So Much To Share

I love the M Design Angels, they are relatively quick to stitch and always look nice.  This design is titled, "Joy" but I used the HOPE buttons.  I stitched this for am amazing nurse that spent much of her day with me on 9/20 giving me HOPE as I endured MOHs surgery (skin cancer) followed by reconstructive surgery on my nose.  She held my hand, hugged me, placed warm blankets over me as my entire body shook (out of fear, not cold), and repeatedly assured me that, "it was not that bad" and "No, I would not lose my nose".  She, and my DH, were my rock as I fell apart that day.  She deserves far more than this Hope Angel... 

2012 Gift

Designer: M Designs

Design: Joy Angel

Stitched for: Lisa I.

Fortunately, everything did turn out okay...phew! I am happy and relieved to know that Lisa has promised to be my nurse if I ever need Mohs again. 

Linda B. was my Fair and Square Halloween exchange partner. She stitched these adorable blocks...

2012 F&S Halloween Exchange

Stitched by Linda B.

Gabi L. stitched for me in the HOE Hometown exchange.  I was so excited when I opened her package and saw this...

2012 HOE Hometown Exchange

Designer: Carrol Nielson

Stitched by: Gabi L.

How very Australian and how truly adorable! 

Here is what I stitched for Becky K...

2012 HOE Hometown Exchange

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Design: Hearts of America~ VT

Stitched for: Becky K.

As some know, Halloween is a favorite holiday of mine. No, not because of all the candy (I do love candy) but because of the wonderful decorations.  I try not to pass up on a Halloween exchange and am SO glad that I joined in on this one.  Here is what Michelle B. sent...

2012 HOE Halloween Exchange

Designer: Historic Stitches

Design: Witch's Hat Scissor Case

Stitched by: Michelle B.

Side 1

Side 2

The Witch's Hat is so beautifully stitched and finished! Michelle even included a pair of Kelmscott Cat Snips Scissors! The box was filled with such neat items. That little green skeleton not only glows in the dark but dances. The embalming fluid bottle is an actual flask, which looks perfect next to my latest Annalee Doll.

Here is what I stitched and sent to Roberta S.

2012 HOE Halloween Exchange 

Designer: Plum Street Samplers

Design: My Pretties

Stitched for: Roberta S.

I love the way the candy container came out.  All I used was a 14.5 oz can, the My Pretties stitched piece, some Halloween theme fabric, and my sewing machine; so easy, and so fun to make.  I did manage to complete three of these to give to friends.  I will be searching through my Christmas designs so that I can make some candy containers for Christmas.

September came and went without me posting a TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long) picture so here it is...

TUSAL for:

 September 

AND October

Before Winter arrives I am rushing to finish this...

Designer: Primrose Needleworks

Design: Autumn in New York

There is a special someone that I want to make it for...

DS and GF

They both have apartments in Manhattan, but I know my DS would not really want this displayed in his. ;D Hopefully his GF will like it...I think it is just perfect.

Thanks for stopping by and....

Happy Halloween!

Until next time...

Another One For The Tree

I am so excited; I just received the most beautiful ornament from Hazel H.  who stitched for me in the HOE Stitcher’s Choice Ornament Exchange. 

HOE Stitcher's Choice Ornament Exchange

Design from: JCS Ornament Issue

Stitched by: Hazel H.

I love everything about this ornament: the design, the perfect stitching and the fabulous ruched trim.  I love ruched trim but find it extremely time consuming and appreciate the extra time and effort on this one.  Many thanks Hazel for adding to my growing collection of holiday ornaments, it looks wonderful on my tree!

Want to know more about ruching? Here is a link that you might find helpful.

This year I have two Christmas trees, the first is in our family room and it is where Santa will leave the family gifts.

The second is my latest purchase and it sits in the kitchen, where it will remain throughout the year.  This tree has a more rustic look and is perfect for displaying my needlework ornament.

After the holiday I will decorate the tree based on the yearly holiday or season.  I need to spend some time in 2012 stitching up seasonal designs for the tree; my favorite by far will be when I decorate it for Halloween.

