Kathy's Stitching & Reading

Merry Christmas- a Little Late

2011-12-28T16:19:00.001-05:00

Christmas was a very difficult time emotionally for us since my husband passed away in August. My girls and grandkids were missing their dad and grandpa, and we all shed some tears but managed to keep our usual holiday traditions.

There were happy times too. We went to Mass, had dinner together, and exchanged gifts at my house Christmas Eve. I went to DD Beth's for brunch on Christmas and DD Laura's for dinner.

I managed to get ornaments made for all 7 grandchildren and gave them to them on Thanksgiving so they could put them on their trees.

Some dear friends get ornaments each year too.

This week I've been working on Penny America to hopefully get it finished before the ball drops on New Years Eve, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think I'm the world's slowest stitcher on 40ct.

Until next time I wish you all a Happy New Year and happy stitching!

Kathy

2011-11-29T15:47:00.010-05:00

I know it has been forever since I posted, but since then my life has been completely turned upside down. My beloved husband of 45 years passed away suddenly in August. I find myself faced with all kinds of challenges because I was very spoiled. Thank goodness for my two daughters, their husbands, my 7 grandchildren, and the rest of my family.

My stitching and blogging mojo is slowly returning. Spending a week with Jan helped a lot. We stitched and shopped til we dropped. While I was there we took some of my pieces to her wonderful framer.

Quaker Lady

Beauty and Grace by Tree of Life Samplings

Peppermint Twist
by Blue Ribbon Designs

I haven't done much stitching for two reasons. One is most of the pieces are on 40 ct which really slows me down and the other is because I'm having trouble concentrating. But I'm improving. Here are some of my works in progress.

Earth Sampler
by Primitive Needle
on 40 ct Ale linen

I'm stitching this in a SAL with some online friends in Lisa's memory.

Penny America
by Tree of Life Samplings
on 40 ct Macadamia Nut linen

I'm loving this and can't wait to get it finished.

Waiting for the Harvest
by Blackbird Designs
on Tree of Life Pumpkin Creme linen
with Weeks Kris' Bon Bon

Yesterday was my oldest grandson Wiley's 16th birthday. I can't believe he is that old already.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
Until next time Happy Stitching,

Kathy

Wonderful Retreat Weekend

2011-07-04T12:10:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I was lucky enough to drive to Terre Haute, IN to a stitching retreat held by Jan Alexander who designs under the name Tree of Life Samplings. This is the third of Jan's wonderful retreats I've attended, and I have to say, Jan always outdoes her self making sure everything runs smoothly and works hard to be sure everyone is happy.
I went there Wednesday to spend the afternoon and evening with my good friend Jan and helped her get some of her wonderful hand-dyed linens labeled and ready to take to the hotel on Thursday. Thursday evening was spent getting to know each other and stitching. There were twelve of us there, some old friends, Mary and Brenda, on-line friends Judith and Carole, and fivenew friends, Vonna, Yvonne, Diane, Karen, and Sally, Mary's mom. We received the chart for the wonderful retreat piece Jan designed for us, and it came kitted up in this cute envelope made by Natalia.

Friday was busy with stitching time, a trip to Jan's home, sharing finished and WIP projects, and an ornament small exchange. I took two pieces to exchange a PS pinpillow

and a La-D-da pinpillow that I don't have a picture of. I was lucky enough to receive two pinpillows in return. One stitched over-one by Brenda and the other stitched by Carole.

Yes, they are the same BBD design but finished so differently and beautifully. Wasn't I lucky?!

Saturday was the day we were all eagerly anticipating. The talented Vonna taught us how to mount our stitched pieces, that Jan designed and we stitched ahead of time, on a box top with chenille trim and how to line the box. She told us how this same technique could be applied to other finishes.

Sunday morning found us saying goodby to all our old and new friends and hoping we would meet again next year. I didn't take many pictures but Vonna and Yvonne have great pictures on their blogs.It was a wonderful retreat and I think I got my stitching mojo back.
Here is the progress I've made so far on the retreat piece Beauty and Grace. Two turbo-needle friends, Vonna and Brenda have finished their pieces and they are gorgeous!

Have a wonderful Fourth of July! We are off to a cookout at our oldest DD's and hoping the rain stops.

