Wendy ~ Home at Work

Shepherd's Bush Christmas Stockings

2011-12-13T08:37:00.005-05:00

Two Shepherd's Bush stockings for two sweet little boys... and ready in time for Christmas! Stitched on 18 ct natural linen, using DMC perle cotton, and charm packs. I changed the charts slightly to make them the same, but different, as are these two little guys :-D

My Granny Shower

2011-06-29T16:52:00.013-04:00

Last Sunday I got together with my stitching friends for one of our fun get-togethers, what I thought was a normal get-together ~ an awesome potluck lunch and afternoon spent showing and sharing all our crafting finishes and WIP's, lots of fun and laughs. But to my great surprise, this past Sunday's get-together was actually a Granny Shower....for me!

It seems like the 7 of them have been planning this for months, since shortly after I announced my 2 girls' pregnancies. They busily started scheming and planning to make handmade baby gifts for all of my new grandbabies, and then were as surprised as everyone else to find out that Carrie was having twins which meant....another baby gift! And they managed to do it (although Clare has given me an IOU LOL) and presented me with some absolutely spectacular baby gifts - all made, decorated and embellished by their incredibly gifted and nimble fingers!

I was incredibly surprised by the shower and the wonderful gifts made by these amazingly talented and warm-hearted friends.

Here are some pics~

Ann (of Knowledge & Needles)

Marsha and Clare (on the mantle of the fireplace, you can see Anita's newly finished and framed Mother's Bliss)

Nancy, Anita and Marg

Three beautiful sweaters for the babies knitted by Nancy.

Two wonderfully cozy hooded towels made by Marg.

A sweet, supersoft sweater knitted by Clare. Sweater #2 is on her needles and she showed us the gorgeous pink yarn for sweater #3!

Two knitted faceclothes by Marj, 3 sweet cross stitched bibs by Anita, 2 Baby is Sleeping cross stiched hangers by Marj and another lovely Baby Sleeping pillow by Ann. Ann took back her 3 baby bibs to wait until the births so she can stitch the babies' names on them.

Three sweet 'onesies' embellished with a zebra, lion and elephant, stitched by Marsha.

And me in the Granny Rocking Chair! I wish I was wearing my Granny Shawl that Marg knitted for me....in my favourite colour ~ purple!

Happy 1st Day of Summer!

2011-06-21T11:51:00.006-04:00

I don't have any progress pics for anything to show :-( Hubby is away with the camera for the week. But I do have a somewhat older finish to show off:
This is Mirabilia's Christmas Elegance, finished on the recommended fabric, with DMC, a little treasure braid and about 4396 beads LOL! I don't even remember when I started this one...but I finished it. It is hanging on the wall of my sewing room, unframed, because if I stick it in the drawer to join its forgotten companions, it won't see the light of day for a loooong time.

And I have been reading:All I can say is WOW! Great book and if you haven't read it yet, run out and buy it. Can't wait to start the next one in the series.

Thank you for reading and commenting on my last blog post. I was shocked and surprised that anyone would bother to read this sadly neglected blog. Your comments are much appreciated!!!

Long time, no see!

2011-06-15T17:15:00.012-04:00

Helllloooooooo~~~~~ there is definitely a big echo here.

Its been a long time since I have posted anything here. Not because I haven't had anything to show or talk about....just life seemed to get in the way. I have missed the Blogworld terribly and I have been pining for months to get back to it.

What have I been up to??? Sadly stitching has taken a back seat in recent months, and baby stuff making has been in the works. Because there are 3 little grandbabies cooking away and getting ready to make their entrance into the world in a few short months. And when I think of how much time I have left to get everything ready, my crafting mojo goes into overdrive.

And up first some pics of the baby quilts~
This is a twisted log cabin design done in beautiful bright colours. I love this quilt, it makes me happy just to look at it. Here you can see a pic of the fabric used for the backing. I used a jelly roll to make this quilt, so just used pieces of the leftovers joined together to use for the binding. I like the scrapiness of binding strips like this and it fits in with the scrappy log cabins. This quilt is for my future grand~daughter!

And next up ~

This is from a pattern in the book called Schnibbles x2. I used a layer cake called Lily & Will by Bunnyhill (love their patterns!). I had this layer cake in my stash for a few months, anticipating the need to make a baby quilt.

And then I learned, I needed to make another one when my daughter found out she was expecting twins! Luckily, Bunnyhill made this fabric line in a couple of different colourways :-D
So another layer cake was on the way~
....and a blue one this time, once I found out the twins were going to be boys!

So as you can see I have been spending a lot of my free time here:
But eventually I hope to get back to this lovely sampler~
Heaven Doth Ask, by Brenda Keyes
Stitched with DMC on 40 ct Lt. Sand linen

Remember the sweet baby puppy I showed in my very last post? She grew .... a lot! (and needs a day at the doggy spa)And Bella says hi too
Okay, enough already, I get the hint....

Meet Chloe

2009-12-10T08:12:00.011-05:00

We have a new member of our family!
She is actually the same Schnoodle mix (Schnauzer-Poodle) as Bella is - but with very different colouring. We picked her up almost 2 weeks ago now, at only 7 weeks old - such a little baby. And after auditioning about 2 dozen different names, we finally decided on "Chloe". After a fretful first night, she is making herself at home with her big sister Bella who absolutely adores her.
Stu, on the other hand, has decided to be the old crochety guy and steer far clear of this interfering, noisy (she insists on barking at him) puppy-thing. Although he has to admit to a few perks - he really does like her food!

Beware of lots of puppy pics!
Aww, their version of 'spooning' - so sweet to see them sleeping together - next to my desk!

I finally put the last few stitches into a huge Christmas present - whew, this is such a relief. This is as close as I like to be to a deadline without feeling panicky. Pictures will have to come after Christmas once the recipient has received it. And now its back to a little self-Christmas stitching - this is a freebie that I found through Gazette94's blog:
I started off using the DMC variegated thread and of course ran out too quickly. I thought this variegation was the same when I bought it at Michael's but once I got it home, it had too many pinks. So its back to regular DMC - mixing a couple different colours in to try to get some variegation. And I've been working on an ornament for an exchange too. Time to put my finishing skills to work.

And a little baking ~ banana-walnut bread ~ gluten-free of course!

A Halloween finish - a little late....

2009-11-19T10:06:00.006-05:00

Thank you - thank you for all your sweet comments, welcoming me back to the Blogging World. I really have missed this kind of contact with other stitchers and its so heartwarming to have you still coming back to my blog. I'm trying to make the rounds of all the blogs in my sidebar and slowly but surely I'm getting there.

I don't have too much to show for my week but my daughter Kelly sent me a picture of the the Halloween banner I made for her last month.
Its called Lost Spirits, by Birds of a Feather and its stitched on a piece of 28 ct linen called Fossil - I think its by Picture This Plus fabrics. Its a really gorgeous brown shade and I would love to get more of this, because I have a couple more Birds of a Feather Halloween charts and I think this works great. Don't you love the Pumpkinhead girl at the bottom!

This weekend can't come fast enough - Sunday is a stitching get-together at Clare's and it sounds like there will be a houseful. I'm taking my camera so I'll have pictures! Have a great weekend all!!

Is it really November?

2009-11-09T18:11:00.011-05:00

I'm back in blogging land! No real excuses as to where I've been or why - but I guess I found I had overloaded on responsibilities. Something had to give. And then procrastination set in....

I've been around and lurking and commenting here and there and stitching and quilting and knitting and reading to my heart's content! Well almost - work does tend to get in the way somewhat.

Wanna see some pictures? Because after all, that's what we are really about. If we can't do it all, we can at least look at pictures of people who stitch and quilt and knit wonderful things and imagine that we will some day too.

This is what I did on my summer vacation - really. Lo How a Rose - in a Christmas book that I begged, borrowed and pleaded to get because I had seen it so many times in so many places and I knew I had to make this one for myself. Luckily Clare had the book and she lent it to me just in time for my August vacation. It took about 8 days of dedicated stitching to make and Ta-Da - I'm in love with this piece. I used only DMC for it - no fancy threads here - and I dug out a piece of Lakeside Linens 36 ct linen that I had in my stash. I used one thread over 2 because I wanted a lighter, lacy feel for it. Its been relegated to my bag of finished pieces (BFP's) until I can scrounge up enough $$ to get this one framed.

This is Yule Sampler by Primitive Needle. I finished it last week and I am still in shock that I got something done before a holiday took place, instead of my usual finishing of it after the fact. Again, DMC's, not the called for Crescent Colours, because although I have a healthy selection of CC's, I didn't have one bloody skein that was called for. This was done on Lakeside Linens River Willow 32 ct. Its such a cute little piece and I really enjoyed it.

"Greetings" by Blackbird Designs, from their Peppermint& Holly book. I started this last week, using mostly GAST (with a little DMC, because of course I don't have all the ones that are called for). I'm using the rest of the Lakeside Linens piece of 36 ct fabric that I used for Lo How a Rose above, but 2 threads over 2 this time, for better coverage. Don't you just love BBD's!

And I finished up 2 Hallowe'en pieces, that have already been put away and given away....before pictures were taken (Gasp!). One day I'll get a picture of those.

I made this wee quilt to actually hang something on one of the walls for a change! Its only going to be 24" x 36" when finished and its just waiting to be quilted now. I used the Square in a Square technique - classes that I have been taking with Marg since last January! The main quilt that we are making is a ways from being completed, although we only have 2 classes left. I have lots of very pretty blocks made but I was needing to see something finished so I got this one put together with one of my favourite blocks, I think called Ribbons.

The urge for a new start isn't limited to my stitching - it takes over quilting too. This is the start of 'Log Cabin Squared' using two 'chelsea buns' from Sanctuary. Chelsea buns are rolls of fabric that are 1 1/2" strips from one fabric line, this one called Sanctuary. Really could the manufacturers make things any easier? But I wish they would get away from these yummy food titles for these things.

And lastly, a peak at something waiting to be quilted, using 2 charm packs from Blackbird Designs, called Beach house.

Whew, that was exhausting! Bella thinks so too :-D

April update

2009-04-14T08:49:00.009-04:00

Time for a little updating, well long overdue for a little updating actually. (inserting sheepish grin here)

The spring bug has bitten me and I really haven't wanted to be at my computer any longer than I have to - which has been far too long actually since work has been horribly busy. Leaving me little time for the more important things in life - stitching, quilting, knitting, walking my sweet little puppy, and the lesser ones - cooking, cleaning, laundry.

I received a wonderful package from sweet Melissa who sent along a gorgeous selection of coloured linens! Oh my, how beautiful these pieces are! I have to make sure to stitch just the right design on these to show the amazing colours. And how kind of Melissa to send these tasty linens along to me!! I'm sorry the picture just doesn't do them any justice.
At our stitching retreat (last post) I had a lesson on hand applique from my lovely friend Marg, which I sorely needed. My previous attempt at hand applique made for one very sad looking heart. But after some wonderful tips from her, this is what I have managed to get accomplished~
Uh, just don't look too closely at this please! This block is part of Block #7 for Leanne's House, which has been hanging about waiting for me to assemble for far too long. Of course I think I spent a year trying to get those final 3 blocks send to me after a horrendous experience with an online shop. Here is what the rest of Block #7 will look like, once I get the rest of the embroideries finished. But I haven't stopped stitching completely. I'm still plodding away at Mirabilia's Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky. My recent stitching hasn't been as exciting, since I've been working away at the frame area, which is full of very dull colours, but once done, looks far more interesting. Funny how you can work away at blobs of colour and placing a few random stitches here and there but when you back away from it, it really starts to look like something~
And I have to post a picture of sweet Bella. Hubby took this pic of her, while she was sitting in my chair, waiting for me to get home again. She hasn't grown very much and has stayed quite a small wee dog, but all the better to pick up and snuggle with!

Stitching Retreat

2009-03-24T08:07:00.012-04:00

What a fantastic weekend! Ann (of Knowledge & Needles fame) organized a stitching retreat at Timber House in Brighton, just off the shore of Lake Ontario. And this place is gorgeous, huge windows 3 stories high, with tons of stitching room with beautiful natural light. Of course we all still came armed with assorted Ott lights and magnifiers as you can see from the pictures, that is all 18 of us! The bedrooms were lovely with big comfy beds when we needed to rest up for the next day of stitching. And food - well there was lots of it and it was all delicious. I neglected to take my camera to Ann's house where hubby Dan cooked up a scrumptious feast for us on Saturday afternoon. And of course a quick trip into the shop for some must-haves followed that.

I have lots of pictures of the stitching retreat to share....so here goes!
This is a shot of the great room, that I took from the upstairs dining area~

A shot of the dining area upstairs~One of the lovely bedrooms~

Awesome windows~And in case you are wondering what I did during this fabulous weekend~
This is Flock of Birds by Blackbird Designs. I started it on Friday shortly after we arrived at Timber House and finished it up last night. A quick, very sweet little design :-D

What a great weekend! Thanks Ann for organizing such a fantastic weekend for us all, its no wonder your next 2 retreats are already booked solid!

Blackbirding

2009-03-17T07:55:00.006-04:00

I have some finishes to show ... finally!

My latest beauty, hot off the needle, and beautiful she is, even if I do say so myself. This is Sweetheart Sampler, a Loose Feather pattern from Blackbird Designs. Its an oldie but a goodie. I stitched this on the recommended fabric, 30 ct Kansas City Blend by R&R Reproductions, but once I started with the large alphabet, it looked far too chunky for me. So I switched to stitching over-1 thread and I was much much happier with it.
Uh, if you note at the bottom, it says Valentine's Day and I'm only just over a month late for this lovely occasion, or even better really, 11 months early for next year!

Next its pincushion-y time!
This is Buttons & Pins, also by Blackbird, finished on 40 ct remnant and finished into a pincushion. I found the crushed walnut shells recommended for filling these (bird cage litter in real life) and I love the weight and substance this filler gives these.

Small Tokens, one of the Nashville releases for Blackbird Designs. This is finished on 32 ct antique white linen with some very sweet crocheted trim. This one made a wee gift.

This Friday I'm going to a Stitching Retreat with ladies from Knowledge & Needles! This is my first weekend retreat and I am so excited. I just have to figure out what to pack. I think its time for a new start or two! My excuse is that I'm not taking my Dazor magnifier, so I will need some larger-for-my-old-eyes fabrics, and since most of what I have on the go lately is 32-and-up, well that's just as good an excuse for a new start as any I can think of.

