Stitching and Quilting and Sewing and................

Oh, have I been busy. My DH is laughing at me as I'm going back and forth between  stitching and the sewing machine. He says I can't seem to make up my mind which I want to do.
Well, I want to do both!

So, my computer time has been very limited. I was reading a bunch of blogs in my google reader yesterday and pushed the wrong button! You all disappeared. Oh no!!!!! If I have not commented on your blog lately - it means you were there when I pushed the wrong button. I will read your next post and catch up from there.

Here's my progress for the last 10 days or so.

Beatrice Mirabilia RR.

She left it with me when she visited. I am the last stitcher. I stitched "Emerald Mermaid" for her. I will take it home with me and give it to her. Isn't it pretty all done up. The stitchers are my fellow stitchers at home in Ontario, Canada. The little white box at the bottom left is the famous Adriana - still stitching at 94!

Marie-Paule is working on making a quilt. She asked that we each stitch a Santa for her. I stitched "Star Santa" on 14 count aida. I can't tell you where the design comes from.

A good friend of mine is expecting her first great grandchild - a boy - and she and her family are very excited. I made the little guy some baby bibs, some burp pads and a couple of bigger bibs. These were fun to sew!

This panel was in a grab bag of throwaway stuff. I loved the alphabet, found this wonderful fabric and here is my end result. It will hang in my new stitching/sewing room at home in Canada.

I have another couple of irons in the fire. I am working on Susan's Mirabilia RR. This is a new RR and the first mailing has happened. I will be posting photos as I go along. Right now, Susan's RR is just a blob of color.

I am also working on a quilt for my parent's 60th anniversary in September. It is a quilt that I designed myself so it's a little more complicated than I had intended. Once it has started to shape up, I will post a photo.

Oh, and someone sent me a picture of this - I just had to have it!
http://www.jardinprive.com/index.php?mod=DM07&PHPSESSID=8f416db4b1cd763280f85a4dd03a9c02
To finish off this week - I found this pattern in my stash - it was with a bunch of stuff given to me. If you are interested in this chart, I will be happy to give it a new home. If there is more than one person interested I will draw for it. I don't know why he/she is upside down - but you get the idea!

Until next time - keep those needles smokin'

Edited to add: Courtney - You will be the proud new owner of the above chart.

Happy Santa Dance, gifts and bling

Here it is - all done!

X's and Oh's Hockey Santa Stocking. I put the last stitches in late yesterday afternoon. This is the first project in my "Finish Them Up" Pile. I am not sure about the finishing - if I will do it myself or have it done. I am very happy to have this one out of my stitching bag!




I received the most wonderful gifts the last few days.

First from dear sweet Erin.
She saw this lighthouse and thought of me instantly. She was looking at DMC's Ocean Alphabet and the K had a lighthouse! She said she just had to stitch it. And look at the wonderful lighthouse fabric on the back. It is a very kind, thoughtful RAK and I appreciate it very much.

From my dear friend Clare - a Christmas gift that she mailed on December 12th - yep that's right - and it arrived in my mailbox on February 12 - perhaps by flying donkey???? It was kind of fun to receive a Christmas card with a sweet note in February.

I won the Valentine's giveaway on Myra's blog and here are the wonderful goodies that arrived. Let me tell you, that chocolate bar was lucky to make it into the photo. What fun it was to receive a Valentine's card like we did when we were kids. And the card says "Girls Rule."
Myra's finishing is gorgeous. The penny pocket and needlebook are beautifully finished. Thank you so much Myra.

My BFF Beatrice was here for a few days and we had a wonderful time. We laughed, we giggled, we went shopping, we did lunch, we did dinner, we went to the casino and had such fun. We did sit and stitch a bit. She has now gone off to San Diego and on up the coast on her grand adventure and I miss her already.

While she was here we went into Mexico to do a little shopping and lunch. Well, what did I find!!!!
Can you believe it - those are genuine topaz and rubies and of course, it is solid gold - NOT!!! But, girls - what a ring!
But isn't he the cutest little frog you ever saw. I could not leave him behind.
I had a terrible time trying to get a photo of him. This is the best that I could do.

My next projects will be a Santa for a friend's RR - done on Aida - not my favorite and Beatrice Mirabilia RR that she delivered to me. I am busily pulling threads and picking designs for these two pieces. What fun!!

Until next time - let's hope that frog stays on my finger and away from your stitching LOL!

TUSAL and other news

I joined the TUSAL for this year. Today is posting day. Here is my latest accumulation. I have graduated from a shot glass to a crystal martini glass. Does that give you any idea that my fingers have been busy? There are threads from my Santa stocking, threads from my Winter Exchange and threads from sewing the binding on my Fair Square wall hanging. I hope next posting I will have graduated to a larger container.

