Weekends and finishes ...

4 days off ... what a great 4 days off, even with all the rain we had. Miserable weather and all the outdoor plans turned into indoor plans ... so we stayed up late and sleep in ... watched movies and Nascar racing and just played around ... and of course I stitched. But I also did some finishing and some sewing! Yep sewing. I borrowed Monica's sewing machine and had a lot of fun sewing. Sewing and I don't always get along, but this weekend everything went fairly well.

One of the first things I wanted to attempt was a needlebook. I'm doing a personal exchange with Kathy. We chose to exchange needlebooks ... since this is a new finishing technique for me I knew I'd want to make one or two before making the one for Kathy. Here's my first attempt ... of course the one for Kathy will have a stitched front and back ... here's the front ...

and here's the inside ...

and the back ... I have a few tweaks to work out, but all in all I think it turned out pretty good. I used white thread so I could see the stitches and what needed to be reworked.

I decided to do some finishes since I was in the mood for sewing ... even though Spring is almost over I can enjoy these for a couple more weeks ...

Here's another new to me finish ... a pillow ... and I just love it! I will definitely be making more pillows ...

and another pillow ... how sweet is this *smile*

And here's my last two finishes ... both are BBD's Bluebird, one stitched 1 or 1 and boy is it tiny! lol .. I stitched them both with Belle Soie's Poison Apple. The tiny one is my first ever floss tag ... and the bigger one is filled with crushed walnuts to use as a pin cushion ...

here's the backing fabric ...

I sure had fun this weekend playing around with new finishing techniques. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for new things ...

Trick or Treat ...

I finished something ... all by myself. This is the first cube I've ever attempted ... and I'm really really pleased with the result ... I might have to make more cubes ...

and there's the back .. I love the hats and shoes!

I had another wonderful mail day. Karen did some more finishing for me and they arrived today ... Veronica stitched these for me last year in a fair and square exchange. I just love how Karen finished them ... so sweet :)

the back ...

I stitched this Flamingo earlier this year for some friends .. I just love how Karen finished this one! Love the bead pins around the sides ... I know my friends will love him :)

the back ...

the side ...

I've been a bad SAL partner ... I keep forgetting to post my progress. Natasha and are doing this SAL together ... I'm really enjoying this design ... yummy fall colors ...

I have posted my progress on Peppermint Twist in a while ... this is another design I really enjoy stitching ... the fabric and the silks are wonderful to stitch with ...

Last picture of the night is Merry Winter by Homespun Elegance ... I finished this over the weekend. I think I'm going to find a frame for this and turn it into a Christmas present for someone ... pretty cute isn't it *smile*

Hope everyone had a great weekend ... Monday started and ended good, although no stitching got done ... I'm hoping the rest of the week is just as good, but with some stitching lol

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for quite evenings ...

Honey, I'm home ...

What a great week in South Carolina .. lots of beach time, girl time, stitching time, and oh sooo much laughing. I have so much to blog about from the Pals Fall Fling, over 300 pictures to share and a few stories .. but I need to get more organized .. so instead I will show off some finishes that Vonna did for me. I "borrowed" these pictures from Vonna's finishing blog ...

Quite an elegant reindeer, don't ya think??


Vonna made Rosie into a pinkeep ...


perfect backing fabric for Rosie ...


This is a oversized tuck type pillow. I wanted a big opening because my plan is that every New Year's Eve, I'll add another year ... I love the happy party colors Vonna used ...


DH really liked the backing fabric on this one


Heart in Hand's Thanksgiving Bird was made into a flatfold ...

the backing fabric is cute cute cute!

another very elegant reindeer ...

love the backing fabric on this one .. so did DH :)

This has to be my favorite ... the box finishing was definately the right thing to do ...

and the inside of the box .. now what to use the box for?!

Ok .. one little bit about the Fall Fling before I close. Last year's theme was the beach .. here's a picture of the table decorations ...

At some point in the evening my table got silly with the table decorations .. we eneded up hanging flipflops from our glasses ...

Before this years Fall Fling, I was trying to think of something to stitch for my friends/roommates as a little gift .. I decided to stitch the flip flops from Lizzie Kate's Summer Crazy chart, then I sent them off to Vonna to finish into scissor fobs .. I think they turned out sooo cute and the girls loved them!

more pictures later ...

I'm grateful for pretty finishes ...

Great weekend and a finish ...

Happy Belated Mother's Day. I hope all the mom's had a lovely day!

My weekend was great .. long and busy and full of family .. just how they should be .. well not all the time, but a weekend like that every once in a while is nice.

Friday was Chris' birthday (thank you for all the nice birthday wishes in my last post). We took him to Tony Roma's .. had a wonderful meal with the 5 of us and my Dad and his girlfriend.

Saturday was very lazy for me .. Robert and Terry worked outside on the deck and I attempted to do housework but ended up spending most of my day playing on the computer and stitching. I finished Country Cottage Needlework's Sunshine Sampler. I just love this piece ... I think I might send this off to Vonna .. don't you think it would make a cute pillow?