I'm still offering up my contest (see last post) for a new phrase for finished-finished. The winner will get a lovely little something that has been finished-finished.

Meanwhile I better get back to working on my PhD (Project-half-Done) - a new phrase I learned last night!

What's the word for.....?

2009-03-10T09:15:00.007-04:00

'Eggs' by Shepherds Bush, stitched on 32 ct antique white linen, with GAST and DMC

I finished up a quick little Shepherd's Bush piece last night ~ Eggs for Easter. Sometimes its just easy to pick up something and finish is in 2-3 days, I needed that quick finish. And shockingly for me, its actually done well in time for Easter. I am notorious for being on the back end of holidays. I start something before a holiday comes but never get it finished in time. I'll do a fabric dive later and see what I have to finish-finish this.

Speaking of...is there a word for finishing that I can't think of? I call something finished when I'm finished stitching it. But then there's the actual 'finishing' of it, that is making in into a finished piece, that I think I need a proper word for.

May be I could start a contest - whoever can come up with the best word for the actual 'finishing' of a stitched piece into something - needlebook, scissor fob, ornament, whatever. I'll gift a 'finished' object to whoever comes up with the best word.

Marj and I drove to Ann's Knowledge and Needles Open House on Sunday to see all the latest goodies she brought back from Nashville. It was so nice to see her and Dani and Christin and a few other ladies there. I was very very good and kept well within my budget.
Quakers & Quilts by Rosewood Manor, which calls for Valdani threads, which Ann also had but I didn't indulge in. And Celtic Cross by M Designs which I have coveted for a long time now.

And check out this lovely piece of Graziano gingham linen Ann had in stock - its perfect for this new Blackbird Designs piece called A Flock of Birds which is in the newest My Heart is True book. Ann is carrying several different colours of this and I was so happy to get it. Now I can't wait to start this lovely design - its my favourite in the new book.

And speaking of Blackbird Designs, Sue started a new blog for Blackbird lovers. Be sure to visit to see everyone's gorgeous stitching!

Cuba

2009-03-04T07:53:00.012-05:00

Warning - very picture heavy!

What can I say about Cuba other than we had a perfect time! Beautiful country, beautiful weather, beautiful people = wonderful vacation. Although we seemed to spend most of our time at the poolside, we did get for a wonderful hour-long walk each morning along the ocean, spent a lot of time in the various restaurants, bars and buffet, and we did get in to Havana for a day trip. I wish I could go back tomorrow!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...The main building
Poolside~
View of the first pool
The hottub...come of my favourite spots!
Ahhh, the ocean!

The next hotel had a lighthouse!
Havana~
...with such cool cars from the 50's.
On a side street - looking into a courtyard.

Gifted!

2009-02-12T08:51:00.005-05:00

Gasp - look at this treasure trove of knitting loveliness! I was blown over the other day by getting all these wonderful gifts from dear Nancy, a wonderful stitching/knitting/quilting friend.

The knitting/stitching bag at the top is the most gorgeous bag, with all kinds of extra pockets for slipping in a little sustenance to keep a knitter/stitcher going strong! There is a lovely book of knitting stitches, and to the left, an ingenious worm binder, yes, that's right, a worm binder. Its perfect for holding all our circular needles (which are my favourite, uh circular needles, that is, not worms). Some new sock patterns which are my most favourite thing(s) to knit and an absolutely gorgeous purple/blue/green flat of wool called Flat Feet. Its been hand painted after being knitted by machine. The idea is to start unravelling as you knit so come up with your own unique pattern. How cool is that? No more balls of yarn to get tangled ... or played with by not-so-innocent little puppies. I am still in awe of all this lovelies and have had the most fun by taking everything out of my new bag and playing with it all. Thank you, Nancy!!!

Stitching-wise....I'm still at my CHS alphabets and I expect I will be happy dancing very shortly. But meanwhile I couldn't resist a little detour, with one of my new favourite designers, Blue Ribbon Designs~
Valentine Wishes - stitched on 28 ct Blush Pink Cashel, with GAST threads.

Sorry for the dark pictures - its endlessly gloomy around here - with another day of rain....yes, that's right rain. It has turned our snow into glops of messy disgusting piles. But the cold air is returning tonight and I'm sure it will turn everything back into a skating rink.

Fine by me....I'm on the final countdown because a week today hubby and I will be vacationing in Cuba - hot sun, white sandy beach, stitching in one hand, and a mojito in the other!

Moving on!

2009-01-30T08:40:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for the encouragement to keep with my CHS alphabet. Seriously I was ready to toss it aside for greener (actually snowy) pastures, but with so many ready to do some happy dancing with me, I felt I couldn't let anybody down. So the alphabet made its way back on the stitching hoop and W for Willow got finished off last night. Then I moved right on over to 'X'.

Lookee what the mailman brought home this week - my Quaker Friendship RR, completed! Isn't it gorgeous! Everyone did a fantastic job stitching on it. I used a DMC variegated thread for the centre motif and asked everyone to chose one of the matching threads to stitch their section. I really wanted to see the change-over from each person who stitched on it and I think it turned out beautifully. This poor RR group has had some issues with someone who left the group and absconded with 3 people's pieces and threads! Unbelievable to have someone drop off the face of the earth and keep others' RR's. We were so lucky to have lovely Valerie step in and take over and unfortunately then get swamped with RR's. Thanks Rowyn, Edgar, Donna, Carol and Valerie for stitching on this beautiful keepsake for me!!
And finally ~ I've been tagged by Melissa to name 5 addictions. And if you haven't dropped by Melissa's blog, be sure to swing over that way and check out her gorgeous stitching (and knitting :0D)

5 addictions (well, I'll name the top 5, or we'll be here for a while)
1. Stitching ..... of course!
2. Quilting.
3. Blog reading.
4. My doggies.
5. and my newest downfall ~ Honey Ginger Green tea (President's Choice brand).

Have a great stitchy weekend!

January Stitching

2009-01-26T08:07:00.007-05:00

What have I been stitching on this year? My Carriage House Samplings Alphabet series....started (gasp) in 2006. I am determined to get one of my BAP's out of the way this year and I have been plodding away at this lovely series since the new year started and making some great progress. Until the past week that is...and I feel my resolveto finish this first hedging, and more and more I have been eyeing my lovely pile of stash waiting impatiently for just the first few stitches.

Why, oh why, can't I just see this one through to the end? I'm so close, just a couple more letters and then the 2 signature areas...and the border. But February is looming and some lovely Valentine freebies are out there aching to be stitched. Its like starting a diet for me, and that goal to see it through quickly gets sidelined by the lure of sweet goodies just around the next corner.

Well here it is Monday and I made it through the weekend, with the help of my Saturday afternoon Quilting Club start and something fresh to brighten up these dreary cold winter days.

So I'll leave you with some pictures of my CHS alphabet

As of January 2007 - stitched on 40 ct antique white Newcastle linen, using a combination of DMC and GAST threads.

As of January 2008 - a little more done.

And the latest scan in January 2009 - down to the bottom!

And a couple of pics of Bella modelling her new coat, lovingly sent to her by her doggy nieces, Maddy and Maisie (Kelly's doggies)!

More Christmas stitching....late I know :-D

2009-01-11T09:52:00.005-05:00

More Christmas stitching??? I know the season is well and over as the deep cold outside is reminding me, but I didn't get a chance to update my blog very much last month, so I'm going to force a couple more pics. Well these were actually Christmas presents so I couldn't show them beforehand anyways.

This is Prairie Schooler's Winter Wind, on 32 ct Antique white linen. I made this into a flatfold for a Christmas present for Kelly. My first flatfold, using the lovely Vonna's detailed instructions!

And 2 days before Christmas I put the finishing touches on the set of Shepherd's Bush ornaments, 8 of them from the JCS Ornament issues. These were really fun to stitch and so quick too. I used some brushed cottons from my stash to finish them up, and simple jute for hangers. These were a present for Carrie! Bella is settling in very well at home, and becoming my little shadow. She teases me when I'm coming down the stairs by taking little nips at my legs, to remind me that she is there. But by far her favourite game is to race about the house as fast as she can. She will race up the stairs, run about the hall to our bedroom and then back again around and down again. She does this about 5-6 times before she collapses in a heaving little ball on the floor, waits until she catches her breath, and then she's off again. If only I had a little of that energy.

Until next time!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T15:56:00.005-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around much! But where has the time gone? Why is it when I have time off work, that it just passes by so quickly? We had a wonderful Christmas and had all my family in for Christmas dinner - 18 of us! It was wonderful, if only I could have made Christmas last about 3 days, it would have been perfect.

I have a very special Christmas present to share, well not actually a gift from anyone, but one we had been promising ourselves, since we lost 2 of our dogs last summer. And here she is - she arrived on Boxing Day, little Bella!

Isn't she adorable!!! What a cute little puppy face. She is a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle mix) and 3 months old. She has currently become the Diva-Miss of the couch and chair and won't let any of the others get any attention while she is around. What others might you wonder? Well I have been dogsitting for Nick's friends the past 2 weeks, a Chihuahua named Mason, and I have Stu and Kelsey, Maisie and Maddie. That's a lot of dogs!

The kids are all off to various parties tonight and we are having friends over to help bring in the New Year... and yet another dog.

Just to get in a little stitchiness, here is a pillow I finished off in time for Christmas. Its hardly timely to show Christmas stitching but I thought the sentiment appropriate for tonight!

Happy New Year!

Love my new Santa!

2008-12-18T08:20:00.003-05:00

Isn't it so nice to get lovely little packages in the mail ~ and this is what the mailman delivered yesterday - this sweet Prairie Schooler Santa ornament from dear Harmien! I love him! He's not taken his place on my Christmas tree just yet, I have him on my desk so I can look at him during the work day.

And I'm not just counting down to Christmas, I'm counting off those work days left. Luckily for me, the clinic that I work for is closing down between Christmas and New Year's and that means time off work!!! So holidays for me start on Christmas Eve!

Do you know about the new blog that has started for a Prairie Schooler exchange? Of course I couldn't resist signing up for this. And there is also a blog starting up for a Peppermint Twist SAL. I'm thinking of joining that one too! I love the New Year coming with so many great possibilities.

A Christmas tree

2008-12-16T08:38:00.003-05:00

Not the bestest picture, but I took it with my cell phone, actually I took several, feeling very touristy, of the Swarovski Crystal Tree at the Eaton's Centre in downtown Toronto. It is truly gorgeous and could be seen from almost all areas of this huge mall. I wish I knew how many crystal snowflakes were hanging from this tree, it was awesome!

Of course being Friday afternoon/evening, there were hoardes of people about, but that made it part of the fun. Hubby and I finished up our Christmas shopping, found a place for dinner, and then went to the St. Michael's Boys Choir concert. What a great evening!

This and That

2008-12-06T09:23:00.008-05:00

Where have the past few weeks gone? Work has been deadly recently - owing to the fact that we have gone from 3 full timers down to 2 - so much for a slow ease back into work. I honestly feel that I can't see the end of the tunnel. I have spent so much time on the computer, that once I finish up with work, that's it for me and the computer. Needless to say, I am very behind in my blogreading :-(

But it didn't stop me from taking Friday afternoon off so that Carrie and I could head down to the One-of-a-Kind Show in Toronto. I love this show - its absolutely the best show around and we love the Christmas show. Its so fantastic to see Canadian artisans and handmade items. I had thought to find myself a new coat, but didn't see anything that struck my fancy. I did get some wonderful smelling body butter, smelling of oatmeal and honey, yummm, and honey lip balm, which is so necessary for these cold winter days. Plus some delicious Christmas cranberry pot pourri and herbal tea. But the best was the new tea set that I had a hankering for - hand made stoneware - in a gorgeous shade of blue. I indulged in the teapot, cream and sugar and a small matching bowl. I did run out of money! May be the tea cups can come next year. You'll see some glimpses of my teapot in the pictures......

I received this in the mail last week from sweet Jenn (Sweet Pea) . She has been playing around with dying her own threads and has done a fantastic job with the colours. I was so lucky to have won this skein from her!! This skein is called 'American Girl' but she suggested we change it to 'North American Girl' for me! Thanks Jenn, I'm going to look for a special project to use your thread.
Here's a little finish from last month - Little House Needleworks Wool Needlebook, stitched on a 32 ct remnant (note shiny new teapot!).

And another small finish - Blackbird Designs Buttons & Pins, on a 40 ct remnant.

I started some Christmas ornaments - this is the Shepherd's Bush series that has appeared in the JCS Ornament issues, starting way back in 2000. I got the first 2 stitched already this week. I've been using a mixture of DMC, WDW and GAST threads and instead of using the silver charms, I used Kreinik #4 cord to make the cane and trumpet. Looks pretty good I think! Only 6 more ornaments to go.....do you think I'll have them finished for Christmas?

On looking at these pictures, I really think the finishing fairy is long overdue at my house!

One last shot of my wee Christmas tree. I have a sweet collection of handmade angels that I have found over the years at local craft shows and the smallest of these I have hanging on this little tree, along with a few ornaments that I made about 10 years ago.

We're off house hunting this afternoon - with the newlyweds Carrie and JF!

A Winter finish

2008-12-01T08:25:00.003-05:00

Another finish - one I actually got done a couple of weeks ago but I don't think I posted a picture of it! Its not finish-finished.....I would really like to try making a flatfold. I have a couple other small finishes to show too, but I've got to get pictures first.

We decorated our house for Christmas yesterday - the tree is up and sparkling and the house is looking very festive - just in time for another snowstorm with a prediction of 20 cm. Luckily it ended up being mostly rain with some sleet and this morning the streets are fine. I'm so glad really - its too early for snow!

I feel like tossing all my stitching aside to make Christmas ornaments! Is it too early to start Carol's 2009 Christmas Challenge?

A new start

2008-11-25T10:11:00.002-05:00

A new start - that's right, I couldn't resist the lure of this lovely Mirabilia design any longer. For some reason, I kept thinking about it the past couple of months and having an irresistible urge to start this design. Its called Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky and its #10, so a very early design by Nora Corbett. No beads, no Kreinik or specialty fibres, just good old DMC. I'm using a 32 ct antique white linen. You know it feels really good to work on a design like this, its been a while for me since the lure of Prairie Schooler and Little House Needleworks and Blackbird Designs has had me mesmerized.

