A little bit of Dawn

Just a quickie post tonight - I finished up my Scissor Fob Exchange tonight, and now I am about to go and package it up with some goodies as I would like Mike to post it in the AM.... but in the middle of all of that, I did put a couple of hours into Dawn again tonight. I really don't mind stitching with Petite Treasure Braid at all... very easy... but once you blend it with a strand of DMC, it sure does seem to take on a whole new cranky nature - LOL! A little battling tonight :-)

Stitched on today: Finished Scissor Fob Exchange project, and Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace

A Beautiful PIF - Thank You!!

Oh my goodness! I came home from work today to a very special little parcel from the mailman!! Su sent me this gorgeous little PIF - a sweet little scissor fob that I simply adore! I had been admiring it on her blog recently, and had no idea that it could possibly have been for me! You made my day Su! Thank you!! I was feeling a bit down for a few days, and this really perked me up! Thank you!! (BTW - I love tea and coffee - great choice!!)

Tonight I worked on Bordeaux Sampler again. Wednesdays are by far my shortest stitching nights - only a couple of hours due to my work schedule. I cannot keep up with my SAL mate on this one, as she must have much more time than I do. But, I motored along extra late tonight (and will pay for that in the morning, I am sure). I got the bulk of the gold done before Cinderella's pumpkin arrived at my door...

We keep our cats indoors. Always have, always will. But at times, they get some supervised time out on our deck. Here is Beau this evening, enjoying some of his cat grass while dinner was cooking on the grill :-) He looks a bit enthusiastic, doesn't he??

Thank you everyone for your sweet words about the exchange and gifts I posted yesterday. You are all so wonderful and supportive! And, thanks for the tip on the french seams for the needlerolls, Karen V! I will try that out right away! ;-)

Stitched on today: Started Scissor Fob Exchange project, and Bordeaux Sampler

Feast or Famine.... A Lot to Share Today

Suddenly, all at once, almost everything I sent out and was waiting on arrived! I have a lot to share today!

First off, my A Trip Around the World Exchange on the SBEBB arrived safely with Cathy today! This was the second needleroll I have ever made, so I really hope she likes it! The tough part, I have found, is getting that inner seam to look OK inside the two open ends - I don't care much for that part - LOL!! It was particulary tough with lugana, that pretty much shreds on its edges... to see the rest of what I sent to Cathy, check out her blog - she put in a nice photo :-)

New Hampshire Needle KeeperEventide Designs28 ct Moss Green Lugana, DMC FlossStitched 5/20/07 - 5/24/07

And, today, Barbara opened up her birthday gifts that I sent to her recently... this was actually my first ever needleroll, and I am so happy that Barbara likes it!!! I wanted to make something special for such a dear friend! She has a photo in her blog of the rest of her little gift package from me...

Mini Topiary Sampler 4 NeedlerollJeannette Douglas DesignsSilkweaver 32 ct Blueberry Delight Lugana, DMC floss, Needle Necessities Floss, Mill Hill Petite Beads
Stitched in 2004, finished on 5/21/07

Rachael also opened up her birthday parcel from me today :-)

Protection Biscornu
Periphaeria Designs
Silkweaver Belfast Solo, Vikki Clayton silk in Turkey Red
Stitched 5/9/07 - 5/19/07

Finally, Tannia let me know today that she received a little parcel from me today too... I wanted to send something special to Tannia, as she is my little stitching angel right now. As you might know, Tannia recently sent me a parcel of treats because she felt I am always giving to others. As I told Tannia, some people are givers, some are receivers and a lucky few are both... well, I have always been a giver, so I cannot help myself!! I sent her this...

Stitching Cherub Fob
Casa Mia
36 ct Cream Edinburgh Linen, DMC Color Variations in Radiant Ruby
Stitched 5/19/07 - 5/20/07

This past weekend was Christmas Ornament SAL Weekend... I got a late start, and had to finish the last few stitches on my ornament this afternoon. I came across this chart when I was digging out the chart I wanted to use for the A Trip Around the World Exchange... I had bought that chart on ebay 2-3 years ago, and when I dug it out I remembered that the ebay seller had tucked this little chart inside of it as a bonus... so, I decided to stitch it...

