TUSAL, a win and a winner

Today is TUSAL.

With all the big finishes I have had lately my poor frog is ready to burst. His poor arms are wrapped around his belly trying to hold in the overflow and he was shaking so much that all I got was this blurry photo. Guess I better empty the poor fellow and give him a fresh start.

I won a giveaway from The Thread Gatherer and Mathair Earth  (can be found on facebook). The soaps smelled absolutely wonderful before I even opened the package. And look at these threads, ribbons, beads and wools - silk, linen, flax and sea grass - what wonderful fibers and colors. And even a couple of wonderful new cross stitch patterns to add to my stash!!

I don't have much stitching wise to show you. I did finish an ornament but it is for an exchange and so no photo.

I have done a small amount of stitching on my UFO RR. This is the wonderful piece that Cat has sent around to have us all work on.

This is what it looked like when I received it.

And here it is after the first 2 hours of work.

I will post again before it goes in the mail and hopefully it will look like more than a red blob.

And the winner of my "I feel good giveaway" is -  EDGAR - I think I have your mailing information.

And because I'm really feeling good I drew a second name - ARIADNE - please email me at drewsgrands@hotmail.com with your mailing information and a little surprise package will be off to you.

Until next time - keep those x's crossed and the frogs stuffed.

Another Finish and A Giveaway

Can you believe it - after all these months of stitching and seeming to get nowhere I am posting my third finish in three weeks!!!!!

 May I present Nora Corbett's Valentine Fairy in all her beaded glory.

Check this one off the list. That's three finishes and so I will reward myself with a new start!!!! A big thank you to Carolyn who gifted me the fairy! Into my bottomless little wicker trunk I will go and see what I will work on next.

I also took a little time and worked on Sampler des Bouquets. The section top right is my latest progress.

And since I'm still very happy from all these finishes, I have decided to have a  little giveaway. It will be Snowflake Serenade from CHN and a few other little things thrown in. You don't have to do anything fancy.
Just leave a comment. If you want to become a follower - great. I would appreciate it. I will make a drawing  sometime on September 27.

Until next time, keep those frogs a hopping to strange new lands!!

60th Wedding Anniversary

I have so many things to share I don't know really know where to start.

First, I want to thank everyone for your wonderful comments on my Fairy finish. I walked around with a swelled head all week. Fairies will be a surprise gift for my great niece who has "selective mutism" and although she doesn't speak sat on the arm of my chair and watched me stitch whenever she could! I am hoping next year to start her on a little stitch of her own.

Hearing you all say such nice things keeps me inspired and my needles smoking. THANK YOU.

This past weekend was my parent's 60th wedding anniversary. My middle sister and I with the help of our families hosted an Open House for my parents.

Don't they look great!

I gave them their quilt. Both my parents were teary eyed and very appreciative.

Here they are trying out their handprints.

It was also my mother's birthday and my sister's 30th wedding anniversary that same day. The next day was Hunter's 5th birthday. It was a crazy busy few days but so much fun!

I have some wonderful stitches for you to see.

Rachel's beautiful Mirabilia RR. I stitched Ivy for her. Her RR is turning out wonderful and her fabric is just so luscious.

Sophia's Band Sampler RR - Teresa Wentzler borders - I stitched "The Traveler". This sampler is just so very beautiful when you see it in life.

I received my replacement stitch from Ruth for the Seasonal Exchange - her first stitch was damaged in transit.

What a beautiful replacement she sent. I love it.

AND -another big finish.


Here is CHN - Snowflake Serenade completed. This was a wonderful stitch but I had some trouble with the fabric. I was having trouble seeing the holes and discovered that the fabric was 36 count and not 32. I was able to do stitch with the help of my magnifier and can add this to the finish pile.

In other news, I had a stitch in at my home the September long weekend. Stitchers wandered in and out over the three day weekend. I even had some overnight guests.  There was a great deal of laughter, buckets of food, many stitches and a collection of orts! What fun we had. I, unfortunately, was busy hosting and forgot to take photographs. If you check out Lynn and Dani's blogs you will see we had a blast!!! I am looking forward to next year.
Lynn brought me some lovely new stash - just love stash!!! And the bat fabric is just priceless.

