With Needle and Thread

Drive By Post...

2012-01-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

I have to make this quick! I'm working later hours today and I seem to always jam pack too many projects into the hours between waking up and leaving for work. Before I go though, I want to share this quick update with you...

Over the weekend, I finished up BBD Loose Feathers Autumn...(please excuse the wrinkles.)

Now, on to Winter...

And then...I just had to show you this...it's too cute not to share it with you.

It's the Jeanette Douglas needlebook from the Dyeing to Stitch retreat last fall. The stitching was done by my friend Judy; I just finished it into a needlebook for her.

Cute, cute, cute. Well I have to go to work now. See ya!

Time for A Stitchy Post!

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Wow - January is just fleeting by; I can't believe it's the 25th already! I shouldn't complain though; it's been a productive month for me. After the holidays every year I start my annual campaign to clean every room in the house. Not just your normal dusting and vacuuming either - I clean out closets and drawers and "reduce, reuse, and recycle!" As the year progresses, I make my way through the house...some years I get through the whole house, some years I don't. It's a good feeling though when the rooms are really clean and stuff is organized!

I seem to have stalled a bit with my stitching this month. Oh, not to worry, I'm still stitching, but maybe at a slower pace than earlier in the month. Still, I'm making progress and I have a few updates for you.

Let's start with some framing that I picked up recently. This was one of my first finishes this year and it is going to be a gift for some friends. I had it framed at JoAnn's and unlike the pieces I have framed for myself, I had them put glass on it. The design is Pray for Peace from Birds of a Feather.

The angled photo shows off the mottled look of this frame. I like it alot; I hope that our friends like it too. They lost their house to a fire last fall and so when they move in to their new home in February we will give this to them. I figured they may need something to hang on their walls!

Next up is a progress report on my Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers. I seem to be on a mission to get some of my WIPs done before starting anything new. This happens to be one of those WIPs and I'm making good progress on the center section. Can I just say that it took forever to stitch that big bird?!?!? I'm stitching on 36ct Irish Creme and using the overdyed threads as called for. I really like the shading in the alphabet and the birds!

Last but not least - I think this is the update I am most proud of. The piece is not finished yet, but it is really close! This was/is the oldest WIP in the basket. The design is called Mystery Sampler and the pattern was posted back in 2005 and 2006 over several months in the EGA magazine. As you can see, it is a band sampler. It's about 2.5 - 3 feet long. It's stitched with DMC.

I started this project in 2005. I got as far as "PQR" and stopped. I was afraid to do the pulled thread stitches I guess.

Two weeks ago at a Needlework Guild meeting, one of the ladies there had brought hers with. She had a little bit more finished than I did, but still had quite a bit left to do. Once I saw hers I knew that I had to get this finished this year! With some prodding from another friend (aka taskmaster Chris) I completed the rest of the stitching down as far as my name at our weekend stitching retreat two weeks ago.

This past weekend while watching football I stitched up the over one verse at the bottom.

All I have left is the two pulled thread sections (under PQR and above STU). If you look closely, you can see that I've started pulling out threads under PQR! I hope to share a finish with you on this one real soon!

So there you have it - you're all caught up with my recent stitching progress. Happy hump day and keep on stitching!

Pay It Forward Follow-Up

2012-01-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

Thank you Shirlee, Rebecca, Pat, and Kate for your interest in my Pay It Forward offer. Since there were four of you we drew names (with my DD assisting.) Shirlee and Pat, you are the lucky winners! Please send me your mailing addresses - you will find my email address in my profile.

Since there were only four of you, Rebecca and Kate - you are going to get a "consolation" prize. I would like to send you each a small gift for offering to participate. Please send me your mailing addresses too.

Today was a busy day, otherwise I'd have pictures for you. If you can patient a few more days, I promise it will be worth the wait!

Hope the week ahead includes some stitching time!

Pay It Forward

2012-01-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I participated in a Pay It Forward or even an exchange for that matter; but when Maureen from Maureen's Mountain of Stitching asked if I wanted to participate in her PIF, I gladly said yes. I had the good fortune of meeting Maureen and her mother at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat in Virginia Beach last fall. It was a delight to visit with them throughout the retreat!

This Pay It Forward was started last November by Karen at Stitching and Sharing . Since I will be receiving from Maureen, I have agreed to "Pay It Forward" to two lucky stitchers. If you want to receive a gift from me, then you also agree do the following:

1) If you win, you must be willing to post this PIF on your blog and do the same for at least 2 people.

2) Send no less than 5 stitching related items per person within the next 365 days.

3) Items can be DMC, other threads, stitching needles, straight pins, buttons, scissors, ribbons, ect. - a combination of items such as 3 threads, 1 pack of straight pins, and 1 pack of stitching needles or just 5 threads.

4) The items must be new and not used.

If you are interested in participating and would like to receive a Pay It Forward gift from me, please leave a comment on this post. Make sure you include your email address (or have it available in your blogger profile). If more than two people express interest, I will draw two names. Please comment by Friday, January 20!

Hope you are having a great week filled with lots of time for stitching!

Productive Weekend

2012-01-15T19:54:00.001-08:00

Hello Friends! I've just returned from three days of stitching bliss! Some of my stitching friends have been getting together on this weekend every year for the last several years at the Belisle Ranch Retreat. This year, I was able to join them. The ranch is about a 1.5 hour drive, just across the border in Range, WI.

We arrived at "The Ranch" on Thursday afternoon at 3pm and stayed until about 11:30am today. We cross-stitched and ate and cross-stitched more. The meals were fabulous (not to mention the fact that they were cooked for us!) The accommodations were very comfortable. Here are a couple of photos of our stitching room; you can see that many of the stitchers were hard at work!

During the weekend, I managed to finish three projects; one is from my WIP basket and two are from the basket of smalls that you heard about at the beginning of the year. I also have one other WIP that I worked on extensively - it's not finished yet, but I put a really good dent in it and hope to have it finished soon.

Since it's late and I'm ready for some shut-eye, let's get right to the stitching photos! Here's the finish from the WIP basket. I'm sure you will recognize it; it's from the Cherrywood Designs Dictionary Series.

Scissors
Cherrywood Designs
28 ct WDW Blue Jeans/Natural Gingham Linen
WDW Kohl

From the basket of smalls, this LHN design from the Nashville Needlework show in 2011. I also purchased the needlebook and pincushion; I think there is some finishing in my future!

Fresh from the Garden
Little House Needleworks
30 ct WDW Straw
Cresent Colours Fibers

The third finish also came out of that basket of smalls; it's the 2011 Shepherd's Bush scissors fob! Can't seem to escape that finishing work!

2011 Scissor Fob "Passion"
Shepherd's Bush
Kit - 30 ct Aztec Red Linen/DMC & WDW

The other WIP that I spent a significant amount of time on is one I started back in 2005. It's the EGA Mystery Sampler and is done as a band sampler. I got about a third of the way done (back in 2005) and got stuck. I needed a little encouragement (okay, maybe it was a shove) to get this one going again. I'll share a picture of this one next time.

Before I go, let me share with you a picture of Buttercup - she was the resident cat at the ranch. She was super friendly and constantly monitored our work. Buttercup liked getting cozy on our laps and she especially liked napping under our stitching lights, but as you can see in this photo, Buttercup also took a liking to one of these stitcher's lap trays! What a silly cat!

The Mermaid

2012-01-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

As many of you probably guessed, I went for the quick and easy win. Not a lot of solid stitching and mostly letters, so I was able to finish The Mermaid from Shakespeare's Peddler in just a few days. This was our class piece with Theresa Venette at the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat in Virginia Beach last fall.

I don't think I would have normally purchased this pattern, but I am strangely attracted to the design! What's interesting about this piece are the "patches." Yes, some of the motifs are stitched on a slightly different colored piece of linen and these patches then were stitched to the main piece of linen. I tacked them down and then went back and added the "topstitching". Kind of different and unique don't you think?

The Mermaid

Shakespeare's Peddler
Dyeing To Stitch Retreat - Class Project

I'm going to be away for a couple of days; going to enjoy a stitching weekend with some old and new friends.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Think I Can....

2012-01-11T05:33:00.000-08:00

Will have another finish to dance about soon. The Mermaid by Shakespeare's Peddler is almost done, but you'll have to wait another day or so for a photo.

Last night I went to Needlework Guild; our group that meets on the second Tuesday of the month decided to do a WIP challenge this year. We each brought three projects that we wanted to try to finish this year and then the group voted to decide which project we should each focus on and finish during the year. As part of the challenge, we each pay $5 to a kitty. At the April, July, and October meetings, if we have made significant progress on our piece we will get a $1 back. Those who finish their piece by the November meeting will get their name put in a hat and the name drawn will get whatever money is then left in the kitty.

I took three projects with; this is the one that the group selected for me:

It's I Sigh Not For Beauty by C Street Samplerworks. You will remember that this was one of my designated crazy challenge pieces for 2011. Unfortunately, it did not get very much attention in 2011. This is all the further I got:

So, in the words of "The Little Engine That Could"....I think I can, I think I can...

Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler - Finished!

2012-01-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to report that I have a finish to share...Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler! This was one of my crazy challenge pieces from last year; I probably had about a third of it stitched and decided that I really wanted to finish it.

Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler

Shakespeare's Peddler
32 ct LL Navy Bean
Sampler Threads

What's next? I think I need to work on one of the many WIPs languishing in the WIP basket. These next three pictures are not the greatest, but will give you some idea as to which designs I'm pondering about tackling next.

The Mermaid Sampler from Shakespeare's Peddler (Dyeing to Stitch retreat piece):

I Sigh Not for Beauty from C Street Samplerworks:

Loose Feathers Autumn from Blackbird Designs...I should probably get this finished since the final part, Winter, just came out...right?

You'll have to stop back tomorrow to see which I piece I decided to work on next!

Until then = Happy Stitching!

Off to a Stitchy Start

2012-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year friends! I hope that 2012 is treating you well; I know that I can't complain!

Before I show you my 2012 stitching progress, I want to take a moment to thank everyone that said a prayer and/or sent good wishes for my mom. Her surgery earlier in December went well and she's doing great. It will be a few more weeks before she regains full movement in her right shoulder, but every week she's doing a little bit better. We need to get her tatting again! :) Now, on to the stitching...

Late last week I picked up the final LHN ornament pattern for 2011 -- Good Tidings. I was itching to stitch it and so I started it on New Year's Eve and finished it on New Year's Day. I will do the ornament finishing later on, but the stitching is done. I like smaller ornaments so this is stitched on 40ct.

LHN Good Tidings
40ct LL Fawn
DMC and Crescent Colours

I usually will start a larger project on New Year's Day, but I had a little project that I wanted to get stitched; this is going to be a gift for some friends and I need to get it framed.

BOAF Pray for Peace
36ct PTP Legacy
WDW Fibers

What's my stitching plan for 2012? Remember this?

It's that basket of smalls which I am bound and determined to conquer in 2012! At last count, there were about 35 - 40 projects in this basket. Scissor fobs, small pincushions, etc. - all small projects that I should be able to complete in a couple of days. Let's hope this basket is close to empty by the end of the year.

Aside from all of those smalls, I'm planning to stitch on whatever tickles my fancy! At the moment, I'm set on trying to finish up Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler. I don't have too much left of it; if I can spend some quality time on it this week, she should be close to finished!

After Jenny, well, I'm not sure, but it's safe to say that I have a number of different projects to choose from. LOL! I've enjoyed reading all of your blogs and seeing the various projects you all will be working on...

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you find some time for stitching this week!

Final Post for 2011

2011-12-31T05:51:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't believe that it is December 31! Where does the time go? Tomorrow we start writing 2012. The New Year always seems to rejuvenate me; I make grand plans to do various things better in the new year and sometimes I succeed, sometimes not - but then there's always a new year to re-set and start over again!

From a stitching perspective, I get excited about digging in my stash and making plans. Of course, I'm always going to "buy less" and "stitch more" but that never happens! I keep reminding myself that for me, stitching is therapy; it's my escape from the problems of the day, my way of letting my creativity shine, a way to relax-even if only for a few minutes. It's pretty amazing when you think about it -- we take a blank canvas (one that's mottled with a very fine count works best for me!) and we change it. We add color and texture with the fibers and the stitches that we add. When it is all finished we have a beautiful stitched piece that holds special memories for us. It might remind us of that special person that we thought of while stitching the piece with their initials carefully incorporated in a corner. Or, it might remind us of a special event, past or present; maybe we remember exactly where we were when we were stitching the sampler and who we were with... Some of my stitched pieces remind of special friends, people that I have met in person and/or through this blog; they all hold a special place in my heart.

2011 was a successful stitching year; if I counted correctly, I had about 30 finishes or so. That CRAZY Crazy Challenge for 2011 was a huge motivator for me. Going into it, I didn't expect to finish all 15 projects, but I also never thought I would finish 12 (and I did!) Needless to say, I'm happy with my results!

Here are some of my favorite finishes from this year:

Blackbird Designs Peacock Pinkeep -- as my regular readers know, there's always something from BBD in my WIP basket; I love all of their designs; in fact, I stitched eight of their designs last year. I was excited to stitch and finish this one in 2011!

The Drawn Thread's Game Board Sampler would probably still be languishing in the UFO pile if it weren't for the Crazy Challenge. I had to take a short vacation from stitching houses after stitching this one! Lelia (Stitches of Life) and I started this project on New Year's Day back in 2006 or 2007...I'm glad mine is finished.

Another Blackbird Designs project! And another project that had been languishing in my stash for a long time. This one holds special memories; it reminds me of my trip in 2007 to the Hands to Work Retreat in Virginia. I hadn't been blogging long and stitching retreats were kind of new to me. Oh how I wish I could do that one again! It was such great fun. The design is the Flowers for Sarah needleroll.

I love this Chessie and Me piece - Scarlett Pomegranate's Christmas Sampler. I was determined to finish the over one stitching by myself. And I did!

Quaker Stitches from Jeanette Douglas; proof that the designer knows best! I fretted over the light colored fiber in the medallion top center and bottom right. There's also some in the center of the piece. Bought like 3 or 4 different skeins of Belle Soie silk each time thinking that color would work better. In the end, I used the color that Jeanette had charted. What a silly girl I am! I had the good fortune of meeting Jeanette at the Stitchville retreat last April!

(Hope you are not bored, I'm kind of enjoying this trip down memory lane...)

