Busy Stitching

I have a couple of finishes!!  YAY!  I have been trying to squeeze stitching time in here and there.  The weather has been beautiful all week, upper 70's, so I have spent lots of time at the pool with the boys.  Great place to cool off, not a great place to stitch.  No one wants to get their over-dyed fabrics or thread wet with chlorinated water.  YIKES!  Here are the pics of my finishes.

LHN Ornament Silent Night
30ct Tin Roof with recommended fibers

Rosewood Manor
Keys to the Kingdom
30ct Parchment
DMC and Mill Hill beads

I tried to get a closer picture for you to see the beads but this little camera can only do so much.  It is much prettier in person.  Both of these are shop models for ABC Stitch.  Next up is Nora Corbett Little Snowy Green Cottage.  I haven't made enough progress on it so no pic this time.

Back to the back breaking task of weeding the flower beds.

Happy Stitching!

And the traveling pattern goes to . . .

Erin at Fairy Tales & French Knots.  Welcome to the stitcherhood.  Please e-mail me your snail mail address and I will drop it in the mail tomorrow.  As for everyone else, hop on over to Erin's blog for a visit and keep your eye out for the next stop.  Happy Stitching!!

Traveling Pattern Is Ready To Move On

I joined the sisterhood!!  About 1 week ago I was contacted to say that I was the next to stitch the Traveling Pattern.  It is Count your Blessings by Shakespeare's Peddler.  I rec'd it Wednesday and stitched it over the weekend.  It was a lovely, quick stitch and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  It's time to pass it along.  It has made it's way from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Oregon and Massachusetts. Where will it go next??  If you would like to be next leave a comment on this post.  I will draw a name on Sunday.  Please note the summary of the rules below:    1) Comment on this post   2) By commenting, you agree to stitch it and send it along in a timely manner  3) You must have an active blog to participate (so we can follow it) 4) If you aren't chosen, follow along to the next stitcher to see if you get it next time.  This is for the chart only.  You choose color and fabric of your choice.

Count Your Blessings Shakespeare's Peddler
36ct LL Lentil
Sampler Threads Autumn Pack

Happy Stitching Everyone!  Good Luck!

              

Crossing two loves

I recently finished a fob for a friend.  Deborah is in my Wednesday stitching group and she asked me to finish a fob for her that she stitched up.  It is a LHN design that she stitched over one.  So it is tiny and very sweet.  I love beading and she had admired some of the beaded fobs I had done in the past and wanted something similar.  Here is what I came up with.  (By the way, Deborah likes pinks and reds)

I am currently finishing up some model stitching.  Working my way through Keys to the Kingdom and also finished something for an exchange but can't share that one just yet.  What are you working on??

A couple of finishes

Good day everyone!  The sun is shining and the temperature is perfect!   AAAaaahhhhhh!!!  I have been out working in the gardens weeding this morning but said "time for a quick post and some stitching"  Being fair skinned, even with sunscreen I don't like to be out during peek sun hours.  I managed to finish LHN Gingerbread Village and All Through The Night The Sheltering Tree.  Hope you like them.

Gingerbread Village is stitched on Tin Roof using Crescent Colours and DMC.  I will finish it into an ornament very soon.  Stay tuned.  The Sheltering Tree is stitched on Lakeside Linen 36ct Lentil using Valdani P2 Olive Green (one strand).  I loved this stitch and enjoyed seeing the bunnies, birdies and squirrels come to life.  Until next time everyone,  Happy Stitching!!
Congrats to the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sturbridge Village Field Trip and Sampler

I recently chaparoned a field trip for the 5th graders and we went to Sturbridge Village.  It is a recreation of an Olde Colonial Village and I love the simplicity of it.  It always amazes me at how much work went into daily life and how we take for granted the modern amenities we have today.  Can you imagine churning your own butter and cheese.  I think most of us would just go without.  The kids were assigned the task of finding certain thinks within the village and one of the kids asked if I could just look it up on my iphone.  What????  #1 I don't have an iphone and #2 where is the fun in that??  I swear technology has robbed our children.  I am not anti technology but I do feel there is a time and a place for it. 
While poking through all of the buildings I came across a small, tiny display of needlework and linens.  I took photos of the 2 I liked the most.  The pictures are bad, the building was poorly lit and the samplers were under glass in a glass cabinet.  You can imagine the challenge there right?

