Final Post of 2020

Well, we made it to the end of 2020. Thank goodness. While I wish COVID would magically go away, I know that we still have a long road ahead of us. Thank goodness we have each other.

Before the ball drops, I want to share some final finishes with you.

This is called Winter Delivery and it’s from Blackbird Designs. I stitched it once before, when it first came out. It’s framed and hanging in one of the bedrooms. I need to add beads and will then finish this as a small pin pillow.

Then I stitched up this cute ornament from The Wooly Ewe. So cute that I am stitching a second one. I need to add cording to finish these off.

Finally, I’ve been working on this Hardanger project. These are pieces that will be used to adorn a whit blouse that is part of a Norwegian folk costume called a bunad. There are four pieces in total. The one on the left is the front placket that will cover the buttons of the blouse. The piece on the right is one of the cuffs. I have another cuff and the collar that are about half finished. All four pieces will be finished with a knotted edging stitch.

Hope you are healthy and safe and that you had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I hope to post a little more often in 2021.

Autumn Leaves

Another almost finished! This is another piece I started during my stitching slump. The color palette is scrumptious. I still have some filling in to do at the very bottom, but I’m saving that section for a Zoom call.

The design is called Autumn Leaves and it is a Prairie Schooler. The linen is 36 ct PTP Fawn and I used DMC.

I think I am going to switch to some Christmas stitching now!

Anna Grater

We had a quiet, but enjoyable Thanksgiving. The Mad Tatter decided it was best for her to stay home. We took her some fruit salad, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. She sent home with us the dressing, applesauce, and cranberries. We each made our own turkey. We hope to celebrate together next year, but for this year, it worked.

After dinner, I needed a nap. My little Lizzie joined me on the recliner.

For several weeks I was in a stitching slump and could not settle on a project. This lovely design pulled me out. It’s from The Scarlett House and it’s called Anna Grater. I think it was a club piece. I had it all kitted up. It’s stitched on 36ct Weeks Tin Roof with GAST fibers. I love stitching alphabets, but the eyelet alphabet was not my favorite. But....it’s done!

I’m calling this a finish, but I still have some filling in to do at the bottom. I’m saving this section for an upcoming Zoom call. It’s easy to be on a call and just fill in an area like this. No pattern needed!

Looking forward to the long weekend. I’m finishing up another fall piece that I started recently.

Take care!

Give Thanks

Thank you for your kind comments on my previous post.

Tonight I put the final stitches in (the over one “Thanks”) on this piece. The design is appropriate and timely on this Thanksgiving eve. Give Thanks by La D Da stitched on 36ct PTP Wren with GAST fibers.

This year, we will not be sharing the holiday with family and friends as we normally would, but we are grateful that our loved ones are still in good health and look forward to future holiday celebrations. Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Garland Fair

I thought I would be able to share this last night, but I was eight letters short of a finish.

May I present to you, Garland Fair from Blackbird Designs. This was one of their Loose Feather designs from 2005. I started it about a week ago and finished it tonight. I’m not sure what possessed me to stitch this on 40 ct (R&R Patriot’s Brew) linen, because that verse is stitched over one. I must be cuckoo!

“Would that this Garland fair

Might weave around thy life,

A spell to shield from care,

A guard from every strife.”

It’s stitched entirely with GAST Maple Syrup. I love it and will likely frame it.

I’m closing in on another finish which I hope to share soon.

Geraldine - that chevron case you noticed in an earlier post was from JoAnn’s. My light fits in it perfectly! I believe it was intended to be used for storing knitting needles.

Amana Part IV - Shopping

We had a lot of time to enjoy the many shops in Amana; everything was within walking distance of our retreat center! The weather was beautiful and there were so many shopping options. I really enjoyed visiting the Antique shops to search for treasures.

These pictures might be a little dark; I waited until this evening to take them. Many of our lamps have been temporarily stashed away. Not to point the finger or anything, but a certain little lady in our house likes to chew on cords when she has the opportunity to do so. I’ve already had to replace the cord to my stitching light! The guilty Miss Lizzie:

But I digress...back to shopping.

One of my favorite purchases (I have several favorites) was this shaker box from the Amana Furniture Store. This will be a great reminder of this trip.

At one of the Antique shops (which also sold soap) I found this old sewing machine drawer. It’s still in its frame and I think I could mount a pice of needlework to the top. The wood is walnut. The jar next to is filled with all kinds of treasures - old buttons, small sea shells, and some wooden spools of thread. Also, a tomato pincushion.

Look at all of these treasures! A child sized rolling pin (think band sampler), a darning egg, more old buttons, a tatting shuttle, an acorn needle holder, and another tomato pincushion. And the doily underneath was also purchased at one of the shops.

The piece de la resistance might be this wooden tray. I found one at a shop but it was over-priced. Then I found this one at a different shop for a third of the price of the first one. I think that Brenda Gervais’ Lessons in Abecedarian will look great in this tray. Now I just need to stitch them. :(

Almost forgot this “save the stitches.” A perfectly stitched and finished Prairie Schooler Santa!

We also made a road trip to the nearby town of Williamsburg where we visited The Woolen Needle. They have some quilting fabric, but mostly they have wool. Lots of kits, all the accoutrements for wool applique. It was such a cute little shop. I wish I had remembered to take a picture! Here’s a picture of my purchases.

