Final Finish for 2005

This is my final project for 2005 and I'm finishing it just under the wire! Faith Hope and Love was designed by LHN. I'm planning to have this one framed.

Best wishes and happy stitching in 2006!

Winter Wonderland II

This is what our neighborhood looked like at 8:30am yesterday. It continued to snow through most of the morning and afternoon. Everything is white and clean and there's a certain "sereneness" about a fresh covering of snow!

I made it into work just fine; there wasn't much traffic at all. I'm sure many people were off for the holiday. We were released early, so by 4:30pm I was relaxing and stitching. Both kids were gone with friends and my DH was puttering in the garage. I watched, without interruption, the Sound of Music! This is one of my all time favorite movies and every now and then I pull it out and enjoy!

While watching the movie, I finished another Essy's Friends project (this one designed by Lilybet) and did the stitching on another (I'll work on finishing it today). I have two more to complete and then I will be caught up. The next design is by Shepherd's Bush.



I also worked on Faith, Hope, and Love but it's not quite finished. It's quite boring stitching the border! There will be more time for stitching today, so visit again for updates!

Von, thanks for the update regarding the Rose Parade. I didn't realize that they had moved it to Monday!

Happy New Year everyone!

It's Snowing Again!

Well, we had a nice break from winter over the Christmas holiday, but as of this evening, winter is back! We're expecting up to four inches between now and noon tomorrow. Oh how I wish I could crawl under a blanket and stay there! Unfortunately, it's a work day for me tomorrow (hopefully a short one) so I will need to get up in the morning and make the trek in. Hopefully other people are on vacation tomorrow so that the commute isn't too bad!

I did get a little bit of stitching in tonight. I worked on another one of the Essy's Friends kits. Hopefully I can finish it off tomorrow and then will post a picture. As I stitch these, I think of two dear friends each who recently had a masectomy. (Proceeds from these kits benefit breast cancer research.)

What's everyone doing for New Year's Eve? We typically stay home and enjoy being home! For supper, I think we're going to grill steaks (yes, we use our grill even when there's a foot of snow on the ground!) and will have baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. We usually watch movies that the whole family will enjoy. You can be sure that I'll be sitting in the corner of the couch stitching! On Sunday we will watch the Rose Parade and all of the football games.

Whatever your plans are - have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. Wishing you peace and lots of stitching time in 2006!

Faith, Hope, and Love

Well, I survived three days of chauffering. I don't even want to stop and figure out how many miles I put on the car in the past three days! Tomorrow I return to work - I'm glad there are only two work days left this week!

I did find time for some stitching tonight. I purchased this pattern and fabric through Elegant Stitch several weeks ago - it was a fundraiser for Katrina's Kids (proceeds used to purchase holiday gifts for kids who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina). The design is from Little House Needleworks. I have to stitch the heart at the top yet and there's a stitched border around the entire design. The stitching went quickly! It's called Faith, Hope, and Love...



I've been thinking about setting some stitching goals for 2006. I have a hard time planning too far out, so I may just set goals for the first three months of they year and then review and adjust every three months...I may post more on this tomorrow.

Well, off to blog reading. Have a good day!

Essy's Friends #1

I think I first saw this on Karen's blog a couple of months ago. It prompted me to find out what Essy's Friends was all about. Once I realized that proceeds were donated to benefit breast cancer, I immediately signed up. I now have the first five kits and have finished my first one.

This design is from Mosey 'n Me. It's stitched on 32ct Awareness Pink from R&R. I must say that the tin pin finishing was quite easy and very quick!

Pillow Addiction

WARNING...If you are trying to reduce your needlework stash (vs. adding to it), do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, read this post!

I may soon have to join needleworks anonymous - I'm completely addicted to these pillow designs from Little House Needleworks! Recently I purchased the pattern and the coordinating pillow for Season of Rest. I received it in the mail just before Christmas. Now, look at this adorable pillow from Country Cottage Needleworks - it's called Rose Cottage. I love the design and I love the fiber colors.