This one is at the top of my favorite list. I love BOAF. Included the initials for all the special people (and pets) in my immediate family. Birds of a Feather Happy Hearts...

LHN Friendship Squares - this is one of the coolest things I did all year. Each member of the Friday night stitch group stitched a square. We added our initials and swapped squares and then made these little boxes. Love it!

Quaker Medallion Sampler - Enjoyed working on this sampler from C Street Samplerworks; I've got another one of her designs started (and plan to finish it in 2012!)

The last one I will include here, is the piece I finished in Virgina Beach at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat (another fun weekend with stitching friends). I was so close and so determined to finishing this one that I kept on stitching right during the opening reception - at one point I had to stand up, which I did but I kept right on stitching! In my room later that night I started my happy dance only to realize that I had missed a part and had to sit back down and continue stitching! Ha! I should have a picture of this framed, but I can't find it, so here are the unframed photos of Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler from Shakespeare's Peddler.

Many happy memories...looking forward to making more in 2012!

Ready to Move on to a New Year!

2011-12-26T10:39:00.001-08:00

Our tree by day...

Happy Day After Christmas! How was your holiday? Ours was event-filled, but all worked out for the best. We were hosting dinner on Sunday for one of my brothers and his family, but it must not have been meant to be. My daughter woke up during the night with the flu and we had to quickly figure out "Plan B." We packed up the food and gifts and took Christmas dinner to my brother's house! My DH stayed home with my daughter, my mom went with me. It all worked out and we had a lovely day. By the time we got home last night, my daughter was feeling a little better and we were able to open our gifts to each other. Most of the family then watched the football game; I went to bed - I was tired out!

Our tree by night...

I'm looking forward to 2012 and a new year of stitching! You remember that I have pulled out a number of small projects from my stash. I'm hoping to get those stitched and finished in 2012. I haven't made any other plans or "resolutions" as of yet, but I'm anxious to spend some quality time in my stitching chair real soon!

Enjoy your week! Happy Stitching!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T11:43:00.001-08:00

Dear stitching/blogging friends, I wish you much joy during this season of peace! Merry Christmas!

(Received this BOAF ornament in the mail today from Marie at Creative Thread. Thanks Marie!)

All Tuckered Out...

2011-12-22T05:24:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a bit like my friend Maggie here!

Lots of Merry!

2011-12-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

A few more ornament finishes tonight. If you've followed my blog for a long time you saw a whole basket of these last year. I had some fabric left and decided to stitch up a few more. This design is from Miss Crescent's Crowne and it is in the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue!

That's all I've got!

Busy Weekend!

2011-12-11T13:03:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a quick post...I've got a million things to do yet! It's been a busy weekend. It started out grrrrreat! (Think Tony the Tiger...) On the second Saturday of each month a group of us gather together at Stitchville for Sip N Stitch. A little stitching, some stashing (the new Blackbird Designs sampler "Christmas Garden" had just come in!) We also enjoyed a delicious egg bake and an almond coffee cake...heaven. But as I've said numerous times before on this blog, all good things must come to an end....

Once I got home, I started cleaning like a maniac (imagine a house with two dogs that hasn't been cleaned for two weeks!) My DH and DD started pulling out Christmas decorations -- holy chaos Batman! The tree was dead...over two thirds of the lights on our artificial tree were dead...no matter what we did, we couldn't get them to light up....sooo off to Target to buy a new tree. Alright, I'll save you from all of the other details...today we continue with the lower level family room. Oy vey!

Let's talk about happier times like birthdays and stitching! I have a couple more gifts to show you. The Blackbird book in the photo below was a gift from Joan (I love any book by Blackbird Designs!), the kleenex holder, key fob (both made from Blackbird fabric) and the tea were from Wendy Jo, and the little notebook and scissors were from Diana. Thanks ladies for remembering my birthday and making it a special day!

I continue to work on that finishing I started the Friday after Thanksgiving. What do you think of these Christmas angel ornaments? I ruched the ribbon on one of them and did a beaded edge on the other two. I'm kind of liking the beaded edge the best, but I think both finishes are pretty.

Well...gotta run..washing machine is calling me!

Stitchville Retreat April 2012

2011-12-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

I spent my morning stitching with friends at Stitchville's monthly Sip N Stitch gathering. We have the best time stitching and stashing and chatting. And Deb makes the most delicious egg dishes and pastries. I look forward to going every month!

When I was there today I found out that there are still openings (only six!) for the retreat this spring. Thea Dueck is coming and we are going to do a wonderful project - Thea's Victorian Pincushion. Here is the picture copied from the Stitchville website:

The retreat had filled up earlier this fall, but Thea agreed to add a few more spots. So, if you are interested, don't delay. We've always had a great time at these retreats - it's a great facility, the stitching/classroom is comfortable, and the meals are delicious! Please go to the Stitchville website for all the details (from the home page click on Spring Fling Retreat 2012).

My little disclaimer -- I'm not affiliated with the shop in anyway, just a very satisfied customer who has thoroughly enjoyed both of their first two retreats!

Hope you will come - would love to see you there!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

Love this little German carol. Wish I were able to say that our Christmas tree is up and decorated and that the house is ready for the holidays...but I can't say that yet. Hopefully we will get this job done next weekend.

I've been making trees of a different kind these days - Hardanger trees! I joined the Nordic Needle Hardanger ornament of the month club this year and the ornament for October was a Christmas tree. While helping my mother this weekend at her boutique, I discovered that I can whip up one of these trees in an hour or two. I really like the beading detail (can you see those little red beads?) Well, I've made four of these trees already and I'll be making more!

The boutique was a huge success; my mom sold most of her tatting. She had a great time visiting with lots of different people - some come and buy her tatting year after year, some are just curious to find out what she's doing!

My daughter assisted at the boutique; the three of us had great fun - three generations spending the two days together. (However, only two generations in the photo - I'm not a fan of having my picture taken!)

My mom is having surgery on her right shoulder (rotator cuff) next Tuesday, so if you don't mind keeping her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd appreciate it!

That's all I've got for you. Hope your week is off to a good start. Happy Stitching!

Please Pass the Cupcakes!

2011-12-02T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of cooking or baking; hey I'd rather be stitching! But recently, I've been cooking up some cupcakes.

As many of you know, my mom tats. A few months ago I was trying to think of a way to incorporate her tatting into some type of needlework accessory. I saw a pincushion that had been done in wool and adorned with crocheted medallions and that sparked an idea. The finished pincushions are very different from what I originally came up with, but that's okay - I like them!

I've done these two ways now - you may recall a picture of the designers at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat holding their tatted pincushions for a photo. Those were done in tart tins and were quite cute (if I may say so myself!)

For this batch, I used some old zinc mason jar lids. The lids have lots of character to them (some have dates written on them; I noticed one of them had the year "1952" written on it - I wonder if the woman had canned pickles or peaches that year?) They are embellished with some trim I found at a local quilting shop.

My mom tatted motifs in various colors - she likes the thread called "Lizbeth" (a tatters version of WDW, CC, or GAST!) We found some wool colors that made the thread colors pop (thanks Roseanne) and voila!

Cute huh?

Back to Stitching

2011-12-01T05:12:00.001-08:00

Sincere thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes yesterday. I don't know why this particular birthday bothered me so much, but now I'm past it. It's a new month and pretty soon we'll be celebrating a new year! I have some stitchy pictures that I am excited to share with you!

First of all, a birthday gift that touched my heart. My friend Judy stitched this for me and did some special personalization. Judy and I first met at a Nordic Needle retreat in 2005. We both attended their retreat again in 2007. Shortly after that 2007 retreat Judy reached out to me via email and we started talking "stitching" and we've been good friends ever since. Of course, it helps that our tastes in stitching are similar - we both like to do Hardanger and we both love Blackbird Designs and many other designers. We've enjoyed several other retreats since then, like the Stitchville retreats and more recently, Dyeing to Stitch. We try to see each other once a month at Stitchville's monthly Sip N Stitch gatherings. I could go on and on..anyway, thanks Judy for your friendship! Judy stitched this Shepherd's Bush design for me -"Friends" and included our initials, plus "NN" for Nordic Needle and "2005" the year of our first retreat. It's finished in a cute little wedge and sits on a shelf in my stitching/computer room. Love it! Thanks again Judy!

JoAnn's called on Monday to say that the rest of my framing was done. Hooray! I picked up these two pieces from them.

Poppy Maye Russell
Heartstring Samplery
35ct WDW Cappuccino linen
WDW fibers

Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler
Shakespeare's Peddler
36ct LL Pearled Barley
GAST Limited Edition Threadpack

I have to be honest with you; when I first started stitching Jenny Bean, I wasn't liking her very much. I don't stitch very many Halloween designs and I'm not a big fan of stitching graveyards or tombstones, but I loved the linen and I liked the thread colors and the more I stitched the more I liked this piece. Now that she's framed, I love her! I guess it just took a little longer for the two of us to bond!

Wish I had more to share, but there hasn't been a lot of time for stitching lately! Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stitching!

Half a Century...

2011-11-30T05:03:00.000-08:00

It sounds "ancient" when put that way doesn't it? I'm feeling particularly "old" this morning as I have reached one of those milestones in life. Don't worry, I'm only going to fret about it today. Tomorrow will be a new day!

Now that I am officially old, I feel like I should be able to pass along some sage advice, but I have none. The only thing that comes to mind are the lyrics from an old Bob Dylan (a fellow Minnesotan, don'tcha know) song. And so today, to mark the occasion of my 50th birthday, this is my wish for you:

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others,
And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars,
And climb on every rung,
And may you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
And may you always know the truth,
And see the lights surrounding you.

May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
And may you stay forever young.

Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation,
When the winds of changes shift.

May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
And may you stay forever young.

Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

If you are interested, there's a great version of this song on YouTube; it's performed by Clifton Murray of The Canadian Tenors. If I wasn't so old, I would know how to include the link here! LOL. Google it - Clifton Murray - "Forever Young" at Treasure Island.

Have a great day. Come back for some stitching pictures tomorrow!

Some Progress Made...

2011-11-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

Where did the weekend go? I spent a good deal of time cooking for my family - we had soup on Saturday (made with the bones and leftover meat from the turkey) and yesterday we had beef stew with bread dumplings (one of our cold weather favorites!) The family was happy.

Remember all those ornaments and other finishing projects that I prepped on Friday? I managed to finish four ornaments (only four - yikes!) Here they are:

This is an old Sheepish Designs chart (OOP). I used colors that I had seen on Karen V's (My Favorite Things) blog last year (CC Ye Old Gold and GAST Maple Syrup).

"Merry" is in the 2010 Just Cross Stitch ornament magazine. It is a design from Miss Crescent's Crowne. You might recall that I stitched a whole bunch of these last year. I still had fabric left and they are quick to stitch, and not everyone on my giving list received one, soooooo.....I made a few more! These just need the wire hanger added now.

Three more angel ornaments to finish and six more merry ornaments...I better get going!

Have a great week!

Friday's Finishing Frenzy

2011-11-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

No Black Friday shopping for me! I don't like navigating lines or crowds, so I stayed home and enjoyed a quiet day and got some finishing going. Here's a picture of the various projects that I worked on. Some of the projects are finished or close to finished; others still need to be completed.

I made a couple more pincushions with my mother's tatting. She wants to include these in the boutique that she will be selling at next weekend. I also put some of her tatting in those plastic coasters that you can find at Michael's or JoAnn's.

I also had some hardanger that just needed to be pressed and hangers added to the ornaments.

Remember this ornament from last year? I still had some of the fabric and finishing supplies left so I stitched up a few more -- these aren't finished yet, but at least they are mounted on the mat board.

More cross stitch ornaments mounted on mat board and waiting for ribbon and beads.

I'll post photos of the finished product once I have some of these finishes finished!

Hope you are having a nice weekend. Happy Stitching!

Some Framing...

2011-11-25T07:58:00.000-08:00

JoAnn's had some really good framing coupons recently and so I took a few pieces in to be framed. Here are the three I picked up yesterday; two more coming in a week or so.

This is a design from The Drawn Thread. I stitched it a couple of years ago and used some buttons that I found at a quilting store. The original design calls for various shapes and sizes of white buttons. This is going to be a Christmas gift for someone special.

The Button Tree
The Drawn Thread
linen and fibers from stash

Next up, one of my BBD Loose Feather finishes from earlier this year. I love the colors in this design and I think the frame nicely compliments those colors.

Sunflower House
Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers #9
28ct Friendship Blue
GAST Fibers

And, just in time for the Holidays, one of my very favorite Blackbird pieces!

Tis the Season
Blackbird Designs
36ct Pear Lakeside Linens
CC Belle Soie

The pictures don't really do these pieces justice! Now I need to find the appropriate place to display them.

Today is a holiday for me - an extended weekend due to the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. While many are out participating in the shopping frenzy trying to take advantage of the Black Friday deals, I am planning to stay home and enjoy the peacefulness of my home, listen to some Christmas music and work on finishing various needlework pieces!

Happy Stitching!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving all!

...Will be back later this weekend with some stitchy posts...

A Late Night Finish (well, almost)

2011-11-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Almost...because I have to stitch the alphabet band yet! You see this is going to be the top of the box, and a stitched alphabet band goes along the rim of the box lid. Don't worry, I'll have that alphabet band stitched in no time! I'm hoping to then do the finishing of the box on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Autumn Song
Blackbird Designs - Loose Feathers #27
28ct Korty's Special Blend (R&R)
WDW Fibers

I loved stitching with these fiber colors!

Need to head to bed now. Hope you enjoy your day tomorrow and that you find some time for stitching!

Stash Busting in 2012

2011-11-09T05:23:00.000-08:00

Doot doot doo doot doo doot...doo doo doo doo doo doot...doot doot doo doot doo doot...Stash Busters!

Okay, I need to figure out how to add music to my blog! My theme song for 2012 is going to be Stash Busters! (Come on, you know the tune - hum the "Ghost Busters" song and just insert "Stash Busters!) Now I've got this song stuck in my head.

Okay, so as you know, I spent a good part of the weekend, cleaning through my stash. It's kind of out of control! I separated my stuff into three piles:

Small kitted projects (fobs, needlebooks, pincushions, etc.) that won't take too much effort to stitch and finish.

WIPs and UFOs - I had a number of these that weren't even included on my WIP list! They are now all accounted for.

