Saturday, May 29, 2010
The Graduate and Her Mom...
We had beautiful weather for the occasion; the graduation mass and ceremony lasted just over two hours. Then they were off to the local community center for an all night party. I volunteered until 2am; my DH worked the graveyard shift from 2am until 5am! The graduate is still sleeping, the rest of us are moving at a slow pace today.
Hopefully I will have some stitchy pictures for you later today or tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lazy Sunday Afternoon
I also need to send THANK YOU's to Kathy A and PJ (no blog.) Recently, both of these ladies gifted me with beaded scissor fobs. Kathy A sent one as a thank you for stitching on her Neighborhood (remember the neighborhood round robins?) PJ sent one as a thank you for sharing a pattern with her. (Note to PJ -- I can't find your email address, could you email me with it please?) Anyway, aren't these fobs beautiful? Kathy send the one with the topaz colored beads; I like the key charm at the end. PJ sent the one with red, white, and blue colored beads with the angel charm at the end. Aren't they beautiful?
Before I go, I'm going to share some pictures of my flower beds. We've been busy cleaning up around the yard in preparation for our daughter's graduation party which will be in two weeks. Here is the shady area under our deck; the flowers in this garden mostly bloom in the spring.
Are you familiar with the plant called "Jack in the Pulpit?" My mother transplanted this from her wild flower garden.
I noticed that a lupine is growing amidst the ferns:
Last summer, we put a new flower bed in around the gas meter; we needed to do something to make this side of the house look better. The flowers in this bed are blooming like gangbusters!
Here's another bed that we just planted this weekend; this one will be beautiful when the plants mature and the flowers start blooming!
A smaller bed in the front yard:
And finally, take a look at these beautiful irises. They are actually in our neighbor's yard, but we have the best view of them!
Here's to wishing you a great Sunday filled with lots of stitching!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Summer Basket Finished
I brought back a nasty cold and have been feeling a wee bit under the weather. Since I've been kind of "laying low" I've had more time for stitching and managed to finish Summer Basket by Blackbird Designs.
Summer Basket
Blackbird Designs
30 ct WDW Baby's Breath
GAST and WDW threads
Thanks too for the needle feedback. I think I'm going to invest in a bulk package of Bohins!
Kathy A - thank you for the beautiful scissor fob that you sent. I will get a proper thank you sent off to you in the next day or two.
Until next time - thank you for your visit.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
More Blackbird Designs
Mother Nature is quite mixed up and we are experiencing winter, not spring weather here in Minnesota. After no snow in March or April, today it snows! My DD had a lacrosse game today and baby it was cold and windy with rain and snow mixed...brrrr.....hopefully this return to winter will be short-lived.
I have a couple of questions for you:
1) Which brand of needles do you like to stitch with? Piecemakers, John James, Bohnin, other? I guess I usually stitch with Piecemakers or Bohnin. On Tuesday night I was stitching with some #28 needles from John James and I broke two of them. Very frustrating!
2) Does anyone know if there is a needlework store in the Orlando that is worth a visit? I will be in Orlando next week; not sure if I will have any free time, but if I do.....
3) I'm looking for a copy of the BBD Loose Feathers #1 called Spring's Promise. Anyone interested in selling or loaning their copy?
Thank you for stopping by to visit. To all the mothers out there, I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing Mother's Day tomorrow!
Sunday, May 02, 2010
More Framing
Quaker Garden
Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers #19
Recommended linen and fibers
Special Delivery
Blackbird Designs
GAST fibers
32 ct Lakeside Linen Strawflower
Evergreen
Blackbird Designs - Loose Feathers #17
GAST & WDW fibers
30 ct R&R Iced Cappuccino
Finally, some answers to your questions --
Margaret asked why there was no house in the 4th Anniversaries of the Heart block. Don't worry, there will be; the house just hadn't been stitched yet on the piece that Alma shared with us.
Kim asked why there was a big gap between blocks 2 and 3. There are going to be some bonus charts later this year and one of the bonus charts will go in that spot.
One last photo before I go...here's a close up of the sachet that I stitched.
Hope you had a nice weekend! I'm off to my stitching chair now...
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Spring Fling Part III
I think I was about to share with you some photos of the project we worked on during our Blackbird retreat weekend. The first project was a small sachet that we stitched and finished. We stitched an initial on it. Then we could embellish it with some rick rack and/or buttons. Here's a picture of some of the finished sachets. We all started with the same materials, but you can see that each sachet is finished a little bit differently! Cute!
(Joan's box is on the left; mine is on the right.)
Here is the finished project that Barb and Alma brought with them:
There are many, many more pictures on Barb's and Alma's blog too.
For today, I'll leave you with a final picture of Barb and Alma, with our host, Deb, the owner of Stitchville. Deb did such a nice job with this retreat and I look forward to attending the next one!
Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy what is left of your weekend!