A Neighborhood of Lighthouses!

After much debate and many reviews of potential plans, building sites and landscaping options, a decision has been made! Yes, my project will begin late, but I'm okay with that. :-)

My grandmother loves lighthouses and collects/displays/uses them in any form or fashion, from figurines right down to dishes & curtains.

I have decided to take my still-growing collection of charts from Treetrunk Designs, pull out the motifs for certain lighthouses and recombine them into a neighborhood!

The neighborhood will focus on the lighthouses from areas which have significance to my grandmother, which in turn will help to keep it from growing too large.

I'm so excited to finally have a concrete (no pun intended) idea of what I want and how I want to do it...yay!!!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!! I took a little blogging break during the holidays. We went to Florida for 10 days...it was so nice and warm!! Then we came home to snow and cold...no fun!! I wanna go back...LOL. I did some stitching while we were away. I did get some more of my border done and I will post a picture soon. I am so excited to see everyones neighborhoods so far. I'll be back soon.

Shannon in PA

A New Year and a New Neighborhood

Happy New Year to all! Groundbreaking begins this evening on my historical neighborhood. I had planned to start stitching last night, but my plans changed a bit when I realized my neighborhood was going to be way too big for the frame I had purchased earlier in the year. Nothing like backwards planning there! When I purchased the frame with a 21" x 24" opening, I didn't have a specific project in mind, but when the MMIRR came along, I thought "perfect!"

What I've decided to do, instead, is to finish and frame each of my homes and lots, so I'll end up with a mobile community for a wall area. I'm still interested in doing a larger piece, but that's going to take a lot more planning on my part! Plus, I want to be able to frame and live with the end result. I've decided on a pragmatic approach for now.

That said, please meet the first residents: the local clergy and his dog, his first parishioner from a neighboring home, and another neighbor's cow.

This scene is from a 1794 sampler by 10-year old Jenny Bean. The chart is available from The Scarlet Letter.

Here's a look at the construction materials:

More information and another picture is available on my site: Stitch 'N Time. History lessons begin soon!

I fired my architect and drew up new plans

Last night, my architect and I had a major discussion on the "village". The architect's building plans were quite extensive and very detailed. It would have been a lovely little town but one that I felt was too extensive for me and the vision I held for the project. Last night, I sat to stitch but wasn't feeling the love. It felt like a chore. I put a few stitches into the ground but it was stiff and hard to manage. It's a very large parcel of fabric and it wouldn't behave itself. I realized that I hadn't even worked on the town's boundaries since I signed the agreement to build. It made me sad. I stitched on Beatrix instead and watched the New Year come in. In my heart, I knew the town would never get built. It would end up a ghost town, abandoned and unfinished.

Today, I woke up bright and early, a little down because I couldn't break ground. I decided to put some of my stash away cause I've decided only to have the projects that I am currently working on within eyesight so that I wouldn't get distracted by other things. While I was putting patterns away, I came across an idea that I had a few years ago. I got excited! This could actually work! So, I went stash diving and I came up with this...I am going to build a Ewe and I and Friends village. I have so many lovely E&E&F patterns and I love their designs so it's perfect! It will only have 7 houses built in a rectangle. There will be a central house (Ohio Sampler) and the other 6 houses will surround it. One at the top (Rose House) and bottom (Small Sampler #2) and 2 houses on each side (Left side = Rosevine & Willow & Small Sampler #5 and Right Side= Small Sampler #8 and Red House Sampler) . There will be an area to stitch little motifs, sayings, initials, urns and whatever I decide. I know it's hard to describe so when I get the border and some of the house stitched, I will show you.

I will be purchasing a new piece of ground too. Something less hard and stiff. Maybe Lakeside or Belfast. I'm thinking 36 count.

I will be watching everyone's progress. I am very happy and excited to lay the foundation for my town.

Happy New Year!

Construction Has Begun

I started my Halloween Village last night, New Year's Eve, so I'm well underway with my building plan!

I can't wait to watch everyone's progress this year. Good luck, and happy stitching!

A little bit delay

Constructing plans are almost ready, ground is purchased, building materials are ordered, but it's freezing cold out here and the ground is frozen, so the real work is a little bit delayed. Next week, when all materials arrive, I hope to dig the first hole. It's going to be a big, big town, so I spent a lot of time achieving charts. It will be a mix of PS (spring, summer, autumn, winter), LHN (several houses and shops), a real Dutch landscape with small churches and farms, and some buildings of my own hometown (the cityhall and the railwaystation).

Building has started

Happy New Year to all my fellow builders. May this year be filled with much joy and good health for all of you as we embark on this wonderful building journey (thank you Vonna).

I was fortunate enough to receive building plans last year from my friend Mary who didn't want/need them any longer. Since the architectural plans had already been approved by city hall I purchased the land (28 ct overdyed bluebell jobelan) and checked my store of building materials to see what was in stock and what needed to be ordered. The order was placed in November and the remainder of the materials should arrive shortly.

The beige building you see next to the church had originally been sold to a couple who were going to make it into a toy store. However, they decided to move to warmer climes and sold the building to a cross stitching diva. City Hall said that a stitching shop is actually a toy shop so no changes needed to be made in the building license.

The combination of this wonderful winterland pattern and the bluebell jobelan reminds me of winters during my childhood in Thunder Bay, Ontario - the sun shining down from a brilliant blue sky on endless snow. For me this project is going to be a journey down memory lane.

a little bit behind ...

I'm a little bit behind with my construction. But at least I have made up my mind what kind of village I want to make. My village will be called Pairie Schooler Village (not really creative, this name, lol) and I have already chosen the buildings that will be part of my village. What I still have to do before starting the construction is planning where to build what. I will let you know about the details when I'm done with the plan.

Brigitte

:(((

I am without a phone and internet since 15 December 2008 and I do not know when Alice/AOL will ever get moving, grrrrrrrr. As soon as I am connected to the world again I can show what I start today. I still have to work till 16:30 hrs and as soon as I get home I will start my neighborhood.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you and your families!

Today IS THE DAY!

For everyone to get started!
Please post your starts when you get a chance :o)
I will be posting mine as soon as I get some stitched.
May you all have a Happy New Year 2009!
~Vonna

Country Cottages and Garden Town

Is everyone getting ready for their groundbreakings? I am. I located my land yesterday and got it ready for construction to begin on the 31st. I also pulled out the construction materials for the 1st house in my town. I decided to start with a smaller building since I have other obligations over the next month or so.

I can't wait to follow everyone's progress. Anxiously awaiting the 31st!

Susan

Chessie and Me Town

I've been gathering construction materials for my town and the last order arrived yesterday. I was afraid it had been lost in the mail but I guess "priority mail" at Christmas time means 3 or 4 weeks not days.

Like Vonna I am going to work on something I didn't follow through on last year. It's a number of houses with cats from Chessie & Me to create a town. I used to have a cat named Chessie which is what got me started collecting these designs. I had initially started a smaller town and cut the fabric for it but now I may have enough to stitch a larger town. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to finish the first part and if I have enough patterns and ambition I'll stitch a second panel.

Chris

Extra! Extra! Read all about it.....

Sad news to report. Apparently, the deed can not be obtained clear for the Tissue Box Village I had planned. It appears one of the heirs, Sneezy McCough, refuses to part with his part of the Tissue Box, which sadly means there can be no purchase and therefore no Tissue Box Village.

On a much brighter note…I was able to obtain a few parcels of land here and there, scattered throughout. Oddly enough, when you look at the parcels of land on a surveyors map…they form the shape of a Christmas Tree. Now don’t get a head of me here…but I had a great idea.

