Summer Stitching

I received a wonderful ornament from Kathy K. who stitched for me in the HOE Christmas Bird Exchange. She selected two different birds from Homespun Elegance and constructed this beautiful two sided ornament...

2012 HOE Christmas Bird Ornament

Designer: Homespun Elegance

Design: Merry Birdies

Stitched by: Kathy K.

What a great ornament.  I also received some sewing gadgets that will certainly  come in handy.  Thank you Kathy, I love what you sent.

My dear friend Carol offered up a few LHN patterns to me.  It did not take long for me to complete this one...

2011 Monthly Ornament

Designer: LHN

Design:Cardinal Winter

It now sits in my "finishing basket" along with a number of others.  Thanks again Carol!

I believe that Margaret gifted this pattern to Carol, who gifted it to me, and I will gift it as well.  If you would like this pattern just let me know in your comment.  If more than one person is interested in it then I will draw a name on July 20th. 

It has been less than three months since our sweet 15 year old Yorkshire Terrier passed away.  I wanted to stitch something for my sampler wall and decided on this LHN design...

Designer: LHN

Design: Dog House Sampler

I was up for a quick stitch so I selected this little BBD gem...  

Designer: Blackbird Design

Design: Peace

From: 2009 JCS Christmas Ornaments

Here is a little something that I stitched for my cousin...

Designer: Blackbird Design

Design: I Thee Wed

This should have been posted on June 19th ~ a bit late but here it is, my TUSAL:

TUSAL ~ June 2012

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time...

Fabulous Exchange

I must give myself a pat on the back for maintaining self control when it comes to signing up for stitching exchanges. This does not mean that I have gone “cold turkey” but rather that I have been very good about picking and choosing which to participate in. How happy am I that I did not pass on the FFT LHN Exchange, let me show you:

FTT LHN Exchange

Design: Liberty and Justice

Stitched by: CathyB

Yahoo, I am one lucky stitcher. CathyB stitched for me (that in itself is a bonus!) and she managed to put a huge smile on my face with the beautiful pillow ornament and glass mason jar. Yes, Cathy stitched both designs in the LHN Liberty and Justice pattern and she stitched them on teeny tiny count (40?) over two. I love the tiny count and can truly appreciate the work that goes into stitching on it. Both are so beautifully stitched and finished.

Thank you so much Cathy for these beautiful exchange pieces. You are a dear friend who never ceases to amaze me with your stitching talent.

I was glad to hear that my partner for this exchange was Suzanne. She stitched a gorgeous Ornament for me in an Ornament Exchange last year so this gave me the opportunity to stitch for her. I decided that I would stitch an ornament for her tree and selected a design from the LHN Monthly Ornament series titled, The Merry Skater. Given she has two adorable little girls I thought that this would be perfect. For the trim, I tried my hand at ruching; I like how it turned out but it is rather labor intense.

FTT LHN Exchange

Design: Merry Skater

Stitched for Suzanne

Just a few days ago, Carol S. celebrated her birthday. She does so much, through her HOE exchanges, to keep me happily stitching that I wanted to send her a little something. This is what I shipped her way:

Designer: Drawn Thread

Design: Caron Keeper

Finish: Floss Fob

I am so glad that you liked it Carol and I do hope that your birthday was extra special!

Did you see the new Cross Stitcher T-Shirt posted on Amy's blog? Cute! She also just added a bunch of items to her Down Sunshine Lane sale page...gotta go shopping!

As always thank you for taking the time to stop by for a visit, do come again!

Until next time...

Off To See the Wizard

I am happy to report that I have finally put needle to thread on my Primitive Wizard of Oz. I saw this design on Michele's blog many months ago and rushed to purchase it. Sadly, I did not rush to start it! I have watched as Michele made progress, each time telling myself that I should get started. When she posted a picture of the completed design I decided that the time had come! It is a relatively quick stitch (nothing like my HAED WIP) so I knew that all I needed to do was pull it out and take that first stitch. After not so many hours of stitching here is my progress...

• Design: Primitive Wizard of Oz
  Designer: Midsummer Night Designs

I am using all of the colors called for except for the green, which I changed to NN Creme d menthe. It will not be long before I complete this one and get it framed to hang on my sampler wall.

This past weekend I got started on some finishing work. I have three of the LHN Monthly Ornaments stitched and was able to finish "He's A Flake"

• Designer: Little House Needleworks
• Design: He's A Flake
• Monthly Ornament

I happened to have some little icicles that I added to the bottom. You really can't tell from the picture but I found some trim that glitters; it looks great with this design.

I am just about done with the finishing of the first two ornaments but I will save these for another post.

After waiting many weeks for my Victoria Sampler order to arrive, I spent two days stitching the Ireland and France International Hearts. This is a gift for my aunt, a gift that I needed to get it mailed this week (which I did, phew!). I was in a rush to get to the post office and snapped a quick photo ~ a quick "not so good" photo!

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Design: International Heart: Ireland and France

Finish: Flat Fold

I have been good about not signing up for every exchange that I see posted! I am still participating in a few but I am trying to leave substantial time for a little "me" stitching...as Martha would say, "That's a good thing!"

I shall leave you with this "Wishing Custom"...

BOOK

If you accidentally drop a book, step on it with one

foot and make a wish. Be sure to pick it up with the

hand that's opposite the foot you used; otherwise, your

wish won't come true.

Until next time...

Mystery Stitching Angel

I received a Stitches ‘N Things Gift Certificate for my birthday and I do not know who the sweet stitcher is that sent it to me. The “From” section on the gift certificate is blank and when I phoned the shop they had a record of the order but not the person that placed it. So… to the Mystery Stitching Angel, Thank You! Please, please, please email me so that I can properly thank you for this wonderful surprise? :D

STITCHES 'N THINGS

Fenton, MI

Yes, just prior to the New Year I turned the BIG 50. I cannot say that this milestone bothered me it did not; birthdays never do. I was just so happy that both my sons and my son’s girlfriend were here to celebrate with me. One of the highlights of my birthday was this beautiful Quilt cake:

My DS managed to find a local bakery and send them a quilt picture for "inspiration" ~ I was impressed with the delicious cake the baker managed to create!

Now for some stitching…

I am participating in the LHN Ornament SAL and have completed Ornament #1 Fa La La. Actually, it is almost complete I just need to stitch a yellow bead in the lamp light for the flame.

This is my first 2010 finish and I am happy to say that I plan to keep it. In an effort to get a jump-start on future exchanges, I did stitch it again and hope to do this with all of the LHN monthly ornaments.

Little House Needlework
Monthly Ornament #1
Fa La La

I am almost done with Ornament #2 Pear Tree. I just need to stitch the amber beads, which I will do this week.

Little House Needlework
Monthly Ornament #2
Pear Tree

I am embarrassed to say that it has only taken me 10 months to start hanging pictures on my walls. We resist what we do not like to do and for me it is trying to figure out what to hang where. Here is the start to my sampler wall:

I have about 6 more finished designs that I need to get framed and about 1,000,000,000 on my To Do List.

I will leave you with a picture of the flannel quilt that I started when we had our Vermont house. I wanted to make a Fall Quilt, one that would look perfect on the bed in VT. By the time I finished it we had sold the Vermont house, sold the Connecticut house and left New England for Texas. The quilt is fine for the winter but I must now concentrate on making another quilt for the summer. The idea of a flannel quilt draped on the bed in the August heat is dreadful ~ almost as dreadful as the idea of whipping up a king size quilt in just a few short months!

Until next time...