Tuesday, August 26, 2008

An Award!

A very big "Thank You" to Lynda and Dawn who gave me this award! I feel REALLY special having received it from two fellow stitchers and it really made my day!
Now, I hate to be a party pooper and not pass it on, but I wouldn't know where to start because I love all of the blogs I read. I have even stopped adding to the sidebar because I discovered google reader and have been adding them there. It is so much easier to keep up with the new posts and I highly recommend it if you don't already use it.
Perhaps I could encourage you to leave a comment on all of the blogs you read, letting the person know that you love to read their blog. I know I am always thrilled when I have some comments to read =)
Have a great day!

Stitching by the light of the moon...

Can often lead to ripping by the light of day. I have the pattern and the stitching in the above photo. Can you see where I went wrong? I guess I was thinking I would just get that border stitched and just fill in with the design - what a quickie... It sure would have helped to take a good look at the pattern and maybe I would have noticed that the border wasn't a solid stitch? My first thought was to just pitch it and start again, but because of the price of gas (that is what we blame everything on right now, isn't it? LOL!) I ripped it out and have stitched it correctly. Hopefully I will have a photo of the stitched piece to post tomorrow.

Here is the adorable Santa floss tag I received from April from the Prairie Schooler Small Santa exchange. I love it! Thanks April. I need to do the finishing on yours so I can get it into the mail.
Have a great day!

Monday, August 18, 2008

My latest projects

This is Night Owl from the latest issue of Just Cross Stitch. I stitched it on a hand-dyed lugana from my stash and used GAST Butternut Squash, WDW Sweet Potato, and GAST Ltd Edition Witches Brew. I love how the black has the blue in it. It makes be think of a cold foggy evening. I have not decided how I will finish it yet. I'm thinking maybe a pin keep. I bought the RIT dye in black and orange and some pins to dye. I hope to try that later this week when it is cooler.

Here is my Christmas hat and scarf I knit about two weeks ago when it was much cooler. Can you tell I am ready for Fall and Winter? I am just not a fan of the hot weather.
Here is the needlepoint project we started Saturday at the SFNG (Spokane Falls Needlework Guild) meeting. It will be a frame weight. The background is the brown but will be stitched over with the watercolors. I haven't decided if I like needlepoint yet but I am very glad that I get to try it. I love trying new things because you can always learn something!!! We have until the next quarterly meeting, which is in November, to finish the stitching so we can learn how to put it together.
I'm afraid I can't show you the rest of what I have been stitching because they are for exchanges. I can say that there are three Christmas projects I need to do the finishing on. When it gets cooler later in the week.
Have a great day!

Some like it hot........I DO NOT!!!

Here is a long overdue photo of the latest Fair & Square Exchange. The squares above are from Dani and below is what I stitched for her.


We've had too many hot days in a row here. Yesterday it was 103* which is the hottest day in ten years. It was made even more special for me by the fact that my fridge was dead when I woke up. Had to throw everything out, but at least they brought me a new one. By the way, new in the military doesn't mean "brand new", it means "another one", which is fine because it is newer than the one I had and pretty nice too. Especially since this little incident didn't cost us anything. The very nice man who brought it also noticed that there is a huge wasp nest over the doorway so the exterminator is coming tomorrow to take care of that. I guess I didn't notice it because if I was looking up that far as I walked up the stairs, I would probably trip and fall. He is much taller than I and he looked up to make sure he didn't hit it with the fridge. I am so glad we live on base and they take care of stuff like that for us!!!

I am having a tough time uploading all of my photos so I am going to start another post and see what happens.
Have a great day!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Summer Quaker & Update

Above is a photo of what I sent to Becky. It was my first tin finish and now that I know they aren't as difficult as I thought, I will definitely be making more of these! Her photos look better than mine so I will refer you to her blog to see the inside of the tin and the matching fob. This really was a fun stitch. The pattern is Quaker Flowers by Samplers & Such. Instead of using the Altoids tin, I used the Hershey tin with the purple lid. It matched the stitching perfectly. Now that I see you can also put magnet in the lid, I will try to do that next time. Just have to figure out how, so if anyone who is reading knows and can tell me, that would be great!

Here is the exchange I received from Margaret C. She stitched a beautiful biscornu for me in the prettiest Dinky Dyes silk, coral seas. She also sent along a very generous package of goodies. I am truly overwhelmed at her generosity. Two charts from my wish list, a huge piece of Lakeside Linen in a gorgeous pink color called Chantilly Cream, and some really pretty buttons, floss holders, and a handmade card! I used to make all my cards but it has been a while since that craft has seen the light of day, lol!

I received an exciting phone call the other day. A spot opened up for me to attend a stitching retreat next month. I am so excited I can hardly wait to go! It is one where you just bring what you want to work on and spend the weekend in a beautiful place with other stitchers and just have a great time. Sounds like heaven =) I have been collecting lots of ornament patterns, fabrics and threads so that may be what I take with me. There are so many I want to stitch and I am really in the mood to stitch Fall and Christmas projects right now. As soon as I finish this post I plan to stitch the Prairie Schooler Halloween ornament from the latest issue of Just Cross Stitch. I picked out the fabric and threads last night! My order with all their new charts arrived on Tuesday so I am wishing again that I could stitch 24/7!!! Don't we all?

I have some other things to show you but I decided that instead of posting it all at one time, I would try to post more frequently. I received my Fair & Square round 8 but will wait until Danica has received her squares from me to post about those. I have a couple of other finishes I will be sharing in the near future too so keep checking in to see what's new!
Have a great day!