Christmas is coming....

 

I always enjoy the holiday

season and look forward to

rediscovering all my

stitched treasures

celebrating Christmas.

 

 

 

I am happy to add these

beauties from

Plum Street Samplers

to my collection.

 

Plum Street Samplers "Christmas is Coming"

stitched on PTP Sand with Victorian Motto

 

These turned out to be a fall project.

They were stitched in August.....

Sewn in September.......

Stuffed in October......

and finally 'finished' in November!

 

 

 

So simple yet so lovely.....

I will definitely look forward to

rediscovering these in

the coming years.

 

 

*   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *

 

I have always dreamed of having

a hand-stitched ornament tree.

 

We decided on a smaller tree and I

found it to be just the perfect

size for an ornament tree.

 

 

   It is amazing how I can still

remember when an ornament was

stitched and what was going on in

life at the time.  The same is true

for the many I have received

from exchanges or gifts.

I have met so many great stitching

pals over the years and it is

extra special that many are a small

part of my holiday celebrations.

Makes my heart smile....

 

*   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *

 

Well...you can never have enough

Christmas so I am off to start another

holiday project.  Happy stitching...

 

 

 

A cloud of blackbirds.....

 

(Thanks to Google for my title....

glad to offer a little knowledge here too!)

 

Now on to the stitching....

 

I have been absent from my blog but

 stitching has been happening.

 

I have been in a Blackbird Designs mood this

month and stitch a few that have been

patiently waiting in my stash.

 

I picked up "Country Garden" from a clearance

bin while travelling in Virginia this summer. 

I don't why I love this design...

probably the olive green/pink combo....

so I decided to stitch it.

 

 

Once I decided to stitch it I wondered

what I would do with it.  Something

about this design whispered it would

be a great embellishment on a

stitching bag.   I stitched all but the

house and made the decision to stitch

my initials with some smaller motifs.

 

BBD Country Garden

stitched on 32ct hand dyed linen with

Victorian Motto/WDW threads

 

You can't tell from the photo but I stitched

it on 32 ct. linen dyed with onion skins. 

I loved the yellowish/pinkish hue

this gave the linen and will definitely

do this again.  Best part is it took a small

amount of onion skins to get a good color.

 

My sewing skills are very limited so I

decided to make a little "envelope" type

project bag to accommodate a small project.

 

 

I am so happy with this lovely little design

and the colors are just so pleasant.  

Definitely puts me in a happy mood

when I am sitting down to stitch.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *  

 

I have wanted to stitch BBD "New Love"

forever but just couldn't find the right

red/light red combo to stitch.  Thanks to

Victorian Motto, I had two wonderful

shades of red that were just perfect.

 

BBD "New Love"

stitched on 32ct hand dyed linen

with Victorian Motto threads

 

I thought this would make a great

embellishment for another project bag

and I had a fabric I just loved so back to

the sewing machine I went.

 

 

This bag measures about 12 x 15 which is

perfect for larger projects.   I decided to

stitch hubby's initials as well as my own and

not sure why I chose to date it "2014". 

Hmmmm...at least I will always

remember when it was stitched.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I just love this little sampler from BBD

"Agnes Platt's Strawberry Sampler" booklet.

 

BBD "The Bee Skep"

Loose Feathers Spring 2013

stitched on 36ct Lakeside Linen

with Victorian Motto threads

 

Thanks to the recent Pals "Stitching at the Beach"

retreat I was able to crank this one out in

a few days.   It was a very easy stitch and

I can't believe I waited so long to stitch it!

 

 

Victorian Motto's 1795 Faded Sampler Red Light

had the perfect variation to stitch most

of the bricks in the little house. 

 

 

My other favorite part is the beehive using

the satin stitch.  My gold I chose is a

little bright but I am still very happy

with how this one finished.   This

one is destined to reside on my

"wall of bees" in the kitchen someday.

 

~   *    ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I am now stitching the 'Fragments of Time'

series from Summer House Stitche Works

and loving them.   She was one of the

vendors at the Pals Retreat and such a

nice lady.  I just love her designs so you

will probably see some more of these soon.