I may never dig out of this pile of stash I'm in. Sure am having fun though!

Last, but not Least

I have one last finish to share with you. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, my daughter and I made a quick shopping trip and then came home and made fudge and chocolate mint cookies. I had a couple final ornaments to finish and here's one that you haven't seen:

It's from the 2003 JCS Ornament issue; the design is by Glory Bee. It was a quickie to stitch!

We had a wonderful evening last night at my mom's. My entire family was there (I have four brothers!) It's rare for us all to be there at the same time on any holiday, so this was quite a special occasion. With four in-laws (actually, we call them the 'outlaws') and seven grandchildren, I guess you could say we had a full house!

My mother is a church organist, so growing up, I always went with her to midnight mass (in the days when the service was really at midnight!) Now, many churches have their evening service at 10 p.m. My mother still plays the organ at her church. I sang last night in the choir at my church. It was particularly nice to have my daughter there with me - she played the flute with the orchestra!

Today's events were much slower paced - we returned to my mom's for dinner - pork roast, beef roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli, etc., etc. It was a much smaller crowd today. We were joined by my 85 year-old aunt who always spends holidays with us. Then it was on to football! Both of our teams (Green Bay and Minnesota) lost today. :(

Tomorrow I play chauffeur to my son and daughter who have hockey and basketball camp respectively! At some point during the day, I plan to go through my stitching stash to figure out what my priorities are going to be for 2006!

Have a wonderful day after Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas

Dear friends,

Wishing you the magic of Christmas and the gift of love...have a wonderful holiday!

I promise to be back in full force (stitching and blogging) after this weekend! My gifts are all wrapped, but I'm hoping to fit in some baking yet tomorrow. We'll see if that works out. Saturday and Sunday will be spent celebrating the holiday with family. Monday will be a day of rest!

Thank you for your friendship - it's been great sharing my love of stitching with all of you. I have appreciated your words of encouragement throughout the past few months. I've also enjoyed visiting your blogs - what a talented group you are!

Rest, relax and enjoy the next few days!

Peace,

Cathy

Ta Da...Ornaments!

Some of you may recall seeing one of these prior to being finished. I finally had time last night to turn them in to ornaments. It's just a simple pillow (my finishing experience is limited and I didn't have time to try something new). I thought the beads added a nice touch. The design is from Nordic Needle, 2003 JCS.

We've had nearly six inches of snow already in just seven hours time. We're expecting it to continue to snow all day. I'm heading out to work now - I fear that it is going to be a long commute!

Have a great day!

Reminiscing

Sorry friends, I've been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with reading everyone else's blogs. I haven't had much time though to post any new messages to mine. Once the holidays are past I will get back into a regular habit.

Thought I'd post a couple of pictures for you. We have two trees this year. This one is in our living room:



I put up a second tree in our family room this year. It's one of those alpine firs (very tall and skinny and scant branches). I decided to put all of my handmade ornaments on it. Some of them I made, some were made by others. A few were purchased at boutiques. These are some of my favorite ornaments.



Lastly, I want to show you some felt ornaments I made when I was about 13 years old. I made them from a kit (Does anyone remember Leewards?) They hung on my mother's tree for years, and now they hang on mine.



It's hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I still have shopping to do. I rarely get any baking done, but I always think I'm going to (the kitchen isn't my favorite room in the house anyway!) Kids are looking forward to a break from school over the holidays and amidst all the chaos we're expecting a full blown snow storm on Wednesday that will last through the weekend! Oh well, somehow everything still gets done. Have a great week!

Great Mail Day

I was so happy to see that I had a package in the mail today from Elegant Stitch. I received the latest installment of Essy's Friends. The other night I started working on the October kit - I will get caught up on these soon and post pics.