On Sunday, I hosted our stitching group for our potluck lunch and get-together. There were 5 of us, unfortunately 3 couldn't make it but Marsha's sweet 3 month old future stitcher helped to fill in the gap. The time always flies when we get together, although not a lot of stitching usually gets done, but lots of inspiration fills the room! Sorry, no pictures, I didn't think of it until too late.

And I have been knitting a little more on my sock which has been a long time in taking the shape of a sock! I'm ready to start the toe decrease. And after watching Nancy give us a demo on Sunday with her new spinning wheel, I signed up for Ravelry. So may be there will be a little more knitting in my future!

And a RR makes its way home

2008-11-17T07:49:00.007-05:00

What a great mail week! Look what found its way to my door, after making its way across Canada, the U.S. and Australia. My neighbourhood RR is finished!!

I love the houses that everyone chose for their areas and all the little extra's make it so fun to look at. I think I'll add a border around the neighbourhood and stitch in all the names of each person beside their home. Huge huge thanks to (starting at the top going left to right) Glenna, Carol, Nicole, Deb, (centre house is mine) Bine, Carissa, Karen and Leslie!

And now just a peek at some sewing/quilting I've been working on ~

A stocking ornament

2008-11-04T08:58:00.003-05:00

I finished up my first Christmas ornament of the year. I stitched the Blackbird Design stocking from the 2008 JCS Ornament issue. It stitched up so quickly that I went back through some older issues and found the candy cane design that I remembered seeing before, also by Blackbird Designs. The small square of fabric showing is what I used for the backing fabric.

But I'm not too thrilled with my finishing. I ironed the fusible interfacing to the back of each piece and then whipstitched both together but I found a lot of little threads kept slipping out. Any ideas on how to put these together without a smoother finished edge? Did I cut the margins too small? I really need some finishing classes!

Halloween Stitching

2008-10-28T08:45:00.006-04:00

Some Halloween stitching has been finished! The first one is from the new Prairie Schooler Book 148. As soon as I saw this, I had to start it!
And a freebie from The Sampler Girl, called Quaker Boo. This is stitched on 28 ct Jazlyn called Pumpkin Spice, using good ol' 310 ~ black DMC.
A little more random stitching has gone on, including a little Christmas stitching. And of course I absolutely to stitch the Blackbird Design ornament from the new JCS issue, which was so kindly sent to me from a very dear friend. I'll get a picture once I actually have the little stocking finished.

One more week off work for me, and I am finally starting to feel like my old self again. If only I could make this week streeeeetch a little longer! But I'm feeling too guilty about the ladies who have had to do my work for the past few weeks.

Have a great week!

Back again

2008-10-16T08:24:00.003-04:00

Thank you all for your good wishes for the surgery! Its hard to believe that almost 2 weeks have passed already ~ I think I was in a big of a fog last week and the days slipped by. The surgery went well - 4 hours of it, although the doctor was not able to do it with the small incisions and had to go for the large one to get all the disease cleared up. Which meant a couple extra days in the hospital and a slower recovery at home. I'm finally able to sit at the computer a little more comfortably, although I made sure I was able to get into a stitching position as soon as possible. Well important things have to come first!

I hope to start visiting blogs and get some more stitching mojo back. I've just been picking at a few different projects here and there without really making any progress on anything.

We had our Thanksgiving Day on Monday and although we missed getting to our cottage for our annual feast, Carrie and our new son-in-law JF cooked an amazing dinner for us. Why is it food always tastes so much better when someone else cooks it?

Here is a picture I snatched from Carrie's facebook page of our cottage - the back end of it! So pretty - I miss seeing all the beautiful colours up north.

Wedding Pics!

2008-10-02T08:04:00.007-04:00

Hey ~ its been an amazingly busy couple of weeks and I haven't had much chance to post or read any blogs. Soon I hope to have lots of time for catch-up! Tomorrow is the surgery day for me and I expect to be back up and running very soon.

So in the meantime, here are some wedding pics! It was a gorgeous ceremony and reception, and although the weather was very cloudy, the rain held off and I think the overcast day made the colours in the pictures stand out even more. What fantastic memories we will have of this special day.

The bride-to-be~

Carrie and Maid of Honour Kelly~
With Mum and Dad~

The happy couple during the Rose Ceremony~

And finally....the kiss~

Happy Saturday!

2008-09-20T09:14:00.004-04:00

And its only one more week until Carrie and J-F's wedding! There are so many last minute things to do in the meantime, on top of work....its going to be crazy. Kelly arrived last Thursday and the two girls were already off bright and early this morning to get started on their day. Later we have to visit the resort where the wedding will take place and a quick visit to the nearby town for the liquor license. I can't wait for the big day to arrive!!

I also had my preop appointment this week in Toronto for my own big day. The Friday after the wedding is my surgery date, when I am finally going to get rid of these huge ovarian cysts that have been causing so many problems and a hysterectomy as well to get rid of the endometriosis. Its funny really to be so looking forwards to surgery but I can't wait to start feeling better.

I've been getting a little stitching done, not too much, but I got this sweet little design finished up: Its called Buttons & Pins by Blackbird Designs. I just need to find some wee buttons to sew along the open space of the border and finish in into a pin cushion. I used a Lakeside Linen piece of 40 ct something, it looks like a pale old yellow, not as yellowish as the scan came out, but a soft pretty colour.
Most people pile up books and reading to do for their convalescence, not me, I have stitching projects lined up! I may not have time to check in again before the wedding, so have a great week everyone!

And more Prairie Schooler

2008-09-11T08:28:00.005-04:00

I think its pretty obvious, I love Prairie Schooler charts, I just can't get enough of them. I was just finishing up the 2008 Prairie Schooler Christmas chart, and working still away at Winter Wind (Book 133) , when one of the new releases came in the mail. This one is called When Witches Go Riding and I fell head over heels in love with it. I mean who could resist the picture of that wicked little witch dancing amongst her pumpkins? So I had to, I mean I really had to, get a start on this one too.

Here you go, a Prairie Schooler fiesta~

Fresh from the Framer

2008-09-08T08:14:00.006-04:00

Its a Little House Needlework extravaganza! We just picked these up (along with the Wedding Sampler) and I am so happy with the way they turned out. Now I just have to figure out where to hang them up!
Sampler Lady by LHN, on 32 ct hand-dyed fabric, with GAST and DMC.
A Stitcher's Prayer, on 32 ct hand-dyed fabric, with DMC. Home of a Needleworker, on 32 ct hand-dyed fabric, with GAST and DMC.

Deb's RR

2008-08-29T09:11:00.003-04:00

I finished my house section on Deb's RR last night and got started on my tombstone. I can't quite decide what gruesome saying to stitch on it...hopefully some inspiration will come to me. Unfortunately the colours in my section don't show up too well on this beautiful fabric. Then I have to put my little X-S figure in 'Heaven' and I'm done! Early this time too!!

Its the Labour Day holiday weekend, the last big hurrah of summer and we have some great weather forecasted. We are off to enjoy the last bit of summer weather at the cottage. Which means I better get my stitching bag packed like now!

And Tuesday morning, the kids are back to school. That always means a special dance about the house once they leave! I don't even want to tell you how much $$ I have spent on clothes in the past week. No new stash for quite a while .....

WIP update

2008-08-26T09:11:00.005-04:00

Thank you for all the kind comments on my Blackbird Designs finish! I haven't decided how to finish this one yet, framed or wallhanging or even pillow?

Here is a WIP update ~ the 2008 Prairie Schooler Christmas kit. Its working up quickly and I love using the variegated Crescent Colours with this.
And last night I picked up Deb's (Lavender Rose Ramblings) Neighbourhood RR. She sent along the charts she wanted us to use and all the flossies - silks, GAST and DMC! I picked out the chart I wanted to use, one of the Morbid Pithies from The Workbasket and got a start on it. Once I get this done, I'll decide which figure to put in 'Heaven' and my tombstone for the cemetery! Its quite a detailed RR!

My arms have been getting a work-out at night time which is when I do my reading - in bed! I have almost finished reading World Without End by Ken Follett, the sequel to Pillars of the Earth.
What a great book, it is as good as Pillars, and one of those books that you hate to see end. The characters are amazing and following their life in the shadow of this cathedral has been so interesting. But while I hate to see it end, the next time I pick up a 1000+ page book, its going to be a softcover!

I will get a WIP pic of Deb's RR as soon as I make a little more headway with it!

Sunflower House

2008-08-22T08:10:00.005-04:00

A finish...a finish! Yuko beat me to the end of Sunflower House, even though I had started before her! I think I must be a slower stitcher than I thought LOL!

Vickie at Hedgehog Stitchery had kindly asked if I had any stitched pieces I could let her borrow for display at her shop! What an honour!! I took some pieces over last night, only 3 framed pieces and several unframed. How funny that I felt at a loss to find pieces for her to display! I guess I have given a lot of my stitching away (mostly to my kids!) and I have a not so tiny pile of WIP's. Plus quite a few Christmas stockings/ornaments that are packed away at the moment. Still I felt it wasn't much to show for all my years of stitching....kind of strange really. I think I need to take some time and organize my stitching into an online album, for my own sanity really, because its hard for me to realize that a hobby at that I spend usually a couple of hours a day at, I feel like I don't have much to look at.

I also attended Carrie's wedding dress fitting last night and took my own dress in for some alterations. We got to see ourselves together in our dresses and Oh, my but we look gorgeous!!! Only 5 weeks and counting until the wedding!

Back home again

2008-08-17T16:59:00.011-04:00

Holidays are over - and far too quickly! The weather I can't say was the greatest, lots and lots of rain but still, days spent stitching are never too dreary for me.

And I have a lot of pictures to show, be patient with me!

First off a start and finish:
Little House Needleworks 'Apples' on 32 ct cream linen with Crescent Colours

And another start and finish:
Little House Needleworks 'Reading' from the Little Women series, on 32 ct antique white, using Crescent Colours.
And next up, another start:

This is the Prairie Schooler 2008 Christmas kit, on the provided linen and Crescent Colours, once again.

And yet another Prairie Schooler start, Winter Wind. Of course I was missing just that 1-2 colours of DMC that i needed, so there are some spaces up top that need to be filled in.

We got home on Friday night but the end of our holidays has been tempered by Kelsey having gotten out of the house and now missing for almost 24 hours. We didn't even realize she was missing until about 2 hours after, as she quite often naps for a long spell after her running about at the cottage. Every one was out looking for her Saturday night but no luck. So the local animal shelters have been called, emergency vet clinics, and she is micro-chipped. We are hoping desperately that someone has taken her in and will call one of these places tomorrow, thinking that nothing would be open on Sunday. Please send good thoughts for her safe return home. Here's a picture of her ~

Updated (Monday) Kelsey is back home! A lady saw her wandering about near busy roads and picked her up for us. Unfortunately with the weekend, she was unable to contact any of the animal welfare groups we had contacted until Monday morning. As soon as J-F got the phone call, we were off to get her and bring her back home, safe and sound! Now to get that new dog tag with the proper address.....

Holidays!

2008-08-01T08:22:00.007-04:00

We're just starting....as of today, I am officially on vacation for the next 2 weeks. Ahhhh, that blissful sensation of having absolutely nothing to do, I can't wait! We're leaving for the cottage tomorrow and yes, I still have a lot to do. Am I organized? Not on your life but the important things are already taken care of - my stitching. That bag was packed last night with lovely fabrics chosen and edges sewn over, with various little charts and threads all packaged up and ready for whatever delightful piece takes my fancy. There are absolutely no stitching rules allowed when I'm on holiday, just pick up a piece and stitch, for however long and for absolutely no reason other than for the sheer joy of stitching. I'm sure any neighbours who happen to see me during my vacation must think I'm absolutely nuts, I'm never without a needle in my hand, or cool refreshing drink either. Good thing I have 2 hands.

I have been stitching up a storm since I finished Love with a Capital L (which by the way is enjoying being stretched and pulled at the framers) and I picked up my Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. It wasn't hard to decide which one of my BAP's to return to, this one fairly jumped into my lap wanting some attention. I really think I should just focus my attention one BAP at a time if I ever want to finish one in the next decade. And here is a pic of the lovely H's, with House #4 finished and even a nice start made on House #8. Unfortunately H's isn't vacationing with me, if would entail dragging my glorious but majorly overweight magnifier, and since most of my stitching is done under a tree at the water's edge, that would mean extension cords, etc., and I really don't want the neighbours to question my sanity too seriously. And for some reason I really don't like extension cords next to water.

Before I blog off for 2 weeks, I'll leave you with some delightful pics of what my hubby has been doing in our backyard. Here is a before he started:
And here is a pic once he was finished with his saw and sledgehammer:
There's nothing like a good demolition project to put fire in a man's bones! Well, personally I don't understand the thrill of ripping stuff apart but nothing charges hubby up more than this. I just wish he was as thrilled with the re-building aspect. Meanwhile we have a lovely dirt mess for the doggies to enjoy chasing each other about. Of course they are awfully good about wiping their dirty paws on rugs and furniture once they come back in the house for a drink. I think I will be calling the landscapers when we get home....

Have a great 2 weeks!

Sunflower House and a small finish

2008-07-24T08:02:00.005-04:00

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on the Love Sampler! Its so heartwarming to read what everyone has said. I was so anxious to put my last few stitches on this - I just don't do well with deadlines. We are off to the framer's later today to pick out a frame and get that organized, as well as few other small pieces that have been waiting to be framed and displayed.

Sunflower House update - but I'm not happy with how the colours look in the pictures! Really they are much nicer than how they look here. Yuko has put me to shame with how quickly she is getting through this one! I think she's going leave me far behind and finish ahead of me.

And another little finish - this is Bine's Neighbourhood RR. I love the set-up she chose, with a long row of houses. And doesn't it look sweet!

Love with a Capital L

2008-07-21T08:00:00.006-04:00

Happy Dance with me!
I'm done I'm done!!! The wedding sampler for my daughter Carrie is finished and in plenty of time to have it framed and displayed at the wedding reception in September. And isn't it pretty, even if I do say so myself :-D

Now I wish I had kept track of the hours spent on this piece, but I think it would have to be upwards of 200. Whew, that was a lot of stitching. Its done on 40 ct Lambswool linen and used 4 skeins of Gloriana Cranberry silk floss. I love how it turned out, and I love the deep red stitching on the colour of the linen. Its my first large piece done all in one colour and I think that's what helped move the stitching along so quickly. And this is very close to the red that the bridesmaids will be wearing at the wedding, how perfect it all worked out since I started long before the dresses or colours were chosen.

