Sunday, March 29, 2009

Completion of the Neighborhood

My new Texas neighborhood is under construction with houses being built all around me and I have no idea when all this construction will be complete. The completed neighborhood that I am referring to is my Halloween Neighborhood.

Back in January 2008, Carol asked me if I would be interested in being a replacement stitcher in the Hello Neighbor Round Robin and I jumped at the opportunity to join in. I rushed to the LNS to select a large piece of 32 ct R & R linen, rushed home to baste the grid, and finally rushed to stitch in the first three gridded blocks (I had missed the first three stitching rotations). On February 1, 2008, I happily sent my Halloween theme neighborhood off looking like this:


However, I was even happier when it returned looking like this:


Hello Neighbor Round Robin
Fabric: 32ct R&R Linen

Who would have guessed it would look this awesome??? I am so very pleased with my newly constructed neighborhood and must thank the builders:


You all selected such great designs and stitched them so beautifully; you are the reason that my neighborhood looks amazing. I have not yet decided how I will stitch your names into the neighborhood but they will be added! I also would like to include a Halloween verse at the very top, but I have yet to find the right one.

Carol I cannot thank you enough for inviting me to step in and join this talented group of stitchers. It was truly a rewarding experience and I have such a wonderfully stitched neighborhood that I will forever treasure.

Now that I am somewhat settled, I had the opportunity to do a bit of online shopping. I used the Down Sunshine Lane (great online shop!) gift certificate that sweet Vonna gave to me for my birthday and I purchased two patterns that I wanted SO much: LHN - Traveling Stitcher with thread chart pack, and Plum Street - My Pretties.



The "Traveling Stitcher" was newly released at the Nashville Needlework Market. What a great project keeper and needlebook design. I have wanted the “My Pretties” leaflet for quite some time and will almost certainly use this for a Halloween exchange ~ I just love the tin topper!

I am anxious to put needle to fabric on both of these…let me see, which one shall I start first? Knowing how I operate I will almost certainly have both of these on my WIP list very soon.

Thank you so much Vonna for the birthday gift and for your valued friendship.

I learned that Nic received the Drawn Thread Exchange that I sent her so I am free to share pictures with you. I stitched a section from the pattern titled: Brown Ranch Sampler and mounted it onto a photo book.

Drawn Thread Exchange
Finish: Photo Book
Stitched for: Nic


It is late and I have spent much of the day organizing and opening a few picture boxes so I did not get any stitching done today…or yesterday for that matter. I believe I hear the couch beckoning me to come sit and stitch for a while ~ music to my ears.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by it is always fun to hear from you. I hope you have a wonderful week, and that you find time to sit, stitch, and relax.

Until next time...

18 comments:

Crossed Yarns said...

Hi, Marie
That neighbourhood of yours sure is exquisite. I'd like to see it finishes up framed. Your photobook cover is such a brilliant idea! Love it. Hope you're settling into your new home. Is Texas going to be your permanent home?

fond regards,
Pokua

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Oh I absolutely love your NRR...I've seen so many of them finished of late, while mine remains lost in the postal system. It's been gone since October and I was holding out hope that perhaps I'd see it again...but I fear it is GONE, GONE, GONE...sort of disgusting. But I'm so glad that you had a great experience and your RR is totally MAGNIFICIENT!

Hurray on your choices for your Birthday gift certificate...I've got both patterns too ;)

You did a FANTABULOUS job on that PS exchange...you are so smart when it comes to ingenious finishes :)
Have a great week my friend! Love ya!

Jen said...

The Neighborhood RR is wonderful. I absolutely love these. I can't say enough about it.

Have fun stitching.

Cathy B said...

Glad to hear that you are getting more and more settled in each day!

Your NRR turned out fabulous! Wow! Everything really coordinates nicely!

Your Drawn Thread exchange for Nic looks great too! Very creative finish.

Enjoy your new projects. Stash shopping is fun!

Gabi said...

Oh my gosh. That neighborhood of yours looks fantastic. Great new stash, I'm in love with the traveling stitcher too. And your exchange piece is so lovely. I really like the way you finished it.

Michele said...

wow, love your halloween neighborhood .. spooky :)

what a great exchange! the stitching for the photo book is lovely!

and new stash! wooo hoo :)

Katrina said...

Your neighborhood round robin is gorgeous! Love the exchange you did too :-).

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic spooky neighbourhood - what a gorgeous 'work of art'!!!!

Julianne said...

Hi Marie,

Your spooky neighborhood came out really nicely.

Hope all is well with you.

Paula C. said...

Your neighborhood RR turned out awesome! I love the photo book you made, too. I think it is fun to try different finishing methods and have started a notebook with ideas. You do such nice work =)

lena-lou said...

Your neighbourhood looks amazingly good then again I knew it would after your fabulous start to it and I cannot believe you managed to stitch all of your blocks in a month, WOW !

Sonda said...

WOW! That is an absolutely fabulous neighborhood!!! Everyone did a superb job. Glad you are really settling in. The outside pic of your house was lovely!

Natasha said...

Oh my oh my what a lovely neighborhood. It looks fantastic!!Traveling stitcher is one I look forward to seeing finished so many others are starting that one.

And the Photo book you made. WOW you did a great job,I am sure that she is enjoying it. How are you settling in to the new house? Take care
Natasha

Maren said...

That Neighborhood is fantastic! A wonderful bunch of stitchers, indeed.

Brigitte said...

Oh Marie, what a wonderful Neighbourhood you got back. Everything matches and it looks very harmonious all over. Great!
I love your DT exchange piece you sent to Nic. This is a terrific way of finishing and I will keep this in mind for the future.

Carol R said...

Your RR is amazing! I love the top piece you did with the Judith Kirby houses. I so wish I could get hold of these patterns but I think they are OOP now so I guess I will keep checking out ebay!

mainely stitching said...

Your NRR is gorgeous. What fun! And I just LOVE the exchange you sent to Nic!

Linen Stitcher said...

Wonderful post, Marie! Your neighborhood is spooktacular (sorry, I couldn't resist), your new stash is delightful, and your project for Nic shows just why your blog is so perfectly named. Lovely from start to finish!