Without further ado, here are my latest goodies.

I won this giveaway from darling Sharlotte before Christmas. She was kind enough to hold it and send it on to me after I returned from Canada. There are some beautiful designs here and I hope to stitch them one day soon.

I can now show you my Seasonal Exchange - Winter! I stitched JBW's Snow Globe on 32 count mushroom lugana and finished it into this little pillow. Marjorie assures me that she likes it.

I received this wonderful LK -Winter Wishes from Conny. It is so cute and the little pompoms on the corner add that special finishing touch.

I have met two new stitcher/bloggers through this exchange and look forward to getting to know them.

 Since I was at the sewing maching making the Snow Globe into a pillow, I also finished my blackwork SanMan Snowmen into a pillow.

I have finished quilting and sewing the binding on my Fair Square wallhanging.. Here it is all done and hanging on the wall. I will be taking it home and it will hang in my sewing/stitching room! I am reminded of each of my exchange partners as I view this wall hanging. I love it. 

And look at this - I have been addicted to this one. For some reason, I cannot put it down and have accomplished lots. I will stick with the backstitching so I can see this wonderful Santa finished. Then I will stitch the heel and toe and the funny little penguin who is shooting at the net. I LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!  I hope to finish it in the next couple of weeks.

That's it for now everyone. Have a great week. My BFF Beatrice is on her way here for a visit and I can hardly wait. I miss her so much and look forward to seeing her. Until next time keep those needles smoking!

I have a confession

Dear Fellow Stitchers
It has been two weeks since my last confession and I have been shopping. I was ill with that stupid cough most of the time I was home for Christmas and so mall shopping was not an option. But, oh, my fingers did their work via the internet. And so I am the proud owner of some new stash - check these out.

First up, I saw this Christmas pattern  - on Anne's blog and had to have it! and I needed a new Mirabilia fairy while I was at it. I can't order just one pattern now can I.

                                                          Prairie Moon - Merry Xmas 
                                                        Mirabilia - The Woodland Fairie

And of course, Merry Xmas needed some fabric and so I was off to Picture This Plus to order this delicious fabric - 32 count Lugana - "Haunted". This was my first time ordering from their website. The fabric is fantastic and their service was very quick.

Then, I received an email that Silkweaver had a sale on their grab bags. Well, I couldn't order just one and besides Beatrice might like some of these for her stash. Look at all these wonderful colors.

Next up I had an email at Christmas  from our Not So Secret Santa - Judy M. Judy is a personal friend of mine and such a wonderful person. She often encourages me when I think about not blogging. She always makes me feel that I have something to contribute and I so appreciate it and her. She gifted me with a certificate to Mary Kathyrn's shop and so I purchased these!

                                                          Country House Needleworks
                                                                  Snowflake Serenade
                                                                      English Garden
                                                                     The Nutcracker

                                                                Long Dog Samplers
                                                                       The Token

Mary Kathryn kindly included the 2 Prairie Schooler designs.


In my mailbox the other day came the most special gift from my BFF Beatrice. She made me a project bag.

Isn't it wonderful. But the best part, was the card inside that said "Because I miss you". Well, Beatrice I miss you a great deal too. I will be seeing you soon here in AZ. I can hardly wait.

And I've been stitching. I did a little work on Long Dog's Bagatelle. It is easy to stitch with just one color. I love how it is coming out and the fabric is a delight to work on.

I am determined to finish up this stocking before the end of March and so here is my latest progress. I finished the first two pages and backstitched it. I love how his face just came alive as I added those stitches. You will probably be seeing lots of this one as I work to get it completed. I hope you don't mind.

Well, that's it for this post folks. Thanks for stopping by and being patient with me when I go off the radar sometimes. It is not that I am not stitching or checking out your blogs, I'm just crazy busy and loving life in general.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep those beautiful stitches crossed.

ABC's of me and some stitching progress

What do you do when you have a cold and cough that just don't quit. You stitch! and so I did. The coughing is still really bad. I finally went to the hospital and they gave me some "knock you on your keister" cough medicine. Well, I'm still standing (grumpy!) and coughing. My throat is so sore from coughing.

Here is my progress on Hockey Santa - there are lots of quarter stitches in this one! I will stitch on this for one more day and then it is time to give Bagatelle some attention.

And I finished my grid for my Mirabilia RR. I have chosen fairies this time and so it says "On the Wings of a Mirabilia Fairy 2011.