What I was most excited about was the new Hillside Samplings Alphabet Notebook! Happy Birthday to me! This will be one of the first projects I work on in the New Year!

Have a great weekend all!

Happy Birthday!

Are you wondering who's birthday it is today? It's mine. I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on November 30, 1961!

New Designs from LHN

The LHN website has been updated with information about some new designs coming out soon. The first one, is going to be a "must have" for me - it's called "Season of Rest" and Trail Creek Farm has a pillow that compliments the design beautifully.

The other thing that caught my eye is a series coming out in February entitled "Dear Diary". No pictures posted yet, but the description sure has sparked my curiosity!

I'm anxious to return to my "regular" stitching after the holidays - right now, I'm still working on ornaments and small gifts! Take care and happy stitching!

My Stitching Room

I had time today to "pick up" my stitching room, so here are the pictures. Trust me, it's never this neat and tidy! This used to be my son's bedroom (it's quite small in size). When we finished our lower level, he moved down to a larger room.

As you can see, I've got a comfortable wicker chair to sit in. Note the tablecloth on the table - this was stitched by a woman in Hungary. To the right is a china cabinet filled with Beatrix Potter figurines. When my kids were small, we were crazy about the Beatrix Potter stories. At that time, you could pick up these figurines quite inexpensively. We enjoyed looking at these figurines when we would read the stories!



To the right of the cabinet is our computer. In the corner is a chest of drawers which houses threads, fabric/linen, kitted patterns, stash, etc. The table is a great work surface; my sewing machine is always handy! On the table, there are cookie tins filled with balls of DMC #8 and #12. I've started hanging framed projects in this room where I can enjoy them!



The only thing not visible to you in these pictures is my stash of patterns - I have two "two-inch" three ring binders filled with patterns. They are all in plastic sleeves and organized by designer.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my stitching room. Now you know where I am when I'm thinking about you!

Winter Wonderland

We received our first significant snowfall today, about three inches. More snow is in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. These are great days to curl up on the couch with a hot chocolate and some good stitching!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night I attended the monthly meeting for my local chapter of EGA. It was my night to bring treats and my mom agreed to bake for me (she's a terrific baker!) We had lemon bars, pumpkin bars and date bars. They were all delicious!

I'm happy to report that our chapter made a whole shoebox full of bookmarks! I'll know the exact number next month, but there were lots of them! Many different techniques were used to create these bookmarks including, cross stitch, blackwork, hardanger, pattern darning, etc. It feels so good knowing that these bookmarks are going to make someone feel really good!

I've been stitching ornaments, but have no new pictures to post. Many of them you have seen before. Once I have them finished (completely finished!) I'll post a picture.

It's Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. We will celebrate the traditional way with turkey, stuffing, wild rice, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Since both Thursday and Friday are holidays for me, it makes for a nice long weekend! Unfortunately, most of it will be spent cleaning and decorating for Christmas, but that's okay.

Best wishes to everyone this week and "thanks" for visiting my blog!

Bookmarks, Bookmarks and More Bookmarks

I finished off the last of my bookmarks tonight. My regular readers may recall that I was stitching these (along with help from my daughter) for my local EGA chapter. They are going to be donated to an adult literacy group.

Last month, I turned in three bookmarks, two had been stitched by my daughter who is 13 years old; I had stitched the other one. I wanted to stitch a few more this month and will need to turn them in at our next meeting on Monday, Nov. 21.

Our chapter provided materials, but I was unhappy with the banding - it is a tad bit too wide for a bookmark and it has hearts bordering either side which limits color and design choices. So after stitching one on this banding, I went out and bought some banding inexpensively at my local Michaels.

All of these designs are using the technique of pattern darning which is quick and easy. I will have five additional bookmarks to turn in this Monday!




Here's the backside of the last three bookmarks - isn't pattern darning cool?

Weekend Stitching

Well, here it is, Sunday night and I don't have too much to show for myself. Limited stitching time again this weekend.

