Mirabilia Framed and All About the Family

Here is my framed Mirabilia.

It will hang proudly in my new home. Until then, it is carefully under wraps.

Two weeks ago we celebrated my dad's 80th birthday. He is in remarkable health and it was fun to have a family get together. My sister and her family were home from Texas so we were all together for the first time in many years. We had a wonderful photographer who made some memories.

My father and mother

My parents and my sisters and I

The entire family

Leo and I with our children and grandchildren

Our sweet granddaughter Drew had her Grade 8 graduation on Friday.
Here she is looking very grown up.

And she received the Reading Award.

Leo gives her $10 an "A" and this year he was happy to give her $100 - way to go girl!!!

Have some stitchy stuff to post but will save it till the next time. Enjoy your visit with my family.

It has been 12 days

 since my last confession -  OOPS - I mean post and have I been busy!!!

We bought a house! These were our requirements - no lawn, no stairs, small, not too many rooms, garage not necessary and a townhouse/condo.
Here's what we bought.

Lots of lawn, 4 level side split - 1700 sq feet, 4 small flights of stairs, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, garage, deck, shed and single car garage. And we love it!

When we have not been running around doing paperwork and getting things sorted out for both the sale of our current home and the purchase of our new home I have done some stitching and sewing.

I  received my personal exchange from Clare.

She made me a lovely needlebook and included lots of wonderful goodies.

She added our initials inside the book and some packs of John James needles. I have never used them so will enjoy trying that.

Here is a photo of the package I sent her.

Her needlebook and scissor fob is from GOS magazine on 32 count lugana stitched with Vikki Clayton's Purpilicious silk.


I stitched on Flowers in the Garden and made some good progress. I am glad to see the end of that writing with #8 braid.
Before:

After:

I picked up Chatelaine's Desert Mandala and worked away until I had completed Part 1 except for the beading. This piece is such a pleasure to work on. I have a hard time putting it down at the end of it's rotation.
Before:

After:

I found these little snowmen on Rachel's blog and just had to stitch them.

They are from SanMan. Aren't they cute? You can go to their website and find the patterns from there.  This is 3 in a set of 12.

I found this precut apron pattern at Joann's before I left Arizona. It should have taken me a couple of hours. Well, I decided to make it reversible. And that's me - make it way more complicated than it needs to be. This simple little apron took me 3 1/2 weeks to sew together!

My BFF Beatrice was away in Boston for several days and bought me a few little gifts.

Can you tell I like lighthouses? Isn't she the best! Love ya girl!

There are over 275 posts in my Google Reader right now. I have been checking out my emails and not much else while all this house stuff has been happening. There has been so much paperwork and phone time required that it has been mind boggling.
I will do my best to get through all your news now that things are calmer. I will comment where I can. Please know I am reading them all and admiring your wonderful work!

And tomorrow, I am picking up my framed Mirabilia Round Robin! I can hardly wait to see it.

Until next time, keep those stitches crossing!

Someone stop the Ferris Wheel - I want to get off

Well, hello one and all. Life is just insanely busy around here. I am no longer sure which end is up. And to top it all off- we sold our house on Thursday. Was it for sale  - no. Were we talking about selling and moving - no. Was it in our plans at the moment - no. And yet we sold. The real estate market for cottages is hot here right now and we got a good price for it. And so, we are now homeless. I guess I better get out there Monday and find us a new place to live.

I do have some stitching news to share - warning photo intensive!!!
One week ago myself and my stitching friends were invited to a friend's cottage for the weekend to stitch. We were 14 in all. What a slice of heaven on Georgian Bay. Look at this house.

And this is the cottage!

The view was spectacular. Our host and hostess were just so wonderful. They treated us like queens.

And the frogs - they were in the pond and in the garden and mostly stayed there - thank goodness.

In the midst of all this we decided we needed a name since we have learned that we will drop everything and travel at the drop of a hat when someone says "Road Trip" and the word "stitch" in the same paragraph.

 and so - here we are "The Travelling Stitcherhood". Our motto is "Stitch, Eat, Sleep". I won't bore you with photos of us at the restaurant and the table laden with food!

      Back row - Trista, Bonnie, Christin, Angie and Rebecca
      Middle Row - Barb, Ann, Sylvia, Judie and Clare
      Front Row - Dani, Kathy, Beatrice and Sheila.

Don't you just love it!

Here are some photos of my wonderful stitching sisters.

Ann and Sylvia diligently working away.

Judie, Beatrice, Bonnie and Christin making those needles smoke.

Dani with her Wedding Sampler and Rebecca with her Ink Circles "Kaleidoscope"

Trista working on one of her 7 HAED's!!! and she is doing a Chatelaine!

