Final 2007 Finish

Here is my final finish of 2007. Salem Sister's by Plum Street Samplers. It was done as a SAL with Ranae and Lizzy . Ranae, speedy stitcher that she is finished first. I don't know if Lizzy got the chance to finish hers. This was stitched on days gone by linen by Silkweaver with V. Clayton silks in deep purple, inky depths, and fire dragon. Conversion courtesy of Terri . She does great conversions to Vikki's silks. I enjoyed this SAL, even though I am such a slow SAL partner. Thanks for the invitation Ranae!

I completed 23 or 24 projects this year, I can't find my notebook at this moment to be sure. This is the most I have ever completed in one year! I think that being inspired by all of you my wonderful stitching friends and your fabulous stitching projects has moved me stitch more ;) I am not going to post any goals, but I will post a list of some of the things I would like to stitch and they are as follows:

African Lady-currently working on this
Valentine Snippet-currently working on this too.
Still Waters
Dawn Fairy
LHN Coffee/Tea packs
Lizzie Kate Double Flips
African Beauties
Cirque de Circles
Fear Not
Halloween Lineup
Eloquent Christmas
Circe the Sorceress

I am sure there are many more! It will be interesting to see where I get with this list at the end of the year. I wish all of you health, wealth and happiness in 2008.


Happy New Year!!

Be Silly Cubed!

Well, Christmas is over for another year. Mine was great and I hope yours was too. Today, I finally got around to a little finishing and completed be silly by My Mark Designs into a cube. As you can see it is very pepto bismol like as it is going into my daughter's room-which is very pink. I love the batik fabric I found to go on the back! I think the front is a little plain, but for the life of me I couldn't think of anything I would like to add. Sometimes less is more!

Thanks for your comments on my last exchange, they are much appreciated. I am still off a few days here-don't go back to purgatory-LOL until new year's day. I think I am beginning to feel the onset of some startitis-lol. Whatever will I get up too? Hope your week is a good one. Catch you all later and happy stitching.

Stitching Bloggers Christmas Exchange

This is my stitching bloggers Christmas exchange for Jenna from Tale of a Shooting Star. She is my partner in the stitching bloggers Birthday/Christmas club 2007. I sent her this little pillow with the stitched design called snowed in from Stone and Thread. It was an fun pattern to do and came with the cute little snowman button. The original model was done on tin roof by WDW. I chose to stitch this on a pretty blue opalescent instead and placed it into a prefinished pillow. I also sent her some charts by JBW, some Christmas themed threads, fabric quarters, candy, note cards and sticky notes. A very fun exchange to gather items for! Enjoy Jenna!

Thanks too for all your comments regarding my exchange to Carol! They are much appreciated. I hope everyone has their holiday shopping done, because the days are slip, slip slipping away! I just have one more giftcard to get and then I am done! Yay! I must go and get some shut eye! Duty will be calling Take care and thanks for looking:)

Autumn Seasonal Exchange for Carol!

This my autumn seasonal exchange for Carol. Carol received it today and says she really likes it-yay! I was a little anxious over it, but now I can breathe a small sigh of relief. I don't know about you all-but I tend to get a little anxiety ridden when I send off exchanges-lol. This is called the autumn house by The Trilogy and I finished it into a little pincushion with tassels. It has the sweetest little leaf buttons. This was also my first time making tassels and I definitely need to work on them some more. I didn't get a good picture of the pincushion by itself, but here it is with the rest of charts and threads I sent with it. The charts are from Carol's wish list-my fave of them has to be the winter floral chart by Knotted Tree.

Now onto winter-which I am really feeling here today in Northwest Florida-it was a lovely 33 degrees this morning. I know not very cold to most of you-but freezing to me. Yes,I am pitiful-lol. Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments on my last exchange and Christmas display! Happy stitching and to all a good night! Okay, I couldn't resist that last one-hey it's the season right?

Stitching Bloggers Christmas Exchange!