Seeing how my lovely tree this year mostly had my crocheted ornaments on it and only one cross stitch ornament that I made in the 80’s (ok, I feel ancient now) ….Yep….Good News….We now have the go ahead to create an Ornament Village.

Exactly what is an Ornament Village? So glad you asked. It happens to be ornaments that have a house or a barn, or a church on them. They will all be cross stitched…and no, not sure about how many yet. Granted 12 months is quite a while to create said village…but when you stitch at the speed of cold molasses, well it becomes a little more challenging. :)

Ok, so that’s the deal. No Tissue Box Village….Yes, to the Ornament Village.

Happy New Year to everyone…and in a few more days….Happy Stitching. :)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Geez, those medieval urban planners sure are slow. (teehee)My little towne is centered around a Camelot Designs' castle. There is a different cottage by Elizabeth's Designs in 3 of the 4 corners, and in the lower right corner you can see a knight pondering his route to the castle! The other houses are from a Framecraft publication by Cathy Bussi, and one I found in an old issue of Cross Stitch & Country Crafts. The total size is 166 stitches high by 157 stitches wide.

Now I just need to find some fabric and put together a border....I hope this looks as good stitched as I'm imagining!

Get your Hammers READY BUILDERS!!!

We are only 3 weeks away until construction shall commence! How exciting!!!

I changed my mind about my sort of town and decided that I was going to finish something that I had started last Dec. 31 and didn't follow through with. It is my Little House Needleworks Dear Diary series all on one peice of fabric. SO.....I shall restart that on Dec. 31. Once that is finished - Liberty Town shall commence being built!

:o)

Hope you all have the MERRIEST of Christmases and a Prosperous New Year!
Hugs,
Vonna

Some border

If you pop on over to my blog I have some pictures posted of my border. I am hoping to get to it some more today. I am liking what I have so far. It was kind of hard at first and I had to frog a lot of what I had stitched. The first go around the border was way too wide and my inside part looked funny so I frogged and moved some things around and that brought me to where I am at now. Let me know what you think. You can take a look on my blog http://ourlifepicturebypicture.blogspot.com/ (You will have to go down a few posts to Table Runner to see the pics.)

Have a GREAT stitchy week!!

Shannon in PA

Land Acquired and there will be a meeting

of consultants today to work on blueprints for the Imagination Village. Consultants age from 2 to 73, LOL. surely we can get some serious imagination going that way!!! I will post some of the blueprint ideas when able.

Finally...

...I finished my last exchanges during the last week so now I am up for my own plans...I decided on the fabric for my neighborhood, it is a simple cream Belfast and now I have to count if it´s big enough...I finished my plans how ma neighborhood will look so I am starting to stitch parts of my border;-)))

Land has been purchased

I am so excited!! Yesterday, yes on Black Friday, my LNS was having a great sale so I went and purchased my land. I was so excited that lastnight I sat down with it and tried to work out my border. That is going to be the most important part...once I get it all figured out my piece should go smoothly. I cannot wait to start this!! How are the rest of you doing??

The Plans Have Been Passed

Of course there may still be a little "tweaking" as the actually buildings start to take place, maybe not with the buildings themself but with the landscaping.

I am busy with Christmas things at the moment but I am hoping to have everything in place to make a start on the foundations from Christmas onwards so that I will be prepared for the big build to start in 2009.

Stitchingranny

Has anyone started stitching their border yet?

Just curious as some of you have gotten pretty far in your blueprinting. :) I have been diligently identifying most of my buildings (thank goodness for the internet!) and other key things I want to include and now I'm waiting on a few patterns that I had to order. Once I get them I can attempt some placement planning. I haven't found a good border yet so I need to spend some time browsing at the LNS for ideas and also decide on a linen. Do any of you know what your stitch size is going to be? I'm thinking about 325 stitches square which would make mine about 18X18". I'm really looking forward to this project.

Jeanne in sunny AZ

Property has been bought

Now I have my property. Found a great deal on eBay. I am still looking through my stash for ideas. So far I have Dickens Spring and Winter Village, Cat's Meow and Dept 56 North Pole. I'm still holding out to do the Cat's Meow on plastic. The more I look the more I feel I'm going to have a North Pole Village. Will get back when I have more details. Keli

Plans plans more plans!

The architect was here!! I have some great looking blueprints!! I have to get my fabric and some floss and I will be all set to go!! I cannot wait. I have no pictures to post. I dont really think you would be able to see much in the pictures anyway.

planning permission

Well no photos at mo.. i am afraid i have been caught up finishing christmas pressies off but plan next weekend to sort all my patterns out and draw an outline of how my town is going to fit together.. I am planning to stitch a table cloth so it may take a few years with everything else that i do..lol.. most of my charts have come from little house of needleworks.. and i will be doing as many as possible from a stitching shop ( a complete must for me) and post office, to a school and town hall. i am looking forward to it but really need to do a lot more planning. i cant wait though. need to get the material and then the cottons to start although in my stash i most probablly have a lot of them..

http://tammie-astitchintime.blogspot.com/

tammie, a town of sorts... lol
tammie.bitton@tesco.net

Planning Commission has been hard at work

I would like to thank Vonna for extending the invite to this wonderful neighborhood. I had been fence sitting and looking forward to watching the neighborhoods grow next year. I then read about the Basket of Houses and thought its about time to put my idea into place.

I've been collecting Cat's Meow Villages. My idea is to put them on 14 ct plastic canvas, connect them and make one long row that would go around my TV room. I thought what a perfect time to start this.

The Planning Commission started to do some investigation, looking into building permits and land. And plans might change. I found I had plenty of 14 ct plastic canvas and the building permits were being found, but so were some nice permits for the Dickens' Village, (I had forgotten I had those in my stash). And there is up for auction a very nice piece of 19 ct cream linen. Visions of the Dickens' Village on the cream started to invade my dreams.

So now the Planning Commission is waiting on the auction of the property while collecting the plans for both ideas.

Strange coincidence!

This is just bizarre so I must share with my fellow neighborhood stitchers. My neighborhood is going to be a Jane Austen "Pride & Prejudice" themed village since it's my favorite movie. Yesterday during my lunchhour at work I was searching the internet for pictures of British soldiers from that time period as I wanted to include a couple in my neighborhood. I had to identify the time period for the story first. It's the Regency period in Britain - George III was the king, etc. Found lots of interesting stuff. Then I found some costume and military history websites to get pictures of how the uniforms looked. The only chart I could find that might work was the "Liberty" chart from Birds of a Feather which has colonial U.S. soldiers, and adapt it a bit to look like British soldiers instead. I had saved off several pictures and drawings I found online to see what I could do.

Just this morning I got my email newsletter from my LNS and here is a brand new chart from Brenda Keyes of The Sampler Company! It's exactly what I need - even has horses, and I'll be calling the store today to reserve my copy. Talk about the right timing!

Jeanne in Arizona

Veronica's Neighbourhood

After months of thinking, weeks of planning, days of deciding, hours of drawing, now I'm finally ready to unveil my plans to the world. It's not easy when you're the architect, landscaper and contractor all roll into one but I'm too much of a DIY person and a picky one at that for anyone else to be able to tolerate me.
So, with no further ado, here is my blueprint unrolled...

