Wednesday 23 March 2011

Oh what a time I have had!!!

The past ten days have been something else. I have had an exciting time.

First, my friend Dani came from Canada for a short vacation. I love having her visit and we stitch like crazy when she is here. She was on the hunt for the new Ipad 2 while she was here but had no luck.
We went to Maricopa to visit another stitching friend  (Judie - no blog) from Canada overnight and we got to spend the day by her pool. We talked and stitched for hours.

The next day we drove to Mesa and met three other stitchers - Angie (no blog) from home, Annette and Bette. How exciting it was to have 3 of my Canadian friends together and then to meet 2 special stitchers from Arizona.
                                                               Annette, me and Bette.

If you ever get the chance to meet Annette and Bette, do. They were both very warm and welcoming. We talked and talked for the longest time. I hope we get to meet up in the future. We don't live that far apart.

                                                           Annette, Bette, Judie, Angie
                                                                         Dani, me

We met at "The Attic"  needlework shop in Mesa. OMG - what a store!! They are not open on Mondays. A phone call from Dani and a request and they agreed to open for us. How wonderful is that.
We were there for 1 1/2 hours and barely scratched the surface. We could have been lost there for days!! Here is a photo of my new stash. Dani bought me "Quaker Love Letters" after I put it back on the counter as I had already blown my budget.  "Wild Eyed"  is for my BFF Beatrice.


I was able to buy two new skeins of CC Pixie Dust and now can go back to my Mirabilia Valentine Fairy.
Before Dani and I headed back to Yuma, we had car trouble. We were leaking anitifreeze from the radiator reservoir. I am so happy that Dani was with me. I know nothing about vehicles and she was able to show me how to keep the reservoir filled. We made it back to Yuma a few hours late and very warm. We had no airconditioning and the temperature was 90F.

Dani and I went to Mexico for part of a day and she did some fun shopping. She also did some mall shopping for some new clothes. She came with a half empty suitcase and I can guarantee that was not the case when she left.
Believe it or not, we did put in some serious stitching time. Here is my lighthouse RR now.


 The Point Loma lighthouse is finished. I have 8 more boats to stitch and the whole thing will be done. I was going to stitch some smaller things in the blank spaces. I stitched a lantern in the bottom right hand corner. I did not like how it looked and pulled it all out. I think I will leave it just the way it is. The entire piece is in for a good long soak when it is done.
Watch for a BIG Happy Dance when this one is complete!!!

I also picked up my Snowman Serenade for my SAL with Cheryl. I seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. The frogs visit far too often. Here is my progress now. Hopefully, next week it will go smoother.

That's it for this week everyone. I hope to have that major Happy Dance soon. I will be going through my WIP's to see what I can finish up next.
I am expecting a Mirabilia RR in my mailbox soon and will be working on that.

Until then - keep those needles smokin'

P.S. Dani has sent me the two photos of us stitchers and has updated her blog about her trip here. Check it out!

24 comments:

Terri said...

How fun! I love meeting new stitching friends. I've been lucky enough to meet Dani and Annette. Dani here in San Diego, and Annette here in San Diego and in Mesa! We will be moving to Mesa very soon and I can't wait to call The Attic my LNS :)

Berit said...

Awesome times and beautiful stitches--what could be better!? :D

Annette said...

I'm so glad I was able to join you all for your Attic shop (not like I didn't shop a bit on my own, of course... LOL). I do hope we can meet again very soon!

Crazee4books said...

Hi Kathy,

Sounds like you and Dani had a
fabulous time together. Imagine,
having a cross stitch store open
just for you and then let you
have the place all to yourselves
to shop to your hearts content.
I'd have needed a truck to get
all my stash home from something
special like that!!

And then to get to meet up with
other stitchers and visit with
them. Bliss. Glad to hear that
you found more Pixie Dust for
your project.

Your own addition to your light
house RR looks amazing Kathy!
Almost like a photograph. Very
pretty, and the perfect finish
to this project.