But I have to admit that I am very eager to get back to my regularly scheduled stitching and some of these poor neglected pieces that have been languishing since the engagement was announced. Hmmm, and may be even something new?

Some close-ups!

Sunflower House

2008-07-15T08:03:00.003-04:00

I missed getting a picture of my Sunflower House last week, but now here it is, with a little more to see. I finished up the house and 3 of the sunflowers. This seems to be working up quickly!
Be sure to visit Yuko's blog to see her Sunflower House too! Her pictures are much much prettier to see than mine!

New stash and new start

2008-07-09T08:26:00.006-04:00

Thank you all so much for your feedback on my Comfort Lady's skirt! I really had some doubts and was thinking about bringing in the frogs on this one. But I guess it does make her unique so the washed out, bleached spattered skirt will remain. The Sisterhood Pattern went in the mail at the post office on Monday and is now adding more miles as she makes her way to Sue's.

And I have added another stitching lady to my collection. New stash came in the mail yesterday:
Little House Needleworks "My Needle's Work" and the 2008 Prairie Schooler Santa kit. This is my first PS Christmas kit, it came with linen and Crescent Colour fibres, I want to start this one NOW!

But I did make a small new start on the weekend:
This is "Sarah's ABC Pincushion" from Blackbird Designs' Thank you Sarah Tobias book. I am using a remnant of something....30 ct R&R linen, in a really cool coffee colour. Its perfect for this yummy Gloriana silk called Autumn Arbor, that Annemarie sent to me. As you can see its attached to her sweet little floss fob that she made! I've been saving this for just the right project :-D

Sorry for the scanned pics...hubby is still away vacationing at the cottage...with the digital camera!

And just another wee treat for your eyes, more stash:
Isn't this beautiful! Its designed after an original 'souvenir' book dated 1895. I'm in love with this but I mean it, I am swearing off big projects....well, for a while anyways.

I'm staying inside in our lovely cool A/C today. The huge thunderstorms that went through yesterday did nothing to break the hot humid weather we are having.
Have a great day!

And the Sisterhood Pattern is off to.....

2008-07-04T08:17:00.003-04:00

Here is my lady of the Sisterhood! She's done, and I thoroughly enjoy stitching this lovely piece as my initiation. Hmm, I'm still not quite sure about her skirt. I used most GAST threads in this and the original colour I had picked for the skirt was far too dark against the lettering. So I changed to the only other purple I had ~ GAST Red Plum ~ and well, actually it is quite wonky looking. Be honest now, and tell me what you think! Weird but wonderful anyways?

And I know what you are really waiting for ~ the draw, well not so much, as I used the Random Integer Generator for this....and the winner is: Lovely Sue of Stitching and Life in the Company of Pets! Sue is a beautiful stitcher, an animal lover like me and I am so happy the Sisterhood Pattern will be going to her! Sue, please e-mail your address to me and the chart will be on its way.

Thank you to everyone who wanted to join in on the Sisterhood, I'm sure one day it will be making its way to your door! And Happy 4th of July to my U.S. bloggers!

Last chance for the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern!

2008-07-02T18:00:00.006-04:00

Another peek at the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern ~ that's right, the eyes are missing. Isn't there just always one floss colour that you are missing!!!! Once the eyes are done and the nose outlined, my lady will be finished!

So last chance to get your name in on the draw. I'll pick a name from random draw generator on Friday morning and then off she goes on her merry travels.

And since I celebrated July 1st (Canada Day) at the cottage, I picked up Blackbird Designs Sunflower House again, this time around to start a SAL with Yuko. Its a funny looking house at the moment, as I'm just painting it in all the GAST Butternut Squash.
Lucky, lucky hubby is off for 2 weeks vacation and I guess I'm having a mini sort of vacation as I'm on my own....Nick is staying with hubby this week and Kristy is off to camp as a counsellor in training.

Thanks for stopping by!

RAK'ed and Reading

2008-06-26T10:19:00.006-04:00

I was RAK'ed.....by lovely Michele of Just Another Stitching Blog! And her partner in crime was Monique who designed this lovely stitch holder and sent it along to me. How awesome to get a surprise gift in the mail like this! It certainly was a surprise and such a warm feeling to think that someone thought of me, to send me such a sweet gift. Thank you so much, Michele, you really made my day for me :-D

For stitching news, Love is back on the scene. I frogged what seemed to be a huge section and I'm back on track. The wedding is 3 months away (September 27th) so I'm in good time for getting this finished and framed for display at the reception. Three months away....where has the time gone?

And I'm been in a reading craze recently. I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, a really great story about the relationship between 2 women in Afghanistan. I hate to say, its not as good as The Kite Runner, but still very enjoyable.
And after that it was on to The Birth House by Ami McKay, a wonderful story about a young midwife in Nova Scotia, set during World War I. I love how this dates how women lived at the time, in a rural area, and what men's attitudes towards women were like at the time. It was a really great read, I highly recommend it!

I've just started a new book called Sister of My Heart, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. This one was recommended by Margaret, so I ordered it at the library and it came in just as I was finishing The Birth House. Keep those book recommendations coming...I can't seem to get enough these days!

The Sisterhood draw is coming close and I have a nice long list of names for the next round! Sorry no dress to see yet.....

Just a peek now

2008-06-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

....at the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern. I don't want to divulge my dress colour just yet!

Its coming along nicely and I should be finished with the pattern next week. Make sure you get your name in for the next drawing of this fabulous design. I'm collecting names and already have quite a few.

Last night I finished up Mindi's piece for the Quaker Friendship Round Robin. This is a great pattern for a round robin. The sections are not overly big and get finished fairly quickly. And I love, love, love Mindi's fabric and floss choices. They look great together. The fabric is Silkweaver Days Gone by 36 ct and the floss is by Vicki Clayton, Raisin Wine is the main colour and the accent is Old Maid of the Sail. Hmmm, the silk floss really likes to knot very easily though, has anyone else found that with VC silk?
The kids are officially finished school and Nick is to start a construction job this morning...but he's not out of bed yet. We'll see how long this lasts!

Have a great day!

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern

2008-06-19T11:25:00.006-04:00

Lucky me, I am the next one to receive this wonderful chart, My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me or is it has now become known The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern!

Harmien started the Sisterhood when she offered up her pattern to someone who wanted to stitch it. I'm not sure where it went after that but its been making the rounds and travelling the world of stitchers.

Anna drew my name after she finished stitching her lovely lady and it just arrived on my doorstep in the mail. Considering how far this pattern has now travelled....from The Netherlands, France, Malayasia, United States (a couple of times), and Australia, it has now safely arrived here in Canada and with such careful packaging, its in amazingly great shape.

I can't wait to get started stitching and I'm a little undecided about the dress colour. I think I'll have to pull my GAST threads and see which ones jumps out.

And I couldn't resist taking a scan of the some of the signatures - everyone who has stitched it thus far has signed and dated it. How cool!!!
But until I can get started, I have Mindi's piece for the Quaker Friendship RR to work on. I've made a nice little start. I love her fabric, its perfect for an antique style sampler and she chose lovely variegated silks in reds/browns. Donna has already stitched her section in the lower right hand corner and I have started the motifs in the upper right. Pretty huh!

I hope to have The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern stitched and finished in the next couple of weeks. Let me know if you want your name put in the draw for the pattern when she is ready to fly to new places!

L is for Lion

2008-06-16T08:18:00.004-04:00

Its been quite a while so this poor little WIP was calling out to me ~ CHS Alphabet. I spent the past few evenings on it and finished up L is for Lion, and then started outlining some more of the blocks. I think I was hoping to pick this up and get one letter accomplished each week...and that was months ago!

We've had some wild weather this weekend, with several thunderstorms since Friday. I was online early Friday evening when one huge bolt of lightning hit, and the computer flared at me and our house alarm went off! Amazingly enough we didn't lose power. But our network router went as did the network cards in my computers and in Kristy's. Lucky for us, hubby is a computer pro. But we'll have to get the alarm people in to fix up the problem with that, as its not functioning at all (psst, don't tell anyone!)
On Saturday, there was a family bridal shower for Carrie and J-F at my sister's home. It was a gorgeous day and held outside. Carrie got an amazing amount of great gifts, lucky girl, but she is hoping to pack them away until they buy their first home.

The kids are in their final week of school......oh no!

Thanks for dropping by!

A fresh start and needing a fresh start

2008-06-11T08:30:00.006-04:00

Thank you for all your comments on my LHN finish! I really love working on these sweet designs.I needed to pick something else up to do at the cottage over the weekend...where there is no magnifier...and I decided on Blackbird Designs Sunflower House. I have loved this one for along time but since it was 'retired', I was so thrilled to find it for sale by another stitcher. The pattern came with this gorgeous blue linen. I'm not sure if its the called for fabric which is called Friendship Blue, but it looks wonderful with the floss colours.
I didn't get too much done however, as a book grabbed all my attention. Its not too often that I start a book that I just can't put down. This one was called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I only started reading it on Thursday night, and finished it Sunday morning. What an amazing story! Luckily I have another one book by the same author ~ A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ waiting for me at home to start.

And on to Love with a Capital L~
I really think I need to put this away for a little while. I have made so many little mistakes with this piece recently, including the large motif on the lower left, well not such a little mistake maybe since the entire thing is about 4 rows too high. And of course I didn't discover this until it was pretty much finished. Counting threads on 40 ct fabric really seems to unravel me, uh no pun intended there. So I haven't decided yet if its time to frog, I started working on the next row of flowers and thought I would better be able to tell if I could fit the wording in without too much trouble, until another mistake became apparent last night. Yup, I definitely think its time to work on something else for a while and look at Love again with fresh eyes.

Thanks for visiting!

An LHN finish

2008-06-06T08:47:00.003-04:00

I finished up this little Watermelon square the other night, just a bit of a break from the 40 ct fabrics. These work up so quickly and are so fun to do. The backing fabric and ribbon came with the little kit that I had ordered from Mary Kathryn (Ehandcrafts). I think I"ll use the fabric to make borders for the square and then make it into a little pillow ornament.

And has everyone seen this new design from Little House Needleworks? Its the first in the Little Women series. I couldn't resist and put my name in for an automatic shipment for these.....

Our weather forecast is so crazy - the temperature is going up to 30 degrees C today, with a humidex of 42 C. Good thing we are headed to the cottage first thing tomorrow morning. We would be going tonight but Nick is headed to the Brooklin Fair with his girlfriend. May be I can drag hubby there too :-D

Have a great weekend!

A quilt finish

2008-06-02T08:24:00.005-04:00

Thank you for the anniversary good wishes! I really love reading comments and I am so appreciate of the time each person takes out of their busy lives to leave a few words behind for me ~ Thank you!!!

Hubby and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the David Duncan House in Toronto, actually one of his favourite places to go. Of course he gets there far more often than I do, since its so close to his office, which means a favourite spot for business lunches. We had hoped to go to the new Indiana Jones movie, but the time we wanted was sold out and to have to wait for the later show, meant I probably would have fallen asleep and we wouldn't be home in time to pick Kristy up from work.
Hopefully we can get in to see it soon!

On Saturday I worked away and finally finished the machine quilting on 1 my Lucky Stars quilt, although I think the name should be Long Stars quilt. This one has been 5 years in the making. I have no excuse why, I absolutely love the blue/purple batiks that I used in this, but it just seemed to fall to the bottom of the pile of quilting that I kept adding on. That's a terrible fault of mine that I keep seeing new projects that I want to do and start, and forget about finishing off the numerous starts that I have made. But I do get around to them eventually :-D]

Happy Monday!

2008-05-30T08:20:00.008-04:00

I finished up Karen's RR and its ready to get into the mail. I decided to add a turkey and pumpkins to the right hand side and another tree. Her theme is country so I didn't want to get too many farm critters in there. But since I love Autumn, I couldn't resist adding a touch of fall-ish colour to this one. I hope Karen likes it. Her neighbourhood is really taking shape with 6 houses now on it!

Tomorrow is hubby and my 28th wedding anniversary. We are planning to celebrate with dinner in Toronto and a movie. Yup, that's about our speed these days. And we each bought ourselves our own anniversary gifts - he got a new 'walking' lawnmower and I bought a new sewing machine. So it looks like we'll both be studying manuals to figure out how to put these things together and make them work.

Have a great weekend!

Love Progress!

2008-05-27T08:29:00.005-04:00

Some goodies bought at yard sales this weekend....2 Omni grid rulers, both looking brand new, and for only 25 cents each! That's a whale of a bargain! And some more wooden spools to add to my collection.
I have managed to get some good stitching time on the Love Sampler the past few days - enough so that even I can see some progress. I'm about halfway through the third set of pages, after that only one more set....I think I might get this done in time for the September wedding!
Meanwhile machine quilting has come to a dead stop. My wonderful little Janome machine has never honestly done well with free motion quilting but now its putting up such a fuss, that I'm ready to throw in the towel. I haved tried numerous different types of needles, but still the thread keeps breaking or the needle skips several stitches, not to mention the tension on the back is awful. No amount of playing with different settings seems to make any difference. So my Lucky Stars quilt sits with half the stars stippled and the other half barren. I've been checking the want ads thinking to buy an older used machine for simple machine quilting.
And I think I think some lessons in photography..... :-(

A cold holiday weekend

2008-05-20T08:25:00.004-04:00

It was a holiday weekend for us with Victoria Day yesterday and as usual, our first weekend at the cottage....and as usual it was cold cold cold.....and rainy! It doesn't make for the most fun, although we did get in a lovely walk through the woods on Sunday morning. And hubby's Aunt's birthday party was a great time. There must have been 80 people who attended. It was wonderful to catch up with people we hadn't seen for quite a while.

It seems most of my stitching projects are on 40 ct linens and I can't stitch on these any more without a magnifier, so I took along LHN's Watermelon and got a nice start on that. Poor little blackbird - he is beakless at the moment!

Yesterday afternoon I got back to working on my latest RR, this one is Karen's and she requested a country feel for her neighbourhood. I decided to use The Prairie Schooler's A Farmer's Almanac. Its may be a little more woodsy looking but I thought this fit for me.
I'm in the process of stitching in some hens and chicks at the bottom before I fill in the grassy bits, but I'm still undecided what to do with the right hand side. Some more trees maybe?

Thanks for stopping by!

