Retreat Photos

I realized tonight looking at my camera that I forgot to share a few pictures from Inspired Needle's Retreat in October.  It was a great event and a good time to share with old and new friends.  Here is Cathy from Inspired Needle and her buddies.

 

Deb, Cathy, Pam, and Grace....  Great Ladies

 

Last year I went to Dying 2 Stitch's retreat in Virginia Beach and met a really lovely lady Rita from Ohio.  I told her about Cathy's retreat and she was able to come out with her friend Kim.  It was great to get more time to talk and stitch together.

 

 

Rita, me, and Kim

 

 

Cathy did setup a great shop area at the retreat.  She had lots of fabric, patterns, and even a couple of trunk shows.  It is amazing how much she was able to fit into her van and bring out for us to shop. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great time and I have lots more to stitch up.  Never ending stash.

 

Have a good week and hope you can fit in some stitching during your rush for the holidays.







Blog Giveaway

This is just a quick post to announce that Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a 25 Days of Christmas and Giveaway.  Make sure you go to her blog at www.victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com and become a follower and check each day to see if you have won a wonderful prize.  Good luck to you all.....

I have been doing lots of stitching but haven't taken any photos.  I need to that and provide you with updates.

Inspired Needle

Excitement is in the air as it is time for the Inspired Needle's retreat in Shipshewanna Indiana.  There will be tons of stitching time, shopping in town, and lots of great food.  Oh, also lots of time meeting new ladies and sharing stitching tricks.

I made a small exchange for the retreat.  This was a free pattern by Plum Street Samplers.

 

 

 

This was my first time doing a flatfold.  It is not perfect but I am pleased with how it turned out.  Watch later for more updates from the event.

 

Happy Stitching.....

The Winner Is

Thank you all for your comments on the Wedding Sampler.  It truly made me feel happier.

For the Christmas Ornament magazine the winner is..........

Angela....

Email is on the way for your address.  Congrats and enjoy.

Have a good weekend stitching.

Wedding Sampler & Giveaway

Recently I completed a wedding sampler for a family wedding.  This is "I Thee Wed" from Blackbird Designs.  I had a few issues with colors not being the same quality as it must have been when this design was previous published.  I made a few changes but I think I could have done a better job.  Oh well, it got done on time and framed.

Here it is after being framed.

The problem I had was with the grass.  It called for Dandelion Stem by Crescent Colors but it was such a bright green with no variegation that I was afraid it would not work.  I substituted Dried Thyme by Gentle Arts.  The color changes as I hoped but the letters did not appear as well as I wanted. Here is a close up of the lettering.

Hopefully next time I think of doing something as a gift such as this I will allow more time in making the decisions, stitching, and framing.

Now for something exciting and something I have never done before.  This is my first giveaway. 

If you would like to receive a copy of this magazine please leave me a comment and a way to contact you.  You have until 5pm on October 19th to leave a comment.  I will pull a name on the 19th and then as soon as I have your name I will e-mail you for a mailing address.  So, good luck and hopefully there are some of you interested in getting this ornament edition. 

Until later happy stitching.

Retreat Weekend

This weekend Linda at House of Stitches had a small class event with Ellen Chester.  We worked on her teaching piece called "A Lady's Worke Box".  The class was amazing and I have lots of stitching to do.  Here are my pictures of the project pieces.

Sorry for the quality of these pictures.  I forgot to take my camera with me and use to my cellphone instead.  Course, I had to take a lovely picture of our hostess, Linda.

Linda, thank you again for a wonderful weekend and event.  I learned a lot of stitches and really neat ways to stitch them. 

Here is Ellen Chester (in the middle) along with stitchers Penny and Terry.

Happy Stitching.....

Oops, Forgotten Finish

In all of my excitement to post today I forgot one item.  I recently got back a finished item from Inspired Needle. 

This is Spring Robin by "Widgets and Wool Primitives" that I did in silks.  I was at an open stitching day at Inspired Needle and the group came up with the fabric and fibers for this design.  It turned out great and I love the green chenille and plaid used to finish this.

If you want to do this one call Cathy at Inspired Needle to see if she has anymore kitted up.

Busy Stitcher's Life

Happy Sunday,

Wow, since my last blog I have had a crazy life and sorry that has totally prevented me from doing my most favorite things.  Stitching time has started to get back on track so I had to find time to update my blog.  I really don't know how some of you get time to do as many updates as you do and still get on with life.  You guys are my hero's and help to keep me motivated to at least have a blog.

It is a quiet Sunday here at home and the kids (Brinkley and Josie) are keeping cool close to the air vents so that they can slumber peacefully.

It is so much fun to have a quiet and peaceful Sunday.  At least that provides me with some good stitching time.  I am currently working on Little House Needleworks "Brave Hearts".

I saw this done back in June in the home of Jan Alexander and just had to run home and pull it out of my stash to work on.  Course, when you look at your stash you always find many others that you just have to get moving on.  I hope to have this one done in the next week and will also stitch up "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by LHN on the same fabric.  The fabric is from Tree of Life Linens (Jan Alexander) called Roasted Hickory Nut - 32 count.  The picture just doesn't give you a true view of the colors.  Maybe after it is finished and framed you will be able to see it better.

