Dawn's Wings

It has been easy to choose other projects over Dawn lately. It is the wings. The wings really are not fun (at least, not to me). But tonight I decided that it was time to take them on again. After all, I really want to finish this one relatively soon. Once I got going, it was OK. I have most of the lower wing on her left done now.

Stitched on today: Finished Winter Quaker Exchange, and Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace

PIF for Sonya

I just heard from Sonya that she has received the PIF that I finally finished and finally mailed off to her while I was on Christmas vacation. I am glad she likes it! It came out rather thick, and I liked this one quite a bit too - although the unevenness of this design (it is not balanced) made it difficult to center... that took me a while! Sonya used the pins already for another project - so I guess she has a pinless pinkeep now??

Swirlygig Pinkeep
Bent Creek
32 ct Natural Pearl Linen, GAST Floss

I have received many requests today from stitchers wanting to join SBEBB. I wonder if Cathy and Vonna did too. Unfortunately, as noted in yesterday's entry, that group is very full. However, there is room in the Hooked on Exchanging group if you really want to join an exchange group. Just let me know. When membership opens up again in SBEBB, one of us will let you know... Thanks for understanding.

I am off to do some secret (aka exchange) stitching tonight... have a good one!

Stitched on today: Stitched on Winter Quaker Exchange project

Rescued by Stitching Bloggers! Important SBEBB News!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Over 50 bloggers contacted me with info on how to obtain Lo, How a Rose! I just knew I could count on you all :-) You are awesome. I have a copy (or two, actually) on the way. I am so excited. I just love you guys!!!

Very important message for SBEBB participants!: The board is staying intact and as you have always known it!! Becky has given Cathy B., Vonna and I the role of running the exchanges. We will use the same board. I believe there is even an exchange opening up tonight on the board for early spring... If you are not in SBEBB, feel free to join Hooked on Exchanging for now. We will get all of this running pretty much instantly! Thank you Becky!

I heard today that Heidi has received the PIF that I stitched up for her while I was on Christmas vacation. I wasn't able to get it together in time for Christmas for her, but I sure hope she will be able to use it next year... Heidi has little girls, and I recall a specific entry from her blog last winter in which she wrote about how excited her girls were to see a snowfall in Germany - they went right outside to play. This wee snowman made me think of them, and I hope they will enjoy it on their tree.

Ops! Ornament
Helga Mandl Designs
Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Ice Crystal Lugana, DMC Floss

And tonight... a bit of A Quaker Christmas - I just love this one. The Balsam Fir Crescent Colours floss is sooooo nice!

And, with Christmas officially over, it was time to take down the tree. Mike took this photo with his iPhone yesterday after he had taken it down. This is my upstairs foyer between the bedrooms of our house. Our tree sits here every year and sparkles so pretty through the front window. Mike had not watered the tree for the past week, and totally paid the price with how many needles he had to clean up after the tree left! Lily is sitting right in the middle of the mess, and I see Beau ascending the stairs to check it all out too - apparently, Mike says, they were not much help with the clean up :-) The photo is a bit blurry. The iPhone does not take very crisp photos :-(

Stitched on today: Stitched on Winter Quaker exchange, and A Quaker Christmas

The sky is black

And there it is, I finished House 6 and the sky is black :-) Then I moved on to start a little of House 10 too. Not a whole lot of stitching time. Other pressing matters took priority today :-) Just a little stitching here and there for me today. But I am glad that sky is finished. Nancy, I am using the called for Lakeside Linens 40 ct Pearled Barley for mine (and one of Vikki Clayton's earliest silk conversions, which is on the pastel side, but I am so happy with it).

I am looking for a chart, and am really hoping that this massive online community may be able to help me? I have been looking for the very longest time now for a chart by Brightneedle called Lo, How a Rose. It is in an OOP magazine that is called something like "BH&G A Cross Stitch Christmas: Celebrations in Stitches (2001)" - I have searched for this using exactly this title and variations that seemed to fit with just no luck. I would be happy to buy it or borrow it from you if you have it - I will also trade... whatever it takes really.... can anyone help me? I would be so very appreciative. Thank you :-)

NH Primary Results - Democrats: Clinton and Republicans: McCain - Hmmm...... not what I would have predicted in this State.