 

Thanks for visiting and I hope to be back

soon with some more finishes! 

Happy stitching.



Let it snow.....

 

 

Christmas stitching continues and

I needed something "cool" to

deal with the hot temps here in

the sunny South this week. 

 

A fellow blogger...can't remember who...

posted a link to a freebie for these

snowflakes and they were exactly

what I was looking for.

 

Freebie--Estonian Snowflakes

stitched on 32ct natural linen

w/ Victorian Motto

 

I had some of the MCG Linen in my stash

and thought this would be a great way

to use it.   It is very rough and not a

pleasant fabric to stitch on but I a

m happy with the finishes.

 

 

I toyed with the idea of stitching them twice

so that I could finish both sides into

an ornament with a beaded edge.

Of course my "laziness" reared its ugly

head and I settled with a motif from

each for a simple back finish.

 

 

The imperfections of this fabric made

the beading more difficult and the

edges look "sloppy".  That's okay...

they will still be great new

additions to my Christmas tree.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Christmas stitching continues and I

hope to be back soon with three more

Yuletide finishes Plum Street. 

Hope you are staying cool and

enjoying the last of summer. 

Happy stitching....



Christmas in August.....

 

The mood to stitch Christmas struck me

this week and I thought ornaments would

be the perfect quick fix.  Lizzie Kate is

always a fun and quick stitch and

these little cuties were just that.

 

LK "Flora McSample 2012 Ornaments"

stitched on 32ct LL Toasted Almond

w/Victorian Motto threads

 

I decided on a simple finish for these ornaments

which didn't require my sewing machine.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Once I got in the "finishing" frame of mind

I decided to finish two other Christmas

finishes that have been hanging

out for a few months.

 

I stitched this in December while

vacationing in Arizona.  I usually take

a LK design on vacation since they are

easy to pick up and put down while

traveling. I also love that I can look at

these designs and it brings back

great memories of our trips.

 

LK "Be Naughty"

stitched on 14ct mocha Aida with DMC

 

One of the things I love about LK

is the simplicity of her designs and

I really like stitching them on a

simpler fabric like 14ct using

DMC.  This is definitely one of my

favorites and I can't wait to quietly

display it in a side chair this

holiday season.

 

Since I had the sewing machine out I

finished this into a cute little ornament.

 

CHS "1999 Christmas Sampling"

stitched on Black 28ct evenweave over one

 

I wasn't too fond of the over one stitching

on black but I just love this ornament.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Well...I am off to find some more

ornaments to stitch! All of WIPs are

pretty large right now so the quick

gratification from an ornament

finish is feeling good!

 

Thanks for visiting and happy stitching...



Happy Saturday.....

 

and Happy Mother's Day

to all of you enjoying the weekend.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Lizzie Kate is one of my favorite designers

and I just love her fun, simple style.

This design caught my eye and I couldn't

resist stitching it any longer.

 

LK "Think Deeply"

stitched on 40ct linen with Victorian Motto

 

I love the message in this one.

 

I did change the colors to suit me trading in

the bright pastels for reds and browns.

 

 

I also eliminated the fill for the "T"

for a simpler finish.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I have another project underway and

this sweet BBD is perfect.

 

BBD "Hannah's Small Basket"

from Schoolgirl's Work

stitched on 40ct linen with Victorian Motto

 

 How have I not stitched this before now? 

I just love it and have a special

finish planned for this one.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I am off to visit my Mom.....

if I can tear myself away

from the NFL draft.   I don't know why

I am so interested in it....other than

seeing my favorite players being drafted.....

but it has made the best stitching t.v.

 

Hope you have a great weekend and

enjoy some stitching time!



Framed goodies.....

 

It's a birthday tradition of mine to treat

myself and frame some of my stitched goodies.

Love this year's lucky ones.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Threadwork Primitives "Bee's Gathering"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

BBD "Autumn Silhouette"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

BBD "It's Berry Time"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

 HE "Land of Peace & Plenty"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

Plum Street Samplers "Colonial Garden"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Thanks for visiting!  

