O Christmas Tree

Over the years it seems like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas just gets busier and busier. There's less time for holiday decorating every year. One of my least favorite things is dragging the Christmas tree out from under our steps, trying to figure out how to put it together, making sure the lights work...you know the drill. Once the tree is up, we then need to keep an eye on the dogs. Their wagging tails have destroyed a few ornaments over the years.

On Friday, I found the perfect solution...Michael's had this four foot realistic looking tree on sale for $20. It fits on top of our table that sits in front of the window (no more wagging tails!) It was lightweight, easy to put together, and the perfect size to hold many of my favorite handmade ornaments.






Many of these ornaments were made by stitching friends. Years ago, I participated in several ornament exchanges. So many of these ornaments were stitched and finished by someone special. I've made a few of them too!






Here are some of my favorites.































Such good memories!


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New York, New York

No stitching to share with you; I've been traveling a little bit...

Made a quick trip to New York for work. Was there less than 24 hours. Stayed at the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. My room had a great view!



We had a little extra time to check out Times Square...






And then we walked down to Rockefeller Center to see the giant Christmas tree and the ice rink (it's not as large as it seems when you see pictures on TV. The tree had scaffolding all around it, so no pictures.






The Metropolitan Museum of Art...



Walked past Radio City Music Hall...


And one more look at Times Square....in just a few weeks this area will be packed with people ready to watch the ball drop and ring in the New Year!


After our work event, we enjoyed "The View" from the top of the Marriott. The restaurant/lounge revolves for a 360 degree view of the city!









It was fun to visit New York again, even though we were there such a short time!

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Hardanger Finish

For the past year or so this has been my traveling project. I would work on it in places where I knew the light wasn't going to be particularly good. Or I would take it with if I thought there was going to be lots of good conversation - with this project I didn't have to concentrate so closely on my stitching.

Now it is finished...



Hidden Charm from Satin Stitches

Making soup for tomorrow and stroganoff for tonight's supper. We're expecting a major winter storm tomorrow. Our first of the season!


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Ukrainian Whitework

Earlier this year I took a Ukrainian Whitework class with Terri Bay of Terri Bay Needlework Designs. This week I stitched the backside of the ornament and finished it up. The design is called St. Paul Snowdrift. Terri's instructions are so easy to follow. This was an enjoyable stitch.



The ornament will look stunning on this year's Christmas tree!


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The Bee Pouch

Here's my recent finish...The Bee Pouch designed by Barbara Jackson. This was one of the classes I took at Celebrations.



The back of the pouch is personalized. I need to point out to my friend Chris that both of these label's are finished with the nun's stitch. Ha!


Inside of the needlebook and backside of the scissors case. Dear Chris, the scissor's fob is edged in nun's stitch too! I'm not sure why Barbara put ecru cording on the needlebook and green cording on everything else, but as you can see, I followed her lead! I don't like to deviate!


And the entire set one more time.


All of the eyelets are stitched and my Hardanger piece is ready for class next Saturday!


Thanks for stopping by!


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Pre-Work

Not the most perfect picture, but you will get the idea....



I've been working on some pre-work for a Hardanger class that I will be taking in a couple of weeks. I still need to do my eyelet stitches. Looking forward to learning how to do a lacy edge!


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Quilt Show

Yesterday was a beautiful day and most of it was spent in the yard. My DH raked the front yard and I cleaned out our three raised beds that we use for vegetable gardening.

I did sneak away for a little while. At a nearby school one of the local quilt guilds was having a quilt show. It was a lot of fun viewing all of their beautiful finishes!



Here are some of my favorite quilts from the show...this one was a Dear Jane quilt...


This design is from Crabapple Hill. The designs are colored in with crayons and then embroidered.


Not sure what this one is called...I just liked it! The fabrics were civil war inspired colors.


Interesting challenge project. They each took a greeting card and then created a mini quilt that using the card as their inspiration.


This quilt used fabrics from this year's Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop. Participating shops each contributed a square.


Such inspiration!

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I Love Basting!

Well, not really. But I did really like Barbara Jackson, so I decided to take a second class with her. Once I saw the project in person, I just couldn't resist.



It's called The Shepherdess Tray and it is much smaller than you think. I think the finishing will be fairly easy too.

On Saturday morning, my mom and I drove to Kansas City. Why? Doesn't everyone go to Kansas City for fried chicken? Okay, maybe most people go for BBQ, but we drove four hours for fried chicken.

My mom wanted to eat fried chicken at Stroud's. Apparently the restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at one time. Was the fried chicken good? You betcha!


Fried chicken livers and gizzards...not my preference, but my mom loved them!


Winner, winner chicken dinner!


After lunch we visited Old Mill Stitchery in Liberty, MO. Super nice shop!





Too bad that it all had to end. Looking forward to future excursions!


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Basting and the Mosaic Stitch

My friends know me well, I attend these events to meet others who share my love of needlework. I love talking with other stitchers, meeting teachers and hearing their stories about how they got into this industry. They are such creative people and being around them energizes me.


I signed up to take a class with Barbara Jackson. I have admired her work through the Shining Needle Society and have seen other stitchers working on her projects (via their blogs). Best decision ever - what a delightful lady!


Our project was The Little Bee Pouch. The picture is from the Celebration website. I hope to have it finished this weekend. Very enjoyable stitch. Two things you must know about Barbara. 1) She loves to baste. She is a basting fanatic! When in class with Barbara, you become a baster too. 2) Barbara loves the mosaic stitch. It does seem to fill the space a little more than an ordinary cross stitch.









Here are some more pictures of the shopping mall (the fourth floor of the hotel).

The Atrium of the hotel was the perfect location for gathering with friends.



Oh no, could it be possible? Why yes - it's the Mad Tatter!



More tomorrow!

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Celebration of Needlework

This was my first visit to Celebration of Needlework, and I would definitely attend again. It gives average stitchers like me the opportunity to get a taste of what it must be like to visit a needlework market!

The venue was great - we stayed at the Embassy Suites in St. Charles, MO. The needlework show was on the fourth floor.



All of the vendors had their banners hanging over the balcony.


Doors and windows were decorated.






The rooms were all so inviting!



How often do you get to meet multiple designers all in one place? I enjoyed visiting with Cathy Haberman of Hands on Design and Donna Olson of Satin Stitches.



I have always enjoyed stitching Donna's Hardanger designs!

More tomorrow!


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The Road Trip

I promised you a road trip. My mom wanted to go on a road trip somewhere, anywhere! I thought about it a little bit and immediately knew where we could go. We departed last Wednesday.

Every road trip starts with a selfie, right?



Here we are making our first pit stop. As they said in the movie Field of Dreams, "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa."





We drove all day and arrived safely at our destination.



Our drive took longer than planned. So we headed straight to bed anticipating an exciting day ahead!


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My Poor Neglected Blog

Updates to this poor neglected blog are so infrequent these days. I promise to do better.

Our Evening Counted Thread group is going to stitch a humbug in November. We were looking for a simple project that wouldn't require much time and with supplies that could come from our stash. We thought that the humbug could be a Christmas ornament, or with a longer cord it could be a scissor fob.

I stitched up a model today using a 28 count remnant from my stash and some Manor Red floss from Crescent Colors. Added some beads that I had to the corners and voila! It's a cute little Christmas Ornament!



My mom and I are going on a road trip on Wednesday. Guess where we are going? Will try to give you periodic reports while we're on the road.




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