Did I hear gasps of horror? Ah, okay, maybe it's a little crude but hey, I did my best ^.^ Oh, you have no idea what you just saw? Alright, here's another picture to give you a better idea:

Does it make more sense now? Guess I should provide more information. Well, I other from the very obvious fact that I'll using all charts by Elizabeth's Designs, my neighbourhood will be a Home Sweet Home Village with its own church/graveyard, lighthouse, beach, fields, hills and forests along with a gardener, a beekeeper and a shepherd among others as residents. I'm giving it that name because on each square, just like on my blueprint, I'll be adding various quotes on home.
At the moment, I'm slowly stocking up on my building materials. I like the fact that beads, charms and specialty stitches are incorporated into the designs. I'm gonna have so much fun with em. Looking forward to when the actual construction starts.
Thoughts, ideas and suggestions appreciated.

Hometown Holiday

Sometimes it is necessary to re-think plans we have made. That is exactly what has happened to me this past week.

When I signed up for this RR I planned to stitch my favorite city in the entire world - San Francisco. My love for San Francisco has not changed but the time available to design my city has so I've decided that I'll keep things a bit simpler.

'Hometown Holiday' is a design I've been wanting to stitch for some time and this is truly the golden opportunity. The town has everything to make me feel right at home - a lovely house to live in, a post office, church, library, bakery and of course a stitching shop. On the pattern it actually shows a toy shop but renovations should be no problem.

I will be stitching from 'A Christmas to Remember' Book 200 Collector's Edition by Stoney Creek. My fabric will be either a 28 ct bluebell jobelan or 32 ct twilight blue linen. I still have to toss my floss to see which will give the prettiest results.

What a relief - I can now look forward the this wonderful RR without design worries. Who knows - perhaps San Francisco in 2010.

by george, i think she's got it!

I've been fibbing a bit when I've told people that I'm just going to stitch my neighborhood however the Muse dictates. The truth is, I've been chewing away on the idea ever since I joined this fabulous group. I knew I wanted Brightneedle's "Covered Bridge Sampler" somewhere in the design and I've had tons and tons of ideas that incorporate it, but then veer off in very different directions. Finally I noticed that the houses and trees that I was drawn to looked very Maine-ish. And of course I had to have some hint, at least, of the ocean. Hmm. Maine again. So on this very wet, rainy day I have done little other than draw, draw, and draw my neighborhood ... and I think I finally got it. Now this might not look like much to you, but to me .... Well, I think you get the idea. ;)



(Just a little note to myself, as I will surely lose the paper I wrote this on. For 40 ct linen the design is 13.5 x 11.5, for 32 ct it's 16.5 x 14.5, and for 28 ct it's 19 x 11.5.)

Members Please NOTE!

Hello! I hope all of you are still garnering enthusiasm to spare for our wonderful projects that we'll all be starting in just a couple of months!

I just wanted to let you all know that I've deleted the "Contributing Builders" and the themes of the towns on the sidebar - the reason I did this is because Daily now, I've had people deciding that they don't want to participate anymore and I have to dig through and find their name, their town type, etc and delete it all. Lots of work and I want to stitch some too!

SO.....when you post to the blog, please make sure that you SIGN your name (or nickname/handle) so we know whose posting and if you want to direct people to your own personal blog - give that link as well. Please try to remember to label your posts with your name and your town name so that people can find you in the labels section.

Thanks for your understanding and let's all keep up the enthusiasm, as I think it may be leaving some of us! :o)

Halloween town coming together

I think Ive got it. Still not sure what to do (or not to do) about the border. Maybe place some webs around with fat, dangling spiders.

The fabric will be 32 ct lugana shadowbrook which is sort of a murkey, green, purple, brown; very Halloweeny.

Now Im hoping that Three Gables and Haunted Tree House by Cross-Eyed Cricket are within my block size needs (round 100 x 100)

For those who want to know - here is the chart list :o)

Cross-eyed Cricket - Haunted Tree house (#246), Three gables (#187), Sleepy Hollow (#274)
Prairie Schooler - November (house), When Witches go Riding (house), Pumpkin Patch (house)

Thanks for advice

Thank you ladies for taking time out to give your opinion. That was what I wanted to do but was just worried it would spoil it. I feel so much better about doing it that way now.

The design was the easy bit - the construction I think will be a long term project.


Helen
x

Thinking Ahead....

and needing advise from some of the more experienced stitchers I think.

Here is a picture which shows the top LH corner of my neighbourhood tablecloth design. Normally when i stitch a design which can be turned I would make a mark at the top of the fabric (a little cross stitch or something) so that I was sure to always have the fabric the right way round when stitching.

However my tablecloth will be a fairly big thing and I do not really fancy stitching all the cottages down each side sideways if you unerstand what I mean. Do you think on a project like this it would spoil it completely if I stitched each side as a seperate dimension?

I really would appreciate your views and opinions.

Thanks so much

Fabric Arrived!!!

I picked up my fabric for my town today! I was so excited to see how beautiful it is going to be!!! I love the green that I chose. I think the town is really going to pop on the color!! Now...to figure out what type of border to put on my town.

How's this for a neighborhood?!!!!

A friend of mine sent me the link...here's the link for yourself to go and check out this lovely lady's blog...my goodness...yes? GORGEOUS!

http://isadarenapassion.canalblog.com/

A slice of Americana

Well, my last charts arrived last week, except there was a mistake with one chart. Right chart name, wrong designer. Oh well. It's just as well because I had so many designs I wanted to put together that it would have been too much to tackle for me, especially as a first effort, and I didn't want it as an UFO.

So now, the design has been scaled down and pretty much finalized. I am still leaving a little bit of room for adaptation later. I am using mostly Carriage House Samplings and I am still using the Sampler Folk as the anchor to the design. It will be a country town with definitely that primitive Americana feel that CHS has.

I'm very relieved to have this phase accomplished. I will now need to gather my fibers together and put them all away for starting New Year's Eve!

By the way, since my last post, I have set up a blog if you would like to visit, you can see the some of the designs that I will use from my Stash report. Happy Stitching

I have a plan.... Kinda Sorta!

Hope I don't get my building permits pulled! My neighbor hood is going to start in the Gulf of Mexico with the center being most all of The Work Basket Bay Sampler.



I will also use Bright Needle Key West Sampler House and the town houses from Savannah Sampler. 2 of my favorite sea side escapes!





I have the threads pulled and the blue 28 ct fabric ready to go! I can't wait!
Happy Stitching!
~~Martha~~

HEY ALL

Well I have finally decided I am going to go with the draft that I did in my last post an Autumn Town. I have most of the charts now. I haven't decided which fabric to use yet as I cant decide on how I want to finish it yet but luckily I have a while before I start.

Just wanted to say everyones ideas are fantastic.

A Celebration of Christmas Neighborhood

I'm not sure this layout even shows up! But, it's my design area for what I hope will be my "Celebration of Christmas" RR/Neighborhood.

I've been collecting the Antique Santas, Angels, winter scenes and Santas of the Year, etc...from Prairie Schooler for years! Always planning to stitch them one day. So, I decided this is the perfect time and place to gather them together. I had never intended them for Christmas ornaments because I loved the idea of them in a series framed. Here was the germination of a long dream in this Celebration of Christmas Neighborhood.

I'm now off to figure out which fabric will best suit all of the designs. Originally, my thought was to work them on black, but I don't think black would do them all justice....now I'm going to have to kit up most of them and do a layout on different fabbies.

I won't be showing all the different chart/designs to you all. I want that part to be somewhat of a surprise as it grows and blooms! :) You, of course, will know some of them right away...like the annual Santas and such. :)

These angels, and one I create from these on my own, will make up the four corners of my piece.

