November update.....

Time has flown by again but I have been stitching.

Might want to grab a cup of coffee...

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I attended the Pals Stitching at the Beach in

mid-October and had just started this

BBD design.  I have had the design for

years in my stash and it hit me one day

that I had the perfect PTP fabric in my

stash and so a start was warranted.

I finished it at the retreat and can say

this one was a fun stitch. 

BBD "Sunflower House" stitched on

40ct PTP Dwarf linen with Victorian Motto threads

A few of my favorite elements from this design....

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I decided to stitch another part of these

design and I will have to say it

seemed to take forever.

There aren't too many elements in this

design so I'm not sure why it was

such a slow stitch.

I still have the last part to stitch and

hope to finish before year end.

Heartstring Samplery "Proverbs 17:17" from

"Three Little Proverbs" stitched on 40ct PTP Wren with

Victorian Motto and recommended threads

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I found this old design in my stash.   

It was a very quick stitch and hopefully

I can get it finished before Christmas.

Drawn Thread "Peace" stitched on 32ct Summer Khaki

with Victorian Motto threads

I didn't realize this ornament was full of

specialty stitches until after I started but

will say they weren't that difficult.  My favorite

was this little corner stitch, the Boucle stitch,

and will file that away for future use.

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I also stitched another in the

"A Most Notable Name"

series from Jeannette Douglass.   I just

love these quick stitches and only

have one left to complete.   I hope she

will continue this series with a few more. 

I love the sewing themed designs and hope

to have these finished into cross stitch

 project bags so I can enjoy them all of the time.

Jeannette Douglas Designs "Button Betty"

stitched on 40ct PTP Legacy with recommended threads

As is the norm, the design looked so much

better stitched than the model picture.

My favorite part was the little row of buttons. 

These will definitely be stitched again as

I add them to a future project.

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Lastly, I stitched these

Hands On Designs Chalk ornaments.

I just love these on this PTP fabric

but will say they were are difficult

without good lighting. 

Hands On Designs "Peace"

2015 JCS Ornament Issue

stitched on 32ct PTP Shadow with

Victorian Motto threads

The only thing I wasn't too happy with

was the white stitches.

I always find the white DMC difficult

to stitch as my stitches done seem to lay flat.

I do love the results though.

 Hands On Designs "Plenty"

2015 JCS Ornament Issue

stitched on 32ct PTP Shadow with

Victorian Motto threads

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If you made it this far...thanks for visiting.

Hope you have enjoying some good

stitching time during this holiday

season.  Happy stitching...

June's Ornament Exchange.....

Log Cabin Needlework's "Merry Christmas"

Stitched on 32 ct. coffee-dyed linen w/

Victorian Motto red, ST Maple Syrup & DMC 3051

Sandy at Stitchin' and Life in a Small Town

offered this freebie last December and it is

this month's You & I exchange ornament. 

I did change the recommended colors and

love how it turned out.  This is such a nostalgic

looking design that I am sure I will stitch

this one many more times.

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I am excited that this month's "exchange" partner is one of my new followers.......

Tracey

Tracey's Little Corner 

Hopefully you know the drill and know that you too may be an "exchange" partner if you are a follower...it's not too late.

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Well...I'm off to the Hampton County Watermelon Festival, which I am sure will be hotter than hades.  Luckily, we will have some nice cool watermelon to make it bearable.

Have a great weekend and happy stitching...

May's ornament exchange.....

Yes....it's time for the You & I ornament exchange.....

BC "The Christmas Collection" -- "Red Holly Berries"

Stitched over 1 on 25 ct Mocha Vintage evenweave

This is one of my favorites!  I found this

oldie from Bent Creek in my stash and decided

it would make a cute ornament.  Stitched over

one it turned out the perfect size.

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Hopefully you know the drill....this "exchange" involves me stitching two ornaments:

one for me and one for a lucky follower.

And so....this month's lucky

"exchange" partner is......