Some updates

2008-05-13T12:45:00.008-04:00

Finally....a chance to update my blog! I feel like I have been in a whirlwind since we got back from Charlotte last week. Carrie and I had a wonderful time visiting with Kelly and Chris. We did a lot of shopping, lots of eating, and even had a chance to visit Carrie's bridesmaid Erin who lives about an hour from Kelly. I managed to find shoes for the wedding and a handbag, as well as some gorgeous new sandals for summer, and some clothes to add to my disgraceful wardrobe.

Since I've been home, I put together a McKenna Ryan wallhanging. Its a present for hubby's dear aunt who is turning 75 this weekend. She is an avid gardener and although I tend to forget the names of most flowers, the purple coneflower I do remember being plentiful in her garden so I thought this wallhanging was perfect for her. All that's left to do is handsew the rest of the binding on and its finished.

And I finished up Donna's round robin for the Quaker Friendship Round Robin. Just in time too I think because the next mailing date is fast approaching.
Sorry for the darkish picture! Donna chose NPI silk in a gorgeous deep green for her piece and it looks amazing in RL.

And a finish for me - A Stitcher's Prayer by Little House Needleworks. I had to admit that I was glad to get this one done, I made so many mistakes and frogged so many sections, even using the completely wrong colour floss in the house. Why do designers use symbols that are so similar? Or is it just my eyesight that needs some help? So when I realized, half way through, that there was a huge error in counting in the bottom line of design, I left it as is....kind of fits with the prayer that way I think.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm leaving!

2008-05-02T08:17:00.003-04:00

And we're off! Tomorrow, that is, to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit my daughter Kelly for a few days. I was surprised with an early Mother's Day gift from Carrie with 2 airplane tickets, one for each of us. I'm so excited to be going away and visiting with Kelly and Chris. And of course , we'll have to manage to get in a little shopping here and there :-D

I have to add in a stitching update, although I still don't feel like I'm making much progress on anything. I guess that's what happens when you in the middle of a honking big project like this one. Sorry no photos, its a dark gloomy day and I have several lights on in the house even though its morning.

Here is Love with a Capital L, 7 weeks after starting.
Its coming though and I have to remind myself I'm almost at the halfway point! And I am enjoying stitching this, I love not changing floss colours over and over again.

Have a great weekend! I'll be back at the end of next week.

Spring House Exchange

2008-04-29T08:34:00.005-04:00

I received a package from Joan with my Spring House exchange. And what a great package it was, filled with goodies, several of which she made. For the spring house theme, Joan stitched a design from Cottage Country Needleworks called Rose Cottage and made this into a lovely pinkeep. Her finishing skills are awesome!

She also made the lovely gift card, a project bag, a wee chicken pin cushion, and thread drop floss holders. And if that wasn't all enough, Joan included a design from LHN called 'ABC 123', fabric, DMC floss, fat 1/4 of finishing fabric, pins, and a tin of York mints. Wow - a truly incredible package! I feel thoroughly spoiled by Joan!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Family Time

2008-04-23T08:41:00.004-04:00

Sorry, no stitching pics to show. It was family time the past few days. My daughter Kelly surprised me by flying into Toronto for a few days. We had a wonderful time, lots of shopping and the weather graced us with gorgeous spring days...actually even a little too hot!

Here are some pictures from Sunday when we enjoyed a wonderful long walk along Lake Ontario. Below are Nick and J-F with Kelsey.

And here is Kelly, me and Nick together. Hubby had gone to the cottage for the morning to start the huge amount of ground work that needs to be done every year. Carrie was off to visit her bridesmaid, who also was in for the weekend from North Carolina. And Kristy was out of town with friends for the weekend.
And Miss Diva, reclining in the car after her long walk.

The time went by too quickly and Kelly is already back home in North Carolina this morning. I'm back to work and today I start at Curves, which as you can see in my picture above, is much much needed! Why doesn't stitching burn more calories?

A prize package

2008-04-18T08:02:00.009-04:00

Look at the amazing haul I received from Monique (Inside Number Twenty). She held a blog contest for her 3rd anniversary of My Mark Designs, and I was one of the lucky winners. I opened up a wonderful package from her yesterday, filled with goodies~ 3 of her designs, 2 pieces of linen, finishing forms, and at the back is a cute crafting tote, with lots of zippered compartment to hold all our treasures. Wow ~ Monique, thank you so much for your generosity!

I really do need some lessons in picture taking - this one is so dark :-(

I finished off my second bookmark ~ it really does look so much better with the B/S'ing .... and its right side up this time!

So last night I pulled out my Love Sampler and I was excited to get back to work on it. I am really enjoying working on this. There is something about pulling out a length of silk and working it through to the end. Endless colour changes can be for the birds sometimes!

And I better not forget to add the 'e' to 'Rud'! I left the centre of the motif on the right open (there is a matching one on the left side of the piece that I didn't scan) because the designer mentions you can add the couple's initials in this spot and I'm not sure if Carrie and JF want theirs to be stitched in.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

One down, one to go

2008-04-14T11:22:00.005-04:00

I found some stitching time on Saturday night and finished up my first bookmark. Yesterday I started the second one.....which I just realized as I uploaded the photo, appears to be upside down. Rather an indication of how my morning is going.....

These designs really look awful until the backstitching goes in and then it seems to spring to life! Funny how that works and yet other designs don't need any backstitching at all. I'm kind of thinking I prefer designs that don't require backstitching, its has to be one of my least favourite things about stitching. That and realizing that I am missing just that one particular DMC colour that I need. How is it that I have 3 or 4 bobbins of 501, but none of 502?

Ah yes, Monday morning blues....

Thanks for stopping by!

TGIF

2008-04-11T08:10:00.006-04:00

Do you ever have those weeks where you are insanely busy but don't feel like you are getting anything accomplished? It must be spring fever!

I finished up stitching for the SBEBB House & Garden exchange, hopefully this weekend I can get it finished-finished and mailed off. And I received 2 RR pieces in the mail this week, one for the Hello Neighbour RR and Donna's piece for the Quaker Friendship RR.

Meanwhile I made a start on the first of 2 bookmarks that I am making for the teachers in the study group I have been attending since last September. These are from the book Tokens of Affection and there is a series of monthly bookmarks. I decided to rechart the names in place of the month. Here is a scan of my first one....its a design that isn't going to look like much until all the backstitching is in place. Yikes, the dreaded backstitching!
Have a great weekend!

Fair and Square

2008-04-07T11:53:00.005-04:00

I received my squares from Paula today! How pretty this sweet little design is!! And I love the blue silk she used for the stitching.

And below is a picture of the squares I sent to her. This was a freebie design that I found online from Windy Willows. The size was perfect for the 50x50 squares and I loved how sweet it was.

I haven't been able to commit to any more F&S exchanges right now, too much on the go, with my Love Sampler having taken a backseat in the last week as I'm working on a SBEBB exchange.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

p.s. Here is a link to the Windy Willows chart:

A wee update

2008-04-03T08:28:00.006-04:00

Do you mind seeing yet another picture of my Stitcher's Prayer? Stitching hours have turned into just a few minutes these past days. So I don't feel like I have to show.I did get to meet my new great-niece, Georgia, who was born on Leap Day, February 29th, just missing my Dad's birthday by 46 minutes! I actually saw her for the first time on the Toronto news as my niece and her family were interviewed for having the first Leap Day baby in Toronto, quite an accomplishment. She is such a precious little bundle and slept right through our visit. Big sister Scarlett, who is 20 months old, kept us entertained.

Its another day full of sunshine and warm temps, although rainy weather is predicted for the week ahead. All I can say is I'm glad to see the end those mountains of snow!

Thanks for stopping by!

It finally arrived!

2008-04-01T08:42:00.005-04:00

My Valentine's Exchange for the SBEBB that it. Poor Chris had to wait 9 long weeks to receive this parcel. In fact we had come to the conclusion that it was lost so I spent last week stitching another piece to send to her. So of course as things go, I finished it off Sunday morning and received her e-mail yesterday that the real package had finally arrived. I can show a picture finally.
This was a freebie design from Elizabeth's Designs and I finished into my very first tin topper. I was so pleased with how it had come out. I don't know why I hesitated on trying one of these.

And here is picture of some of the goodies that went with it.

Of course Valentine's Day was so long ago now, c'est la vie!

Thanks for stopping by on this rainy spring day!

A little progress

2008-03-26T08:23:00.011-04:00

Here is an update on LHN's Stitcher's Prayer. The wording is finished, now to get to the good stuff!

And after an unbelieveable amount of procrastination on my part, I finally decided on my colours for the Quaker Friendship Round Robin. I'm really not this bad normally but I sure had a mental block or a colour block when it came to deciding what to use. And what fabric to use. I made a mess of my stash, pulling out different pieces and trying different floss on them. So I finally settled on antique white...a little boring I know.
And I really wanted to use one of the DMC variegated threads since stash money is tight these days. I went with the deep purple/blue tone and picked out plain colours that went along with it when I stopped by Michael's. I'm going to ask each person in the RR to stitch their section in one colour and then I'll be able to see each person's section more clearly but hopefully it will all mesh together very nicely. I need a kick in the behind to get me moving on this since our first mail-out is April 1st!

Finally, here is a picture of Nick and JF taken on Good Friday. Can you guess where they might be?

If you said on the roof of our cottage, then you are 100% right!

They went to the cottage for the day to shovel snow off the roof, in anticipation of the Great Melt.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T09:27:00.007-04:00

I'm WIP'ing along with the Love Sampler. I actually finished the first 3 pages! Only 9 left to go. I know its creased and crumpled looking but isn't it beautiful? I'm so proud of how its coming along.

And I managed a wee start on LHN's Stitcher's Prayer. I needed something to do for the Guild embroidery meeting, and I can't very well drag the magnifier with me ~ a Tim's coffee and my goodie bag are about it.

And look who I found dozing away on the couch, exactly where she is not allowed to be ~ Miss Kelsey. She is obviously called Princess for a good reason.

Happy Easter and thanks for dropping by!

Love with a Capital L

2008-03-19T08:15:00.004-04:00

This was my update picture as of Friday...but I've stitched quite a bit since then and have some of the wording done and border along the right hand side. Its coming along so nicely and I am loving working on this. I'm almost through my first skein of Gloriana silk. Let's see, that's 4 yards of 12 stranded silk, using 1 strand over 2 fabric threads, so that makes 48 yards of silk so far. Well, when you put it like that, my needle has been flying!

I have fabric ready to start LHN's Stitcher's Prayer as I would like to get this one going too.
We had rain yesterday and dark gloomy skies today which means more rain...and our snow is quickly disappearing. It was hard to imagine these great mounds of snow everywhere can so quickly be reduced to little piles of darkened yuckiness. Come on rain!

I am so stoked to hear about the new cross stitch shop opening in Whitby, Hedgehog Stitchery! Thanks Vickie for stopping by and letting me know. I'll be sure to pass the word along to our fellow stitchers who I am sure will be just as enthusiastic about having a real live shop to visit. There is nothing like seeing fabric and floss in real life to be re-inspired. And that its opening on the second floor of the Kniterary is a nice little treat to us knitters too!

Thanks for dropping by!

My Town

2008-03-14T08:36:00.008-04:00

After reading about Carol's (iStitchaholic) town and seeing the beautiful pictures, I thought I would copy her idea and do one of my own. I have to warn you though, I love history so this little insight to where I live is more geared to local town history than what's going on today.

Whitby is located on Lake Ontario, about 30 km from Toronto. We now have a population of 110,000 people. Although settlers arrived in Whitby in the 1700's, most settlement took place after the American Revolution, as a British resettlement for the Loyalists, with the development of the downtown area starting in 1836.

A view of Lake Ontario from Whitby shores, one of my favourite places to head for an evening walk or bike ride, as we have km's of finished trails along the shoreline.

We have a castle in downtown Whitby ~ Trafalgar Castle. These are the best pictures, I'm afraid! I nabbed them off the web and as you can tell we're not in the midst of winter.

Trafalgar Castle was built in Elizabethan style in 1859 by Nelson Reynolds, Sheriff of Ontario County. It has 15 towers, a receiving hall that is 108 feet long, secret passageways and a tunnel to Lake Ontario (which is actually quite far from the castle - I can't imagine the state of it now!). The castle is currently home to an all-girls boarding and day school for 240 students.

My friend Marj attended Trafalgar Castle school for 2 years and gave me this cool info:
The stories of the tunnel is true. And it was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad and there are even "pits" for the slaves to hide out in , in case of people coming to the castle. I know that much is true as we were taken down by our history teacher and shown them for a fact.
It is a really cool place to check out and every May they have their May Day festivities and Open house, which is really nice to go and see the school. Some of the residents from the Whitby Psych would work there in the kitchens and do the groundskeeping, supervised of course by the saner members of society.
We have an award winning, state of the art, new library which opened in 2005 and is huge at 54,000 square feet. This is also where we now hold our Embroidery Guild meetings, since being given the heave-ho from the church around the corner.

However I confess to appreciating the original town library much more... the Carnegie Library which was built in 1913 with a grant from American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Its a law office today.
I have to mention the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, located on the shores of Lake Ontario, just because it has always been the butt of too many jokes. It was originally built in 1913 and called the Ontario Hospital for the Insane (gruesome!). However once it was finished, it was taken over by the federal government as a hospital for convalescing soldiers returning from World War I before reverting back to its true purpose. At its prime there were 1650 patients living in this facility, which consisted of numerous 'cottages' to house the patients and treatment areas, in all over 40 buildings. It finally closed in 1995, and became quite an interesting locale for movie sites, and of course local teens. Most of the cottages are demolished now with a couple remaining for posterity, once the new hospital took over.
One of the buildings, now empty. There are tons of stories of the various hauntings of this place, as you can imagine. I, ahem, steered clear of them! All of the buildings were painted yellow, with red roofs, so easy to spot through the trees. I have to admit though it was sad that they had to go, although most were falling down anyways.

We have had a few famous residents ~ Leslie McFarlane lived in Whitby with his family from 1936 on. He was quite a famous writer, and wrote the Hardy Boys novels under the penname Franklin W. Dixon. His son, Brian McFarlane, went on to become a CBC sports broadcaster for the NHL. And you all know how we love our hockey!