My daughter plays traveling basketball and this was the team's first weekend tournament. Her team took 4th place, not bad considering that the first game was a blow out (45-5). They then lost the next two games, one in overtime. They played well, so they should be proud!

I did work on bookmarks this week for my chapter's EGA service project. I'm not real pleased witht them so I'm not going to post any pictures. The chapter supplies the banding and the thread. The banding is too wide and it has red hearts going down either side - really limits the possibilities. I purchased some inexpensive banding at Michael's this weekend and am going to try to stitch up some nicer bookmarks before next Monday. I'll turn back the other banding.

On Friday night I stitched for about three hours while I watched (listened) to the U of M hockey game (vs Anchorage). I stitched the following Hardanger candy cane (pattern from Satin Stitches):



Then on Saturday night, while watching the same two teams again, I started the following Austrian looking ornament design:



Not too long ago, on Romy's blog I saw some beautiful Austrian designs. These designs intrigued me because my maternal grandparents immigrated from Austria/Hungary to the United States in 1906. I happened to be at one of my LNS a few weeks ago and found the following pattern from Thistle Threads:



These designs are perfect and very similar to the ones I saw on Romy's blog. The other rather significant achievement is that I am using silk for the very first time! I'm stitching this with an overdyed called "In the Burgundy" by The Thread Gatherer. It's about 2/3 complete, so stay tuned for updates.

I guess that's it for tonight. Looking forward to the week ahead...

Monday, Monday

Good Morning! I'm sad to report - that I don't have any new stitching updates. There were a million other things to do this past weekend.

I did have some fun on Saturday though - my sister-in-law and I went to a wool expo and then to a holiday boutique. I purchased a wool pincushion kit at the wool expo (a sunflower). I had to laugh - the ladies who stitch, weave, and knit with wool are just as crazy about their craft as the rest of us! It was fun to see the beautiful colors and the projects.

The holiday boutique was okay. We have a lot of these at this time of year; between now and Christmas you can find a handful to go to on any given weekend. Again, I didn't buy too much - when you go to these year after year sometimes everything starts looking the same. I think I may need to take a "year off"! Then next time I go there will be all kinds of new ideas and handmade crafts for purchase.

I'm going to set one stitching goal for myself this week: more bookmarks! I had committed to stitching a few more bookmarks for EGA and I need to get them done. They need to be turned in at this month's meeting on Nov 21. The darning pattern bookmarks had really turned out nice and were quick and easy to finish, so more than likely I will do more of those.

I want to share with you one other activity I participated in this weekend. We dedicated a "peace pole" at our church this weekend. The ceremony was quite moving - many school age children were there and midway through the ceremony about twelve of us said the phrase "May Peace Prevail in Earth" in other languages: Hebrew, Tagalong, Spanish, Korean, Lithuanian, Sioux Indian, American Sign Language, etc. I contributed by saying the phrase in German. Our peace pole has the phrase engraved on it in several languages too. The moment was an opportunity to stop and think about this wonderful world we live in and reflect on what we can do to help promote peace.

I just want you to know that I appreciate the worldwide friendships I have made through my stitching blog. Take care and have a great stitching week.

Zeta

Okay, my daughter said I had to post a picture of Zeta too! (I think that was an excuse for her to play with the camera some more!) Can you see the resemblance between the dog and the pillow? :)

My Daughter's Pillow

Well, we finally went out and bought a digital camera. The quality of the pictures on my blog should improve!

In learning how to use it, we took a picture of my daughter's pillow. You may recall that she entered it in our state fair and won a blue ribbon. She did all the cross-stitching (that's the category in which it was entered), I helped her with the finishing of the pillow. Zeta is our dog's name - yes, we have a 70 pound chocolate lab/chesapeake bay retriever mix. She's our baby and she's spoiled rotten!



Maybe later I'll have time to take pictures of my stitching room!