This past summer I found a wonderful Needlework store in southern VT called In Stitches Fine Needlepoint.  Although it is a Needlepoint store vs. Cross Stitch Shop I entered hoping they may also carry cross stitch but she did not.  Instead I found an array of gorgeous fibers bursting with color and many beautiful hand painted needlepoint canvases, including Prairie Schooler. I instantly fell in love with the shop and I found the owner (Maria) to be beyond friendly and extremely helpful.  I entered hoping to walk out with some cross stitch but departed with some great Needlepoint projects.  Needlepoint is not new to me, I had done it many years ago and, although I did not want to add yet another “hobby” to my list I could not resist. After a quick refresher from Maria I managed to complete these two projects:

Mini Needlepoint Stocking

Lehigh University

Mini Needlepoint Stocking

Villanova University

The minute I saw the “University” themed stockings I immediately knew that I needed to order the designs and stitch them for my two sons.

My latest needlepoint project is The Wizard of Oz characters, they are adorable. I will share pictures of that in a later post.

Well, I keep saying that I will do some finishing work on a number of ornaments but I have yet to find my way up to my sewing room…maybe today and then again maybe not!

As always thank you for stopping by.

Until next time...

Exchanges Keep Rolling In...

I am playing “catch up” so I have lots to share…

I participated in a Personal Exchange with Yuko and recently received a rather large box filled to the brim with some amazing items. There was so much in the box that it was difficult to photograph everything. When I opened the box this is what I saw…

I could barely believe my eyes and was not sure if there was a bottom to this box.  The items just poured out: hand dyed fabric, three fat quarters, two wonderful scissors, lace trim, covered buttons, jumbo clips, rose petal bath soap, two fantastic patterns, and so much more!

In amongst all of this treasure was this beautifully stitched exchange piece...

How pretty is that?  Yuko is an amazing stitcher/finisher, her work is absolutely perfect.  I have longed for a piece of her needlework and I am honored to display this in my new home.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart Yuko for this extra special exchange I shall treasure it.

The next exchange piece arrived from Jenn F. I must say that it is the perfect design to display in my Vermont house...

Now that winter is upon us I feel as if I should delve right in and finish this beauty.  Jenn and I were partnered in the Fair & Square round #27 exchange.  I have been collecting F&S blocks for quite some time but have yet to decide what to do with them.  Should I put them all in one Friendship quilt or should I finish each one separately? Hmm, still can’t decide.

Do you see the beautiful beaded scissor FOB? Jenn gifted me with that gorgeous gift as well, how lucky can one person get.  Thanks again Jenn you are a very special blogging friend.

Stitching for Jenn is relatively easy, she loves nautical designs.  Here is what I selected for her…

Designer: Of Generations Past

Design: Christmas Lighthouse

The third exchange piece rolled in just a few days ago.  This one is from the HOE Words of Christmas exchange and was stitched by Sadie…

Thank you Sadie, this ornament will look beautiful on my Christmas tree.

Here is what I stitched and sent to Gabi...

Designer: Birds of a Feather

Design: Peace Angel

The last project that I will share is the gift that I stitched for my cousin for Thanksgiving.  I love this design and hope to stitch it again for myself.  This probably will not happen until later next year since I have lots of stitching do before Christmas.

Designer: AuryTM

Design: A Gobble Couple

Well, the boys were here for Thanksgiving but have left.  One headed back to NYC and the other back to college.  It is so nice to be within driving distance of them…Texas was just too far away! As always we had a great Thanksgiving holiday with our relatives.  This year we had another reason to be truly thankful: On Monday my youngest son (who graduates May 2012) had a 2^nd interview for an Engineering position in a large company here in the Northeast, and the day before Thanksgiving the company extended an offer to him which he intends to accept.  I am so happy and proud of him, he returned to school to begin his final semester knowing that he will graduate with a job...that is certainly a reason to be thankful!

Thank you to VP, LR, KC, MK, CD, MC, RT, and Garrett :) for all of those PRs.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.



