TUSAL and Mirabilia Mash

I am adding my TUSAL post a little early as I am on the road home to Canada.
Here is my martini glass before I emptied it for my trip home.

 And here is my jar with my threads since January 1st of this year. I think I like to stitch lol!

We have had quite the start to our trip. We left Yuma and our car broke down in Phoenix. Thank goodness it broke down in a major city and we were able to find a Volkswagen dealer. Our trip since then has been great. Beautiful weather, no crazy traffic problems and a compatible companion.

 We stopped in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum. It was gutwrenching to walk through the museum and experience the bombing and the aftermath. The beautiful tribute to the 168 people who lost their lives with the symbolic chairs and the Survivor tree was so peaceful. There is a wonderful website with the story of the bombing and the memorial. Please, when you have the time take a look at their website. It is so touching.

Now on a lighter note

Before I left Yuma, I had two Mirabilia Round Robin finishes.

First up, is my Mirabilia RR from 2011 that came home and my section was unfinished.
I chose to stitch - Lily of the Woods, the Dreaming Fairy.

Here is my finished RR and the wonderful fairies each person added.


Tea for Two - left

Tea for Two - right

Fairie Treasures

Midsummer Night's Fairy

Fairy Flora

Aida, the Garden Fairy

The Woodland Fairy

I look forward to having this framed and hung with my previous Mirabilia RR. 

I received Karen's beautiful Pixie Round Robin and contributed Tigerlily.

Loved the bright colors in this one.

And here is her Round Robin to date.  The fabric is gorgeous and suits the pixies so well.

We will be in Annapolis, Maryland in the next day or so. We are visiting some friends on our way. I am looking forward to the visit. I have never been to this area before.

And then, on Monday, I will be home in Canada. I am looking forward to hugging and loving my children, grandchildren, parents and friends. It is wonderful to spend the winter in Arizona but there is "No Place Like HOME".

Until next time, stay safe and hug your family please.

Wipocalypse Post - April

I have been MIA for a while. I am struggling with keeping up my blog.
I have so many wonderful bloggers out there that I love to read and see what they are up to. But, I just can't keep up with commenting on them all. I feel that if I am not commenting, I shouldn't be posting and expecting bloggers to read and comment on mine. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing and how do I resolve it?

I do have a couple of commitments for the year - the Wipocalypse and TUSAL.

Today is my Wipocalypse post.

I have been stitching and quilting.

First up, this is the table runner I made for a dear friend of mine who just moved into a new home this winter.
This pattern is done on an onpoint grid and was quite the challenge.

Then, I am working away on my next Band Sampler RR. I really struggled with this one. I added a title and ivy down one side of the RR and then tore it all out. It was just too busy and I did not like the color or title for my RR. I think I will leave that part until I get the RR back.
I have stitched Sweetheart Trees - Blueberry Heart. I have 9 more of these hearts in charts and thought they would make a lovely round robin.

I don't have any of the charms that go in the center of each heart but hope to find some at the end.

I have also made very small progress on Point Loma Lighthouse. I am working on the building itself and think I've done a total of 10 rows.  Well, after looking at the photo - maybe 5 rows LOL

This is my latest stitch for the Facebook 2012 Round Robin.
I am stitching one of the three kings. Here is my progress . When I am finished I will post with the entire round robin to date.

I have framed and gifted Part 1 of Jardin Prive's Sampler aux Bouquets to a friend.

This sweet lady kindly crocheted all 367 - 3" squares for an afghan that I have carried around for at least 12 years figuring I would do one day. I thought she deserved something a little special.

I am starting to pack up for our annual trek home to Canada. We will leave here around the 17th and expect to be home around the 24th.

Until next time, please pray that the frogs do not hop into my car for a ride back to Canada.
Take care all.

TUSAL and why the glass is so empty

My poor TUSAL glass is so very empty this time. There are a few threads from my Mirabilia reindeer and not much else.

And here is why the jar is so empty.


Legoland

Seaworld

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Our youngest son, DIL and two grandsons were here for a two week visit. We had the time of our lives. We laughed and played and cuddled and hugged. It was a very special time for all of us.

And here is my progress on the Mirabilia RR to this point.

 I am stitching "Comet".
And this is what the RR looks like so far.

I have to get my needle smoking. This RR is to be back in the mail by April 9th and I still have many stitches to do.

I also received my UFO RR back this past week.
Here is where it was when I sent it out.

Here is the RR when I received it back.

There were some issues with this RR. I must say I was hoping to have a bit more done on it. It will have to go to the bottom of my WIP drawer until I have time to work on it.

Well, that's it for this posting. I am off to stitch more reindeer.
Until then, I hope the frogs are off having a great time and leaving you all alone.

Wipocalypse Post February, Giveaway, 2012 RR biscornu and Stash

Here I am with a much delayed WIPocalypse post. When I went to write this post, I didn't think I had stitched very much. I was quite surprised to find I had accomplished quite a bit.

