Stitching and Quilting

It's that time again…2016 Smalls SAL monthly post.  Here is what I managed to stitch and finish.  

February 2016 Small SAL

Designer: Little House Needlework

Design: Cardinal Winter (partial)

Fabric: 32ct Evenweave over 1

Floss: DMC & VMST

Very tiny stitching! At one time I could stitch 40ct over one without readers but not today. I hate that my eyes are not as good as they once were, drives my crazy.  This was a quick stitch (using my readers) and a relatively simple finish.  To add some dimension to this little design I decided to use some seed beads to look like snow.  I am working on another teeny design to slip into a pocket watch; I just love them!

My DS/DIL spent last weekend with us.  Saturday we headed out for a day of skiing…in less than ideal conditions.  With the lack of snow and many rainy days this winter has been dreadful.  Unfortunately, at the end of November I bought 3 ski tickets.  Who would have thought that the winter would be so terrible? Well, I was eager to use these tickets so as not to waste all that money!  The skiing was terrible but I enjoyed having G/M here for the weekend.  My DIL made some impressive raspberry french macaroons…

And being the sweet person that she is, she handles the cleanup...

with a little help from DH. :-)

My DS avoided the clean up by spending his time playing with messy cute Emma…

Speaking of DIL, here is the quilt that I made her for Christmas…

Design: Swoon

Designer: Thimble Blossoms
By: Camille Roskelley
Block Size: 24"

Quilt Size: 80" x 80"

Stitched for: Meg

Machine Quilted ~ Detail

I purchased the quilt kit from Waterwheel Quilt Shop. The fabrics were perfect. My DIL likes dots, and this kit had a dot fabric in each block. I purchased pink dotted backing fabric from one of my favorite online shops, Thousands of Bolts.  

The blocks are huge, each one measuring 24 inches.  There is a modified version of swoon called, Swoon Sixteen where each block measures 16 inches. This is a very popular quilt pattern, just google "Swoon Quilts" and you will see lots of beautiful finished quilts!

For a while now I have had the itch to stitch~ as in using my neglected Bernina!  My sewing "to do" list is growing:

• English paper piecing project
• Zip Pouches 
• Table Runner
• Graduation Quilt #1
• Graduation Quilt #2
• 2016 Christmas Gift Quilt

There are a few bloggers that I know who have ventured off into the world of quilting never to return to cross stitch.  Well, that will never happen to me.  I have quilted since the early 80's and cross stitched since the late 80's. I truly enjoy them both but I do believe that my favorite is cross stitch. My cross stitch "to do" list is ENDLESS.

Thanks for Stopping by…
Until next time…

On The Road Again

It's Gifted Gorgeousness check-in time.  Here is my progress…

February 15, 2015 Gifted Gorgeousness

Design: Black Horse Inn

Designer: Carriage House Samplings

I stitched a few horses, some of the fencing, and began filling in the grass…

A Sweet Smelling Day

My DH headed to Germany on Valentine's Day but he did have this colorful arrangement delivered on Saturday…

So as not to overfill the vase I put a few of the roses into a smaller vase and placed them on the coffee table…

And he also gave me this beautiful bouquet with gorgeous coral colored roses…

From which I captured this pretty picture. I do believe my photography class has paid off.

On The Road Again

In a previous post I began to document our December 2015 travels in California. Continue with me down the Pacific Coast Highway. What is that I see? 

Cows? Yes, cows.  Somehow these creatures seemed out of place; not something I expected to see during our travels along the PCH. Not as many people stopped to view them. Oh well, their loss.  I snapped a bunch of pictures and, like that woman at the Brown Butter Baking Company, this cow appears to be giving me the stink eye!  Obviously, she did not appreciate me bothering her while she ate! 

We stopped for the night in Pismo Beach.  I read about Splash Cafe and their award winning clam chowder bread bowls. We wanted to see what all the hype was about and we were hungry! The murals along the outside of the building…

were adorable and very amusing!

The clam chowder bowls looked inviting but fell short of award winning. They were good but we are New Englanders, we have tasted some excellent clam chowder. 

The following morning we hit the road, but before leaving the Pismo Beach area we stopped to see something very interesting.

Do you see what I see???

Look closer…

A little closer…

That is a clusters of these beauties…

found at the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach, CA. This place is tiny but well worth the stop, especially if you can make it in late Oct-Feb. when thousands of butterflies cluster in the Eucalyptus seeking shelter from the winter. When we were there the temperature was 60 degrees, just warm enough for some of the butterflies to be flying around (they will fly when the temperature reaches 55 degrees or above).

300 miles into our trip we stopped in Solvang, CA ~ The Danish Capital of America. This topped my list of favorite places, probably because I much prefer exploring small towns over the craziness of large cities.  

I loved the look of all of the shops. How cute is this needlework shop? Such a cute name too: Thumbelina .  

It is here that we found the perfect spot to take a Christmas Greetings picture to send to our kids…

I jokingly kept telling them that we should have purchased a selfie stick, everyone seemed to have one.

We spent most of the day in Solvang before getting back on the PCH to head to San Diego, which I will highlight in a future post.

Thanks for Stopping by…
Until next time…