Larger kitted projects

I just function better and accomplish more when I have a plan. My plans are always flexible and I don't stress out if things don't go as planned. It always helps me if I write it down. I know it's early for New Year's Resolutions, but I just can't help myself! So here's part one of my "Stash Busting in 2012" plan:

Stash Busting in 2012: Challenge #1: Reduce the number of "kitted smalls" in my stash by stitching 2 to 3 small projects per month!

I counted a total of 34 small kitted projects in my stash. Yikes! But you all know me well enough. When I put my mind to it and get those turbo needles working, I can get a lot done in a short period of time. That's my challenge and I'm going to stick to it!

Now I need to think about those wips and other kitted projects and come up with a plan to reduce those piles.

Does anyone want to join me for some Stash Busting in 2012?

Happy Hump Day! Keep on stitching!

Playing in My Stash

2011-11-06T15:31:00.001-08:00

Trying to get it organized and thinking about what my stitching "plan" is going to be for 2012!

Buying Books

2011-11-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's all Robert's fault really...I have to blame someone. Several weeks ago I was reading Robert's post regarding his finished Mary Allen sampler. (It's gorgeous, you should really have a look at it!) I kept paging down through his blog and came across a finish for this sampler: Dorothy Preston - and I thought, "I just might have to take a look at that sampler more closely!" So, I went searching for Sampler & Antique Needlework Volume 1 and I found it.

I enjoyed the book so much that I decided to see if there was a Volume 2 and there was! Volume 2 is just as lovely as Volume 1. I haven't searched for any subsequent volumes...does anyone know, are there more?

Then, one day recently I happened to be searching on eBay for my usually things like Gingher scissors and Mary Garry patterns and I entered a search for this Hardanger book by Jill Carter. My friend Judy has been looking for this for some time. Another friend has a copy and we all like the book very much. Believe it or not, I happened across the book and it was "for purchase" not "for bidding". I snatched it up right away! (I will need to keep looking for a copy for my friend Judy...)

So then, while in Virginia Beach, Ann R (of R&R) shared that Pat R (of R&R) had published a book on American samplers. Some of the stories she told us were quite interesting, so when I got home I went on a search for this book and picked up a copy quite reasonably! I'm enjoying the stories in it very much!

I really don't have time for stitching because I am too busy reading all of these needlework books!

Today, my best friend from high school and I were meeting for lunch to celebrate her birthday which was in October. We stopped at a craft boutique before lunch. I saw this small chest of drawers and commented how much I liked it and how I thought it might work well for storing floss...she bought it for me! Early birthday/Christmas present...I'm now trying to figure out where I would like to place it in my stitching room...and do I want to store floss in it or should I put my scissors collection in it? Decisions, decisions....

Hope you are having a great weekend!

What Did I Stitch On?

2011-11-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

These pictures aren't the greatest, after all, it is fall in Minnesota and we will see very little sunlight from now until spring! Okay, that's a bit exaggerated, but it is difficult to find natural light in the early morning. Since these are just progress pics, you'll have to deal with it!

I did work a little bit on Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler. Keep in mind, this is one of my crazy challenge pieces so a little bit was already stitched (the box and about four words!)

I also spent a little more time working on the retreat class piece from Shakespeare's Peddler. I had started the vine on the right while in Virginia Beach, but hadn't made much progress.

Last night I felt like doing a little bit of Hardanger so I started this pink doily.

That's all I've got! I'm running behind this morning and need to get moving. Have a great day. Happy Friday!

Couple More Things from Virginia

2011-11-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

After I hit "Publish Post" yesterday, I thought of a couple more things I wanted to share with you.

First of all, I want you to see this cute acorn scissor fob that we received as a gift at the retreat. Pat (of R&R) stitched them (about 100 of them!) and some of the shop employees helped with the finishing. The picture doesn't really do it justice; it's really cute!

And, while in Virginia Beach, I received a gift from Pam in Iowa (some of you may know her as "PJStitcher" - she doesn't have her own blog, but she comments on a lot of blogs.) Pam and I met last year at the Silver Needle retreat; then in November she came to Minneapolis for a weekend and I met her at Stitchville for some stash enhancing. Check out this scissor casket that she made for me!

Pam always says that she isn't very good at finishing, but she did a great job with this project. It might be hard to see in the picture, but the witch has a needle in her hand! On the left, stuck to the witch scissors, is a needleminder with a ghost on it. It's pretty cool! Thanks Pam!

I had to take a picture of the gift bag that she used. It was a simple brown paper lunch bag, but it had a sampler pattern stamped on the outside!

I'm having trouble settling on which project to stitch on right now; too many choices! Should I work on Jenny Bean Christmas Sampler (and knock off another Crazy Challenge piece?) Or should I work on one of the projects from the retreat? What I really should do is work on some Christmas ornaments! Well, stay tuned...I'll report later this weekend on what I decided.

Happy Stitching!

Dyeing to Stitch Wrap Up

2011-11-02T06:32:00.001-07:00

As the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end." Unfortunately, our weekend of fun did come to an end and on Sunday it was time to come home.

After our class ended on Saturday we made a quick trip back to Dyeing to Stitch. I had to take one more look at all of those beautiful stitched samplers on their walls. On the way back to the hotel we stopped to take some pictures of the sea and of this statue of Neptune. Trust me, it was very cold outside when we took these pictures. Brrr! Those surfers are crazy!

On Saturday afternoon we had some time to visit with Ann Robbins; what a delightful lady she is! We talked about samplers and the proper way to press linen. She also shared with us how the dyeing process is done. It was quite interesting to talk with her.

There was a banquet on Saturday night to wrap up the retreat. For some reason, I didn't take very many pictures, only this one, of new friends that we made at our table.

We had lots of food, delicious desserts, and great conversation. Of course there were many lovely doorprizes. One stitcher won the frame and Jill Rensel mat to go with the Shepherd's Bush project. Can you imagine? Wow! At the end of the evening we each received a parting gift --- a Nantucket basket from Olde Colonial! Our project from Friday night (the padded basket bottom) is a perfect fit for this basket!)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there were approximately 90 stitchers from all over the U.S. at this retreat. In addition to my Minnesota traveling companions, there were a handful of other stitchers who I already knew; it was good to see them again. It was also fun running into stitchers who would say "I read your blog all the time!" And, there were many new friendships made during the retreat (a big shout out to Maureen and her mother Barbara, and to Cathy, Polly, and Vickie - see you next April at Stitchville!) Connecting and chatting with other stitchers from other parts of the country is really the most fun of all!

Before I sign off, I promised to share with you the little project that we did with Teri from Shepherd's Bush. Teri's project was super simple and it only took 15 minutes! We each made a felt flower scissor fob! The petals were already cut for us and all we had to do was assemble and stitch the parts together. Isn't it cute?

The stitched design with the fob is a retreat exclusive from Shakespeare's Peddler; it will be a needlebook once I have time to do the finishing. A nice reminder of my weekend "By the Sea."

Dyeing to Tell You More...

2011-11-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

...about our stitching extravaganza! Take a look at the view from the balcony on Friday. You can see that the view has changed. The sky is cloudy and grey looking and the waves are choppy. Notice that battleship in the distance? There is a naval station located in Norfolk. Twice during my visit I saw navy ships either coming in or going out to sea; plus countless times each day we could hear fighter jets flying overhead. It was amazing to see those too - no pictures though. Felt safe...and proud of our U.S. military.

On Friday morning, Pat and Ann (our hostesses) had arranged for us to tour the old Cavalier Hotel located across the street from the newer version which we were staying at.

The "old" Cavalier Hotel is an historic property; it first opened in 1927 and it is a grand old lady! We were able to tour the public spaces. Since it was off-season, the hotel is closed for renovations - great care is being taken to preseve this old girl! Some interesting stories -- in 1927 Adolph Coors (founder of Coors Brewery) plunged to his death from the sixth floor; the U.S. Navy occupied the hotel during WWII and used it as a training facility; several U.S. Presidents have stayed at the Cavalier; and the hotel is rumored to have ghosts. Today the hotel is used for weddings and large parties; the hotel rooms may be rented during the peak season.

This painting offers a glimpse of the old and new hotels on a hot summer day!

Back to stitching! On Friday afternoon we had our first class; since I was in Track A, my class was with Teri and Tina from Shepherd's Bush (they are rock stars in my world!) The two of them are very funny and shared stories as they helped us prepare our project for stitching. The project is unbelievable! Their season was "spring" and they designed the following amazing sampler for us entitled "Her World":

They also designed two additional pieces which complemented the sampler, a scissor fob and a pincushion; we could purchase these exclusive kits in the Dyeing to Stitch shop onsite.

Our class was held in a room on the 11th floor of the hotel, overlooking the ocean. The wind was howling the entire time (a storm was brewing). There were so many amazing things to see -- approximately 25 or so surfers were out in the ocean trying to "catch a wave", further out we could see dolphins, and every so often, a flock of pelicans would fly by. Yes, pelicans!

We spent our class time sorting threads and then stitched three of the bands at the top of the sampler. Teri also had a fun project for us at the end of class. I need to take a picture of it and will share it in my next post.

Here are Teri and Tina with their beautiful sampler:

Friday night's event was with a "surprise" teacher - Pam from Olde Colonial designs stopped by. She showed us how easy it is to make padded bottoms for our baskets and how the design can be modified to fit any basket. We thought this class was a bit odd, but it all made sense at our closing event on Saturday night. Sorry, no pictures from Friday night - I think I was too busy with the project!

By Saturday morning the wind and the waves were really tearing up the shoreline (keep in mind that to our north, they were getting snow!)

Saturday morning's class was with Theresa Venette from Shakespeare's Peddler. I knew Theresa from when her shop used to be in Fargo, but I had never taken a class from her. We enjoyed her stories and it was fun to hear about how some of her designs have come to be. Theresa's "season" was winter. She designed a beach/sea theme and explained how challenging it is to combine winter and the sea! I think her sampler is pretty cute:

My two partners in crime, posing for me in the back of the classroom:

We worked on the patches in class and Theresa providing good instruction on how to attach these to our sampler when we are ready. Here is Theresa with her sampler:

One last photo of the sea...see all of those black dots? Those are surfers waiting for huge waves to roll in!

I think this post is long enough! I'll share a few more photos and stories with you tomorrow...enjoy your day!

Dyeing to Tell You...

2011-10-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

...about the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat last week!

Not only was this my first time attending this retreat but it was also my first trip to Virginia Beach! I've visited many places on the east coast but I have never been this "up close and personal" with the Atlantic Ocean. Each and every day I was in awe of the view from my hotel balcony. Here are a couple of snaps from that very first day (last Wednesday) and make note of the sky and the waves so you can compare with later pictures!

I took an early morning flight from MN last Wednesday so that I would arrive by noon. My friend Judy and her husband left a few days earlier and drove to Virginia Beach. We wanted to be there early enough on Wednesday to attend the Open House at the shop. Here's a shot of Judy in front of the shop, package in hand!

I was overwhelmed by all the samplers, many of which had been stitched by either Ann or Pat (better known as R&R). Lots of Blackbird Designs samplers done over one - wow! The shop was lovely. Pat and Ann are two of the nicest people you will ever meet; they were so welcoming and took time to greet every guest that was attending the retreat.

Eye candy in the window (sorry about the reflections)-

I was pretty tired on Wednesday night and turned in early to rest up for the start of the retreat on Thursday.

The view still looked pretty good on Thursday, yes? These homes were located right next to our hotel. We stayed at the Cavalier Hotel located right on the beach!

Registration was from 3pm until 5pm on Thursday. During this time we worked on a "welcome" project, met the teachers, and found out what our projects were going to be. There were two tracks of teachers; each participant could take classes from one of the tracks. Track A was Shepherd's Bush and Shakespeare's Peddler and Track B was Jeanette Douglas and R&R. I would have been happy with either track but I was most interested in Track A and fortunately, that's what I was assigned to!

Here's photo of the welcome project - we were given the black mesh bag and all the supplies to stitch this sampler. The theme of this retreat was "Four Seasons at the Beach."

Our hostesses, Pat Ryan and Ann Robbins from R&R:

We broke for dinner, but returned to the ballroom at 7pm for "An Evening with Friends." Each teacher had designed a special "small" project for us and received all the materials to complete these smalls.

From R&R, a pincushion design with each season represented:

From Shepherd's Bush, one of their wonderful scissor fob designs representing Spring:

From Jeanette Douglas, a needlebook design. Jeanette's designated season at the retreat was Autumn:

And last but not least, Theresa Venette/Shakespeare's Peddler designed a pinkeep:

There were approximately 90 stitchers at the retreat coming from all over. Representing the great state of Minnesota, LuAnne, Judy, and yours truly!

Using some motifs that my mother had tatted, I made some little pincushions in tart tins and took several of them for special friends and the teachers. Here are Theresa, Teri, Jeannette, and Tina posing for a picture holding their pincushions.

Well, I'm just getting started, but I think this post is long enough! Check back later for part two of the Dyeing to Stitch retreat...

Crazy Challenge Finish #12

2011-10-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it, but I've managed to finish twelve pieces from my Crazy Challenge list! While I was in Virginia Beach this week, I finished Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler. I kept with it on Thursday night until it was done; the last stitches were put in at about 12:30am! I love it!

Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler
Shakespeare's Peddler
36ct LL Pearled Barley
GAST Limited Edition Threadpack

Full retreat report coming soon!

Gone to the Beach!

2011-10-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

Was up at the crack of dawn this morning (4am) so that I would make my 6:30am flight to Norfolk, VA (via Detroit). Both flights operated as scheduled and about 45 minutes after landing in Norfolk I was shopping at Dyeing to Stitch in Virginia Beach! They had an open house at the shop this afternoon. Jeanette Douglas and the R&R gals, Pat & Ann, were there. We had a good time looking at the many shop models (lots of samplers). I picked up a couple of patterns and some delectable R&R linens.

After shopping we headed to the hotel and checked in. I have a room with a great view of the Atlantic Ocean. The weather tomorrow is going to be beautiful. The retreat starts at 3pm, but there are a number of stitchers in the hotel already and we're going to try to organize a "stitch-in" earlier in the day.

Looking forward to the next three days!!!

Progress Made, But No Dancing Yet...

