this Bucilla one I was so happy although it looked rather complicated for me so I left it aside.
Since hubby and I visited the States last year I really wanted to stitch this one because we loved all those houses we saw in Connecticut and New England in general. And hope you consider it Americana.See the flag?
So this SAL is giving me the chance to try and stitch it.
This is the kit and I have so far washed the fabric and put the threads in a thread organiser!

Good luck to everyone!See you in the end of August when I will post my first stitched piece photo.

Welcome!

Welcome, welcome, welcome to what I hope will be a fabulous new blog.

The header says it all - join us each month for some Americana or Patriotic stitching - stitch as little or as much as you want.  Post progress pics and finishes as you go along. If you can't post one month - there is always next month!  This is a stress free SAL!

Please feel free to add our Badge to your blog, don't forget to add the link back to this blog.

Now, I promised you quizzes, competitions and giveaways.  So, I will kick it off with a little giveaway (not sure what yet, but it will be an Americana cross stitch design).  However, you have to work for it a little - just a little.

To be eligible to win the prize, you need to POST, sometime this month, showing a little bit of Americana and telling us a little bit about WHY  you love stitching Americana or Patriotic designs.  Easy, hey?

I will kick it off:

I love what I call Americana stitching or what is sometimes called by U.S. stitchers Patriotic stitching.  We just do not seem to have that same sort of genre of designs here in Australia.  I think my love of Americana began when I studied American history in Year 11, I still remember my textbook was called "From sea to shining sea".  Let's see, that would be forty years ago now - lol!  I learnt about the seven colonies, then the thirteen colonies and on it went - fascinating.

So, I found that I am drawn to stitching American designs, like Liberty Lane below:

Why do you love this type of stitching so much?

hugs,