 I have seen this quiz out there and thought I would try it.  I'm not sure you really want to know all this about me but here it goes.
 A - Age: 58
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: doing dishes - I'd rather scrub a toilet
D - Dog's name: Had a Sheltie named Snuggles - devastated when he died so no more for me.
E - Essential start of the day item: French Vanilla cappucino
F - Favorite color: red
G - Gold or Silver: gold
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: Not a chance
J - Job: retired and enjoying life
K - Kids: two grown sons, two DIL's , one granddaughter and two grandsons
L - Living arrangements: house in town, cottage up north for summer, park model in Arizona for winter
M - Music you love: Country - anything Alan Jackson
N - Nicknames: Kat or Kath
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: too many - appendix, tonsils, hysterectomy, big toe fusion both feet
P - Pet Peeve: People picking at food while I'm cooking.
Q - Quote from a movie: Life is like a box of chocolates-----
R - Right handed or left: left
S - Siblings: two sisters
T - Time you wake up: 7:00 am
U - Underwear: for years I wore what my sisters called floss, now granny undies
V - Vegetable you dislike: brussle sprouts
W - Workout Style: from couch with stitching in hand, to computer to check what is up to sewing machine to couch
X - X-rays you've had: too many
Y - Yummy food you make: weiner schnitzel, homemade spaetzle and rosti
Z - The best place to visit: anywhere I am welcome! Love to travel




The TUSAL has attracted some new people to my blog. Welcome! I love having you visit me and I have stopped by and checked out all your beautiful work! What a talented bunch we stitchers are. Look forward to getting to know you.
Till next time, keep those needles smoking - especially those who joined the 15 day Crazy Challenge. I admire you all.
 

TUSAL and January 1 Start

I signed up for the TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch Along) on Daffycat's blog this year.
And so here is my sad collection of orts. They are indeed in a shotglass. I have picked up a cold and sore throat and have spent most of my time reading instead of stitching.

 The colored orts are from my Seasonal Exchange that I can't show you.The wrapper (DMC B5200) and the white threads are from my January 1st start. Beatrice talked me into this one. It's not that I don't have several BAP's now, so we will just add another ROFL. - Long Dog Sampler - Bagatelle. The fabric is a gorgeous 32 count evenweave from Silkweaver called Slate Blue.

 Pretty sad start isn't it.

Until next time, fellow stitchers, keep those needles singing.

Santa and the Reindeer ate it all!

Before I get to the stitching part of the this post I thought I would share this photo with you. My grandsons woke up Christmas morning and were astonished to find that Santa had drank his milk, ate his cookie and even the reindeer must have been hungry! It was priceless.

 

We had a great time at Christmas. Having small grandchildren who believe in Santa made the days so special. A visit from our oldest son and his family for a couple of days was awesome too. Even my sister came to stay for a couple of days and practiced "Shop Till You Drop" with us!! Some wonderful memories were added to my heart.

On the stitching front - I can now show you the stitched gift that occupied most of my stitching time for  2 months.
If you remember, back in August Missy Ann blew me away with the gorgeous stitched lighthouse box. Well, I thought a long time before I decided what to stitch for her birthday on December 27th. I wanted it to be something special and something very different.

Here's what I came up with - Memory Keeper by The Workbasket - stitched on 32 count mushroom lugana with a mix of Crescent Colors, Weeks Dye Works and Carrie's Creations hand dyed threads.

I learned a very valuable lesson - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! and when it says grid the fabric - do that!
After I cut the fabric, I realized I had cut it wrong. It took much finagling, wrangling, turning the air blue and the help of a very experienced quilter to make this into the envelope.

Included with the gift were some bunny thread drops and a pair of bunny scissors. The girl does love her bunnies!
I sent if off before I left Arizona and it arrived before Christmas. Missy Ann was a good girl and did not open it until her birthday. She has assured me that she liked her gift. I was so touched when she said she is putting the handmade christening gown that her grandmother made her inside it.

I did some more work on Hockey Santa and he now has a head. Lots of quarter stitches in this one!

I am still working on my Seasonal Exchange - about half way.

I am also moderating a new Mirabilia RR on the WWRRB starting January 1st so I've been busy picking patterns and gridding my fabric. The design is now on paper. I am trying to decide whether to leave "Titania" or replace her with either  "Cottage Garden Fairy" or "Woodland Fairy". Annette stitched "Titania" on my previous RR. Hmm, that means a little stash enhancement since I have neither pattern.

To all my wonderful friends out there in blogland, I wish you a safe, healthy, prosperous New Year! May every blessing fall upon you and your entire household in this new year.
To my fellow stitchers - I wish speedy needles, gorgeous fabrics, threads to fondle, charts to drool over and nary a frog!!! Right Harmien!!!