2011-10-22T22:00:00.001-07:00

Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler - Shakespeare's Peddler

I'm getting close to another finish here; Jenny Bean just needs the top, bottom and right borders added and then she will be done! I'm not sure that it will happen this week, but we'll see.

I can barely contain my excitement -- on Wednesday, I am flying to Virginia Beach for the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat!

Ready for Part Two!

2011-10-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm always bringing up the caboose so I'm kind of glad that Barb and Alma haven't released part two of the current Loose Feathers. I finished part one tonight and in my humble opinion it looks pretty good! Alma posted a picture of part two on her blog this week - can't wait to get it in my hot little hands!

I'm stitching mine on 35 ct R&R Irish Creme, otherwise everything else is as charted.

One of my stitching buds convinced me that I could finish another Crazy Challenge piece - it's getting close -- I'll share a picture with you this weekend.

Right now this crazy stitching lady needs to go to bed!

Plum Dumplings and Some Stitching

2011-10-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite treats in the fall are plum dumplings! My mom will make them a couple of times while the italian plums are in season. I've purchased plums at the grocery store for her twice now. Do you think if I pick up some more she will make one more batch?

They are a lot of work. The dough is made using potatoes; the plums have to be pitted; and after the dumpling has been cooked it is rolled in fried bread crumbs made with lots of butter and sugar. Yum!

Not too much on the stitching front to share. I wish I had taken time to iron this before I took my photo; I'm kind of being lazy this morning. I am glad that Barb and Alma are late in getting part two out - gives me time to get part one stitched!

Happy Stitching!

Crazy Challenge Finish #11

2011-09-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, another crazy challenge piece finished! One of my friends asked me earlier this week, "Did you ever think you would finish as many pieces as you have?" My answer was, "No!" When I started this challenge in January, I did it to have fun and I really didn't expect to finish as many projects as I have. There are always new projects that peak my interest and get in the way of finishing those projects that are already started. Can you relate to that? Well, I know for certain that I won't finish all 15 and maybe this is the last one that I will finish, but I have had fun. I really need to get busy now and stitch up some ornaments for the holidays!

Without further ado, here is Crazy Challenge Finish #11!

Tis the Season
Blackbird Designs
from the Joyeux Noel book
36ct Pear by Lakeside Linens
CC Belle Soie

Hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with much stitching!

Tatted Pincushions

2011-09-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

Tell me what you think about these...I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate my mom's tatting into a pincushion. She tatted a couple of motifs for me; I tacked them down to some bright colored wool using invisible thread and then made a pincushion using an old zinc lid for the base. As luck would have it, I just happened to have some coordinating trim in bright colors. So, what do you think???

Always Playing Catch-up!

2011-09-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

How's it going? I love this time of year. Cooler temperatures, beautiful colors - fall is my favorite season! My mom and I drove to Wisconsin yesterday to visit with some family members at their annual fall "booya". It was a crisp autumn day and the food was delicious. We had a nice time.

I have spent more time reading blogs this past week than I have spend stitching! There are a couple of very tempting sampler projects out there that are calling my name though.

The one that I can't get out of my head is Mary Allen. Terri/Chocolates for Breakfast has it pictured in her blog header; Laurie at Corgi Cottage is working on it and doesn't have too much more to go; Margaret/Days of a Sampler Lover is stitching it too and we know that with her smoking needles she will have it finished in no time; and one more Mary Allen finish - check out Robert's blog, A Gentleman's Samplings. I know I have a lot of projects in the works right now, but how can I resist this one?

I've also signed up to receive the La D Da mystery sampler; I'm just too much of a La D Da fan to pass this one up. I know, I know, I haven't even finished my last mystery sampler yet! I think next year's challenge will be to finish up some of the WIPs I have started this year!

So, while there hasn't been a lot of stitching going on, I do have a couple of pictures to share with you. Remember the quilt top that I shared with you last weekend? I used the scraps to make a table runner. I had some additional fabrics from the same line that I added to it. I used the "quilt as you go" method. It was quick and easy.

And on the stitching front - I'm working on Blackbird Designs Tis the Season. Sorry, I didn't take time to iron it!

That's all I have for you today. Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

What Have I Been Up to Lately?

2011-09-17T13:12:00.001-07:00

Well...not much I guess since I haven't posted for quite awhile. I've been stitching, but have also been busy with other things. We're approaching that time of year when time slips by quickly!

Last weekend, as we remembered and reflected on the events of September 11, I decided to stitch up a sampler that has been in my stash for a long time. On that Friday I was reading the weekly newsletter from Attic Needlework and in doing so, remembered that I had this pattern in my stash. Attic Needlework had another version of it in their newsletter; I had the original pattern from BBD. It seemed like an appropriate stitch to mark the occasion.

Home of the Brave
Blackbird Designs
30 count R&R Irish Creme
Victorian Motto Antique Red

I modified my pattern slightly to add "We will always remember September 11, 2001" similar to the Attic Needlework version. On the original pattern, just the year is stitched in this area. I enjoyed stitching this while reflecting on the events of 10 years ago and also while watching the Sunday football games that followed!

I took some time off of work this week and spent some time cleaning my house and cleaning through my stash! Now here's a little secret that I'll share with you...I've always wanted to be a quilter. I love the fabrics -- oh so many colors and patterns and designs to choose from! And there's nothing like snuggling under a homemade quilt! Over the years I've purchased fat quarters and patterns with the idea that I might quilt someday, but not much ever materialized from those purchases.

In late July/early August, my sister-in-law and I visited a couple of quilt shops that were participating in the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. Quilt Shops all over the state of Minnesota participate in this two week event and they even have fabric designed specifically to commemorate it! Long story short - I loved this year's fabric - the colors and the designs were right up my alley! I was determined to make a quilt!

One of the shops we stopped at was Rosebud's Cottage in White Bear Lake, MN. Roseanne (shopowner) had designed a pattern using the Minnesota themed fabrics that surely even a novice quilter like me could finish! I've been dying to put the quilt top together and so that's what I worked on during my time off. And, as of this morning, the quilt top is finished!

Barn Square Quilt
Design by Rosebud's Cottage
Fabric by James Meger for Quilting Treasures

I must admit, I had a couple of issues, but I worked through them and in my humble opinion I think it looks great! Once I get it quilted and put the binding on, I'll share another picture.

Well, so that's my update. I hope you are all finding some time to enjoy a bit of stitching (or quilting!) this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Labor Day Finish

2011-09-06T07:30:00.001-07:00

Sunflower House
Blackbird Designs - Loose Feathers #9
28ct Friendship Blue
GAST Fibers (substituted Endive for Grecian Gold)

The Great Minnesota Get Together

2011-09-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

The "last 12 days of summer" (aka known as the last 12 days leading up to and including Labor Day) we Minnesotans get together at our State Fair! Today was Day 11; tomorrow will be the last day of the 2011 State Fair.

When we were young, my brothers and I used to go almost every day to the fair. One of our uncles had a food stand at the fair (he charcoal broiled chicken). As young kids we'd go with him prior to the fair and help get the stand ready - sweeping, mopping, painting, dusting, etc. Once we were old enough, we all worked at the stand too; it was a great way to earn extra money. Many of the same people always came year after year (and some of the fair workers would come several times during the fair) to eat at the stand and you'd get to know these folks pretty well; it was always good to see them again the next year. Once the fair gets in your blood, it's kind of hard to let it go!

Fairchild, the State Fair mascot!

My children are both avid fairgoers too; in fact; my DD was just 3 weeks old when she attended her first fair! My kids haven't gone as often in recent years; while most elementary and middle/high schools in Minnesota don't start school until after Labor Day, many of the colleges and universities start before, so they have been in school and haven't been able to go as much as they would like.

(I don't know who that guy is; darn him for getting in my photo!)

My mom is there every year as she demonstrates tatting at one of the buildings on the fair grounds. She is planning to be there tomorrow and will have gone 10 out of 12 days this year. Here she is with her little tatting display. (She says she's demonstrating tatting, but we think she spends most of her time talking and watching people!)

My family went to the fair twice this year (actually, DD went three times) but today was my first and only fair day. When we go to the fair, we always do the same things. Our first stop is at the Pronto Pup booth just inside the main entrance. We are Pronto Pup snobs -- no corn dogs for us!

My second stop is at the Creative Activities building. My family usually goes off and does their own thing for about an hour or longer so that I can take my time looking at things without feeling rushed. In this building you will find all things handmade - sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, woodworking, etc., etc. I didn't think there was very much cross stitching entered this year; I'm not sure why. I took a few pictures for you of some of the things that were on display:

Hardanger!

Beautiful stumpwork!

This quilt was made using Minnesota themed fabrics from the 2010 Quilt Minnesota shop hop.

Do you recognize Mary Wigham?
Not sure who entered this, but they did a beautiful job on it!
It was stitched with blue and green color scheme.

More Hardanger!

We ventured all over the fairgrounds checking out displays and collecting free stuff. One of the new foods this year was Sweet Corn Ice Cream; I had mine with the Butter Bacon sauce. It was good - although I probably wouldn't have it again (it just can't compete with the Dairy Building malts!)

We tried lots of other foods - walleye cakes, walleye fingers, egg rolls, chicken on a stick, cheese curds, honey candy, fudge puppies (chocolate covered waffle on a stick). I should have taken more pictures!

One of our "must see" items is the State Fair Parade; it happens every day at 2pm. Many high school marching bands come to the fair to march and perform in the State Fair Parade; on the first Sunday even the University of Minnesota Marching Band is in the parade. Today we had only one high school marching band, from the city of Worthington; there were other musical groups to fill out the rest of the parade. Here are some snapshots from today's parade:

For my flamingo loving friends...

In the words of Smokey the Bear says "Only YOU can prevent forest fires!"

And as the parade announcer says every year "there goes a lot of beef!"

We headed home around 4pm; it had been a long day and the fair was quite crowded with people at that point. It was a fun day. Looking forward to next year's fair!

My Husband's Hobby

2011-09-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well, since I don't have any stitching pictures to share, I thought I'd show you the project my husband has been working on for a few (actually, several) years. He does auto body work for a living, but his real passion is restoring old cars.

When I met him, he had a 1935 Chevrolet Master Deluxe that he drove around. It was completely restored (with original parts if I remember correctly.) He always wanted to have a 1952 or 1953 Mercury though. With two kids we couldn't afford to have two old cars, so he sold the 1935 Chevy to fund his "next project." One weekend he drove out to South Dakota with a flatbed trailer that he borrowed from work and he brought it home. It had been sitting in a barn for the last 30 or 40 years so it didn't have too much rust on it (but it had a number of dead animals in it!)

So he's been working on this "little" project on and off for the past "few" years and this summer, it's finally driveable. He has spent many Friday and Saturday evenings at various car shows and outings in the Twin Cities and loving every minute of it.

Here's Tim and his 1952 Mercury:

Can you see the green flames that are painted into the front hood? You have to look at it at just the right angle to see them! (Oops, didn't realize you'd see my reflection in the hood too!)

The interior still needs to be done; it's something that he can't do himself, so it will continue to be a "project" for awhile longer. He's having fun though.

Group Project

2011-08-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Each year our Friday night stitching group likes to work on a project together; the group has been doing it for five or six years now, this was the second time since joining the group that I participated. Last year's project involved some elaborate finishing (see this post from last August) and so this year we did something that was a little bit easier to finish.

We chose to stitch the friendship squares from Little House Needlework's Dear Diary series! During the year, we each stitched six of the squares and added our initials in the top corners. When we got together a couple of weeks ago we swapped squares so that we each had a square stitched by one of the other group members. Then we put our boxes together. I wasn't able to be with the group this year when they did their finishing, and I just got around to finishing my box last night.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, each stitcher chose her own color fabric. We laced the designs to matboard and then sewed them together. What do you think, isn't it cute? I love it!

Here are some photos I took of Joan's, Jill's, and Lori's boxes:

And you can see additional photos on Jill's blog and on Joan's blog.

Fun,fun...

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-08-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Poof! Another week gone. I've been under the weather this past week; caught a summer cold and just can't shake it. But I think I'm on the mend now. My mother says I need to rest more. Just can't do it.

This morning my daughter went out to the garden to pick vegetables. We have an abundance of cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and summer squash. I needed to do something with all of them! So, I made creamed cucumbers (little mayo, sugar, and cream on sliced cucumbers and onion)- we'll have this with our supper tonight. Then I baked a chocolate zucchini cake (yum!) I've been grating and freezing the zucchini too so that we can enjoy zucchini cakes later this winter. I also cooked up some of the tomatoes with celery and onion; this will be frozen and then used for chili later this fall and winter. I think we're going to have roasted zucchini and pasta with our supper tonight! Veggie heaven. (I should invite Joan over - ha, ha! She doesn't eat vegetables!)

Did any of you watch the premier episode of "The Pioneer Woman" on the Food Network Channel this morning? My daughter and I watched and we quite enjoyed it. I think that I will be making the chopped tomato salad for dinner tonight too (gotta use up those tomatoes!) It looked delicious! I'm going to have to visit her blog more often.

Believe it or not, I have another finish to share with you. I haven't felt like doing much with this cold, but I did get some stitching done. Let me introduce you to Crazy Challenge Piece #10!

Quaker Medallion Sampler
C Street Samplerworks (Ruth Ann Russell)
36-count Summer Khaki
DMC Fibers

It was a joy to stitch. I have another one of Ruth Ann's pieces in my WIP pile that I need to get back to (I Sigh Not for Beauty). I really like her designs.

A week ago, I had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem with a group from work at the Minnesota Twins baseball game at Target Field. What an awesome ballpark. On this particular evening they celebrated Jim Thome's 600th homerun (which he hit at an away game a few days prior.) Unfortunately, this was also one of Jim's last games as a Minnesota Twin (he was picked up by the Cleveland Indians this week.) Here are some photos from the ballpark that night...

The last photo is of Joe Mauer of course!

And for anyone who might be interested - here's a link to the National Anthem that night. Let me tell you that it is an awesome experience to sing our National Anthem in a ballpark like this. We stood behind home plate. Gave me goosebumps!

Before I go...my thoughts and prayers are with my stitching friends on the East coast. Stay safe!

Crazy Challenge Finish #9

2011-08-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Happy dance time! On Sunday night, I finished this sampler from Heartstring Samplery. Poppy Maye is one of Jenny Bean's friends. This sampler appealed to me the minute I first saw it. I like the dark linen and the floss colors. I was so excited to stitch it that it was the first Crazy Challenge piece that I started on January 2. It took me awhile to finish it though; those alphabets were tedious! But, she's done now. I can't wait to get this beauty framed.

