On the Home Stretch

Just a quick update as it's late and I need to get to bed! Almost finished with BOAF Friendship Sampler...

Oh Sister Mary Spinster Stitcher!

The picture below is for Coni at Spinster Stitcher. If you read her post from yesterday, you will understand why I had to share this picture with her.



Now the nun on the left shall remain nameless, however, the nun on the right is moi, aka Sister Mary Catherine. Just for the record, that is apple juice in our glasses. Several years ago a group of us did a "Sister Act" routine at our church's fall festival. I'll include a picture of the "Sister Act" part too (yes, that is a male nun to the right of me; our "order" was very liberal!)



Anyway, the first year we did it, my friend and I were approached by a younger couple. They started sharing with us that a family member was very sick with cancer and asked us to keep them in our prayers. It was at that moment that we realized that they thought they were talking to real nuns! (we weren't drinking apple juice at that very moment either!) We didn't have the heart to tell them we weren't real and figured we could pray for them just as hard as anyone else (nun or otherwise.) They they went to their car in the parking lot. The two of us started to giggle and were feeling bad about pretending to be real nuns! All of sudden, the couple headed back toward us and asked, "Are you sisters waiting for a ride; can we take you somewhere?" Oh gosh, we had all we could do to keep a straight face when we thanked them and told them we had our own car!

The next morning we shared our story with the "real" nuns at our church (and they don't dress like this!) We asked them to also pray for this couple and their friend. I don't think we'll ever forget that story!

Here's my message for Coni: Paper Warehouse or any other costume store; you can get one for about $20! We added the belt (white cording)!

You'll Want to Check This Out!

Trust me, you'll want to check this out! This is a new blog to me and wow, was I glad to find it. Jan is one talented lady -- she just designed her own chart and is offering it as a giveway. Please stop by her blog and have a look!

Belfonte Notes

Snowmen in Summer

Week before last was the annual stitching retreat with the Friday night stitching group. We haven't been stitching on Friday nights since Joan moved to Aberdeen, but the retreat went on as planned! Joan was home for the week and joining her were Jill, Lori, Jackie, and me! While I wasn't able to take time off from work to be there during the day, I joined them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings.

These ladies have been doing this every year for the past four or five years. Each year they pick a theme and then they put together little gift bags for each other. Last year was the first year I attended and at the time I didn't even realize they did the gift bags. This year, I had my gift bag ready but man, oh man - these ladies took this year's theme very seriously! Here's a snap of just some of the goodies I came home with!

The pillow case for the pillow in the back was made by Joan (pillow was provided by Jackie last year) - moving clockwise - the slippers were made by Jill's mom, snowman pinkeep from Joan, project bags from Joan and Lori, felt snowman ornament from Jill, at the very bottom of picture is also a snowman stitch marker from Jill, in the tin cover is a tiny little scissors with a snowman beaded fob made by Lori, the snowman project in the baggie is from Jackie, the Frosty Friends scissors fob was from Joan and the pincushion on top of the small canning jar was made by Joan. There are a few other ornies from the girls in the picture too (click on the picture to enlarge so that you can see everything.) These ladies took their theme seriously this year!

I made each of us a snowman ornie for our Christmas trees. The design is from Plum Pudding Needlearts. Along with their ornie I provided a collection of beverages for them to enjoy - assorted hot chocolates, cappucinos, and teas. Just the thing I enjoy sitting down with when I'm ready to stitch in the wintertime!


Next year's theme is "Under the Sea" - I better start thinking about it now so that I can keep up with these creative ladies!

Join in the Fun!

I'm making my way around blog world today reading posts and leaving comments. Here's a giveaway you might be interested in (over 218 other bloggers have already signed up!) Mel is celebrating her blogiversary!

The Daily Mel

And she's giving away this:

New Stitching Blog

Friends, please visit a new stitching blog when you have a minute. Irma took the plunge and joined the world of blogging. You must see the picture of the Blackbird Design's Loose Feathers design she stitched - it's #3 Evening Shades the Garden and it is gorgeous!