I am on to my next piece. I am hoping to have another big finish in the next week!
Until then, keep those x's crossed and those frogs confused.

LOOOOONNNNNGGGG Awaited Happy Dance

And here it is. Started September 3, 2008 and completed September 9, 2011.


Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden with all it's bling!!!

TUSAL and look at all these amazing stitches

Today is TUSAL day and here is my frog. He is not as full as he normally is but I've been kinda busy lol.
He is full of threads from Fairies in the Garden, my Sampler de Bouquet and the latest Mirabilia round robin.

Last weekend, I attended the annual open house at Knowledge and Needles. Dani and Christin stayed with me for the weekend and we stitched a lot!!!

Instead of those pictures of us stitching, I thought I would share some of the wonderful stitches that were displayed. Warning: lots of photos

I have stitched on Fairies in the Garden - and it is close to a finish!!!

I have to put it down for now to work on a Mirabilia RR and a Band Sampler RR. I look forward to posting that big finish soon.

I am struggling to stitch again. I took 3 days last week and painted my kitchen - ceiling, walls and all the trim.
My left elbow is sore again. I have been stitching with it propped up. That helps some but I have to stop and rest the arm every once in a while. I am not happy about that!

Until next time - may all your stitches stay crossed and all the frogs stay lost.

Lots of lovely stitches

What an eventful holiday I have had! Spending quality time with my family was awesome. And I returned home to a birthday with my grandchildren. This is the first birthday I spent with my grandsons and of course, they had to help me blow out the candles on my cake.

My grandchildren are the only thing that keep me from panicking as I just celebrated my 59th birthday and you know what that means!!! When I look in the mirror, I wonder when did I get that old. My youngest grandson has informed me that next year "I will be older than dirt" SOB!!!! Thank goodness I have my stitching.

I have some wonderful things to show you.

These are my squares stitched by Shelley for the Fair and Square exchange blog. This is a Ink Circles freebie. I absolutely love the colors and the design. Nice choice Shelley!

This is the biscornu I sent to Lisa V for the Seasonal Exchange. It is the strawberry biscornu from the Gift of Stitching newsletter. I added beads to the seam and made a matching scissor fob.

Unfortunately, my partner sent a glass framed picture and it did not survive the postal system. She is stitching a replacement piece.

My sweet friend Clare sent me this lovely birthday gift. A girl can never have too much stash or lighthouses can she! Thank you Clare. You made me smile.

A few weeks ago I won a giveaway on Terri's blog. This is the delightful package she sent me. Each gift was wrapped in old sewing pattern pieces -very ingenious. I am not very creative when it comes to arranging for photos but this time I had a brief burst of inspiration. May I present Terri's lovely antique gifts, Longaberger basket and Ann Sandles Sampler proudly displayed on my antique sewing machine. And Terri - they are going to stay there but for the sampler.  They make such a lovely vignette.

My dear friend Michele has had to have some surgery and I wanted to send her a little something. With the help of my friend Beatrice I made her a project bag. She is a huge Wizard of Oz fan and I happened across this fabric.

My stitching progress for the past two weeks has not been too much.
I have done the next part of my Jardin Prive - here I am now.

I am working away on my Fairies - I so want them done. I am happy with my progress to date. Hopefully you will see more of them next week.

EDITED TO ADD: Today I have had to frog some of my Fairies. Somewhere I am out by 1/2 stitch and cannot find it. So, for every stitch I have added today , I have pulled out double or triple. I hope I find the error soon.

I had 750 posts in my google reader. I read most of them, commented where I could and enjoyed every last stitch. Your work continues to amaze and inspire me. Keep it up!

Until next time

For Sale CHEAP : some dratted, blasted frogs who have had the nerve to park on my stitching chair. Anyone interested?