Saturday night we went to our neighbors for tuna tacos and tequila tasting. They just got back from a 2 week vacation in a small village outside of Ixtapa, Mexico. They brought back 3 tequilas and 2 dessert tequilas. We had a great time .. and ya know there really are differences in tequilas! lol .. and the dessert ones were awesome if you like Kahula type liquors.

Sunday the kids, Chris, Monica and Robert, cooked brunch for me. It was a yummy brunch of fruit salad (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries), sticky buns, hashbrowns and a lovely baked egg dish. Robert burned me a cd of music .. all kinds, there's the Chili Peppers, Feist and Yael Naim just to name a few. Chris and Monica got me a new frying pan and some new kitchen towels. I had thrown out so many of my old crusty pots and pans, it was fun to get a new one .. and it's red! lol

We started watching the 2nd Indiana Jones movie while having brunch. After the movie was over, we went for a nice long walk and came back to watch the 3rd IJ .. all of a sudden it 6:30 and everyone was hungry again .. of course I wasn't going to cook lol so off to Chipotle. It derfinately was a nice Mother's day :)

I also stitched on my biscornu and started sewing it together .. found a button I really like for the middle .. but now I'm nervous that all fit together .. should have it done tomorrow. Ohhhh and how come no one told me how fun it is trying to pick up those dammm little backstitches when you are sewing it together! arrrgghhhh lol

Ok .. I'm off to do a little stitching before bed. Hope every had a good monday .. or as good as they can be .. after all they are Monday! lol Thanks for all your comments ... I really enjoy hearing from you all.

I'm grateful for walks with my family ...

TGIF Everyone ...

I have to say it's been a long time since I've looked soooo forward to a Friday. Not because we're doing anything special this weekend .. I'm just really glad this stupid week is over. Not to go into lots of gory details, let's just say I'm a 54 year old woman still going through the change .. working on day 10 of a pretty horrible cycle. Tuesday night I had a new experience that scared DH and I, had my dr on the phone off and on for a couple of hours and consumed lots of ibuprofen. Thank goodness for my dr ... I just love that woman :) I did go into her office Wednesday to get checked out further .. doesn't seem to be anything serious other than menopause, but I get to have a pelvic ultrasound next week just to rule out anything else. Ah the joys of being a woman! lol

Wednesday, after my dr. appt, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself so I stopped by our local Barnes and Noble .. needing a little pick me up, I was hoping I could find the Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs that Staci and Becky have been talking about on their blogs. Of course I was very interested in the cute red bird! B&N had the book and I must stay it's a lovely book .. filled with all kinds of wonderful designs .. here's a few examples ... lots of variety ...












Look at what else jumped out at me while I was wandering around B&N .. I just love the colors and I couldn't pass up this coffee cup ... it's perfect! and who doesn't need another little storage bag ... or 4 or 5 ...


lol ... I just couldn't resist .. they are red after all *smile*


I did get some stitching done this week. I finished LHN's Schoolgirl Lessons. What a lovely pattern this is. I stitched it with the recommended Rose Of Sharon Soie Belle Silk. Gosh I love this silk .. it feels sooo great stitching with it. I don't know what kind of fabric I used, it was just a piece that looked good with the silk. I'm not sure how I want this finished, but Vonna and I were talking about this design mounted on a blackboard .. she really does have some awesome ideas!


I'm participating in a SAL that the LHN Yahoo group is having. I'm stitching Sunflower Sampler. I love the fabric called for on this design ... it's 28 count Little Boy Blue Linen. What a delightful fabric to stitch on.


Not much going on this weekend for us ... which is just the kind of weekend I need. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I'm grateful for a supportive family ...

Red ...

I have a new toy and I'm having lots of fun with it. Look, it's a RED Dell!! lol .. I'm just a little addicted to the color red *grin* A laptop won't take the place of my desktop PC but it is nice to have the portability of a laptop. I can sit in the family room, watch tv and surf around. It will also be nice to take on retreats with me. I've been spending time getting used to the Vista operating system .. I really like how pictures can be organized using Vista .. so far it's not a bad operating system.



yep it's a red mouse too! lol



I have been stitching when I'm not playing with my new toy ... I finished Bent Creek's Good Morning. I still need to put the charms on .. but I think it turned out really cute.


And here's Rosy ... not done yet, but she does have a head now! lol .. and funny legs on her back .. I'm going to work on her again tonight, heck with my rotation! lol ... I should be able to get her done while watching Lost and Celebrity Apprentice .. GOOOOOO TRACE!



Last year I finished a retreat piece from a class with Bent Creek called Tree of Me. The tree shows things that are all part of me, like coffee, red, animals, racing, reindeer, music, flowers and of course stitching. It's been sitting because I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted it finished .. did I want a pillow, or frame it, maybe sewed into a nice banner .. nothing was really jumping out at me so Tree of Me just sat in my finished stitching bag. That was until Vonna started her finishing service. I was so excited reading about Vonna's new venture and well it just jumped out at me that Tree of Me would be awesome on a box .. a couple of emails with Vonna and off to the mail went Tree of Me .. the box is home with me now and I have to tell you I am soooo happy with the finished project! The box is now in my stitching room being the home for my scissors. It's just perfect! I stole these pictures from Vonna ...






I hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm grateful for new toys ...