Christmas Ornament

It's been a very slow stitching week for me. After cleaning house most of today, I finally had a few hours this evening to do some stitching. With Christmas coming, I need to get busy with my gift making. I like to try to give ornaments to many of the special people in my life. This evening I stitched the Nordic Needle ornament from the 2003 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue:

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it yet. I have one of those round, metal finishing forms and it's just the perfect size.

Thanks again to everyone who visits my blog. I do appreciate your comments!

Another Finish

Well, it's the wee hours of the morning and I should be in bed, but I'm on a finishing roll! When I stopped at my LNS on Friday to pick up the acorn button for Autumn ABC, lo and behold - she had a new LHN freebie! And since I'm a huge fan of houses, I had to stitch this one right away. Isn't it adorable? It's called Small House Sampler. I framed it in coordinating fabric and put some heavier weight batting in the middle. I've got a jute hangar on top - I'm planning to hang it on one of the drawer handles in my stitching room.

Autumn ABC Again!

Well, the picture doesn't really do the piece justice - I scanned it before I stuffed the pillow (I promise, one of these days I will get a digital camera!) I'm really liking this finish. There's a jute cord at the top of the pillow so that it can be hung on a door knob if desired. I still have 2 1/2 yards left of this quilted pumpkin fabric (what was I thinking??)

Prior to blogging, I nearly always framed my stitched pieces. Thanks to all of you for posting your finishes. You've given me the courage to be creative.

Autumn ABC

Well, I liked the first one so much that I had to make another one! The first one was on 28 ct and I slipped it into a tuckable pillow. It was a gift for a friend. This one was done on 32 ct lambswool. I am planning to somehow use the same quilted pumpkin fabric that I used for "Boo" to finish this one. I just love the colors of these fibers. I'm going to have to stop at the LNS this weekend to pick up an acorn button. (Oh dear, do I have to go to the LNS?)

I also hate to admit it, but I'm getting old. I finally broke down and purchased a magnifier - the daylight flexilens on a mini-clip. I can see my stitching much better. I'll have to go back to trying one-over-one again, now that I will be able to see the threads! LOL

Boo!

Pumpkin from Eekology by the Trilogy...

Bookmarks

Bookmarks! My local EGA chapter - St. Paul Needleworkers - is working on a community service project during the months of September and October. We are stitching bookmarks that will be donated to a local Adult Learning Facility. Imagine how the students must feel when they receive a special bookmark to go along with a book as they are learning to read!

My daughter is helping me - she stitched the top two, using a pattern darning heart design that she enjoys stitching. I stitched the bottom one (fall leaves). Our group had received yards and yards of this narrow banding and so we were challenged to come up with ways to use it for this bookmark project.

I hope to get a few more completed - we turn them in at our meeting in November.

Small Finish

After cleaning house all day, I was determined to do some stitching this evening and I wanted to finish something! There were a total of four different Hardanger ornaments in the pattern booklet from Satin Stitches (Donna M. Olson). I completed the first three a few weeks ago and had started the fourth one - tonight I finished it!

These are quick to stitch and would be really quite easy even for a novice at Hardanger. I think that I will probably make more of these between now and Christmas to give as gifts.

I may try to finish another smaller project tomorrow night - we'll see.

Here's to a good week of stitching!

Beautiful Saturday

Today is a typical autumn day. The temperature is in the 50's, the sun is shining, the leaves on the trees are changing colors - it's a perfect day!



I wanted to work on something that would get me in the mood for Autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving. The design I just finished is a simple Snippet from Lizzie Kate called Autumn ABC's. I have a pillow from Pine Mountain that I plan to tuck it into. It will be a gift for my best friend Sue who celebrates her birthday next Sunday (and doesn't read my blog!)

Thanks everyone for your kind comments about the Miniature Garden Game Board - I really like it too. Haven't finished it yet, but will get around to it soon!

Happy Stitching!

It's Finished!

