Knock, knock?

Hello?  Is there anyone in there?  It's me, your long lost stitchy blogger.  I haven't been to your house (or more likely, your office) in quite a while, but I'm still alive.  I've just been horribly lazy.

I could say that I've been on a journey of self-discovery for the past few weeks.  I could prove it by saying:  Here's what I've learned about myself:  I'm horrible at keeping blog promises. If I promise I'm going to do something here, there are probably bookmakers in Las Vegas calculating the odds of my keeping that promise.  You should definitely bet against it.  For instance, posting every day about things I love in February?  Yeah.  You can see how wonderfully that turned out. I really must stop making these kinds of plans.

So I'll make one final promise.  And that is:  No more blog promises. 

Since my last post, I've had a finish!  And just in time for my birthday month, too.  I started this sampler last March, with the goal of finishing it by this March, so ta-dah!

Antique Sampler, by Eileen Bennett.  Stitched on ivory linen with DMC

And here are some of my favorite parts:

Love the over one saying, but pay no attention to my lame-o satin stitch border. 

Loved stitching the 4-sided stitch clover

And the 4 sided stitch that goes round the border.  I almost didn't stitch it, (lazy much?) but I thought about it harder and decided that the sampler needed it.

And next, we have the sampler that never ends.  I took this on the Villa Maria retreat recently....I was looking forward to three solid days of stitching on my horizon, and I am telling you the God's honest truth when I say that I used almost every minute of the retreat on this sampler alone.  Other than getting up for meals, a couple of brisk walks and some bathroom breaks, I dedicated my entire weekend to this sampler.  (Unlike others in this crew who brought 15 projects....just sayin')

Evidently I was having delusions of grandeur, because this is all I accomplished:

And mind now...The wreath part had already been stitched.  Maybe I shouldn't have slept all weekend.  But I'm getting quite close to the end...

I just have to make sure that I live long enough to finish this thing.  Like till I'm 100.

And finally, another buddy and I felt like we needed a quick alphabet fix, so Linda and I are cheering each other through a Stitchalong with LaDDa's ABCD chart.  I thought this would be a nice design for my first attempt with 40 ct. linen and.....OH, am I ever in big trouble.  I love this fabric way too much.  It's so sweet to work with, it feels downright unhealthy.  Here's my progress from last weekend.

40 ct. Exampler linen with Belle Soie Mer Blue silk.  I've died and gone to heaven....

 LInda is stitching hers in Belle Soie Red Fox.  It's going to be awesome.

Some friends went on a shopping trip today, gallivanting through Ohio to shop-hop after the recent needlework market.  I decided to stay home and devote the day to stitching stuff that I actually already have.  But Friday night I caved and called one of the ladies and begged her to be my personal shopper. Because....you know....I needed more stuff.

Are you all as hopeless as me?