I loved the border on this one.  It just seems to flow peacefully around the edge and the colors were beautiful

I likd the trees on the lower right and the flower basket in the lower center. Simply beautiful and very well preserved.  Just love it!  The next picture is of the herb garden.  It's beautiful.  Can you imagine having all of those fresh herbs available??

 
I hope if you ever get to Massachusetts you will visit Olde Sturbridge Village.  It isn't anything grand, no noisy rides or amusements but a throw back to a time that has past.

Happy Stitching!!

Life got in the way

It has been crazy busy since my Birthday.  My husband surprised me by taking me to a Red Sox Game.  I love visiting Fenway Park.  I have gone to many games and I never lose the excitement I feel about going to another.  I haven't been the last few years because I give up my ticket to one of the boys but this one was just for me because it was an afternoon game.  We had a blast (except for the intoxicated idiots who spilt beer all over me.)  I will never understand the over indulgence of alcohol that some men partake in at sporting events.  The joke with my husband and I is to stage the drunkiness.  Stage 1 -2 beers lots of laughing, Stage 2 -4 beers Really loud and obnoxious Stage 3 6-8 beers F bombs flying and coach and player degradation, Stage 4 (my personal favorite) 8+ beers kicked out by security.

My boys surprised me with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.   It was quite delicious and so thoughtful of them.  They had to bribe their grandfather to drive them over to DQ to pick it up in order to have it for me when I got home.

My Birthday bouquet.  Beautfiul white snapdragons.  A personal summertime favorite.

We have had a tight schedule with baseball for the little leaguers, award ceremonies for the older children, Confirmation for my oldest son, etc . . .  So we decided last Sunday to go for a beautifully relaxing bike ride.  This trail is a personal favorite along the coast of Falmouth MA.  I love the beach and always feel recharged.

This was once a railway that was converted to a bike trail.  It is appoximately 10miles round trip.  The name of the path is the Seaway.  If you ever visit Cape Cod be sure to rent some bikes and travel to one of these destinations.  It is sooooo worth the trip! 

The view

Fragrant Sea Roses line the entire patch and smell wonderful

The path--- long and flat

As far as stitchy news,  I finished Gingerbread Village by LHN, worked on Keys to the Kingdom, worked on Kitty Quilts.   I will post progress pics over the weekend providing I squeeze out a corner of time.  Happy Friday Everyone and Happy Stitching!!

A small finish and some WIPS

The weather has been good to us since the tornadoes rolled through last week.  I can't tell you how many times I have been told, "Don't worry about tornadoes, they don't happen in New England"  Yeah RIGHT!!! Western Massachusetts was hit with several strong storms which they haven't classified and there is much devastation in those areas.  Probably nothing like the Midwest but pretty traumatic to an area that doesn't expect them.  My heart goes out to those families who lost loved ones and all of their belongings.  The running joke at Stitching Group is "Do we have our stash at the ready in case we need to evacuate?"  

Here are my latest projects.  The first is LHN Ornament "Deck the Halls" using recommended fabric and fibers.  This will be made into an ornament and modeled at ABC Stitch.

Next up is a progress picture from a SAL I am working on.  Ellen and I both love kitties and so we saw it fitting to work on this one together.  2 Charts come out bimonthly and we have the first 6 to work on.  It is designed by Val's Stuff and titled Monthly Kitty Quilts.  I am stitching mine on 35ct Iced Cappucino with the recommended DMC fibers.  It  so fun to work with such vibrant colors. I missed stitching group last week and have some catching up to do.  I need to have block 3 finished for this Wednesday.  I here that whip cracking, but get moving.

Here is another WIP.  I started this one to work on during the baseball season.  I spend from 4:30 to 8pm 3-4 days a week at the ball field watching my little leaguers PLAY BALL.  I am the type that needs to keep my fingers busy so here is Sheltering Tree stitched on 36ct Pearled Barley ( I think but can't quite remember) using the called for Valdani thread (single strand).  I am enjoying this one as it progresses and can't wait to finish it.

I hope you have a had a lovely weekend.  The weather here couldn't have been better.  We had a busy weekend and I will post some details tomorrow.  Happy Stitching Friends!

And the Winner is . . .

Thank you to everyone who entered my blogiversary giveaway.  I used the random number generator and Blue Star Stitcher you are the winner.  Please e-mail me your address so I can send your prize off to you.