Until next time, happy stitching and thank you for the wonderful comments!
Kathy

Catching Up

2011-06-30T15:37:00.000-04:00

It has been forever since I posted, so I thought I would do some catching up before I post about the wonderful retreat I attended. Since my last post I've had to face some roadblocks on life's path and with God's help I hope they will turn out alright. I've had two cataract surgeries, one was combined with glaucoma surgery. Both went well and I no longer have to wear glasses except to read and for the first tie since 1981 I don't have to use glaucoma drops. I've had a couple of other health issue and hope the final prognosis is good. My DH was diagnosed with a serious disease, and we are hoping all goes well with that.

But there were some good times in there too. My two youngest grandsons made their First Communions, and my twin grandsons were Confirmed.

We attended a family wedding and I managed to get a picture with all seven grandchildren dressed up and smiling for a change.

I have been doing a little stitching. I managed to finish LHN's Singing the Blues,

a PS pinkeep(with a blurry picture for which I apologize) for the retreat exchange,

and ornie for one of the twins from the 2010 JCS,

and the retreat pre-class piece by Tree of Life Samplings.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I hope to be back tomorrow with a retreat report.
Until then happy stitching!
Kathy

Happy Rainy Monday

2011-04-04T15:57:00.001-04:00

The wind is blowing 40 mph gusts, and it's thundering, lightening, and pouring rain here in Southwestern Ohio today. It's a good day to finally update this blog. I swear my blogging mojo, both writing and reading, has gone with my stitching mojo. This is partly caused by stress andpartly because of my vision. I tend to retreat into books when I'm stressed. DH and our son-in-law have both had some health issues, but they are both recovering. My cataract surgery is scheduled for Wednesday for one eye. Looking out of my right eye is sort of like looking through a fogged up window.Thank goodness for my Kindle with the adjustable font.

I have managed to do a little stitching and finished LHN's Belle Pepper and a cute little ornament for my animal loving granddaughter by Casey Buonaugurio from the December 2008 JCS.

Over the weekend I started LHN's Singing the Blues and I've been working on a PS pin pillow for a retreat I'm going to in June. Hopefully after the second cataract surgery at the end of the month my stitching mojo will return.
Our twin grandsons had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. They are 13 already. I don't know where the time goes.

Until next time Happy Stitching and thanks for visiting.
Kathy

One Eyed Flying Purple People Eater

2011-03-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Any one remember that song from many, many years ago, or are you all too young? That's what I feel like right now. I guess I should explain. I've got glaucoma and have had it for years. I've had three laser surgeries on each eye to open drainage holes and had surgery where they cut a slit in your eye on the right eye in Dec. 2009. I've also got cataracts on both eyes and the one on the right eye has decided to grow and has left me with very little vision in that eye. Cataract surgery is scheduled for that eye on April 6 and glaucoma and cataract surgery on the left eye on April 27 if all goes well from the earlier one. The good side is that my vision should improve and hopefully no glasses except reading glasses any more and no more daily eye drops.

Needless to say this is making it hard to stitch and it will be even harder for a while after the surgeries. I've been mostly stitching ornaments because I have 7 I need to stitch for my grandkids and some for friends.
I did manage to finish LHN's Snow White and love the way it turned out.

I've stitched three ornaments but haven't done the finishing yet. Britty Puppy and Angel Stitchin's Santa's Buddies are for the grandkids, and LHN's Peppermint Twist may just hang on my tree.

I've made some slow progress on LHN's Belle Pepper.

I hope to finish this before the first surgery and after that will probably be doing some large count kits I've had for a while. Enough whining though!
I'll leave you with a picture of my youngest daughter the night we went with her family to celebrate her birthday at a hibachi restaurant. When the chef heard it was her birthday he had her come join him to help, and this is what he had her do. And yes, the restaurant is still standing.

Until next time, happy stitching!
Kathy

First UFO Finish

2011-01-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

Greetings from snowy southwestern Ohio. We only got about 4 inches of snow, and that usually shuts this hilly city down. But the road crews were out early so althought many schools closed, many stayed open. My grandchildren are bemoaning the fact that theirs did not close.

Back in November, when I thought about what I might stitch during this new year, I had decided to concentrate on series that were not finished. I have a bad habit of starting series and getting distracted and not finishing them. Then I found out about Up for a Challenge where you are supposed to challenge yourself to finish 15 UFO's. Dumb old me, I didn't think I had 15 unfinished projects, so decided to sign up any way and count the unfinished series as UFO's. I did find more than 15 unfinished pieces but decided only list some of them.

