I finished up my February ornament for the Christmas Ornament SAL this afternoon. I took the photo in the late afternoon, and the clouds were already moving in for the snowstorm we are expecting later tonight. As a result, the photo is a bit dark and gloomy. The ornament is actually very vibrant in real life. This was a fun stitch. I was in the mood for a whimsical ornament this month, as I think I already know who will be receiving this one at Christmas time ;-) (**photos replaced with better ones).
Now, back to exchange stitching!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!! And I wanted to say thank you to my new blog visitors - what a treat to meet you all! It is a good night, as the first Red Sox spring training game of the season is on TV - very cool.
Stitched on today: Finished Moose Be X-Mas Ornament, stitched on CE exchange
I heard from Becky today that she has received my birthday package :-) Sadly, I mailed it late. It took me forever to get something together for her, as I was feeling very fussy. I am not overjoyed with the finishing on this - particularly how the roof attaches. It was also very hard to photograph well... But anyhow, with Becky being our Queen Bee, I figured this little honey house would be fun for her...
28 ct Platinum Cashel Linen, Crescent Colours and DMC Floss
I sent her other items too, and she has shown them in her blog. Happy Belated Birthday, dear friend!!
Off to work on my Christmas Ornament for February now. Do I live in the coldest place on the planet right now? I think not, but close. It was only about 23F most of the day today - LOL!
Stitched on today: Started Christmas ornament for February (will show it tomorrow after it is finished off)
It's snowing again (or it's still snowing)... so it is still Christmas, right?? So... A Quaker Christmas again! I figure it is boring to keep seeing it so often - sorry about that!! I am loving it, though. I will have a lot of other things to show instead of it at some point... the mail is so very slow right now. I have many things out in the post that just are not arriving at their destinations.... some over three months in the post.
Our power went out almost immediately after I closed my laptop last night after I blogged. It's really pretty difficult to take out, clean and store contact lenses by the light of a Yankee Candle jar... LOL
Stitched on today: Started a Crazy Exchange project, and A Quaker Christmas **Mailed out biscornu exchange (for Laura's group) to Pixie today (Found this today - it doesn't fit in my sidebar, so it gets a one time showing here in this entry - I love it! Who's surprised??)
Just a quick post tonight. We are getting more snow again right now, and our satellite is out due to the weather. I need to go run up to my stash room where I have cable tv to catch the forecast for later tonight and tomorrow... come on Spring!! In the meantime, I worked more on Memories tonight...
Stitched on today: Finished biscornu (for Laura's exchange group), started SBEBB Tea Time exchange project, and Memories **Mailed out a gift today
It may not look like much based on this photo, but I started Just Nan's new Memories tonight. I finished up all of the cross stitching on the biscornu for Laura's exchange group, and only have the assembly left to do. As a result, I decided to reward myself with a new small/medium start. It is really gorgeous in real life, but very difficult to photograph so far. I feel like I am going back to my roots a bit with this one. Years ago (~20 years now), when I was first getting really heavily into stitching, I was primarily stitching Just Nan and Shepherd's Bush projects. My local shop owner at that time called Just Nan "the cutting edge of cross stitch" back then... I think the same still holds true. This one is a real treat, and with luck, I shall have better photos to share soon.
Stitched on today: Stitched on biscornu (for Laura's exchange group), and Memories
I picked up Serenity again this evening after Nicole went back home... tried to watch the NASCAR race while stitching, but rain in California kept interrupting it. They might restart the race at midnight, but I will be off to bed by then :-) Anyhow... I was again tempted to work on fun inner motifs. Next time I pick this up, I really should work on the border again. I really would prefer not to have too much of the busy border to do at the very end ;-)
Stitched on today: Stitched on the biscornu (for Laura's exchange group), and Serenity
Just another update of A Quaker Christmas again tonight... not very exciting, I know... just moving along with this one little by little.
