Victoria's Quaker is Finished

I finished Victoria's Quaker tonight :-) I just loved working on this one. Someone asked recently if I planned to also stitch the stitcher's set that goes with it. Maybe someday. It is not on my list for anytime soon. I did already stitch the scissor case, though, for an exchange a couple of months ago... This now goes on the list to get framed (hopefully) as part of my Christmas gift.

Victoria's Quaker
A Mon Ami Pierre
36 ct Sand Dune Linen, Hand-Dyed Fibers Silk
Stitched 7/31/07 - 11/20/07

Earlier tonight I came home to a lovely surprise! This really cheered up a mucky day - we got our first snow of the season this morning, and it lasted well into the afternoon. Not much to measure and it will melt in a day or two, but still.... yucky. But, dear Susan wiped that all away! Recently, I offered my November Birthay Needleroll chart up for adoption after I had used it, and Susan asked for it. I never thought about it again. I did not want anything for the chart, except for it to go to a good home where it would be wanted. I knew that goal was achieved and I happily forgot about the whole thing. Susan did not! She stitched me this beautiful little Peace pillow by LHN!!!! Her stitching is just perfect and I love how she used a four sided stitch instead of a whipstitch to put it together - very nice! Oh, and lovely chocolates that Mike shall just enjoy so much! Thank you Susan! As I told you, this was not necessary, but I just adore it and appreciate it so very much! And... happy belated birthday to you too! (Sorry about the blurry photo, I just realized how poorly it came out).

Thank you for all of the lovely thoughts and comments for Beau. He is very well today. Mike worked from home today and said that Beau ran around like a little kitten all day - he feels so relieved :-) I awoke this morning to him curled up beside me and stroking my face with his paw. He always does this, and to think that last night there was a fear that he would be leaving us soon... I shudder...

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, finished Crazy Exchange return gift for Katrien, and finished Victoria's Quaker

World Series Gifts from Staci

I received such a sweet package of gifts from Staci today!! Some may recall the World Series wager she made with me. Since the Red Sox won the World Series, she made me gifts. How sweet are these??!! Thank you Staci! The little red socks are just amazing - I could not imagine knitting anything that tiny! And your pinkeep is perfectly finished - funny, that is the chart I was going to use if the Rockies had won - LOL!!! A classic, for sure! And the thread winder - nice!!! Thank you, thank you!

And... coming to the end of Victoria's Quaker now...

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Victoria's Quaker **Mailed out SBEBB Specific Designer (Little House Needleworks) Exchange today

Victoria's Quaker

Just another night with Victoria's Quaker. I almost finished the big red medallion in the bottom left...next week, for sure. There really isn't much left to do at all on this sampler now.

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Victoria's Quaker **Mailed out a gift today

A Little Milestone Reached

I managed to reach a little milestone with Victoria's Quaker tonight. I really felt like I was working on that big heart near the bottom for quite some time. I got through it tonight! Looks like smooth sailing ahead to the end now :-)

I still have several fabrics available from yesterday's posting. I will leave them available for a little while longer and might end up putting them up on ebay. I want
to thank those of you who have purchased some or told me you are going to buy some of them. Every little bit is helping with Angus' huge vet bill (which Ava has added to recently, as you already know).

Oh Kathy! I keep forgetting to answer you! Ava does seem to be doing well right now. Time will tell. When the teeny tiny bit of cortisone the vet gave her wears off in about 1-2 more weeks, we will see if the ulcers start up again... thanks for asking about her :-)

***Pssst...Cute frog biscornu freebie found here!!


Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Victoria's Quaker

A Bit O'Quaker

Not much stitching today folks. Lots of dwelling on what to do... what was the right thing to do today? That is not a stitching related question. Ultimately, I believe I made the right choice. It just took me a while to see it. And then, after all of that, I worked on Victoria's Quaker for just a bit tonight. Off to bed a little early tonight. Mike and I have an important early AM appointment....

Got to visit some blogs (finally) today - you are all stitching such beautiful things!

Stitched on today: Victoria's Quaker

Crazy Exchange from Simone

I received a lovely Crazy Exchange from Simone today. I was so excited to get a package from this group, and to have it be from Simone makes it even more special!

Simone made me this sweet sewing pocket/trousse. I love the fabric! And she enclosed some Tokens & Trifles, a little notebook and some pretty fabric for me too.

And here it is opened up... Thank you again Simone, I do love it! Thank you for selecting me! I already finished up something for you this afternoon and will be mailing it out tomorrow already :-)

And this week's update of Victoria's Quaker. I am now getting quite close to the end with this one. It has turned out to be a quick stitch so far!