Greetings from New Hampshire
Lindy Jane Designs
Natural Belfast Linen, DMC Floss
Stitched 5/28/07 - 5/29/07

And... of course, my weekly update of Paradigm Lost... :-)

My Garden Theme Exchange package was sent off today - I hope the recipient enjoys it!!!

Thanks for the sweet words about HOHRH! What you may not realize or remember is that I started it back in January of 2005! This is why not being able to finish in 2007 is at least a little bit disappointing for me... oh well!!

Stitched on today: Finished my Christmas ornament for the SAL, and Paradigm Lost

HOHRH Revelation

Back to Houses of Hawk Run Hollow tonight. I realized tonight that this is not going to be finished in 2007. On work nights, I have about three hours of stitching time. I see that House 1 is well past the one month point now, and still not finished. With six more blocks to go, including House 5, which is solid stitching with the black background, there is no way that on a Monday evening schedule, even every week, that this can be finished by the end of this year. (Now, how was that for a run on sentence??). OK... I saw it coming. I will still work on it every Monday and shoot for a mid-2008 finish, perhaps??

Still waiting for gifts to arrive/be opened... and exchanges to arrive too...

Back to work tomorrow...

Stitched on today: Started an ornament for the Christmas Ornament SAL, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Spring Ride

Today was family day at the Sutcliffe House. Mike and Erin and I went down to Massachusetts and picked my mother up for a belated Mother's Day lunch at The Longhorn (her choice). With Grandpa passing away on the eve of Mother's Day, the holiday got a bit delayed. We had such a nice time! I later found time to work on Spring Ride. I had told Karen I would not be stitching on it much tonight, but got a bit caught up in it while watching Night at the Museum with Mike and Erin tonight... so I did more than I thought I would. I scanned it tonight, as it is just so hard to photograph. While the scan is not at all complimentary, it is better than any photo I can take of it yet... It's beginning to work up quickly for me.


I had a few email requests asking me what exactly Spring Ride is.... I found this photo of it online for you. Spring Ride is a Lanarte/Stoney Creek chart, c. 1994. Far from a new chart :-) It calls for 28 ct white Quaker linen. I am doing mine on White Opalescent 32 ct Belfast linen. It is really fun using the one strand of floss over two on the Belfast linen... very delicate :-) Mike likes these artistic types of needlework pieces, so I stitch these types of designs for him.

I am impatiently...patiently... waiting for several gifts and exchanges that I have been stitching recently to arrive where they should - once they do, I will finally have some more finishes to share with you... but for now, trying to be patient....


Stitched on today: Finished Garden Theme Exchange project, and Spring Ride

More Forest... and Malfunctioning ISP

We have our 14 year old niece, Erin, up now for a couple of days - giving her a break from her older sisters during this long holiday weekend. I spent time with her tonight, and did not get a whole lot done on And A Forest Grew as a result... but here it is :-)

My post is going up late - our ISP was acting up last night and pretty much only Google worked. No other websites were functioning until Sunday morning.... I got a few emails wondering where I was - LOL! I am here!! Thanks for looking for me :-)

Stitched on today: Stitched on Garden Theme Exchange, and And A Forest Grew

Ready to go...

Hello Neighbor Round Robin, Group One
The Stitching House
The Goode Huswife
Silkweaver 40 ct Sandcastle linen
Weeks Dye Works and DMC floss

I finished up my square for the Hello Neighbor RR (Group One) tonight. The green in this one really makes all the difference. This is one of my favorite house designs, and I am so happy I got to use it for this RR. I had it aside for a while for the other Neighborhood RR I have been in for the past year and a half, but this design was too small to use for that one. So, now I am just waiting for Nicole's new address (she is moving to NH this weekend), and I will post it off to her quite soon.

It was 95F here today, so Mike and I decided to go for a ride to the beach... this included a trip to Yankee Cross Stitch for me :-) I didn't take a photo of what I bought as one item is a gift and the majority of the rest is items for upcoming exchanges and birthdays...

And.......... congratulations to the surging Ryan Newman! Ryan won the pole position today for Sunday night's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway!! Yay! Things have been looking up a little for him lately... Good Luck Ryan!!!

Oh... and my exchange package for the "A Trip Around the World" exchange on the SBEBB officially was posted off today - I hope my exchange partner enjoys her package!