Poppy Maye Russell
Heartstring Samplery
35ct WDW Cappuccino linen
WDW fibers

You know, when I started the Crazy Challenge in January, I didn't really think that I'd get all 15 pieces finished - and I still won't, BUT...it sure has been fun working on these pieces throughout the year! I hope to finish at least one more (or maybe two). It's that time of year though when I start thinking about the holidays and I need to start working on ornaments and such for gifts. We'll see how things go.

That's all I've got for you today!

Framed!

2011-08-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

Before we left on our trip I posted a photo of this finish; I took it in for framing just before we left. It was finished when we returned, but I didn't dare post another photo until now. This was a gift for some very special friends. My mom and my children go to their cabin for a few days every summer. They have a blast boating, swimming, four-wheeling, sitting around the campfire, and playing cards. Each year they take a "thank-you" gift along; it's always my job to come up with the appropriate gift. This year I stitched this design for their cabin. My mom and daughter visited them last week and gave them the sampler so now it is safe to post!

Tall Pines
Little House Needleworks
32 ct Summer Khaki
CC/WDW/GAST/DMC (as charted)

We Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Program

2011-08-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is a stitching blog after all. And, while I thoroughly enjoyed sharing our trip to Austria and Hungary with you, it's time now to get back to the business of stitching! (I did find some more pictures of the Hövej embroidery though which I will share at the end of this post...)

Let's start with a finish! Since arriving home I had time to work on this patriotic design that has been in my stash forever. The pattern calls for this design to be stitched one-over-one; you all know how much I LOVE stitching one-over-one (NOT!) I switched out the linen for 36ct Summer Khaki and stitched the design two-over-two. Since this linen color is a little darker, I had to make some adjustments to the floss color for the sheep, but otherwise, it is stitched as charted. Without further ado, here is "Flag Day" from With Thy Needle and Thread!

Flag Day
With Thy Needle and Thread
36ct Summer Khaki
DMC Fibers

Last week and this week the quilt shops in Minnesota are hosting their annual Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. What makes this event particularly fun, is that every year there is a line of fabrics designed with a Minnesota theme. Click on the link if you would like to see this year's fabrics.

Over the weekend I took time to visit some of the shops in the Twin Cities. I've dabbled a little bit in quilting, but never have completed a large project. I bought some fabric this weekend and am going to attempt to make a quilt. Will let you know how that goes!

I found a few more photos of the Hövej embroidery that I didn't share with you on my initial post (The Embroidery of Hövej, July 27). Here a few more pictures for you to enjoy.

One afternoon we had lunch at the home of one of my mother's cousins. She had the panels inside her china hutch lined with Hövej embroidery.

Then, in another room, she had another hutch and each shelf had edging that was made from Hövej embroidery. Isn't it beautiful? (Sorry for the reflection.)

Notice how each circle is filled with a different design. (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

We enjoyed a beautiful today; temperatures have finally cooled down a bit. We cleaned up our garden a little bit; pulled some weeds, picked cucumbers and yellow squash. In a few days we are going to have a boat load of tomatoes (as soon as they all turn red!)

That's all I've got. Hope you have a fabulous week. Do some stitching!

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

2011-08-04T05:08:00.001-07:00

Yes, all good things come to an end, but the memories will last forever! We had a fabulous two weeks in Burgenland and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to share this trip with my mom.

She is still thinking about our trip too - she continues to cook and bake some of the things we ate while we were there. Two days ago she made apricot marmalade (like the stuff we had at the pension every morning); and yesterday she tried to make cabbage strudel (remember, she ate five pieces!) My son tried the cabbage strudel yesterday and said it was delicious! I'm sure there were will be more Burgenländishe foods coming our way in the days ahead.

Sadly, this will be my final post on our trip to Burgenland. Oh, I'm sure that I could probably go on and on for several more days (or weeks!) and I will likely still occasionally insert a little story or a picture or two as things occur to me, but I think I've successfully covered all of the major highlights of our trip.

So today, I leave you with some photos (and of course, commentary!) on the "land" and the "lake."

We think we understand why our ancestors came to Minnesota. When you look at the landscape of Burgenland, it's like looking at the corn field or the wheat fields that you might see in the country right here in Minnesota!

Minus the vineyards of course! (Oh I know there are vineyards in Minnesota too, but not like these.)

The grapes are growing everywhere - every little patch of available land! Everyone has their own little patch of grapes and everyone makes wine. The wines made in Burgenland are delicious!

This picture could almost be mistaken for Iowa with all the wind turbines, don't you think?

Flowers were in bloom everywhere too...

One day, during our visit we traveled to the city of Neusiedl to visit with some cousins (Mitzi and Rosa). We had lunch at a newer hotel that was recently built just north of Neusiedl in Parndorf. After lunch, we had the opportunity to go up to the 14th floor and view the Neusiedlersee (Lake Neusiedl) from the north.

Can you see it in the distance? If the day had been clearer, it would have been an even better view. And yes, immediately in front of the hotel - that is an outlet mall. Just like the ones we have here in America.

Quick people picture of second cousins Rosa (middle) and Mitzi (right), Rosa's husband is on the left. I stayed with Rosa's family twice over the Christmas and New Year holidays while in college and studying in Germany.

On a different day, we also viewed the Neusiedlersee from it's most southern end. You have to travel into Hungary to see it (keep in mind, it's a big lake!) Behind these houses you can see the southernmost end of the Neusiedlersee.

Much of the lake in Hungary though is made up of "Rohr" or reeds. These same reeds were used to make the thatched roofs that you often see on older pictures of homes in the Burgenland area. This is a barn that we came across in Hungary.

Much of the area surrounding the Neusiedlersee is a National Park and since 2001, it has also been named a World Heritage Site. This area would be like heaven to an ornithologist because of the various different birds that can be seen here. We saw thousands of geese and an old fashioned well as we traveled through the park

And of course, let's not forget the storks!

But, the best way to see the Neusiedlersee is "up close and personal." We did something that we never "in our wildest dreams" thought we would do on this trip. One afternoon we traveled to a marina in Hungary and we boarded Martin's sailboat and headed out to the lake!

The captain of the ship and his first mate (or do they look more like the "Skipper" and "Gilligan"?)

We had to travel down a long (with emphasis on the word "long") channel of rohr to get to the lake..."How much longer before we reach the lake, Martin?"

The long trip through the channel was worth it. Once we made it to the end, we had a front row seat viewing the beautiful Neusiedlersee!

A very happy captain and first mate basking in the sunshine!

So, that's my story. Special thanks to Martin and Ilse - this trip wouldn't have been possible without the two of you. I hope you know that you will always hold a special place in our hearts (and we hope you will seriously consider coming to America one day soon!)

Tomorrow we will resume regular programming, a.k.a. needlework updates! Although, I did find a few more photos of the embroidery from Hövej. That still counts, right?

Tschüß!

The Basilica at Frauenkirchen

2011-08-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

My mother remembers her mother talking about the pilgrimages she made as a young girl. More than likely the family would have made an annual pilgrimage to Mariazell, located in Styria in the mountains of Austria. It would have taken them at least three days to walk to Mariazell. Many Burgenländers today still make this annual pilgrimage - and yes, they walk!

We did not travel to Mariazell, but we did visit another city that my grandmother and her family would have made a pilgrimage to - Frauenkirchen. Frauenkirchen is just 10km from Tadten and could easily be reached by foot within an hour's time. Periodically along the road to Frauenkirchen there are holy statues - more than likely the people making pilgrimage would stop and pray a little bit and then continue on.

The Basilica of Frauenkirchen is quite simple on the outside, but the inside is gorgeous and very ornate.

There are numerous altars on each side of the Basilica. Here is one of them:

When you travel with an organist, you always have to check out the organ!

We spent a good bit of time walking through the Basilica admiring the side altars and taking quite a few pictures. We had absolutely no idea what was about to happen though. All of a sudden, a small group appeared and sat down in the front pews on the left side of the Basilica and they started singing! Yes, singing! It was beautiful. It didn't occur to me for several minutes that I could tape their singing with my camera and bring a little piece of this beautiful memory home with us.

So, turn your computer volume up, and click on the play button below. Excuse the wonky photos; I was trying to be creative with the camera (I think I will stick with needlework when it comes to creativity!) Just close your eyes and listen.

Why I didn't tape more of that beautiful singing, I just don't know. It was a very moving experience. My mother said it reminded her of her mother; apparently her mother was a very good singer; she and the other "alte Frauen" (old women) would often break into song at church.

Later this same day, we visited the Schloss (castle) at Halbturn (another residence of the Hapsburgs!)

Is that the Empress of Austria? No, it's Marlene from Minnesota!

Next stop, Mönchhof - affectionately known by the locals as "Minnehof." Here we visited the Dorf (Village) Museum. I wish I had taken more pictures!

An old well:

One of the old border crossing stations (note the old car):

A gypsy wagon:

The entrance (exit) to the Dorf Museum:

After all of that sightseeing, we had to stop for some cold beverages at the local Heuriger (wine tavern) - only Cola light and Traubensaft (grape juice) for these Frauen (ladies!)

Zum Wohl! (Cheers!)

The Gypsy Baron and Don Giovanni

2011-08-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

A trip to Austria wouldn't be complete without hearing some music. During our two week stay we had the opportunity to see Die Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), an operetta by Johann Strauss II, and Don Giovanni by Mozart! The music, the costumes, and the performances were wonderful, but the locations of these two musical events were quite unique.

Let's start with "The Gypsy Baron." There's a big lake in Burgenland; it's called the Neusiedlersee. On the western side of the lake (just across from where we were staying) is a small town called Mörbisch. The town of Mörbisch has an open air theatre built on the shore of the lake! It seats about 4000 people. Imagine listening to the beautiful music of Johann Strauss while looking out over a beautiful lake! And at the end - fireworks!

I forgot to mention that in order to get to the theatre in Morbisch, we had to take a boat ride across the lake. (Margie and Mick - this photo is for you!)

A week later we traveled to see St. Margarethen to see Don Giovanni. The backdrop for this opera were the rocks and stones of this rock quarry in the hills. My first opera and what a place to experience it in!

That was an enjoyable experience, but also a late night! The opera didn't start until 8:30 (plus it was the premiere, so lots of speeches auf Deutsch of course!) It was 1:50am when we crawled into bed that night (or shall I say "morning"?)

One more music-related note - while traveling through the south-western part of Burgenland one day, we traveled through the town of Raiding. You ask "What is the significance of Raiding?" Why, it's the birthplace of Franz Liszt! I didn't get a photo of it, but there was a baby grand piano in the center of town - couldn't believe it! The birthplace of Liszt was open for all to explore (no admission was charged.)

Our travel tales are starting to wind down, but I have a couple more stories to share so if you are so inclined, tune in again tomorrow!

The People of Burgenland

2011-08-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

My mom and I had a wonderful trip. We were gone a total of 17 days (two travel days) and experienced and enjoyed more than we could have hoped for. As you've seen over the past few days, we were able to make some great purchases, tasted some wonderful food, visited exciting and interesting places, tasted more wonderful food - truly, it was the trip of a lifetime! There are many things that we saw and did that I haven't even talked about here on this wee little blog! But the most important reason for our visit though was not the food, the places, or the souvenirs, but the people. We journeyed to Burgenland to visit with family and friends that we have connected with over the years.

Let's start with Wallern - this is where my grandfather was born in 1882. In 1906 he immigrated to the U.S. He had five siblings, Josef, Michael, Elizabeth, Andreas, and Stefan. Michael would also later immigrate to the U.S., but the others remained in Wallern. These six siblings had a total of 20 children, and only three of these first cousins (including my mother) are still alive today.

One Sunday we traveled to Eisenstadt to visit some of our Nyikos relatives who have made their home there. Our visit with Paula Nyikos, my mother's first cousin:

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit with her other first cousin, Maria, as she was ill, but we did visit with her son, Stefan, and his wife Beatrix. Their home overlooks Eisenstadt, the capital of Burgenland. The second photo is of some other cousins in Eisenstadt, including the wife of one of my mother's first cousins.

Then on a later date we spent time in Wallern. Here's a snapshot of the chapel which is attached to the church. My grandfather would have been baptized and attended church in this chapel.

The tower in Wallern:

Our cousins in Wallern. Resi Nyikos, on the far right, is the wife of my my mother's first cousin. Her daughter, Christa, is in the middle.

We have always wondered if my grandmother and grandfather knew each other in Burgenland; as far as we know, they didn't meet each other until they were in the U.S., but Wallern and Tadten are located very close, just 6 km apart.

Let's take a quick detour to Andau. Here we visited with some good friends. We have visited with them in Austria before and they made a trip to Minnesota one time. They are related to one of my mother's neighbors. The Peck's from Andau:

Tadten was our home during our stay in Burgenland; we stayed at a nice pension "Zimmer Frei." Tadten is the birthplace of my grandmother (1889); she immigrated to the U.S. in 1906. Of the Fischer clan, there were 10 siblings; three of them immigrated to the U.S. From these 10 siblings there were a total of 51 children, and today, only seven of these first cousins are still living (including my mother).

Today, there are about 1500 people residing in Tadten. It's a quiet little village surrounded by farm fields. Some of the important sites in Tadten include the church, the chapel, the cemetary, and the city hall.

My mother with her cousin Maria Zwickl and other cousins (granddaughters of Josef Fischer):

My mother's cousin Elisabeth Wurzinger (this was the day we ate Kraut Strudel!) It was also the firt time my mother ever used Skype - she and Elisabeth skyped Elisabeth's brother in Steiermark!

Our visit with the Hautzinger's included a tour of their cheese and yogurt making facility. They have 500 sheep on their farm. Their son, Reinhard, visited us in the US back in 1991. (Reinhard's grandfather was my mother's first cousin.)

Last but not least, the Kleidosty sisters - Mathilde, Anna, and Elsa. These three sisters are the daughter's of Theresia Kleidosty, my mother's cousin. The second photo includes Martin and Ilse our hosts (Martin is Anna's son.)

Oh, what fun we had.

It's Time for Dessert!