Isn't this fun!!??? Now I'm so psyched to begin!!

Hugs, Deb/Lavender Rose

Happy Belated Birthday, Trina!

Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday!

Mine will be truly Americana

For those who know me you won't be surprised at all that I've decided on an Americana town. I have many charts in my stash with a patriotic theme so I'm going to take bits and pieces to make it my own town. Some of the charts I plan to use are:

America

Land That I Love

My Patriotic Home

American Primitive

God Bless America

Heart of America (with floss and buttons)

Land That I Love

Liberty

It will be a Mountain Village

I've been sketching and erasing and throwing paper in the trash, and have a plan now for my neighborhood. Since I live in the mountains, and just love it up here, I'm going to do a mountain village. MY house will be up on the mountainside, looking down at the village in the valley. And since I'm a teacher, I have to put a school in it. I already have the caption picked out, too! Now I need to sketch out which houses will go where, since I have them selected.

I bet I can stitch in some woodsy animals, too.

Decisions still to be made:
1. Over two or over one?
2. Fabric - color and count
3. Which houses go where?
4. Animals?

Finally, I have settled

on a plan for my village. I am going the imagination route. I want my town to be filled with things from my imagination and the imagination of the kids in my daycare. I will be listening to their games and stories a lot the next few weeks, even closer than usual. My town will have dragons, castles, gingerbread houses, fairies, witches, ghosts and children. All the things that a childs or adult who still fosters a child's imagination can come up with, LOL. Now I am really really excited about working on this, all I need to do is get some exchanges done first :)..

Fabric and Charts picked out

I actually decided to enter the blog world after joining Vonna's MM & I RR #1. I have spent much time going through my stash and have decided my neigborhood will be a Country Cottages and Garden theme. I have a large piece of 28ct Forget Me Not Blue Jobelan (39 x 27) that I'm going to use. In my neighborhood I will be using several charts that I found in various magazines . They include: Julia Lucas' Cottage Garden (JCS 8/2000), Julia Lucas' Weekend Getaway (Stitcher's World 7/2000), Shilpa Gore's Garden Cottage (Stitcher's World 5/2001), Frances Dana Gage's The Home We First Knew ( JCS 5/2004), Easter Sunday (CS & CC 3/1994), In the Garden (CS & CC 3/1988), and Roberta Madeleine's God Bless Our Home (The Cross Stitcher 8/1994). This is just a start, next I need to figure out where each chart is going to fit into my neighborhood.

Finally, a plan...

After hours of thinking, planning, etc. I finally decided to make my town- Nantucket Island- I've been there several times, and just can't think of doing a town without the ocean...I'm going to use Claire Murray's cross stitch and needlepoint patterns,..hopefully I can do them with just some of the skill she has. Now to put it on paper...happy stitching...Mary Ellen

I left my heart in San Francisco

Since I signed up for this great RR I've been tossing around a number of ideas. Finally......my mind is made up!!! Delft blue and On Golden Pond will have to wait for another year - San Francisco has won out.

I'm going for a design which will incorporate different aspects of my very favorite city. Central will be The Golden Gate Bridge from a Debbie Patrick pattern http://www.debbiepatrickdesigns.com/detail.cfm?ID=7 I'm planning some of her Victorians along the top, her cable car along the bottom and other landmarks such as Lombard Street or Fisherman's Wharf either left or right with another favorite Victorian on the opposite side. The border will consist of part of the lyrics to 'I left my heart in San Francisco'. The four corners need some more thought.

Now I am anxiously awaiting for our container to arrive so I can get at my patterns and continue planning.

Quick someone hand me the smelling salts......

for I feel as though I am about to pass out! I searched my brain (OK, it really wasn't a long search) for an idea of what to do with my neighborhood. I wanted a town, no a village, no a city, no, no, no....at this point I had to sit down and get a root beer...oh the stress. But I have it now. First I have to say a real big Thank You to Lisa B for her idea of a "Basketful of Houses". That was just so unique that it opened my mind to a new way of looking at all this. I must admit, I struggled with just what to do. Should it be a hill side, a flat land, should I make spaces on a large piece of fabric and fill them in like an advent calendar type thing? Should I make a table runner (also a very clever idea from Shannon)...there have been so many clever and inspiring ideas that truly have opened my eyes to what I could do. Thank you to everyone for all the clever ideas. So after sitting here, among a few empty root beer cans and the what use to be graph paper now turned into hieroglyphic interpretations....Eureka! I have it. I am going to do....sorry had to sip some more root beer, a tissue box village. Oh, don't for a second think it's gonna be one of those small up right four sided little guys...no. It's gonna be the big daddy one, you know the 8 1/2 by 5. That way I have two sides of about 4 1/2 by 5 then I have two sides of 8 1/2 by 5 and a top....not the entire top mind you, we still want this to be a functioning tissue box, but a space on top for something. I know there will be a church, maybe a barn, probably a hill side scene, and various houses. I plan to use designs from Cross Country Stitching Magazine, but I might also slip a few others in as well. I don't sew, so this is going to be interesting. The idea of sewing together the material for this is well.....can't talk now, must go to the store to get more root beer! :)

First Attempt at Designing

Two good friends have been kind enough to send me a picture of their cottage in the Lake District for my neighbourhood.

I have had a bit of a play using Corel and converted the picture into a rough outline which I'm now going to be able to play with colour and detail wise.

Considering the short amount of time this took me to do I'm really pleased with what I have achieved so far.

The planning begins...

I am back from my two week vacation so it's time to sit down and put ideas to paper. I hope to have some general ideas for "my town" by the end of this week. I've gone through my stash to get some inspiration so with pencil in hand I am off to draw up the plans. I love a challenge! LOL!

I've Finally Decided on My Neighborhood

I couldn't decide on a designer theme or a theme at all actually. I was leaning towards 'over hill and dale' any chart that had a house and a hill (and a tree). But then I thought 'you're already doing Little House Neighborhood, so why not do something different?' So, my neighborhood is going to be a 'Basket of Houses'. That way I can use different fabrics and different sizes of charts and different finishes and they'll all go in one big basket on the hearth. Whew, all that thinking hurt my brain. ;)

Just to say hi

hiya all i am Tammie from the uk.. and cant wait to get to work on my neighbourhood street. i have a lot of ideas and need to see if i can get the right charts and material for them.. i think i am going to do my piece on 32ct linen and on a long piece instead of a square piece.. i like the idea of doing some mixed bits... everyone is doing a them which sounds great.. but i want small country type shopping street. i like the idea of including some thatched cottages.. an old florist.. knitting and stitching shop fruit and veg ect... just got ot see if i can find the right charts.. great to be a member and cant wait to get started will post more when i have some bits to get started and worked out a border i am really excited about this and have never done an rr but always wanted to try

thankyou and good luck to everyone.

tammie.

Blue Print Mayhem

First, thank you to Vonna for letting me join!!! You rock!! Second, hello to everyone! I'm Trina from GA. Anyhoo, I went shopping for blue prints on-line today. It's been the first day I've had in a while to sit and breathe. So next thing I know, I'm completely submersed... so much so that I've purchased about 10 blue prints for my Halloween Town. Yikes!! I think the excitement of it all took over... lol. But, I guess I'll have pletny to mix and match for the perfect layout. The rest will probably sit in my box of other projects to complete. Question: I'm having an issue w/ the saying for my town. I like "double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble." BUT, I also like "come away a haunting, among the shadows deep, making merry mischief, then home to bed we'll creep." So... does anyone have any creative input... any and all is welcome!