Stitched on today: Started Garden Theme Exchange, and finished my block for the Hello Neighbor Round Robin (Group One)

Dawn Again

After skipping her last week, I went back to working on Dawn again tonight - although, had a late start as I was busily finishing an exchange piece first. With that done, I was able to get a couple of hours or so in on Dawn. She grows so quickly!! I am excited that Sharon also recently started to stitch Dawn... it will be fun to watch her progress on her fairy too :-)

Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments about the exchange I received yesterday - if you get a chance to pick up a pair of those scissors from Violarium, you will not be disappointed! I used them tonight, and I just love them!! They are a nice heavy scissor with nice fine points - sweet!!

Ah, this is the start of a four day weekend now.... lovely!

Stitched on today: Finished an exchange project, and Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace

Monochromatic Exchange

The mailman was wonderful again today - he delivered this most beautiful Monochromatic Exchange package from Leena !! She stitched this wonderful fob for me that is showcased in the most recent issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly! I have wanted to stitch this fob ever since the magazine arrived a couple of weeks ago - now I am blessed to have one already stitched so beautifully and perfectly by Leena!!

The rest of the exchange package contained the gorgeous scissors attached to the fob... a fantastic chart that Leena pulled from my wish list, and a bar of chocolate from Finland... which Mike has already started to eat!! (Mike likes that I do exchanges - he loves all of the candy that often comes in the packages!! You see, I don't eat sugar, but he adores it! Leena, he says this is a good one!!). Thank you so much Leena - this was a fun exchange!!

Oh, and here is this week's update of Bordeaux Sampler. I started Part 6 (of 7) tonight... as I did manage to print out the part earlier in the week (our printer part came in). As you may be able to see, I am up to where the date gets added on... I bet Anne already flew through and finished this band already - LOL!!

Stitched on today: Stitched on an exchange project, and Bordeaux Sampler

Beautiful Cartonnage

To start with today.... it is Paradigm Lost Tuesday again. I worked some more on smaller motifs and then started the next moderately sized one, which I really like because it has carnation flowers in it. Carnation flower motifs are one of my all time favorite sampler motifs - I am glad Judith made sure to add them to this sampler :-)

The mailman was wonderful today - he delivered a small package today from The Netherlands, that I had at first thought was the Monochromatic Exchange piece... but no... it was a lovely PIF from dear Judith !! I have been admiring her recent cartonnage projects in her blog, and never dreamed I would be lucky enough to own one! Oh, thank you so much Judith! It is going straight on my bureau in my bedroom!!! I think Judith is away on holiday right now, so I do't think she has received my personal email to her yet.

Thanks for the sweet comments about Angus - as I type, he is back there again! Several commented that he looked annoyed or upset in the photo. He was actually very content and purring, and was periodically rubbing against me and against the mittens. He just does not photograph well. In fact, he looks brown in the photo. In real life, he is black and grey with minimal brown underneath... his father is a seal point Himalayan, while his mom is a tortoise shell persian, so seeing a bit of brown in him is expected. In fact, his face, legs and tail are darker than the rest of his body, which is congruent with a Himalayan :-)

I am still woefully behind in blog reading, which bugs me. I get such nice comments from you all, and I want to keep up with visiting your blogs too. On the other hand, I am now a bit more caught up with treatment plans and progress notes at work, which is a good (and very necessary!!) thing! I will visit your blog soon - I absolutely promise!!

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

Houses Update

This week's update of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow... lots of mindless ecru stitches. I spent the entire evening stitching little ecru stitches in the windows and between the bricks on House 1. And, I am not even quite finished... one more window to go next week! Well, at least I did not have to count or even use a chart tonight!

I have actually been busy with stitching this week, but much of it just cannot be shown until they are all received by their intended recipients... so for now, just a rather dull HOHRH update!

I can cheer up my post tonight a little though - I found Angus lying atop my rolltop desktop earlier today... I had recently put a pair of very fluffy mittens that my Mom had knitted for me on top of the desk... they have apparently become a comfy pillow for Angus :-)

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, worked on an exchange project, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Spring Ride

Sorry about the poor photo - I really need to learn how to best photograph Spring Ride... I stitched a lot on her sleeve tonight - varying shades of off white and White Marlitt too... does not show up really well yet. This is a really fun stitch! I look forward now to Sundays!!!