Isn't it adorable? I almost like this design better than the first one. This is the Miniature Garden Game Board, a freebie from LHN. I stitched it on 32 count Belfast Light Mocha.

When I stitched the Miniature Hometown Game Board earlier this summer I used a 28 count linen, so that one is slightly larger. I may have to stitch that one again because I really like the smaller size. (See my post on September 22 for a picture of that design.)

Any thoughts on finishing???

New LHN Game Board

I finally settled in to a project and here's what I'm working on - the latest LHN freebie, Miniature Garden Game Board. My picture is not the greatest. I'm purposely posting it upside down so that you can see what the design at the top and bottom will look like. (I've only stitched a portion of the bottom so far!) The colors are much more vibrant that those on the last game board. I'm hoping to finish this today - then I'll post a better picture!

Have a great day!

Mystery Sampler Lesson 2

Hello Friends!

I was able to accomplish some stitching tonight - I completed lesson two for the Mystery Sampler in the EGA NeedleArts magazine. It was my first try at Blackwork and it wasn't too difficult. I think the medallion looks pretty good.

I've been doing a real good job of purchasing more patterns lately - so good that I am officially on the wagon! I have enough stash to stay busy for many, many years! With so many cool things to stitch, I am having trouble staying focused on one or two projects. My goal over the next few days is to decide on one or two projects to work on in October and stick to them.

I'm also working on bookmarks for our local EGA chapter outreach project. I'm hoping to talk my daughter into doing a couple for me using the pattern darning designs she has. I've got about five or six of these to complete before the next EGA meeting on October 17.

Thanks again to everyone that has visited my blog. Thanks for your kind comments too!

Happy Stitching!

Many Thanks

Thanks to everyone who has visited and special thanks to those who have left comments. I appreciate your friendship and encouragement!

The picture that I posted yesterday of North Country Sampler - this is a design by Drawn Thread. I should have given the appropriate credit in my original post. I am very fond of the Drawn Thread patterns and have many more in my stash waiting to be stitched.

Another designer that I really like is Diane Williams of Little House Needlework. Today I noticed that she has designed a special piece entitled "Faith Hope Love" and the proceeds will benefit Katrina's Kids Holiday Fund. You can only purchase this design through Elegant Stitch. I've already ordered mine!

At the same time, I joined Esmeralda's Friends club. Many of you have posted pictures of these projects on your blogs and I wanted to be part of this club too - plus it benefits a good cause!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday. I know that we all will be thinking about our neighbors in the South and hope that they will be safe from Rita's wrath this weekend.

Happy Stitching!

Another Christmas Ornament

(User error! I figured out why I was having trouble posting pictures! Smile!)

It's been another slow stitching week for me. Sooooo many things going on; I just feel like screaming "stop the madness!" As soon as the kids are settled in to school, I think it will get better.

Last night, I finished a third hardanger ornament. All three were designed by Donna Olson of Satin Stitches. This one has a lot of green in it - I used some leftover overdyed pearl cotton from Needle Necessities.



Over the weekend, I picked up the last of my framing from the LNS that's closing. They did a beautiful job on all of my pictures, but I wanted to post this one in particular - I finished it earlier this summer. I've never posted a picture of it before. This picture doesn't really do it justice - the frame looks like pine needles, the matting complements the thread colors - I just love it!

Thursday's Update

I had hoped to post some pictures for you, but apparently that option in Blogger is not working right now.

Do any of you remember the Little House Needlework Gameboard design that I posted back in August? This was a freebie from LHN. Yesterday, I found another version of it at my LNS. Rather than houses on either end, there are birds. I'm wondering how many versions there are of this gameboard - anybody know?

Here's the one I did in August:



I'll log on again tonight and try to post my pictures...until then, happy stitching!

Hardanger Christmas Ornaments

Here are the two Hardanger ornaments I finished this evening. The one on the right only took about three hours total. The one on the left took a little bit longer (more weaving involved). I'm really pleased with them and will stitch more to give as gifts this Christmas. Both patterns are designed by Donna M. Olson from Satin Stitches.

