I have a confession

Dear Fellow Stitchers
It has been two weeks since my last confession and I have been shopping. I was ill with that stupid cough most of the time I was home for Christmas and so mall shopping was not an option. But, oh, my fingers did their work via the internet. And so I am the proud owner of some new stash - check these out.

First up, I saw this Christmas pattern  - on Anne's blog and had to have it! and I needed a new Mirabilia fairy while I was at it. I can't order just one pattern now can I.

                                                          Prairie Moon - Merry Xmas 
                                                        Mirabilia - The Woodland Fairie

And of course, Merry Xmas needed some fabric and so I was off to Picture This Plus to order this delicious fabric - 32 count Lugana - "Haunted". This was my first time ordering from their website. The fabric is fantastic and their service was very quick.

Then, I received an email that Silkweaver had a sale on their grab bags. Well, I couldn't order just one and besides Beatrice might like some of these for her stash. Look at all these wonderful colors.

Next up I had an email at Christmas  from our Not So Secret Santa - Judy M. Judy is a personal friend of mine and such a wonderful person. She often encourages me when I think about not blogging. She always makes me feel that I have something to contribute and I so appreciate it and her. She gifted me with a certificate to Mary Kathyrn's shop and so I purchased these!

                                                          Country House Needleworks
                                                                  Snowflake Serenade
                                                                      English Garden
                                                                     The Nutcracker

                                                                Long Dog Samplers
                                                                       The Token

Mary Kathryn kindly included the 2 Prairie Schooler designs.


In my mailbox the other day came the most special gift from my BFF Beatrice. She made me a project bag.

Isn't it wonderful. But the best part, was the card inside that said "Because I miss you". Well, Beatrice I miss you a great deal too. I will be seeing you soon here in AZ. I can hardly wait.

And I've been stitching. I did a little work on Long Dog's Bagatelle. It is easy to stitch with just one color. I love how it is coming out and the fabric is a delight to work on.

I am determined to finish up this stocking before the end of March and so here is my latest progress. I finished the first two pages and backstitched it. I love how his face just came alive as I added those stitches. You will probably be seeing lots of this one as I work to get it completed. I hope you don't mind.

Well, that's it for this post folks. Thanks for stopping by and being patient with me when I go off the radar sometimes. It is not that I am not stitching or checking out your blogs, I'm just crazy busy and loving life in general.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep those beautiful stitches crossed.

ABC's of me and some stitching progress

What do you do when you have a cold and cough that just don't quit. You stitch! and so I did. The coughing is still really bad. I finally went to the hospital and they gave me some "knock you on your keister" cough medicine. Well, I'm still standing (grumpy!) and coughing. My throat is so sore from coughing.

Here is my progress on Hockey Santa - there are lots of quarter stitches in this one! I will stitch on this for one more day and then it is time to give Bagatelle some attention.

And I finished my grid for my Mirabilia RR. I have chosen fairies this time and so it says "On the Wings of a Mirabilia Fairy 2011.

 I have seen this quiz out there and thought I would try it.  I'm not sure you really want to know all this about me but here it goes.
 A - Age: 58
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: doing dishes - I'd rather scrub a toilet
D - Dog's name: Had a Sheltie named Snuggles - devastated when he died so no more for me.
E - Essential start of the day item: French Vanilla cappucino
F - Favorite color: red
G - Gold or Silver: gold
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: Not a chance
J - Job: retired and enjoying life
K - Kids: two grown sons, two DIL's , one granddaughter and two grandsons
L - Living arrangements: house in town, cottage up north for summer, park model in Arizona for winter
M - Music you love: Country - anything Alan Jackson
N - Nicknames: Kat or Kath
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: too many - appendix, tonsils, hysterectomy, big toe fusion both feet
P - Pet Peeve: People picking at food while I'm cooking.
Q - Quote from a movie: Life is like a box of chocolates-----
R - Right handed or left: left
S - Siblings: two sisters
T - Time you wake up: 7:00 am
U - Underwear: for years I wore what my sisters called floss, now granny undies
V - Vegetable you dislike: brussle sprouts
W - Workout Style: from couch with stitching in hand, to computer to check what is up to sewing machine to couch
X - X-rays you've had: too many
Y - Yummy food you make: weiner schnitzel, homemade spaetzle and rosti
Z - The best place to visit: anywhere I am welcome! Love to travel




The TUSAL has attracted some new people to my blog. Welcome! I love having you visit me and I have stopped by and checked out all your beautiful work! What a talented bunch we stitchers are. Look forward to getting to know you.
Till next time, keep those needles smoking - especially those who joined the 15 day Crazy Challenge. I admire you all.
 

