Ending the Month with Some Quaker Christmas

After finishing up a PIF gift this afternoon, I began to wonder what to stitch this evening... hmmm.... 8 days since I stitched on A Quaker Christmas? Easy choice - here it is growing again :-)

It is really chilly here this week, feels more like autumn than like spring. The cats are very demanding for lap time tonight, leaving me having to put my stitching down quite a few times for them :-)

Stitched on today: Finished a PIF, and stitched on A Quaker Christmas

Snowman's Holiday Ornament

I finished up the finishing of this ornament last night, and had to wait for daylight (if you could call this rainy, dreary day "daylight") to take a photo. I love how sparkly it is, but if I were to stitch this again I think I would convert the entire thing to cotton floss - either standard or hand-dyed - and I think it would become a more enjoyable stitch.

Snowman's Holiday Ornament
Lizzie Kate
Silkweaver 32 ct Solo Lugana, DMC Floss, Kreinik #4 Braid, Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid

Thank you to those of you who left nice comments about the exchange from Goldie yesterday - she really did a lovely job on it, and I am sure she enjoyed seeing your kind words :-)

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and started a PIF gift

Garden Theme Exchange from Goldie

I received this really lovely SBEBB Garden Theme Exchange from Goldie today :-) My photo does not do this pretty flat fold any justice, but there is a much better photo of it on Goldie's blog - the colors are so yummy, and of course it is so perfectly stitched and finished.
Goldie spoiled me with lots of goodies - two pretty charts, two wonderful cuts of fabric, seed packets that will be started in peat pods very soon, and a tin of mango Altoids... and see that butterfly card? The orange butterfly detaches from the card and gets planted in the ground - it is packed with wildflower seeds! I am going to grab a big pot this coming weekend, fill it with seed starting soil and bury this little butterfly ;-) I can't wait to see what grows! Thank you so much Goldie!
For my own stitching tonight, I finished Snowman's Holiday ornament, but will try to get a good photo of it in the daylight tomorrow morning (try being the operative word, as it is very rainy here and is expected to be so in the morning as well).... and I worked on House Samplings too :-)
On a sad note today, a colleague brought me an obituary from last Thursday's paper. A young woman I treated for many years (about 13), and who was by far my most challenging client to date, while also being one from whom I learned so very much, passed away suddenly a week ago... I feel devastated. She moved out of state a couple of years ago.... so very sad to learn this news today...

Stitched on today: Finished Snowman's Holiday ornament, and stitched on House Samplings **Mailed out a gift today

Refocusing on HOHRH

Here it is again... wow, 13 days since I last worked on it. I have decided to set monthly goals for HOHRH. I still really want to finish it in 2008.

Didn't finish my ornament today. The stitching is done, and now I just need to do the finishing work tomorrow. All of that metallic braid on 32 ct lugana was a bit of toture, so I needed to put it down and stitch on HOHRH instead. What a difference :-)

Stitched on today: Stitched on Snowman's Holiday Christmas Ornament, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Ornament Stitching

It is Christmas Ornament SAL Weekend... here is a peek at mine ;-) I hope to finish it up tomorrow. The garden keeps calling, but I think tomorrow may be cooler (I haven't watched the news since 7:30 AM). So, if the garden doesn't get my attention, this will :-)

Stitched on today: Started a Christmas ornament

Spring House and Garden Exchange for Mylene

I just heard that Mylene received my SBEBB Spring House and Garden Exchange for her today. We were partnered up together for this exchange (I have a sneaky feeling we were all paired up for this exchange, as opposed to the usual pattern of you get from one person, but send to another - and this was a fun change). I was thrilled to get Mylene's name, and I set right to making her a pretty trinket box... but I miscalculated a wee bit. I thought the design would fit closer to the edges of the box, leaving a crease in the lugana that I did not think was going to show (top of design)... I hope this adds to the charm of it being homemade ;-)

Maison de Campagne Mai Box
Les Grilles de Maryse
Silkweaver 32 ct Mocha Lugana, DMC Floss
I deleted the flowers and name of the month at the bottom to personalize this for Mylene

And... the rest of the goodies for her.... glad you enjoyed it Mylene ;-)

I am off to quietly stitch on a gift for someone special that I hope will not be late for her birthday, but probably will be....