Several years ago, in 2007 I think, Janice(no blog), Elaine, and I started a SAL with LHN's Snowflakes. Spring arrived without our finishing it so we put it away until the following year. Unfortunaltely God had other plans and called Elaine home to him after a short illness. If you read Siobhan's blog, she wrote a wonderful tribute to Elaine back in October. Unlike Siobhan, I was never fortunate enough to meet Elaine in person, but still considered her a good friend. We shared many emails, and she was always ready to listen and find the good in everyone and everything. I couldn't pick Snowflakes back up until last winter when I stitched a little on it, but it brought back many bittersweet memories, and wnet back into the UFO pile. Last week, I felt the time had come to finish it as part of the Up for a Challenge. I still would like to put Elaine's initials on it someplace as a tribute to her.

I think LHN's Snow White will be the next unfinished piece after I finish my January ornament.

Until next time, keep warm and Happy Stitching,

Kathy

Where Does The Time Go?

2010-12-23T00:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays, blogging friends! I hope all of you haven't been caught up in a last minute Christmas rush like I have. I spent most of the afternoon and evening wrapping presents, and I still have two ornaments I'd like to get "finished" before Christmas Eve.
I spent a lot of time last week making vinyl mesh project bags. I made two large ones and two small ones. One of each for a friend and one of each for me.

The two large ones are trimmed with this wonderful sampler fabric I found at Shakespeare Peddler. I love it and can't wait to use the rest of it for something.

The two smaller ones are trimmed with Moda fabric by Blackbird Designs. I've got more of these to sew into something too. I've been doing very little stitching but did manage to finish LHN's Winter Sampler. I've got some candycane fabric that I hope will work to make it into a pillow. But I'm sure that won't happen until after Christmas.

My only other finish this month was an ornament for a dear friend. I stitched Homespun Elegance's 2009 Santa for her.

I hope to get back here before Christmas to show you a wonderful gift I received. I still need to take the pictures. But if I don't I want to wish you all the Merriest Christmas and a wonderful time with family and friends.

Kathy

Rainy Day Ramblings

2010-11-30T15:16:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. All 13 of us gathered at our youngest daughters to celebrated Thanksgiving and two birthdays. Our oldest grandson turned 15 on Sunday, and our oldest granddaughter was 13 on Thanksgiving Day. I brought the stuffing and the pumpkin pies.

Don't you love the birthday candles in the pumpkin pie? He wanted his own candles to blow out. After dinner three of the younger grands and I made Christmas ornaments from one of those foam kits I bought at Michaels.

Not much stitching to show because I have been stitching some Christmas surprises. I have done the finishing on a few ornaments.

Believe by the Sampler Girl

Quaker Snowman from Erynne Chard's blog

Fa La La by LHN

I did some stash shopping at my favorite ONS Jan's Only One Ewe. I have no will power and, of course, bought too much.

I had planned to spend today doing some more finishing but my friend called and asked me to meet her at Macy's. I came home with a new purse that was 50% off. Then my daughter called and wants to go to the outlet mall on Thursday. So I'm glad I made my stash haul while I still had money.

Many thanks to Jan for changing my blog background for me. Blogger and I were having issues.

Until next time Happy Stitching!

Kathy

A Great Giveaway!

2010-11-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Belinda from Blue Ribbon Designs is having a terrific giveaway!

I Did It!

2010-11-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

I got all 7 grandchildren's ornaments finished ahead of my Thanksgiving goal. Now I will be able to give them to them Thanksgiving Day. These are the last two. Rudy looks a little lumpy at the bottom but he isn't really.

I decided I needed another little fall pillow for the bench in my hall and found this older Heart in Hand design in my stash. It stitched up quickly, and I think made a cute pillow.

I'm one that starts stitching series and then never manages to stitch the whole series. I'm bound and determined to finish the LHN Sampler series. I've completed Spring, Summer, and Autumn, and now I've started Winter. I think this one may be my favorite. This is my progress so far.

My youngest granddaughter, Greta, is a Halloween baby, so because Trick or Treat birthday sleepover with friends interferes with birthday with family, we celebrated her birthday last weekend. I promised her I would post her picture here.

I'm looking forward to a stitchy weekend.
Happy Stitching,
Kathy

Greetings from the home of the germs....

2010-11-02T16:55:00.000-04:00

My husband and I have spent the past 10 days coughing and blowing noses. After antibiotics didn't work, the doctor has decided that since so much of this sinus/bronchitis like stuff is going around that it is viral and has to run its course. He put us both on prednisone and said if it wasn't better in two weeks to come back. Two Weeks!!!! I don't have time for this. I was supposed to spend a long stitchy weekend at Jan's and had to cancel and, boy, was I bummed about that.
I haven't been doing much stitching but do have a few pieces to share. I finished LHN's Autumn Sampler that has been my Saturday night piece for a while.