Running behind seems to be what I do these days! The day before yesterday I received this lovely Christmas exchange from Sharon of the Seaside Stitcher. She is my partner in the Stitching Bloggers Birthday/Christmas Club. She says this her first "small finish", as she usually frames her stitching. I think it's lovely and that she did a great job! The tree has a lovely Christmas plaid fabric on the back. She also sent me a pair of scissors and cute little container of M & M's that my youngest son has already absconded with-LOL Thanks so much Sharon, I have enjoyed receiving from you this year!



The above picture is my cross stitch buffet decorated for the holidays. I just thought I would share a picture of it. It is definitely one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my home and is such a great place for displaying my cross stitch and the exchanges that I receive. I also want to thank the Christmas elf that is sending out those lovely skeins of thread to various stitcher's. I too received a lovely shade of mistletoe. I keep forgetting to take a photo. But thank you so much! I would love to know who it is.

Today, I have two exchanges going out. One to Carol for our Autumn seasonal exchange and one to Jenna for our Christmas exchange! I hope to post these soon and I am sorry that they are running behind-I meant to get them out before now! Thanks as always for visiting me. Take care and happy stitching!

Autumn Seasonal Exchange from Vonna!

Today I received my autumn seasonal exchange from the magical Vonna! She sent me this exquisite tin with a Prairie Schooler design on it! Isn't it gorgeous? She also spoilt me silly with Crescent threads, needles, a lovely stationery set and another tin of chocolate dipped Altoids. Which are yummy by the way-LOL Thank you so much Vonna! I absolutely LOVED everything!

Thanks to everyone for your comments regarding my daughter. She is well now and hopefully we can go a long time without another episode. Now, just to be fair to the hospital. Alexis did receive pain meds as needed, but I was angry that after about 3-4 hours it was pretty obvious that we would have to be admitted to further manage her. It was just the process of how they went about it, how long they took and the fact that you just don't want your child to hurt! Though these things are hard to go through. I want you to know that we are blessed and certainly there could be worse things. Thank you for caring-it is so much appreciated. I hope you all have a great week!

Dreams and Life......

Long time no post! Life here has been very busy and I will get into that in a minute. But first, here is dreams by M Designs all framed. I finished this in 2006 using passion waterlilies silk thread. I don't recall the color of the linen. It was little hard for me to pick framing for because of the colors. I used double matting in the same colors and picked a dark green frame. It turned out better than I thought it would. The second photo is not a stitching finish but a lovely little print that I got from the Etsy store and had framed. I liked the colors and the simplicity of the design.

Now, as for life. November has been sort of a poor month for me. First, all the trouble with my teeth. Then the day after Thanksgiving, my daughter Alexis had a severe sickle cell crisis and she was hospitalized for four days. We had a terrible time in emergency room as I thought they took entirely too long to effectively manage her care and get her any pain relief. Twelve long hours later, they had her on a morphine pump and finally the beginnings of some relief. But, of course I had to show off my nasty side. It's ridiculous when a child is involved and they are in pain to take that long. Thankfully, she is better now and at home.

I know that I have never spoken of her condition before as we haven't had a major crisis in about 3-4 years. She has hemoglobin SC disease which is usually a much milder form of sickle cell anemia. But, she can have pain crisis's too. Her condition was something we found out only after she was born. My oldest son is okay and my youngest has sickle cell trait. Then on top of this work and more work. I even worked when Alexis was in the hospital and ran between her floor and my floor while on duty. So, needless to say, very limited stitching here. I am almost finished seasonal exchange though. So, I have accomplished a little something. Anyway, things in life could be much worse. I hope to post more soon. Take care and have a great weekend!