Trina :)

Town designed and fabric is ordered!!

I went to my LNS and played in the fabric section. As soon as I started looking...I zoomed in to this perfect color!!!! The color is guacamole and it is a new color by weeks dye. Sara and I sat down to calculate how big a piece I am going to need to do my whole little Home Town piece. I finally decided to stitch the Stoney Creek 2004 Hometown afghan pieces into one one little town. The design will be about 520 x 520...so we ordered 1.5 yards of fabric. Just so I will have a little extra as a just incase it is needed! I have a feeling I am going to go into fabric price shock when it comes in!!!!

Wonderful smaller house patterns

If you're looking for smaller houses, Maryse at Les Grilles de Maryse has quite a few house chart freebies including these monthly houses found here. She is a wonderful designer, so check her stuff out, if you haven't already.

Sonda in OR

Cross-stitch design software?

I've decided it's time to invest in some design software and this SAL is a good excuse! I've been thinking about Pattern Maker Pro which I've read is liked by many stitchers. Maybe some of you have used it or have another recommendation? I want to make sure I can scan in patterns that I own, then cut and paste portions of the designs into a new plan for my neighborhood. Does it scan them in exactly as they are printed? I know that with photographs, the scans may be interpreted somewhat different as the software has to convert it a graphical format, but I'm not really interested in working with photographs, just patterns. Also, does the softare just use DMC/Anchor colors? So if you want to do silks, you have to do your own conversions from DMC?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

my thoughts for my piece

I have been thinking all week about what I would like to do. I want my neighborhood to center around the chorus to the song "Seasons Change" by Ray Boltz. So, I am thinking the center of my neighborhood will say the words seasons change. Then, the border will have the chorus all the way around. Also, another border will be elements of the 4 seasons. For example, some sort of flowers for spring, not sure about summer yet, acorns or leaves for autumn & snow flakes for winter. I have the visual of this, but at this point that is all!!! I did see a new pattern today (online) by Whispered by the Wind that is a must have for part of my autumn designs!! It is simply adorable!!!
I am leaning toward maybe using fiddler's or fiddler's light aida, because the color will be perfect for seasonal work.

A Lakeland Village

There are so many people out there that already appear to have their plans firmly in place that I thought it was about time I started firming up my ideas.

After much deliberation I have finally decided to make my neighbourhood a Lake District village.

Now I just need to start collecting charts or designing some using the many photos I have from my trips to the Lakes.

Fall Neighborhood

The contractor was here today and he left me some very early blueprints. As you can see in the picture they are as long as my bed! I still need to get the charts that I need but I did bid on a few on ebay. I dont have any of the ones that I am using since I dont have much of a stash. DH is going to kill me. I am going to try 32 count fabric since I know it is going to be HUGE. I have decided to do a table runner so I will be looking for some fall themed material to finish it off. It is a good thing there is not a deadline because who knows if I will ever get this done...LOL. It will be fun though.

Advice re Floss please

Hello again. I'm still waiting for some charts to arrive. However, in the meantime, I am looking at what I can use from my existing stash. I have a couple of questions regarding floss to use and I would appreciate your advice on this.

First, once you choose your design, how do you choose the floss? What I mean is, should you use the colors recommended by each design, or try to pick colors that suit the whole thing so there's no clashing of colors?

The other question is, generally my chosen designs use 2 strands of floss over 2 threads, but some use 1 strand over 2 threads. So, my question is should I use 2 strands for all the designs, or leave each design to whatever is recommended?

Thank you from the newbie!

Pattern Maker Screen Shots

Builders Caution~
Please do not download screen shots from "Pattern Maker" to the blog.
I've been cautioned about it since it is basically scanning and reproducing a designer's work and infringes on the illegal activity of "pattern stealing".

I understand that some of you are using pattern maker - and I'm not telling you to stop that, because I know that it is for your own personal use, and you are not sharing with others or downloading it to the internet for others use - or I certainly hope not.

Please respect this copyright infringement and don't download screenshots of Pattern Maker to the blog.

I believe that everyone has made sure to give credit where credit is due, but when you post about your Neighborhoods and plans, please name the designer and chart of the motif(s) you are/have using/used so that we don't get "nailed" for that as well.

My sincerest appreciation, and my deepest apologies for those posts that I had to delete to make us all legal and in good standing of copyright laws. Thank you!

Amish Neighbor

Hi All,
I’m Shay I don’t think I introduce myself.
So here goes.
I’m on the back side of 60, married to a wonderful DH and very much addicted to cross stitch.
Thanks you Vonna for introducing this unique idea.
I am so excited it all I talk about.
I just can’t wait to get started I've decided on an Amish Neighborhood.
I’m off to dig through stash and catalogs for ideas.
Shay

Quaint or quirky

Hi Everyone*waves*

I am Rachael, and I can't wait to get started

I have been searching and have found some wonderful English Cottages and Houses to build,

My project will be an English Village, so I had better get planning.

Not sure if it will be a quaint or quirky Village yet though.

For Me It's Halloween!

My name is Shirl and I live in Richmond, Virginia. :) Nice to meet everyone!

I've decided to go with a Halloween Town as my Neighborhood theme. I may throw in some Autumn colors and decorations as well since I adore this time of year.

Thank you Vonna for conceiving this great idea. I'm very excited to be participating and hope to get to know each of you throughout the coming year. All your plans sound wonderful!

So excited! My Jane Austen neighborhood

I have a neighborhood piece that I had started a long time ago that I will pick up on Jan 1 and continue with, but with all the buzz about these neighborhoods I'm going to have to start a second one. I just can't resist. I'm going to do a Jane Austen neighborhood - mixing elements from the Pride & Prejudice sampler series by The Stitching Parlor, the Jane Austen designs and quotes from Tanya The Sampler Girl, and adding in things appropriate to the time period like a stone church (all those happy endings!), carriages, English cottages and gardens, etc. Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility are 2 of my favorite movies and I think this will be a fun project. Now to start making a list of patterns I need, figuring my fabric, etc. I am having trouble concentrating on work today since this occurred to me - Vonna I think you are impacting the economy with this SAL!

suggestions wanted!!!!

Good morning fellow neighborhood builders!!!!
I am trying to decide 'how big' of piece of fabric to use.
Would some of you be so kind as to give me ideas of how big you are doing yours?
At this time, I am leaning a 4 seasons piece, with a chorus of a song as my border.
I am open to suggestions!!! I am going to the LNS this weekend & plan to get my fabric then, since all fabric is one sale for the month of Sept.
Shari

Hoping my eyes aren't bigger than my needle...

(and Sabine, I SWEAR I didn't set out to copy your idea!)

Anyway, I should introduce myself first. I'm Erin. I'm a 30-something librarian who is obsessed with fairy tales, fantasy, renaissance faires...you get the picture? I've done one neighborhood RR already - the "traditional" kind - and it should be coming home by the end of the year. The theme for that one was a woodland neighborhood.

For this one, I'm thinking of doing Fairy Tale Towne. Of course, the town MUST be built around - or leading up to - a massive castle of some sort! I'm actually considering a castle from a Stoney Creek leaflet. It is seriously huge, though...so I just don't know.... And after seeing a Halloween town laid out in a random style with a road running through it, I think I want to try something similar for this. Right now I'm envisioning my big castle on either the top or along one side, with little cottages and such scattered below/around it. Right now my cottage design front-runners seem to be in the style of a couple Elizabeth's Designs patterns I've seen. The "thatched cottage" look, a la Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," always evokes a fairy tale/fantasy mood, I think! But I'm always open to suggestions...