And the one of the most interesting history bytes for last~

Is there anyone cooler than Bond? ...that's James Bond. Take the401 Hwy east from Toronto for 30 minutes to Whitby, and you can find street signs relating to the James Bond character, such as Ian Fleming Cres. During WWII there was a secret agent training camp here called 'Camp X'. It was located right on the shore of Lake Ontario where it could be reached discreetly at night by water from the USA.
One of the spy trainees was Bond author Ian Fleming, who went on to create the famous James Bond '007' character using knowledge he aquired here. Camp X was also influencial in the development of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); five future heads of the CIA were trained there. Today the camp's location is marked by a small memorial in the 17-acre, watefront Intrepid Park, on the Whitby/Oshawa border. 'Inside Camp X'author Lynn Philip Hodgson leads occasional guided walks of the site. There's also a 'Camp X' exhibit at the Oshawa Municipal Airport (see original lipstick-container dagger and posion gas pen).

I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Have a great weekend!

Sampler Lady...and Stash

2008-03-12T08:45:00.005-04:00

Sampler Lady by Little House Needleworks, stitched on 32 ct Lakeside Linen remnant, with DMC and GAST threads. Started Feb 10/08 ~ Finished Mar 10/08

She's done...she's done! I love how quickly these little designs come out! And isn't she so sweet! Now I have the Stitcher's Prayer to do and I would love to get these framed (with Home of a Needleworker) to hang on my sewing room wall.

I finally received my long-awaited package from Needlecraft Corner. I had re-signed with the Loose Feathers Club and couldn't wait for the newest Where My Heart Blooms to arrive. But then I went ahead and ordered a couple of other Nashville designs so I had to wait for all before it was sent out to me. So when I saw the box in my mailbox, I danced my way home, well actually more like slip/sliding on the ice (I hope none of the neighbours were watching).

I guess most of you have seen the Blackbird Designs piece, but have you seen this absolutely wonderful Quaker Turtles design by With My Needle? It came fully kitted and how much better to love fondling such loveliness?
I wish my pictures could do these things better justice. Aren't those Putford scissors so cute!
I wish I didn't have to work today...so I could start one of these wonderful new things...but I guess I have to pay for them somehow.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Snow...Snow...and more Snow

2008-03-10T08:25:00.008-04:00

It started on Friday and came with a vengeance on Saturday which was lucky really for all the commuters. The weather forecasters were telling everyone to stay inside and not to venture out. But did we listen? Of course not, we had to go wedding dress shopping! And the stores were empty so it was a great time to go! Carrie made her final decision and ended up back at the store that is 5 minutes from our house LOL! So the dress is on order, veil and headpiece too!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the aftermath~

Hubby measured snowfall on Saturday to be about 10" or 27 cm in our back yard. Poor doggies had a hard time as every time they went outside, they had to create new pathways for themselves. We are only 17 cm short of a new record snowfall this winter for the Greater Toronto region...yeah, whoopee....Its pretty until you have to start shovelling it!

On the stitching front, I started Love with a Capital L! And I love working on it. I decided on using the 40 ct lambswool linen, the colour worked a little better with the Gloriana Cranberry silk floss we decided to use, and the 40 ct gave me slightly more room for edging since I only had a fat1/4 of the 40 ct and 36 ct fabric. This is a picture after about 10 hours on it.
Thanks so much to everyone who drops by and reads my blog! Staci, I'm so happy you have joined the blogging world, I've tried tracking your blog numerous times and I was so grateful to find it! Here is the link everyone: Snippets and Stash. She's a new blogger and has some gorgeous pictures of her wonderful work.

A Finish and almost finished

2008-03-05T08:03:00.005-05:00

I finished my section on Carol's RR! I did the little cottage on the upper left side. Sorry I don't have a picture of the full piece ~ there are now 5 homes that have been built in this neighbourhood, but I don't have my camera at hand. This section of the RR is getting quite a forestry-feel to it, I hope Carol likes it.

I've also slowly been working at LHN's Sampler Lady in the past month. I've just picked it up randomly and put in some stitching here and there when I don't feel like working on the smaller counts of fabric, which so many of my WIP's seem to be in these days. I think its a good idea for me to have these smaller projects on the go, so I can see some real progress being made on them. I've used a mixture of DMC and GAST threads on her and she has come along so nicely.

I ordered Love with a Capital L from Papillon Creations, directly from their website. Its pretty cool that you can order directly from a designer, pay through Paypal, and then receive an e-mail with the pattern attached. So its done, all printed out and ready to go. We decided on Gloriana silk in Cranberry for the fibre and the only thing left to decide is the fabric. I have 2 different fat 1/4's in my stash: one is a 40 ct Lambswool Linen and the other a 36 ct Raw Linen. I drift from one to the other and can't decide which one to use!

And we have yet more snow this morning, cleaning off the car this morning to take the kids to school was not fun because there was a layer of ice under the 10 cm of snow. The streets have yet been plowed so that meant I got stuck once I backed out of our driveway, which was a challenge, and another challenge when I got stuck again, trying to get onto the main road. Winter...enough already....yuck! Spring can't come soon enough for me!

Paradigm Lost and Love

2008-02-29T08:18:00.004-05:00

I spent last night working on Paradigm Lost...still working on this huge motif that I've been at the past month. I'm thinking this one will be in the works for months at the rate I'm going. I have to admit its a little discouraging to spend a good part of the evening stitching and see such a little bit get accomplished. Well I guess it doesn't help that I had to frog the end section, not once, but twice! I should comment on the amazing recuperative power of Gloriana silk - its awesome. Most threads would have crumbled away after being pulled out bit by bit but not this stuff. Its like the Energizer bunny, its just keeps going and going, no matter how many times I pulled it back out and re-used it.

I've been asking Carrie to pick a wedding sampler for me to stitch for her and JF and she settled on a gorgeous one, and it really is one that suits them so very well. Its Papillon Creations Love with a Capital L:

Beautiful! But .... humongous! I almost fell over when I saw the stitch count ~ 260 x 434! And I'm hoping to have this done and framed for the wedding in September .... of this year! I guess if I could put in some stitching all-nighters, for a month or two LOL.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Carol's RR

2008-02-27T08:08:00.005-05:00

I've been making good progress on my section on Carol's RR. You can see her house to the right of mine and below mine is Nicole's lovely addition. I'm using Elizabeth's Design Gardener's Cottage. Its a little larger than I would have liked, but I like the lighter colour, I thought it would be a good contrast to the 2 red/darker houses. I'll have some room to add some trees, flowers, etc. too, I'll have to decide which to add.

I finally got my Friendship Quaker chart in yesterday's mail. What is with the slow mail these days? I am still waiting for my partner to receive her Valentine's exchange. It has me worried that it is taking so long. I know it had to go overseas, but really by slow boat?

And for those of you who asked, no the doggies do not keep me company in bed with my potato chips. Now that hubby would definitely not tolerate. Although Kelsey has been known to take his place once he gets up in the morning, but no one is ever the wiser!

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow....and a tag

2008-02-20T07:53:00.005-05:00

I'm happy dancing....I finished the dreaded Block 5! So much black.....egads! This was certainly a block that I looked forward to finishing as it is completely filled with stitching. I'm almost ashamed to say that I started it last summer while on holiday, but most of the fall it was ignored. The idea of stitching this one was more daunting than I realized. So hallelujah, its done!

And since I was tagged by Lynn, here it is:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged

How do I come up with 7 weird facts about myself....there must be at least 70!

1. I am a very anal stitcher when it comes to my thread. I use it all! Yes all of it, down to the very last cm. It makes it difficult sometimes to get that end threaded through on the back but I've become quite a pro at it. On the other hand, when I only have 1-2 stitches left and not a very long piece, I can't see the point of rethreading. Yes, I guess I am a thread miser.

2. I like to fondle my fabrics ~ that's not too weird is it? Stitching fabrics, quilting fabrics, it makes no difference, but if I don't feel like stitching or quilting or knitting, which is rare, then I quite happily play with my fabrics, sort through them, refold them, and see what I may possibly need in the year 2050.

3. I'm a newshound and I usually always have a news program on during the day...no soaps for me!

4. I have 4 doggies in my house and I would have more if I could...only I think hubby would find a new place to live.

5. I love to work in the morning, the earlier the better, but afternoons kill me.

6. When I'm upset, I like to curl up in bed with a good book and a bag of potato chips. Something else hubby isn't too happy about.

7. I'm currently learning therapeutic touch and hands-on healing.

Yup, that's it for now...hope you're not too weirded out, LOL!

Quilting...and a mail surprise

2008-02-17T19:04:00.011-05:00

Sewing...that's about all this drab weather is making me want to do these days. So I dug into some 5" charm packs that I bought a while ago and decided to make a lap sized quilt for our cottage. I only had 2 packs of 32 pieces each, so I needed to add a little onto each charm piece or this lap quilt would be baby-sized!

Its amazing really how fast this has gone together, I think having all those charm pieces pre-cut makes a big difference. I have the entire thing put together, I made a 7 x 10 sized quilt, as I dug into my stash and found a few more brushed cottons that fit in very nicely so I could make this a wee bit bigger.

On the stitching front, I have been working on my Fair & Square blocks so can't show those. And to soothe my ruffled feathers since Carrie and JF have left for Las Vegas....without us.... I made a wee order to Needlecraft Corner. I admit it, I couldn't resist all the fantastic new things coming out from the Nashville Show. I ordered one of the new Blackbird Designs books, the Goode Huswife Book of Designs, and Quaker Turtles by With My Needle. I am so looking forwards to getting all these goodies in the mail, hopefully with the Blackbird Design Loose Feathers piece too, since I am on automatic for that.

I almost forgot, I joined in the Quaker Friendship RR that Edgar set up, so the pattern is on its way for that too. I still haven't decided on fabric/floss yet. Where's my mail when I'm so desperate for it???

But I did get a fantastic little package in the mail that gave me such a lift! This was from Bine, who set me a very sweet card, and included some lovely Valentine's fabric, and silk floss, ribbon and sweet little charms. Bine, this was so unexpected and so wonderful of you to send to me! You certainly made my day and I can't thank you enough!!!

A new start and exciting news!

2008-02-11T08:29:00.000-05:00

Sampler Lady by Little House Needleworks, using GAST and DMC, on 32 ct Lakeside Linen remnant.

Here is my newest start ~ Sampler Lady. Its hard to see right now but the alphabet is done in her skirt, its just the same colour as the linen LOL. I have to fill in the background still. I'm using the same Lakeside Linen fabric that I used for Home of a Needlworker. There's no name for this colour, it was just a test piece that was done in a 1/2 half size and I was able to buy it for a good price. It looks almost tea-dyed actually, and the colour is perfect for designs like this.

My BIG NEWS ~ my daughter Carrie and Jean-Francois are officially engaged!!! He presented her with an enagagement ring on Thursday. We knew it was coming but it didn't lessen any excitement when the big moment was actually here. They are looking at a September 2009 wedding date.

And Carrie and I already hit our first bridal show yesterday. To top off the fun day, I won a door prize and Carrie won the grand prize, $1000 towards a trip through Cruise Line Centre! We met a a wonderful couple who own a resort about 40 km northeast of us, what was once a ski lodge, and we are going to check out the place and the food on Valentine's Day as they open for special occasions.

WIP Update

2008-02-07T13:27:00.000-05:00

Its that time again, well actually I guess Wednesday WIP's sounds better but I missed out yesterday. We had a huge amount of snow drop on us yesterday - 30 cm (12"?). Although it sure makes everything look so pretty with all the trees covered in snow, it really makes a mess to drive anywhere until the streets can get cleaned better. And I realized how bad traction my SUV gets, when I went into a slide and narrowly missed hitting somebody!

Today is clear and sunny though chilly. I dropped by the library while doing my work run, and found a Philippa Gregory book called The Queen's Fool. Judy (Crazee 4 Books) gave a great book review on this, and since I have already read The Other Boleyn Girl (can't wait to see the movie) and Fallen Skies, I was eager to pick this one up.

So here they are~
Carriage House Samplings Alphabet series ~ J is for Jump is finished!

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow ~ I made some great progress on this one, the house itself is done sans roof!

Paradigm Lost ~ sorry for the blurry pic. Its coming along slow but surely. And tonight is PL night so I hope to make some progress on the motif on the right.

I picked up Sampler Gameboard again and finished up a couple more houses.

That's it for me ~ Hope you all have a great day!

Valentine's Exchange

2008-02-05T16:24:00.001-05:00

I received an amazing package in the mail today ~ my Valentine's Exchange from Edgar. He stitched the most wonderful Valentine's Heart pinkeep, using a design from AMAP Victoria's Quaker and a combination of Soie d'Alger, DMC, Crescent Colours and WDW to stitch this. Isn't it spectacular!!! His attention to detail is awesome, I wish I had taken a close-up of the edging with the lovely lace and cording.
And here is a picture of all the goodies he sent along - some yummy looking Valentine candy, silk ribbon and a skein of Gloriana silk Luminescence, called very appropriately 'Valentines', and John James needles. What a lucky person I am to have received such a great exchange ~ Thank you, Edgar!!

I have already earmarked this pretty silk floss for a couple of Valentine's freebies that I have recently copied off the 'net. I can't wait to try it.

My SBEBB exchange parcel just went out in the weekend's mail and as its flying overseas, I don't expect the recipient to be getting it too quickly, but I'll post a picture of what I made once I know its been received.

February Finish

2008-02-03T17:29:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for all your very sweet comments! I am feeling so much better and I'm sure reading all your lovely comments had a lot to do with my cheerfulness!! The first couple of days are always so rough, especially with the after-effects of all the drugs I was given. I wonder now if stitching had been such a great idea but at the time, I did find it soothing to pick up my stitching and if I lost interest, then I made some crochet blocks to make for the baby afghan. I'm hoping to start slowly back into work tomorrow.

On the downside, hubby and I cancelled our trip to Las Vegas in 2 weeks. I am really feeling bummed about it, I was so looking forwards to going with Carrie and JF as its their first time there and we were looking forwards to showing them around. I just didn't want to take a chance on a recurrence of the problem, since the doctor was only able to do so much with the laparoscopy, and it looks like I'll need further surgery not too far down the road.

I have been slowly reading through everyone's blogs but please forgive me if I haven't been commenting recently.
Home of a Needleworker by Little House Designs, stitched with a mixture of DMC and GAST on 32 ct Lakeside Linen remnant.

I finished Home of a Needleworker and I love it! Its such a pretty piece to work on and so much fun to do. I have LHN's Sampler Lady in my stash too and I think I'll try to start that one next, as I think it would look great framed next to Home of a Needleworker.

