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.

28 comments:

Dani - tkdchick said...

Wow you have been so busy! I miss Yuma!

Marion said...

Your needles have been flying!! Wonderful work!!

Merry Christmas to you and your family and safe travels!!!!


Marion
in Blizzard like Nova Scotia

Marjean said...

Have a Merry Christmas Kathy. Everything looks great!

Wanda said...

Great pieces and I know it's been lots of work. Merry Christmas!

Daffycat said...

Holy smokes, you have been busy! I'm so impressed with everything you have accomplished! Lovely stitching, Kathy, Merry Christmas!

mainely stitching said...

Whew, I think I need to lay down after reading about how busy and productive you've been!! Everything is absolutely lovely, and congratulations on accomplishing so many beautiful projects. I hope you'll have an uneventful trip home for the holidays, with no delays or snow problems!!

Katrina said...

Love all your finishes and my round robin is wonderful. Thank you again.

The driveway is so cool. What a great idea. Hope you make it home safe and sound and on time :-).

Erin said...

All your projects are beautiful....I know that I would certainly love that afghan!! And the driveway -- how cool.

Wishing you safe travels and happy holidays,
Erin

Jenny said...

Wow Kathy - you have been busy. All your stitching looks great, but I especially like how the RR piece turned out. Nice job to all of you that stitched on it. :)

I'm jealous of your driveway too! Awesome the way you layed out the block.

Hope you have good travel weather - I'm in WI, so I know just what you mean about how the weather has been this year "up north".

Meari said...

Wow, beautiful finishes! Your WIPs look good as well. Have a safe and fun holiday!

Cindy F. said...

OMG!! You really have been crazy busy!! WOW!! Everything is incredibly beautiful!! Could I please have a tiny bit of your talent and energy?! ...lol... Amazing pieces:) GOOD JOB!!

Lynn said...

I'm tired just reading about how busy you've been! How do you do it girl?! All of your finishes look great. I especially like that Blackbird Design you chose.
Hopefully you have arrived in Ottawa today since the skies are now sunny. Can't say they look as nice as the ones in Arizona though!
Kathy, I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy your visit home.

Juls said...

Safe home !!! All of your finishes are lovely!!!!
Great driveway!
Oh and I changed my Jan 1st start...still a Mirabilia though

Anonymous said...

Wow Kathy! Your needles have been flying. What a lovely post full of stitchy goodness.

Wishing you a safe journey home and a very Happy Christmas!

Suburban Stitcher said...

Everything looks wonderful! You have certainly been very busy!

Michele said...

wow! everything is lovely :) Love the picture of the sky! Hope you have a safe flight and a wonderful time with your family!

Beatrice said...

Hey girl you have been busy good for you ...I can't wait to see you!
Every thing looks great. Yup I love the driveway too!

Wendy said...

I hope you have a safe trip back home for Christmas! Your retirement days sound far busier than my work days...think what I have to look forwards to. Great tile design!

Judy S. said...

Wonderful stitching, Kathy. Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a happy Christmas, and safe travels.

Wendy said...

You have a very nice blog, with lots of nice work you have done. I'm also a great cross stitch lover and also like all other kind of creative things.

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year filled with lots of Joy.

From Belgium,
Wendy

Stitch Wizard said...

Merry Christmas to you Kathy! Wow you have some really beautiful finishes!are multi talented that is for sure!! I finished up all of Christmas stitching too finally and am so relieved! Thank you for visiting my blog! May you have a wonderful holiday and a safe trip! Best wishes for a wonderful 2009 too!

Hugs
Debby

Crazee4books said...

Hi Kathy,

Definition of a rabid stitcher....
someone who designs a cross
stitch type pattern for her
driveway!!!! I LOVE it!! That
has to be the coolest thing I've
seen in ages. You'll be the talk
of the neighbourhood down there.

So many beautiful things on this
post...I don't hardly know where
to begin gushing....

The wish you stitched for Edgar
is so pretty, and so delicate
in colour and design. Very sweet.
He'll love it I'm sure.

That afghan turned out great,
and you know that the lady who
gets it returned to her like
this is going to be thrilled
with it. How could she not be???

Katrina's neighbourhood turned
out beautifully didn't it? And
you've stitched her a truly
unique square. It really fits
in well with the other squares
but is also something I'm sure
not many of us have seen before.

Your Paradigm is looking fantastic
and you're so close to a finish.
Hope the frogs leave you alone to
finish it in peace.

Then there's your grandson's quilt
and accessories. You've done an
amazing job of finding the perfect
materials and putting them all
together to make him something he's
going to love!! And he'll have
something from his Grandma he'll
treasure forever. Betcha neither
of you will be able to wait until
his birthday to share this
present.

Those ornaments that you stitched
and finished are wonderful!! I
bet they were received with
pleasure and delight by the people
you made them for. Those red
mittens are so cute.

Hope that your flight/trip home
wasn't too arduous and you made
it in good time. At least the
snow that they were predicting
for the weekend didn't materialize
to cause more chaos and headaches.

Welcome back to snow, rain, fog
and all that the Ontario weather
menu has to offer. Did you pack
your Vicks and your kleenex??

Hope you and your family have a
very Merry Christmas and best
wishes for the coming New Year.

Love Judy

Sharon said...

Beautiful stitching and finishing! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Felicity said...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our house to your house too. I love the driveway. It's fabulous.

Clara said...

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and a Happy New Year!

stitcherw said...

Wow, your fingers have been flying, all the pieces look amazing. What fun on how you did your driveway, it looks great. The sky picture was beautiful too. While it is cold here now, it is currently snow/ice/sleet free and a bit sunny so I'll take it. Hope your holiday travels go smoothly. With the weather we've been having lately it's been quite a challenge for a number of people.
Sue

Ranae said...

Wow! your fingers have been keeping you busy. Everything looks fabulous as usual. I love the neighborhood square.
Fab photo's

Carolien said...

Hello Kathy,

I am glad you arrived home safely. What a lovely picture of you, your husband and the grandchildren!
I love your finishes as well, especially the quilt with the yellow caterpillars (I guess I couldn't wait to give such a nice thing ...:). How special for now and later to have a quilt made by your grandmother!

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and inspiring 2009!
Big hug, Carolien