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

'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!

Pillow Finishing

Thank you for all the great comments! Its really so wonderful to read these and know that other stitchers are looking at my work. Blackbird Designs are so much fun to work on, now that Gift of Life is finished, I'm wondering which one the SAL group will want to work on next.

Not a lot to show on the stitching front otherwise this week. And since I do love to have pictures of something, here are 2 pillows that I finished last weekend from last year's Shepherd's Bush series.

I am happy dancing though - Spring has sprung!!! Even though we are having showers on and off today, yesterday was gloriously warm and an amazing 11 degrees! It felt wonderful! Of course hubby and I had to enjoy it with a walk along the lake with the doggies. I am so glad the clocks went back early this year so we can get out and enjoy the evenings. The sunset at the lake was gorgeous and the colour of the water beautiful. Why didn't I think to take the camera!?!

This weekend is the Christmas Ornament SAL but I think I'll have to beg off this one. The fibre I was waiting on for my last PIF giftie finally arrived and I want to get started on it.

Oh and one more thing to show, I bought this magazine last week and have had it sitting on my desk all week so I can admire the cover quilt. Its called Spice Island Beauty and is shown made with batiks. I'm in love with this one, but its listed as 'challenging' and I don't know if I 'm quite up to that. But one can dream.....


Have a wonderful weekend!!

Be Happy and more alphabets

I finished Shepherd's Bush Be Happy freebie really quickly. This was my first time working with 10 ct Heatherfield fabric and it seemed really odd to be making such huge stitches. But it was really a nice break from the 40 ct fabric that I'm using for the Carriage House Samplings Alphabet. The 3 buttons are from a Dress it Up package and I think they work well in this piece.


And I added 'C' and 'D' to the alphabet. I was struggling though with D last night and finally hubby pulled out a light magnifier for me to use. I tried this a year ago, the first time I tried 40 ct fabric and hated it. I found I could stitch much easier without it. But I'm now a year older and obviously my eyes are even that much older, so once I got myself in a comfy position and found the best way to manoeuvre the magnifier, I finished up D without any more trouble.

It looks like this magnifier is going to find a steady home next to my stitching chair ~ especially with the new Neighbourhood RR on high linen counts.

Carol (Garden of Stitches) has organized 2 groups for new neighbourhood RR's and done an amazing job with arranging 18 stitchers into groups. She is creating a new blog for us and I'll put in a link as soon as its started.

And this is the first weekend of the Christmas Ornament Stitch-Along. I think I'll work on a Prairie Schooler Santa that I have been wanting to do, I have my pattern and fabric waiting for me! Click on the link if you want to join us, or see what everyone is working on.