Sharon

It's Daffycat

It's not too late...if you want to be my

"exchange" partner for next month, just

make sure you're a follower!

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I can't believe the response I got on my "collection" of tuckaway pillows. 

I knew you would understand! 

Based on some of the comments and emails I received, I thought I would share a few tidbits. 

All of these tucks were made in 2001 & 2002
( used to do a local craft show in my hometown)
...so I have been lugging these things around
for all of the these years.  For obvious reasons, I haven't made any in years.  

The best part of this finishing is you can adjust the size to make them smaller, which are perfect for ornaments, or larger. 

CyberStitchers has this neat calculator and a tutorial with pics.  If you haven't tried them, you really should.  My sewing skills are
not that great so if I can do it anyone can!

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As always, thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment.  Hope you have a great stitching weekend and holiday.

March ornament exchange.....

Hard to believe another month has passed so quickly and it's ornament exchange time! 

The Drawn Thead's "Merry Little Christmas Ornament"

Mine--stitched on 32ct ivory w/ NN &WDW

Yours--stitched on 32ct khaki w/NN & WDW

This month's ornament is a freebie from The Drawn Thread and I just love this one!!! 

This was a fun and easy stitch and I can see many more of these as Christmas gifts.

And this month's ornament exchange partner is..........

Carolyn

Carolyn's Stitching Chatter and More

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I had very tiring trip and plan to stitch the weekend away!  Hope you have a great stitchy weekend too!!!

February ornament exchange.....

Motif from Jardin Prive "Christmas"

32ct dark red linen w/DMC

Mine  ........&.......  Yours

Happy 25th!  Yes it's that time again. 

I had this great red linen I've been wanted

to use and decided to stitch another motif

from the Jardin Prive Christmas design. 

Love it!  

I will say this was a close one and one

of the exchangers was about to be

disappointed (....that would be me!) 

I miscalculated the amount of fabric

needed and it was a close cut when finished

but I was able to piece it together. 

So mine is a little smaller but it is done!

Just love it! 

This month's lucky

exchange partner is........

Jackie

Jackie's Stitches

Hope she likes it as much as I do! 

If you want to be my next exchange partner, 

you just have to be a follower!

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I did start the traveling pattern that Daffycat

started and hope to finish it up this weekend

so visit back if you want to be the next

lucky stitcher!

I also got a nice surprise in the mail from Maggee 

and will share that with you this weekend! 

I do get to spend Saturday with some stitching

buddies so hopefully I will actually get

some stitching done!

Have a great weekend.....happy stitches!

My New Ornament Exchange.....

Can you ever have enough stitched ornaments?  Is that a crazy question?

I wanted to continue my "Me, Myself & I" Ornament Exchange this year but only I was interested in continuing. 

 After sharing my dilemma with my hubby,

he came up with a wonderful idea!

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I will be exchanging with YOU in the

"You & I Ornament Exchange"! 

(Well....not all of you, but at least 12 lucky "you".)

The premise is quite simple....

I will stitch an ornament each month....

one for me and one for you...a lucky follower. 

Rules?   None...

just the following disclaimer. 

I can't guarantee that "you" will like the

ornament exchanged so "you" can reserve

the right to refuse the ornament or

regift the ornament. 

(I do ask that it not be "disposed" of...

if you know what I mean!) 

If "you" prefer not to receive the ornament,

then I will just choose another "you". 

Can it be much simpler than that? 

And the best part about the exchange is....

"you" don't have to do anything!

 So....here January's exchange........

"Noel" motif

from Jardin Prive "Christmas"

32ct beige linen w/DMC(yours)

32ct white linen w/DMC(mine)

Teresa was so nice to share this design after I admired her finish.  I love the finished piece but couldn't resist stitching some of the motifs also provided with the design.  There are several more I want to stitch so don't be surprised when you see more of these! 

And I am happy to share an ornament with.....

Margaret
Days of a Sampler Lover

Well...this has been fun and I can wait to start stitching for next month!  If you want to be my "exchange" partner for next month, just make sure you're a follower!