So cold and rainy still here today - off to breakfast with my FIL before he went to the airport, and then off to lunch with MIL for a belated Mother's Day meal (with Grandpa passing away last Saturday, Mother's Day took a back seat)... too much food in too short of a time - LOL!!

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, started an exchange project, and Spring Ride

A little bit of forest

My camera batteries need to be changed, and I am far too lazy to go run upstairs and find some. So, I scanned the area of And A Forest Grew that I worked on tonight... just a little bit, but it seemed to take a long time....

I will repost tonight about the Freebie Gallery Blog - if anyone is interested in being a contributor to this blog, please email me at carolsutcliffe@comcast.net and I will have Blogger send you the invite :-)

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, started a gift, and And A Forest Grew

More of a House Now

I decided to continue on with the start of my Neighborhood Round Robin tonight. I have much more of a house now... all that is left to do is add all the leaves on the trees, and to finish up the lawn that has a nice geometrical pattern done in pretty olive greens. Unfortunately, the roof also has a nice pattern in it, but you cannot see it. The WDW Molasses and WDW Chestnut are so incredibly similar that the pattern doesn't show... oh well.

The funeral was quite nice today. The paternal side of Mike's family is really quite fun, and it was nice to see his cousins who do not live locally. The weather was not good - very cold and rainy. I had to go back to work during the burial, but Mike was a pallbearer along with two of his cousins and the husband of another cousin. I am sorry I missed that. Grandpa is now resting peacefully next to his wife. She passed away well more than 20 years ago... Thank you to everyone for your condolences. Mike and I both really appreciate them. We get to enjoy some time still with my FIL for another day as well - he is a very easy houseguest!

Stitched on today: My Neighborhood Round Robin Group One project

My House is Growing

I decided not to work on Dawn tonight. I am not really sure that Dawn is an SAL any longer. My SAL partner has not blogged since the first week of the SAL, and she did not reply to my email a week or two ago. My guess is she is probably having computer problems. But, for now I felt like giving my time to my Neighborhood Round Robin Group 1 project. My house is growing nicely :-) OK, I only have a partial roof... and my tree is very partial.... but you get the idea of what I am doing now :-)

OK... why am I up so late? Why is my FIL up so late? Chatting all night - but we need to get up so early for the funeral tomorrow! We are both going to be toast tomorrow!! LOL

I don't think I got a chance to visit many blogs today. Lately, I have found that I am online far too much at work... I can tell because I have too many treatment plans and progress notes that are well overdue. I put time into those at work today instead, so I feel less guilty. Tomorrow night, though, I hope to get back to those blogs! I hope you are all well!

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Neighborhood Round Robin Group One

Five Down, Two To Go

Tonight, I finished up Part 5 of Bordeaux Sampler, and then could do little more than just look at it for a bit. Our printer is not working at the moment, and I do not have a hard copy of the chart. I took this as a mystery sampler through Hand-Dyed Fibers last year, before it was printed for general sale. I have this as pdf files. I hadn't printed out Part 6 yet... I think I will email it to my office and print it out there tomorrow, just in case our printer is not online by next Wednesday!

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

Lots of stitching to share

I have quite a bit of stitching to share with you tonight :-) First up, it is Paradigm Lost night. This sampler is really growing. After finishing the pudgy birdie motif in the lower left corner, I focused on doing some of the smaller motifs before I take on another denser one next week....

I heard from Marika earlier today that my Monochromatic Exchange on the SBEBB arrived at her home in Finland. I sent her a whole package of goodies, which she says she enjoys. As usual, I only took a photo of the stitched item(s). Perhaps she will share the rest in her blog. I really didn't know what I wanted to stitch for this exchange. I finally settled on a biscornu with a matching scissor fob (I sent her scissors too). Thank you to Tannia - I used one of the Dinky Dyes silks you recently sent me to stitch this exchange :-)

