LIGHTHOUSE HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!

Here is my lighthouse Round Robin  finished, washed and ironed. Isn't it stunning. It was started June 14, 2007 and finished March 27, 2011.

A huge thank you to all my lighthouse keepers. There were many grumbles, complaints and even some cursing as each lighthouse was stitched. They are Stoney Creek designs and some lighthouses had over 50 colors and many, many color changes. It was indeed a labor of love. I will be taking it home to Canada to have it framed.

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!

Flying By

Wow, this week has just flown by. I don't know where it went. I know I spent a lot of time in front of my sewing machine and a few short hours on the sofa stitching.
This is what I've been up to this week.

The first picture comes with a bit of a story.
My parents will be married 60 years Sept 12th and so I wanted to do something special for them. I designed them a quilt. This is the top finished and now it has gone to the quilters.
The top row - a little hard  to see - has their dates Sept 12, 1951-2011 embroidered by a good friend of mine.
The rest are the family handprints. My young niece in Texas got my parents handprints "for a school project". Clever girl. My parents are at the top, myself, my sisters and their families fill the rest of the quilt. I can easily recognize my father's hands. They are short but very thick. My mother's hands are starting to cripple with arthritis and you can see the twist in her fingers. My youngest sister cut the tendon in one finger when she was young and you can see the finger has healed crooked. Myself and two of my nieces are lefties and so you can see our left hands. My little grandson's hands are easy to recognize. Already this quilt has a story. The quilt should be back from the quilters by mid April. Then I will sew on the binding and make some shams when I get back to Canada. I hope they like their surprise gift.

I received two wonderful gifts this week. I won a giveaway on Karin's blog - she creates her own glass beads. The lovely scissor fob has her incredible beads too. Isn't this a stunning collection! I'm trying to think what I will make with this.

Last night I went to a welcome home party for some friends of ours who had spent 3 months touring and visiting family in Australia. Look what she brought me. Now, she nows nothing about cross stitch. I think she made some wonderful choices don't you. I will have to stitch her a little something from one of these.

This week has been focused on my lighthouse. This is Point Loma in California.

For those of you who have not seen this before this is my lighthouse RR. It was started many years ago and I am finally hoping to finish it up and have it framed. Isn't it beautiful!

My friend Dani arrives tonight from Ottawa. I am very excited to see her. She and I are off to Phoenix for a couple of days. We should have stories and photos when we return. I hope to settle my CC thread issues while there.

Till then - keep those stitches crossed.

Angels, Fairies, Snowmen, Lighthouses, Frogs and TUSAL

Can you tell by the title it has been a busy few days? I have skipped from one stitching project to another and each one has a story.

First, here is the first RR from the newest Mirabilia RR that I am participating in. This is one of the sweet little angels from "Angel Proclamation" I love this design. It was a gift from a friend and one day I hope to stitch it all. When I got to the wings, I needed Wisper White and I had forgotten mine at home. I only needed a few strands. Thanks to Melissa - she popped some in the mail and I had it in a couple of days. Stitchy friends are the best.

Then I stitched on Valentine Fairy. This was a giveaway last year that I won. In case you think I'm a wicked fast stitcher - all the rose in her dress was already stitched. I stitched the darker rose color, the pale pink legs, the Kreinik and the mauve in her wings. And then I got out the Pixie Dust to stitch more on her wings. And that's when things came to a grinding halt. The two skeins are from different dye lots and are not the same color. Not good. Will have to try and order another and hope I get a match. But, it will have to wait - I'm not ordering just one skein of thread. Back into the basket it goes until I resolve the thread issue.

I am doing a SAL with Cheryl on CCN "Snowflake Serenade". And that's when the frogs came to visit. This is my sad progress for one entire day. I restitched the left side and the top twice and I have to restitch them again. Maybe next week (sigh).

And so, now what do I pick up. I know -  my Lighthouse RR that I vowed to complete. And here is my tiny little bit of progress on this one. A few stitches of green grass. I'm liking this one right now so I think it will be a focus for a while.

It is TUSAL time - and here is my martini glass.  It is overflowing with the threads from my Santa Stocking, the Mirabilia RR, Valentine Fairy, Snowflake Serenade and the lighthouses. There are some wrappers from new thread skeins and even some sewing threads from my quilting. I will glad to empty this and start fresh.

Edited to add: To Staci and other readers - there is no martini in the glass since the orts drank it all. That's why they are hanging all over the sides of the glass.

Well, that's it for this week friends. Have a great week and keep those needles slipping through the threads.

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!