Full of Hope Finish

Here is my latest little finish full of hope designed by Mary Kathyrn of Handcrafts Online . Designed for October's Breast Cancer awareness. Mary Kathyrn had these available as kits with a donation going to charities supporting breast cancer research, education and support. It is such a sweet design and has special meaning for me as my Mom is a breast cancer survivor. Her cancer was found during a routine mammogram. Thankfully for her and us it was found very early and today she is cancer free! Though, I didn't finish this for October, we should always be aware of this devastating illness to women every month. Ladies, get those mammograms done and perform those monthly self exams-they can save your life. The design is meant to be finished as a pin keep-but I may put it in small frame.

Thank you too for the compliments and comments on Jenna's gifts. I appreciate them very much. Thanks too for the well wishes for my oral surgery. The surgery itself went well. However, the cavity that I had that they couldn't fix till my wisdom teeth were removed started acting up. I had a horrible weekend and resulting week last week. I can't believe a tooth could give a person so much trouble. I did get it pulled however and even with that had days of discomfort. But, all is better now, still an occasional twinge. So very little stitching here due to all of that.

Currently, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I am working on a couple of exchanges and just trying to keep my stitching organized. I am off the next couple of days, so hopefully some stitching then. I have however started Christmas shopping. Hey, if you can't stitch-shop! I love to online shop-so painless-LOL. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week and lots of stitching.

Finally......

Back of cube


Here is the birthday gift for Jenna , she is my partner in the birthday exchange club. Her birthday was this past Tuesday, but the postal service tortured me by delaying delivery of her package. I was so worried that it was lost. But, Jenna received it today and says she adores it and that makes me very happy! This is Dani the Stitching Dragon by Dragon Dreams, modified to purple as Jenna loves the color purple. I also left off the wording and added her name at the bottom. I put Jenna's initials in the hoop which is usually blank as an added touch. I finished it in a cube, as this seems to be my finish of choice at the moment. I put a lovely purple fabric on the back and sent along a few goodies that you see in the bottom photo.

Otherwise, stitching here is sporadic as I have been working a bit this past week and I have to go to work today. I am working on my full of hope pin keep and wanted to have it finished before the end of October. But, I don't think that is going to happen. Next Tuesday, I am having some oral surgery-so who knows how much stitching will go on next week. We'll see. Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend and lots of stitching.

You Make Me Smile.....

This week I was the recpient of not one but two smile awards from two lovely ladies Jamie from Lavender and Lace Stitches and Tracy of The Passion of My Needle. They both make me smile and it was really great of them to think of me. I am glad to know that I only terrorize my kids-LOL This obviously brought a smile to my face and it's nice to know you touch other's. So, enough of my yakking, you have to pass this on to ten other people-which I find very hard to do and even if I don't say you specifically-know that you ALL touch me everyday by your comments,friendships, fabulous stitching and your blogs.

Mercy Pretty in Pink

Debby Stitch Wizard

Myrna Still Living in Wonderland

Monique My Mark Designs

Mary Kathyrn The Happy Stitcher

Meari Meari's Musings

Jinger Rae of Sunshine Stitches

Lauren I'll Cross That Stitch When I Come to It

Michelle Ozark Stitching

Lilli Another Cross Stitch Addict

A biscornu finish and retreat update!

This is the biscornu finish I was telling you about before I left retreat. The design is called berryscornu and is by Periphaeria Designs . I did it on 28 ct. linen, (don't remember the name of the color) with spotted cobra silk by Silk N Colors. I used VC deep purple silk for the seam. The buttons were just some porcelain beads I found at Michael's. What can I say-this girl likes beads. LOL

Now retreat was just awesome and my best friend Tina went with me! The retreat was given by my LNS Needle Delights . Kathy who is the owner did such a fantastic job. Also, not to forget her two helper's Rebekah and Tonia. We had three trunk shows at the retreat. They were Milady's Needle, Debbee's Designs and Ewe and Eye and Friends. They were just gorgeous to see. Kathy also set up a boutique for us to shop from and I think she practically brought half of her store. She had some exquisite scissor fobs, zipper pulls, needle markers and stitch counters. I think I spent half my time shopping-LOL.