Pretty Little Corners blog

Summer Exchange from Gaby

Yesterday I was able to share with you the summer exchange I sent to Gaby. Today I can show you the summer exchange that Gaby sent to me!

I received a wonderful package from her. The two of us apparently were on the same wavelength because look how she finished her exchange - a wallhanging, with a cute wire hanger that has three hearts in it. Now look at yesterday's post to see how I finished my exchange for her (a wallhanging with a wire hanger in the shape of heart!) What a coincidence!

Gaby's design is from a German designer by the name of Ulrike Blotzheim and it's called "Sommerkinder" (or Summer Children). Gaby sent the pattern to me so that I can stitch the other little girl that is part of this design. Isn't she cute? Gaby did a great job with her finishing too!

In addition to the stitched item, Gaby also sent this wonderful bag which she knit and then felted in her washing machine. I love it! The colors are so pretty! I look forward to using this bag! Finally, Gaby also sent a piece of fabby and some beutiful rose colored floss (not pictured). Thanks for everything Gaby.
Our last seasonal exchange will happen in October. It's been fun getting to stitch for and exchange with these four different German friends!

As promised, here's an update on BOAF Friendship Sampler - see, I'm making progress! (I took the picture outside; it looks a little washed out!)

And, last week I was working on LHN's Traveling Stitcher - I can stitch on this one without a magnifier or light, so it's easier to travel with! (We'll take a better picture of this one next time too!)

That's it for tonight. Thanks again for stopping by!

Finally A Stitchy Picture!

Thanks everyone who commented on my last post; I usually keep to just "stitchy" topics but I thought you might enjoy my story about Elisabeth. I also appreciate all of your suggestions for samplers. I think that I've picked out the design that I am going to use; it's from Blackbird Designs and it is called "Special Delivery Girl's Birth Sampler." I'm thinking I will stitch her birth and death dates under her name. What do you think?


Now, here's a finish I am really excited to share with you. It was so hard to send this away; I'll just have to make another one for myself. A small group of eight of us have been doing seasonal exchanges this year, and for summer, it was my turn to mail to Gaby. I stitched "Sunflower Sampler" from Country Cottage Needleworks and finished it up as a wallhanging with coordinating sunflower fabrics. I also sent her the cute hanger for it. Gaby received it recently and said that she likes it!


Maybe later this week I will snap an update photo of BOAF Friendship Sampler; I've been working on the border. I've also been working on LHN Traveling Stitcher so I'll try to snap a picture of that too. You'll just have to stop back again later in the week! Thanks for your visit!

Baby Elisabeth

No stitchy pictures for you; I'm working on the border for BOAF Friendship Sampler, but you'll have to wait for a photo update later in the week. (If you are only interested in stitching updates, then you probably don't want to read any further. Just come back and visit me another day!)

On Saturday morning, before it got humid, sticky, and hot, my mother and I went to an old cemetary in St. Paul. We went to visit my mother's sister's grave. My mother is the youngest of 10 children; there were 23 years between the oldest and my mom, she is the only sibling still living. In 1913, my grandparents welcomed their fourth child, a girl, and they named her Elisabeth. Exactly eight months later, she died. When she died, my grandmother was already pregnant with child #5. (An interesting little side note is that child #7, born in 1918, was a girl and they named her Elizabeth too --with a "z" instead of an "s"-- we always thought this was kind of interesting.) Anyway, no one really knew much about this baby that died, no one remembered her exact date of birth or exactly when she died or why she died.

One of my cousins and I dabble in geneaology (actually, I am the one who dabbles, she's serious about her dabbling!) Two years ago, we were determined to find out more about baby Elisabeth. We were pretty sure that she was at one of the older cemetaries in St. Paul as this is where many other family members are buried. A short visit to the cemetary office confirmed that she was there! They provided us with a map and told us how to find her burial spot; the only problem was that there was no stone to mark the grave; we would have to use other markers to find her.