I stitched

ABCD pillow

UFO RR tiger

Mirabilia RR for Cat

LHN Summer Splendor

Point Loma Lighthouse

Summer Splendor and Point Loma Lighthouse are on my WIP list so I have one finish and one in progress. Not so bad after all.

I have a wonderful giveaway to post.
Dear Lynn stitches the most beautiful, amazing stitches and then finishes them impeccably. I have been trying for a number of years to win one of her awesome giveaways and it finally happened.
I won this gorgeous, dainty, beaded, tiny Valentine pillow.

And because Lynn did not want the pillow to be lonesome she sent along this stunning teapot necklace and gorgeous hand-embroidered felt heart.

Thank you so very much Lynn. These will be very treasured pieces.

For the next round of the 2012 RR I have been asked to stitch a biscornu.
I picked this freebie of maple leaves and stitched it with a beautiful Sparklies variagated thread that reminded me of autumn colors. I wanted it to be a representation of my Canadian roots.

You will notice my signature block says "Canari" - a Canadian who winters in Arizona - lol. The owner will finish them into the little pillows when they are returned to her.

And wandering around a couple of boards on facebook I ran across this little goodie. Could I turn it down? No way!!!

We are having the best time with our children and grandchildren. I will post some photos at a later date.

I hope your stitching has been frog free and full of happy smiles. Until next time.....

cross stitch kits

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a lovely lady by the name of who owns a  company based in the U.K. She is new and working to get her company's name out there. She asked if I would review one of her kits - any kit that I chose. I responded that I would be delighted.

With very quick service! I received this wonderful kit in the mail - Seaside Lighthouse.

The kit was beautifully put together. Can you imagine - all the threads came prewound on bobbins!!! How cool is that.
She offered the option of evenweave or aida and that I really liked. I much prefer evenweave.
The pattern is nice and large and easy to read. At my advanced age (approaching 60) I need good clear print.

Am I pleased with the kit. You bet!! Would I purchase from her? YES!

I am excitedly waiting. My son, DIL and two grandsons will be arriving in San Diego tomorrow. I will be there with my arms wide open looking for some grandkid hugs. We have a busy and exciting two weeks planned. Will keep you posted.

I will check for any frogs in San Diego and remind them they love the beach and sand and really want to stay there.!
Until next time

Stash, tigers and spirals

Oh dear, my clicky finger has been at it again. I purchased some gently used charts. I couldn't resist a pretty Just Nan, a froggy scissor fob and a magazine with Nora Corbett's "Gathering Eggs".

Remember the traveling pattern that I showed you last week. I wanted to show you the journal for the traveling pattern with my entry. Each participant has added a note, a photo of their piece, a snippet of fabric and a sample of the threads they used. What a wonderful tribute to this pattern.

I found this fabric when I was at the quilt shop the other day and thought the colors matched the Jellyfish thread so well. I have stitched it into a little pillow. I think I will wait until I return to Canada to stuff it. It packs easier this way.

It will be interesting to see each new stitcher's work. The pattern has gone now to Blu at Therapy by Thread. Watch for her progress.

I made this spiral runner for a friend of mine. The colors are very similar to the one I did in November.

 I am getting the hang of making these sprirals now. Don't mix up the fabrics and don't turn the fabrics. You get this crazy circle instead of a spiral and spend lots of time unpicking threads.

I have spent the last 6 weeks working off and on this UFO RR piece. This is a Dimensions kit.
 The tiger looked like this when I received it.

It looks like this as it goes out in the mail.

I have also put some stitches in Point Loma Lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is starting to appear.

I have been asked how I get so much stitching done. I generally get up between 6 and 7 a.m. I usually stitch 1 - 1-1/2 hours in the morning. I rarely get time during the day to stitch. If I have time, it is spent quilting. I am usually home in front of the TV by 8 p.m. I love me some TV. I usually stitch from 8 until 11-12 p.m. I have this sofa with an unused seat in the middle and there are always two or three projects stacked there. I stitch whichever one calls the loudest or whichever RR has arrived in the mail.

 I am so very excited. In 6 days my son, DIL and 2 grandsons will be here for a two week visit. We will be doing some touring in San Diego and enjoying some quality time with our family. I will post when I can.

Until then, keep those stitches crossed and those frogs confused.

TUSAL time, pretty stitches and stash shopping

It is TUSAL time again. There are lots of pretty threads in my martini glass especially since the frogs came to visit and stayed far too long.

I stitched the La-D-Da - ABCD - travelling pattern. I chose Carries Creations - Sunflower and JellyFish as my threads and a piece of mystery 32 count linen from Silkweaver. Here is my finished stitch.

It will go in the mail next week to the next stitcher. The pattern is making a trip to western Canada.

Talking to a group of stitchers on Facebook caused a shopping experience. From 1-2-3 Stitch came these lovely patterns. What can I say - I love nutcrackers and the embroidery one was on clearance. I did need that skein of thread and couldn't order just that!

Until next week, keep stitching and watch out for those frogs. I kicked them to the curb and I hope they hop off!!!



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