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I also want to give a big
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
shoutout to my
MOM!
We were fortunate enough to celebrate on Sunday but I do hope she had a great day!  Love you lots....

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Thanks for visiting!  I loved reading all of your comments and hope the nasty flu skips your household!   Hoping you have many happy stitches this week....

December ornaments....

My last installment of my Me, Myself & I ornament exchange.....

Sampler Girl "Early American Motif Ornament"-JCS 2009

Log Cabin Needlework's "Noel"--freebie

Primrose Needleworks "Faith, Hope & Peace"--JCS 2010

It was hard to narrow down my December choices, but I had some help from some friends. I had started the Sampler Girl ornament because I love primitive designs.   Faye was stitching the "Faith, Hope, Love" ornament last weekend at the stitch-in and I just had to come home and stitch it too.  I never really noticed it because of the colors in the model, but after seeing Faye's numerous variations, I decided to change the colors too.  What a novel idea!!!!  Lastly, I just needed one more and Sandy's freebie was just perfect.  I did change the colors for what I had closeat hand.  I also used some cute little buttons I had forthe flowers.  I love the way it turned out. 

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My prized stitch ornaments!

Did I really finish all these????

Well...here are most of them.  I couldn't remember all 33 I had at the time when I took the picture but this is the majority.  It was nice seeing them all together and ready to go on the trees.

Little tree in my kitchen....definitely my favorite.

Our big tree....pretty simple!

We collect Christopher Radko ornaments so hubby decided I would have to hang "my ornaments" after he hung those to make sure he enough room.  I love them too since we have collected them from our first Christmas together so I was happy to oblige.  Maybe one day I will become very industrious and put up my "own" big tree with just stitched ornaments.....we'll see!

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Playing with paper

Lastly I will leave you with some altered letters I made a couple of years ago.   I covered some wooden letters with scrapbook paper, ribbons and stickers.   I put magnets on the back so I could put them on my 'fridge... I still love them.

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Thanks for all of your wonderful comments over the last year as you obliged my monthly posting!  I do appreciate you taking the time to visit and leave a comment.  I do hope you are having a great holiday season with family and friends!

November Ornaments.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well...it's time for this month's ornament exchange with me, myself & I. 

Cherished Stitches "Christmas Joy Needlebook design"--
JCS Ornament 2009

Cherished Stitches "Christmas Joy Pinkeep design"--
JCS Ornament 2010

Shepherds' Bush "Be Merry"

I just love this month's selection.  I stitched the "Be Merry" for the Pals Fall Fling ornament exchange and loved it so I decided to stitch another for myself.  Ironically, the other two I picked at random and was surprised when I started them that the were by the same designer.   I didn't realize until now they are coordinating pieces...guess I'm not very observant while I stitch! I do love them, though, and hope to stitch again both for their intended uses. 
Well..."we" only have one more month of exchanging and I hope to get an early start so that I can enjoy December's ornaments on this month's tree.  Can't wait to get all of my ornaments together so stay tuned for a pic soon!

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A toast to a wonderful day!

I also want to wish a very happy birthday to my hubby, who celebrated yesterday!  We will continue the celebration in Clemson this weekend as we meet our instate football rivals.  I have ordered up a win for his birthday and am hoping they can deliver! 

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As always...thanks for visiting and all of your great comments.   I do enjoy reading them and thank you for taking your time to share. I do hope you have a great holiday weekend with many happy stitches!

Me, Myself & I October exchange with a twist....

Here is my monthly ornament exchange but I have a little twist this month.  I stitched two ornaments for the Pal Fall Fling ornament exchange.....

"Poinsettia" Cross Stitch & Country Crafts



 SB "Be Merry"

 

Since I knew I would get two ornaments from Pals, I decided I would count them in October's ornaments along with a cute LK freebie I stitched....

LHN "Frosty Flakes" stitched by Nicole

"Happy Holidays stiched by Char-OH

LK "Joy" freebie stitched by me!