After days of 4F weather, today was 68F driving home from work (to vote!!). Amazing jump, and we shall all enjoy it while it lasts just a little longer. Winter is still here, no delusions - LOL!

Stitched on today: Stitched on Winter Quaker Exchange, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow **Mailed out Stitcher's Lottery prize to Hazel today

Frosty Friends Exchange from Joanie

I received such a lovely and unique Frosty Friends Exchange from Joanie today :-) What a talented artist Joanie is - take a look!
Joanie painted this box with a sweet snowman looking through a window on top... and the same little snowman is stitched over one on a blue wooden block... with three other blocks painted to spell out the word SNOW. Now, how cute is that? I just adore them! And she sent awesome goodies too! Sweet holly leaf votive cups, bath salts (I love bath products), a magnetic snowman shopping list pad, and a bag of chocolates. Thank you so much Joanie - I am so proud to own these blocks!

And, for me tonight, more stitching of the night sky... almost done!

Stitched on today: Started Winter Quaker Exchange, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow **Sent off Winter House Exchange today

Fair and Square from Laura

I spent the entire day today finishing my Winter House Exchange. It is 11 PM, but finally - all done. I met my goal to be able to post it tomorrow while I have a chance to get to the post office... But, that left me with tons of emails I cannot reply to tonight - sorry! I will do my best tomorrow.... But I shall leave you with a photo of the Fair and Square exchange I received from Laura yesterday. Thank you Laura.

Thanks for all of the nice comments about the gifts for Katrina. I know the biscornu really is pretty, but complimenting me makes me laugh :-) The credit goes to Catherine Strickler of Indigo Rose - she designed it :-) I am just someone who followed her lead... :-) I always feel that way when I get compliments on stitched items. I am sure others feel that way too :-)

Time to wind down and not work on an exchange until bedtime - woo hoo!!

Stitched on today: Finished Winter House Exchange project

One gift parcel finally arrived...

At last, one of the parcels I sent out for Christmas did finally arrive at it's destination in New Zealand. Katrina emailed me late last night to let me know her gifts had arrived. Since Katrina has spoiled me every Christmas for a few years now, I did the same for her. I sent her some other items too, and she will possibly post them in her own blog. Here are the items I stitched for her:
Peace On Earth Biscornu
Indigo Rose - in 2002 JCS Ornament Issue
32 ct Antique White Belfast Linen, DMC Floss, Bead-It Beads


Christmas Joy Ornament
Little By Little Design Co. - in 1998 JCS Ornament Issue
Silkweaver 36 ct Solo Edinburgh Linen, DMC Floss

I spent so much time today stitching on my Winter House Exchange. I am hoping to be able to have it ready to mail on Monday, as I know I can make it to the post office on Monday, while Tuesday is NH Primary day and I will be voting right after work... and Wednesday is tight... and well, after that I would be late! I had not realized that I chose something this big and with so much dense stitching... but, that is what I am up to, and I cannot show it yet...

I received my last round of Fair & Square squares today, but forgot to take a photo. I will share them tomorrow.

Stitched on today: Winter House Exchange

New Pay It Forward Round

I am probably crazy, but I went and signed up for a new round of Pay It Forward from Vonna's blog. As I laid out a schedule for the year, I see that my remaining ones will be finished soon... so, taking new names for items to be stitched a little later this year... You probably know how this works: The first five of you that leave a comment here on this post requesting to participate will receive a handmade item from me. I will send it to you sometime this year :-) In return, you will have to post in your blog that you are taking five names and you will gift those people in return. Interested??

And... a little bit more of Serenity tonight... it seems to be pretty slow going, especially the border, but it is also a very pleasant stitch.

Happy Weekend all- we have a nice January thaw approaching us and I am very excited to now be breaking away from the very bitter temps to more reasonable winter temperatures... for now, at least :-)

Stitched on today: Winter House Exchange project, and Serenity

Frosty Friends Exchange for Sylvie

Sylvie has received the SBEBB Frosty Friends Exchange that I stitched for her. I had obtained this adorable chart in a trade from Heather a few months ago, and when I signed up for this exchange I figured it would be a fun choice. I considered making it into a box top, but was concerned about how to package it to mail it to France, so I chose to make a pinkeep instead... This chart is now available for trade with anyone who is interested...

