Saturday 28 December 2013

Why have I been so quiet?

I haven't blogged. I haven't Facebooked. I haven't "chatted". I have barely stuck my nose out the door of my house.
Every spare minute I have had for the last few weeks I have been beading. And here's what it is all about.


Passione Ricamo 2013 Mystery on 32 count Mermaid's Sea lugana from Under the Sea Fabrics. I think there are almost 2000 beads on this piece and I didn't do them until all the stitching was done. My hands and elbows are very sore. But, SHE IS DONE!





 I hope to have a review of this years finishes in my next post.

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014

Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases and the Happiest New Year in 2014



Wednesday 27 November 2013

Nutcracker shopping and ornament X2 and a wonderful giveaway!

I did a little shopping. I am a big fan of Stitch and Frog www.stitchandfrog.com and their wonderful service.

Here are my new goodies.



I received a PM from Kathleen Guillory letting me know she had these little treasures for sale. How could I say no?









I did an ornament exchange just before I left Canada for the winter.

 Here is the ornament I stitched from the 2013 JCS Christmas Ornament Issue.


And here is the ornament I received from Bernie!



That was just too funny! I loved the design when I stitched it and am thrilled that I do not have to stitch it for myself.


I am just wrapping up a Christmas exchange and am working steadily at my PR mermaid. I hope to have her finished in the next few weeks. This is a photo from last week. The photo is not the greatest and the color is not very good. When I am done I will work to get the best photo. I have made some progress but the frogs came to visit last night and that caused some headache.






And speaking of mermaid. I met a lady online from the Passione Ricamo mystery who is from Yuma. YEAH!

Her name is Edie and I went stitching with her and two other ladies last week. They meet the first and third Wednesday of every month. I will certainly be joining them again!

And Nancy at victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com is having a wonderful giveaway. Check it out and let her know I sent you!








Tuesday 12 November 2013

Adriana Valks

It is with great sadness and a very heavy heart that I write this post.

My dearest friend and stitching teacher Adriana Valks has died at the age of 97.
Adriana was at stitching Thursday stitching away on a piece and three weeks later she is gone. My head is spinning and I am so very, very sad. I loved her so much. Here she is smiling, sitting at my dining room table with Christin and Judie during a stitching get together.


The very first piece of stitching that I ever attempted was Lavender and Lace Nantucket Rose. It was beyond my capabilities at that time. Adriana said to me "Give it to me and I will stitch it for you. But I will not stitch another. I will teach you to stitch." And she did.

Here is Nantucket Rose.

We have stitched and shared our lives for many, many years.

She and her husband Martine were part of my early life with my first husband. Martine had cancer at the same time as my husband and he was so very sad that he was going to live and my husband was not. My husband was 22 and Martine was in his 60s.They consoled me many times as I dealt with the sickness and death of my husband. We drifted apart.
Several years later I met them again and they introduced me to my BFF Beatrice (Their daughter).Beatrice and I have been best friends for 33 years and I could not imagine my life without her. What a gift her parents gave me!
Adriana and I have stayed good friends and we have shared much these past years. But, most of all, we shared our love of cross stitch. We have stitched and stitched and talked forever. She has become like a second mother to me. I will never put a stitch into a piece of fabric without thinking of her and thanking her for her precious gift.This is one of her very recent stitched pieces.

I hope the good Lord has a large stash of fabric, charts and threads because Adriana is going to burn through it all.I am sure she is in Heaven teaching the angels to stitch.

I will miss her terribly. 





Monday 21 October 2013

Sampler Gameboard and Nutcrackers and Christmas

Here is my Sampler Gameboard. I am sure you haven't seen it for a while. I am about 2/3 done. I stitch 4 days at a time on each piece. I figure 3 more rounds will give me a happy dance.


I also joined a stitch called Torah Stitch by Stitch. Each stitcher signs up and is sent a section of the Torah to stitch. This is my contribution. Genesis 16 Verse 15-17. It has been sent back to the group to be added to their work.They are now at 420 stitchers from 12 countries. If you are interested you can find more information here.


And, because we winter in Arizona we had an early Christmas with my parents, our children and grandchildren. The tree was up and the house was decorated for Christmas. All of my nutcrackers made an appearance. I am only putting a photo of a very few. I think last count was 200 or so. I had such fun. The grandkids were a little confused but very happy with their early Christmas gifts.




Of the gifts I received this was, by far, the best gift ever.
A Jim Shore Nutcracker. Isn't he a handsome fella! and he is all mine!


 I have tried to do a fair amount of stitching in the last 6 months. This is my ort jar after that time frame. Either I stitched a lot or I made lots of errors. You chose lol.


Friday 11 October 2013

Cathey and her Pumpkin Patch

It is with great sadness that I am writing this.

I received word last night that our wonderful, courageous fellow stitcher has lost her battle with cancer.

Cathey has passed away.

For more information you can go here www.kscott77@blogspot.com

My heart goes out to her husband, young son, entire family and her wide circle of friends both live and internet.

Heaven has gained an exceptional angel and the stitching community has lost a true treasure.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Desert Mandala Update and a little baking.

I have been working on my Desert Mandala.  After 8 days I have stitched the bottom landscape and the Jessica stitches in the bottom right cactus. I am not happy with some of my Jessica stitches so may pull them out later and redo.