We weren't surprised that her grave was unmarked because the family certainly didn't have the means in 1914 to buy a stone. This didn't sit right with us. The two of us agreed that one day we would purchase a stone to mark her grave.

Fast forward to 2009 - my cousin was in town visiting this spring and we decided to pursue this a little bit more. We needed to locate birth and death certificates so that we had correct dates and we wanted to know how/why she died. Even though I had been unsuccessful before, I went to the MN Historical Society website to locate either a birth or death certificate. This time I managed to find her birth certificate; the last name was misspelled on the birth certificate which would explain why I hadn't found it before. To our surprise, the date of her death was also noted on the birth certificate (perhaps the birth certificate was first filed when she died?) We couldn't locate a copy of the death certificate online, but a trip to the Vital Statistics office and the work of a clerk who knew her way around the older records yielded a death certificate for us. Baby Elisabeth had died from tubercular meningitis. How sad it must have been for my grandparents; how lucky they were that their other children did not get sick.

Now that we had the information we needed, we knew exactly what we wanted to do. Her grave is now marked so that future generations will be able to find her; baby Elisabeth will never be forgotten.



My mom thought that it was a silly thing to spend money on, but I think that after visiting the grave with me on Saturday she feels differently.

I think now that I would like to select a special sampler to stitch and perhaps stitch Elisabeth's initials or her name in it as a remembrance...any suggestions?

The Weekend is Here!

Yes, the weekend is here and I am long overdue for an update! Unfortunately, I don't have much to show! There hasn't been a lot of stitching going on here; and the stitching that I have worked on, I'm not able to share....yet.

It's going to be hot, hot, hot, and sticky here in the lower third of MN today. We've had a relatively cool summer; it's actually seemed more like spring or fall all summer. I like it that way, but there are a lot of others who have been disappointed. They will get their fix of hot for the next seven days or so.

Today I have a couple of stitchy gifts that I need to finish up, then I hope to get back to working on BOAF Friendship Sampler. Did you by any chance see Melissa's finish this week? It is gorgeous!

The only photos I have for you is a quaker fob that I stitched for Carol a couple weeks ago. Carol celebrated her birthday recently and I wanted to send her a little something.



That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

It's Finished!

My weekend was productive - I finished up a summer exchange that needs to be mailed this week (it's really cute, but you'll have to wait to see a picture!) and I put the final stitches in LHN Heart of America this morning!

LHN Heart of America
30ct R&R Bed Creek Brown
Crescent Colors Threads

Hope you had a great weekend!

No Stitching, Just a Tip

No stitching to share, still working on that exchange. Readers who are here in the U.S. - check your local Walgreen's ad. Tonight I was at my local Walgreen's and they had three different sizes of Scotch brand padded mailing envelopes for 59 cents each. If you are mailing frequently (exchanges, round robins, etc.) this is a steal of a deal!

Yippee skippee tomorrow is Friday!

My Favorite Corner

Well, no current WIP pictures tonight; I'm working on an exchange that needs to be mailed by next week. Instead, I will share some photos of "my favorite corner."

This past March, my DD decided to move into the room that we were using for storage guests. Her former bedroom is now fixed up as an extra bedroom / library (it's not really a library, but it sounds impressive, don't you think?) Anyway, I think it's also going to be a "gallery" of sorts for my stitching pieces (as soon as I get them all framed!) Please allow me to share with you some pictures of my favorite corner in this room since I have no other pictures to share with you!

Above the bed I have this quilted piece in patriotic colors. Wish I could tell you that I made it, but I didn't. I bought it a few years ago at a craft boutique. To the left, you see one of the bookshelves.

These are two pieces I stitched a few years ago - I'm sure you will recognize them, LHN Gameboard Sampler and La D Da Little School House.

