Vegas Baby

First of all, thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a little note for drawing of the sisterhood. I have met many wonderful new people and checked out many new blogs (still working on that). The winner's name is Carol - Linen Stitcher.

We are in wonderful, wacky Las Vegas.

My first stop in Las Vegas was a wonderful little slice of heaven called Stitcher's Paradise. I was introduced to this shop by an online friend and we met there. Here is a photo of Juls and I in the shop. I walked out with 1/2 yd 25 count antique white lugana for my HAED, 1/4 yd. white 32 count lugana to restart my Cirque des Cercles, Glendon Places "Monster March", M Designs "Las Vegas" (only available at this shop) and some new threads. I was so in awe I left without the threads that I actually needed. It was so nice to meet Juls. She knows her fabric and designers! She amazed me with her knowledge. We had a lovely time and extended it to dinner in a local restaurant. Thank you Juls - it was a great pleasure to meet you and I hope we meet again.

We have had some friends from home fly here. We have met them and are touring the strip. It is as anyone would expect - over the top. There doesn't seem to be any recession here. It is crazy busy and the number of young people is astonishing. We have had lots of laughs and have not won a single dime in the casinos. Such is life. As I have been to Vegas several times I thought I would share a couple of different photos of the Strip.
These are the doors to the ladies washroom in Planet Hollywood in Caesar's Palace.On the exterior wall of the Venetian.Dh and his friend outside of the Riviera.

Now, for stitching. The Fair Squares that I have sent recently have been received and so I can share them with you.
My Round 11 squares are:
Dear Friend by Elizabeth Designs on 32 count antique white Lugana. I added the heart in the middle.

My Winter Squares were a freebie (Mausimom I believe) on the same fabric.


There was no information on these lovely squares I received from Mia in Finland. They are gorgeous. Love the design.

I am working on a couple of secret stitches at the moment and so cannot share anything else for now.
I will blog again when I can. We are leaving tomorrow for the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona and Jerome and then home to Yuma.

Take care. And May all your losses be little! Just ask me about that!!!!!

And the winner is......................

LINEN STITCHER!!!!

Congratulations Carol.

Please send me your snail mail address to drewsgrands@hotmail.com and the lady will be on her way.

The Sisterhood is Ready for Travel

Here she is in all her glory. I stitched her on 32 count Bone Lugana using DMC threads. She is done in blues to stay in my Arizona home. She is ready to travel in search of another sister stitcher.

This is the path she has taken on her journey.

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007)
She sent it to Lili in France (June 17, 2007)
Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)
Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)
Who sent it to Lizzie in North Carolina, U.S. (February 26, 2008)
Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, U.S. (April 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Anna in Pennsylvania, U.S. (May 28, 2008)
Who sent it to Wendy in Ontario, Canada (July 4, 2008)
Who sent it to Sue in Michigan, U.S. (August 2, 2008)
Who sent it to Jennifer in Pennsylvania, U.S. (September 2, 2008)
Who sent it to CJ in Texas, U.S. (October 25, 2008)
Who sent it to Claire in Nova Scotia, Canada (January 20, 2009
Who sent it to Kathy in Arizona, U.S. (February 17, 2009)

If you would like to be the next to receive the travelling pattern, please leave a comment on this post including your email address.
You have until midnight February 25th to leave your comment. I will draw a name on Feb. 26th and will mail her as soon as possible after that.
When you have finished stitching her please post her to your blog including a list of her journey and send her on her way.

Lots of stitching and not all on fabric

I have had a very busy week. My trip to the post office this past week sent five packages off in the mail. And it was fun.
I cannot show you much of the stitching that was mailed until it is received but I do have a few things to show you.

I granted Jill's Make a Wish and she emailed me that it arrived yesterday. She wished for a design by Sampler Girl. I pdf'd this pattern called Lavender Mansion and ordered the GAST threads from Stitching Bits and Bob's. The fabric is Silkweaver's 28 count Jamaiican Sunset. I made it into a little house pillow.