Ouch!

2008-01-29T09:49:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note...I haven't been blogging since I had emergency surgery last Friday night for an ovarian cyst. I haven't been able to sit at the computer so I haven't been able to read any of the wonderful blogs that I love to visit so much...and I already miss you all. Hopefully in the next few days, it will be easier to be at the computer and I can start catching up with everyone.

But I have been able to stitch and that's always a step in the right direction! Hopefully next time I blog, I'll have some stitching pictures to show!

Crocheting

2008-01-22T08:21:00.000-05:00

I think my playing around recently with the knitted and crocheted blocks for the Cancer Quilts, has put the crochet bug into me! Look what I've been up to the last couple of days.
My niece is expecting a baby next month ~ her due date is February 29th ~ and I was at a lost as to what to make for her. I looked at so many baby samplers recently and nothing was appealing to me. So on a Saturday shopping trip with Carrie, she convinced me to make a baby blanket instead. I love the yarn, its called Baby Softee and its gorgeous and light feeling. I picked out the variegated colour first and then went with the blue and mauve. Although my strong feeling is that Sandra is having a boy...you can never until he/she arrives.

Its a dull day here and snowing quite a bit now. I guess winter has decided that its back again and no more comfy temp's for us. I don't mind the snow but its just so dark....
Of course fresh snow always makes the dogs a little frisky. I had a hard time getting Kelsey to stay still long enough to get a picture of her. I have about 8 blurry ones and only one where I was able to get a clear shot of her.

Four's ~ I've been Tagged and so have you!

2008-01-17T08:14:00.000-05:00

4 Jobs I've had:

Page (working in the public library)
Purchasing Assistant
Medical Secretary
Transcriptionist

4 Movies I watch over and over:

The Trouble with Angels

Gone with the Wind

Wizard of Oz

Its a Wonderful Life

4 Places I have been:

Vancouver, B.C.
Quebec City
Cozumel, Mexico
East and West Berlin, Germany

4 Places I have lived:

Scarborough, Ontario
Stuttgart, Germany
Toronto, Ontario
Whitby, Ontario

4 TV Shows I watch:

CSI
Gray's Anatomy
24
House

4 People Who e-mail me regularly

Marg
Barb
Carrie
East-enders

4 Favourite foods:

Swiss Chalet chicken
Barbecue potato chips
Lindor chocolates
Chicken fajitas

4 Places I would rather be:

On vacation just about anywhere in~
The U.K.
Cancun
Hawaii
Our cottage

4 Things I'm looking forward to:

Our trip to Las Vegas next month
Stitching Get-together next Saturday
Finishing off some of my WIP's
Arrival of spring

People to tag:

Anyone who wants to join in!

Whew, if you read through all this, you deserve a skein of gold thread!

I is for Inn

2008-01-15T08:34:00.001-05:00

I picked up my Carriage House Alphabet series the other night and started in on "Inn". I finished it up the next night and then outlined a couple more borders. I am really hoping to get one of these done a week and then I could see a finish....later this year LOL! I'm using a mixture of DMC and GAST for this design, GAST threads where I think the variegation will show up and DMC in the little bits, where its hardly worth threading a needle.

And on the weekend, I mostly hibernated after a flu bug hit me on Friday. But I got a lot accomplished on LHN's Home of a Needleworker once I started to feel better.

Thank you so much for your comments on the crocheted/knitted blocks from the Cancer Centre. I didn't work on any of the actual blocks, these are all done by the patients themselves with donated materials. My only effort was in putting them together. I had hoped to start on one of the knitted afghans last weekend, but I'm going to try the whipped stitch as suggested by Marg on one set, and the mattress stitch suggested by Glenna on another. Thanks so much for the suggestions and the cool web link too!

And for anyone in the Southern Ontario region, there is a new Cash for Cancer commercial airing on CTV which shows the Durham Regional Cancer Centre. If you happen to catch the commercial look for the therapist who you see full face in the segment ~ its my daughter Carrie! That 30 second spot took them 8 hours to film!

Knitting and knitting and some crocheting too!

2008-01-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

Two to three months ago, the Cancer Centre where Carrie works started a program with donated yarns, needles and crochet hooks in their waiting room, asking for patients and their families to knit/crochet blocks as a way to pass their time while waiting for their appointments. And who would have thought there were so many knitters/crocheters out there? The knitted and crocheted blocks have started pouring in....and I offered my help in assembling them for lap size blankets.
The lap blankets are going to be donated to the Oncology Floor of the hospital and to Hearth Place, which is a local support centre for cancer patients.

Carrie brought me the first 80 or so blocks before Christmas and they have started to come in slow but sure ever since. So over the Christmas break, I got my first blanket put together. I used just the crocheted blocks in these since I could put them together easily with a crocheted stitch. I used 40 blocks, 8x5, to make a nice sized blanket and then did a double crochet around the edge to make it look more finished.
It looks pretty, doesn't it. I wish I knew how many people had their hands involved in the making of these!
And look what she brought me last night! Most of the blocks I have now are knitted, and there are enough for about 3 more blankets. Any ideas....thoughts.... about a fairly easy, nice looking way of putting these together? I had thought to use the same single crochet as I put together the first blanket, but my hook is not going to go through these very easily and I don't want to ruin the look of the blocks. I need to get going on these lovely blocks before they take over my sewing room!

2008-01-07T08:08:00.001-05:00

Some more progress...and if you look really closely, you can see the outline of doors and windows in my little house. I didn't have much time to stitch over the past couple of days, as we still have more Christmas visits to get in with family, and friends, before one friends heads back to Edmonton for work for the next few months.

And more dull dreary weather, but with rain! Our weather has been so strange, we have hit a record high already today with temperatures that are going into the 10's C. With rain forecast for the next few days, they are predicting that all our snow will soon be gone. And this is January???

But I am happy dancing in spite of no finishes for me, because....the kids are back in school today! And they both got up without any prompting...I guess that warning last night did some good. But I wonder how long it will last.....

Home of a Needleworker

2008-01-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

Here is my January 1st start - LHN's Home of a Needleworker. I switched out the DMC for GAST Cinnamon, not a lot of variegation but I love the colour. And not a bad start either!

I tried taking a picture first, and even though we are having a bright sunny day (YEAH) but cold -12 degrees C, my picture still came out dark and gloomy. Must be something on the settings that I haven't got quite right. Once I figure it out, I think I'll retake my WIP photos, they are awful and certainly aren't encouraging me to continue with them.

We went out for a wonderful New Year's Day brunch with Carrie and JF and some of their friends who were still recuperating from the celebrations of the night (and morning). But today its back to work and back to the drudgery for me, although the teenagers are still in bed of course. I don't expect to see them until past noon. Well they might as well enjoy their last few days of holiday.

WIP Confession Time

2007-12-31T17:48:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful week we have had! Christmas was fantastic and very busy and the past week has just flown by far too quickly. I can't believe this is the last day of 2007!!!

The house has gotten back to normal today, the decorations have all been taken down and stored away for next year, and I have decided to take a cue from a few of the blogs that I have had time to take a peek at and do my own WIP review.

No New Year's resolutions for me this time around, except I have decided that next year is time to finish a few things. Of course I will always need to make room for some new starts, but I'm going to try to keep them on the small side, so they don't end up collecting dust like some of the ones I dug out today.

So here they are, although I do think I have forgotten one or two UFO's that haven't seen the light of day for far too long. Sorry for the not so great pictures, what sunlight we get these days seems very dull......eh, winter!

Sampler Gameboard by Drawn Thread, on 32 ct Willow Green linen. This is such a fun piece to work on, I wondered when I laid out the fabric to take the picture why did I stop working on this one?

Sampler 4 Saisons by Anagram Diffusion, on 32 ct Antique Cream linen. This one is so pretty and I'm using Gloriana silks, a different colour for each season. I love working on the seasons themselves, but the tree really got to me......
Houses of Hawk Run Hollow on 40 ct LL Pearled Barley. Again, I really love working on this, but I have no set goal in mind, so its doubtful the end of 2008 will see this one finished off.

Carriage House Samplings Alphabet Sampler on 40 ct Cream Linen. Now this one I really would like to complete in the next year. I think I should work out a schedule to keep myself on track with this one.
And my poor Chatelaine MysteryX. I think I finally finished up the 3rd month, which was horrific and really put me off track. It took me months to get through it all, so by that point I was so far behind the group, I thought what was the point? I have sneaked a peek at the finished design though and it is stunning. I really need to get back to this one and play again with all those lovely silks.
But what's the new year without a new start?
Long Dog Sampler's Paradigm Lost....scheduled restart on January 2nd, with my brand new fat 1/2 on 40 ct Light Sand linen.
And I have to sneak in my latest obsession with Little House Needleworks. I bought the Home of a Needleworker pattern at the Toronto Creative Festival in the fall and its just begging to start. So I have a lovely piece of 32 ct cream Belfast and some very pretty GAST threads, waiting for the first few stitches tomorrow.
Hubby is calling as we're headed off to an early dinner. Happy New Year everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T15:05:00.001-05:00

I finally got caught up on all my shopping, the gifts were finally all wrapped, and ready to go under the tree...or nearby as its become quite crowded. Kelly and Chris arrived safely on Saturday evening, and we are all headed out shortly to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner at Carrie and JF's place.

I haven't had a chance to update my blog but I did want to get in my wishes to everyone for a very Merry Christmas!

Spirit of Christmas

2007-12-18T08:39:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to get this picture out and hang it up on the wall! I was thinking something was missing around the house after we had finished decorating and it took me 2 weeks to finally remember. And it was ~ one of my favourite Christmas pieces ~ Spirit of Christmas! So hubby dug him out of hiding for me and now he is hanging on the wall. I feel embarrassed to have left him hidden away for so long because I truly love this Santa. I had him framed with a red suede mat, so it really brings out the gorgeous reds in the Santa.

Only 1 week left until Christmas! I finally started my present wrapping on Sunday but was very uninspired to get much done. We were in the middle of a blizzard which poor hubby spent the better part of the day trying to dig us out from. And I finally came up with the most amazing Christmas gift for him - a snowblower! But he's not impressed. Its as if admitting that he needs a snowblower is a blow to his manhood, admitting that he no longer has the strength or vivre to do his manly duty and dig his family out from under tons of snow. We'll see how far I can get with my cajoling....

Christmas ornament and an almost finish

2007-12-14T08:38:00.001-05:00

My package from the SBEBB ornament exchange arrived and wow - I was thrilled to see the lovely little stocking stitched by Donna of Daisy Stitches. I need to find her blog/e-mail so that I can thank her personally for all the wonderful goodies she put into this package. It made opening it up feel like Christmas! She also included a Just Nan chart called 'Tie One On' with the Whimzi frame (first time I have seen one of these in person and they are wonderful) and a Bent Creek chart called 'Sleigh Ride' with the fabric to stitch it on, as well as a package of tea and chocolate and a beautiful handmade card. Thank you Donna! Please leave me a comment so I can trace you back to your blog!!

My PL fabric arrived and I am in love with the colour - no more tea-dying needed here - but I decided to hold off on a fresh start until the New Year. And I am so close to finishing my little Prairie Schooler christmas sampler, I want to keep at it. Its looking like a finish might be in the works for this weekend and then I might try to finish it into a pillow. All that's left is for Santa and his sleigh!
My Christmas cards went out in the mail - yeah, one thing off my list. Packages have yet to be wrapped though. And I'm still wondering what on earth am I going to get hubby for Christmas? I have asked him so many times and he doesn't even know what he wants, other than the usual month long vacation some place warm, which is a little out of our reach at the moment.

Physiotherapy is going for the shoulder....or should I say torture sessions? Because it is unbelievable to me that my shoulder stopped doing all kinds of things without me realizing, and now the therapist is trying to make it go into these positions again. I'm doing stretches at home 4 times a day, to try to maintain some of the gains she makes. But on the upside, it actually is feeling better the rest of the time, not nearly as painful as it was. And stitching is much more comfortable again :-D I better not let hubby know that, or he'll make me start doing all the grocery shopping on my own again!

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Ornament Exchange

2007-12-10T16:35:00.001-05:00

Julianne let me know that she received her Christmas ornament for the SBEBB exchange. I stitched the Quaker Reindeer, a design from The Workbasket from the 2006 JCS ornament issue. This was the first thing I had stitched from this issue! I used my 36/40 ct tea-dyed linen so the poor reindeer may be a little too fat or a little too tall, depending on which way the count went. Luckily sweet Julianne is happy with this slightly off reindeer anyways.

I love this time of year with Christmas so quickly approaching....but I also hate it because the days are so short. I mean really, its 4:30 in the afternoon and its so dark that we have to turn all our lights on! And we haven't even hit the winter solstice yet. And should I mention that I'm feeling a little Christmas-stressed? Hubby and I did a lot of our Christmas shopping on the weekend which is great, although our bank account is much much lighter and emptier as a result. And the pile of gifts waiting to be wrapped has increased significantly. Christmas cards are waiting to be written and addressed. And Christmas baking.... well I shudder to even think about it. But I did manage to finish off a couple of ornaments that are also waiting to be packaged up and mailed.

And I almost forgot....my PL fabric arrived...finally!!!!

December is here!

2007-12-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

December is here and already speeding along! Hubby and I decorated our house on Sunday, and everything looks very festive and cheery. I love decorating for Christmas. It makes me wish I had done more Xmas stitching!

Still no PL fabric in the mail for me....although I have been diligently checking every day! That is when I can get my mail box open. Winter seems to think its time to arrive and we have been hit with ice storms and snow....brrrr! It seems awfully early to look outside and see so much white, and have to bundle up with boots, scarf, gloves and hat to go out! Of course Nick is loving it as that means money to be made shovelling snow from driveways for him and of course snowboarding season has opened.

Not much stitching to show from me except a Prairie Schooler piece I have been working on a piece of Fiddler's cloth. Its from Christmas Samplers Book 63 and I'm hoping to be able to stitch it before Christmas. Stitching is slow these days as my shoulder has been troubling me a lot. I finally gave in and and saw my doctor and have started seeing a physiotherapist for a 'frozen shoulder'. I'm sure its from work, nah, couldn't be from stitching or quilting at all! But unfortunately I can't stop working .... :-(

Secret Santa Strikes Again!