She gave us two projects to stitch if we wanted and she even offered a hardanger class. I was bad-I should have taken that class. She also gave away lots of great door prizes and little gifts to us. One of the highlights of the trip was that I got to meet fellow blogger Marjean of Linen and Lagniappe , and her friend Kaye. Marjean's stitching is gorgeous and in fact her stitching leporello (hope I spelled that right)won the stitching exhibit. She does gorgeous Mirabilia's. You should pay her blog a visit and say hello. It was great to meet you Marjean and Kaye! All in all a fab weekend with just beautiful weather and my best friend Tina beside me, who could ask for anything more. I will definitely be making this an annual trip!

Off to retreat...

Yes, I am still alive! Just busy working and trying to get my household ready for my brief absence as I am off to my stitcher's retreat. Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my ice cream sundae finish. Love them and I appreciate it so much! I have a biscornu finish that I will post when I get back. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll catch you Sunday!

Ice Cream Sundae Finish!

First, of all let me thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post. Thanks too for the suggestions regarding my furbabies! I did end up getting a runner to go across it and have tried using the water bottle sprayer in order to keep them off it. They actually haven't been too bad and if they even see me with sprayer in hand, they get the heck out of Dodge! LOL

This is Ice Cream Sundae by CCN. I finished it today. I decided not to do the border, as I tend not to like them. So, the ladies in my local stitching group suggested I do something different and this was it. The swirl part at the top is supposed to be in white, but I changed it to the fudge ripple-which is like a chocolate color. I did consider doing the whole border in that color, but for now it will stay like this. Since, I put this on a pink fabric, I notice that the white seems washed out too. But, irl it doesn't look like that. Sorry, the picture is a tad crooked no matter how I tried to straighten it out.

I can't believe another week has gone by. It's officially Autumn now, though you wouldn't know that in Florida. I was a little better about posting an update. But, some of my time is now consumed with kids and homework. So, I guess once a week is not to bad. Anyway, I must run. You all take care and have a great week!

SAL Update and a XS Buffet!

Here is my progress on Salem Sisters as of today, over half way done! Yay! Unfortunately, I have to stop because I am out of VC deep purple. Slightly aggravating because I have been on a roll. But, it will give me time to finish my birthday club exchange-so it's all good. I had to break out the q-snaps on this one as the material was so soft, it was driving me nuts. Have you ever had fabric to do that?

Below is a picture of my new antique buffet! Of course, I don't have a dining room to put this in. So, what am I going to use this gorgeous piece of furniture for? I will give you one guess. Do you even really need to guess? LOL Alright, I will stop teasing, it's to store my cross stitch in. I call it my cross stitch buffet. I don't know what year it was made in. It is all wood, with deep drawers and it had four trays in the middle that would typically hold silverware, but I am going to put my threads there. I will take pictures when it is all set up like I want it to be. They just don't make furniture like they used to. The best thing was I got it on sale and it a Christmas gift from my Mom. Do you think she loves me? LOL



Now, on an unhappy note, my cats have been on it and I have a couple of scratches on it. I had it less than 24 hours before this happened. I know cats climb on furniture, I don't usually have a problem with that. But, I would like to keep them off this. Does anyone who owns cats have a suggestion for this? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Speaking of cats, if you look at the bottom of the picture you will see my culprit! Okay,now that I have talked your ears off, so I am going. Thanks for all your comments on my last finish. Much appreciated. Have a great week and happy stitching!

A small finish!

This is be silly by My Mark Designs, a quick little stitch in some of my favorite colors-pinks. I did this on 30 ct. lullaby pink with WDW sweetheart rose. I think the camera flash washes out the pretty pink-even though it is pale irl. I am going to put this in my daughter's room and most likely finish it as a cube. I seem to to be on a cube kick. There is another pattern in this chart pack called be honest, that I may stitch in blues for my son's room. Think they will get the hint? LOL

Speaking of My Mark Designs , Monique had a contest on her blog recently of which the winner would receive a chart of their choice. Yes, I was the lucky winner of the chart and I chose daydream that you see below. I guess, I will have to stop saying I never win anything-LOL Thanks so much Monique!