It's raining here, so I had to use a flash. It kind of washed out the LHN piece on top of the bookshelf - ABC123.

Above that, hanging on the wall is a Lizzie Kate design that was finished into a quilted wallhanging by Marie for me as part of a summer exchange we both participated in a few years ago. (Visit Marie's blog; she currently has a picture of this in her header.) I treasure this gift from Marie! In the Longaberger basket are lots of pinkeeps - I'll take a picture of those another time.

Finally, the doll sitting on this shelf is a treasure that I brought back from the Cayman Islands, oh about 12 or 13 years ago. It was handmade by a local woman. Does anyone here like the Bobbsey Twins books? I've got about 8 of them; they were my mother's favorite books when she was young. I need to take time to read them one of these days.

That's it for tonight. Guess I better get moving to my stitching chair if I want to finish that exchange piece! Thanks for visiting!

Update on Heart of America

As you can see, LHN Heart of America is coming along nicely! This has been an easy project to work on; no need for magnification! I'm stitching on 30ct R&R Bed Creek Brown fabric. Almost finished!

I have to share another beautiful finish with you, but it's not mine. Please visit Siobhan's blog to see a picture of her finished and framed Alphabet Sampler from Carriage House Samplings. Isn't it beautiful?

Another fun project can be found at the Blackbird Designs' blog. Alma and Barb are so creative; they just blow me away! Alma made a magnetic needle holder to add to her floss ring and personalized it with a copy of a design that she had stitched and then copied. Oh, you'll have to visit their blog to see exactly what I mean.

Well, I'd love to visit with you more but I'm going to go sit in my chair and stitch! Thanks for stopping by!

Blog Giveaway

Jolene is a fairly new blogger, posting just since May of 2009. She's been working on some really pretty projects; please stop by her blog for a visit. If you are interested she is offering a great giveaway too!

Dip Diddly Designs

I'll try to post a stitchy update soon. I had to make an unexpected trip out of town for work this week and now I'm playing catch up...

Making Progress

Here's an update on the BOAF Friendship Sampler -- I think I'm going to work on finishing up the border next. (Fabric color isn't quite right, it's dark here; we're expecting rain!)


Here are two fobs I stitched and sent to friends recently -- first up is a colorful hardanger fob with a "V" for Vonna who celebrated a birthday last Sunday.



And second, a fob for my BFF Joan who recently moved to Aberdeen, SD. Miss you!

That's all for now. Thanks to those who stop by for a visit; wish I had more time to leave comments on your blogs too!

Stitching Update

Just a quick update for you on this week's stitching progress. I was traveling for work this week and needed a project that I could see easily without good light and magnification. I pulled out this design; it's been in my stash now since 2008 all kitted up and ready to go. It seemed perfect for the Independence Day holiday that we just celebrated. Most of the stitching was done this weekend while relaxing at the lake!

Heart of America
Little House Needleworks
30ct R&R Creek Bed Brown Linen
Crescent Threads

I will probably continue to work on this one when traveling or at the lake since it's easy to work on without dragging along all of my "gear!"

Here's an update on BOAF Friendship Sampler - I last stitched on this one last Sunday, but will pull it out again tonight while watching the "Next Food Network Star!" I love this piece and can't wait to finish it!

Well, that's it for me tonight. Have a good week!

I promised that if you stopped back today I would have some pictures for you. Here you go!

First up, here's the floss tag I received from Patti - isn't it great? I'm not sure where the design is from, perhaps Blackbird Designs? As you can see, Patti included some gorgeous silk threads and ribbon. Thanks a bunch Patti!



Second up, here's a progress pic of my BOAF Friendship Sampler. This shows the additional stitching I did last weekend. Hope to get some stitching done on it tonight and tomorrow, then I'll try to post another update. I love this sampler. (Forgive me, I didn't take time to press out the wrinkles!)


Hope you are having a marvelous weekend wherever you are!

