Merry Christmas ....

Wishing all of my very dear bloggy/crafty/cross stitchy friends the very Merriest of Christmases and a safe and Happy New Year.

I would also like to thank you all for your friendship, support, advice, encouragement and kindnesses to me over the past year.  This Americana SAL blog,  fuels one of my many passions, and thus means a lot to me and while, posting on it has been erratic of late (as my Christmas stitching hotted up) it still gives me great pleasure to know that this blog has, just maybe, been of pleasure to you, too.

All the best for 2017 and I hope to see you all back on this SAL blog in January.

hugs, 

YaY! Finally remembered to post.....!!!!!!

Oh dear, you know, I stitch on something Americana nearly every Monday but do I remember to post - NO!  Silly me!

Anyway, I have a Happy Dance, I finished Summer Stitching by LHN.

Stitched on 28 ct Mocha linen using the CC threads in the kit.

In the spirt of transparency, I must tell you that I made a very big boo boo but I think that I overcame it okay.

If you look at the first picture and see where the little heart shape in red is on the ground, nearest to the house.  Well, the two blooms to either side are meant to be beside each other but I totally miscalculated, so I ended up with all of this blank space.  To rectify it, I added the extra heart-shaped bloom and two more bluebirds.  I must say, I am actually very happy with my slightly different finish.

What do you think?

hugs, Kaye

An Unexpected Finish

  I didn't intend to finish this piece until later in the summer.  But I picked it back up recently and couldn't put it down!  I finished it last night and I really love it!

36 ct. Lakeside V. Maple Sugar
w/ overdyed threads, mostly changed

This is Plum Street's Liberty Inn.  I changed a lot of the colors but tried to keep to  the spirit of the piece.

Hope you like it,  Laura

An Accidental Americana Stitch

I haven't stitched on my Americana project since last September, hence no posting here by me.  I do keep thinking of getting back to it and also of starting the America, Land that We Love sampler that Kaye's doing.

However, I stitched this square for the Travel theme for WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) and realized that it probably qualified as Americana.  I mean what's more American than the Statue of Liberty?

It's from an older Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.  It's the New York City Scape designed by Satsuma Street.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida with the called for DMC.  Since it was meant to be stitched on black Aida, I made a couple of changes to make the stitching show up better on the white.

Double the fun....

.... as I now have two Americana projects on the go...

Last evening for FNwF and Friday Frolics, I randomly chose this UFO,  the gorgeous Thirteen Colonies by LHN.  Now, I last stitched on this way back in January, 2012!!!!!! You can read all about it on my Kitten Stitching blog here.

Now, when I picked it up last night, the stitching was like this....

and now....

Yay! I finished the little grey house - although you may notice that I am frogging the browny colour on the right - I realised that I had used the wrong floss colour, all those years ago - aagghh!

I am certain that Thirteen Colonies was a gift from dear Gracie from Needles, pins and dragonflies and she generous gifted me not only the pattern but the fabric and the floss as well - thank you, dear Gracie.  So sorry to have neglected it for so long but it is back in the rotation now - please look for another update post on this next week on Kitten Stitching for Gifted Gorgeousness and I am going to add it to my 'Merica Monday rotation for this SAL blog to make sure that it does not get forgotten again.

(You can see what everyone else was doing for FNwF by clicking this link and check out the Friday Frolickers here, if you are interested.)

... and, of course, I am still stitching on America, Land that we love by Jean Farish.  I am currently stitching "Colorado".  For some reason, I am finding this block a bit of a struggle, not quite sure why!

Not sure that I am happy with the long stitching on the teepee poles or the colour - they look like they are on fire!

I think that I am going to change them - what do you all think?

See you all next time, 

hugs, Kaye

California dreaming .....

on a Winter's Autumn's Day...

California ....

State motto: Eureka (you gotta love that as a motto!)

31st State to join the Union - September 9th, 1850.

I now have FIVE states out of FIFTY stitched - 10% of the way there - yay!

... and, of course, stitching this State makes me think of the Mamas and the Papas....

California, a western U.S. state, stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific for nearly 900 miles. It's known for its dramatic terrain encompassing cliff-lined beaches, redwood forest, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland and the arid Mojave Desert. Its cities include sprawling Los Angeles, seat of the Hollywood entertainment industry, and hilly San Francisco, home to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Capital: Sacramento

Population: 38.8 million (2014) (which makes it the most populous state)

Another stunning State - I am so enjoying writing these posts on each state - it so makes me want to go back there on another trip.

That's all for now, 

hugs, Kaye

Progress

Finally dug it out again! Made some progress. Had to finish my part on a crazy quilt RR. So I didn't get to stitch on it as much as I'd have liked to. Maybe I can work on it some more this next week-end.

Arizona and Arkansas....

 I am making some good progress on my American Sampler now, America, Land that we love, I have now finished four states - only 46 to go!

Arizona ....

State motto:  Ditat Deus (God enriches)

48th State to join the Union - February 14, 1912 (last of the contiguous (on the one land mass) states to join)

Isn't the scenery amazing?  The Grand Canyon is definitely on my travel list.

Arkansas ...

State Motto:  Regnant Populus (the people rule)

25th state to join the union  - June 15, 1836

Arkansas is a southeastern U.S. state bordering the Mississippi River. It's known for its abundant parkland and recreational areas, with terrain encompassing mountains, caves, rivers and hot springs. The rugged Ozarks region in its northwest has hiking trails and limestone caves such as Blanchard Springs Caverns. Its capital, Little Rock, hosts the Clinton Presidential Center, housing Bill Clinton’s presidential archives and exhibits.

Capital: Little Rock

Colleges and Universities: University of Arkansas, more

Neighbouring states: Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma,Louisiana, Mississippi

Arkansas is a beautiful state, too. Just gorgeous.

... and here is the entire sampler so far.

As you can see, the California block is started as well - yay!

Well, that's all for me for now, 

hugs, Kaye