Well, I have still have been buying some stash. I must resist or should I say resistance is futile-LOL Has anyone seen the new pattern called the giving sisters by Not Forgotten Farm? Too cool and right up my alley. Currently stitching on Salem Sisters and working on my birthday exchange. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

SAL update

I made some progress on Salem Sisters this past week, you can see a picture of it here . I am going to try to do better this week. Hopefully my SAL partners are faring better than me. Lizzy, Ranae how are you both doing? I have been a lazy blogger this week too. Probably a result of the horrible tooth ache I had all last week. I see the oral surgeon tomorrow, so he can drain me dry of my money-LOL. Last night I went to a stitch in at my LNS, a most lovely way to while away the hours. Next month is Needle Delights stitching fair retreat. I am going again and I can't wait. I am starting to get my projects ready-because let me tell you-one can never take too many projects. Can you believe it's been almost a year since I went to the last one?

Anyway, here is the fabric and waterlilies, that I picked out for Cirque Des Circles. The linen is called fresco and I am going to use Java which is a rich chocolate color with hints of pink and purple. Very pretty I think. Don't know when I will start, but it's all ready. Thanks so much for the compliments on my exchange to Carol. I really enjoyed stitching that piece and I hope that I can do as well the next time! I hope you all have a great week.

Seasonal Exchange for Carol!

This the exchange I stitched for Carol as part of our year long seasonal exchange group starting with summer. Carol is my partner for the whole year! This design is called summer stitches by Annalee Waite Designs and I finished it into a no sew cube. I also sent extra's with it, but forgot to take a picture. Carol has some wonderful pictures on her blog though. Now, it's on to Autumn. Thanks so much for the compliments on my box finish! I love them and appreciate them so much.

A Gift and an Exchange!

I was the lucky recipient this week of a two gorgeous mail packages. First up from Michelle . I had sent her my petal fairy pattern along with the threads and krenik. I knew that I no longer was interested in stitching it. So she agreed to take it off my hands. For my very little effort she graced me with a gorgeous scarf, a sweet little pincushion and a bookmark. It was so sweet of her and I love the scarf. It is so soft. So, the first chilly day we have here I am going to break it out. Thanks so much Michelle!

Next up is my seasonal exchange from Vonna ! I was surprised and delighted to find she was my exchange partner. In this group we exchange for the four seasons the whole year. It started with summer as you can see. The pattern is summer house by LHN. Vonna sent me a pinkeep, scissor fob and a pair of Gingher Glory scissors. It is a great exchange and Vonna is a wonderful stitcher. Thanks Vonna!



Front of pinkeep.




Back of pinkeep

My First Box Finish and a SAL

I have been wanting to mount some of my needlework on a box. So since I was off this week, I got my chance. After some advice from the lovely Vonna, I proceeded to stain my box with a cherry like varnish. I had already decided to use this JABCO pattern that I had stitched in January of 2006. It's called open a new box daily. It is very colorful and best of all the pattern would fit on the top of the box. I think the hardest part for me was fitting the fabric on the inside of the box. As you can see I used an orange cheetah patterned fabric. I turned to one of Vonna's tutorials for help with that. I think it turned out pretty good IMHO.

In other stitchy news, I have finish finished my seasonal exchange and I hope to have that in the mail by Monday. I joined a sal with Lizzy and Ranae for Salem Sisters and here is a brief progress picture. Not to much done on it. I am using a conversion done by Terri because I really liked the one she stitched so much. I hope you don't mind Terri. It is done on Silkweaver's days gone by linen and converted to VC silks.


That's all for me. We survived the first week of school! Yay! Now, I can sleep in this weekend-looking forward to that. Hope you all have a great weekend and lots of stitching.