Spring Flowers Biscornu and Fob

Debbie Draper Designs

Cream Cashel linen, and Dinky Dyes Silk in Coral Sea

Stitched 5/2/07 - 5/5/07

Chart is found here

And... Michelle recently asked Jenna and I to help her out by each stitching a square on her Just Nan Round Robin that recently ended. Apparently, two stitchers were not able to do their parts, or perhaps Michelle liked the 9 block set up ... but, Jenna and I are both truly honored to stitch on this piece for Michelle. Oh, the stitching is so gorgeous on this round robin! I don't know many of the stitchers who stitched on this - I know Arthemise and Angi... wow, everyone who worked on this deserves to know You did a great job for Michelle!!! Michelle must be thrilled with this. I added Peppermint Rose in the center row on the left edge. Mike will post this beauty off to Jenna tomorrow :-) Thank you, Michelle, for inviting me to stitch on this pretty RR! I cannot wait to see the finished sampler!

Lily is walking considerably better - I really wanted to share that. She has a few fans out there in blogland that have been expressing quite an interest (i.e., Isabelle, for one :-)...) Thank you!! Also... thank you to everyone for your sweet words on the fob for Harmien... aren't Prairie Schooler charts wonderful??

Stitched on today: Finished Michelle's Just Nan RR, and Paradigm Lost

Irises

It's Monday, so it's Houses of Hawk Run Hollow time again... and I am still doing all those bricks on House 1. I finished the orangey ones, and now I have lots of the ecru to do to fill them in. I had seen that there was a page of corrections on CHS' website for this pattern... I saw it many times, but forgot all about it as I was stitching along. Sue thoughtfully emailed me that correction page over the weekend (thank you Sue - with all of the events of the past weekend, I had not yet had a chance to email you to thank you). And I looked at it tonight as I picked this up again to stitch... well, too late! My roof is Pond Pine, but should be Walnut. The green under the house is Hunter, but should be Leaf (I am using a Vikki Clayton conversion)... but I am not going to pull them out. It took far too long to put those stitches in there. And yet, I like it how it is! LOL!

Harmien has received her little birthday gift from me, so I can share that tonight too. She recieved it only one day after her birthday, so kudos to the postal service once again! I stitched a Prairie Schooler fob with carnations on it as Harmien and I share a strong love for gardening. And, Harmien has proven to be such a lovely, stable person who has been a sweet influence in my life in recent weeks (amongst a few others). I am glad you like it Harmien! And, thank you to Kajsa for the chart too :-)

Carnations Fob

Prairie Schooler

40 ct lambswool linen, DMC floss

Stitched 5/5/07 - 5/7/07

And, here are a couple of dwarf standard irises blooming in my garden today :-)

Thanks for all the well wishes for Lily. She is still limping a bit, but we cannot keep her off of her feet. She sleeps (along with Gig and Ava) between Mike and I on our heated mattress pad at night, and I am sure that helps her. She is grateful, I am sure, for all the well wishes.

It looks like Grandpa's funeral will be Friday morning. My uncle's funeral was over the weekend in California. It was a small service, as he had been divorced out of the family for some several years now. My cousins just got back in from the trip.

I almost forgot! I found this link for a super cute biscornu freebie - here - enjoy!!

Stitched on today: Started Michelle's Just Nan RR (I am a fill in stitcher to help her fill her fabric), and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Thank You, Everyone... you mean a lot to us

Thank you all for your sweet words regarding the sudden loss of Mike's grandfather yesterday. Your kindness means so much to us. Mike is feeling a terrible sense of loss, and a void in his life. He has really enjoyed caring for his grandfather in recent months. Many people would shy away from the messy duties that Mike had taken on with his grandfather. It was really pretty rough in recent weeks/months. But Mike had embraced caring for his grandfather with all of his heart. Now he feels lost... in many ways...