I've made up my mind...

I suffered from a bad cold at the weekend and got put into "quarantine" in the bedroom so I wouldn't pass it on to the whole family. Well, it just so happens that that is the place where I keep all my stitching mags - and I was soon sat on my bed, surrounded by tons of (mainly English) magazines. And I found loads of lovely little cottages that shouted "Stitch Me"!!! So I am going to do an English Village! Expect wee cottages with thatched roofs, a Tudor house or two, a church, a castle, a pub of course... I'm just getting a bit worried though - I've found so many cottages and things I want to include, I'm going to end up with a big city instead of a village...
But I'm still looking for a few things... Does anyone know where I can get hold of a pattern for a traditional red telephone box?
Now I've finally made up my mind, I can't wait to get started!!! Now - where's that pen and paper so I can start working on the layout... :-)

A Small Preview

Hi All -

Here is the preliminary master plan for my Halloween Town.  It is predominantly colonial inspired with a few modern twists thrown in.  This keeps with my design principle of avoiding the matchy-matchy.  Like Heather in MMIRR2 and my friend Nanci in the first neighborhood, I am an analyst in Northern Virginia/Washington DC.  Maybe we should have a town meeting sometime in November to discuss our variances and permits?  If you live close by and would like to meet some Saturday or Sunday afternoon in a local gathering place, leave a comment, and I'll see if we can get something together.  

I've met with the architects & I surveyed my building site

This week, I met with my team of architects, town council and urban planners, surveyors and construction crew at Joanie's World. We've ironed out some of the details about styles of houses and discussed architect-y things like scale, house placement and size of the town. There wasn't any cast in *stone* decisions made during this meeting, other than (at my insistence, and their resistance) the houses and some of the landscaping will be done right away. The decision on whether to call in a landscape designer will be made AFTER some of the houses are built and I, as town council and mayor of my little town, have assessed the building progress. Since the town will be forever in Autumn, the head architect contacted a color consultant who came up with a scrumptious palette of russets, golds and olives to color the town.

The town council and urban planners also have reservations about the farms that I want in the north 40 of the building site because of (oh Heavens!) the smell and the impact on property values of the homes downwind. Geez, they are HORSE farms for goodness sake, and in my opinion will only add beauty and charm to the neighborhood. Besides, they really don't get a vote do they, as I am the chief potentate of my little world, right?!!!

Anyway, the surveyors assessed the building site which is a quite large (27" x36") piece of neutral ground fabric called Lambswool in a 32 count size. The surveyors aren't quite done surveying the landscape but the construction crew began the lower boundaries of the town. Building commenced on the town border last evening until the builders were falling asleep and had to get some shut-eye. The plan from the chief architect is to build the left boundary and the lower boundary first, then re-survey for the height of the town. There is certainly enough ground for extensive building but the number of buildings will depend on the overall aesthetics. The head architect is in charge of deciding when to install the upper boundary. After that boundary is established, house placement will begin in anticipation of a ground breaking on 12/31/08.

A photo of the building process will be posted tomorrow afternoon because the current site is not far enough along to warrant documenting the progress made late last night. Building will commence this afternoon and into the evening after the construction crews return from church, visit with their spouses and do some work around their own homes! The plan is to continue construction of the lower boundary until the architect in charge of boundaries draws up the mirror image of the items used in the construction of the left side of the town.

Stay tuned for more updates from *Joanie's Little Town*.

Picking a Blueprint design??

I am Vickie from AR and I have a HUGE question:
How do you pick a blueprint design?? I have already thought of three completely different types of towns/village that I would LOVE to stitch! So how are you needleworking architects picking your designs??? I am just curious....I just can't decide.

I Have a Plan!

First of all, "hello" to everyone! I'm Teri, and I'm a needlework enthusiast. I've been stitching since I was in grade school. And I started cross stitching in the early 1980s. I "discovered" blogs about a year and a half ago, and I'm so glad I did. I've never joined a stitch along, an exchange, or an online group...until now. When I saw what Vonna had planned, though, I couldn't resist! And, like many of you, I've lost a lot of sleep over the past week thinking about all the possibilities. I spent last weekend going through all my cross stitch charts. Should I go with a favorite designer? A theme? A season? All my favorite odds and ends? After thinking about all the possibilities and following along with your ideas, I've come up with the following plan.

My neighborhood is going to draw from homes, people, animals, borders, verses, and motifs from historical samplers. I love the idea of this project being a history lesson, so I plan to learn a lot as I construct my own historical neighborhood. I pulled the following charts from my stash.

My next step is to figure out what elements I want to use and how they will all fit together. One of the things that intimidates me about the neighborhoods I've seen is scale. I'm worried about the size of everything being "off." So I figured with historical samplers it wouldn't matter! Don't be surprised then when you see a person larger than one of the houses! I definitely like symmetry is design, but I'm thinking this neighborhood is going to flow all over the place. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a mess!

Anyway, I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm so excited about the project and learning more about all the neighborhoods you have planned!

So many ideas... so little time!

Thanks Vonna for setting this up and letting me come and play!
I'm Martha and I live on the Florida Gulf coast. I'm married, mom to 3 grown kiddos and Gramma of 4. Don't tell anyone, but I will be 50 in a few short months. I have a fear of creating & designing so this may prove to be a stretch for me! I have been thinking and looking and surfing the web and my stash for ideas the past couple of weeks. I knew from the beginning my Neighborhood would have a Jimmy Buffett / Beach / Seaside theme. I'm still searching for charts.
I hope I can pull this off!
Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
I love every ones ideas and look forward to watching all the new neighborhoods come to life. It's going to be soooo much fun!
Happy stitching!
~~Martha~~

Building Decisions Have Been Made

I've been thinking about my neighborhood RR and may have made some decisions. Autumn is my absolutely favorite time of the year. I like the colors, the crispness of the air, the cooler breezes, the feel of fall fabrics, falling leaves, pumpkins, and acorns. So, you've probably figured out that my neighborhood will have a fall theme. The houses and buildings will be taken from Carriage House Samplings charts like Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and Village of HRH. Now that the decision has been made, an actual plan needs to be drawn on paper.

I'm hoping that my eyesight problems are resolved soon and I can begin doing my border, etc.

Brenda in NC

Finally....I have construction plans!

Hi Everyone

I have been agonizing over what type of neighbourhood I was going to create. At first I thought Prairie Schooler, then Autumn theme, then I thought no Little House Needle works! Sigh, so many decisions and nothing was sparking my creativity. I went to bed thinking about my neighbourhood and I would wake up thinking of my neighbourhood. Finally, after obsessing, I mean planning, I have decided upon a 4 season neighbourhood. I came up with the idea while driving to work last night! I think my construction blueprints will best describe my idea:

In each corner will be PS Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter with borders around them, then along all 4 sides will be the words "Home Sweet Home" which I borrowed from CCN Home Sweet Home chart, the 4 houses in the middle will be representing Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, I just need to order a winter chart. I now need to decide on floss type, colors and fabric. I'm really looking forward to this now and finally can stop obsessing. I'm looking forward to watching everyone's neighbourhood's grow.

Angela

Hello All

I am so excited about this! I contemplated on whether I was creative enough to do this. But after a while I decided I was. After all my father is an architectural engineer, so I figure the apple can't fall far from the tree.... right. I am looking forward to getting my plans drawn up. I'm also excited to see what the other neighborhoods will look like.