Pity about the plague of frogs
annoying you while you stitched
on Snowman Serenade. Pesky
things. But at least they
haven't stopped you from making
some progress on this pretty
design.

The quilt that you've created
for your parent's anniversary
is amazing!! What a brilliant
idea and the results are just
breathtaking. I predict that
they will be speechless when
they receive this!

You were lucky indeed to win
that giveaway on Karin's blog.
Those beads are beautiful,
especially that big one in the
middle of the scissor fob! Wow!

Well Kathy, if I were you I
wouldn't be in all that big a
rush to get home anytime soon.
Looks like we're going to be
suffering through another
election race again in the
next few weeks and today we
had one heck of a back handed
wallop from Winter on it's way
out the door!!! At least
around here it was probably
the heaviest snow fall that
we've had all at once this
winter! The snow was pretty
much gone here until today.
Now we're back in a Winter
wonderland! Nuts!!!

Cheers!

Catherine said...

Good times, great friends, great goodies - whoo-hoo!!!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Kathy I had a BLAST thank you soooo much! Hugs!

Unknown said...

Sounds like you had a fantastic time with friends and new friends and stashing - wow! But, I have to say that you newest lighthouse is breathtaking - beautiful!

Ranae said...

Well, it sure sounds like you had a great time. The stash is awesome.
The progress is fabulous, love the lighthouse

Belinda said...

What a fun time you had with your stitchy friends. It's always fun getting together and stitching with other people. The attic sounds like it would be fun to look around too.

Rowyn said...

Sounds like you had a fabulous time Kathy. Love your lighthouses and your snowman piece.

Joyus said...

Wow what a great time - I think there's always something special about spending time with other stitchers (and not just the incentive to over spend LOL)

Rachel said...

I am so glad you ladies had such a wonderful time!!

And I can't wait to see your happy dance for your lighthouse RR!! I just adore lighthouses (they are all over my house, lol!)

Carolien said...

Hi Kathy,

Seems you had some fun time, great!
Your lighthouse RR is beautiful!

Happy stitching!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))

Hugs, Carolien

Katrina said...

Sounds like a fun mini-retreat :-). I love the Attic and you are so right, 1-1/2 hours would barely scratch the surface, LOL.

Your round robin is coming along!!!!

Carolyn NC said...

Looks like so much fun - glad it all worked out so you could meet up and spend time together! Love the RR and stitching!

Lynn said...

Sounds like you had an absolutely fabulous time! I didn't realize that there were other Canadian friends not all that far from you. Nice to meet Annette and Bette too.
I will be dancing right there with you when your RR is complete. It looks awesome Kathy!

marylin said...

I love the housses

marylin France

Cheryl said...

Your snowman serenade is looking lovely Kathy! Glad to SAL with you (even if ive been a bit rubbish so far LOL)

AnnMcD said...

Hurray Kathy..your Lighthouse rr looks fabulous and you are so close to finishing! Way to go! I can hardly wait to see it when we both get home.
Florida is fabulous...hot and sunny and this year we have a great house! We are thoroughly enjoying our holiday!

le blog de marylin et poussy said...

have a good week end
marylin

Karen said...

Your Lighthosue RR is looking great! I'm glad you got loads of stitching time in with Dani. Love the new stash you bought! How nice to meet up with old friends and to make some new ones. It sounds like you had a great week.:)

Margaret said...

What an absolutely wonderful time you and Dani had. Great that you also got to meet with other stitching friends and oh my - a stitching shop opened specially for you. WOW!!
Lovely stitching you have been doing Kathy & love you new stash.

Carol said...

There is nothing like spending time with fellow stitchers, is there Kathy? And how amazing to have the shop all to yourself--I would be in heaven! Looks like you got some wonderful goodies--especially like that greenish fabric.

Your are so close to a finish on your lighthouses--what an amazing piece :)

Meari said...

What a great visit with stitchy friends!

I see the froggie visited you, too. Your snowman piece still looks cute!