Quaker Hornbook

Recently, one of my stitching friends and I agreed to co-chair the Evening Counted Thread group meeting for our local needlework guild. One of the first projects we decided to do as a group is the Quaker Hornbook from Ellen Chester.

We passed the kits out at our July meeting and are working on getting them stitched. We will work together on our finishing at the meeting in September.

Here are some progress photos. Everyone chose their own color palette. One of the stitchers is already finished with her stitching!





















And a couple of stitchers have not started yet, but we will coax them along!








Hoping to have some finished hornbooks to share with you next month!

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Sisters of the Heart - Part Two

Thought I would share a few more pictures with you from this weekend's retreat.

The weather was beautiful all weekend. Here's another snap of our wonderful view!



This is the main stitching room. I took this picture in the wee hours of the morning when the happy stitchers were all tucked away in their beds!



The group that I stitched with was in one of the smaller rooms. They will tell you that I wasn't there very much - gotta work the crowd you know!



Our stash of treats was very popular with those who had classes on our wing of the facility. All the important food groups were included: chocolate, caramel, other sugar treats, and salt...




Let's play a game of I Spy...do you spy the Vera bags and other items in these photos?









Four of the ladies in our room had a "Nova" day. A total of 64 blocks were conquered!




In keeping with the theme, I had some small gifts to share. My mom tatted small hearts which I tacked down onto a piece of wool felt - an instant needle keep!




Maybe tomorrow I will share with you some pictures of the projects that I worked on...

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Sisters of the Heart

I just returned from four days of stitching bliss. The Needlework Guild of Minnesota hosts its annual retreat in August. The retreat center is in Buffalo MN and many of the sleeping rooms and stitching rooms look out at this beautiful view of Lake Buffalo:



One of the best parts of the retreat (in my humble opinion) is Show and Tell night. There is so much talent in the group and I enjoy seeing all of the pieces that the members have finished during the past year.

Since this year's theme was "Sisters of the Heart" the was a section of the room dedicated to pieces that fit within the retreat theme.

Quite a collection of Heart in Hand hearts!




This was the Stitchville retreat project from Chessie and Me. The stitcher used elements from the design to create an additional needlebook and pincushion.



This piece was stitched by a friend of mine. It's a design from Barbara Jackson that was in a magazine many years ago.



There were many other heart finishes that I loved; wish I had taken pictures of all of them!

Now, buckle up...let's see what else was on display!

This is Hapsburg Lace, a design from Tanja Berlin...



A beautiful Northwoods themed quilt...



One of the projects from Jackie du Plessis' classes last year; expertly finished!



A beautiful hardanger piece...



Two completed Briar Roses from Jackie du Plessis...



Two completed Fruit of the Vine Huswifs (Ellen Chester)...



A stunning quilt - Sylvia's Bridal Quilt...



A completed Ann Bowers...



I liked this frosty guy!




And another design from Jackie du Plessis...



A finished piece from The Drawn Thread...check out the buttons...




Schwalm embroidery...gorgeous...




Recognize this one? My Rhapsody in Blue from Jackie du Plessis!




A completed Houses of Hawk Run Hollow...



And a beautiful sewing set designed by Merry Cox...




And there was so much more! It was quite a collection of beautiful stitching all in one room!

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I Heart Fobs

I have been very, very busy...




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Two Pincushions

These might be the last two; I've run out of lids. I used oversized ric rack trim in a coordinating color. These are going to be gifts....




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Celebrating 15 Years

Today we celebrated my 15th anniversary at work. When I started back in 1998 I wondered if I was even going to make it past 15 weeks! Working in the airline industry can be like a roller coaster ride, the highs are really high and the lows are really low, but it's been fun, exhilarating ride and a great learning experience.

Congratulations to me!




I'll try to find some stitchy pictures for you tomorrow...

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Holy Green Beans

When I was a little girl we had a huge vegetable garden in the back yard. I remember having to pick the green beans and I hated picking green beans. There always seemed to be a lot of mosquitos and I was sure that they were going to eat me alive. I'd end up with bites all over my arms and legs and they would itch for days.

Tonight I picked green beans. It wasn't so bad. Maybe I'm not as sweet as I used to be..

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House of Stitches

How can it be the end of July already? Busy month, it went by fast. No real stitching news to report. Sad.

I went on a little trip last weekend. Traveled all the way to Leaf Valley. Good luck finding it on a map. The sign said "Population: 5". There's only one place to go in town, it's called "the Merc" and the burgers are good!







Now you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with the House of Stitches! Absolutely nothing, but one of my Indiana friends asked me to share with you that they will be hosting some classes with Ellen Chester this fall. You can find more information on their website here: http://www.houseofstitches.com/events.html

Farewell July, a new month is here!



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Name tag

In a couple weeks I will be going to the Needlework Guild of Minnesota retreat. The retreat has a theme each year. Last year was the first time I went and the theme was acorns so I stitched an acorn themed name tag and finished it in the shape of an acorn. This year's theme is "Sisters of the Heart"...what do you think of my nametag?



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Needlebooks

This morning I thought I would share with you a project that our guild group did in June. Sadly, I missed this meeting since I was in New York for work, but I had fun helping to prepare for it. My co-chair did a fabulous job leading our group through the project.

We made needlebooks out of card stock. I found the instructions on Pinterest. We cut the card stock and the wool inserts in advance. At the meeting that evening the ladies spent their time embellishing the cover of the needlebooks. The theme of our retreat this year is Sisters of the Heart, so you will notice that either the card stock or the embellishments have a heart theme going...


Pretty cute don't you think? And functional!

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Making Progress

Thank you for your caring thoughts and words; last week was hard. We miss our Zeta dog but we know she is in a better place.

I thought I'd share a photo with you showing the progress I've made on Never Let You Go...I haven't had a lot of time for stitching lately, but I'm making progress. Sorry for the wrinkles!


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Faithful Friend

Thank you dear friend for your unconditional love...2001-2013.





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The Fruits of My Labor

The extra day off this week afforded me the extra time to work on some finishing today. I've had my stitching done for a few weeks and knew I would need a full day to finish this piece. As it is, I was only able to finish the smalls; I still need to finish the box!

These smalls accompany My Lady's Worke Box, a teaching piece from Ellen Chester.




The finishing instructions were very detailed and easy to follow.

I may attempt the box tomorrow - we'll see!


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Celebrating Independence

Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July!



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May I Just Say...

...that I really, really like Plum Street Sampler's new sampler - Crowns Sampler? To be released at St.Charles...I can hardly wait!


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Slow and Steady

Apologize for the wrinkles.  As you can see, I am making slow and steady progress!

O Canada!