Back in June I attended Jan's retreat.  I had a great time stitching with old and new friends.  I got a few finishes done that we stitched up prior to the retreat.

It really felt good to come home with a finished project.  Here is Jan with Ellen and myself.

I still need to keep working on the sampler project.  I really don't have much done to show you so stay tuned.  Course, I need to get off of my patriotic mood of stitching.  My buddies would say that that would be mission impossible since that is my most favorite stitching theme.

Once I got home from TOLS retreat I found that my first ever adventure in the world of Ebay auctions had arrived.  Here is a Clark's Spool cabinet from the 1800's.

It is amazing.  It will need a bit cleaning done on it since it was found in an old sewing store's storage.  It has not been touched which will make it even more valuable to me.  I have been wanting one of these for years course if I ever find one that has John Clark(e) on it I will need to have to add it to my collection since that is part of my family name for many generations.  So if you ever see one please let me know about it.

This weekend I did attend another retreat in Downer's Grove by Tomorrow's Heirlooms.  We had Lori from La D Da and Linda from Chessie N Me as our teachers.  The event was great and the projects are amazing. 
 

Well, I have had lots of fun lately and you can see why I got behind in my blogging.  For those of you reading this and don't have a blog (you know I know who you are Cindy or Pat) leave me a note to tell me you at least read this blog update.

Lastly, I think you might remember that I started ABC Prairie School stitching with a group of friends.  Well, only one has been providing me with updates and I have really let mine slip away and need to pick it back up.  But for Ellen I really needed to show you her amazing progress. 



Ellen has finished her third letter.  Way to GO.....  I am still on my first. Darn, I need to find a way to add this into my monthly rotation.

Well, the kids are starting to rise and I think I have provided you with enough to see what has been going on.  Take care and enjoy your week.

They Are Here!!! They Are Here!!!

Yesterday was the best day ever!!!!  If you remember back to my last long ago posting I mentioned that I had something special coming up.  Well, I took a trip to Ogden, Utah to have Jill Rensel frame a project for me.  Well, it didn't end up being just one, it turned into 4.  I am so excited and cannot wait to share the pictures she took.  Since her pictures are better than anything I could do I am going to post her's.

Aren't they amazing!!!! Trust me, seeing them in person in my home is even better than what I could have ever imagined.  I started out wanting to just do Tis the Season from Blackbird Designs since I had seen it at Jill's shop a couple of years ago.  But since I was making the trip out and had a few extra to take I went for it.  I am so pleased and her work is so amazing.

Last weekend we went antique shopping and I found some of the most amazing FROGS.  I love the colors and the different styles.  Depression glass is so amazing.

The one in the middle is very unique in coloring.  It really wasn't part of the frog but since I found one that the frog would fit into I just couldn't pass it by.

I love the green base on the bottom.  Now I need to find a good way to display these and I guess I will be buying lots of scissors to fill them.

Last item I want to show you is my Easter Parade that Kathy from Inspired Needle framed for me.  I found the frame in her shop and thought this would be a good match for this design.  Thank you Kathy, I just love it.

Hope you find lots of time to stitch and enjoy the weekend.  I am outside enjoying the warmth and also watching the house wrens taking care of their babies and feeding them constantly.  It is so neat to listen to the babies calling out for food.

Spring Finishes

At last I have been productive with my stitching stash.  When you have a goal to get items done for something very important you seem to pick-up an astounding pace.  First up is a project I started on back in January of 2011 and then put it back in the stash pile.

 

Flag Day by With thy Needle & Thread

Conversion Design by Shepherd's Bush

Is this one great!!!!  I love the color changes and buttons.  I cannot wait to have this framed. I have a few great ideas.

Next up is a pattern that I saw at my LNH.  Several of the stitchers got together and came up with color changes in silks.  The shop owner at Inspired Needle put it together as a kit with fabric.  I just love this one. 

"Spring Robin" by Widgets & Wool Primitives

Conversions by Inspired Needle

The final completion of this month is.......

"Tis the Season" by Blackbird Designs

This one I did on a fabric called "Patina" and the only color that I changed was the white called Vanilla Pudding.  I changed it to Icing by Crescent Colours.  My photo does not give this picture true justification.  Hopefully once it is framed it will show up better. 

I cannot tell you how exciting it is to get three projects done and ready for finishing.  Next week I will let you all in on my secret adventure coming up.  In the meantime have a great week and lots of good stitching time.

Easter Is Coming

Well, I finished an Easter Project this last weekend but forgot to take a picture of it before dropping it off to be framed.  So, here is the picture from the booklet.

I finished the Rabbit and it is very lovely.  A few years ago I did the basket of flowers (picture below).  I just love the colors in this project.
Yesterday I picked up the Garden of Love that I finished in February.  I just love the way this one was finished.

I love the plaid fabric. The purple color really makes this design stand out.

Happy Easter.....