I love the two ornaments I picked and can't wait to add them to the ornaments I received last year.

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Well...I will be back later with some more pics from this past weekends Pals Fall Fling! 

Thanks for visiting my space on the web! 

Happy stitching....

Me, Myself & I ornaments....

JBW Designs "Christmas Keepsakes II"

Homespun Elegance motif from "Merry Winter Bellpull"

I decided to take a break from the JCS Ornament issues and stitch some stuff from my stash.  I love the JBW ornaments and stitched two using DMC 115 and 94.  I loved the green and think I will be stitching these again.  I had an unfortunate accident with a water bottle and my Homespun Elegance ornament suffered the consequences ... oh well I still like the way it turned out.

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Thanks for all your wonderful comments on the Sparrow's Song.  It's amazing how much I have thought of my grandmama over the last few days.  I can vividly remember the smell of her house, the pictures on the wall, and the homemade straw broom that was always in the corner.  Oh how I wish I could spend another afternoon with her.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you are having a wonderful week and wish you many happy stitches!

Me,Myself & I ornaments....

Little by Little "Sleigh Bird"--'03 JCS Ornaments

SB "Bethehem Slept"--'05 JCS Ornaments

Primitve Needle "Penny Angel"--'09 JCS Ornaments

It's that time again!  I really like this month's installment, but I have to say the "Penny Angel" has to be my favorite so far.  I love

face jugs and this reminds me of one.

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Christmas in July.....

So here is a pic of all 21 I have stitched so far......looks like I will need a bigger tree or I need to stitch some smaller ornaments!

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Lastly.....

I found this stitched goodie while reorganizing my craft room.  I stitched it a few years ago and it all centered around the button and scrap red aida I had.  The "button" is actually a miniture clay ornament I had bought at Walmart (acutally got 6 in the pack) and I thought it was too cute.  I just copied the saying from a LK design and voila a cute mini pillow.

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Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on the photo album finish.  I did get a few emails about the finishing and believe me it was easy.  I found some great tutorials on the web with pictures (I am a visual learner) so give it a try. 

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If you have made it this far....thanks for visiting and happy stitching!

Me, Myself and I ornaments....

JBW Designs "Starry,Starry Night,Little By Little "Christmas Joy", HIH "Woodland Noel"
1998 JCS Ornament issue

Here is this month's installment for my "exchange". With summer setting in "some" of us were a little "lazy" in our stitching but I won't call any names. Let's just say I expect more from myself next month! I am missing the charm for the Woodland Noel and will have to look for something suitable. The design called for a Heart in Hand charm but I think I will look for a rustic heart.

Thanks so much for visitng my blog and all of your great comments on my last posts. I do enjoy reading them and feel like I am "visiting" with friends!

We are on our way tonight to the Hampton Co. Watermelon Festival, SC oldest continuing. Hope to have some cold, juicy melon! Stay cool and happy stitching....

Me, Myself & I ornaments for May

Knotted Tree "Peace"-JCS Ornament 2008
Workbasket "Rejoice"--JCS Ornament 2005
SB "In the Stable"--JCS Ornament 2004

Here is this month's installment....not sure where the month went but "we" just did make it under the gun!

I absolutely love the Knotted Tree "Peace" ornament...love the colors in this one and I used the DMC conversion a light silvery grey fabric I had. I am not sure why I never really noticed it until this month but I'm glad I did.

Well that's it from my corner of the universe .... thanks for visiting! Happy stitches.....

Me, Myself & I ornaments.....

Here are April's ornaments....

Little by Little "Merry Christmas to You" 1999 JCS Ornament
Little by Little "View from Above" 2001 JCS Ornament
SB "Wisemen Came" 2003 JCS Ornament

And some more finishing....