I want to thank the many of you who have been tagging me in your blogs lately. I really appreciate the kind thoughtss that are attached to choosing me when you seek people to tag. I don't, however, do tags in my blog. It is not that I do not like or appreciate them, I just 1) prefer to keep my blog as my stitching journal (and a little bit of family, pets and sports sometimes shows up too), and 2) I have way too many blogging friends to ever know who I should tag (and many don't want to be tagged)... so I want to say thank you, while I kindly pass on tagging anyone in return. I know you understand ;-)
Stitched on today: Started biscornu (for Laura'a exchange group), and A Quaker Christmas
Jenn has let me know that she has received my birthday package for her - her birthday is tomorrow, but I am glad she opened it early ;-) Jenn is a Harry Potter fan, and I have had this just sitting around for a few months waiting to stitch it for her. I chose to put it on a wooden box for her jewelry or trinkets... Happy Birthday Jenn!
Snow - lots and lots of snow today... Mike drove down to Massachusetts in it to pick up our middle niece. She is visiting with us for the weekend (age 16).
I just heard from Karen that she received a gift that I sent off to her a while ago... it took a bit longer to reach her than I thought it would (although nothing compared to a gift I sent to Australia back in November... that still is not there). I chose to stitch her a mattress pincushion using a Shepherd's Bush freebie that I have had for the very longest time - and I knew how much she loves SB!
Friendship Lamb
Shepherd's Bush
32 ct Platinum Belfast Linen, DMC Floss
.... And, more of this :-) With another snowstorm due in by midday tomorrow, it just still feels enough like Christmas here in New England to still have the urge to work on this one.
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and A Quaker Christmas
I received the most amazing surprise package from Cathy today - she spoiled me with this beautiful and incredibly generous package of treats for Valentine' s Day. I am pretty speechless, and hope I can express myself well here. I have already emailed her. Cathy hit my wish list pretty hard, and also sent me the new Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers chart that was not publicly on my wish list, but oh, I wanted it so badly! I have already ordered my linen (this is an outstanding seller for R&R linens, if anyone is interested - I buy from them all the time), and am anxious to start!! Plus... oh, she sent me one of her pretty hardanger hearts! I have been admiring these as others have been receiving them. I cannot wait to pick up a suction cup with a hook so I can put it in a window. She also sent me sweets. Aw, thank you Cathy - you are so special to me! And.. back to A Quaker Christmas while relaxing in front of Law & Order and I cannot remember what else tonight...
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift (slow progress... ohhhhh!!), and A Quaker Christmas
I received a beautiful Valentine's Day Exchange from Katrien in Belgium today. This exchange was run in the Crazy Exchange group. I just love it! This is my second exchange from Katrien, and I must say, her sewing is perfect. She made me a Crazy Quilt Heart Pillow, and also sent two different bath products (I really love bath products!) and a beautiful box of chocolates! Thank you so much Katrien - the entire exchange is awesome! I dug Serenity back out tonight. It has been a while since I have worked on this one too. I am really enjoying this motif quite a lot (the blue and brown one on the right). Beau spent the evening sleeping beside me on a blanket atop my stash drawers... I can't believe I took a photo of him sleeping, and he didn't peek at me! Cats usually are so hard to photograph asleep - they know what is happening and crack their eyes open just a bit. Beau didn't catch on tonight - quite rare.
Jenn, I figure you already found this on the internet today, but in case you didn't, here is Ryan's interview with David Letterman from last night...
...Letterman really doesn't let his guests get much of a word in, does he? LOL I bet Ryan wasn't expecting the interview to go in quite this direction.
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Serenity **Mailed out a gift today
I chose to just keep on going with A Quaker Christmas again tonight... just a bit more to share :-)
And, for my dear friend in Europe who is wondering about this Ryan Newman/NASCAR/Daytona 500 thing... here you go, this is how it all unfolded last night..
Now Ryan is about to be on Late Night with David Letterman, so I am off to settle in and watch!
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and A Quaker Christmas
OK, this is a stitching blog, so I will start with today's stitching (some of it, as I was mostly stitching on a gift today) - I set myself back to work on A Quaker Christmas tonight... I did not accomplish as much as I would have liked to because I had no focus... I kept getting up and down, dancing around the den, totally unfocused and jubilant... because....