I managed to stitch and finish into pin pillows two of La D Da's T'is Green from the JCS preview issue and another little freebie piece from Aurelle's blog.

I finally got to work on doing the finishing on some of the ornaments I stitched for the grandkids. I've got five of them finished, so have two more to do. I think I need to get a fancy blade for my rotary cutter because it's too hard to cut straight with pinking shears.

Last fall I stitched JBW's A Very Merry Autumn but never got around to finishing it. I found some nice fall fat quarters at JoAnns and made it into a little pillow.

Thanks for all of your comments.
Until next time Happy Stitching!
Kathy

Goodnight Sun, Goodnight Moon

2010-10-18T17:15:00.001-04:00

Goodnight scissors. I finally attached my LHN Needle and Thread piece to the bed. Now, of course, I wasn't going to buy this premade bed, I was going to make my own. I even bought some fat quarters to make it with. But then, in June, I went to Jan's and she had the bed in her ONS room and since I have no will power I had to buy it.

A couple of weeks ago I stitched up the new Homespun Elegance freebie and finished into a door hanger. I love the backing fabric I found.

I finally bought some crushed walnut shells (lizard litter) for stuffing and dug into my "need to finish" box to find something to try it out. Came up with Four Seasons by The Trilogy, that I had stitched several years ago, and finished it as a pin pillow.

This week is going to be finishing week. I have all 7 grandkids' ornaments and a few others to do the finishing on. Wish me luck!
Have a great week and happy stitching!
Kathy

Star Wars

2010-10-08T14:39:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I asked my second youngest grandson, Daniel, what he wanted for his birthday on Sept. 29. His reply surprised me. He wanted me to take him to the mall to the Build-a-Bear store and the Lego store. So last Sunday off we went and this is what we came home with. First of all meet Darth Panda(his mask is off for the picture).

Then after a pretzel at Aunt Annie's shop we were off to the Lego store where we found a StarWars Lego kit that he loved and a little Star Wars guy on a key chain.

I've been stitching some smalls and reading about ways to finish them in many wonderful blogs. After emailing Faye, who finishes such great smalls, I decided to get some crushed walnut shells to use instead of fiber fill or doll pellets. So off I headed to my local Pet Smart and told the young guy working there that I wanted some crushed walnut shells that were used for lizard or bird litter and he led me straight to the ----bird seed and that was the last I saw of him. I finally found the lizard litter and didn't realize there were so many to choose from, but finally found what I wanted.

This week I've been stitching on Raise the Roofs Libertyville and have almost finished part one.

Have a great weekend and happy stitching!

Kathy

It's About Time......

2010-09-28T16:01:00.004-04:00

It's about taking the time to update my blog. I've been back from my six weeks in northern Michigan for over a month and haven't taken the time to post.
We had a wonderful six weeks at the lake, were blessed with beautiful weather, and had week long visits from both of our daughters and their families. We went on hikes, saw a bald eagle in the wild, took picnics to the shores of Lake Michigan's Little Traverse Bay. I even was able to talk my DH and brother into a day trip to Mackinac Island, one of my favorite places in the world. We won't talk about my non-boat driving husband helping my brother get the boat on the trailer and the $600 repair bill that resulted.

There is nothing better than drinking your morning coffee on the deck and watching the lake.
Unfortunately not much stitching resulted from these 6 weeks. I would love to stitch on the deck but after a scare with some seagull poop landing on my hand while I was stitching I gave that up. The lighting in the cottage is not good, so I had my Ott light but all the television watchers complained about it. So I only have a couple of things to share.
The first is Little House Needleworks Lakeside Lodge. The original plan was to have it finished, framed and hung on the cottage walls this summer, but that didn't happen.

My only other finish was an ornament. LHN's He's a Flake.

I'll be back soon I hope to share the little stitching I've completed since I've been home. In the mean time, happy stitching and thank you so much for your comments.

Good Grief!!!!

2010-07-16T00:17:00.008-04:00

I haven't blogged forever. I've been reading blogs and not commenting much. I'll blame it all on the loss of my stitching mojo. I did stich, but not as much as I usually do and do have some finishes to share with you.
Earlier in the winter I finished Blue Ribbon Designs Proud and True. I mad some changes to the house and fretted over the over-one part and finally got out my q-snaps and survived it.

