"good news" post

I said I had "good news" to share in my last post. At least good news to my eyes. On Saturday, my LNS called to say two of my stitched pieces were framed and ready for pick up. I didn't waste any time. Now, please forgive my photography because I'm no photographer, but more importantly, I don't own a good camera anymore so I do my best with what I have.



The Sampler Lady by Little House Needleworks

I must raise my own needle with this one. I love, love, love the framework on this piece. It matches perfectly with the floral-work in the design and that's why I picked it. I could not be happier about the finish. Kathy, at my LNS, did a superb job!

Schoolgirl Lessons by Little House Needleworks

Again, I'm very pleased with how this design turned out all framed. I liked the beaded edging and for a reason I can't quite put my needle on, I thought it went well with the design (shrugging my shoulders). You may not notice, but around the edges of the beading there is slight hints of red which between that and the Country Vintage linen (that has hints of green), the red Belle Soie I used really pops. It's a dainty piece and I like that.

I finished both these LHN design in 2009 but because of my divorce that ensued afterwards, getting them framed took a backseat. A lot took a backseat, but these ladies are framed and home with fresh walls and a new slate of life.

My late-Aunt Lora stitched this for my mother (her sister) when I was born. Don't know who the designer is, but my mother told me it is stamped cross stitch. I'm divulging quite a bit of personal information about my self in this photo (lol), but I thought it was more important to demonstrate that all the women in my family are needle-crafters.

I'm a 4th generation cross stitcher and I take great pride in that. Since I don't have much to show for in the way of hand-me-downs from my dear Aunt Lora, who passed away from brain cancer when I was 17, I wanted to share what she made. Mom gave this to me over the weekend. I often walked around the homes of all my "mothers" and was envious of all their earlier pieces, some childhood handwork and some that they created for others, especially those no longer with us. I'm going to cherish this piece no matter how juvenile it may be. It's vibrant, cheerful, in great condition, and it's something my Aunt Lora stitched for her sister, my mom.

As everyone knows, Aunt Pam and I are extremely close. She has a piece of needlework in her kitchen that she did at a very young age (possibly between 6-10 years of age) that I'd love to have one day. In fact, Aunt Pam has tons of giant samplers worked all throughout her home - amazing stuff! Unfortunately for me, Aunt Pam has a daughter (my cousin Kari) that will, more than likely, inherit these treasured pieces.

This is all my good news for now. We've had several severe thunderstorms over the last couple months and we'll continue to have more. Today was gorgeous and tomorrow shouldn't be too bad. It's been difficult to take good pictures with all this happening...Take care and Talk soon!

finishing fridays

I have another finish for 2009! Thursday night I finished Be Still…a freebie by The Sampler Girl. I’ll probably frame it myself or get it framed by my LNS. I added my own personal touches. With one strand over one I back stitched the verse from the Bible under the word “God” and I put my initials and the year in the bottom left hand corner ~ both in matching DMC colors of the word and design. More than likely I am going to hang it by my side of the bed for that much needed “wake-up call" from God each morning. Thanks, Tanya, for thinking of me during this creation! I’ll never forget it.

28 ct Jobelan Sand Castle using called for DMC

This wall space will be Be Still's new home once I frame it ~ right under my Antique Wedding Sampler.

As of this morning I ordered the cutest pendant from Lori over at Farmhouse Notforgotten. It’s called Bluebird Love with Roses. It is so precious! I cannot wait to wear this proudly around my neck, or I could say, “Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder” but it isn’t a broach…or could it be!?! Lori is great to do business with and her artwork is just that; a-r-t-w-o-r-k. Go check out her Etsy shop. She has really lovely handmade items for sale. I AM going to get one of those dolls one of these days. Thank you, Lori, for such an easy and relaxing purchase!

Now that I have finished a cross stitch piece I need something to take Thursday’s rotation place. Now…let’s see….what shall that be? I know! Two years ago me and mom signed up for an ornament club through Mimi’s Attic. We chose any of the ornaments we’d like to stitch, pay a little bit of mullah, submit the order to Mimi’s Attic, and she kits those ornaments and sends them your way. You don’t need the chart because more than likely you have the JCS Ornament issue for that year.