Thursday's Update

Hello Friends!

It's been a difficult week to accomplish any stitching, but I thought I should post something. The kids are back in school but that means we are busier than ever - homework, activities, sports, etc. etc. I also sing in the choir at church and those rehearsals have started again too. Hopefully after the upcoming busy weekend I can return to a semi-regular stitching schedule.

I wanted to update you on my entry at the Minnesota State Fair - you may recall the Hardanger picture I posted a few weeks ago. I didn't win a ribbon of any kind, but I was still very pleased with comments I received from the judge. I actually earned the total number of points possible in the categories of Beauty and Character, Color, Design, Condition of Article, and Materials Used. They took off points for Complexity of Project. The judge wrote "This is very nice work but not as complex as others in same category." This told me what I wanted to know - my work is good enough to compete; next year I will just need to enter a piece that's more complex. I was very happy!

Do you ever go through a phase where you just can't decide what you want to stitch on? Last weekend I had a difficult time figuring out what I wanted to stitch (I think it's because I'm overwhelmed with choices - too much stash!) I have started stitching the Pray Tree - some of you may already be aware of this free pattern by M Designs. You can join the Yahoo! Group to receive the free pattern. Subscribe by sending a message to: Katrina_Pray-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

I also started working on a Hardanger ornament last weekend - I should be able to finish it this weekend and will then post a picture of it.

Thanks for visiting. I wish you all a great stitching weekend!

Small Projects

I seem to be on a roll with scissors fobs. Here's the picture of my latest Hardanger fob. The picture doesn't really do it justice - I tried to scan it on my printer. I haven't purchased a digital camera yet! If nothing else, you'll get a feel for the colors - it's a lavendar colored fabric with an overdyed thread from the Caron Collection.



Yesterday, my local needlework shop celebrated it's Grand Opening. I purchased a kit that I've been reading about on other blogs - This Too Shall Pass 2004 Monograms & Motifs Scissors Keep and Scissors Fob. I'm anxious to start on this one!



Thanks to everyone who has visited my blog in recent days - Chelle, Lelia, KarenV, BeckySC, Kiwi Jo, Terri, Barbara, Cathymk - hope I didn't miss anybody!

Happy Stitching this week!

My First "Small"

Well, this is the first scissors fob I've ever completed. I had done the stitching a few weeks ago and tonight I finished it.

Now, would you like to have a little laugh at my expense? The first time I finished it, I had the pumpkin upside down. Yes, I had attached the cording to the wrong end! Rip it, rip it. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Happy Stitching this weekend...

September Already?

Is it really September already? Where did the summer go? I must admit though, I probably enjoy the fall best of all - I love the colors of fall and the cooler temperatures.

Another LNS closing - it always saddens me when I hear that a needlework store is going out of business. Within the last three years, we've had a number of them close in the Twin Cities. Fortunately, the one that I frequent the most is still in business and seems to be doing well. The one that's closing was not all that convenient for me, but they did beautiful framing and I always took my needlework pieces to them.

On Saturday, I took three pieces to them for framing - all fairly recent finishes:

Drawn Thread - North Country Sampler

Blackbird Designs - Stars and Stripes

Little House Needleworks - ABC123

Because they do such a nice job, I wanted to make sure they did my framing on these!

About the only thing I completed this weekend was a small freebie pattern from Victoria Sampler. The pattern is on the website and it's called Heirloom Wedding Sampler Free Pattern. I plan to use this teal colored one as a scissors fob:



Tonight I was playing around with some other colors and I'm thinking this might make a nice Christmas ornament:



I still need to complete the filling stitches on the red version. And then there's the finishing - not my favorite part!

Have a great week everyone!