Stitched on today: Started a gift **Mailed out SBEBB Garden Exchange and a new Crazy Exchange today

Spring House and Garden & Here's To Ewe Exchanges

It was a great day today - not just because of the perfect 75F weather, but also because I received a lovely exchange... and one I sent was well received today too!

I received this wonderful Spring House and Garden Exchange from Mylene today. She stitched me this beautiful, colorful pinkeep using Lizzie Kate's Spring Sampler. It is so beautifully stitched and perfectly finished. The variegated rick rack she used for the trim on the sides is just gorgeous. And she also sent me a BBD chart that I so very desired off of my wishlist, as well as a collection of pretty red ribbons. Thank you so much Mylene. I love it all, and it was such a treat to receive from you :-)

I also heard this morning, with great relief, that Isa finally received my SBEBB Here's To Ewe Exchange today. Whew. It took a slow ride from here to France, despite Priority Mail postage. But, enough of the postal woes... if you peek and give it a good look, you will see Isa's name stitched into the ornament. The chart called for three lettered initials. Since I did not know Isa's middle initial, I thought about what to put in the spaces... until it dawned on me that her nickname is three letters long :-)
Black Willow Farm Ornament
Carriage House Samplings
R&R Reproductions 40 ct Creme Brulee Linen, DMC Floss

And here are all of the goodies I sent out to her too - easy choices, after reading her blog for a few weeks it became evident to me that she and I have similar tastes ;-) Isa agreed with me on that one!

OK... off to do my cardio and then my exchange stitching...

Stitched on today: Finished a Crazy Exchange, and finished Garden Exchange

Crazy Exchange from Simone

What a surprise! I received lovely mail today - Simone selected me for a second year in a row to send me a Crazy Exchange. Awwww :-) She stitched this pretty ornament using motifs from a scandinavian book, and in pretty patriotic colors. Love it! And she sent two JABC American flag buttons, some adorable stickers and a piece of banding. Thank you Simone - what a treat!!! Now to start thinking about what I shall stitch and send to Simone in return....
For my own stitching tonight, Serenity took center place. Back to working on the border - not exciting, but its gotta be done!!

Stitched on today: Stitched on a Crazy Exchange, and Serenity

A Quaker Christmas

Ooops - a little blurry. Anyhow, after working for a while on the finishing of my Garden Theme Exchange, A Quaker Christmas was an easy choice for while watching baseball. I really love the motifs in this sampler.

I am struggling with several days of insomnia, so I am off to bed a little early. If I get some decent sleep, maybe I can even manage to visit blogs tomorrow??

Stitched on today: SBEBB Garden Theme Exchange, and A Quaker Christmas

My Neighborhood Round Robin is Home!

What a treat delivered by Ken, the mailman, today! My first Neighborhood Round Robin has finally come home :-) This RR started in March of 2006. I really like it, and I want to thank Annemarie, Barbara, Su, Veronica, Dianne, Rachael and dear Becky for their lovely work on it. I need to stitch the center of the neighborhood and walkways between the houses now. I will be sending thank you notes and gifties as soon as I can. I am so overjoyed to see it home safe and sound - thank you all!

And... busy Ken also delivered these really adorable Fair and Square squares from An - who knows me so very well! They are just the cutest! Thanks An! She also sent me some yummy green apple tea and a diffuser, but those are in the kitchen already since I have already started to enjoy the tea ;-)

I am happy to have great mail to share today... as I am again fretting over a package I mailed out via Priority on April 7th to a country not terribly far away which usually doesn't take long to receive... but nothing yet... sigh...

Stitched on today: SBEBB Garden Theme Exchange

House Samplings

Just a little more progress today... partially due to the weather, but also partially due to just enjoying the Garden Theme Exchange right now and worked away on it for quite a while today ;-)

Other than that, just really quiet here...

Stitched on today: SBEBB Garden Theme Exchange, and House Samplings

Well, not a lot...

Too much playing with the niece and watching DH try to be her therapist = not a whole lot of stitching on House Samplings tonight - LOL!!!