Secret Snowdrift Pinkeep
The Trilogy
32 ct Natural Belfast Linen, GAST and Weeks Dye Works Floss with JABC Buttons

And this is everything I sent to Sylvie. The Mirabilia charts were on her wishlist, and I was lucky to find an ebay seller who had both for a very reasonable price :-) Along with some snowman themed goodies and some yummy lip balm from Bath & Body Works to protect her lips in the winter cold, I also sent some little mice for Plume :-) Enjoy Sylvie!!

Now I am going to sneak off to do some secret stitching. Brrr...sure is cold here! I calculated the Fahrenheit to Celcius improperly yesterday, and nobody caught me! It was 4F (-15C) on my way to work this morning, and warmed up to a balmy 8F (-13C) on my way home this evening. We are thankful to have a January thaw approaching for the weekend and into next week! We need it here!

Stitched on today: Stitched on Winter House Exchange project

Fair and Square for Laura

I discovered today that Laura has actually received the Fair and Square blocks that I had stitched for her. I was beginning to wonder if they were safe, but saw today that she had posted them in the group blog a couple of days ago. I did not hear directly from her, so that had me lost as to what had happened. Anyhow, Laura had emailed me her likes/dislikes and I was feeling rather concerned as to what to stitch for her. Her likes are very unlike my stash. But she did say she likes dragons, and I am very glad that she likes my choice:
Dragon of Hope 2005
Dragon Dreams
32 ct Antique White Belfast Linen, DMC Floss, Kreinik #4 Braid

We are bracing here for very frigid temps tomorrow. It is not like it has been warm, or anything close to warm, here for a while. Now tomorrow we are facing temps in the single digits (F). For my friends who live in the world of Celcius, that is something like -30C .... brrr....

Stitched on today: Finished the first fob for the first Scissor Fob Exchange, and started Winter House Exchange project (No news on any of those international packages I posted so long ago arriving yet..)

A Goal for 2008

I didn't really bother to set any stitching goals for 2008, but tonight I did come up with one... I would really like to finish Houses of Hawk Run Hollow this year. To that end, I worked some more on the night sky tonight.

Thanks for the sweet words about my finishes for 2007... which reminds me, I have to do my monthly goals...
December Goals:
1. Continue to work on Serenity -yes
2. Continue to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow -yes
3. Continue to work on Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace -yes
4. Start A Christmas Quaker on Christmas Eve -yes
5. Stitch and send Crazy Exchange I signed up for a month ago... -yes, and Bianca has received it
6. Stitch and finish Stitchers Lottery entry by 12/31 -yes, and Hazel won the lottery today - congratulations Hazel!!
7. Stitch and send Crazy Exchange Christmas Exchange -yes, and it has been in the mail to Janaina since December 4th...
8. Stitch some gifts -yes, I stitched 7 gifts
9. Start Fair & Square blocks for Laura -yes, and I posted them off to her a few days ago
10. Stitch and send Stitching Bloggers Christmas Exchange to Natty -yes, and Natty has received it
11. Start Lauren's Neighborhood Round Robin -no....
12. Stitch at least one PIF -yes, I stitched 3 PIFs
Did I forget to add "work on Spring Ride"?? Well... I did :-)

January Goals:
1. Continue to work on Serenity
2. Continue to work on A Quaker Christmas
3. Continue to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
4. Continue to work on Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace
5. Stitch both Scissor Fob Exchanges (I ended up with two partners...)
6. Stitch and send Frosty Friends Exchange -already stitched and mailed off on 12/24/07
7. Stitch and send Winter House Exchange by January 10
8. Stitch and send Winter Quaker Exchange by January 15
9. Stitch and send Lauren's NRR to Annemarie by January 15
10. Stitch some gifts
11. Stitch at least one PIF
12. Stitch and send next Hello Neighbor Group One RR to Nicole, if I get one in time to finish it...
13. Continue to stitch on Spring Ride SAL
14. Stitch an ornament
15. Stitch and send off SBEBB Valentine's Day Exchange by Feb 1
16. Stitch and send off Crazy Exchange Valentine's Day Exchange by Feb 1
17. Start a new Crazy Exchange

Back to work tomorrow....

