Stitchy Pictures To Share

It is hard to believe that there was a time when I would participate in 30+ exchanges per year.  Today, that number has dropped significantly but I wish that I could say that my personal stitching has increased, it has not! What is wrong with me?


I do miss the excitement of meeting all the exchange deadlines and the joy of opening packages with great anticipation. I had the opportunity to do this when Joan's package was pulled from my mailbox.  Here is what I gently unwrapped:

2012 FTT Red Exchange

Designer: Blackbird Design

Stitched by: Joan S.

How gorgeous is that??? Really beautiful.  From the design… to the stitching… to the finishing… to the hand dyed chenille trim… Even the note card is perfect. Yes, I am impressed and extremely grateful for the time and effort that Joan put into stitching the beautiful exchange piece. Thank you so very much Joan, I will display it proudly and view it often.


I stitched for Jill in this same exchange and here is what I sent:

2012 FTT Red Exchange

Designer: Casa Mia

Stitched for: Jill F.

I was initially going to finish this as an ornament but I did a lot of ornament finishing just before Christmas so I decided to do something different.  I decided to make a Scissor Pocket and am happy with how it turned out.  It was also nice to change things up a bit, I hope to do more of that in the future.


Today I received my HOE Santa Ornament from Ellen.  She selected a design from one of my all time favorite designers, Mary Garry. What a beautiful ornament:

2012 HOE Santa Exchange

Designer: Mary Garry Sewing Studio

Stitched by: Ellen

Thank you Ellen!!! I love this design, it put a huge smile on my face the very minute I laid eyes on it.  Thanks for the great trim as well.


My HOE Santa Ornament arrived in Edgar's mailbox so i am free to share a picture of it with you:

2012 HOE Santa Exchange

Designer: Heart In Hand

Design: Wee Santa 2004

Stitched for: Edgar

The Santa face fabric was perfect for the finishing on this ornament. I must say this is a favorite design of mine; I love the small Merry Christmas tin stencil.  I keep saying I will stitch this for my tree so I have added it to my 2012 "To Stitch" list.  I must place an order for more of those adorable tin stencils because I used the last one in my stash.


Let me share some pictures of some of the Ornaments that I rushed to complete before Christmas:

Yesterday these beautiful flowers were delivered to my house from my DS's:

What a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise and so very sweet of both of them.  Thanks you so much G/D, you made Valentine's Day VERY special.


I also received these beautiful flowers from my DH:

As well as this delicious chocolate/raspberry cake:

Great big thank you to all three of you!


I can hardly believe it, I moved back to the northeast from Texas with great anticipation of a snow filled winter where I would spend much time skiing on the beautiful mountains in Vermont only to find that THERE IS NO SNOW… yet (there is still a little time left and I have hope). 

Until next time...

2011 ~ A New Year!

Another year OVER and another year OLDER.  Here is a picture of this year’s birthday cake:

D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s, absolutely delicious! A chocolate cake with thin squares of chocolate scattered inside. I ate far too many slices but fortunately I still managed to drop an additional 3.5 pounds over the holiday/birthday...not sure how I managed that!

A huge thank you to Cathy for the wonderful birthday surprise!  I just opened her package and found this beautiful pendant that was designed by one of my favorite designers, Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs. 

2010 Birthday Gift from Cathy B.

Hmmm, how pretty would this look on a silver chain?  Or maybe I will look through my Midsummer Night Designs patterns and find one that I can attach the pendant on to. Then again, I may take one of Cathy’s suggestions and use it on an ornament.  For now, and maybe always, the pendant will be placed on my silver necklace so that I can enjoy it throughout the year. 

Thank you my friend for the amazing birthday surprise. I cherish your friendship!

Let me share with you the Christmas gift that Cathy sent ~ this beautiful ornament...

Knowing how very talented she is I first thought that she made this but found out she purchased it at a craft fair. Thanks you again Cathy!

When I saw Cathy’s post with all of the GORGEOUS tatted ornaments made by her talented Mom I quickly emailed to see if I could purchase some. Here are a few that I ordered…

 
I did give a few away to friends of mine who loved them and asked if I made them. Yes, I told the truth and gave credit to Cathy’s mom.

These beauties are on the top of my list of favorite ornaments. I love them so much that I refuse to put them away until next year. They remain on my vintage fir tree so that I can see them daily! Many thanks to “Mom” for filling my order on such short notice.

Now that the holidays are over it is time for me to take a look at ALL of my UFO's and to determine how I will manage to complete some of them. My life is a bunch of unfinished projects! Yes, my goal for 2011 is to finish, finish, finish so much of what I have started and cast aside.


I hope that your holiday was enjoyable and that the New Year brings you much happiness and many hours of enjoyable stitching time.

Until next time...

Over The Top Gift From A Special Friend

I was in total shock when I opened a very large box from Vonna and pulled out this GORGEOUS Stitching basket:

2010 Birthday gift from Vonna

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Design: Traveling Stitcher

Finish: Stitcher’s Basket

I really do believe that my heart skipped a beat as my brain screamed, “Vonna, you are an amazingly generous, talented, creative, wonderful friend who has touched my life in countless ways!”  