Gorgeous Ornament

I am so excited to have received such a wonderful ornament from Valerie! She tells me that this is her first pillow finish, hard to believe seeing as it is so nicely finished. The design is from the November 2008 Gift of Stitching ~ I recognized it immediately since it tops my list of projects from this issue! Valerie stitched the ornament on 32ct Lakeside Linen Vintage Light Examplar using Crescent Colors (Cupid). It is perfect and I love what she did on the reverse side, take a look...

In addition I was treated to this lovely array of extras.

HOE Ornament Exchange from Valerie

Many thanks Valerie for this wonderful exchange, you certainly made my day!

My friend just had her very first grand baby (a baby girl) and here is the baby quilt that I made.

Khloe's Baby Quilt

My younger son arrived home from college and I am anxiously awaiting the return of my older son who is busy with finals. He is expected home on Friday, that is if the weather holds out. We are expecting icy conditions but nothing like what those in MA, NH, and parts of VT are dealing with~that is truly dreadful!

I was watching Martha Stewart prepare this potato recipe and I have decided that I will include it in our holiday meal this year. What I like about it is you can prepare it ahead of time and bake it later. The recipe is courtesy of chef Emeril Lagasse and can be found in his cookbook, "Emeril's Potluck."

Potatoes a la Boulangere

Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups thinly sliced onions
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
5 pounds red bliss or Yukon

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Transfer onions to a large bowl and let cool.

3) In the same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat, and cook a quarter of the potatoes until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Transfer to a platter and let cool. Repeat process three more times with remaining butter, potatoes, salt, and pepper.

4) Arrange a quarter of the cooled potatoes in a slightly overlapping single layer in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with a third of the onions and sprinkle 1 teaspoon thyme over the dish. Layer another quarter of the potatoes over onions and thyme and top with another third of the onions and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Repeat process and finish with a layer of potatoes.

5) Pour chicken stock over potatoes and transfer baking dish to oven. If you like you can refrigerate until ready to bake...

6) Bake for 25 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking until potatoes are golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I know that you are all quite busy so I thank you for taking the time to stop by ~ I do hope that you are able to find a few minutes to sit and stitch!

Until next time...

Exchanges Sent and Received

Life has kept me busy and I am finding it difficult to set aside time to blog but I must take a minute to share pictures of a number of exchange pieces that I received and sent...

This is what I stitched for Carol R for the HOE Ornament Exchange:

HOE Ornament

Stitched for Carol R

I participated in an ornament exchange with the Prairie Schooler group and received a wonderful exchange from Cyndi. Thanks so much Cyndi, I just love my new ornament and look forward to hanging it on our tree. Thanks for the wonderful extras that you included.

PS Ornament Exchange from Cyndi

And here is what I stitched for Cyndi:

PS Exchange

Stitched for Cyndi

Below are three of the latest Fair and Square exchange pieces that I received. Many thanks to Nicky, Melissa, and Sue!

FAIR AND SQUARE EXCHANGE

F&S Round #9 from Nicky

F&S Holiday Round from Melissa

F&S Round 10 from Sue

And here are two of the F&S Exchanges that I sent out:

Fair & Square Round #9 For Nicky

F&S Holiday for Melissa

I must wait until Sue receives her F&S round #10 before posting a picture.

Since returning from Texas I have been busy trying to finish some Quilting UFO's! I guess you could say that attending the Quilt Festival served to spark my passion for quilting. I have completed the top to my Flannel quilt, which is quite a large quilt (98" x 112"), and I picked up the Baby Quilt from the quilter and have put the binding on. I will show pictures of both in a later post.

As for stitching I have spent the last two days trying to organize my pattern stash. A visit to Staples yesterday left me organizing until about 3AM but I did get quite a bit accomplished ~yahoo!

It is hard to believe that I have no more exchanges due in 2008. I am keeping busy stitching a few Christmas gifts for friends and spending Friday nights stitching on VOHRH with the Let's Stitch Group.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Until next time...