I have also started my Christmas baking. We are having Christmas at Thanksgiving as we will stay in Arizona for the winter. I will fully decorate the house and provide a Christmas meal and gifts for all. It is such fun.
All of my nutcrackers will be out on display!


I made 8 tourtiere pies and 24 tourtiere tartlets in two days. Boy, does my house smell yummy!


 I would like to thank those of you who have come back to my blog and/or left wonderful comments after my long hiatus. I am visiting your blogs and reading your posts but I cannot comment from my Samsung tablet. I love all the work done and how your lives are progressing. Thank you for sharing!


I am currently stitching on a verse from the Torah for Torah Stitch by Stitch but it has been a frog-infested progress. Hopefully, they will depart soon and I will have something to show other than a mess of ripped out threads.



Friday 27 September 2013

Pumpkins for Cathey

Today's post is for my very dear friend Cathey.



Happy Blogaversary Cathey.

Sending hugs and lots of love.

If you would like to post a pumpkin for Cathey please do.


If you would like to visit her blog and wish her a happy Blogaversary - here is the link
pumpkinpatchandco.blogspot.ca

If you wish to understand more of what's up you can check out here  itsdaffycat.blogspot.com

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Long overdue post

Just a quick post to show you what I've been stitching.

CCN Santa's Village
4 of 12 done

Chatelaine's Desert Mandala
Page 6 of 12

Joan Elliott's Flamboyant Peacock

Cherished Stitches Etui


Page 3 completed. I nicknamed this pair "The Ugly Stepsisters" The over one stitching for the lettering was a trial!

Just Nan's Mouse, Bee and Bunny


Just Nan's Angel Box

My completed Mirabilia Round Robin from 2012 ready for framing.


Drawn Threads Sampler Gameboard at the halfway mark


Passione Ricamo Mystery - Part 3




My grandson decided he wanted to learn to stitch.






And a bunch of finished finishes!!!!!



Wednesday 24 April 2013

Taking a break

I am fine everyone. I am just taking a break. I hate the new Blogger. Google Reader is ending. I'm frustrated lol. Will be back!

Monday 25 February 2013

TUSAL, Wipocalypse, Hodgepodge catchup

I am alive and well. When I hit post, the spacing is really messed up. The more I try to fix it the worse it gets. I apologize for this mess. For the first time, I over-committed myself with stitching and quilting deadlines. I have been stressed and it has taken the joy from my stitching. In order to meet my commitments I had to chose between stitching, quilting or blogging. Unfortunately blogging lost out. So here is my long overdue Wipocalypse, TUSAL and stitching, quilting post for the past 6 weeks and my early post for the current Wipocalype and TUSAL. My TUSAL glass. Round Robin #1 Cat's band sampler. I stitched the top right section. I really struggled with some of the stitches on this one but love the finished project. I got an email today that my Band Sampler is completed and on it's way home. I am sooo excited. Round Robin #2 T 2012 RR stitching. Don't you just love this Margaret Sherry hedgehog that I stitched. He made me smile. Here is the RR as it goes out in the mail. One more round and this RR is done. For the Valentine Fair Square exchange here are the squares I stitched. They are a Papillion Creations freebie. From Marcy I received these absolutely gorgeous squares. The Fair Square exchange is looking for new members. Please take the time to look at their blog and sign up. It is such fun to do these. For the Seasonal Exchange the stitching I did - a Gazette 94 freebie. Here is the exchange I received. This is a Lizzie Kate and my partner Linda is from Mexico. How cool is that! I cannot show you the winter exchange on the Stitched With Love Exchange group until notified that all are sent and received. The exchange I received is gorgeous and will post when I can. My Maple Leaf is finished and at the framers along with my Las Vegas Tree and Merry Xmas. Wait till you see the frames and mats for these. On the Quilting front. My mother's quilt has returned from the quilters and the binding is on. I will post a photo when I can get a full photo soon. I took a class called "Little Twister" and here is the result. Here is my mystery quilt for this year done. I still have to sandwich and quilt it but so far so good. With the leftover fabric I made a square for our raffle quilt. Here is that square. I received this wonderful soap frog at Christmas from a dear friend and forgot to post it. Isn't he precious! Thanks Deb. I had some thank you's to send to some wonderful people who have gifted me magazines, patterns etc. And so I took out my sewing machine. Here is the result. My newest purchases Just Nan's Christmas Mouse. I saw this little fellow posted on a blog and had to have him. He instituted a country wide search and was finally located at a needlework shop in California. Since then they have released the most darling bunny and he is on his way. The Cross Stitch Magazine with the Joan Elliott Diary with the help from a friend in England. CCN - Santa's House. Part 3 of 12 This Stitch Starter Ruler from Blue Ribbon Designs - no more starting too close to the edge of the fabric for me. And that's it for this post lol. No wonder I have been missing. Thank goodness the frog visits were brief during this time frame. May all your frogs come on a porcelain lily pad like mine lol. PS What the heck is up with Blogger????? Trying to post photos and get the spacing right was brutal. All my photos came up in words not pictures and so I had to work like the dicknns to get them in. I hope when I hit post this makes some kind of sense. Is it just me or is this really screwy?