Sunflower Inn Happy Dance

My newest finish is Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks. This piece seemed to take me forever, and I wasn't even distracted by my dh being home. It was an enjoyable stitch. I didn't use all of the recommended threads. Substituted Crescent Colour cottons for the three DMC listed and used a different fabric, Heritage Cashel. I really like how it came out.

I will admit to having a small problem with framing this piece. I got it all together, and was ready to put the paper on the back, and realized that I had missed two stitches--the ecru color between the house and the roof. I was so upset. Set about to fix the problem, with my son laughing hysterically in the background. Yes, I added those two stitches without taking the piece out of the frame. Can you spot my addition?

I seem to be on a roll with LHN designs, but there is a reason. For 18 years, the most prominant picture over our four poster bed has been an Alma Lynne bunny, dressed to look like a little girl. Okay, so that isn't the most masculine picture for a bedroom shared by two people. LOL. Dh said he didn't much mind what was hanging there, but I think he likes these LHN pieces better. So far, I've hung Sea to Shining Sea, Prairie Sampler, Holly and Berries (?) and now Sunflower Inn. I have Two White Houses in the works also. (only have most of one house done so far.) I know LHN has another chart with a house that's similar to Prairie Sampler, so I need to find out which one that is, and get that one going. I think that would fit into the collage.

A moment for a rant here. I did Sunflower Inn with two threads over two threads--and what is it about using two ply, strands, whatever, that really sucks? Somehow, I always ended up with one thread shorter than the other. I kept a close eye on my stitches, so I didn't have any uneven ones, but still. Does this happen to anyone else? Is there any way to keep it from happening? Between us, I prefer to stitch with one thread but it just doesn't cover well enough on 28 count, and it's barely sufficient for 32 count. (silk is a different matter, covers just fine on 32 count.) Oh, well, grin and bear it, right?

Here is the piece that I showed last time, all framed up. Acorn Hill. What do you think of the frame color? Too "out there"? Too bright? I tried dulling it down with a wash of green paint, but it doesn't show much.

On the home front, things are getting marginally better. He's running the miles and getting paid, but we have so much to pay back and it's taking a lot longer getting bills paid off than I had thought. I'm on a stash diet--well, not even diet as one eats on a diet. I'm in stash withdrawal, and will change that the second that I can. So many lovely charts out there, so many threads I'm running out of. I'm actually doing Two White Houses with the recommended DMC floss colors.

Life goes on, summer is approaching and with it, the dreaded heat. I've already spent a lot of time indoors with the air conditioning. Did spend one Sunday afternoon washing and waxing my car but it was a cool day, about 65 degrees. That's the kind of temps I enjoy. We have survived a severe storm with only a few downed tree limbs and short power outages. (Poor Boo, the thunder scared her so she stuck close to me.) And this stash withdrawal is causing me to dip into stored stash, and I'm finding things I didn't even remember I had--how cool is that?

Stitch on, dear friends, and thank you for all the comments you leave me. Your encouragement brings a smile to my lips and happy thoughts to my head. And a special thank you to all of you who keep your blogs updated on a regular basis, for I have interesting things to read. Until next time. . . .