Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for-family, friends, good health. We are going to our daughter Beth's for dinner. Our other DD Laura will be there too and all seven grandchildren. I'm bringing the pumpkin pies and the stuffing. I'll make a medium sized turkey here before we go because DH loves turkey and I love the leftovers. We will be having birthday cake with our dinner too. Our oldest granddaughter turned 12 today and our oldest grandson will be 14 on Saturday. Where does the time go?

I have been stitching and had two finishes over the weekend. The first is Blue Ribbon Designs Peppermint Twist.

I've been trying to finish the older Shepherd's Bush series A Year in Stitches and finished December. I think I have 4 more to go in the series.

This week I've been concentrating on Quaker Silence and can see the finish coming soon.


Happy Stitching and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ornamentizing and Other Stuff

I have seven grandchildren and make each of them an ornament each year. I try to have the finishing completed by Thanksgiving. I really should do it as I stitch the ornaments, but I always procratinate.I would much rather stitch them than finish them and I HATE to sew on cording because it takes forever. I only have three more to do the finishing on and all the grandkids are finished.






I've made some progress on Jan's Quaker Silence design. I'm really pleased with it. It's slow going because 40 ct. takes me forever.


And Blue Ribbon's Peppermint Twist is nearing completion finally.

Thanks for the comments and Happy Stitching!

Some Framing and an update

I just picked three pieces up from the framer. I found this gal about a year ago and am thrilled with her work.
The first is LHN's The Bookshelf:


LHN's Brave Hearts


LHN's Heart of America


I accomplished a little bit on Quaker Silence this week. I love the way it is stitching up.


Have a great weekend and happy stitching.

Once again....

I haven't blogged forever, but I have been doing some stitching. Peppermint Twist is finally nearing completion. I'm ashamed to say I've been working on this since January, I think.

I couldn't wait to start my good friend Jan's, Tree of Life Samplings, Quaker Silence. I'm stitching it on 40 ct Meadow Rue with Belle Soie Mer Blue and a little Icing. I'm loving the way it is looking.

I wanted to share with you part of the Halloween exchange I sent to Sharon. I stitched JBW's Pumpkin for her and finished it as a pinkeep.

I made her a pin cushion using Moda fabric by Blackbird Designs, shamelessly copying one that Tanya made for us a couple of years ago at the OOE retreat. I loved the fabric and after a long search found it at Hancock's of Pacuccah.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Happy Halloween!

A Stitchy Weekend

I returned yesterday afternoon from the best stitchy weekend. With the help of the new GPS DH bought me, on Friday I traveled from the southwest corner of Ohio to the southwest corner of Indiana to spend the weekend with my good friend Jan. Mary came from the Chicago area for the weekend too and Tanya joined us for the day on Saturday. Mary, Jan, and I had a serious case of stitch a$$$, as Siobhan would say, all three nights. Saturday night we went on until 4:00 A.M. stitching, chatting and laughing the night away. Jan has a wonderful on-line needlework shop and the room where she has her shop stash was right next to the room I was sleeping in. It's hard to sleep knowing there is a room full of stash right next door. I'm afraid I did some serious damage to my checking account. I bought a few charts, but most of the $$$ were spent of linens and some silks. Aren't these too pretty? The camera doesn't do them justice, I'm afraid.

After much debate, I added the frame for LHN's Heart of America to my stash and then I drove away from Jan's yesterday and left it on her kitchen table. Fortunately I remembered before I got too far and went back for it.

I finished SB's Year in Stitches September and worked on Peppermint Twist, A Very Merry Autumn, and started BRD's Proud and True.

Today is my grandson, Daniel's 7th birthday so I want to wish him a Happy Birthday!

Thanks for reading and commenting, my friends.

And Happy Stitching!

I Know...

I know I haven't blogged forever. We spent all of August in the Petoskey area of Northern Michigan and had a wonderful time with family. All the grandkids and their parents were able to come for a while. Most of the stitching I took with me to do came back untouched--partly because my family likes to watch TV in the dark and partly because I tend to get into reading mode on vacation. I did manage two very small finishes. The first is A Very Merry Summer by JBW Designs.

The second is a freebie ornie I think is from Les Grilles de Maryse.

Once I got home it was back to school time and some friends and I went to lunch to celebrate our third year of retirement from teaching.

I have been doing some stitching. I finished Prairie Schooler's Weatherwise. It sure took a lot longer than I expected.

