Sunday, December 29, 2013

Beautiful Hardanger

Brrrrrrrr.....it's cold here in Minnesota! I've enjoyed being at home today. Made some soup and am sitting in my favorite chair stitching!

Some of my stitching friends gathered at our LNS yesterday. I think everyone welcomed a day of stitching and good conversation. One of our friends was in town for the holidays and it was good to see her and to catch up.

There was lots of show and tell. The most impressive piece though was this finished Hardanger tablecloth. Our friend Chris has been working on it for months. One of her friends started it many years ago but now has Parkinson's. Chris thought it would be nice to finish it for her. Remember that trip we took to Indianapolis last June? Chris was in the backseat of the car stitching the whole drive down and the whole drive back! Without further ado, here's the finished piece...


It's about four feet wide/long. The Hardanger is beautiful...






What a special gift of friendship!

I finished a little Hardanger of my own...some ornaments. Some ladies that I work with enjoy receiving a handmade ornament each year. They said they didn't mind if they had to wait until after Christmas to receive this year's ornament. :)


This design is from last year's ornament club from the Nordic Needle.

That's it for today! Stay warm!

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Friday, December 27, 2013

Christmas Surprise!

Merry Christmas!  Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas holiday!

Just when I thought all the packages had been opened another one arrived in the mailbox yesterday.  You see, just a few days ago, I won the drawing that was offered on Laura's blog:  For Love of the Needle.  Not only was it her blogoversary, but it also was her birthday!  She offered the Summer House Stitche Worke's chart for Hark, along with linen and silk.  I threw my name in not expecting to win -- but I did!

I thought the box was kind of large for a pattern and linen/silk.  When I opened it, was I ever surprised.  Laura sent cookies, a cute little primitive box, and an ornament that she had stitched.  The ornament looks like a piece of ribbon candy and it is stitched in one of my favorite colors - purple!


Thank you Laura.  I shall look forward to stitching this project and will think of you each Christmas when I place this ornament on my tree!

Thought I'd share a picture with you of our Maggie with her Christmas gift that she received.  She's not quite sure what to do with it. She has been taking her duck to bed with her at night.  I'm sure she's wondering why it doesn't want to play with her.


Enjoy your day.  Happy Stitching!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!




Photo taken by a dear friend in Hovej, Hungary....

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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Six and Done!

I was so close to finishing, so I just kept stitching until it was done. Shortly after midnight, I put the final stitches in and attached the buttons and snaps.

Snapperville from Bent Creek...


This is the last piece that we wanted to finish for our friend's family. She had stitched the border and the two middle squares before she died. I find the verse to be particularly fitting.

"Teach us, that we may feel..."


"The importance of every day..."


"Of every hour as it passes."


Live life to its fullest!

Now, I'm going to see about stitching a couple more ornaments!

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Five Down, One More to Go

Not much time for stitching these days, but I did manage to finish another square on Snapperville. One more square to go!









Looking forward to the upcoming holiday. Merry Christmas!


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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Season of Giving

I'm up early this morning; couldn't sleep. Thought I could get a few things done before I head off to work.

I wrapped a few gifts for co-workers - these are the only three ornaments that I have finished this year!



Many thanks to Carol at iStitch for the pattern. Note that I adjusted the pattern and stitched one of the ornaments vertically!

The stitching elf was busy again. Recently I received another package from my "partner in crime" (Chris) with some additional pieces she finished. These will all go to the family of our stitching friend who died early this year.

This was a piece that we think she was working on for her daughter who has two boys...



And this is a holiday piece that was almost finished (up through the letter "T"). Chris finished the stitching and I finished it into a banner that they can hang during the holidays.





Finally, two more Hardanger pieces. There's a story...Chris had bought a kit from Permin. There were two doily patterns and supplies to complete in the kit. She stitched and finished the doily she wanted and then Linda took the rest of the kit to stitch and finish the other doily. She didn't like the fabric that was included in the kit though, so after starting it, switched over to another piece of fabric. Chris finished both of them....








I look forward to delivering these pieces sometime this week. I am glad we were a able to bring some joy to a family who will undoubtedly have a difficult time this holiday season after the loss of their sister/mother/grandmother. I am grateful for my friend Chris who was so willing to be part of making all of this possible.