Stitched on today: Finished off an item for Crazy Exchange, and Victoria's Quaker **Mailed out a new Crazy Exchange for a new partner today

Halloween Exchange for Dawn

Dawn received the USEBB Halloween Exchange today that I sent to her. Yay - I have been watching like a hawk for that one to arrive. I am so glad she likes it, and I see she has posted a photo of all of the goodies in her blog. I had great fun stitching for Dawn :-) The pattern I chose for her, as I know some will ask, is a Just Nan Whimzi chart that I got at CATS in Hershey, PA in 2006. Nan was a guest in The Silver Needle's booth and sold this chart there. I do not know if she ever has or will sell it anywhere else, so I think it is a limited release (but, who knows??):


Be Witchy Fob
Just Nan
28 ct Cobblestone Cashel Linen, DMC Floss, beads came with chart

And, of course, my weekly update of Victoria's Quaker :-)

Stitched on today: Stitched on a PIF gift, and Victoria's Quaker **Mailed out a new Crazy Exchange today, and mailed out a PIF gift :-)

Autumn Quaker Exchange for Goldie

Yesterday, Goldie received the USEBB Autumn Quaker Exchange that I sent to her. I am glad she likes it. It was a treat to stitch for Goldie for this round! This is the first scissor pocket I have ever made, and I think it came out pretty well.. with special thanks to Cathy for sending me the little Velcro coins that I needed for it :-) Thank you, thank you!! You can see the rest of the goodies that I sent to Goldie in her blog.


Victoria's Quaker Scissor Pocket
A Mon Ami Pierre
Autumn Fields Belfast Linen and DMC 4130

And, speaking of Victoria's Quaker, here is this week's update.. moving along well, I think, and the new skein of OMG Red (which, I do think means Oh My God Red) matches fairly well... I used it for the lower case alphabet, what do you think? A little lighter, a little more of a berry color than the crimson, right?

Stitched on today: Victoria's Quaker

Victoria's Quaker Again

No surprises here. It is Tuesday, and of course, Victoria's Quaker again. I wouldn't miss it for anything. I did get in the extra skein of OMG Red from Vikki Clayton a few days ago, and the dye lots are relatively close. Close enough to really not matter much. I started using some of the new red tonight so that it will be mixed in with the original red a little. The new skein is just a little bit duller than the original one. Getting the silk was a bit of an ordeal. The customer service from this seller leaves a lot to be desired. OMG. I will leave out the gorey details.

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Victoria's Quaker

End of Page 1

I made it to the end of page 1 of Victoria's Quaker tonight. There are only two pages to the chart, and page 1 is longer than page 2, so this is a little over halfway finished now. I am doubting that there is enough of the OMG Red, though. I will need to contact Vikki Clayton. I bought the silks as a project pack, so I will alert her that even on 36 ct and being extra frugal, one skein of OMG Red does not look like it is enough. Fortunately, she ships quickly :-)

Thank you, everyone, for all of your kind words and support while I was going through my huge work project. It ended today - with positive outcome :-) Little by little, I will now get my sea legs back and be visiting blogs again!! I missed you all!!

Stitched on today: Finished Crazy Exchange project, started Autumn Quaker Exchange project, and Victoria's Quaker

Victoria's Quaker

Victoria's Quaker night :-) Here is this week's rather small update. I was distracted tonight by enjoying the Harvest House Exchange project I am stitching, so I divided my time between the two projects. I just love Victoria's Quaker. I decided to go right ahead and stitch the year on it tonight. This is such a relatively quick stitch that it will not take all that much longer to finish, so why not just stitch the year now as I came across the area for it.

Blessings to all on this somber anniversary... wow, six years already have passed...

Stitched on today: Harvest House Exchange project, and Victoria's Quaker

Redwork Exchange from Katrina

I came home today to some wonderful mail! The postman delivered this really pretty Redwork Exchange from dear Katrina! I was so happy to see her return address on the package - I admire her work so much! She stitched me this beautiful pillow using a Blue Ribbon Designs chart... the stitching and finishing are perfect. And, she sent me some awesome goodies - look at those pretty fabrics! She also sent my first ever skein of Belle Soie silk (I cannot wait to use it), a cool magnetic bookmark (which is already in my Harry Potter) and some Altoids treats!! Thank you so much Katrina! What a nice exchange you put together, and I hope the one you receive is just as wonderful!
Here is this week's update of Victoria's Quaker - almost half done now. Someone asked during the week who the designer it - it is by A Mon Ami Pierre, and is probably their most popular chart :-)

It was great to get out of the sick house today and go to work - until I realized I have that huge project still to work on. My hands got really crampy today from signing progress notes that were stored in my computer and typing treatment plans... two more weeks of that still to go! Also, Mike is still not up to speed but seems to be much better today. Thank you all for your continued comments and emails wishing us well. You are all wonderful!!