With that being said, I ordered 2007 ornaments awhile back (well obviously – it’s 2009 now – ah!) and wanted 5 from that issue. I need to stitch up an ornament and what better time than to add it to my current rotation now. Sounds only fair, right! LOL I’m going to stitch Winter Love by SamSarah. It’s really sweet ~ one snowman and one snowwoman hugging. Very cute! I’ll start on this next week.

I have decided to name all Fridays “finishing fridays.” I don’t intend to finish-finish every project or even one project; even though that would be nice. No, I’m going to at least make Friday a day that I begin a project to get it finished. I think this will be fun and encouraging. I have many of the supplies on-hand to begin and today is the day. I punched a design by Erica Michaels called Family years ago. It was one of the first punchneedle designs I attempted. I’ve had it punched all this time but never knowing how to finish it it’s been stuck in my “Needs Finishing” container. After looking at my punchneedle books (I own 3 and need more) I finally stumbled onto something. Here’s what my “Family” looks like all punched up but no place to call home yet.

I also have another punchneedle piece all punched and ready to be finished. I already had the finishing idea, supplies and fabric to use. I had every intention of covering a paper/cardboard circular box I bought from Michael’s some years ago and had a sweet little fabric to cover it with and then apply the punchneedle on the lid, but I haven’t gotten around to it. I just recently bought Mod Podge so now I can get started. Whew! What has been wrong with me?!?!

I’m just relieved that thoughts are flooding in with respect to finishing. I have a lot of YOU to thank ~ you are all so inspiring! YOU really uncover buried creativity. Thanks YOU!!!

I have the sweetest baby, I think! He’s very affectionate and loving at such a young young age. Here’s a small video of a special ‘Cameron and Mama moment’. Click 'play' to begin…

I had this post all ready to send when I had to leave to pick up Jose from chess club. On my way home I stopped at my LNS to get a few things. I decided to try another punchneedle and purchased the Cameo needle. I have heard quite the rave on this needle. I've been using the Igolochkoy Russian punchneedle for years now. In fact, this is the needle I learned to punch with. I checked the mail this afternoon and boom! There was a pleasant surprise from my very thoughtful Aunt Pam. As a 'just because' gift she bought me a subscription to the Love of Quilt magazine. I am completely surprised and extremely excited to get this magazine. This is my first subscription to a quilt magazine and I cannot wait to get more. I'll think of my Aunt every time I receive one and it'll make me smile. Thank you, Aunt Pam! I love you!

Contents of the photo are the magazine my aunt bought me, and the items I picked up from my LNS were the Cameo punchneedle, green and purple weaver's cloth, linen banding, 32 ct black Belfast, vintage buttons, and the golden frame was only a $1.00. I'm going to mess the frame up a bit and use it for Be Still.

My rotation piece for today was Hallow's Eve by Stacy Nash, but I haven't even picked up a needle yet today and it's almost 9:30 p.m. Have a good night everyone! Hope to post something tomorrow.

two heads are better than one

Saturday night I went to my LNS for a moonlight stitching gathering. About 14 women showed up including Melissa, which my mother has known for many years and who I just met for the first time. Melissa was so relaxing to be around. I truly enjoyed her company and she’s funny too. The make-it and take-it was a cute little heart made into a floss tag ~ appropriate for around-the-bend Valentine’s Day. Speaking of…

I finished my Lovebirds (sorry photo is so dark). It wasn’t anything major, but I enjoyed this Quaker-type piece. It was a pattern I got out of a library book I checked out called "Big Book of Cross-Stitch Designs" by The Reader’s Digest. I personalized it with my first name initial and my DH’s too, along with ’05; the year we married. I plan on finishing it into a pinkeep pillow. I spoke to my Aunt Pam Sunday and she’s going to look into her 1800’s reproduction fabrics to see if she might have a piece that will coordinate well with the color of DMC I used (#3685) – a kind of cranberry red. She has a huge abundance of fabrics, especially repros – you would love her stash! Speaking of Aunt Pam, I have a story…