Limited Stitching Time

My stitching time has been limited this week. It's State Fair time in Minnesota. My kids and I spent the entire day on Sunday at the Fair. Here in Minnesota, we joke about how everything at the Fair is served on a stick - Pronto Pups (aka Corn Dog on a Stick), Pork Chop on a Stick, Key Lime Pie on a Stick, Macaroni and Cheese on a Stick, Spaghetti and Meatballs on a Stick - you get the idea! Vendors spend the entire year trying to figure out how to put new food items on a stick!

The Hardanger piece that I entered did not place - that's okay - this was the first time I've ever entered anything and it will be interesting to see what comments the judge has for me. There were some really beautiful pieces including a round Hardanger doily (about 30" round) that included four stitched Stavkirches and four stitched Viking Ships in the design. It was truly amazing.

My daughter entered a cross stitch piece of a labrador retriever. We mounted it on a pillow (the pillow fabric had paw prints on it). She won a blue ribbon for her work! After the Fair, I'll be sure to take a picture of it and post it for you to see.

So, the Fair combined with back-to-school shopping has taken up much of my free time. I did start a new project the other night - Cedar Hill Country Pumpkin Farm. I was in the mood for a Fall design. I'm also drawn to pictures of barns. Here's my work, followed by the picture included with the pattern.




Tomorrow is Wednesday - Happy Hump Day!

Saturdays and Flat-Fold Finishing

Happy Saturday to all! Thanks to everyone who has been reading my blog and thanks for your very kind comments. I enjoy reading your blogs too. It's fun to see what everyone is working on and the progress they are making.

One note - I may have to turn the "word verification" on too. I'm going to wait a couple more days to see if anymore weird messages come through.

Becky - Yes, the e-mail was from me. I have never done ANY finishing; I've always had my needlework framed (I have a drawerful of completed projects waiting to be framed!) I adore the finishes you posted to your blog and your website and was just looking for tips on "how-to". I didn't know if there was a book or website out there that you recommended. I can wait patiently for your posting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

121 Days Until Christmas!

This is a HIHN design from a couple years ago. Very quick, very easy!

Yup, if I calculated right, it's just 121 days until Christmas. Usually, about this time of year, I make my list of special people who I'd like to stitch gifts for and then I spend the entire Fall stitching for others. I love giving handmade gifts to others (especially those who appreciate all the effort and love that went into the gift!)



By the way, I finished the Too Tiny Too Sampler - the scanned image is a little bit crooked, but the piece is beautiful!

Have a great Friday and a nice weekend!

Too Tiny Too Sampler

After seeing this design completed on another stitching blog, I was inspired to stitch it. This was especially fun because this was one of my 10 cent patterns (see previous post Stash Enhancing Weekend).

I really enjoy designs from the Drawn Thread. Is anyone working on The Good Neighbor?

Happy Stitching!

One More Quick Posting

After being a member of EGA for just over a year I finally completed my nametag! No more paper "Hello, my name is.." for me!

This is a slightly modified Cindy Valentine pattern...

Beautiful Sunday

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Minnesota. We turned off the A/C and opened up the windows and the fresh air is wonderful!

Last night I finished LHN Early America. I'm wondering if anyone has any finishing ideas for this piece. I don't think I want to spend the $$ to frame it.



I mentioned the other day that Diane Williams' daughter was starting her own design company - Country Cottage Needlework. Her first two designs are now posted on her website. I REALLY like Ladybugs and Bumblebees. Go to www.countrycottageneedleworks.com to see a picture of it!

EGA Mystery Sampler

If you are a member of EGA and you receive the NeedleArts magazine, then you probably saw the pattern for the Mystery Sampler in the June 2005 issue. I purchased some linen banding a few weeks ago but just haven't had time to get this project started. Tonight I completed Lesson 1. I used the DMC colors that the pattern calls for. Now I must wait patiently for Lesson 2 in the next issue of NeedleArts! This sampler is a fifteen-part series so it might take awhile to finish!