I received a lovely gift from Sandra this past week. She had mentioned on her blog that she was unable to get a walking foot for her sewing machine. I had two that did not fit mine so I mailed them off to her. Well, they both fit. She was very happy. She sent me these beautiful things as a thank you.
Check out the almond cakes. Yep, those are cakes!!!!!
I gridded and stitched my heart on my Friendship Sampler RR and it is ready for mailing. I did a floss toss so you could see my fabric and choice of colors.My fabric is 32 count bone lugana. I stitched my heart with DMC 4230 - actually a mauve color and my colors are mauves, blues and greens. I think it will turn out nice.

I stitched on my Royal Holiday for the Friday Let's Stitch. She is now a beige blog with some brown swirls and I actually got to add some red too!!!

And from the very bottom of my basket came Noddy. I have added the cow at the bottom and that pink blob is a pig. I need so much encouragement to work on this one. I am just not enjoying it.

And now the other set of stitches. My little grandson Hunter fell twice in about three hours and now has 7 stitches, 3 over his left eye and 4 in his forehead. His poor parents were a mess. He now has a helmet to wear until he heals some and my son says he will wear it until he is 17.

Until next time, may all your stitches be in fabric!!!!!

Better late than never

I am so sorry everyone. I just have so many irons in the fire, I'm hot, hot, hot!!!! I am stitching and quilting away.

For those of you who have followed the trials and tribulations of Marjean's Mirabilia RR you will be happy to know that it is safe in her hands WHEW!!!!

I have won The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern. It is in the mail to me as I type. So, keep your eyes open for when I post that I am finished and that it is ready to move on. I am honored to join the Sisterhood!

I recently won a giveaway on Jennifer's blog. This is the beautiful package that arrived in the mail today. WOW!!
The stitched bag is just so pretty and see the chocolates are still inside the bag - well, for a few minutes anyway. She included some Thread Heaven, Piecemaker needles (my favorite), a lighthouse calendar and a gorgeous Just Nan pattern (my first ever!)

I finished Shannon's Winter Neighborhood. It was a fun stitch. I think my house is a bit small but I live in a small house too.

That is the only stitching photo I can share! Jill's Make a Wish is finished and will be in the mail this week. I am working away on the first of three Fair and Squares.

Here is a photo of my Mystery Quilt. It is called Pinwheel Parade. It was tricky to find 4 shades of 4 colors with no patterns, prints or flowers and then see what they became.


Our quilt group also had a challenge - make a quilted piece with the intials of your name. Here is mine

K - Khaki
M - Mauve
L - Lemon
A - Avacado

There was a lot of light when I took this photo so the colors are not true. Let me tell you - K was difficult!!!!
In other news, I have joined the Friendship Sampler RR starting at the end of February. I think there are still a few spaces left. If anyone is interested, please email me and I will provide you with the details.

And dear Ruth is the only person to have agreed to be interviewed. The rest of you are such chickens LOL. You can check out her blog to see what questions I asked her and how she answered them.
Until the next time, keep stitching one and all. I consider myself so fortunate to be part of this awesome stitching community.

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

Well, be prepared - this will be a varied post! There has been lots going on lately. Some I can show and some I can't.
I have been very quiet as I have been working on a mystery quilt with my quilt group here in Arizona. I missed the first two weeks so I am catching up. I am there now. I cannot show you the table topper as it will be a gift for someone who reads my blog. Sorry.
I also will not bore you with photos of Noddy and Royal Holiday. Noddy has had a monkey and the same boat as before added to the border. I have done some stitching on Royal but she still looks like a brown blob.
Now for the variety.
First up, here is Jack's birthday cake that Grandma made for him. He requested a garbage truck and after much searching here is what I came up with. It is not the best as I did not have my decorating supplies but he loved it.