I am off to stitch and hope to be back

soon with another finish.

 

Hope you have a great week and happy stitching.



be happy.

 

Work is just too draining sometimes and I find

myself having to remind myself to be happy.

 

Solution?

Find some happy fabric....

 

 

and create a basket of happy.... 

 

 

It begins with a

simple alphabet....

 

 

  with simple Aida....

and simple finishing....

 

  for a wonderful start.

 

 ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 Thoughts of spring flowers....

they sneak into my basket too!

  

Whether at work or home.....



 

 I am reminded to keep happy thoughts.

    

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Easter is such a wonderful time to reflect

on how fortunate I am to have my faith,

family and friends.  I hope you can enjoy

this time and have a wonderful week.

Weird week in South Carolina....

 

Pax aka "Winter Mess 2014"

 

The week started with the impending visit

from Pax to South Carolina.  It is uncommon

that we get hit with snow and ice and this would

be the second time in two weeks.  We stocked up

on every possible junk food item needed to

weather the storm.  We received more ice than

snow and were so fortunate not to lose power.  

Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands were

not so lucky and they estimate there were still

100,000 without power as of this morning.  We

have several family members and friends who

have been out since Tuesday night.  I know the

utility employees are working hard to restore

everyone and I am praying

everyone will be back to normal soon.

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Thanks to Pax, we got three snow days and 

hubby  thought it would be a good idea to

get caught up on some household chores

....seriously????  

These are a gift so I quickly declared them

"stitch days" and made the most of them.

 

The Primitive Hare "Love Never Fails" freebie

stitched on 32ct coffee dyed linen with

Victorian Motto

 

I stitched this cute freebie last weekend and got

the finishing done just in time for Valentine's.

 

Since I had the sewing machine out,

I finished these recent finishes off too.

 

Homespun Elegance "Majestic Bird"

 

 Summer House "Simple Abundance"

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I made good use of my stitching time on

Part 2 of Thirteenth Colony.

I was able to finish one page of the 4 page design.



 By The Bay "Thirteenth Colony-Part 2"

 

My last stitch was put in Friday night around

10:20 when hubby and I felt some rumblings.  

At first we thought we were crazy ... you know

that second you think "did that really happen?"

Lo and behold.... it was an earthquake.

There was a second aftershock this afternoon

but was too weak to be felt 60 miles away.

 

Needless to say, that just capped off one of

the weirdest weeks here.  Glad to see things are

getting back to normal and am actually looking

forward to going back to work tomorrow.

 

Hope you all have a great week and

happy stitching!



A new pin pillow....

Last year I admired a beautiful design June

was stitching and she was sweet enough

to let me borrow it once she had stitched it.

 

I finally decided to move this one to the

top of the pile and I am so glad I did.

 

Here are all of the stitched pieces

for my little pin pillow.

Jardin Prive "Carre d'Abeilles"

stitched on 32 ct. white linen w/ DMC

 

I am in love with the colors..... 

the pinks and greens are just perfect.

 

And there are bees.....what could be better?

 

 

Lovely little design for the sides.

 

When they all come together, you have

this wonderful little treasure.

  

Precious comes to mind when I look at this.

  

 I had the best idea to stitch my

initials and year on the back.

 

Unfortunately....it remained just an idea.

I remembered once I had stitched it together. 

 

Either way....I just love it!

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~    *   ~

 

I was lucky to meet up with Charlene,

Faye, Nicole and Linda a few weeks

ago for shopping and stitching.  Faye

treated us to the cutest little pin

cushion.   I just love the little

pin with a wool penny decoration. 

  

 

 

~    *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

I am trying to keep track of my stitching

progress this year and here are my

efforts from January....

Scarlett House "Ann Topley"

started January 1, 2014

 

Dames of the Needle "Ode to Mary Needleroll"

started January 2013

 

~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~   *   ~

 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you

have a happy stitching week!