Stitched on today: Started one of Scissor Fob Exchange projects, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Happy New Year!

Here is my album of finishes for 2007 - it was a productive year, primarily a year of stitching smalls and learning a whole lot of new things. What a wonderful year it was! Thank you for being here with me throughout, dear friends.

We are celebrating quietly tonight. It is snowy here. Our big adventure for the day was to go to WalMart for welding supplies to fix the snowblower. While there, we picked up Ratatouille on DVD and are enjoying that together for the holiday :-)


Oh... and a little more of A Quaker Christmas :-)

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and healthy new year!

Stitched on today: Finished a CE Exchange project, and A Quaker Christmas **Mailed out two PIFs today

A Rose is a Rose...

I am sorry Karen! Apparently, when I am on vacation, I am not able to remember it is Sunday evening! I forgot again and did not work on Spring Ride. I promise I will get right back to it next week when life returns to normal again ;-) Today I started a new Crazy Exchange project. I figured I could squeak one more in before the year officially ended. I also figured it is safe to post a WIP of it here. I don't think the recipient reads my blog, and even if she does, I don't think she will figure out it is for her. Tomorrow I will stitch the border around this pretty freebie by La D Da and then whip it up into a little something.

Wow, tomorrow is New Year's Eve already! Anyone have big plans? Not us, we will be home relaxing - and it is snowing, snowing, snowing anyhow!

Stitched on today: Finished a PIF, started a CE Exchange project

History is in the books :-)

Stitching stuff first... at last, one of the packages I sent out that seem to be lost somewhere in the vast world of the postal service did arrive. Jean has let me know that my birthday parcel for her has arrived safely in Singapore. The stitched portion of my gift is below. Now I am waiting for packages to arrive to Tannia in Australia, Janaina in Brazil and Katrina in New Zealand... that is a lot to wait on, and two of them have been in the post for quite some time now... I am also waiting for one from Malaysia to arrive, and it has been in the post for about six weeks. Hopefully the Christmas postal delays will clear up soon.

Petite Exemplary #4 Fob
Ewe and Eye and Friends
32 ct Putty Belfast Linen, DMC Floss


Thank you, NE Patriots, for making history tonight!!

Stitched on today: Finished a PIF, started a PIF **Mailed out a PIF today

Finished the alphabet

I did a lot of secret stitching today ;-) But I can show this... I got the alphabet at the top of Serenity finished tonight.

There are a lot of questions going on right now about exchanges and what will be happening. I am happy to take new people into Hooked on Exchanging. What will develop from it is unclear. Becky and her role in exchanges simply cannot be replaced. I am hoping to be in touch with her to talk about the future of exchanges. I will do what I can to please anyone who wants to keep exchanging. A fellow blogger/exchanger also wants to do the same. But, first things first. I want to chat with Becky - these exchanges were born from her and I want her input and to give her all of the respect the sweet woman deserves. I know you all understand. I refuse to step on any toes here.

Stitched on today: Finished a PIF, started a PIF, and Serenity **Mailed out F&S squares to Laura today

It's Still Christmas

It's still Christmas here (including more snow today). I received this lovely parcel from dear Karen this morning. She made me some sweet rag dolls, and I just love them! She also made a wreath of cut fabrics, plus sent me some cute Mill Hill Kits, a nice cut of R&R Reproductions linen... and some stunning charts! She sent me Long Dog Samplers Scarlet Ribands, and an amazing quaker chart by Monasterium that she just knew I had been eyeing! Aw, thank you Karen! We both are sending our packages in two parts this year - this is part one, she says there is more! I was busy doing many things today, including trying to get a message board set up for the Hooked on Exchanging group. This group is (happily) growing every day, and it will be too difficult to maintain in a blog... so keep an eye out, I have new things for the group! But I did find some time for Houses of Hawk Run Hollow too. It is hard to see, but I finished the fence today - just some night sky left now for this block.