It was a quiet day in a house of mourning. I did find a few minutes earlier today to work on my new Neighborhood Round Robin. We then went out for our anniversary dinner at The Outback. It was good to get Mike out of the house and enjoy some time in public. He enjoyed himself, so that is good. After that, I started the long awaited Spring Ride SAL, which is with Karen and Kathy. This SAL was planned out about two years ago, before Karen was even pregnant with Riley. Well, that is really the reason why the SAL did not start until now :-) Anyhow, what am I thinking of, starting another LARGE project?? But, it is such a fun stitch already. I love the use of one strand of floss throughout. It is much like stitching on Girl with Cat (which, sadly, I have been ignoring lately) - but this one is more colorful!! I know it looks a tiny bit creepy right now - an arm reaching out of nowhere. I am stitching it on white opalescent belfast... I think my camera caught a little bit of the sparkle :-)

On top of all that happened here last night, we also noticed that our Lily was limping quite badly. Her right front leg is really bothering her. Her nails are neatly clipped and showing no signs of digging into her pads. Her pads all look good too. I think she may have sprained her ankle/leg jumping off of something? We will take her to the vet, of course, if she does not get better soon. This morning, Mike turned on the heating pad and she laid right down on it for hours. After that, though, she was rambunctious again, and is still limping as a result...

Stitched on today: Hello Neighbor RR Group One, and Spring Ride

A very sad day...

Mike's grandfather passed away tonight. He was in his 90's. He took a fall at the nursing home earlier today, and he did not recover. Mike is very upset. He has spent every Wednesday for the past six months with his grandfather at the nursing home. This is a terrible loss. We will both miss him very much...


Before the sad news came in, I managed to do a little on And A Forest Grew, and have now finished all of the complete motifs on Section 8.

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and And A Forest Grew

Off and Running

It was a gorgeous day here in New Hampshire, and with the day off, Mike and I went out and enjoyed it with a foray up to our capital, Concord. We did some shopping and went out to lunch. It was a nice leisurely day. Then tonight, I finally started my round robin for the Hello Neighbor RR (Group One). Our first mailing date is June 1st - had to get going! I am off and running now! It took me absolutely forever and some eye strain to grid out/baste my fabric.

My theme is for each stitcher to stitch a house that she would feel comfortable living in in my neighborhood. My only request is that nobody stitch a cartoony house. However, I know everyone in this group quite well, and I don't think any of the other 8 stitchers would even consider stitching a cartoony house - all of us have quite similar tastes. My fabric is Silkweaver 40 ct Sand Castle, and my blocks are 80 x 80 stitches. I chose The Stitching House by The Goode Huswife for my block (omitting the border and the top tree branches that are detached from trunks from the original chart) - I am excited, as this is one of my favorite charts by one of my favorite designers (I sure do miss The Goode Huswife).

I was going to start the Spring Ride SAL tonight, but my SAL mates prefer to stitch on Sundays, so I will start on Sunday too - which is very good, since it felt great to get this good start on my RR tonight!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for the wonderful comments of late on my WIPS and on the Freebie Gallery Blog - and I want to acknowledge the many new commenters who have been visiting my blog - it is so nice to meet you all!

Stitched on today: Started my Hello Neighbor RR (Group One)

Early Weekend

I worked on Dawn tonight, following my rotation. I had skipped her last week in order to get something else done.... but I gave her plenty of time tonight. Her dress is really growing now. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find my SAL mate for this one since our SAL started a couple of months ago :-(

It's a long weekend for me. Yay. I have tomorrow off. What will I do? Well, the weather should be gorgeous and there is a lot of gardening to do... but I also hope to get the basting/gridding done on my Neighborhood Round Robin (Group 1) - oh, how dull that will be!! LOL!!

Country Music Fans:: This is funny if you love country music (I am a huge fan of the new country music that has hit the scene as of late) - this video is apparently taken by someone's camera phone. Country Stars Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler pulled a practical joke on Brad Paisley during his concert in Illinois last week - while singing his new hit, Ticks, they dressed up as ticks and swarmed him... and Jack Ingram came out and played the exterminator. Brad Paisley could barely keep from cracking up! (Trivia for you: Brad is married to Kimberly Williams-Paisley, the actress who plays Dana on According to Jim - very cute couple) -

TICKS


Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace

Bordeaux Update

Just a quick update tonight of Bordeaux Sampler. I worked late and had only a limited time to stitch... not to mention read blogs and emails. I have 90 emails right now still to read. I know some of them are requests to be signed onto the Freebie Gallery Blog. If you requested today and have not heard from, please don't worry. I am working through the list and hope tomorrow will be an earlier work day for me... then I can have extra time to sort all of that out!

Thanks for understanding!