I'm a Putz

Well, I've been putzing around on the computer here most of the night. I should have been sitting in my chair stitching, right? Since I was gone most of the week I needed to get caught up on emails and other stuff. So here I am, three hours later, still putzing around.

Here's what I have for you tonight -- I stitched this Shepherd's Bush design "Land of the Free" and finished it off into a pillow for Goldie as part of a Patriotic Exchange that a small group of us participated in. You can't really tell from the picture, but the blue fabric has flags in it and the contrasting fabric also has tiny flags in it. Turned out pretty cute IMHO!

Check back tomorrow for more updates. I've got a floss tag to show you and promise to post an update on my BOAF Friendship Sampler progress. Until then, happy stitching!

Patriotic Exchange

Thanks everyone for your kind comments on my last post. I think I may have found the link to the Quaker freebie -- try clicking here. (I hope it works!)

Yesterday, I received a delightful exchange from Goldie. A small group of us decided to have a Patriotic themed exchange since we're approaching the July 4th holiday here in the U.S. Goldie stitched and finished a beautiful tin for me -- she did a great job; it is beautifully done! The design is a Victoria Sampler freebie entitled "Together We Shall Overcome" and it includes a little bit of hardanger along with the cross stitch!

Inside, there is a magnet for needles. Goldie included some buttons and a charm.

Here's a picture of the entire exchange. Thanks Goldie!

I didn't have much time for stitching last night, so no updated pictures for the BOAF Friendship Sampler.

I discovered a wonderful blog this morning as I was surfing the net. The blog is called The Painted Quilt. I need to go back and read Kaaren's older posts, but two of her recent posts caught my eye. First of all, she has a needlecase tutorial posted. I might just give this a try. Even cuter is the sewing box she put together - go to the June 8 post to see this one. Kaaren is offering a couple of giveaways for the 4th of July, so if you would like to play, do stop by. Even if you are not interested in her giveaway, do check out her blog - it's delightful!

Have you seen the new sampler from La D Da? This is going to be a must stitch for me! I think it will nicely complement La D Da's Quaker Alphabet that I stitched earlier this year.

And what about the new designs from Midsummer Night Designs? I better get stitching!

Greetings and Salutations!

I'm reminded of the father of one of my best friends from college when I hear "Greetings and Salutations!" Whenever I called over to her house, that's how her dad, we called him "Wif," answered the phone. He was one of the kindest, gentlest men I ever met. He died about two years ago; I still think about him every once in awhile.

It's been awhile since I posted, sorry about that. Life just gets in the way sometimes! I do have a few pictures to share though.

First up, is a floss tag that I made for Jeanie as part of the Tiny Treasures exchange. Many of you will recognize this design; just about everyone was stitching it about a year ago or so. It was a freebie online - I wish I could remember the site or the author's name so that I could give proper credit! Anyway, I stitched it on some white linen I had in my stash. The blue thread that I used is some thread that Aniza sent to me as part of an exchange some time ago; I think she dyed it herself. As you can see, the back of the tag is personalized!

(Jeanie, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your pictures from your blog; they are so better than the one's that I took!)

Before I move on to another photo, I need to give credit to Mama Joan; she always puts the grommets in my floss tags for me. I know, I know, I should be able to do this myself, but she's so good at it! More about Mama Joan later in this post....

On Wednesday night, I took a class at a local quilt shop (for anyone who might be local, it was at Rosebud's Cottage in NSP). We made this felted wool strawberry needlebook. Cute, huh? The smaller pieces were already cut for us; we just had to cut the larger ones and then do the stitching to finish it. I really enjoy classes with smaller projects where when it's time to go home your project is finished! It was a relaxing evening!


Now, back to Mama Joan. She hasn't posted to her blog in awhile; she's been kind of busy. Mama Joan and her hubby moved to South Dakota last week; they both have new jobs there. I'm going to miss Mama Joan. A small group of us always stitched at her house on Friday nights. For now, our weekly stitching nights are over, but I'm sure we'll still get together from time to time. Since I wasn't at Mama Joan's last night, I had to do the next logical thing -- I went to Stitchville (our LNS) after work! I want you all to know that I exercised great restraint while I was there. I only purchased two cuts of fabric and some fibers.