2011-07-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

I love all things sweet, so this post is right up my alley! In Austria, some kind of dessert is served with every meal. Apricots were in season so many of the desserts we ate included apricots, whether it be a jelly roll type cake with apricot filling or a coffee cake with apricots, all were delicious! Here are some of the more interesting desserts we had while we were there:

Dunstgugelhupf
This was a dense cake that was made in a bundt like pan. The cake was then covered with a chocolate pudding like sauce. This is a true Burgenländishe dessert! (sorry that the picture is a little dark!) We enjoyed this desert with the Peck's in Andau.

Schneenockerl
We had this one night at Martin's and Ilse's. My mother had requested it special. It's like a vanilla pudding with meringue on top.

Assorted Desserts in Bratislava
The one in front is a Sacher Torte; let's just say "chocolate decadence!" The dessert on the right is a cherry poppyseed strudel. The other two were like a cheesecake and another type of chocolate torte.

Cake with Red Currants and Meringue
I don't remember if this one had a special name, but it was delicious. Interesting combination of flavors and textures. The cake was sweet and the berries were tangy, the meringue was delicious!

Balasn
One day, my mom and Ilse made Balasn. My mother remembers her mother making these. Traditionally, these are usually only made on Christmas Eve as these are really a special treat. They are made using the same pastry that one would use to make apple strudel. The dough is cut in circles and folded in half; they are filled with apples and then are fried. They are dusted with powdered sugar before serving them! Delicious!

Trust me, this plate didn't last long!

See the happy faces after enjoying a sweet delicious Balasn!

Raspberry Torte
Another delicious dessert made by Ilse. Ladyfingers, raspberries and some type of pudding like sauce to hold it all together.

Now as I think back, there were other delicious desserts that I didn't take pictures of -- twice we had Burgenländische Kipferln. These are little nut filled cookies. Both times we had them they were really good.

One gift that we received that we will really treasure is a cookbook that was published locally. It only has 14 recipes in it (including the Balasn, Gsottener Strudel, and Salzstangerl - see earlier post), but the best part about the cookbook is that there is a CD. They recorded several different Burgenland women making these authentic dishes. It is so much fun to watch these cute little ladies making these Burgenland treats!

Well, that's it for today. Hope you are staying cool and enjoying your weekend!

Budapest and Vienna

2011-07-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your kind comments in recent days. This will continue to be a "travel" blog for a few more days as this is an easy way for me to share our trip experience with family and friends who are interested. We will resume "regular" programming (needlework) in a few days!

Today's focus is on the big cities of Budapest and Vienna. We flew into Budapest this trip. Vienna is closer, but we were using some special passes that I had and they would only work into Budapest.

We departed the U.S. on July 9, had a short layover in New York (JFK) and then from there, flew nonstop to Budapest and arrived around 11am on July 10. Our cousin Martin and his wife Ilse met us at the airport. We loaded up our suitcases and off we went for a little bit of sightseeing in Budapest!

It was hot there that day; temperature was about 95 degrees. Fortunately though with less humidity than what we experience in Minnesota on a 95 degree day. The Danube River runs through Budapest, so there are many bridges. I believe this is a photo of the Chain Bridge. Note the lovely flowers!

We admired some other lovely buildings up in the hills in the vicinity of the Chain Bridge:

But this is probably my most favorite photo taken from the Chain Bridge. This is the Parliament Building in Budapest. It sits on the Danube.

We then headed downtown and did a bit of walking and had some lunch. The outdoor shops were ready for us (but we resisted this first day!)

Martin and Ilse:

We enjoyed seeing some of Budapest and would certainly go back some day to see more of it. It's a beautiful city!

Now moving on to Vienna...we visited Vienna on the first Friday that we were there. Martin and Ilse drove us and we met up with some cousins from the Fischer side of the family (Maria, Werner, and their daughter, Nora.) My mom and I have been to Vienna several times, but we never tire of it. It will always be one of our most favorite cities in Europe!

When visiting Vienna, one of the "must-see" attractions is Schönbrunn Palace. This was just one residence of the Hapsburgs who ruled in Austria from the 13th century until just after WWI. From the vantage point we were at, you can see much of Vienna in the distance.

Here's the whole gang!

Next stop - Kärtner Strasse - the famous pedestrian shopping street with lots of shops, monuments, etc.

Our destination was the Steffl Department store. They have a restaurant on the top floor that overlooks the Stefansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). We stopped and had coffee and good conversation. It was a nice little break from walking! No more resting for us though, we had places to go and people to see!

Next stop: Stefansdom - it seems like they are always renovating or repairing. Much care and attention is needed to preserve these old landmarks!

Our final destination in Vienna was the Rathaus (City Hall). They have a film and music festival on the square every evening during the summer. We did not stay for the concert that night (it didn't start until 9:30pm) but we enjoyed eating our supper on the square - there were many vendors to choose from and it was a nice place to enjoy a beautiful summer evening in Vienna!

I have to include this last photo for my mom as she loves seeing the horse-drawn carriages (Fiaker) in Vienna. On our very first trip there (back in 1977) we took a ride in one of them.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our favorite pictures from Budapest and Vienna!

Tomorrow's post? Maybe I'll share some of those "dessert" photos I have been promising! Have a great day!

Burgenland: Bridging East and West

2011-07-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of Burgenland before and/or maybe aren't exactly sure where it is, pull out a map or Google it. It is the easternmost province in Austria. Burgenland is celebrating it's 90th birthday in 2011. It was formed in 1921 when the Austrian - Hungarian monarchy was disbanded. The majority of the people who live here are German-speaking, but there are also a number of Croation- and Hungarian-speaking people.

My grandmother kept in touch with her family after immigrating to the U.S. We recently unearthed several letters that were exchanged between her and one of her sisters. After my grandmother passed away, one of my aunts continued to connect with the "old country" by keeping in touch via the post. This responsibility was then passed down to my mother (the youngest of her siblings).

Our first visit to Burgenland was in 1977; I had just completed my sophomore year of high school. My mother and I spent a week visiting relatives that we barely knew; we even met an uncle/great-uncle that we didn't realize that we had! (He was born in 1905 and my grandmother immigrated to the U.S. in 1906!) Despite the language challenges and the distance between us, we formed relationships that have lasted almost 35 years! I have been fortunate, this trip was my fifth visit to Burgenland, and my mother's sixth or seventh. It's a special place in our hearts.

Back to that first visit - the borders between East and West were closed. One could only cross after much scrutiny and questioning by the Eastern Block border guards. Since these villages in Burgenland are located on the border between Austria and Hungary it was commonplace to see towers with guards and machine guns. On those first trips to Burgenland we could only travel around Austria. Fortunately, today everything has changed. People can freely travel across the border between Austria and the countries of Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. And travel we did!

One destination that we were lucky to visit was Bratislava, Slovakia! It's only about 40km from Vienna to Bratislava (so an easy hour by car). It was raining the day we went, but we didn't let the rain deter our plans. We parked near the center of the old part of town and then got out our umbrellas and started walking. I hope that the pictures will convey the beautiful architecture of the buildings in Bratislava!

The opera house in Bratislava:

A little red bus for sightseeing:

The town square:

Walking down the cobblestoned streets of the old city:

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit Bratislava!

Another East/West trip that we made was to the Bridge at Andau. Any James Michener fans out there? He tells the story of when in 1956 the Soviets attacked Budapest and the Hungarian people revolted. The Bridge at Andau was an escape route for Hungarian refugees who were trying to flee into Austria. The bridge was destroyed by the Soviets in November 1956. On the 40th anniversary of this event, the bridge was reconstructed, and today there is a memorial on this site.

A reminder of the past (guard tower in the distance):

One more East/West visit - one day we traveled to the border between Austria and Hungary near Sopron. There is a memorial here; the site is known as the place of the "Pan European Picnic." August 19, 1989, between 15 and 20 thousand people demolished the remaining portion of the "iron curtain" on this site and broke through the border gate and pushed their way into Austria.

A barbed wire fence remains as a reminder:

The memorial:

In the distance, another reminder of the past:

Let me leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our trip. The area around the Neusiedlersee (Lake Neusiedl) is a bird lover's paradise and one of the frequently seen inhabitants is the stork. They build their nests on top of chimneys and power poles. Here is one family of storks that we saw while traveling through Hungary.

Eating Our Way Through Burgenland

2011-07-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

Part II of our trip to Austria focuses on FOOD!

My mother is an excellent cook and she has always said that her mother was an excellent cook. My grandmother immigrated to the U.S. in 1906 from Tadten, which today is located in Burgenland, Austria. This small village of about 1500 people is just minutes from the border with Hungary. When my grandmother lived there, there was no border - it was all part of the same country - consequently, many of the dishes she prepared were very typical of Hungarian cooking.

Each day of our two-week stay we enjoyed delicious food prepared by some fabulous cooks (many of them were cousins or friends.) I couldn't help myself; I had to take pictures of many of the wonderful things we ate!

Each morning we started with a simple breakfast at our Pension in Tadten. Breakfast consisted of a Kaiser roll (baked fresh each morning at the town bakery!) We had two types of marmalade to choose from - cherry and apricot - and both were homemade by the daughter of the Pension owner. The apricot was my favorite. Of course it is also customary to have meats and cheeses available. (This is a picture of my mom, too bad we didn't think to take the picture before we ate breakfast!)

In Austria, it is customary to eat the "big" meal of the day at lunch time. In fact, you will find that in many of these smaller villages, businesses are closed from 12 noon until 1:30pm or 2:00pm so that the employees can go home for "Mittagessen."

Here are some of our favorite lunch time meals (in no particular order):

Kraut Knockerln (Cabbage Noodles)
Unfortunately, I don't have a photo (must have been the jet lag) but this was our first "Burgenlandische" meal and it was delicious! The cabbage is chopped and fried then mixed with square-shaped noodles. We also had liver dumpling soup which was very good!

Gsottener Strudel
The filling is "Topfen" which is almost like a ricotta cheese. You then cover it with a bean sauce or a tomato sauce (if you don't like beans!)

Hungarian Goulash with Salzstangerl
Trust me - it was delicious! (Nothing compares to homemade rolls; Pillsbury Dough Boy, step aside!)

As crazy as it sounds, we just had to do McDonald's one day (actually we ended up eating twice at the McDonald's in Sopron, Hungary!) Our fish filet and chicken sandwiches tasted just like at home.

Kraut Strudel (Cabbage Strudel)
This is the day my mother thought she died and went to heaven! Before our visit was over, she had eaten five pieces of this delicious strudel! If you've ever had authentic Austrian apple strudel, this is made the same way, but with cabbage as the filling. We also had some interesting soup with our Kraut Strudel; you've heard of tomato-basil soup? Well we had something different "Basilicum Suppe" - it was Basil soup with tomatoes in it! Interesting taste; it was green in color.

Yep, that would be piece number five (as we were heading out the door...)

Check out this delicious meal - new potatoes with parsley, a salad made with green and red peppers, tomatoes and onions in a vinegar sauce, and pork medallions! Notice the wine on the table - did I tell you that some of the best wines in the world are produced in Burgenland?

What? Burger King? Quick familiar lunch at the Budapest Airport!

The evening meal was the lighter of the two meals and usually consisted of bread (real bread, not the soft white stuff we have in America), cheese, sausage, fresh veggies and fruit from the garden, and wine of course!

The weather was so beautiful we usually ate dinner out in the garden or on the patio of my cousin's house. There was always good conversation too (auf Deutsch!)

Such a "lustig" bunch - check out the spread on the table.

We always gave my cousin Martin a hard time - he always loaded his bread with lots of butter!

I could go on and on about all of the wonderful things we had to eat! I do have some dessert photos to share with you, but will save those for another post. Guten Appetit!

The Embroidery of Hövej

2011-07-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

My mom and I just returned from a trip of a lifetime. We spent two weeks in Austria visiting cousins that we haven't seen in a long time. The last time I visited this small corner of the world was 1997. My mom has been there more recently; but we think her last trip was in 2004. We've been planning this trip for 2 or 3 years and this year the time was finally right.

Over the next few days I will be posting pictures and stories from our trip; very little will be related to needlework. Since most of my followers are needlework enthusiasts though, I thought I would start with a needlework post!

My mother's father and mother immigrated to the USA in 1904 and 1906 respectively. Both came from tiny villages which today are located in the province of Burgenland in Austria. At the time they immigrated to the United States, both of these villages were in Hungary and this area was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. My grandfather was born and lived in Wallern, but his father and an uncle originally lived in a tiny Hungarian village called Hövej (located near Kapuvar). The two brothers relocated to Wallern in about 1878.

I have always wanted to visit Hövej; my mother had the opportunity to visit it on two previous trips. Knowing that it was important to me, my cousin took us there our second day in Austria. Here I am clutching the sign as we entered the village!

Here's a snapshot of the main road that runs through Hövej; you can see that it is a tiny little village! Not much more than a few houses and a church! According to a Hungarian website, only about 330 people live in this village.

We wanted to visit the "embroidery ladies" of Hövej. Twice before when my mother visited our cousins, they brought her to Hövej to buy embroidered doilies and tablecloths. This embroidery is not typical of other Hungarian embroidery. Hungarian embroidery is normally very colorful, whereas the Hövej embroidery is white on white.

More information on this embroidery can be found here. Here is an excerpt from this website: "The name of the village became world-famous by the embroidery of Hövej. In 1962, on the Expo of Brussels, the lace was awarded with a golden medal. This type of embroidery became well known in the 19th century, at around 1860. The embroidery that is full of holes is made on flimsy material, such as batiste or chiffon. The holes on the embroidery of Hövej are filled up with different patterned knitting. This is called spider-stitch. Among the needle works there were shirts, aprons, handkerchiefs, kerchiefs, bed-covers, blouses, collars, tablecloths, wardrobe-linings, cushions, priestly garbs, surplices, altar-clothes. We can find different kinds of tablecloths: small, big, table runner, oval and round linings."

I don't know how you would find these ladies without a connection of some sort. One of my mother's cousins used to purchase this embroidery for the church in Tadten (altar cloths, etc.) She knows where two of the ladies live in Hövej. The challenge though -- the ladies only speak Hungarian, we only speak German and English! We tried to find a woman that in earlier years had helped with translating (we later found out that she had recently died.) One of the Hungarian ladies made a phone call and soon thereafter a lovely 14 year old girl appeared. She was on vacation visiting her grandmother and she was able to speak Hungarian, German, and English!