TUSAL and January 1 Start

I signed up for the TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch Along) on Daffycat's blog this year.
And so here is my sad collection of orts. They are indeed in a shotglass. I have picked up a cold and sore throat and have spent most of my time reading instead of stitching.

 The colored orts are from my Seasonal Exchange that I can't show you.The wrapper (DMC B5200) and the white threads are from my January 1st start. Beatrice talked me into this one. It's not that I don't have several BAP's now, so we will just add another ROFL. - Long Dog Sampler - Bagatelle. The fabric is a gorgeous 32 count evenweave from Silkweaver called Slate Blue.

 Pretty sad start isn't it.

Until next time, fellow stitchers, keep those needles singing.

Santa and the Reindeer ate it all!

Before I get to the stitching part of the this post I thought I would share this photo with you. My grandsons woke up Christmas morning and were astonished to find that Santa had drank his milk, ate his cookie and even the reindeer must have been hungry! It was priceless.

 

We had a great time at Christmas. Having small grandchildren who believe in Santa made the days so special. A visit from our oldest son and his family for a couple of days was awesome too. Even my sister came to stay for a couple of days and practiced "Shop Till You Drop" with us!! Some wonderful memories were added to my heart.

On the stitching front - I can now show you the stitched gift that occupied most of my stitching time for  2 months.
If you remember, back in August Missy Ann blew me away with the gorgeous stitched lighthouse box. Well, I thought a long time before I decided what to stitch for her birthday on December 27th. I wanted it to be something special and something very different.

Here's what I came up with - Memory Keeper by The Workbasket - stitched on 32 count mushroom lugana with a mix of Crescent Colors, Weeks Dye Works and Carrie's Creations hand dyed threads.

I learned a very valuable lesson - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! and when it says grid the fabric - do that!
After I cut the fabric, I realized I had cut it wrong. It took much finagling, wrangling, turning the air blue and the help of a very experienced quilter to make this into the envelope.

Included with the gift were some bunny thread drops and a pair of bunny scissors. The girl does love her bunnies!
I sent if off before I left Arizona and it arrived before Christmas. Missy Ann was a good girl and did not open it until her birthday. She has assured me that she liked her gift. I was so touched when she said she is putting the handmade christening gown that her grandmother made her inside it.

I did some more work on Hockey Santa and he now has a head. Lots of quarter stitches in this one!

I am still working on my Seasonal Exchange - about half way.

I am also moderating a new Mirabilia RR on the WWRRB starting January 1st so I've been busy picking patterns and gridding my fabric. The design is now on paper. I am trying to decide whether to leave "Titania" or replace her with either  "Cottage Garden Fairy" or "Woodland Fairy". Annette stitched "Titania" on my previous RR. Hmm, that means a little stash enhancement since I have neither pattern.

To all my wonderful friends out there in blogland, I wish you a safe, healthy, prosperous New Year! May every blessing fall upon you and your entire household in this new year.
To my fellow stitchers - I wish speedy needles, gorgeous fabrics, threads to fondle, charts to drool over and nary a frog!!! Right Harmien!!!

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas

I am so blessed to have a family that is healthy and happy. I wish the same to all of you.

 

Back Row: Adam, Bob, Bob's wife Julie, Adam's Wife Cindy

Front Row: Adam's Hunter, me, Bob's Drew, Leo, Adam's Jackson

Merry Christmas one and all!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there enough room?

Here I am flitting from room to room!!! Packing my suitcases! We are headed home to Canada very early Tuesday morning to spend Christmas with our children and grandchildren. Excited!!!! You bet. But before I go, I should update my blog.

I have a few things to share in this post.

First,  Jill and I agreed on a personal exchange. I posted my gift to her in my last entry and here is the wonderful package that arrived in my mailbox this past week.

Obviously, this girl knows I like nutcrackers.

 Look at the wonderful nutcracker scissor holder with scissors she stitched for me. Isn't he a handsome fella!
Included was some lovely dark green linen, a little gift bag, some wonderful DMC variagated threads, a cut of Christmas fabric and a very cool thread counter with a delightful nutcracker hanging from it. And to top it all off, there is a new nutcracker to add to my collection. Thank you so much Jill for a wonderful exchange.