And I finished a piece designed by Jan at OOE for our retreat in 2008.

The mailman was very good to me this week. I received Jan's Rare Treasures design kitted with Needlepoint Silks which I've never used. I'm excited to get started on this. From another ONS I received Jardin Prive's My Lady's Quaker. I just love this design.

Stacy (no blog) sent my Halloween exchange piece early It is just the cutest pillow.

Don'tcha love the lace at the top and bottom of the stitched piece.

Thanks for reading. I love your comments. I need to get back to commenting on the great blogs I read.

Lazy

Lazy--that's me! I haven't blogged forever and I've been reading all your blogs and have been too lazy to comment. I promise I will try to be better.

I have been stitching and have a few things to share.The biggest finish is LHN's Yesteryear. I love it and can't wait to get it framed.

About 20 years ago when my youngest DD was in college, she spent a semester at Miami U of Ohio's campus in Luxembourg. Figuring it would be my only chance to get to Europe, I flew over and met her in Luxembourg and then we spent a week in Paris. DH doesn't like to fly so I bit the bullet and went alone. When I saw BBD's Eiffel Tower freebie, Souvenir de France, I just had to stitch it.

I love patriotic pieces and when Stacy(no blog) offered to share her finished chart, I took her up on the offer and stitched LHN's Liberty and Justice.

Finally, this is my July ornament, a freebie from Les Grilles de Maryse.

All of DH's medical tests came back clear so we are heading to Petoskey, MI next Wednesday to spend August at the lake. All the grandkids will be coming for a shot time so it should be fun. I'm hoping summer will be coming to northern Michigan too. My brother said it has been very cool and overcast much of the summer.

Jan is having a wonderful give away to celebrate the birth of her first grandchild.

Happy stitching and thanks for all the wonderful comments.

Happy stitching and thanks for your comments.

Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time about 1900( give or take a few years) a teenage boy from Cincinnati was put on a train by his parents to go to a Methodist emcampment in the northerpart of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, because his parents had heard the air there would help his severe summer allergies. That teenage boy fell in love with the area and spent many summers there.

About 1910, he married a young Irish Catholic girl who didn't feel to welcome at the Methodist encampment. So they and some Cincinnati friends bought some property a little farther north on a small inland lake where they built a log communal dining cabin and slept in tents for three summers until they were able to build small cabins. Once they got an automobile they made the three day drive to Michigan each summer with their shovel in the back seat to dig their way out when they got stuck on the sandy roads.

In 1925, this young man and lady with their young son bought a larger lot on the lake. The young man was a builder in his father's construction business here in Cincinnati so he sent his buiding crew north on the train to build a summer house. These were my grandparents, and my brother and I own that summer house still . This is what it looks like today.

When I saw the BBD Petite Lettres Rouges and the wonderful way other stitchers were deicating it to parents and grandparents, I decided to stitch it in memory of my grandmother who taught me to sew on her treadle machine and to crochet ragrugs. Now the problem I ran into was that my grandmother was a perfectionist and would not have had any errors in her stiching so even though this is a reproduction sampler, I decided to correct the errors. I put the year they built the house and the location as well as her name. Besides my family wouldn't "get it", that I would intentionally stitch something with mistakes. So don't tell the BBD ladies what I did to their chart.

Thanks for the wonderful comments and happy stitching!

Stressin' and Stitchin'

Life has thrown several curveballs my way as of late which have left me very stressed. My DH has come up with some health issues and has to have some tests done but we have to wait two more weeks before this will happen. Both of our cars have had some serious health issues too. We had been toying with the idea of getting me a new one and after jumping the dumb car twice on Monday, we drove it straight to the dealer and traded it in and put DH's car in for major repairs. Then there's the roof. We have needed a new one and then had some wind damage, but not enough for the insurance to pay for a whole new roof, so we got an estimate. Boy has the cost of a roof gone up since the last time we got one.

Normally, I don't stitch when I'm stressed, but instead dive into a book so I don't have to think. But this time I have been stitching and frogging because my concentration is so bad.

I did finish Primitive Needle's Simply Live. I love how it turned out with Jan's conversions.

I stitched my June ornie, a freebie by Sharon Crescent, and have made some progress on LHN's Yesteryear.

I've got several more WIP's that I've been working on a several new starts trying to get my attention.

Tomorrow I get to go play with my grandson Daniel because Beth's sitter cancelled on her. That should be a fun but tiring day.