Before bringing out their wares, one of the ladies showed me a calendar that had been created for 2011 with pictures of the embroidery. Believe me, if I could have gotten my hands on one of these calendars, I would have (we tried!) I took a picture of the cover of the calendar.

Then the two ladies started showing us what they had available for purchase:

"I've got my money ready, now how many of these can I afford to buy?"

We decided what we were going to purchase and exchanged money. I wish I could have brought it all home with me! The doilies were fairly expensive; the US dollar is not very strong against the Euro right now. Cost didn't matter though; these were truly unique pieces of art!

Here is one of the ladies displaying a piece of her art:

Both ladies displaying their art:

This piece was framed:

Finally, one of the ladies showed me one of her WIPs (work in progress) (I wish I had taken a better photo!):

If I could learn Hungarian, I think these ladies would be willing to teach me how to do this! (Everyone laughed at that - the Hungarian language is one of the most difficult languages to learn!)

I know this has been a long post, but hey it's my blog and this is fascinating stuff! Here are my purchases along with some closeups for you to see the various medallions that are somehow inserted in the holes.

This final doily was actually a gift from Anna (one of our cousins) and not a purchase. I also received a tablecloth from her and I will try to photograph it for a future post.

After visiting with the embroidery ladies we visited the cemetary in Hövej and then headed back to Austria. What a fabulous afternoon we had!

A Holiday Weekend Finish

2011-07-04T19:08:00.001-07:00

Last night I started this cute design from Little House Needleworks; tonight I finished it. This is going to be a gift for some friends who invite us to their cabin every August, so instead of stitching "Stitched in the year 2010" as charted, I personalized it with their name. I plan to have this framed.

Tall Pines
Little House Needleworks
32 ct. Summer Khaki
CC/WDW/Gast/DMC (as charted)

I enjoyed a really long holiday weekend. I took a vacation day on Friday and today was a national holiday. Too bad that the weekend is over!

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrating Freedom!

2011-07-04T08:50:00.001-07:00

More Hardanger!

2011-07-03T08:43:00.001-07:00

You saw my hardanger doilies a couple of posts ago; just this week I finished another doily and several crosses. These crosses are a great way to use up fabric scraps and leftover threads from larger projects.

The cross design is from Hanky Panky Designs. I stitched them on 25 count Congress Cloth using Perle Cotton #8 - Needle Necessities and Leah's Threads - all from my stash.

The doily pattern is in a booklet from Thuve-Stua called Hardangerdesign No. 1. (Wonderful book with fairly easy patterns!) I stitched this on 28ct White Cashel using some Perle Cotton #8 and #12 from Leah's Threads.

You might be wondering why I am stitching all of this hardanger...my mom and I leave next Saturday for Austria. We are going to spend two weeks visiting with relatives. My mom hasn't seen them since 2004 and the last time I visited with them was in 1997. This hardanger packs easily and is lightweight; it makes for a nice gift when visiting.

Before I go, I want to show you a couple of pictures that I took at about 8pm on Friday night from our deck. The back of our house faces west. We had a line of thunderstorms roll in - it had been a hot, sticky, humid day. Behind the line of storms was relatively cooler, drier air. Yesterday was a delightful day weather-wise and today and tomorrow promise to be the same.

Look at the line of dark clouds!

Fortunately, we didn't receive any damage as the result of the storm; unfortunately, other parts of Minnesota did.

Whatever your plans might be today; I hope it includes some time for stitching! Thanks for stopping by!

One More...Framed

2011-06-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

The last piece that I took in for framing during the sale was ready for pick-up today. Once again, JoAnn's did a really nice job. It's nice to finally have this finished; you might recall that I started it back in 2006 and it took me a long time to stay motivated to finish it. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Sampler Game Board
The Drawn Thread
DMC Threads
35 ct linen

Since this is the first "official" weekend of summer, let me show you one of our yard projects that we worked on a few weeks ago. We decided to enlarge the size of our garden (it was about 4 feet by 6 feet). Rather than just making it bigger, my husband built two 4 feet by 8 feet boxes so that we could have raised beds. This method of gardening has helped to keep animals out of the garden (including our two dogs and the rabbits that like to feast on our plants!), it is easy to trim around the boxes and they are easy to weed (less bending and kneeling.)

What do you think? We are growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, pea pods, zucchini, and other squash (can't remember which variety!) These pictures were taken last weekend and the plants have grown considerably since then. Next to the shed we also planted some rhubarb. We hope to have beautiful rhubarb plants next spring.

Before I go, I will share a couple photos of blooming flowers around the yard. Have a great weekend!

Rain Rain Go Away...

2011-06-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

The weather this year has been crazy. Our temperatures have dropped down into the 50's and it is raining for the third day in a row now. Things are supposed to clear up later today and the weatherman says we have a nice weekend ahead. I hope so!

I thought I'd share one more framing purchase with you; this one, however, is not needlework related. It is my grandmother's and grandfather's wedding certificate. My grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Hungary in 1904. He came from a small village called Wallern; today it is located in Austria just across the border from Hungary. My grandmother immigrated to the U.S. in 1906. She crossed the ocean at the age of 16 all by herself! She came from another small village in Hungary called Tadten. This village is also now in Austria; just across the border from Hungary.

As best we can tell, the two of them met here in the U.S. Chances are though that the families might have known of each other in Hungary. They married in 1908 at St. Bernard's Church in St. Paul, MN. This elaborate marriage certificate is written in German (you should be able to click on it.)

My brothers and I grew up in the house that my grandparents built. Many years ago (I was still single and living at home) I found this certificate and a large portrait of my grandmother in the attic on the floor! Naturally I retrieved them and found a more suitable place for storage. I have kept them both and carefully stored them over the years.

I decided it was finally time to properly frame and preserve this marriage certificate. It still shows it's age and the heat/cold/water damage that it endured over time, but I like that about it. The framing manager helped me pick mats and a moulding that complemented the color and design of the certificate. Now it hangs in a place of honor in my home.

Here is a picture of the two of them on their wedding day, October 20, 1908. My grandmother was 18 years old and my grandfather was 26.

Well, that's enough family history for today. More to come though...

Progress Report and More Framing

2011-06-21T04:38:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's either feast or famine with me and this blog. I have things to share with you, so for the time being it is a "feast" - I don't think you mind.

I shared with you that I am working on C Street Samplerworks Quaker Medallion; the pattern was a gift from my friend Diana and this is one of my crazy challenge pieces for the year. Within the last week I have made good progress on the alphabets; next up to stitch are some of the quaker motifs. This is such a relaxing stitch!

I picked up a few more framed pieces from JoAnn's too. Trust me, it was a really good sale, especially for smaller pieces. 50% plus $20 for the framing order. I couldn't pass it up!

This Blackbird design was stitched earlier this year (in January); I loved the red "cranberry bog" linen. Here it is now with my favorite frame.

Blackbird Designs
Blackbird's Winter Delivery
28ct R&R Cranberry Bog
DMC and Sampler Threads

This next piece has been in the waiting to be framed drawer for awhile. I stitched this in April 2009. Went with a simple frame for this quaker design.

La D Da
Quaker Alphabet
35ct WDW Straw
Belle Soie Creme De Menthe and Noir

Game Board Sampler from The Drawn Thread is still at JoAnn's being framed; I imagine it will be finished by the end of the week. I have come to like the ladies in the framing shop at JoAnn's very much; the woman that does the stretching and pinning does a fabulous job.

Rainy, stormy day here. I'm supposed to go on a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka tonight with some customers from work. I don't think that the weather is going to cooperate. I wonder what Plan B is!

Quick shout out to my friend Judy in Alexandria, MN -- Welcome Home!

Pincushion Finish!

2011-06-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

Just like I said in my last post, sometimes it is more fun to think about stitching...so yesterday, I spent an hour or so going through my bucket of kitted projects. I happened to come across a kit that I had purchased from Elegant Stitch a few years ago (2006 I think!) After looking at it closer I realized 1) that it wasn't nearly as big a project as I thought it was and 2) that I could finish it quite easily since I had already done this type of finish once before.

I decided there was no time like the present to stitch and finish this project. It only took me a couple of hours to stitch it up, and this morning while waiting for the internet/cable guy to arrive, I did the finishing.

Without further ado here is Two Friends and a Flower, designed by The Needle's Content for Elegant Stitch/Essy's Friends (Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser).

Cute, don't you think?

Bad Blogger

2011-06-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends. Sorry that I haven't posted more; life just gets in the way sometimes. I think that I sound like a broken record when I say that.

I was just reading a post by Laura of Maude and Mozart; she confessed that some days she spends more time daydreaming about stitching - what she is stitching now, what to stitch next, what friends are stitching, what is new from the designers, and what is the next chart that she wants to buy. Her post really hit home because I am often doing the same thing! So here's my confession:

1) What am I stitching on now? C Street Samplerworks, Quaker Medallion Sampler

2) What do I want to stitch next? Well, I should really stick with one of my 2011 crazy challenge pieces or work on one of the numerous WIPs I have, but truth be told, I'm itching to stitch something from Blackbird Designs, maybe Strawberry Garden or Summer House.

3) What are my friends stitching? It seems like a lot of you are working on the With Thy Needle and Thread Mystery Sampler. I have it started too!

4) What is new from the designers? I'm liking some of the new releases from Lizzie Kate and was excited to receive my Just Cross Stitch Preview Ornament issue in the mail yesterday. Looking forward to the next edition of Loose Feathers from Blackbird Designs too!

5) What is the next chart that I want to buy? Well, I think it is going to be the second installment of the Mystery Sampler!

Now it's your turn...I'll be waiting to see your answers on your blogs!

Enough chatter, I have a picture to share with you. Look what I had framed recently! Don't you love it? I took advantage of JoAnn's recent framing sale and got a great deal on it!

Birds of a Feather
Happy Hearts
unknown linen, 35 ct
WDW fibers

And here are some hardanger doilies that I've been busy stitching; I need these as gifts for a trip I will be taking soon.

That's all I've got for you tonight. Hope to talk with you again soon. Thanks for stopping by!

What Happened?

2011-05-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Poof! All of a sudden May is over and gone. It sure flew by quickly. I can't believe tomorrow is June 1st.

I've been pretty much nonexistent in blogland the last month or two. Sorry about that. I've been stitching some; but haven't really had anything to share and would rather spend any extra time I have with needle and thread in hand rather than sitting on the computer!

With that said, I do have a finish this last day of May. It almost didn't happen though. I was so close. There was just one little motif left to go. What happened? I ran out of WDW Onyx! I needed two strands about 18 inches in length to finish that little motif. Two strands.....

I dug through my stash and through my kitted projects but could not find two strands of WDW Onyx. I pawed through my GAST and CC fibers - surely I could find something that would be a close enough match, right? Wrong...

So what does a stitcher do in a situation like this? Quite the dilemma; my LNS is about a 40 minute drive and I had to work today anyway.

What's that? Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner? Mama Joan to the rescue; otherwise known as Joan's House of Stitching (and Joan's House of Lamps, and Joan's House of Fabric - I could go on and on.) But you all know her best as just "Joan" of Stitching Squad fame. Yes, she is my hero. Of course she had WDW Onyx in her stash; of course she would allow me to use two strands from her stash of WDW Onyx. Thanks Joan!

Without further ado, here is my BOAF Happy Hearts finish. I believe this is finish #8 from that Crazy Challenge I started in January!

Happy Hearts
Birds of a Feather
linen unknown - 36ct
WDW fibers

Don't you just love it? I've wanted to stitch this piece for so long and it's finally finished.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to post updates a little more often next month!

A Gift and Other Fun Things

2011-05-08T18:10:00.001-07:00

Just had to share this photo with you...

...the pincushion in the middle was a gift from Wendy Jo. So sweet!
...the wooden thread bobbins at the top and the rusty bells in the bag were "finds" on our adventure to White Bear Lake, MN last Thursday.
...the woolen ball pincushions were purchases at the Shepherd's Harvest Festival on Saturday. I think I have a thing for shades of red and orange!

I'm going to be away for a few days...have a good week!

Some Framing

2011-05-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

JoAnn's had a 60% off framing coupon last week and so I had to take advantage of it. I got these two pretties back today; I think you will remember them.

Quaker Stitches from Jeanette Douglas:

Scarlet's Christmas Sampler from Chessie and Me:

This week was quite enjoyable. I took Thursday off of work to meet up with Wendy Jo from Wen to Stitch at Stitchville. We were joined by my stitching bud Judy from Alexandria, and my sister-in-law, Janice -- the more the merrier in my book! We had a great time shopping and talking; we scoured through the sale boxes in the back room and each took home some treasures. After shopping at Stitchville, we had lunch at Old Chicago. Judy then headed home, but Wendy Jo, Janice, and I went to a couple quilt shops in White Bear Lake. We found some treasures at one of them -- felted wool, finishing trims and some rusty bells. After an afternoon treat, we took Wendy Jo back to her hotel and bid her farewell (until next time!)

Today, Janice and I met up again and we went to the Shepherd's Harvest Festival in nearby Lake Elmo, MN. Neither of us had ever gone before, so we didn't really know what to expect. What fun we had though and what a feast for the eyes. I never saw so much color! There were four buildings filled with vendors, mostly selling wool for spinning, yarns for knitting and crocheting, and felted wool for sewing and crafting. Oh my, we had fun!

After checking out all of the booths we strolled around outside and met up with a mother/daughter team who were demonstrating spinning. The showed us how to card wool and then spun some if it for us. We also saw some spinning done with small "spinners" - wish I had a picture of one of them.

Before leaving we stopped in to see the sheep and the goats, but the llamas and the alpacas won our hearts. Here are some pictures of these cute animals!

Happy Mother's Day all. Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Little Update

2011-05-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

I seem to be in a funk lately; just not good about posting on my blog in a regular fashion. (I haven't been responding to email all that quickly either - sorry!) Those of you who have been around awhile know that I go through this every so often. Life just gets busy and there isn't time for the computer...or blogging. I'd rather spend any extra time I have stitching.

I've been working on an LHN project lately. Remember our little stitching group that gets together in August for a mini-retreat? We worked on a project together last year and decided to do one again this year. This year's project is these six blocks from LHN (I'm too lazy to pull the patterns out right now, but I think they were in the Dear Diary series.)