A little envelope arrived in my mail earlier in the week. I was a bit down and just didn't have much Christmas spirit at that time. In the card was a wonderful note and this little handmade ornament from Harmien. See our initials on the back. It made me smile and helped me pick my spirits up. Thanks Harmien.

 This little surprise package arrived in my mailbox from Michele. She was wandering her LNS and saw this pattern and thought of me. My other passion - lighthouses. Look at all the wonderful lighthouses in this booklet. And, she included a handmade scissor fob with a lighthouse hanging on the end. Thank you Michele for a wonderful surprise!

And this - remember the Friendship Sampler RR I participated in. Well, poor Lisa's first RR was stolen. She sent out a second one and it was delayed starting. Then, it got held up somewhere for months. The rest of us had all received ours back and many of us had finished them and Lisa's was still out there somewhere. Early in November her RR finally returned home but I had not stitched on it. So, Lisa and I braved USPS and she mailed her RR to me. I stitched it and it is on it's way home to stay. Finally, this RR is a successful wrap!

The surprise gift that I have been stitching on, and stitching on and stitching on is finally finished and is also in the hands of USPS. You will have to wait till late December for the seeing though.

Now, that all my other stitching is complete, I was able to pick up my own work and get back at it. Here is my nephew Ryan's Christmas stocking - maybe next Christmas?  Those big stars were all Kreinik thread and we all know how we love those threads. The brown blob is part of the hockey net!

And you know, I just couldn't stand not having some outside stitching to do and so I signed up for the Winter Round over at the Seasonal Exchange blog.

And, I've signed for another Mirabilia RR on the WWRBB.

Am I crazy?  Sometimes. So much for stitching just from my own stash this year.
My BFF is sure going to hassle me over this but hey, I love to stitch for others and it gives me the chance to stitch things I wouldn't normally stitch.

Okay, I'm off to finish packing those suitcases. I sure hope I can get it all in.

Oh, by the way, I have a 4 hour layover in Los Angeles and a 5 hour layover in Chicago. Any stitchers out there want to come of the airport and stitch with me LOL.

Until next time, I wish you all the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years. I hope Santa leaves you all some wonderful stitchy treats under the tree!!!!

What a time!

  Hello one and all. Here I am back from our Mexican vacation! We had an okay time. The weather was not the greatest and the food was bad but the beach was gorgeous and the service at the resort was wonderful.

And the sunset - spectacular!!!!!

One good thing - I did get lots of stitching done. Unfortunately, I can't show it to you.

I do have a few other things to share though.

Joan let me know that she received the squares I sent her for the Fair and Square Exchange.
I stitched her Ink Circles Stain Glass Tree from the 2010 JCS Ornament magazine on 32 count antique white lugana with the recommended colors.

In my mailbox, was this lovely ornament exchange from Rowyn. The design is Just Nan's Christmas Wishes.
Included were some lovely goodies including a gorgeous green 28 count fabric called "Leprechaun". Love that name. Thanks Rowyn for such wonderful gifts.

Jill also let me know that she has received the personal exchange I sent here.  Jill, as you know, is a peacock collector and also does some pink stitches in honor of her friend.  And so her package contained -

The Holiday Peacock by Courtney Collection from the 2010 JCS Ornament magazine on 32 count hand dyed mauve opalescent fabric from a new Canadian company called Ayrloom fabrics. It is stitched with Vikki Clayton's Black Rasperry silk. Included was a peacock purse, a peacock necklace, and a mauve whatnot bag.

For her pink stitch I stitched her a freebie design on the same opalescent fabric and included Pink Ribbon scissors and  made her a pink fob with a pink ribbon charm. Included was some 32 count linen - Carnation Pink and a few other little goodies.

Yesterday, I picked up my Royal Holiday from Michaels. They did a wonderful job of framing her. The mat is burgundy velvet and the frame has burgundy in the gold.

I am going to bring her back to Canada with me as well as Winter Queen. I will hang the two of them together and as my friend Missy Ann says - they can outsnoot (Is this a word?) each other.

Look at my new toy - a Pandigital ereader. I have heard good things about this particular reader and am ready to try it. I just bought it yesterday and so I have a learning curve ahead.

I wonder if anyone can help me out here. I have tried ebay with no luck so -
I am looking for Quiltmaker Magazine July/August 2004. It is the fourth part of a quilt that I am interested in doing.

Till next one - keep those needles singing!