PS: Jamillah, if you are reading this, I have tried to contact you but I need an email address so hopefully I can answer your questions.

Summer Feast HD

Oh my, I haven't posted in over a week. I have been busy getting the kids ready for school and such. Very hard shopping with boys who aren't interested and a girl who wants everything! LOL I have been busy stitching though and I have a small finish to show for it. It's summer feast by Praiseworthy Stitches. It was a quick stitch, but that watermelon was very tedious. I thought I would never finish it. I think it is really cute and I want to stitch the new peacock treat too. I am not on automatic for these as I like to see what they look like before I commit to buying.

Thanks for the comments on my stash-I do enjoy it. Though just when I think I could and should stitch only from my stash-a new pattern comes out. What's a girl to do? Put blinders on? Has anyone seen the new coffee thread packs by LHN, a definite must buy. Also, I see there is going to be a new pair of Gingher scissors called Bianca coming out-got to have those. So, I give up! Arrest me now-LOL Currently I am stitching ice cream sundae, and the freebie pattern an they shall seek him. I am also stitching on rise and shine by Samsarah designs. Not to forget too, that I have developed a sudden attraction for Cirque des Circles. I even have fabric and a silk thread all picked out for that. I will have to show you in another post what it looks like. The fabric is called fresco and the silk is a waterlilies called Java. Think chocolate and pinks!

Since, I haved yakked your ear off I will go. I have to go to work today(yuck!). But, I am off for a glorious 8 days and 7 nights beginning Monday(hooray!). The kids will be in school and peace will descend for a few hours upon my home. Hope you all have a great week!

Stash-Lots of pictures

Now, you all know I have been promising pictures of my stash and here they are. I did not list everything as I think you can see mostly by the pictures. However, if you have a question about anything just let me know. Now, I did not include my threads, beads, buttons, and a couple of fabrics. I was starting to feel slightly guilty as I am sure that I have missed some things-things that I am thinking of right now. So, without further whining here it is. As you will see I love just about everything.

A little RAK for Annemarie!

Annemarie is such a sweet and generous friend, that I sent her a little something to surprise her with. I had stitched this little freebie heart-but had not quite decided what to do with it. So, I finished it into a pinkeep and sent it along with berries, strawberries and the tea room (not pictured) by LHN. I also sent her a small mesh bag, a wacky little monkey tape measure and a couple of threads. I heard from her today that she had received the package and that she likes it. I am very glad. You worry sometimes when you send things. She says it's her first pinkeep ever. I should have probably put my initials somewhere on it. But, I have gotten out of the habit of marking everything I stitch. I think Annemarie will remember it's from me right?

Thanks for all the comments on my felted bag and my furbabies, they are much appreciated. I promise I haven't forgotten the stash. Will try for later today. Right now I am off to school shop with three children-pray for me-LOL

Pinkeep Exchange for Jenny

I had Jenny's name for the pinkeep exchange on the FGBB and this is the little pinkeep I sent to her. It is a French freebie heart from the Gift of Stitching magazine. I did it in blue lagoon wildflowers by Caron. I added a few threads, summber by Brittercup designs and a little nail file that says cross stitch forever, housework never! I hope that Jenny will enjoy this little pinkeep I made for her.

A break in stitching for........knitting

Yes, knitting. Now I don't knit though I wish I could. I could learn-but I am afraid of becoming obsessed with another craft-LOL However, Jo has fed my interest of knitting with those absolutely lovely felted bags she makes. Recently she linked the She-Knits store on Etsy.com. Where you can purchase patterns and also purchase bags. I actually custom ordered the bag you see pictured below in the colors of pink and chocolate. It is called the double loop tote bag. A lovely lady also named Sharon owns this store. She did a beautiful job-don't you think? She was also very quick in getting me my order. Anyway, if you want lovely handcrafted items, the Etsy store is a great place to start.






Meari, has tagged me for the 5 things meme-so here we go!