Let the photos say it for me... RYAN NEWMAN WON THE DAYTONA 500 TONIGHT!! Most of my dearest friends know that I am 1) a huge sports fan, and 2) a HUGE fan of the Red Sox, the Patriots and Ryan Newman. I can say I love the MLB and the NFL... but I do not love NASCAR, per se (lately it is all Hendrick Motorsports/The Jimmie Johnson Show - no thank you) - I am just a Ryan Newman fan. And... after 81 races without a win (last was in September of 2005, right here in New Hampshire)... lots of patience and lots of worrying... well, I was just hoping for a win from Ryan - but he had bigger plans!! Ryan won the biggest of all of NASCAR's races tonight! Certainly, his teammate (seen in the top photo, car #2) is the reason he won - thank you, Kurt Busch, for pushing Ryan past Tony Stewart (#20) and breaking this amazing drought! Way to go Team Penske! I need to pinch myself - did this really happen??? I wonder if I will even sleep tonight! LOL
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and A Quaker Christmas (Photos are from Nascar's and Sports Illustrated's websites)
I noticed late last night while I was finishing Be Kind and True that the lower right corner of the chart is probably wrong... the rhythm of the pattern of the border suddenly changed. At first, I went with it. Then I tried to adjust it but was not focused well... Today, I pulled out the bottom right corner, used the front of the chart as my guide (the model stitcher must have seen the mistake too)... and now my sampler is fixed and correct... Here it is! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this sampler. The linen is the called for linen - and yes, it is super pretty. Someone asked what will be next... I do have a small-medium sized sampler selected to start next... just waiting for the linen to arrive ;-) So, where was I before I got sidetracked and started Be Kind and True? Ah yes - Houses of Hawk Run Hollow has not been out since February 1st - welcome back :-)
Stitched on today: Stitched a gift, fixed/finished Be Kind and True, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
Happy Valentine's Day to all of my blogging and stitching friends. I really had plans to send out e-cards today... but work was super busy, and time melted away! However, you are all in my thoughts and I appreciate you all so much. I hope you enjoyed your day :-) The house is finished now on Be Kind and True. There is very little left to do now, and I am hoping for a weekend finish :-)
Just as my colleague was laid to rest today, here we go with another murder of a therapist, this time in Manhattan, NY - and very guesome, indeed. Oh my gosh!
So, on a much brighter note... I wanted to see Brad Paisley on the David Letterman Show a couple of nights ago, but I didn't want to/could not stay up late enough to see it. I recorded it on the DVR, but when I played it back, the DVR cut off and ended in the middle of the song... but I found it on You Tube today, and I really enjoyed it... so, I figured I would share. Gotta love Brad Paisley - what a charmed life he has - a Grammy, a couple of CMAs (or a few), married to the gorgeous Kimberly Williams-Paisley, new baby son... what a lucky and talented guy!
I heard from Elaine (sorry, no blog) this morning that she received a little gift that I made for her. Another E fob, two days in a row :-)
Garden Alphabet "E" Fob
Prairie Schooler
32 ct Platinum Belfast Linen, DMC Floss
I went right back to Be Kind and True for a while tonight. This sampler is moving along so quickly, and right now I am in the midst of the busy work of filling in the house. Thank you all for your sweet words on this sampler.
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Be Kind and True
I heard from Edda today that she has received the Crazy Exchange return exchange that I put together for her...
Nature's Alphabet "E" Fob
Elizabeth's Designs
Silkweaver 32 ct Belfast Solo Linen, DMC and WDW Floss
...and, the rest of the exchange for her. Edda posted a sweet note on the CE BB - I am so glad you like it, Edda. It was my pleasure to put it together for you.
Tonight I am going to take a brief hiatus from Be Kind and True. I have started a gift for someone that is 1) due to mail very, very, very soon, and 2) a bit more of an ambitious undertaking than I should have given myself right now - so... I am off to go see how much of that I can get done tonight.
Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift **Mailed out a gift today
