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!!!



I have had to turn on comment moderation. The spam has been awful. 

Some of the angels in my life

Angel #1
 The angel who lives next door to me. My neighbor Gale is a treasure. I consider myself very fortunate to have her in my life. She is such a wonderful person - and she teaches line dancing. She asked me to make her an apron and so I introduced her to quilt shops. She and I had so much fun. I decided to make her a reversible apron  and she picked two wonderful southwest fabrics.  I got her to model the apron when I was done. Can't you tell she is a happy person.

Side 1

Side 2

BTW - this is called a church or Sunday apron. You use one side to cook with and then, when the priest comes for Sunday dinner, you flip your apron and present a clean apron when you sit for dinner.

Angel #2
 Dawn of Golden Angels Works fulfilled a wish for me on the Sanman board. I wished for a scissor fob for my newest Gingher scissors. This is the delightful fob that arrived in my mailbox. Dawn wrote me a note that says she now has the Queen stitch down pat after several tries. I really appreciate the work she put into the fob and I have met another Arizona stitcher!!!

I wish my fellow Arizona stitchers lived closer :(

Angel #3
 A wonderful lady by the name of Gaby. I fulfilled a wish for her on the Make a Wish board several years ago. Although we don't communicate often we keep up with each other's work. I saw a book on facebook that I went crazy over but when I looked into purchasing it the price was exorbitant - partly because the book was from France. Gaby lives in Germany and was able to purchase the book for a more reasonable price and sent it to me. It landed in my mail box this week and I am still drooling over it!!!!! It is a book full of Long Dog designs.

I have sent her a package in return but will have to wait until she receives it before I share.

Angel #4
 Jennifer of the Confessions of a Serial Starter blog started a wonderful LaDeDa traveling pattern. I was privileged to receive it in yesterday's mail. She has included a journal and the wonderful words that everyone has wrutten in it are all so inspiring.

Here is my choice of fabric and thread and I will start to stitch asap.

Angel #5 is my BFF Beatrice. She gifted me with a cross stitch of the Point Loma Lighthouse in San Diego, California.
Here is my progress on my newest stitch!

Aren't I making huge progress ROFL

And I have a finish to report!!! Here is LHN -Summer Splendor in all it's glory. That is finish #5 for me this year!!!!!!

Oh and a frog report - I sat down to work on the travelling pattern and lo and behold sitting on my chair was a monstrous ole frog. After I picked out about 6 letters I kicked his behind to the curb. I hope I didn't send him your way but he was OUTTA here!!!!!

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day to my dear blogging friends.

I joined the Secret Stitching Sweetheart  on Jo's blog.

Here is the Valentine I was sent.

I wonder who is the wonderful stitcher that stitched this one.
You can go to Jo's blog to see the list of participants and visit the blogs to see the Valentine's stitches.

Edited to add: My secret stitcher is a lady by the name of Valentina.
The pattern is The Red Thread - A Bent Creek Snapper design. She is a new blogger to me and has some wonderful stitches. Check her out.
Thank you for such a wonderful Valentine stitch. 

WIPocalypse Posting for February

WIPocalypse has been a wonderful thing for me. I have 4 finishes so far and am about 1/2 way to another.

I finished JBW's Teddy Bear in early January for the first posting.
I have since finished my Sampler des Bouquets, a 1997 JBW Christmas ornament and Mirabilia's Valentine Fairy. You can see these finishes in earlier posts. Not only did I finish Valentine Fairy - I finish finished it yesterday. lol. I love the pretty marbelized fabric that I chose. It is subtle and doesn't take away from the stitching. I had chosen a different fabric but the ladies in my quilt group informed me that it was too bright and did not do the stitching justice.

I  finished my mystery quilt for my local quilt group. It is now ready to go in our quilt show March 3rd.

I have been working away on my round robins.

I stitched Spring Bouquet on Catherine's Mirabilia Round Robin. Her layout is absolutely stunning and it was a great pleasure to stitch on it. She asked us to add a flower to the triangles on the outside edge and hide our initials in it. Can you see mine in the yellow block?

I stitched a Christmas tree on Denise's Twenty-Twelve Round Robin. My poor tree looks rather lonesome at the moment but I am sure once other trees are added it will look much better.

I have one UFO RR sitting on my couch to work on. I will work on that and work on my LHN Summer Splendor. Hopefully, another finish is in the near future.

I am having trouble keeping up with my google reader. There are so many wonderful stitchers out there now who are blogging. There are over 200 of you in my reader. I just can't keep up with reading and commenting on all of them. I try my best. If I don't comment, please don't think I am not reading. I am and I will comment when I can.

Until next time, I hope the only frogs you see are hibernating until the warmer weather arrives.

Slow going

When I have a couple of weeks where I stitch and stitch and stitch, I lose my momentum for a bit.

Not much progress this time.

I am stitching away on this piece and it is slow going. This is LHN "Summer Splendor". The photo does not do the fabric color or threads any justice. Hopefully, the finish photo will be nicer.

I have finished my part of the last Band Sampler RR. This one is Sweetheart Tree designs. It will go out in the mail today.

In the mail this past week, I received two lovely packages. Carolien decided this chart needed a new home and I was lucky enough to be that home. I love the colors - so soft.

And the second package came from my good friend Rebecca. She sent me this wonderful Christmas ornament - her very first finished one! It is beautiful. It also came with three packages of Caramilk Snowmen but somehow they didn't make it into the picture - mostly because they made it to my stomach first LOL.

I have three round robins sitting on my chair - a UFO RR, a Christmas tree RR and a Mirabilia RR. I have picked out the tree I want to stitch and I have stitched the face on the Mirabilia.

Off to lunch with the girlfriends and a little shopping at Beall's.
Until next time, stay frog free!!!