Miss you all - sure hope to catch up on blogs soon - the weather has been too nice right now to spend too much time online ;-)

Stitched on today: Started SBEBB Garden Theme Exchange, and stitched on House Samplings **Mailed SBEBB Spring House and Garden Exchange today

Birthday Present for Nicole

I heard from Nicole today that she has received the birthday gift that I sent to her in the envelope with Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin :-) (I still need to reply to her email, though!). I stitched her a needleroll which turned out a little bit larger than I had antcipated and was a real bear to stuff - LOL:

Stitching Days Needle Roll
Glory Bee
32 ct Natural Belfast Linen, GAST Floss

I also entered this needle roll in Becky's Monthly Finishing Challenge ;-)

Now I shall disappear for the evening... I really have to go finish the Spring House and Garden exchange so it can go in the mail tomorrow (Monday, which is our mailing date, is a postal holiday - at least it is here in New England because it is Patriot's Day...)

Sorry this is a bit blurry - you know how YouTube videos are... but here is a case study in how NOT to be thrown out at second base...Sean Casey of the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees a couple of nights ago...

>>>I LOVE THIS! - doin' the crab walk! Gotta love the helmet over his eyes the whole time too! LOL

Stitched on today: Finished Spring House and Garden Exchange

An Ornament Finish

Tonight I finished the finishing on a Christmas ornament I had stitched earlier in the month...

A Christmas Wish
The Cricket Collection
32 ct Natural Pearl Linen, DMC Floss

That's it for today... I spent most of the night working away on the Spring House and Garden Exchange while enjoying the Red Sox and the Bruins (at the same time again tonight - the Bruins survived another game and did not get eliminated tonight in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs - nice!)

Yay - this is the start of a four day weekend, and our niece Nicole texted me today that she wants to come up for the weekend. Fun!

**Oh, does anyone know when Philippa Gregory's next novel, The Other Queen, will be due out? Her website says 2008, but I bet someone out there knows more?? I am anxious for this one - just love Mary Queen of Scots!!

Stitched on today: Spring House and Garden Exchange, and finished A Christmas Wish

Here's To Ewe Exchange from Paula

I received a really lovely Here's To Ewe Exchange from Paula today. I was really excited to receive it, as I have never been paired with Paula in an SBEBB exchange before. She stitched this beautiful ornament for me using Lamb's Egg by Shepherd's Bush. It is on 40 ct and is perfectly stitched and perfectly finished. She also sent a piece of a neat fabric to try out on a small, a spool of pretty ribbon and several variegated fibers - I love them! Her card is also adorable - the little lamb's eyes wiggle :-) Thanks so much Paula! Now, I really am starting to worry a little about the exchange I sent out for the group. I really thought it would have been received by now.
For my own stitching, tonight I plugged away some more on A Quaker Christmas. I finished the large star motif and some other bits...

Stitched on today: A Quaker Christmas

HoE Scissor Fob Exchange for Kate

I heard from Kate earlier today that she received the HoE Scissor Fob Exchange that I sent to her. I wasn't her partner, but chose to send her an exchange to thank her for her patience. Her original partner sent her an exchange and it was lost... for a while. Fortunately, it arrived back to the sender and now has been re-sent. I didn't want Kate to have to wait forever and sent her a little exchange to hold her over until the original arrives (which will be any day now!)...
Floral Freebie Fob
M Designs
Silkweaver 36 ct Forest Haven Edinburgh Linen, Crescent Colours Floss

And... the rest of the little goodies I thought she might enjoy... thanks again, Kate, for your patience!

I hope all of my US friends are feeling OK today... I did my duty and sent out 3 1/2 months' worth of my hard earned income to the federal government today... :-( We aren't eligible for those stimulus checks either :-( Ugh.

I am now off to work on my SBEBB Spring House and Garden Exchange... not many days left now before that needs to be mailed out!

Stitched on today: SBEBB Spring House and Garden Exchange

HoE Pinkeep Exchange from Veronica

I received a lovely HoE Pinkeep Exchange from Veronica today. She stitched me a super pretty pinkeep using Pretty in Pink by Brightneedle. As many know, I just adore Brightneedle! And, she totally spoiled me with a lovely piece of Silkweaver belfast linen, Prairie Birds by Prairie Schooler, Garden Roll by Shepherd' s Bush, some pretty cuts of fabric for finishing smalls, two skeins of Needle Necessities floss, and a large packet of sunflower seeds for the garden (Mike's favorites!). Wow, thank you Veronica. I adore it all and was blessed to have you as my partner :-)
As for my own stitching, I remembered tonight that I wanted to keep busy with Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - and I feel that I made good progress tonight. The house I am working on actually now looks like a house!