My Aunt Pam told me a stitching story and she has given me permission to share (hi Aunt Pam!). The other day my aunt was cleaning the baseboards around one of her closets. She was on the floor cleaning a bottom shelf and noticed a clear storage bin that she has always thought contained quilting materials. Even so, and out of curiosity, she opened it to see its contents. Inside was cross stitching supplies and materials and a missing JCS Ornament issue (year 2000) that she recently borrowed from me, which originally belongs to my mother. Let’s just say that my aunt was completely and pleasantly surprised. She called to tell me her news and I was surprised for her. Finding something like this when you’re not looking for it is like finding money. In fact, better than finding money, because if it were money a person would just spend it on cross stitch, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought and that’s what my aunt thought! Anyhoo, it was a cool story I thought and I’m glad I heard it first, or maybe I was second. LOL

I want to share the goodies I bought while after-hours shopping at moonlight stitching Saturday.

Lizzie*Kate Double Flip-its ~ Create and Live. I love the teeny-tiny scissor and heart charms that come with the pattern.

Faithwurks ~ Cat. I had to have this little wooden cat. Isn't this too cute!

Hands to Work ~ My Beloved Tennessee. I instantly fell for this design. I live in Tennessee and don’t have anything stitched with Tennessee in mind, so now I will.

Blackbird Designs ~ Thank You, Sarah Tobias. This is a popular design or book rather. I love all the pincushions within this booklet. The first to stitch is Sarah’s ABC Pincushion. It calls for The Thread Gatherer’s Autumn Twilight which is gorgeous, but my LNS doesn’t carry that and I had to have something to go home with so I could start this sooner rather than later. I picked out Waterlilies by Caron Collection, color Kelp. It has lovely deep colors that I think will look just as good. Here’s a snip-it of the color below (mine has a little less orange though):

There’s a new designer out that I saw mentioned on Petra’s blog called The Stitcherhood. If you’re at all into antique, folk art, or primitive designs check this website out. They have some really nice patterns. There is also a section to download freebies, so go and check them out. Which brings me to…

one of my next quick stitches will be The Stitcherhood’s Valentine Love freebie. I’ve got just the fabric for this little pre-V Day project in mind. I love squeezing in quick stitches (QS) between WIPs and CRs. It gives my eyes something new to look at for a few days and it motivates me to keep stitching on those WIPs and CRs. I enjoy it. You should try it if you don't. Once you finish a little thing you just have to get something else done. All of sudden that needle finds its fire and goes! Whew!!! Tsssssssss

While I was surfing my favorite blogs, my sons were playing around and being such goof-balls. My seat kept shaking and moving about and when I looked down to see what all the fuss was about I had a funny little head staring up at me. The other little head was pulling the little head's hair.

Perfectly happy!

Perfectly unhappy!

Perfectly loved! (I'm sorry big brother.)

Sunday's Stitching: finished Lovebirds by RDBBoCSD
Watched Sunday: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls; Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

what's up?

What is up these days? I've been watching movies and taking care of household things the last few days, more like this past week, which isn't out of the ordinary for me, but I haven't had a lot of stitching power lately. I stitched a little bit the night before, but not a lot of progress was made on anything. I just finished watching Dexter; 24 started this week; and LOST will be next week. Friday we're going out to dinner with a friend of ours and his daughter. Saturday afternoon we're being visited by a high school buddy of mine along with his ex-wife and their newborn baby. Yes, I said ex-wife and their newborn baby, for a few hours. Afterwards, me and my mom are going to our Moonlight Stitching evening at the LNS. We always attend these stitching nights at the shop. It's so much fun! It's also a nice thing for me so I can get away from ALL the boys and be around stitchers and women. Moonlight Stitching is from 4-10 pm. We eat, stitch, giggle, chat and we get a make-it and take-it project. This time we're making floss ring tags which I will enjoy since I'm familiar with them and have done one myself. It'll be fun!