As for me, I am almost 30 (will be on the 29th of this month anyways). I am married, with one furry child (a beagle). We live in Birmingham, AL, but we are trying to move back to Nashville, TN.

Ashley G.

a Hungarian Neighborhood

Hi all, and thanks to Vonna for the invitation! I am so excited about this, and still just collecting ideas and reading/looking other neighborhoods for inspiration...

What will be in my town:
- a big house with garden and children playing (our house)
- a school/ kindergarten
- a needlework shop
- some other small houses for friends
- maybe a playground for the kids.

And about myself: I am 32 year old working mom with two kids and a DH. We recently moved into our house, and enjoying it very much!

After a week....broke down

First of all - THANK YOU VONNA!!! With you to keep us thinking and planning we will never get Alzheimer.(LOL)

Last week I saw Vonna's great new idea and was terribly enthusiastic. Then I thought of all the problems I would face and decided - no way. Of course it kept gnawing at me, with brilliant ideas one minute and a knowledge that I'm not the least bit artistic the next. After a week I finally broke down because I just couldn't resist any longer. I'm in!!!

My first idea was a village on 'Golden Pond'. Then I figured it might be nice to have a central pond, surrounded by a park with all the houses facing in toward the centre (think Mandala). I've considered doing all Delft blue houses, old fashioned homes or a wonderful mix of houses I would love to live in. My third idea was a set-up with the Golden Gate Bridge in the center surrounded by Victorians. The biggest problem I am facing at the moment is - no patterns. We have just moved and all my patterns are in a sea-container which is currently in the Dominican Republic. This means that I won't be able to make any definite plans until October but that still gives me plenty of time to get my drawings in to be approved by December 31.

I am so looking forward to this wonderful experience with all of you.

Thank you

Thank you Vonna for the invitation to join in with this merry group of builders. I have several thoughts running through my head as to how I will approach my Neighbourhood, but first need to make an appointment with my architects (the files of charts I already have), and do some more research.

I am looking forward to joining you all in this wonderful journey.

Oh the fun we will have!

Hello! I'm Melissa from Vancouver, Canada. Thank you, Vonna, for organizing this wonderful RR. I am another newbie (no blog, never done exchanges, etc) so this is just a great way for me to join in.

What will my neighborhood look like? Although my favorite designer is Blackbird, I wanted to do something different. I took the cue from Vonna when she mentioned she will have those Liberty guys marching through her town. When I was browsing through Carriage House Samplers online I found The Sampler Folks. I had to smile when I saw them. There's a touch of whimsy to them and I can just see them looking out at you, welcoming you to the neighborhood! I think overall the look will be primitive, a bit folksy, a bit whimsical. It will likely be a country neighborhood rather than a town.

I am still waiting for the charts to arrive, then I will see how everything falls together. I too had trouble sleeping when I first found out about this project because ideas just swam into my mind all night! I am looking forward to the creative aspect, like painting with floss, and of course sharing the fun with the rest of you! In the meantime, happy dreaming!

Hello Everyone

I couldn't resist any longer so I joined in with this wonderful group. I totally blame my being here on two of the best stitchers a girl can know with that being Shari and Shirl. But I see lots others that I know on here as well. I am really looking forward to plotting out a neighborhood with you all and have a grand time stitching.

My name is Kathy. I am 39 and married for 8 years. We have one wonderful son William who is 5. We live in Waco, Texas. We have five kitties that rule the house. LOL

Anyway enough of all that. Time to get to building, errm charting. hehe

Kathy

The Outcry Remains...

For budding architects to draw up and build their own Neighborhoods...so I am in the process of opening a sister blog: Me, Myself and I Round Robins #2
so please add Me, Myself and I RR's #2 to you readers so that you can keep afloat of all our sister site members and their building efforts! Let's all cheer each other on with our building enthusiasm!

Spread the word that it is not too late to join in the endeavor! Blogger can't keep good "builders" down apparently! We will link all Contributing Builders from MM & I RRs #1 to MM & I RRs #2...we're just going to have a huge wonderful world of varied and beautiful Neighborhods on the world wide net!

Thanks for the enthusiasm....I hope we all are successful in our endeavors!

What have I gotten into?

Wow - what have I gotten into? It's a bit overwhelming right now - construction always is. I saw there were linen stitchers (YIKES!) I'm an aida girl myself.

Now to pick the plans - I'm thinking either Christmas, Victoria, or beach front - now where is the best place to find the patterns (any ideas?).

Also how big should my neighborhood be (sizes that people are working with?)

Thanks for your help - good thing the deadline is a bit away so my plans can be drawn up correctly.

Where's a good architect when you need one?

...so I go ahead and apply for my permit (which was quickly granted by the lovely Vonna)...and then I email the architect to set up a consultation appointment and this was her reply:

"I'm sorry, but I am currently too busy to work on this project for at least one month. Try back at the end of September. Perhaps I'll be able to work you in at that time. In the meanwhile drive around some other neighborhoods and see if there's something you like."

The end of September??? But I want to get started on planning NOW! Hmmph. Well, I guess I'll do as she suggested and drive around a bit. I guess it can't all be about me. :)

Can't wait to get started!

Hi everybody and a special thanks to Vonna for setting this up and accepting me - so glad I made it in just in the nick of time! I'm Jeanne from Scottsdale Arizona - I've been stitching about 30 years I guess. I am married, work full-time as a project manager,have no kids but 2 dogs, and I'm a quilter as well. If I had time I'd love to stitch several neighborhoods with different themes as there are so many possibilities. I started my own neighborhood over a year ago when the RR's were getting so popular but it hasn't been worked on in over a year and there's not much done. Although tempted to start a whole new neighborhood, I'm going to be good - I'll pick up my piece after 12/31 and get started again. I don't have a specific theme other than sort of "primitive/country style" - lots of Prairie Schooler, Blackbird Designs, LHN, etc. I have not planned the whole design out but basted the fabric into 9 100X100 blocks. The next 3 months will give me time to do some more designing. I have a whole notebook of patterns I had pulled together plus many pictures I've saved of other RR's. This is going to be so much fun and I look forward to seeing what all the rest of you do.

99 members...

We have room for 1 more stitcher....

If there is still an interest keep on sending me your information and if I have 10 or more that want to join Me, Myself and I after we're full, I'll open MM&IRR part 2.

My goodness .... shocked, I am about the popularity of this! I've been thinking about this for a long time, should have started it sooner :o)

Thanks for your interest and support!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Hello everyone! My name is Katrina and I've just recently received the building permit for my new neighborhood.

I'm 32-years-old, married and a SAHM to our three awesome kids. My mom taught me to build (errr...stitch) when I was little, but I didn't become obsessed until I was 23.

My rough layout means I will have to purchase some new individual blueprints, but nothing is set in stone (ha ha) yet. I do like the idea of a large pond or fountain being a focal point of my little village...serene and relaxing...

I am fairly certain that I wish to frame my finished project and display it over my bed. The largest lots in my stash are fat quarter acres, so I'm looking at a rectangular layout.

I have two exchanges/gifts that are requiring my full attention for the moment, so the drafting board will have to wait until they're done.

This is going to be such a fun group project! I look forward to seeing everyone's ideas and plans!

I bit the bullet and joined the neighborhood....

Hi all, I am Karen from Peoria, AZ. I have been stitching for over 20 years (since i was a teen), i am married with 4 teens (3 still living at home).