Sheila and Clare discussing how to finish Sheila's snowman!

The sun room where we stitched when the weather did not cooperate.

My stitching friends gave me back my Friendship Sampler stitched and ready for finishing. Now to find just the right fabric.

I gave Royal Holiday some serious work and got a large chunk of her dress done. I hope to see the end of that dress someday soon.

My sister is here visiting from Texas for 10 days. She came with two children and her new Yorkshire puppy.
I love that girl but she is a bit of a whirlwind! We are having a surprise 80th birthday party for my father later today. We will all be home for the first time in 10 years and the family has increased considerably. We were six and now we are 18. We are going to take lots of pictures.

If things are quiet on this front for a bit, you will know I am out looking for a new home or sitting on the couch vegging from pure exhaustion.

Wish me luck!

Winners of "Raining Cats and Dogs"

Siamese Cats - Heidi

Sealyham Terrier - Meari

Man's Best Friend - Parsley

Best in Show - Jules ----- Jules please contact me at drewsgrands@hotmail.com
There is a second copy of Siamese cats available for you and I need a mailing address.

Oh no, I did it again!!!!!

I will save that information till the bottom. Aren't I a tease? lol

I received the most wonderful gift in the mail recently from Carolien. She sent along a set of Dutch tea towels and some Dutch candies and cookies. She said "If you don't like the cookies you don't have to eat them." They were the first thing to disappear - especially the wafer ones. Carolien is such a sweet person and I truly appreciate her gift. 

My fingers and Ginghers have been busy this past week.

Here is the flannel quilt I finished and sold the first of the week.

It went to a relative of a friend for their 1 year old son. I hope it keeps him snuggly warm.

I bought this fabric and the pattern for a bread basket liner while I was in Texas.

Sat down and whipped this up in a short time. I think I see more of these in my future - great Christmas gift in a basket with fresh biscuits!

I picked up "Royal Holiday" and paid it some serious attention. You can see the before and after.

 

I have made some  progress on the beiges in her dress. I'm really getting so I dislike the dresses on these queens. They go on forever!!! I decided to stitch this one from the middle down because of "Winter Queen". When I stitched her I did her face and body first and it took me years (and I mean years) to finish her dress.

And the Oh, no I did it again part. I am so embarrassed to write this.I haven't even told my stitching sisters I am doing this one! Do you remember when I offered to stitch Noddy for a friend's daughter? It took me two long years and a lot of grumping and complaining on my part and you all had to listen to me each and every time.

Well, I've done it again. And it's on AIDA again.

This time it is prestamped piece that you embellish with stitches. The pattern is horrible - it is just a general suggestion and they say use the photo for help.
It also includes this huge bag of filament and most of the threads are combined with this awful stuff!

Oh, how do I get myself into these predicaments!!!!! 
A friend suggested that I just pull one strand of 6, stitch till it's gone and put it aside till the next time. I am going to try that. I am doing it for a friend who has had a very rough year with the loss of several  family members and she is not a stitcher. I am hoping to get through this one without kicking myself in the butt too many times.

And here is a photo of the visitor we had the other afternoon when we were sitting on the deck - a red fox. Apparently, the entire family has a den nearby.

He/she was very unconcerned about humans around.

If you are interested in the draw for some dog/cat collection booklets, please see the post below. Draw is open until June 7th.

And the fun part - I am off to a stitching weekend in Georgian Bay with 12 other stitching sisters. Oh, won't that be fun! I can hardly wait. Dani, Christin and I are starting the weekend early by spending Thursday night at Beatrice (even though Beatrice lives 5 mins away I'm staying overnight too!!) And my dear sweet husband just doesn't get it!

Until next time keep those fingers and scissors flying!

Raining Cats and Dogs

Recently I was gifted with some older magazines and charts.

In that pile were some dog and cat collections. Since I have neither nor any wish to stitch them I have decided to put them up for grabs.

Here they are

1. Siamese Cats

2. Sealyham Terrier
 

3.Man's Best Friend includes the following breeds

Cocker Spaniel
Golden Retriever
German Shepherd
Doberman Pinscher
Schnauzer
Beagle
Labrador Retriever

4. Best In Show includes the following breeds

German Shepherd
Afghan
Siberian Husky
Collie
Old English Sheep dog
Blood Hound
Wiemeraner
St. Bernard
Irish Setter
Black Labrador Retriever



If there is more than one entry, I will draw from them. Open until June 7

And yes, I am a pet lover. I had a gorgeous Sheltie for 10 years named Snuggles. I loved him and it broke my heart when I had to take him and have him put to sleep. I was so devastated I swore I would  never do that again and therefore I have never had another pet.