On Saturday morning I stopped at the bakery in Middle Amana on my way to the retreat center. I wish I had taken a picture there too. The bakery is in a residential area; it’s an extension off of someone’s house. The little old lady was behind the counter. She had a loaf of white bread and three coffee cakes and an apricot kuchen left. I bought the apricot kuchen - let me tell you, it was delicious! The whole set up reminded me of Austria. I’m glad I made the stop.

This post pretty much wraps up my trip to Amana. I really enjoyed the weekend and will definitely go back again once we are past Covid. 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my posts.

Amana Part III - The Exchanges

The theme of the retreat was Christmas and so we did an ornament exchange! All of the exchanges were beautifully stitched and finished. 17 of us (roughly half) participated in the exchange.

These pictures aren’t the best. I took them upside down, so the angle isn’t quite right, but it will give you an idea of the pieces that were exchanged.

This was my exchange. It’s a Mary Garry design from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine; I’m quite certain that it was the 2001 edition. That’s a gold needle on the front and I finished it with a pocket on the back for a small gold scissors. I like smaller ornaments. Stitched on 40 count, this ornament was roughly two inches by three inches. I included some other goodies (not pictured).

I love what I received in exchange. It’s a Pineberry Lane design and it is beautifully stitched and finished. It will look great in my dough bowl display. I also received a dish towel and some hand lotion as part of the gift. I couldn’t be more pleased!

In my next post, I’ll share some of my purchases!

Thanks for stopping by!

Amana Part II

We had a very spacious stitching room; there were originally supposed to be 75 of us at this retreat and with Covid, only about 30 of us decided to still attend.

This was my stitching spot. Antibacterial hand wipes on the left and my face mask on the right!

Lots of show and tell. I’m sure you will recognize many of these pieces.

My contributions were pieces that I had stitched over the years all designed by Theresa Venette, our guest designer at this retreat. The Jenny Bean Sampler and pincushion on the left are two of my favorites. The framed mermaid piece on the right is from a class I took with Theresa at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat in 2011.

Come back tomorrow for photos of the ornament exchange!!

Amana, Iowa

I took a little excursion. It was nice to escape the day-to-day worries - work, Covid, the election - and pretend that things were a little bit normal. Why Amana?  The Midwest Cross Stitcher’s Retreat was held here this weekend.

I drove down on Thursday. It’s about a five hour drive. My partner in crime is in Florida so I traveled unsupervised which is never a good thing. My BFF, Judy, will be happy to know that I snatched one of the free Iowa transportation maps at a rest stop. It didn’t matter, I was so busy singing along with Neil Diamond that I missed my turn. To get myself back on track, I had to travel down five or six miles of dirt road in the middle of Iowa. There was just farmland all around me! Where there is a will, there’s a way (and it helps to have GPS too!) Never fear, I successfully made my way to Amana.

Got checked in at the retreat, checked in at my B&B and enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Ronnenburg Restaurant in Amana!

Friday was a shopping/stitching day. Our schedule was open to spend time in the stitching room or to explore the shops of Amana. I did some of both!

Our teacher this weekend was Theresa Venette and she designed a lovely project for us. I’ll include details in my next post!

Need to get to breakfast; heading home this morning.

Blogging Break

Going to take a little break from blogging. My posts are normally stitching related, but there’s not enough time for stitching these days. Will be back when I have something to post!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Stitching For...

Stitching is going to be somewhat on hold for a little bit. We have a new family member! Her name is Lizzie and she is a Yellow Labrador Retriever, just seven weeks old. 

Our first day went well. She loves exploring the backyard and especially likes to chase leaves.

She and Maggie are becoming fast friends.

Her first night went better than expected.

Today she is all pooped out (or maybe she is bored with the football game!)

It’s fun having a little one around again!

Finishing!

Today was a finishing day. This was a class that I took at the Needlework Guild of Minnesota Retreat last year. In the class we assembled all of the pieces needed to finish these Halloween ornaments. All I had to do was stitch them and put them together. I think they turned out great!

The class was with Cathy Habermann from Hands on Design. These charts are not available for purchase as this is still one of the classes she offers.

Tomorrow is the 400th anniversary of when the Mayflower set sail for America. With Thy Needle and Thread has commemorated this anniversary with a sampler that honors the women who were on the Mayflower. The idea is to stitch for the duration of the trip, 66 days, with the goal of having a completed sampler at the end. We shall see!

There may be more finishing on the agenda tomorrow. So happy for the long weekend!

Weekend Celebration

Very little stitching has been happening of late. Our highly anticipated weekend of the summer is now just a memory. We’re grateful that it happened, given all the twists and turns it took as a result of COVID.

On Friday evening, our daughter got married. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes; a cocktail hour followed and then a sit-down dinner. The guest list was significantly less than originally planned, but we still had 100 people join us for the celebration. Another 300 watched the ceremony via live stream (what would we do without modern technology?) It was a perfect afternoon and evening!

I don’t have many pictures; the mother of the bride was too busy visiting with guests!

They are off on their honeymoon now and I continue to enjoy the bouquet; it smells wonderful.

We are also watching their puppy Nala!