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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Stitching Day....

Our regular group gathered at Stitchville this morning. It was a little slow driving there; we received a dusting of snow overnight which made the roads a little bit greasy. Once I was there I could relax!

Since I don't have any of my own stitching to show, let me share my friends' stitching.

Karen finished her hornbook this morning. It looks great!




Some of the group purchased some felted kits the last time we were together. Mary finished hers...two little foxes playing with a log...adorable!




That's it! Short and sweet.

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Busy Weekend Part Two

Sunday was cold and snowy, but neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor dark of night will keep me from a needlework event! It required a road trip...

My friend Sue made the trip with me. We traveled about 2.5 hours east of the Twin Cities to Sparta, WI. Enroute we made a little detour though...to one of my favorite places...the Norske Nook in Osseo, WI!





We intended to have pie, but had breakfast instead. This is a picture of their cream cheese filled wild rice French toast with lingonberries. Yum.

We traveled on to Sparta and made it there in good time. The Coulee Country EGA Chapter had their holiday lunch at a new retreat center in Sparta called The Prairie House of Sparta. One of their members and her husband recently bought this home and are renovating it and will be using it as a retreat center. Check out it the beautiful rooms! The woodwork throughout was amazing.















When finished it will offer three bedrooms which will sleep nine people. The space worked perfectly for this event.

It was fun meeting all the needleworkers. I knew some of them from when a group of us took an Ellen Chester class through their guild/LNS in 2012. A few of them I met when we visited their Oktoberfest needlework show in LaCrosse in October.

They had a lovely potluck lunch and then a short business meeting. Then yours truly provided them with a presentation on the beautiful embroidery of Hovej, Hungary. They were so interested to learn more about the embroidery and to hear about Mrs. Szigethy! It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with this group.






Despite the snow and the cold, we made it home safely. What a wonderful weekend spent with wonderful women who share my love for needlework!

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Monday, December 09, 2013

Busy Weekend and Cold Feet

The weekend went by so fast! Two busy days. On Saturday I attended the holiday luncheon for our local EGA chapter - St. Paul Needleworkers. The tables were festively decorated!


Do you see the table favor that is sitting at each place? It's a mini faux needlework casket!


The lid in this picture looks a little wonky, but trust me when I tell you it is the photographer! The boxes were filled with chocolate treats! Neat gift.

Guess who the guest speaker was? Yours truly provided information on Hovej Embroidery and Mrs. Szigethy. Of course, I brought my collection of tablecloths and doilies along for their viewing pleasure!











It's my way of "giving back" to Mrs. Szigethy and her daughter for the kindness that they showed me last year when I visited them in Hungary.

Will save Sunday for another post...

As for the cold feet, no, I'm not backing out of anything. I really have cold feet. Like most places in the U.S., it is cold here!

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Saturday, November 30, 2013

Finishing Frenzy

Warning: Picture intensive post (the best kind of post, right?)

Just Nan...the first mouse...


Honey Bunny...


Barnabee Bee...


The whole menagerie thus far...


2012 Shepherd's Bush Fob...






Some Hardanger finishes for my friend Judy...


And lastly, you might recall my post from Nov 24. One of our stitching friends passed away earlier this year. I finished off a few of her completed pieces for the family...








It sure feels good to have made such a dent in the finishing pile!

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Did I Tell You....

...that I finished my stitching on Jackie's Attic of Dreams Sampler? I hope I will have time to do the finishing this weekend!


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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stitching From the Heart

This past summer, a stitching friend unexpectedly and suddenly passed away. Her sister contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would take a look at her stash. There was a Hardanger piece that was almost finished and she was hoping that I could help her get it finished. She also asked me to help ensure that the remaining stash was given to those who knew her best.

Long story short, my friend Chris and I have been working through some of the projects that were in the stash and have been trying to finish them.

Here's the before shot of the Hardanger doily....



And here is the completed doily...



Chris finished the doily. Today, I had the pleasure of returning it to the family. When the sister saw the finished piece she started to cry. It felt good to be able to do this for her!

Tonight, I am working on another piece that this stitcher had started.


This is Snapperville from Bent Creek. The border is done, the boxes just need to be filled in.

Chris finished a few other pieces which I will share with you over the next few days!

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