Stitched on today: Started SBEBB Spring House and Garden Exchange, and stitched on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow **Mailed Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin to Nicole, and mailed out a gift today

Past the halfway point

I should have been working on Spring Ride again tonight, but I wanted something smaller to hold tonight since I was busy watching hockey and baseball at the same time :-) I decided it had been a while since I worked on House Samplings, and now tonight I made it past the halfway point. I am still loving this one. The colors are so fantastic, even if they are not photographing all that well.

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, and stitched on House Samplings

Finished Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin

Today I finished up my square on Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin, and I really am quite pleased with how it turned out. I used Cherry Hill by Country Cottage Needleworks, and I modified it a bit to accommodate the round robin. I removed the lettering on the hills and I did not stitch the big cluster of cherries in the upper right corner. And, well, as you know, I only stitched 1/4 of the border and feel this really flows with the rest of her sampler now. Then I added a pair of birds from Houses of Hawk Run Hollow to fill the block. I chose them because Wendy and I are both stitching on HOHRH at the moment and thought she would enjoy that little touch :-) Here is how her stunning round robin looks now. As I wrote to her in the RR blog, if she does not care much for this when it comes home, she can send it on to me - I am sure I have space on a wall for this beauty! Wouldn't we all??

OK, off to stitch on a gift - an important birthday is fast approaching!

Stitched on today: Finished Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin, and started a gift

Heard it through the grapevine

I heard it through the grapevine this afternoon that my Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club gift finally arrived in Canada. Well... it sort of did. My second gift packet did, but the first one I sent on Jan 14th is still lost in postal purgatory. I have not heard directly from the recipient, so I have no idea at all if she likes her gifts, but I hope she does. I am relieved that at least one package did arrive. It was really stressful waiting on the first package, putting together a second one, and then waiting a long time for it to arrive too (even though I used Priority Mail).

Nature's Alphabet "S" Fob
Elizabeth's Designs
Silkweaver 32 ct Solo Belfast Linen, DMC Floss

Above are the rest of the gifts that I sent to her - I tried to work off of her wish list - she wanted hand dyed aida fabrics, vanilla scented items, Brightneedle charts...

I will also show the first (and currently lost) stitched item that I sent to her. I loved this little fob so much! She noted that she wanted Brightneedle's Under the Sea. I couldn't get my hands on that chart, despite trying a few places. So I chose to stitch her a fob using Brightneedle's little freebie that eventually led to their designing Under the Sea... I sure hope she eventually gets this! I won't show the rest of that gift package, just in case she does receive it someday. I actually don't think she reads my blog... but to be safe, I will leave a little mystery still for her...


Blue Moon Fob
Brightneedle
32 ct Antique White Belfast Linen, DMC Floss, Weeks Dye Works Floss
Stitched 1-over-1

Today I received my biscornu exchange from Vanessa. This is from the exchange I participated in that was run by Laura. I think it is just adorable. Vanessa used one of my favorite little Casey Buonaugurio freebies, and she stitched it on a really pretty hand dyed linen (my photo does not reflect its beauty) - it is put together beautifully :-)
Above you can see the backside of the biscornu too - I love the little extras, thanks Vanessa. I posted over on Laura's blog too, as I don't think Vanessa reads my blog either.

As for my own stitching tonight, I stuck with Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin, and it looks like I am well on track to get this done and be able to mail it off to Nicole on Monday.

Anouk decided she really likes the envelope that Karen used to mail Wendy's round robin to me - she has made a bit of a bed out of it. As usual, she is so hard to photograph. As you can see in this photo, Anouk has severe stenosis - her nose is ultra tiny and she has virtually no nostrils. As a result, she always has some drippage on her face. Sadly, the vet also thinks she might have an iris melanoma on the upper portion of her right eye. Either that, or the dark ring around her iris is just darker in that area. We found that out a few days ago and I am still trying to absorb it. Anouk will be six years old in June...

Stitched on today: Wendy's Neighborhood Round Robin