Early Christmas Exchange from Margie

I received this awesome HoE Early Christmas Exchange from Margie yesterday - I am absolutely thrilled. I have always wanted this BBD ornament, and now I have this one, so perfectly stitched and finished. Thank you so much Margie!

I have been working away on Family Reunion, but had to put it aside to stitch on a belated gift for a little bit... hope to post an update soon. My memory card on my digital camera failed, so I have to use my iPhone for a bit... not loving the FR photos it has taken so far, so here is to hoping I get a new card soon ;-)




Currently Stitching: CaHoRH, Ramily Reunion and two gifts...

Family Reunion Sampler

A week or two ago, I started a new project... and it has really gotten me back into stitching again! Whew! I decided to stitch Family Reunion by Rosewood Manor. This is not a good photo - I took it outdoors with my iPhone... not great. I am stitching it on Lakeside Linens 40 ct Maritime White linen with the called for DMC.... now the challenge is how to fit in all of Mike's ginormous family onto the sampler... thankfully, in this instance, my family is very small, so we will fit... I managed to stitch in a few initials as I have been stitching along. I think I am going to need an Excel spreadsheet to figure out where to fit everyone. I am so grateful to Facebook for this. Facebook has put me in touch with many of Mike's relatives and they were all quick to give me the info I needed for the sampler :-)

Currently Stitching: two gifts, Family Reunion and CaHOHR

All about Christmas Ornaments...

Today's entry has a lot to do with Christmas Ornaments :-) I was recently in two exchanges involving these delightful things... so no time to waste... here is stuff to show!

Today I received this stunning ornament from Marie for Becky's bi-monthly Christmas Ornament Swap - I always admire her work so much, and this one sure does not disappoint. It is a Prairie Schooler design all stitched over one... and she even personalized the back in such a nice way (but I forgot to photograph that part). I am pretty much speechless over this! Thank you so much Marie! I sure will always cherish it!

For the HoE Early Christmas Exchange, I stitched this one for Faye:

Star Topiary Ornament
Hillside Samplings
2000 JCS Christmas Ornament Issue
32 ct Natural Light Linen, GAST and WDW Floss
I stitched this one for Roberta for Becky's Christmas Ornament Swap. Roberta listed PrimitiveBetty as one of her favorite designers - well, that one was a new one for me, but I found this freebie online, so I gave it a go:

Silent Holy Night Ornament
PrimitiveBetty
32 ct Willow Green Belfast Linen, GAST Shaker Threads and WDW Floss

And... new books deals for May!



Currently Stitching: a gift, CaHORH and Royalty ABC

Celebration of Needlework 2010

Yesterday I attended Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH. I was fortunate enough to be able to take a class with Jeannette Douglas again this year. There were fewer teachers there this year, and fewer vendors - a sign of the economy? The mood remained very upbeat, so I figure all is still pretty much well with the Celebration crew... and I surely enjoyed it yet again this year.

Here is Ms. Jeannette herself, chatting with students in class...

... and here is my progress on the class piece as of late last night - I did three bands in class, and then four more when I got home. It is a long band sampler that she finished as a bellpull to be rolled and tucked away in the box. I could not afford to also take the finishing class that was held today... I actually plan to just frame mine when done. It's called Royalty ABC, and I will try to remember to post more progress pictures as I have them.

I have definitely been more in a stitching mood again - whew! That was a long dry spell, and I hope it stays picked up for me again!




Currently Stitching: Royalty ABC, CaHORH - mailed off my HoE Early Christmas Exchange yesterday