Upon my return I received this lovely gift from Clare. Clare and I did a Fair and Square exchange together and have become friends. She sent me this lovely ornament of a lighthouse. Santa's sleigh is being pulled by a team of goldfish. We can't quite figure that one out so if anyone has any ideas.
Next up, my neighborhood is home. Annemarie mailed it off to me late December and I was thrilled to receive it. The photos do not do it justice. It is so tiny and perfect. My heartfelt thanks go out to Carol, Katrina, Judith, Cathy B, Annemarie and Michelle. Edited to add Erin. I am so sorry Erin. I knew someone's name was missing but just could not come up with it. Today I looked at my RR and there it was - your name. thank you so much.

I have a good friend named Bill C. Last year, he went to the Yuma fair with Leo and I and saw the ribbons that I had won. He made a crack to the effect that anyone could do that and that he was going to stitch something and enter it in next year's fair as competition for me. I promptly dismissed his words.
Well, this week he presented me with this finished cross stitched piece. He has since learned that it is not as simple as it looks and that stitching takes a great deal of time. He worked on it off and on since last summer. Bill is known for his whining capabilities so I will always be reminded of him by his choice of pieces to stitch. I think he did a wonderful job for his first stitch!!!!! and I appreciate the time and effort he put into it.
I also received my next winter neighborhood in the mail and have started on it. Here is my progress to date.

Now, if you are not bored to tears I have a little business to conduct.
Lesley had this interesting little tidbit on her blog and I decided to go along with it. She got to interview me and ask me 5 questions in return for posting them to my blog.

1. What do you like and dislike about the place where you live?
In Arizona I love the sunshine and the everchanging desert. I do not like the duststorms and sometimes I miss green trees. In Canada, I love the view of the lake from all the windows in my house. I do not like the dampness that can be persistant from living so close to the water.
2. What types of crafts and needlework do you do and which do you enjoy most?
I do cross stitch, swedish weaving, crochet, ribbon embroidery, crewel, 3D paper tole, cake decorating and quilting. My top choice is always cross stitching.
3. Tell us what you admire most about your sons.
My older son Bob - his calmness, his love for his family and the joy he takes in life
My younger son Adam - he is very affectionate, his love for his family and his sense of adventure.
They are my great joy. Their father died when they were very small and they have been everything to me. Leo is a wonderful father to them for many years and my children adore him. I have been twice blessed.
4. Out of everything you have made yourself, which do you like best? which did you enjoy most? which are you most proud of?
I love Fairy Grandmother (Lavender and Lace) that I stitched for my granddaughter. I enjoyed stitching Paradigm Lost the most and I am most proud of Celtic Banner which won me the ribbons at the county fair.
5. I received a wonderful stitchy surprise today. What has surprised you most recently?
My blog entry before this one I think covers my biggest surprise. I cannot believe that after all this time, that Mirabilia RR has been returned to me and that I was able to send it on to Marjean.

If you would like to be interviewed by me, this is what you do.
1. Leave a comment saying "Interview me"
2. I will respond by sending you 5 questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers
4. You will include an explanation and an offer to interview someone else
5. When others ask to be interviewed you will ask 5 questions.

Whew, I think I got it all. Okay anyone want to be interviewed??????????

A Miracle!!!

Those of you who follow my blog will remember that I mailed a Mirabilia RR to Marjean on October 27th of last year.I had offered to do a block for her as some people had backed out.
Well, Marjean never received it. I was heartsick. All that work and it was gone.

Well, yesterday the mailman came to my door with two packages. One of them was Marjean's RR. It had gone to her and said it was undeliverable even though I have since verified the address, back to Canada and back to me in Arizona. I was stunned!!!

Needless to say, it is going out to her again with insurance, delivery confirmation and everything else I can think of to ensure that it gets into her hands safely.

Miracles do happen!!!!!!!!!!!

I will post my updates in a day or so. Trying to meet a deadline at the moment.