Here's the project that I started when I got home - This is an oldie but a goodie from Birds of a Feather called Friendship Sampler. I'm stitching it on 36 count Picture This Plus "Legacy" and I'm using one strand of floss over two threads (two strands of floss looked too heavy to me). As you can see, I'm just getting started!

Terri at Chocolates for Breakfast is also stitching this one right now. Check out how vibrant the colors are!

Well, that's it for me. Today I will be working on finishing an exchange that needs to be mailed out. It's going to be really HOT here in MN so I won't mind being indoors at all! Have a great day!

What Have I Been Stitching?

Don't have too much to share, but I can show you an ornament that I recently stitched for BeckySC. This was the final exchange in our monthly year-long ornament exchange. It was great fun!


This design is from Plum Pudding Needlearts. The chart is called Candy Cane Wishes and includes three ornament designs. I stitched this on some miscellaneous 32 count fabric from my stash with mostly DMC. I used WDW Hazelnut for the Gingerbread man. The back is personalized with our initials.

I also stitched my patriotic exchange - still need to do the finishing on this one. Then, this past weekend I started stitching "Stripes" from Shepherds Bush. This is a kit that I have had in my stash for quite some time. It's about 1/3 of the way done. I might go back and re-do some of the words with the darker colored silk when I'm finished...

Not much else going on around here. It may be June here in Minnesota but we've had no summer to speak of yet - cold, rainy - granted, we do need the rain! We had the third dryest Spring on record.

That's it from me tonight!

A Most Wonderful Gift

Today I received a wonderful gift from one of my team members at work who just returned from a trip to Taiwan. It was sweet of her to think of me while on vacation. She knows that I am fond of cross stitch and other types of needlework and so she brought me this wonderful pincushion. Isn't it cute?


Now here's a little story for you -- about 6 years ago, I was in Tokyo for a business meeting. It was a short trip, but before leaving to come home I did a little shopping at a gift shop and found a pincushion exactly like this one. When I got home I gave it to my sister-in-law as a gift. Since that time, I have often thought about it and wished that I had purchased two of them. In February 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo again and while it was also a short trip, I still had time for a little bit of shopping. I searched high and low for a pincushion like this one, but couldn't find one.

My team member at work didn't know this story, but I shared it with her today. Needless to say, I was thrilled with her gift - it is a most wonderful gift!

Is it June Already?

How can it be June? What happened to May? I don't know where the time goes.

I've been busy stitching exchanges that need to go out in June. Some of these will be mailed this weekend so once they are received I will have pictures to share. Once my commitment stitching is done then I'm going to stitch red, white, and blue projects until the 4th of July. Two weekends ago I went through my stash and found several patriotic projects all kitted up, so I'm ready to go!

Here's an exchange that was mailed in May and I just received word that Suzanne received it. The theme of this exchange was Blackbird Designs and I stitched this sweet design called Tulip & Star Pinkeep from the With Needle and Thread book. I used the WDW threads that the pattern called for; the fabric is one of my coffee dyed pieces (32 ct). The fabric in the background is from the Blackbird Design Chelsea Boutique line for Moda; I used it to finish the back of the pinkeep. I think it turned out quite nice - it was hard to part with it, but I know Suzanne will give it a good home!

Last weekend I decided to do some real sewing. I've had this fabric and pillow pattern for about 5 or 6 years. I went through a phase where I thought I was going to be a quilter and spent lots of time visiting quilt shops and buying fabric. I never really got around do doing any actual quilting but I've collected lots of nice fabric. Anyway, the fabric has a sewing theme. Here's the pillow and then a close-up of the fabric.


Well that's it from me. Hope you are all having a wonderful week. Chat with you more soon!