Look at the stitching accessories tucked inside this basket:

Basket Accessories

A beautifully stitched pincushion, a ring of floss tags, a pair of scissors, and a gorgeous Mother of Pearl 3” ruler (complete with a handy tassel)!

Vonna, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful birthday gift and for your friendship. I will enjoy carrying my stitching projects in what will forever be a cherished heirloom. For now my new basket will remain by my sewing chair for ALL to enjoy.

I will leave you with a quote that always brings Vonna to the forefront of my mind:

Friendship without self-interest is one of the rare and beautiful things in life.



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...

Two More Generous Stitching Angels

Yes, I have been blessed by the generosity of two more stitching angels...

Three years ago, when I was venturing into the world of Blogging I was in need of assistance as I struggled to set up a blog. I am thankful that I met up with Vonna because with her help I managed to get myself up and running. She answered many of my “how to” questions and was always very patient as I stumbled. Fast forward three years and I am happy to say that I now know what I am doing (most of the time) but more importantly, I am still friends with this wonderful woman!

I recently received a package from this dear friend ~ Vonna bestowed this beautiful BBD Wool Appliqué Friendship Tree pillow upon me...

I love the design and the color selection matches perfectly with my flannel quilt. Thank you so much Vonna, your gift touched my heart! You will always remain a dear friend and I still hold out hope that someday we can be neighbors…I move a lot so there is hope. :D

Just days after Vonna's box arrived I received a package from another dear friend, CathyB. What a surprise to open it and find these beauties...

Yes, my mouth did drop open and does each time I pick these up…can you blame me? I do not know too many stitchers that do Hardanger work and I do not know any that do it as well as CathyB. I am thrilled and honored to receive the beautiful Fob and Doily.

I have a collection of small Limoges hinged boxes that I display in my coffee table, some have doily's under them and some do not. I knew immediately that this is where Cathy's Doily would go and I knew instantly that I wanted more so I have added "Hardanger work" to my 2010 "To Do List" ~ Wish me luck!

Here is a picture of the table display, I just love it! Thank you so much Cathy for the gorgeous gifts and for your gift of friendship. You made my heart sing and my display case look so much nicer! :)

I am participating in a quilting block exchange with a group of friends. Every other month we are to turn in a set of nine brown and pink block, the pattern is the same every month but the fabric selection is different. Here is a picture of the last set that I submitted...

We will each end up with 54 brown and pink blocks that I am hopeful will work up into a beautiful quilt top but we do not finish the exchange until September 2010 so it will be a while.

For the very first time I was able to meet a fellow blogger in person and it was really fun. I learned that Missy lives in a few short miles from me so we made arrangements to get together and stitch. I can't say that we got much stitching done but we certainly did do a lot of talking and I look forward to stitching/quilting with her again. Thanks for stopping by Missy!

I must end now so that I can do a bit a research on Hardanger. Thank you again to the two Stitching Angels Vonna and CathyB for the beautiful gifts!

Until next time...

OH SAY CAN YOU SEE…

This wonderful Patriotic Exchange that I received from Carol S. It certainly is a beauty, take a look…

FTT: Patriotic Exchange

Designer: San Man Originals

Stitched by: Carol S.

Opening her package was the highlight of my day! Carol’s does such gorgeous work I could not have been happier to see her name on the return address. She selected a very nice design by San Man Originals and finished it as a pinkeep; I love it! In addition, she sent me beautiful Gingher scissors, patriotic dishtowels, very pretty bookplates, and tasty mints.

Carol your generosity is amazing, I cannot thank you enough for all that you sent! You certainly made this an extra special exchange!

Dear sweet Vonna will be celebrating a birthday very soon so I decided to send this little gift off a bit early so that she could display it over the 4th of July (we know how she loves all things patriotic). When I saw this Annalee Patriotic Elf he was screaming Vonna’s name. I also knew that a Pinkeep would fit perfectly in his hands so I stitch this Birthday Pinkeep...

The Pinkeep is reversible with the other side looking like this:

I absolutely love how this turned out, cute huh?

When I saw this next design I knew immediately that I had to stitch it for my cousin. I call her my "direct link to God" and call upon her to "pray for me" with every "crisis" that I encounter. :) Now that I live far away from her I want to make sure that she constantly thinks of me (not sure that will happen but I am going to try). I am hoping each time she glances at this two things happen:

1) She thinks of me

AND

2) Smiles...Smiles BIG!

"When This You See Pray For Me"

There is another person in my life that is deserving of this same design and when I find the time, I am going to stitch it again! I seem to be doing quite a bit of that lately.

Only about a week left until my Blackbird Design give-a-way. If you are interested you need to leave a comment on my previous post before July 4th.

Tomorrow both boys will be leaving, can you hear me sobbing??? They are taking the long 1,677 mile "road trip" back to the northeast. I know that they are excited about their adventure but I'm not ~ they will be missed. I did have my son install a Web Cam on my computer so that I can video chat with them (can you say "helicopter Mom?"). Let’s hope that they answer when I “video ring” them!

"If you cross a state or county line when traveling in a land vehicle, make a wish three times out loud. This is one of the few times when custom allows you to speak your wish out loud" (from Wishing)

~Have a wonderful weekend~

Until next time...

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:

Bine, Carol, Deb, Glenna, Karen, Leslie, Nicole, and Wendy

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.

Friends Through Threads

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...