Then I finished My Quaker Lady. I used NPI silks for the first time on this and loved working with them.

Blackbird Designs Bluebird pincushion was a small fun finish. I put blue rick rack along the edges.
Spring found me busy with grandchildren and activities at their school. I hauled my sewing machine to the twin's 6th grade classroom one day and joined other grandmas and moms in making caftans for their international day. The kids had cut out the fabric themselves as part of their math class so the sewing was somewhat of a challenge. I went to a Grandparents Day at one school, a spring concert at another, a piano recital and to my oldest grandson's 8th grade graduation.

A couple of weeks ago I drove to south western Indiana to visit with my friend Jan. Spending a few days stitching with a friend was a great way to get my stitching mojo back. We talked, laughed, shopped, and stitched. And I brought home too much stash that I bought at her webshop. I stitched BBD's Bird in Hand as a little thank you for her.

We are heading Sunday to our place on the lake near Petoskey, Michigan for a month. I hope it is cooler there than here because we have no AC up there.

Jan is having two wonderful give aways. One on personal her personal blog and one on her design blog
Deb is having a great giveaway too!

Until next time, happy stitching!
Kathy

I Need It Back

2010-01-13T13:24:00.008-05:00

It's been forever since I blogged so I want to wish you all a belated Happy New Year.
I had eye surgery for my glaucoma early in December and wasn't allowed to stitch or read for ten days. It almost drove me crazy. Then when I got the okay to stitch my eye was so blurry because of the drops I had to use I could only see large count projects. I pulled out a couple of Pine Mountain kits but they didn't hold my interest.
Now my eyes are back to normal but my stitching mojo has gone.I REALLY NEED IT BACK I did manage to finish Tree of Life Samplings Quaker Silence.

In December I was spoiled and received the cutest ornaments. One was from Kathy in a swap.

The other was from my friend Jan.

Aren't they both the cutest things? I love them.

Right now I'm trying to work on Blue Ribbon's Proud and True and Jardin Prive's My Quaker Lady. I really need to get started on my January ornie. That works so well to stitch one a month, because I make them for all 7 grandkids and some friends.

We had a wonderful holiday and I managed to get a couple of decent pictures of my two daughters and their families.

Wishing you all Happy Stitching and hoping my stitching mojo returns.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T23:42:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-17T17:08:00.011-05:00

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

2009-11-06T15:49:00.008-05:00

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....

2009-10-30T23:16:00.006-04:00

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

2009-09-29T14:45:00.009-04:00

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...

2009-09-18T16:58:00.007-04:00

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

2009-07-23T16:27:00.008-04:00

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....

2009-07-07T16:48:00.005-04:00

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'

2009-06-23T23:56:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-27T14:38:00.008-04:00

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

2009-05-16T11:55:00.008-04:00

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!

2009-04-28T16:19:00.001-04:00

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....?

2009-04-21T16:19:00.010-04:00

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!

My Irish Eyes Are Smiling

2009-04-10T14:47:00.005-04:00

Okay, I'm only 3/4 Irish but I'm still smiling for a couple of reasons. First of all my computer had slowed to a crawl. Like 20 minutes to start up and almost 5 minutes to get web pages sometimes. So I broke down and called a computer geek to come and work on it. He worked his magic for not too much money and now the puter is moving at warp speed.

The other reason I'm smiling is because I finished this cute little heart for a very dear friend's birthday. She is crazy about anything Irish and has visited Ireland a couple of times. It's one of Victoria Sampler's International Hearts Ireland. I changed the row of green and red stitches to smyrnas from the crossed diamond stitch because I was too lazy to try to figure that one out. I think it looks okay the way it is. My next challenge will be to finish it into a heart shaped small pillow.

I made a little progress on Of Female Arts this week and have finally reached the last border motif. The rest should go quickly.

I worked a little on Peppermint Twist but not enough to show a picture. The frog has been here on spring break this week. I think he likes the cold rainy weather.

Have a Happy Easter!

Flying Needles and Other Ramblings

2009-04-01T00:03:00.006-04:00

My needles have developed a mind of their own lately. Sometimes they jump out of my hand and land across the room someplace or slide down between the cushion and arm of the recliner never to be seen again. Tonight's needle was threaded and sitting in my piece. I went to get some coffee and that needle had flown away. I know my DH who never wears shoes in the house will find it and not be too happy.