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Victoria's Quaker

VQ Update

A break from exchange stitching tonight! Back to Victoria's Quaker. I just love working on this one, and it is moving along so quickly!!!

And, that is pretty much all I have today :-) I hope everyone had a great day!

Stitched on today: Victoria's Quaker

A different kind of scissor fob

Here is tonight's progress on Victoria's Quaker. It really just was easy going tonight. I found it funny that I stitched a scissor fob tonight. Not my usual scissor fob. I have stitched an awful lot of those. Rather, this time I stitched the image of a scissor fob on the sampler - that must be a first for me!

Nice to hear from so many of you. I promise to be back to blog reading more consistently as soon as I can. I did check in sporadically tonight - kind of a roll of the dice, as there are so many to read. Will try to do that again tomorrow :-)

Stitched on today: Started What's the Buzz exchange project, and Victoria's Quaker **Sent off Summer Seasonal Exchange today :-)

Victoria's Quaker Update

Oh my - I am really enjoying Victoria's Quaker! This one is so fun with all of the needlework motifs interspersed amongst the classic quaker motifs - time just flew tonight :-)

The daylily season is slowing winding down now... but I do have quite a few photos stored up from recent weeks... like this one :-)

Stitched on today: Seasonal Exchangers project, finished a gift, and Victoria's Quaker

Victoria's Quaker

It's Victoria's Quaker night! I am already really loving this one - it is a pleasure to stitch. Gig was needy again tonight and I lost about 45 minutes of stitching time while he needed to be in my lap. I really prefer the colors that are shown on the cover of the chart so much more than the colors Vikki Clayton is now dyeing for this sampler, though. The silks are so much darker than in the photo. I know she had to switch how she dyes her silks due to bleeding problems, so it is understandable. But still, I like the cover colors better.

Thank you, Carissa, for this unbelievably generous birthday package that arrived today - she spoiled me so much - look at all the treats!!

Stitched on today: The Mermaid and the Sea (Barbara, I will post a photo as soon as I make enough progress worth showing - I still am doing this at work, so it is only in tiny bursts), started a gift, and Victoria's Quaker

A New Start

I had a quiet birthday today and now feel sad... because I have to go back to work tomorrow - LOL!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who sent me comments, emails and e-cards for my birthday over the last few days! And, of course, for the lovely gifts! I have more to show below - you ladies are awesome!! {{{HUGS}}} to all of you! I hate to even say my age right now, but you all made this much easier! And, Mike took me up to ABC Stitch Therapy today - not as fun as last year when Patti, Barbara and Sara were there, though! I got some stash, and will have to gather it up and take a photo soon :-)

Before I show my gifts, I heard from Jean right before I went to bed last night that she received the FGBB Needleroll Exchange that I sent to her - so nice to hear it has arrived safely in Singapore!! It took 7 days via Priority Mail, not too bad! As usual, I didn't photograph all the goodies I sent in the package. Maybe Jean will put them in her blog at some point... here is the needleroll- the verse on it reads, "The Embroiderer stitches with a golden needle":

The Embroiderer Needle Keeper
Eventide Designs
Wichelt 32 ct Water Lily Linen, DMC Floss, John James Gold Tapestry Needle for embellishment

Yesterday, I received this lovely parcel of gifts from dear Katrina :-) Gosh, I have known Katrina for so long now, and she always sends such lovely gift packagese!! She stitched the gorgeous Opalescent Heart by The Sweetheart Tree for me! Yay! I just love it! And she sent the yummiest smelling soap and such pretty writing paper too! Thank you so much Katrina!!

Then, from the most wonderful Annemarie, I received a book and a magazine I have admired for the longest time - the much coveted Red & White samplers book by Isabelle Vautier and the special edition Atelier de Brodeuse issue of De Fil en Aiguille! An sure knows my taste - I have many ideas lined up from there! And, An says there is more coming???!!!! Oh my!! Many thank yous!

I also received this sweet felt Victorian shoe from Veronica!!! Oh, this is so sweet!! As is Veronica :-) Thank you so much!! I will get a proper thank you card off to her immediately, as Veronica is not online.

And... here is my new sampler start for my birthday - this has got to be the most popular sampler chart right now - Victoria's Quaker by AMAP! I am just loving it so far! I am using Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers set and 36 ct Sand Dune linen (I picked this linen up quite recently at my LNS and it was only marked as 36 ct Sand Dune.. comparing it to fabrics in my stash, it looks like it is Lakeside Linens 36 ct Vintage Sand Dune...but I am not totally sure). Nonetheless, I think it works really well with the colors of the silk. I am trying to do this as a SAL with Karen on Tuesdays - I wonder how her first day went?

Oh no - vacation over for now!!

Stitched on today: Victoria's Quaker