Several asked about Mike's car - aw, thanks for asking! LOL. He had to bring the Corvette in for new tires before putting the car into storage, and the garage monkey ruined all four of his pricey rims when changing the tires. The dealership is going to refurbish them for us, or replace them if they cannot be refurbished. Unfortunately, this means the Corvette still won't be going into storage and is taking up space in our garage that the new Jeep needs. Sigh. Oh well.

Stitched on today: Finished F&S squares for Laura, started a PIF gift, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

A little Christmas Elf

My mailman delivered a gift from a little Christmas Elf today :-) I received this wonderful Praisworthy Stitches/CC thread pack that I had on my wish list (and adore) from the lovely Vonna. Aw, thanks Vonna - you shouldn't have! And enclosed a yummy Buttercream wax tart too. I will burn that very soon. You are such a sweetie. (Vonna knows how much I love these Praiseworthy Stitches birds).
My mind is cluttered and busy with many things - damage to our Corvette at the dealership today, blogging community news, health issues, MORE snow coming... ugh. It is hard to enjoy this time off from work. I did squeeze in some distracted stitching tonight on A Quaker Christmas. So much for turbo stitching on my vacation - it just isn't happening.

Stitched on today: Stitched on F&S squares for Laura, and A Quaker Christmas

A Quaker Christmas

I sure hope everyone had a lovely Christmas today. Mike and I enjoyed our day - the weather and roads were clear, and we enjoyed time with our family. I sure did not have much time for stitching today, of course, but I did wind down for a few minutes by adding just a few more stitches to A Quaker Christmas :-)

We have a very long list of errands to run tomorrow, but I also hope to catch up on blogs tomorrow and read about everyone's wonderful holiday!

Stitched on today: A Quaker Christmas

Merry Christmas :-)

It is Christmas Eve and I wanted to wish every one of you a Merry Christmas! I hope you all get everything you could ever wish for and more. You are all wonderful friends and your frienship towards me is truly a blessing. I look forward to another year with you :-)

I heard from Karen tonight that she has received my Christmas parcel for her, and since it is already Christmas in Australia, has opened it. Here is the little stitched portion of her gift:

Swedish Christmas Star, Hearts and Reindeer Ornament
Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin
32 ct Antique White Belfast Linen, GAST Floss

And.... as I had planned, I started A Quaker Christmas by ByGone Stitches tonight. I didn't have a whole lot of time to stitch, but I am off to my start now. I chose a Silkweaver 40 ct Newcastle Solo on which to stitch it. It is not as large as I had thought it would be. I can tell I will really enjoy this one!

Stitched on today: Started F&S squares for Laura, and started A Quaker Christmas **Mailed off my Frosty Friends Exchange today

Thank you Katrina :-)

The mailman delivered a special package yesterday, all the way from New Zealand. It was my Christmas package from Katrina!! She had only just posted it a few days ago, and it is already here! She told me to go ahead and open it :-) Katrina stitched me the cutest Christmas pillow, and I just love it - her work is so beautiful! I have tucked it amongst the branches of my Christmas tree, and will every year forward. She also sent me a sweet Brittercup chartpack, some New Zealand paper, two beautiful cotton fabrics and a spicy sachet. What a lovely and thoughtful package. Thank you again, Katrina, you are such a dear friend. And, I hope my package for you arrives soon too.

Today I did something a little bit different... I finally finished something off "just for me". I had stitched this pretty Chatelaine freebie at least a couple of years ago, and today I finished it into a little trinket box for my bureau. I love how it came out! It is nice to keep something for myself for once :-) I am not complaining, but do realize that I stitch so much for others and forget myself quite a bit.

Tina Rose Mandala Garden Box
Chatelaine
Silkweaver 28 ct Romance Lugana, DMC Floss, Thread Gatherer Silk 'n Colors Silk, Mill Hill Beads

I made a little slide show of all of the exchanges I have received this year from Becky's various boards. I did this in response to several requests in the Hooked on Exchanging group for examples of what stitchers send in their exchange packages... so, I decided to put my little slide show here too :-)

Wow.... tomorrow is Christmas Eve already! Anyone have any big plans? We will be visiting our families on Christmas Day - both live about 40 minutes south of us, an easy drive, especially with no snow currently in the forecast.

Stitched on today: Finished Tiny Rose Mandala Garden Box, and finished Frosty Friends Exchange project