Tonight was Peppermint Twist night and I made some progress, but not as much as I hoped because I was watching a good movie with Jack Nicholson. I always think I'll accomplish more than I do.

Monday night was Of Female Arts night and I made pretty good progress. It's slow going for me on 40 ct. I've almost made it all the way around with the motifs and the border. Once I get that finished I hope the words will go quickly.

Over the weekend I finished Easter Spots by The Trilogy, that I found while stash diving last week and decided to stitch for Easter. I finished it as a pinkeep today.

While I was in finishing mode, I dug SB's April out of the to-be-finished box and made a flatfold so I've got a couple of new Easter pieces to display.

Tomorrow night is PS Weatherwise night and I hope my needles behave themselves.

Happy Stitching!

Pinkeep and Pillow

2009-03-20T14:48:00.005-04:00

I've been working on improving and varying my finishing. So this week I made my first attempt at a pinkeep using LHN's busy Needle. I'm pleased with everthing except the bow and really like the backing fabric I found.

I also tried a new to me type of pillow finishing with JBW's Very Merry Spring that I stitched last year.

I hope to have a stitchy weekend and work on a UFO and PS Weatherwise.

Have a great weekend and happy stitching!

Happy Birthday Jack and Cal!

2009-03-18T00:08:00.018-04:00

Today our twin grandsons are eleven years old. It seems like it was just yesterday our DD showed us the ultrasound with two babies in it. What a surprise! They weighed 7 lb 3 ou. and 7 lb 5 ou. when they were born.

It has been so much fun watching them grow from chubby babies...

to blond toddlers .

To the sweet guys they are today. It is so hard to tell them apart. For a while they had different haircuts and it was easy. Then they both went back to shorter hair. I've never been able to tell them apart in pictures, but am pretty positive Jack is on the left and Cal on the right.

I've been stitching on several WIPs and want to share an update of Of Female Arts. It's a fun but slow stitch.

Happy Stitching!

I've Been Busy

2009-03-12T16:24:00.004-04:00

The other day I was going through my box of pieces that need to be finished and found this cute little leprechaun from Heart in Hand. Today I finished him into this little standup using an acrylic stand I had. I hate to stitch on cording, but thought he needed it.

Last night I put the final stitches in LHN's Busy Needle. I think this is the cutest little piece and will probably attempt to make it into a pinkeep. I need to head to JoAnn's and see if I can find some cute fabric.

Happy Stitching!

Finally a Finish!

2009-03-08T12:48:00.004-04:00

It seems like forever that I finished any thing other than an ornie. Last night I put the final stitches in LHN's Heart of America. I have been stitching on this every Saturday night for weeks with an online stitching group. It is stitched on 32ct Vintage Pearled Barley with Crescent Colours threads. For some reason there were two places to put the year you stitched it, so I changed the one in the Old Glory block to 1776. You're supposed to put your initials in the Honor block and I haven't decided if I'm going to do that.

Happy Stitching!

Peppermint Twist Update

2009-02-28T11:47:00.000-05:00

I've been making a little progress on PT. I've been trying a rotation where each piece gets its own day to be worked on. I think I have too many projects going and not enough time. I've also got a serious case of startitis. There are so many pieces in my stash that are calling me. I gave in and started PS Weaterwise. I haven't made enough progress for a picture yet.

I'm sad today. It would have been my mom's 94th birthday. She has been gone for 20 years and I still miss her.

Happy stitching!

Of Female Arts

2009-02-20T16:19:00.001-05:00

I've been slowly stitching on Primitive Needle's Of Female Arts. I'm stitching it on 40ct Vintage Maritime White with Expresso Belle Soie. This is my first adventure with 40 ct and it is easier than I expected, but I don't think I could do it without my Dazor light.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T12:50:00.000-05:00

We don't do much for Valentine's Day. DH gave me a card and 2 giant Hershey's Special Dark candy bars and I gave him a card and some workout pants. We ordered pizza for dinner because the restaurants are always so crowded on V Day.

On Saturday nights, I've been stitching on LHN's Heart of America and worked on it for a couple of hours last night. This is my progress so far.

Peppermint Twist SAL

2009-02-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

I'm doing a SAL with some on-line friends with Blue Ribbon Designs Peppermint Twist. I'm stitching it on 36 ct. Woodsmoke with one thread over two. I've been making many dumb mistakes and frogging a lot.

Finally

2009-02-13T13:36:00.000-05:00

I finally gave in to my desire to start a blog. I think it will be a fun way to share my love of stitching and reading.