Wednesday 31 December 2008

A BIG Happy Dance

And it is finished. Dec 29th at 11:15 p.m.
Phew, I wasn't sure I would make it. It has been a joy and a pleasure to work on but I am happy it is done.

Wednesday 24 December 2008

The Sweetest Joy


May all your Christmas dreams come true - ours sure have!

Sunday 21 December 2008

Home for Christmas

As I write this blog, I am sitting in a hotel in Phoenix. Leo and I are flying Phoenix - Toronto - Ottawa tomorrow to go home for Christmas. Weather permitting, we should be home around 9:30 p.m. We are so looking forward to being with our family. Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers flying for us. Ontario has been nailed with one winter storm after another this week past.


One of the reasons I have been offline so much is that my fingers have been flying and then some. So, I have lots of finishes to show you.



First up, my Make a Wish for Edgar. His wish was for a Blackbird Design. I stitched "My Gift for You" on 32 count raw linen with the recommended WDW and Gast Threads. The wording is stitched over one. I finished it into a pyn keepe for him.



I finished crocheting the afghan for the lady who asked me to finish it for her. I then sewed all the octagons together and crocheted a border. I hope she likes it. It certainly turned out to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated.



Next up, Jackson's quilt, curtains and pillow sham are finished. Here is a photo of the finished quilt. He wanted yellow Caterpillar Machines and that's what he got!


Here is the finished quilt, the valance, the sham and I even found yellow construction vehicle Wallies for his room. The set will be given to him for his 4th birthday on January 12th or maybe before if he and I can't wait.



And then, Katrina's Hello Neighbor neighborhood arrived at my home. Here is the house I stitched for her. It came from an old Reader's Digest book and it was an article on a typical early American Sampler. I used bits of that, changed the colors and this is the end result.


Here is her neighborhood as it went out in the mail on Dec. 21st. I was the last person to stitch on her neighborhood and so it is on it's way home. Isn't it gorgeous.


Here is my selection of Christmas ornaments for this year. I had a day of finishing and minus some skin on the ends of my fingers, they are done. They have been bagged, tagged and distributed to their new owners.

I also sewed three casserole carriers for some of my friends as Christmas gifts but forgot to take a photo of them.

And here is Paradigm. I have been working on it the past few days and did a little on Friday night for the SAT. I had to tear out the entire motif that I am working on now as I had it in the wrong place but that's okay. Only 1 1/4 pages left!!!!!

And I found a new use for a cross stitch grid. We installed a new block driveway. I did not want plain 1 foot square blocks so I got out a cross stitch grid and designed my driveway. I researched Navajo rug designs and this is what I came up with.

At the front are two cacti, in the middle is a Navajo design called the rainmaker and in the back is the diamond shape that is found in many Navajo rugs.

I took the design out to Leo and his friend and said please lay the stones like this. They did!!!! Isn't it wonderful.

We have had lots of people walk and drive by since it was done. Leo and his friend laugh. They did all the hard back breaking work and all people can talk about is the design that I drew on paper. Don't you just love it.

And last but not least, here is the view on my porch the other night. No wonder they call the skies in Arizona - painted skies. Isn't that beautiful.





My family and I want to wish you and your families the Happiest of Christmases and Merriest of New Years. May you have a wonderful season filled with joy and a great deal of laughter.


See you in 2009.

Sunday 7 December 2008

Four Squared and Holland Surprises!

There are squares and then there are four squares. Check out all these beautiful squares.
First up are the squares I received from Jennifer H for Round 10. No information was provided but I love the variagated purple thread and the entire design. Nice work Jen.
In exchange I stitched for her a Quaker Freebie I found somewhere on 32 count lugana with DMC 4030.So kind of blogger to flip both of the next photos sideways. It just wouldn't be a blog entry from me without that!
And then Karen R. really hit the nail on the head. For the Christmas round at Fair and Square - look at the soooo handsome nutcracker she stitched for me. I just love him. I can't decide whether to make an ornament out of him or keep him for my friendship quilt. In return, I stitched for her "Redwork Snowflake" by Pamela Kellogg. I love this one and may just stitch it again for myself.
And the mail box held some more. Look at the lovely surprise package from Carolien that arrived in my mailbox the other day. There was a lovely Christmas card and a note from Carolien and her family.
Also included were some lovely Dutch candies, a chocolate bar that DH promptly ate, some little red packages - I can't tell you about them as they are gifts for some friends in Canada that I will deliver in December. And the most surprising and awesome of all ------ an Anton Pieck cross stitch kit. I love this Dutch artist and the amazing detail he puts into his work. I have this particular piece as a 24x30 3-D paper tole hanging in my home along with several other smaller pieces. Here is a closeup of the kit. Isn't it awesome!!!!
And in case you forgot LOL - here is my lastest progress on Paradigm. I am sure you are all tired of looking at it but I would like to finish it by years end so I am plugging away when I can.

I must apologize to everyone for my lack of posts and comments on the blogs. I seem to be in a blogging slump, if that is possible. I look at my google reader and have 274 posts to read and think "Oh no, I will never catch up". Please be patient with me as I try to work my way through all your latest posts. I have a couple of deadlines that I am scrambling to meet and that also keeps me away from the computer.
I have been tying my grandson's quilt - a job that should have taken my 1 day and has taken me 5. I still have to bind his quilt and make the matching pillowcase by Dec. 22. I also have an afghan to finish crocheting by that date. I did have a Make A Wish to complete. I got it done the first of the week and it went out in the mail. I don't think I will sign up for anything more until after the holidays. My stress level is going up as I try to complete all these things and this is supposed to be fun - RIGHT!
Take care everyone. I do appreciate you stopping by and will do my best to get back to you.
Many hugs from one slightly stressed stitcher to another!