5 Things I wish to do before I die:
1.See my children settled into life and happy
2.Travel in the United States
3.Work Less
4.Retire comfortably
5.Just enjoy life

5 Things I can do well:
1.Great listener
2.cross stitch
3.good friend
4.crochet
5.Love

5 Things I can't do well
1.sew
2.cook
3.bake
4.lie (not that I want to do that well-LOL)
5.yard work-absolutely hate it

5 Celebrity Crushes
1.Denzel Washington
2.Johnny Depp
3.Vincent D'Onofrio
4.Will Smith
5.Clint Eastwood

Now, I won't tag people individually, however if you want to join the fun-go for it! I haven't forgotten the stash. I will post it soon. Have a great week!

Pinkeep Exchange from Terry!

Today, I received this gorgeous pinkeep exchange from Terry She also sent me a couple of ribbon trims, a cute little notepad and a pack of Mary Engelbreit stickers-they are not pictured-I think my daughter ran off with them-LOL Thanks so much Terry, I love everything.

Now a couple of pictures of my furbabies. The first is of Kiki and Kojack asleep on the bed together. The are about 16 months old. Kojack has no fear and Kiki can be a little high maintenance at times.

This is Midnight, she is such a loving cat, she meows at us all when she wants attention and she is quite plump. She is not quite a year old. I call her jelly belly sometimes-LOL Silver is my outdoor cat and where is he-outdoors of course.

Just a little update.....

Well, I am still lurking around. I have been working on a couple of exchanges. So, I can't show those just yet. Hopefully in the next week. This is one of my current wip's called ice cream sundae by Country Cottage Needleworks. It is similar in nature to coffee menu. I started this last week and this is my progress thus far. I decided to do it on a pink linen instead of the mocha linen it called for-I not sure if you can tell the color by the picture. You know me-I like color. Please forgive me the wrinkles. I also have been working on Summer feast by Praiseworthy stitches-love the colors in this one.

Other than that, nothing going on but the rent! I am still being tortured by the children-LOL It's not that bad, but the two older ones argue and argue. Brandon is improving and I do get some good stitching time while he is in therapy. I have been stash buying-maybe I will try to post some of that. I have been bad-but I am not going to feel guilty. It has been fun. I hope you all have a great week and happy stitching.

May Ornament

Here is my May ornament by La-D-Da called Christmas heart. Not a new ornament to most of you I think. As, I have seen this one around several times. Still, it is one of my favorites. A couple of changes in mine as I didn't have a couple of the colors on hand. I used zach black by Crescent for the outline of the heart. The green in leaves called for dried thyme, but I used spring grass. The green is a little brighter, but I liked the effect. I am hoping to catch up by the end of July, but we will see. Thanks for your comments on my first needle book. I did enjoy that little finish-though I struggled a little with it. I haven't finished the pillow yet-procrastinating yes I know. Have a great week and happy stitching!

My First Needle book

This is my first needle book using the tribe #1 from Periphaeria Designs. You may remember this design from my first biscornu exchange. I really like this design or can you tell that? I used waterlilies again this time in cherry. Some errors of course as I am not a seamstress. I am going to have work on my measuring and seam allowance. But, on the whole-not too shabby I think. This actually meets one of my finishing goals. I know you are saying what goals? LOL However, I do have some things I have set for myself to learn and this was one of them. I also did a small pillow-but I am not quite finished with that. Will post as soon as I am done.

Thanks for all the comments on my beach house and the new blog look. I am enjoying it very much. Brandon got his cast off today-yay! Now he is in a brace for another four weeks. We also have to go to physical therapy three times a week. What an enjoyable way to spend the summer-NOT! Taking the kids to the movies tomorrow to see Transformers-one of the few things we can do. I am not complaining as I am very thankful this did not occur during school time as it was Brandon's dominate side that was injured. I am still working on my exchanges and just trying to stitch where I can fit it in. Have a good weekend and thanks again for stopping by.