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

14 Years and Counting

14 years ago this morning, at 10 AM, I was a bride :-) Yes, Mike and I are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary today - quietly, though. We will go out to dinner at a nice place on Friday and maybe go into Boston or something. Mike is making some plans. My parents were married on May 1, 1960, and I was lucky enough to be able to wear my mother's wedding gown at my wedding. I loved it so much! I love the little bit of a retro look that it has. My veil was different. Someone had snuck up on my mother and cut her veil at her wedding, telling her that it was for good luck. Well, it did bring her very good luck. My mother and father were blissfully married for 35 years. They certainly still would be, however my father passed away in December of 1995. She also wore elegant long cream colored gloves at her wedding. I would have loved to have worn them too. We could not find them, nor could I find a pair that I liked before my wedding. Hey, there is my sister fixing my train. She was my maid of honor. I hope to have many more wonderful years of marriage to Mike :-)



I received a lovely package in the mail today! A couple of weeks ago, while visiting Isabelle's blog, I remembered that she has an online Etsy shop. For those who do not know, Isabelle sells some of her wonderfully stitched items online. I could not resist this adorable little heart pillow that smells wonderfully of gardenia!! Thank you Isabelle - I am so honored to own this little treasure :-) I hope others will check out Isabelle's little shop too.

Here is this week's update of Paradigm Lost. I see it will take another week to finish this pudgy bird motif in the bottom left corner. Oh, how I loved seeing Jo's in real life while she was up in Nashua last weekend - soooo pretty! (As is Jo - she is just wonderful!!). We spent some time looking at fabrics at Celebration for potential use on St. Reatham, which will be our next SAL when Paradigm Lost is finished. I don't know if either of us has settled on anything yet.... I guess we still have a bit of time before that becomes an issue anyhow.

Thank you to everyone for your sweet words and cyberhugs regarding my uncle's death. You do not know how much I appreciate them. It really helped. We are still awaiting word from my cousin on the funeral details. I think there will be a memorial here on the east coast at some point, as he is out in California.

Wow, the Freebie Gallery Blog sure is taking off! I just love looking at all the photos you stitchers are uploading into it! It is so fun to look at all the different freebies that are out there and the different ways we choose to stitch them and finish them off. Very nice.

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

Gorgeous Hand-Dyed Fabrics For Sale!!

OK... I am clearing out more hand dyed fabrics again! I feel a little guilty for having spent money at Celebration... as Angus' surgery bill is due for another payment... so, if anyone wants any of these, I will be thrilled (and so will Angus!). I take PayPal - but if you are a US buyer, I can take a check, money order or US cash. Shipping is $1.50 for one piece in the US. For more than one or if you are outside of the US, we will chat about a low shipping fee for you. I try to keep it at the cost of a mailer plus real postage :-)
Top Row, left to right:
Countrystitch Kiwi Illusions, Paua 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x 26”, $20
Heaven Lee Creations, Northern Lights 32 ct lugana, 18” x 26”, $20
Silkweaver, Peaceful Waters 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x 18”, $15
Silkweaver, Blue Diamonds 32 ct Opalescent lugana, 18” x 26”, $20
Dyeing4U, Jamaican Sea 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x 26”, $20
Bottom Row, left to right:
Silkweaver, Castle View 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x 26”, $20
Silkweaver, Mountain Rose 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x 26”, $20
Dyeing4U, Morning Dream 32 ct Belfast linen, 18” x26”, $20
Sugar Maple Fabrics, Golden Turret 32 ct lugana, 18” x 27”, $20
Silkweaver, Smoky Blue 32 ct lugana, 18” x 26”, $18

Life is back to normal here - my houseguests are back in Florida, and I am relaxed and finding time to stitch again :-) House 1 is growing...

Unfortunately, I got some very sad news this morning from my mother. My uncle/godfather passed away late last night after a long battle with cancer. I was not aware of how far along he was, so this was suprising and so sad to hear. He is out in California, and I do not yet know anything about his funeral...

And... some spring garden photos taken from my own garden this afternoon... I have no idea what that last plant is called. I lost its tag over its first winter and have no clue what it is... LOL

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful response to the Freebie Gallery Blog! There are some real beauties in there now - thank you!!!!!!!!! Anyone can join if they want to post in it - just email me.

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow