Some Finishes from last year...

Well, since I haven't posted any finishes since Mother's Day I guess I have just a few to catch up on.  I did stitch during the second half of the year, really I did!

Let's start with an exchange piece I did for my friend Stephanie in Texas.  The exchange name was "American Pride" and I chose to stitch Val's Stitchin' Stuff's "Free to Be Me" piece.  This was on a 32ct scrap piece using Weeks threads and a JABCo star button.  It was fun to stitch and I think I may have to stitch another one for myself!

I also worked on this piece and this one stayed with me!  I just love JBW's French Country series and of course I just had to do the kitty one!  This was done on a 40ct scrap and stitched with Week's Sky thread (1 over 2).

Our family welcomed a new member in October.  My niece Stephanie and her husband Zach added Brenden to their family of 3.  Big brother Caleb was not all that thrilled at first but now has been (sometimes overly) eager to help mommy with his new baby brother.  I stitched this for Brenden on a Charles Craft bib using a pattern from a baby book from my stash.  Brenden and Caleb's daddy is a police officer.

And last but not least of the non-Christmas gift pieces, is one of my Crazy 15 challenge pieces.  This is Prairie Grove Peddler's "Falling Leaves".  I stitched it on 28ct Laurel linen and used DMC threads.  The picture does not show off the vibrancy of the leaf colors at all.  It's an amazing piece in person!
"God colors each leaf with a glorious shade.  Enjoy while you can as soon they will fade."

That's it for this update.  I'll do another tomorrow for the pieces I finished for Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

I've been absent for most of 2011 and for that I apologize.  I will endeavor to be more faithful in posting this year.  In June my life started to unravel a bit and things have changed a great deal for me.

About a month after I did my last post, I had to say goodbye to another of my dear furbabies.  Buddy was over 18 and his body had just worn out.  It was a hard decision but necessary for him.  He was my snuggler, lap companion, and neck warmer.  I miss him still.

My last kitty companion, Bo, will turn 17 in March.  He's doing well and just this morning I caught him chasing moving rainbows in the kitchen (made by crystal ornaments hanging in the patio window!).

Two days after I said goodbye to Buddy, I found out my job of 21+ years was ending.  My bosses couldn't keep the company going in today's economy.  I continued to work until later in July, helping them get final orders shipped and invoices out, cleaning out offices, cleaning clutter out of the company computers.  Goodbyes were tearfull.  We were truly a family after all that time.  And that change led to the biggest of all.  I decided to move back home to Lena!  I moved out on Sept 10, with the help of family and friends.  The biggest change has been getting used to being in a small town again, but I'm adjusting.  I'm absolutely loving being so close to my family and enjoying seeing the little ones on a regular basis.  The job hunt has not been successful, so far, but I've been helping my brother David out at his ceramic shop so I've been keeping busy.  Living with my Mom has been going well and we have settled into a routine.  Bo made the transition well and has enjoyed being an only cat.  As for my house in the big city suburbs, I am nearing the end of the Deed in Lieu process and will have that monkey off my back soon, without having to try to sell it myself.

You would think I've had loads of time for stitching, which is partly true.  I was working on Christmas gifts before the holiday but am finally getting some good time to just stitch and have been working on a few of my Crazy 15 pieces from last year again.  I will post an update on some of those in the coming days.

I thought I would leave you with one of my first ceramic projects.  It came out much better than I expected and I'm quite proud of it actually!  LOL  Since we don't have any snow (still - grrr) maybe this will help?

I hope you all have a wonderful 2012!

Mother's Day and the Bird Seed Thief!

I spent a wonderful time with my Mom and family this past weekend.  Altho it started quite early on Saturday (left the house at 7:30 for the 2 hour drive), we had a fun time at breakfast with her sorority group.  They always have a brunch get together and of the 11 members (this group has been together for over 50 years!), 6 were in attendance with female family members.  Mom was joined by 2 of my SILs, 3 granddaughters, me, and 21 month old Caleb.  We had an entire end of the table filled!  Good food and good conversation were a great way to start the weekend.  Mom & I did some shopping that afternoon before our feet gave out and then I treated her to supper before we settled in to watch an episode of Castle from last season and the movie "Shall We Dance".  Sunday morning was church and then my DB David and SIL Joy took Mom & I out to lunch.  I headed home after that and was quite ready to veg for the remainder of the day.  It was a great way to spend Mother's Day weekend!