2007-11-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

I have been actively stalking my mailbox, I really hate this superboxes as they are called, they are grouped together in random sections, and ours happens to be down our street about 6-7 houses, on a curve of the road, so you never know when or if the mailman has been by yet. I am so anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new Paradigm Lost fabric and with it, hopefully also my stitching mojo, but instead yesterday afternoon, something very mysterious arrived in a very small envelope with a Belgium stamp.

The Secret Santa has made an appearance in Canada too! I have been reading about these mysterious envelopes making their way in various spots around the world and imagine my delight and surprise when I found one in my mailbox too, accompanied by this lovely skein of floss and card stamped from a friend!

So no PL fabric for me yet but something better arrived instead! Thank you, Secret Santa!!!

Lucky Stars Quilt

2007-11-27T08:11:00.001-05:00

Not too much stitching from me the past few days....I guess I'm in a bit of a slump right now. My Paradigm Lost replacement fabric is on its way to me and hopefully when that gets in, my stitching mojo will be revved back up to swing back into full speed again.

Meanwhile I did get a quilt top sandwiched. I think I have 4 quilts tops pieced and ready to go, dreadful huh? This one is called Lucky Stars and I think it was originally started almost 5 years ago. I actually did get one Lucky Star quilt finished, because it was a fat 1/4 quilt, and being a beginner and very enthusiastic 5 years ago, I bought far too many fat 1/4's. So I weeded through them all, and picked out the golds and greens and finished those into a very nice twin sized quilt. I decided to keep all the blue and purple fat 1/4's and make a matching quilt.

Which kind of fell by the wayside for quite a long time, all the pieces nicely cut, until finally last year I sewed it all together, and now at long last its sandwiched together. Its still laying out on the floor of our extra bedroom, waiting for some kind of inspiration as to how I'm going to machine quilt this one. I keep thinking if I look at it long enough, some kind of magical inspiration is going to hit me, but I realize that I'm really only looking at it on my way to bed at night and the only kind of inspiration to hit me then is how comfy my bed and pillow are going to be. I hope it doesn't take me several years to quilt this one!

Thanks and a finish

2007-11-20T08:27:00.000-05:00

I've calmed down since my Paradigm Lost fiasco of last week. Thank you so much for your encouraging comments! Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate reading your comments, they really are so heartwarming and touching and bring a smile to my face, each and every one of them!

I'm going to take the advice of Sweet Pea, Tannia, Barbara, Kendra, Monique and Annemarie, and use the motif that I've finished in something else, and scrap the fabric for some other use. And as Old Yankee Stitcher (sorry, I don't know your name) said, I learned a new technique in tea-dying, so nothing is ever a total loss. I've taken the plunge and reordered a fat-half in 40 ct linen. I debated for a while over fabric counts for PL, but I really do like stitching on 40 ct linens, so I stuck with that. This time though I ordered a huge piece and I'm not cutting this baby down...just in case :-D I really don't think I want to restart it again.

So to soothe my ruffled feathers over the weekend, I calmed myself with some gentle stitching on 28 ct and finished off my JBW stocking:
There is a wee bit more to the design on the lower left hand side, it didn't all fit into the scanner!

And I dug out my CHS alphabet and finished up H is for Horse.

Paradigm is Lost

2007-11-16T09:17:00.001-05:00

Well a lost cause that is.....see my lovely motif above? I finished that last night and as I was happily stitching away, thinking, wow I'm really getting a lot done tonight, I may even get this motif completed, but hmm, its just not looking quite right, now is it? I pulled out my picture of PL and looked again at the chart and no its definitely not right, this motif is supposed to be square, not oblong-ish looking. Hmm, again. Time to start counting linen threads. So I started to count linen theads, not the easiest to do, at night, on 40 ct fabric and lo and behold I started to realize my problem! This is a 40 count from I count from left to right and but only a 36 count when I count from top to bottom!!! No wonder my motif came out with such a wonky shape!

Definitely not Zweigart fabric here, which made me remember the mysterious unmarked bag that it came in. All the linens were marked Zweigart or Permin, except for the odd mysterious random piece that were just marked with the size of piece inside the bag. Well you can imagine my choice of language here, not blog-worthy at all.

I'm so disappointed, not that I have so much stitched, but this was the fabric that I had so lovingly tea-dyed and was so pleased with the outcome....and meanwhile what am I going to stitch my PL on? At first I thought, oh well, what does it matter, its PL and the motifs don't have to be square to matter. But then I started looking at my size of fabric and got out the measuring tape again and calculator and since I started 2 1/2" down from the top, I don't have a long enough piece of fabric for PL with 36 ct from top to bottom. And yet more choice unblog-worthy words......

So I'm giving up for the moment, checking out, crawling under a rock and feeling very sorry for myself. PL has got the best of me right now.

RR's, F&S's, and stash

2007-11-14T08:02:00.000-05:00

I finished my section on Nicole's Round Robin! Another one is ready to put in the mail and send off to Carissa. I'm really happy with the way my section turned out. I used patterns from two different designs from Elizabeth's Garden and I managed to squeeze a couple more sheep in there because I thought they looked so cute! Here is a scan of most of Nicole's RR, not the entire piece, it didn't all fit in my scanner, so the last section with Leslie's house I had to leave off.
And yesterday's mail brought Ulla's squares for me from the Fair and Square exchange, all the way from Sweden. Look how sweet they are, hmm, she doesn't mention but looks like a Prairie Schooler house to me?!?
And here are the squares that I stitched for her (I remembered to take a picture this time around). She commented that she liked redwork and quaker designs so I chose this for her, which is actually part of one of The Workbasket tree freebies. I thought the red and white were a good choice, since they were the colours of the Canadian flag, which is a coincidence, since Ulla stitched the Swedish flag on her block.

And one more picture, bear with me! I got some long awaited stash in the mail yesterday, my birthday stash which only took 6 weeks to get here! Well we can all guess where I ordered from :-D

And for some reason this one particular design has absolutely caught my attention. Its called 'Of Female Arts' by The Primitive Needle. I'm in love with it and its just one of those that I'm dying to start.

Of course there are only like 9 or so Christmas things I really really want to do in the meanwhile....but I just really have to do this too. If only I didn't have to work for a living! And the kids didn't have to eat!! Meanwhile I'm envisioning fabric choices and floss choices....and getting myself started to work.....

Pretty Scissor Pocket

2007-11-12T08:06:00.001-05:00

I've been a bad blogger and not updating as much as I should....the days seem to be flying by right now. Kristy's stomach bug got passed on to me last week but luckily it didn't last too long. Nick's asthma warranted a middle of the night trip to the hospital for more treatment but he is much recovered now. Kids do get over things so much faster then us olde folke!

We had a birthday lunch for my sister's 60th birthday on Saturday, it was just a girlie thing, mothers and daughters, and so much fun. There were 12 of us, sisters, nieces and cousins , hosted by my other sister . I recently was able to entice my quilting sister Karen over into the wonderful world of cross stitching so I thought it was time for her to have a lovely pair of snips to go with this fabulous new hobby (or, obsession LOL) . So I picked up a pair of pretty scissors and made this scissor pocket and scissor fob to hold them. This is from a Lori Birmingham kit.
Back view:Rachel (Willing Hands) let me know that she received my PIF for her. This was a fun little freebie put out by Plum Street Samplers and she said she was very happy with it. Hope your week starts out great!

Stitching Update

2007-11-06T08:52:00.000-05:00

Its been almost a week since I've updated and I don't know where the time has gone! Its time for some long overdue stitching updates and since the camera isn't cooperating with me today, its scanner time:

Here is my Paradigm Lost start from November 1st, not much to see but its a beginning :-D
Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Samplers, on 40 count tea-dyed linen, using Gloriana silks

Here is a link to the SAL to see all the other lovely starts on PL and Cirque-des-Cercles: Snowbirds SAL. Its not too late to join us if you want to get in on the fun!

My JBW Stocking is moving right along, what a nice little design this has been to work on.

JBW Stocking, on 28 ct Graziano white/celery linen, using DMC

And finally I started Nicole's Neighbourhood RR. I'm using an Elizabeth's Design cottage and I'll fill up the space with some other trees and flowers. So far, so good, I think. I love how the little sheep came out, I'm thinking about adding another one....

I've had 2 sickie kids, Nick's asthma is kicking up and Kristy had a very bad stomach. Something tells me working at McDonald's has its downside - eating too much food there, combined with Hallowe'en treats! Of course a 16 year old will never admit to that!!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T07:56:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for the great comments on the table runner! Really these things are not hard to make, I use a sewing machine and quilt with the sewing machine also. No hand sewing for me! I used the charm pack so the pieces are already cut into 5" squares, so it really feels the work in organizing the fabric and preparing it is already done. And of course it all coordinates beautifully since its all from the same fabric line. What could be easier? I love these charm packs and have a couple more in my stash! I can't wait to tackle my jelly rolls, I bought them because they were a great price, $32 each, and I think I will use them in a split rail design to make a quilt top.

Tea anyone?

I found myself with a free morning yesterday ~ work has been very stingy lately, its either feast or famine. But it gave me time to play with my glaringly white fabric which I have to start Paradigm Lost, which is {gasp} starting tomorrow! November 1st is almost here!! I'm really not a white-white kind of person, I really much prefer warm colours and earthy tones and I have a gorgeous selection of Gloriana purple silks that I have been saving (ahem, hoarding) for PL. I didn't think I liked the way the silks looked against the white linen but since this is such a honkingly large design 363 stitches x 354 stitches, I need a huge piece of fabric. And dear Marg gave me a full yard of 40 ct linen that she had mistakenly bought at a craft sale we were at a few weeks back. So it was time to try my hand at tea-dying.

I used 2 bags of a black tea and 2 cups of water with a smaller piece of fabric to see what I would come up with. And wow, it turned this white linen into a gorgeous shade of amber! I was really pleased with the results. But actually I thought probably a wee bit too dark for PL with my purple silks. So I added a bit more water to the mixture and then took a deep breath and added my PL fabric. This piece came out much lighter, more of a tan shade, I guess between a cream and tan, and actually more of what I was looking for. I guess it was a little lighter than what I wanted, I played with the idea of darkening the mixture with another tea bag, but then I chickened out and thought I could end up something too dark. Besides it was time to take the kids to their dentist appointment.

So here is my final result~ the picture doesn't show the true colour of my final piece which is in the foreground of the picture above - its much nicer in RL. And I'm all set for our PL start tomorrow, my working copy has been made, and my needle is ready. Although I think a couple of the others have cheated and have started or are starting today. Well no Hallowe'en treats for them!

Shopping Stash

2007-10-29T08:41:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture of some of my stash from the Toronto Needlework show. I didn't get too much cross stitching stash....but I did buy LHN's Home of a Needleworker, which I have coveted for along time! Mostly I bought quilting goodies, lots of fat 1/4's in lovely greens/peaches which were a great price, a pattern for tablerunners to make using charm packs, and of course a charm pack in some pretty fall prints, 2 jelly rolls in lovely dark fall fabrics, and a great kit to make a roly poly Santa. I took a picture of this cute little kit, and somehow lost the picture on my computer somewhere....??

I couldn't resist trying out my new pattern yesterday with the charm pack. The charm pack is a package of 5" squares of fabric which come from one fabric line. I think this one was called Autumn Bounty. All the fabrics of course coordinate beautifully so it makes putting something together so easy. So for dinner last night, we had this lovely tablerunner to grace the table:

We celebrated hubby's birthday Friday night and then on Saturday went to a surprise birthday party for my oldest sister! And Autumn has hit with a vengeance ~ the temperatures dropped to 0 degrees last night! Time to start on a new quilt I think!!

Only a couple of days to go until the Paradigm Lost / Cirque-des-Cercles SAL starts!

A very sweet gift

2007-10-24T08:14:00.001-04:00

I am so loving my mailman these days, or mailwoman? I don't really see him or her, so I don't even know who delivers the mail. But look what he/she delivered to me from Annemarie ~ one of her wonderfully amazing floss fobs. This delightful fob is amazingly stitched with the tiniest of stitches. I am in awe of her stitching as I can barely see them, so I cannot imagine how she made them! She stitched our initials together on the back, and attached a skein of Gloriana silk in the prettiest of colours, called Autumn Arbor. Am I not incredibly lucky to receive such beautiful gifts from such amazing stitching friends!!!

I'm working at my finishing finishing of my PIF gifts, Monday/Tuesdays are always a wash-out for me because of work in the day and classes at night. Tonight daughter Carrie is bringing her Hallowe'en costume over for some fixing and added touches. The entire crew at the Cancer Centre are dressing up at pirates for Hallowe'en and she also has a party to go to this Saturday night. I hope to get these PIF's done and in the mail soon......I really want to get a couple of Christmas ornaments started.

On Friday, I'm taking the day off work to go to the Toronto Needlework Festival with my sister Karen. Of course there is absolutely nothing that I need, but when does that ever matter? I'm hoping to bring a little something back home with me. Its full of so much creative wonder ... cross stitching, quilting, knitting, scrapbooking.... it will take me the weekend to recover!

Hallowe'en Exchange from Amy

2007-10-19T12:06:00.001-04:00

I love a good mail day, I have been hunting down the mail man lately and all he has been bringing lately is junk mail, the kind that goes straight into the recycling bin....or bills, the kind that goes straight into the look at it later bin. But today is Friday and he blessed me with a sweet little package - my Hallowe'en exchange! This came from Amy (Amy Stitches), who I confess to not knowing before now, which is really another great thing about these exchanges, they introduce you to some wonderful stitchers that I would not otherwise have gotten to know.

And look at the most wonderful sweet little pillow she made for me! Its a design by Heart in Hand and she stitched it on a piece of natural banding and used this to finish into an amazing little pillow. Isn't it wonderful! I really love to see the way people come up with finishing things. Its truly inspiring and always wants me to push my creative limits to try more and more things.

And as usual, stitchers are the most generous people. Inside the cool little Hallowe'en baggy, were an assortment of gifties that only stitchers would squeal over - Piecemaker needles, a skein of Vikki Clayton silk called Pumpkin, a skein of Carrie's thread called Harvest Brew and some cute stickers!

Sorry, no stitching pictures from me! I've been hard at work, slogging away at the last of my PIF gifties and hopefully will be able to finish them up this weekend. Then I need to work on my Fair and Square blocks. Then its back to the Neighbourhood RR. I'm afraid my own stitching has fallen way off. But these other things are way too much fun.

Have a great weekend!