Then the real exciting news!!! One week from Saturday me and mom will be in St. Augustine, Florida for Susan Greening Davis' stitching retreat at the beach. DH is on mommy-patrol from early Friday morning until late Sunday night. I did this 2 years ago before Cameron was born and I had a really good time. The best was just being with mom away from home and having all that time for ourselves. This year it will be even more fun because 2 of our stitching buddies (Susan and Sally ~ no blogs) will be there and we get along with them so well. They also attend the Moonlight Stitching evenings and we always sit together. They were also at Celebration of Needlework in Louisville, KY and we did a lot together then. In addition, Pat who is the owner of our LNS is there every year. She adds to the stitching dynamic and she does all the cooking, which never disappoints. It's just going to be a lot of stitching fun! Winning prizes! Playing games! Auctions! Buying goodies! Shopping in historic downtown St. Augustine! Oh yeah...and the beach!!! It's really cold right now so the beach will be a very welcoming relief. And just spending time with mom is my favorite part of the whole trip. It's so much fun in our hotel room at night. We stay up late watching Forensic Files and stitching and eating chocolate and downing caffeine drinks ~ nothing sweeter!!!! The only downside to the trip is flying. I used to love flying and now I dread every part of it. I don't mind the checks and waiting in line. It's the flight itself that I'm afraid of. I'll have to take one of those wonderful pills called Xanax! That ought to do the trick. They'll put me out of my misery and I can handle that :o)

I read blogs all the time. Everyone is so neat and everyone inspires me to some degree. I've never been a part of a RR and I'm still intimidated to do an RR with someone that I'm not familiar with. It isn't anything against the other stitcher(s). I don't trust myself. I definitely plan on doing a RR with other stitchers, but it'll have to be in the future. BUT, and that's a big 'but', me and my mom have decided to do a mother-daughter RR, just us, on the Carriage House Samplings Shores of Hawk Run Hollow seen here:

My mom is a model stitcher for the JCS magazine and has recently finished a project for them so a little time as opened for her to stitch on something from her own stash. Mom started on the first block this afternoon and once there is a little more to show for she'll take pictures and I'll post them here. It's going to be a lot of fun stitching this RR with my mama. Besides, it is my first RR, but my mom has done this several times. She's been stitching a long time. I just can't wait until it's my turn at SOHRH! We figure that she can have custody of the finished piece half the year and me the other. Everyone wins!

I said before that I haven't had a lot of stitching power lately. A couple days ago I started on something for Valentine's Day. Well, for me and DH really. One of my goals this year, and for many years to come, is to stitch more pieces with family in mind. I don't stitch enough of those. I went to the library a couple weeks ago and checked out 2 cross stitch pattern books. I found a really cute, quaint pattern called Lovebirds. I don't know who designed it and technically the pattern is done in one color and I'm sticking to that, but I'm using DMC 3685 (I think that's the color); done on 32 ct Antique White linen. The size is small; I think a mere 2.5x2.5 or maybe 3 square. It's small, but my thoughts are to make it into a pinkeep and lay it in my basket. I may try and put our initials with the birds ~ not sure yet. The pattern itself is a bit Quaker/folk artsy. It's cute! I'll post photos when I have a little more done.

Tonight I'm going to try and stitch. I haven't stitched since Monday. I did go through all 10 years of the JCS Christmas Ornament issues to make a list of things to stitch. Not necessarily for this year, but just in general. I got that done at least. I've pretty much organized my WIP and Current Rotation baskets, but I'm still lagging on the stitching goals list for 2009. I need to get this list compiled or I'll lose myself...again!

I'm going to go for now. If me and DH can meet in bed at the same time I think we're going to watch "The Brave One" with Jodi Foster. Hopefully, DH will be able to stay up. He's such a lightweight! LOL

Today's Stitching: nothing yet ~ night is still young :o)

dec 29

Today was a fun-filled day! I just wished I could have blogged about it earlier. My LNS is having an After-Christmas Sale from the 26-31. Great sales are to be had! My Dad was kind enough to watch my boys while me and Mom hit the shop. Besides, we both had gift certificates to spend!!!