We're each stitching one of each square and then putting our initials in the top corners. In August we will swap squares so that we have one from each person. We are then planning to do a "cube" finish...we'll see how that turns out. Now there is a little twist to this project, but I think you will have to wait until August to see what it is! :)

I've also been working on some hardanger doilies. I am taking a trip in July and I need to bring gifts with me. These little pretties don't take up much space in the suitcase!

Last night I pulled out Happy Hearts again. I think that if I put my mind to it, I could finish that sampler by the end of May...we'll see.

Hope you are well in your little corner of the world wherever that might be. Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by!

Some Fun Purchases

2011-04-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot to share with you some of the purchases I made last weekend at the Scandinavian Festival; I was reminded of this when I put them away today (cleaning off the dining room table for Easter!)

First up, there were two nice ladies at the festival who were selling linens. The linens had been acquired during their travels and some were cross stitched, there was some cutwork, even some hardanger. Lots of beautiful linens. This small doily caught my eye, It's just cross stitch, but the design and the colors remind me of Hungary or maybe the Czech Republic.

I had to bring this bentwood tray home too. It has a handle and is currently holding some wooden eggs and paper carrots on the dining room table. I think it might make a nice display for some needlework smalls after Easter! Click on the picture to better see the detail on the handle.

This bowl caught my eye the first morning when I arrived at the festival. I liked the detail on the side of the bowl and the colors suited my liking. My first piece of rosemaling!

And just when I thought I had finished shopping I came across this little pincushion with rosemaling! I think it was made for me! I was so excited to find it. Love it!

Need to head to church in a little bit as I am singing in the choir at our Easter Vigil service. We're staying home tomorrow and will enjoy the traditional ham, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, and green beans. We picked up our pies at Baker's Square this afternoon!

Happy Easter!

My Trip to California

2011-04-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I flew out to Los Angeles to attend the Scandinavian Festival at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA. I had never attended this festival - wow - what a great event! Lots of entertainment, activities, and good food. I was actually invited to come and help demonstrate hardanger for anyone who was interested in learning more about this Norwegian form of embroidery!

Here are some of the sights at the festival. These first five pictures are from the opening day parade to kick off the festival. Note the colorful folk costumes.

After the parade around the festival grounds there was an opening ceremony and the national anthems were sung for the U.S. and each of the Scandinavian countries.

There was a large tent in the middle of the grounds; this is where several different demonstrations were located, including bobbin lace, knitting, spinning, weaving, rosemaling, wood carving, and bunad making. Oh, and hardanger too!

Here's one of the lace displays (sorry for the reflection):

And here's a woman making lace (note the spool of lace at the
top of her board!):

And some weaving:

And spinning:

Here's a collection of Rosemaling pieces:

These last two pictures are from the bunad or folk costume making demonstration; note the beautiful embroidery on the collar and the cuffs of this blouse:

The only sad thing -- I didn't take a picture of my hardanger display! But I enjoyed meeting with many people who were interested in how a piece of hardanger is created. I had taken a number of finished pieces with me, but also had several doilies that were in various stages of completion. A couple of people even tried their hand at trying to stitch some kloster blocks!

Here's one more fun photo of the musicians and others leading the May Pole procession. It was a fun weekend!

Spring Morning in Minnesota

2011-04-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

Winter is being very persistent this year!

Stitchville's Spring Fling - Part III

2011-04-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of our stitching retreat. We spent a good bit of time on Sunday morning stitching and learning more about Jeanette Douglas. She shared with us that it all began with the Canadian Journey series. You can see a photo of the samplers side by side in the picture that was on the screen.

Jeanette shared with us photos of her family and also showed us pictures of other samplers that she has designed for retreats and guild meetings. It was really interesting to see how she could take a basic design and change it to create something unique for the group that she was teaching. A lot of research goes into her designs; she takes time to learn about the area that she is visting and then incorporates things that represent that area into her designs.

There were also some interesting pictures of antique samplers and needleworks accessories - Jeanette is a wealth of needlework information!

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We ended our weekend with a delicious brunch and then bid farewell to old and new friends.

My hat goes off to the ladies from Stitchville, Deb, Kenny Jean, and Deb (the owner), as well as Jeanette Douglas. They all worked hard to make this weekend really special.

And the weekend just wouldn't have been the same without my stitching buds. My "tablemates" - Joyce, me, Lavonne, Joan, and Chris:

And my special stitching friend, Judy:

Hope we call can do it again next year!

I'm off to another stitching extravaganza of sorts. My cousin is the chair for the Scandinavian Festival in Thousand Oaks, CA this weekend. I am going to help demonstrate Hardanger. I have never been to the festival; it looks like it will be a lot of fun! Will let you know how things went next week! Have a great weekend.

Stitchville's Spring Fling - Part II

2011-04-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

Day two of the retreat starts with a delicious breakfast! Why didn't I take pictures of the food? Next year...

On Saturday morning we received the kits for our project. Jeanette had designed a sampler just for this retreat. The theme of the sampler was very appropriate for our Minnesota retreat - Three Pines.

Here's a picture of Jeanette telling us about the sampler:

And a picture of the completed sampler:

I love the northwoods look! Of course the moose, the bear, the loon (our Minnesota state bird), the pine trees, the pine cones, and the log cabin are all very fitting!

Let the stitching begin! Those of you who stitch Jeanette's designs know that she likes to include lots of specialty stitches. Those three pinecones in the top left of the sampler are done in queen stitches; that's where we started; let's just say we had to do quite a lot of queen stitches to create those pine cones! But learning how to do the queen stitch Jeanette's way was worth the price of admission!

Jeanette said that she was having so much fun designing this piece that she couldn't stop with just the sampler. She also designed a set of needlework smalls that coordinated with the northwoods theme. Check out these little pretties:

Blogger is misbehaving! Sorry, used a flash on that one, they are a little washed out, but you get the idea!

We stitched and stitched and then we ate, and then we stitched and stitched, and then we ate more!

In the back of the classroom there was a table filled with Jeanette Douglas pieces that had been stitched by the retreat attendees. Look at all of these beautiful finishes:

And then we had a Jeanette Douglas trunk show to boot!

Do you recognize that quaker piece in the third photo? It was so gorgeous and it inspired me to finish the stitching on mine after I returned home.

Our day of stitching flew by. Saturday evening we had the opportunity to shop at Stitchville - those of us who live in Minnesota are very lucky to have this shop; it's a needlework lovers paradise. After shopping we went back to our hotel for a little more stitching and then headed to bed. Our retreat is almost over...

Part III tomorrow...

Stitchville's Spring Fling - Part I

2011-04-13T05:01:00.001-07:00

Remember the Carly Simon song "Anticipation"? Last week at this time I had that song constantly running through my head. I could hardly wait for Friday; the countdown clock on my blog kept telling me that the time was getting closer and closer, but Friday couldn't come soon enough. And then -- Friday was here!

My BFF's, Joan and Chris, joined me for the weekend extravaganza. We headed over to the other side of town early on Friday so that we could meet up with Judy and Barb (our northern friends) for some lunch and then for shopping at Stitchville. We arrived at the Oak Ridge Conference Center in time to meet and greet other excited stitchers anticipating the start of our weekend retreat. This is a fabulous location with comfortable rooms, delicious meals, and a well-lit, comfortable classroom.

At 3pm the fun began! After checking in for the retreat we claimed our spot for the weekend at one of the tables in the classroom. Check out how pretty the tables were decorated!

Joan, Chris, and I were joined by Lavonne and Joyce (I have two new stitching friends!) It was great fun to again see some of the returning stitchers who were at last year's retreat (the Wisconsin "cheesehead" stitchers - you know who you are!) and to also meet new stitching friends. In all, I think there were about 30 - 35 stitchers at this retreat, many from MN, but others who traveled from ND, WI, IA, VA, FL, GA, ME - hope I didn't miss anyone!

Our guest at this retreat was Jeanette Douglas. What a thrill to have her here with us for this retreat! She is one of the most down-to-earth, genuine, friendly designers I have ever met.

We had a little project to work on Friday night -- Jeanette designed this little Sweet Tulip design just for us. It was small enough that it could be stitched up in a couple of hours. Deb from Stitchville was then ready to frame it up for us in the Olde Colonial frame that had been provided with the kit. Isn't it cute?

Here's the model:

And here's my finish (can you believe that it was finished before I headed to bed on Friday night?)

Here's an entire "patch" of finished tulips!

Well, I have more to share, but I think I am going to savor this for a few more days. Check back tomorrow for Part II!

Long Overdue Post

2011-04-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of months with work and other things going on; I just haven't had time to post much. Blogging always takes a back seat to actual stitching (I'm sure you understand!) Consequently, I have a few updates for you.

Let's start with a finish that I had at the end of March. I took a break from the Crazy Challenge and stitched up this BBD Reward of Merit that came out at market. I thoroughly enjoyed every stitch! The fabric is 30ct R&R Irish Creme, the fibers are what the pattern called for. Check out the edging - it's the new "Fudge" colored hand dyed chenille from R&R!

Blackbird Designs - Gathering Basket

30ct R&R Irish Creme, Crescent Colors

Another finish happened just last night! This was another market piece that I started a couple of weeks ago. I had hoped to get it finished in time for last weekend's retreat, but it didn't happen. Those who were there with me know how I toiled over which thread colors to use for the medallions that kind of blend in with the fabric. This design is called Quaker Stitches and it is from Jeanette Douglas Designs. I stitched it on 32 count LL Vintage Sand Dune and purchased the threadpack that was offered by JDD. The thread colors that seem to disappear on the fabric are stitched with Belle Soie Baquette. For about two weeks (and three trips to my LNS) I went back and forth trying alternate colors - BS Vanilla Pudding, BS Scarecrow, BS Her Crown. The Vanilla Pudding stood out too much, the Scarecrow not enough. I had almost settled on Her Crown, a yellowish gold silk (you can see it in the photo below at the top of the design.)

At the retreat this past weekend I had the opportunity to see the finished piece with the original colors and it was gorgeous! Jeanette shared with me that she agonized over that color too, but in the end she stuck with Baguette because it was not uncommon for the Quakers to use a color that was similar to the fabric color. I finished this piece last night and I used Baguette for those final medallions! The picture below is a little dark, but hopefully you can still appreciate how beautiful this piece is! (The colors in the photo above are more accurate!)

Jeanette Douglas Designs - Quaker Stitches

32ct LL Vintage Sand Dune, Assorted Silks

I have been working on other challenge pieces; the next two are going to receive all of my attention for the next couple weeks as I'd like to finish them. Here's my progress on Poppy Maye Russell from Heartstring Samplery. The alphabet is taking a long time to finish!

Here's an updated photo on Happy Hearts Sampler from BOAF. I have my thread situation figured out with this one too, so look for some changes next time I snap a photo of this one! The retreat this past weekend was wonderful! Jeanette Douglas is so genuine - it was fun to meet her. I have pictures and stories to tell; watch for that update tomorrow. I think I have rambled on enough for one day! Thanks for stopping by!

Heading out...

2011-04-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

...to Stitchville's Spring Fling retreat with Jeanette Douglas. I'll have a full report for you next week! Have a nice weekend!

Stitching with Friends...

2011-03-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

I took a vacation day yesterday; it was a "use ir or lose it" situation. The best way to spend a day like this is stitching with friends!

We got together at Joan's house . The early morning risers were there at 7:30am. Me? I like to sleep in on my days off; I didn't arrive until about 9:15am. We stitched and yacked and stitched. It was nice to have no other worries for the day.

Who was there? Well, Joan of course - here's a shot of the project she was working on. It's the first part of a four part series in the recent issue of JCS magazine. She's almost done with this first part (Spring). I'm planning to stitch it too, but haven't started yet.

Chris (no blog) was there too. She is our stitching maniac - never see her without a needle in her hand. She is stitching a special class model, so I can't show you the full piece, but I can tell you that it was a gorgeous design!

Jill was there too working on a Victoria Sampler piece. She had just put the hoop on it to work on some specialty stitches.

Last but not least is me. I started a new piece by Jeanette Douglas. It came out at market; I think it is called Quaker Stitches...the colors in the picture are not quite right...

The cats in the house frequently stop in to see what we're working on. At this moment, Kitty Boy (aka Captain Underpants) was more interested in what was going on outside. Note that he is straddled between the table and the window sill!

I have a few other updates to show you, but those will have to wait for another day. Still counting down the days until the Stitchville Spring Fling Retreat! Just 9 days away now!

BOAF Happy Hearts...Progress Report

2011-03-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

Have been working on BOAF Happy Hearts sampler this week. Please forgive me for not pressing the linen before taking this photo. The picture is a little crooked too; photography is not my thing!

I'm a little frustrated with my WDW Chesapeake which is used for some of the letters in the alphabet (WDW Onyx is used for some of the letters too.) The skein of Chesapeake that I have is too dark and there's not enough contrast between it and the Onyx. The Chesapeake should be more blue, closer to DMC 924.

Now you might be wondering, why did I keep stitching the alphabet if I wasn't completely happy with the color of the Chesapeake threads? Good question. As my friend Joan will tell you, I am a "rule follower" - I tend to always use the linen and the fibers that the project calls for. It's rare that I ever deviate from the pattern!

In this case though, I think I might have to make an exception. I'm just not happy with that alphabet. For now, I'm going to put this piece away. Next time I am at Stitchville I will take a look at WDW Chesapeake and see if I can find a better skein. If I can't find a lighter skein of Chesapeake, then I am going to switch to GAST Brethren Blue or DMC 924. And yes, perfectionist that I am, I will frog the letters that need to be frogged and re-sitch them in the right color of blue!

Speaking of my friend Joan - she was traveling this week with her husband while he was on a business trip. He always allows time to stop at needlework stores and/or quilt shops along the way. On this trip they made a stop at The Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL - check out the post from Cathy at The Inspired Needle. What a nice LNS this must be; I wish they were closer!!!

I added a countdown counter to my blog earlier this week - I'm impatiently anticipating the Stitchville Spring Fling retreat -- just 18 days away now!

Have a good week and thanks for stopping by.

Seven Down, Eight to Go

2011-03-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

It's CRAZY, I know, but the challenge has really worked for me. I've really been motivated to finish projects from my stash; some of them have been kitted up and ready to go for a long time.

Here's project #7 - Finito!

Scarlet's Christmas Sampler - Chessie & Me

36 ct Vintage Pearled Barley Linen

Limited Edition GAST Thread Pack

24 more days until the Stitchville Spring Fling Retreat! Can't Wait!