For Mom's gift this year, I decided to use the small pendant form I had in my stash for her gift.  I found the perfect rose pattern that just fit the form to a "T".  She was thrilled with it and said her sorority group would be jealous because the yellow rose is their symbol.  My guess is that she'll wear it to the next meeting!  LOL  It's stitched on a 36ct linen scrap with DMC.


Before we headed out to shop on Saturday, I happened to see this bird seed thief busily chewing away.  I'm not certain, but he must practice yoga to be this flexible!  He was quite content there until I snapped a second picture and the flash scared him off.  I didn't mean to interupt his meal.  Most of the seed from the feeders was already on the ground - probably because of him!


I'm continuing to work on my crazy 15 pieces and will have an update for "The Bookshelf" soon.  I plan to pull out the "Teddy Bear and Friends" stocking to work on that some more this week.

Hope you are enjoying the week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Still waiting for Spring!

I'm still waiting for Spring to make a permanent home in our area.  The temps have been swinging widely between the low 40s and the upper 60s for the past few weeks and I'm surprised that everyone I know isn't sick for the weather changes!

I've got a couple of finishes to share with you at present.  The first is one I started working on last year and was happy to present it to Mom during my visit on Easter weekend.  This is "Proverbs 31" from Leisure Arts.  I stitched it on 18ct White Aida (Mom liked the look of it better) and used the called for DMC threads.  This was a lot of fun to stitch and has so much detail in each section!

The second piece I started because I just needed something that I could finish without working on it for months!  I have so many larger pieces going right now and I was having a need for a finish.  This is "Spring 2" from Angel Stitchin' - stitched on 40ct "Linen" linen from WDW with GAST threads and a JABC little bee button.

I finished it up as a pillow roll and it was sitting in Mom's Easter basket.  I still can't believe that the sewing went pretty good on this.  I don't like to getting out the machine, it's SOOO heavy.  But I was actually pleased with the way it turned out.


I've also been working on a couple of Crazy 15 pieces since I last posted.  I've been rotating them in 2 week slots and that seems to give me enough time on them to feel like I'm making progress.  LOL  Here are the 2 I worked on in April:

Golden Choir Banner - this was an OLD ArtCraft kit that my Mom gave me a really long time ago, asking me if I would make it for her.  Surprise, Mom!  You will be getting this for a Christmas gift.  (Mom has dial-up and I know she doesn't check my blog so I feel safe posting it here.)  The first post didn't look like much because it was all green shapes.  Now it should make more sense!


The other one I worked on is LHN's "The Bookshelf".  I followed the left edge up to the top so I can work across and get to the right edge before working down.  (Really, there's method to my madness!  LOL)

I'm debating as to waiting on stitching with the metallic gold in the book bindings until after the rest of it is stitched.  I don't want to take the chance of it getting wonky while I move around the q-snap frame as I work on the piece.  I'm really liking the way it's popping off the fabric (altho it doesn't show as much in the picture) and this one is still in my current pile for work on some more this week before I switch to another one.

I also just finished an exchange piece but that one will have to wait until after next week.  The mailing date is the 11th.  And I'll be finishing Mom's Mother's Day gift this evening.  I got a locket form and need to put the bs on the rose piece for it before backing it and then getting it all put together.

That's the whole of it from here.  Thank you for stopping by!

4th Finish of 2011!

My goodness, that sounds pathetic!  I normally have close to 7 or 8 by this time of the year but with a broken thumb starting off the year and the time I spent in January working on the Crazy 15 starts, my "normal" is off!  LOL

Such a pretty piece this is and it was a fun stitch, too!  I just love the tree especially!  So without further ado, here it is...

"The Sparrow" from Tree of Life Samplings
40ct Vintage Light Examplar using GAST & CCs (1 strand over 2)

(You can click on the picture to see it a bit larger.)

Thanks for checking in!