All punchneedle charts are buy 1 get 2 FREE. 40% off ALL kits. Vintage/Old charts are 10 for $1.00 ~ can't beat that. There are lots of other knitting and framing sales as well. I was able to find 11 vintage/old charts - tons of primitive, folk art type designs. I got 3 punchneedle charts, but only had to pay for one! Even though the fabric wasn't marked down, I still had to make a purchase ~ I always do! :o) I bought enough fabric for a Stacy Nash design I purchased while there (not on sale though) called 3 Little Pumpkins - Pinkeep Drum ~ so cute! And I believe the little bird pattern is also included, but I'll have to double check. I also purchased a little tote that I plan to embroider, but I have no idea what design that'll be...Maybe one of primitivebettys fabulous freebie designs. :o) I bought a ready-made flip pillow kit, minus the pillow form. All I have to do is stitch it up. It's really cute! The colors of the fabric are wonderful and it'll stitch quick. Me and Mom had a fun time going through everything. We took our time too, which was really nice. Afterwards, we picked up some lunch for all the boys. My parents were headed to Arkansas to visit my Grandparents for a couple days. They were leaving after our lunch.

Cameron took a long, much needed nap: 3 hours to be exact. He was so tired from playing with Papa and Jose. I was able to get some stitching time in. Jose played with his rifle and pistol BB guns and afterwards we played with one of Jose's new toys. Remember those little ovens as a child? Well, they make one for Pokemon. We made Pokemon characters out of mold. It was pretty cool. Jose got the knack fairly quickly. By the end of the evening Jose made 6 of them-all different colors too.

I was able to finish a 2002 Reindeer freebie from The Prairie Schooler, but I don't have photos yet. I'll post them at some point in the near future. DH is leaving town Tuesday to attend a very large New Year's Eve party up in Indiana with his best friend from high school. I could have gone but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, my parents are going to get snacks, movies, games, and sleeping bags together, and me and the boys, plus one of our dogs, are going to spend the night New Year's Eve and welcome in the New Year. It should be a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to it.

As you can tell I changed my blog background. I am sooo relieved too! I have been tinkering with it for days and I was about to give up until today. Waa-Laa!!! I figured it out. Thankfully, Tanya is always helpful and she lend me her suggestions. She's great! Thank you, Tanya!

I think I'm off to bed. Well...in bed to stitch. Sleeping will come later. I can't wait to get all this Christmas stuff down because I'm soooo ready for my house to look normal again. I'll probably get to the decorations tomorrow. At least most of them anyway. Depending on the weather, I may take the boys out so Jose can cash in some of his gift certificates. But we'll see.

Nighty-night and thanks for stopping by!

stitching weekend

This weekend is going to be a busy stitching weekend, hopefully. This weekend at my LNS there is a Moonlight Stitching Saturday night. They only have these evenings quarterly and are from 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (I wished they were every month). There is all kinds of food, giggles, good company and we get a make-it and take-it. I can't wait! This would be an excellent time to stitch on my QSW piece ~ I may even get it completed with 6 hours of uninterrupted time. Hmmmmmmm...

Also this weekend, a local area near my home called the Berry Hill District is having a Holiday Happenings with almost 20 businesses of various sorts participating. In addition, there is a wonderful charity called Soles 4 Souls that the local businesses are collecting for. I wished I had known this earlier because I donated over a dozen shoes to Goodwill...shucks!!! The Berry Hill Community is about 4-5 blocks of close-knit shop owners and small restaurants. It's a great little place to walk around and shop. In addition to the Holiday Happenings, my LNS is also having a local crafter in-store displaying and selling her craft-wares. I'll have to check this out though as I have no idea what type of craft this lady brings. This happens from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. in Berry Hill. Immediately afterwards, Moonlight Stitching starts. This is going to be quite the Saturday in Berry Hill and at the shop.

I have finally picked which piece to stitch for the QSW and have gathered my floss and fabric for the occasion. Since I'm new to primitive stitching and have very little quick stitch pieces I have decided to stitch one of the freebies I received from The Sampler Girl through our Stacy Nash Group at Yahoo! (SNG at Yahoo!). The freebie is called Prim Friends Gather. I figured since this is our SNG's first QSW, I find it appropriate to stitch this piece since we're friends getting together and stitching our quick stitches. Tanya is such a gifted designer and generous with her work. Check out Tanya's blog as well. She always has something going on and she's definitely worth reading.

Prim Friends Gather
by The Sampler Girl
stitched by Linda in VA