Here's hoping that the 90 degree temps leave quickly.

Thanks for the wonderful comments and happy stitching!

Blue and White

I love blue and white pottery. I don't have too many pieces but when I see a bargain I try to get something. There was an estate auction in my neighborhood on Saturday, and they had a bunch of blue and white pottery. I managed to get two pieces very reasonably. I love this big vase and have the perfect corner for it in my family room.

I was also lucky enough to get this pretty blue plate. I was hoping to get more but I was outbid way above my limit.

I have been stitching but not making a whole lot of progress. I did manage to finish my May ornament. It's by Plum Pudding and stitched on a scrap of Light Examplar.

I've made some progress on Primitive Needle's Simply Live. It's stitched on Vintage Sand Dune with floss color changes by my friend Jan at OOE.

I 've stitched a bit on PS Weaterwise. I was hoping on having this finished before now, but Simply Live keeps calling my name.

Thanks for reading and commenting and

happy stitching!

Happy Birthday, Owen

Today is my youngest grandson Owen's 6th birthday. I can't believe that he could be 6 already. It seems like he was just a chubby toddler.

I've been busy being a Nana the past few weeks. Since I've retired I love going to all their school things. Our oldest grandson, Wiley, was confirmed a couple of weeks ago.

Note the cuffs hanging out of the sleeves. We had to force him to put the tie and blazer back on for the picture. What is it about young boys and ties and jackets?

Since then I've been to Grandparent's Day at the youngest GD's school, a spring concert at her school, a spring concert at the second youngest GS's school, and last night we went to one of the twin's piano recital and out to dinner with them afterwards.

I can't believe that I haven't written for so long. I haven't been making a lot of progress on my stitching. I think that I have too many projects started and way too many that I want to start. I have managed to finish two small pieces. The first is The Trilogy's Summer Spots that will eventually become a pinkeep.

The second is SB's Year In Stitches June. I started this series forever ago and this year I'm determined to finish it. I think this piece will become a flatfold.

The other night I started the Blackbird design freebie that everyone was stitching a few weeks ago, but haven't done enough to take a picture. My other pieces are coming along very slowly and I'll try to post an update soon.

Have a good weekend and happy stitching!

I Can't Believe It!

I can't believe that I, the queen of 28 and 32 ct linen, actually finished something on 40 ct. It has taken a while, but thanks to my Dazor I actually finished it. It is Primitive Needle's Of Female Arts stitched on 40ct Vintage Maritime White with Belle Soie Expresso. I just love this design.

I also did the finishing on Victoria Samplers Ireland and made it into a door hanger that actually is pretty much heart shaped. It is for a good friend's birthday next week.

We had a beautiful few days with warm sunny weather, but today the rain is back and the temps have dropped.

I'll be back on my stitching chair tonight working on Peppermint Twist and SB's Year in Stitches June.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments and

Happy Stitching!

Did You Ever Wonder....?

Did you ever wonder why you make some of the cross stitch decisions you do and then not follow through or wonder why you ever decided that in the first place? For example, the cross stitch series that many designers put out. I've started so many and haven't finished any of them. I think I did 10 of the first series of L*K Flippits, 11 of the HIHN Monthly Manias, and 5 of the SB Year in Stitches. Other things call my name and I never seem to work on finishing these.

Sometimes I wonder why I decided to make my grandchildren an ornament each year. It seemed like a rational decision 13 years ago when my youngest daughter gave birth to my first grandson. I only have 2 daughters and I figured probably 4 grandchildren at the most. But then 18 months later my oldest DD had a little girl, and four months later my youngest had identical twin boys. So then there were 4 ornaments to make which wasn't such a big deal. Then two years later, the oldest had another girl, 18 months later the youngest had another boy, and 9 months later the oldest had a boy. So I found myself frantically stitching 7 ornaments in November and December. Since I've retired the DD's have decided they'd like an ornie too. Then there are the ones for exchanges and friends. I finally decided to try to stitch 2 a month and that works out much better and I'm only frantically doing the finishing in November.

I just finished number 7 for this year. It's a PS ornie from the Santas and Snowmen chart. This makes me wonder too why I think I can stitch much faster than I do. I figured this would be finished in a couple of days, but it took more like 5 days. In my defense, I did work on a few other projects during that time too.

I've done 3 more PS freebies, a Sue Hillis, one by Maryse from the Gift of Stiching, and a snowman I found on Erynne's blog.

Happy stitching!