I have never constructed a neighborhood before so this will prove challenging yet lots of fun i am sure. Now to figure out what kind of neigborhood i want. I would love to include a little softball/baseball field in it, since it is a very common place we spend time between all of playing either one and maybe a little soccer field as well, but time will tell.

well, off to start looking through my stash to see what goodies i have in there and what i need to get to start building.

I made it too....

...to this wonderful idea, thx Vonna for letting me join too....it´s such a brilliant idea to make a kind of SAL/RR group for a neighborhood RR and hopefully I can stay motivated within a group of stitchers which do all the same thing...creating a wonderful neighborhood;-))
I decided to create a LHN/CCN neighborhood, I first started to look through all my LHN/CCN patterns and this brought me to the idea to divide my piece into 4 seasons, I took a piece of paper and tried to add them there first but it was tooo difficult so I went to the PC and started to draw with my Patternmaker...I have finished the "spring" area and I am very pleased with it...but it will be a large piece when finished...more than 350 stitches;-((

I am happy to be part of this group and curious about all your ideas,-))

Gaby

Hi everyone!

I've received my planning permission so I'm ready to start. Thanks Vonna for accepting my application for this unique RR. I'm quite excited and a little nervous to design my own but I'm up for the challenge. For those here that don't know me, I'm Suzanne. I've been a member on the SBEBB for a year-ish and the TWBB for ages. I'm a member of many different boards and groups.
Right now for my neighbourhood I'm thinking of using Brightneedle designs in a row. But I like the idea of a round or hexagon shape over a central motif. I'll have to start charting.
I look forward to getting to know those of you I don't already.

Rough sketching

Here is a first glimpse of the layout -


I like working within a defined area - so I have decided to build a very definite border - this I made from PS - Winter Samplers - I took a bit piece and enlarged it to make a continuous line of pine cones - the corners will terminate with pieces from PS's Button Up. The top bar may change still.... I am still thinking about that.

Now to decide which blocks to go where......

There's a start...

edgar

Hello fellow architects and builders!

Thank you Vonna for letting me join in the neighborhood fun!

I am Marianne of Midnight Stitching and live in Walton Kansas. I am sooo excited to be part of MM&IRR. This idea is so wonderful and we get to share our ideas, thoughts, and progress! How cool!

I've been thinking some of the night and wee hours of this morning on my town. Being from the Jersey Shore most of my life, and with my love of autumn, came up with this idea. . . something seaside in autumn. Know I want to use Prairie Schooler but also pondering some By the Bay for the seaside look. Off to see what I need to stash in the way of BTB. I know Autumn Cove is high on the list. Lighthouse. . . need a neat lighthouse! And then further off from the shoreline some cozy houses and fall foliage. Pine trees too.

Marianne

Hey!

I am so glad I squeezed in with all 100 of you lovely neighbors! I have a faithful RR group that I've been involved with since around 2000. We have often talked about doing our own neighborhood RR and actually we still talk about it! I'm just not sure when we'll get around to actually doing it! So I thought I'd better join while I had the chance!

The very original Neighborhood RR's are my favorite! But I'm not 100% sure on how to acheive the same look. I want all the houses to sort of blend together, with hills and tall trees and big bushes and fences, etc. But lately I've seen some little people showing up around the houses and I really like that too!

When we first started talking about doing a Neighborhood RR a few years ago, I started collecting houses..but now with all the LHN type houses out there.. I might have to change my mind up! :) We'll see!

I'm not sure how to start, where to start, what style to use, etc! I like the little handdrawn sketches and might try to do that soon! I don't really have room on my walls for a huge piece...I'm thinking maybe a long line of houses, like I saw somewhere out there in blogland! :)

At least I have a while to think about it!

Hello, everybody

Thanks so much for letting me join, Vonna! I'm Patty from San Juan Capistrano, CA. I've always wanted to do a round robin but I know my stitching is not the best. I've been reading the posts and I have to say I have no idea what I am doing so this should be very interesting. I might end up with a village that looks like it's been through an earthquake. (Hey, there's an idea!) Good thing there is time to figure out what I want to do.

Right up my Alley

First I would like to thank Vonna for allowing me to join the neighborhood. I found out about this unique RR from a fellow stitchers blog and knew right away that I wanted to join.
My name is Susan, I'm 44, married with 2 teenagers. I have been cross stitching for over 25 years and really enjoy experimenting with my stitching, so this should be right up my alley.
I haven't decided on what type of neighborhood I want to live in, yet, but I look forward to going through my stash and coming up with some ideas.
I look forward to meeting all my new neighbors and hearing about your construction.

Halloween Town by scratch

Yup, lots of houses but not a lot of churches, stores, cars... So I will be working the artistic side of my brain to get the town going. My current plan is to have the town circle the grave yard. But that's all Ive got so far. No drawings down yet but I will share when I can get them out of my brain ;o)

Better Late Than Never

Just received my invite from Vonna! I've been on the fence about this one, but for some reason today I jumped over the fence and wanted to join. Not a minute too soon either because it looks like we're quite close to having our 100 members.

I'm leaning towards a winter/Christmasy village and might do mine in the round. I'm going to have loads of fun thinking of ideas for my theme and may start perusing the online shops looking for some charts.

Thanks again to Vonna for having me! This is going to be loads of fun!

Carol
Blog: http://stitchinaddiction.wordpress.com

I do like to be beside the seaside!

And another new building contractor joins!

Hi, my name is Sue and live in Lincolnshire England. I love the old fashioned English seaside towns with the tiny beach huts, and having just seen some beach huts in New Stitches have decided I'm going to design a long seafront. I'm thinking of lighthouses, beach huts and a variety of quirky houses - a bit like Whitby one of my favourite seaside resorts. I'm sure there'll also be sandcastles and deckchairs on the beach, with some boats and the odd whale.

This is a Great Idea, thanks Vonna.

Hi...I'm new to Round Robins, but I couldn't help myself when I saw Vonna's invitation. It's the perfect time for me to start. Right now, I have lots of ideas, but only two for the major project...now I have to choose. I look forward to see everyone's town, and hope I can keep up. See you in the "Neighborhood." Mary Ellen

New Contractor!

Thank you, Vonna for approving my initial permits! I have soooo many ideas! This is going to be a great deal of fun! I am not the fastest stitcher, but I am going to love every stitch...:)

A little intro: I am 54, an on-call computer tech, contract paralegal, and author, who also is a fledgling cross-stitch designer (hence WeyrDesigns). My sons (22 & 24) tell me I never figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Since when did I grow up???? LOL My fiance, Michael and I are owned by two cats (sisters we rescued from the shelter), and have a roomate, Dan. When not working, stitching, or designing, I love to read, ride motorcycles, drive my 'Stang, and beat my sons at pool.

I am really looking forward to this project! Now to spend my weekend sorting and searching the internet.... such a lot of work, but it must be done..... vbg!

Hugs, Dee
Blog and Picture Albums: www.weyrdesigns.multiply.com
Picture Albums: www.webshots.com/community/user/weyrdesigns

Hi From a New Neighbour

My name is Angela and joined this RR as soon as I heard about it. I'm really looking forward to creating my own design but currently have no idea what sort of neighbourhood it will be. As I type ideas are buzzing around in my head but I'll keep quiet until I'm ready to submit my outline planning consent.

I joined because this is the perfect excuse (not that I really need one) to have a go at designing something for myself.

I'm just so glad I can't start stitching until December 31st as I have one very big project on which is planned as as Christmas present for my sister so the timing of this start is perfect.

I'm looking forward to this build being far more relaxing than our real life extension a few years ago!!

Time for some stitching