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?

TUSAL and frogs, fish, flowers and fairies.

Hi everyone.

Thanks so much for your wonderful comments on my last blog post. I am still on vacation and therefore my posts are infrequent. I have not checked my google reader at all and I am sure I will have lots of reading and commenting to do when I return home next week.

FROGS and TUSAL
My TUSAL post is late but I only have internet when I come into town. Here is my frog this month. He is full of threads from my Band Sampler RR, my Fair and Square exchange, my latest Mirabilia addition etc. He is looking forward to a fresh start as am I.

FISH
Isn't that what you do at a cottage?
Jack with his first fish

Hunter with his first fish

Gramma, Papa and Daddy with our afternoon's catch of small mouth bass. Bet you didn't know I was a closet fisherperson. I love fishing.

FLOWERS
My partner has notified me that she has received her Fair and Square exchange. I stitched Chatelaine's "Kathy's Violets" for her. She assures me that she likes them. I enjoyed this design so much I will have to stitch it again for myself.

 FAIRIES
I am working on Fairies in the Garden again. I spent this past week stitching green leaves and fairy wings. I am now working on a fairy. Boy, I wish I saw the end of this piece. I hope soon.

 Look -  lily pads and not a single frog in sight!!!!!

Till next time.

Ahhh - cottage country

Ahh, cottage country

We have arrived at our beautiful, isolated cottage in Northern Ontario. Leo and I stopped and picked up our two grandsons and headed out last week. Leo's brother, wife and 2 grandchildren arrived at the cottage at the same time.
Blogger is being a pain and won't allow me to place the photos. I hope you can put the right pictures with the right words. This is my third attempt - sorry I just couldn't get them to move.

On the drive up we saw field after field of yellow. I have never seen so much canola and all in bloom. What a lovely sight it was.

We have had a wonderful week withour grandchildren. Lots of fun and laughter, and lots of bathing suits and towels.
What do you do when the clotheslines are full. You start hanging them on the deck railings lol.
The view, as you can see, is spectacular, the water is warm and the grandchildren are laughing lots. What more could you want.
Oh, maybe a stitching picture or two.

Ok - here they are.

 First, I stitched on Jardin Prive - I completed the house and the section above it.

Second, I completed W and X on the Alphabet Zoo Sampler for my friend Carolyn.
Third, my first Band Sampler RR arrived in the mail and I contributed the yellow bands. Joanne wants a rainbow Rr and so we are following the colors of the rainbow. I stitched a section from Sweetheart Tree "To Have and Hold Sampler" and a row from Just Nan's Floral Bouquet. I used WDE Squash, Marigold and Carries Creations Lemon. What pretty colors they were to use. I hope she likes my contribution.
Fourth, I started a new piece. Doesn't a holiday mean a new start LOL.
I started my Christmas ABC Sampler that I have dragged around forever. I swapped out the aida for evenweave and started with the letter O - ornament. I haven't gotten very fat - with the grandkids I do a lot of stitch two - get them a drink, stitch two - get them a snack - stitch on - I want some lunch, stitch two- GRAMMA - I want to go swimming in the lake. I'm sure you get the picture.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Until next time - I've seen lots of lily pads and not a single frog. I hope they have not hopped to your house instead.

Fly-by Post

Hi everyone.
Thank you all for you so kind messages. It has been a very difficult time for us and I appreciate your words. Paul was a very dear friend - one of those people you loved the minute you met and he will be a great loss to this world. He has left behind 4 beautiful children, lots of grandkids and his wonderful gift of laughter.

Before I left to go to the funeral, I managed to finish up the pillow shams to match my parent's quilt. There were no large pieces left - just enough for the backs - and so they became patchwork shams.

In the car, traveling (1200 miles one way) to south west Kansas, I finished up the finishing on my
Seasonal Exchange and the stitching on my Fair and Square Exchange. I cannot show them until they have been received so you will have to wait for those pictures.

Beatrice came to spend the day with me shortly after I got home. She and I entered my sewing room at 10 a.m. and except for a lunch break did not leave until 5 p.m. Leo said every time he went by the room all he could hear was " YAK, YAK, YAK "  Sewing and quilting does take lots of discussion lol.
I made a Kindle cover for my DIL

and Beatrice showed me how to make project bags.  The bag I made is a gift and so - when it is received  - I will post it. You can see the bag she made for me in a previous post.
We worked on her quilted piano cover and the sashing and borders on a quilted wall hanging she was doing. It was a wonderful day spent with a best friend.

When I was at Knowledge and Needles for our regular stitch in, one of our stitchers, Bernie, gave us all a wonderful handmade ort container. Isn't it cute!

I received the next Mirabilia RR and added my square. I stitched Tigerlily. What a beautiful RR this is and how unique the shapes are. It is now packaged and ready for mailing.

Oh, and look - some new stash - Mystic Dragon II from an online friend, Eastern Seaboard Sampler from Karen and some purchases from Rachel who is destashing to my benefit.

I will be leaving tomorrow to spend 3 weeks at our cottage in Northern Ontario. It is a lovely spot on a lake way off the beaten track. There is no phone service and the cell phones work intermittently. I am hoping to have lots of time to relax and I plan a serious case of stitcher's butt!! There is no internet but I will go into town once a week to check my email.


Until I return to the fold, I hope you all have plenty of lovely stitches and the only frogs you find are in the local ponds.