Stitched on 32ct coffee dyed linen w/ WDW's Palomino, Caper and GA's Old Blue Paint

Nan at Threadwork Primitives adapted a motif from BBD's "Quaker Garden" and finished it as a great box...if you love primitives, you have to check it out! She was so nice to share the charted "spring" so I could stitch it too. I didn't have a round box to fit my finish so I made a pin pillow. I think it is so sweet! Nan has some beautiful finishes as well as her own primitive designs too if you haven't checked them out.

Lastly......

I came home from a wonderful visit with Amy yesterday to new patio furniture. My mom gifted me this for my birthday and hubby spent the afternoon putting it together! (I really think she got it for my cat, Pork Chop, so he will have some place comfy to relax on the patio....the concrete just isn't very comfortable for him!)

Speaking of Amy's, boy did we have fun yesterday! She took me to a place that sells fabric remmants and trims. OMG....you wouldn't believe what we got for $6.00!!! She has a pic posted on her blog and you won't believe it. We did end up with some interesting designs! Now I just need to get busy stitching so that I can use some of them!

I finally got BBD "Honeysuckle Manor" and some wonderful fabric from DSL....boy do I love this book!! After seeing all of the wonderful projects on fellow stitchers' blogs, I can't wait to startsomething!

Thanks for visiting and happy stitches....

Me, Myself & I Ornament exchange...

BBD "Christmas Ornament"-2004 JCS Ornament issue
PS "Two by Two:Deer"-1998 JCS Ornament issue
SB "Shepherds Watched"-2002 JCS Ornament issue

Yes....it's that time again! Here are this month's exchanged ornaments and I think these are my favorite so far! I just love the BBD ornament!

Here are all of the ornaments "exchanged" so far this year. I only stitched 9 ornaments total for 2009 so I am doing the big happy dance...my Christmas tree is going to look awesome if I say so myself.

LK "By Golly Be Jolly-Santa 2000"
stitched on 18 ct. aida w/ DMC

I just love these LK santas and stitched another a few weeks ago. I plan to make it into a cube too so I can display at work. I love these designs because they are so easy to stitch...can't wait to start the next one!

As always....thanks for visiting! Happy stitching....

Me, Myself & I February exchange....

Boy...the 25th really snuck up on "us" but "we" all got our ornaments completed for this month's exchange....

SB "Angels Sang", JCS 2001 Ornament issue
Elizabeth's Designs "Christmas Ewe", JCS 2001 Ornament issue
Trail Creek Farm "Joyous", JCS 2004 Ornament issue

I am amazed how small the ornaments are when finished. Guess I need to pay closer attention to the design size....duh! Well...that's six down and only thirty to go!

I started CHS "Frederika" decided to start on the border first so nothing excited to show yet...at least nothing you can oooh and aaah over! I also decided to throw in "Lucky Ewe" from Bent Creek, which is stitching up quickly. Hopefully, I will finish this weekend.

Thanks for visiting and all of the wonderful comments. Happy stitching.....

Me, Myself & I Ornament Exchange.....

First, I have to blame Amy for this hair-brained idea! After seeing her Christmas trees packed with stitched ornaments, I decided I had to have one too. I know Amy not only stitched some of these ornaments but has received many over the years from gifts and exchanges. I love exchanges, but knowing myself, there was no way I could sign up for enough ornament exchanges to fill my tree by December. So....I decided I would start my own monthly exchange with me and myself. Over dinner one night, "we" formulated a plan, perused the JCS ornament magazines, discussed our likes and dislikes, and made a wish lists of our favorite ornaments. As with any good exchange, we had to have a monthly deadline and agreed we would get together on the 25th of each month to exchange said ornaments! If our calculations are correct, that would be 36 wonderful ornaments ready for my Christmas tree.

Well....here it is the, January 25th, and here are the fruits of our labors....

SB "2000 Years Ago", BBD "Quaker Medallion", Homespun Elegance "Starry Santa"

I would like to hone my finishing skills and decided to give try my hand at a strawberry...unfortunately it looks more like a carrot in real life! I believe we were all relatively pleased with our efforts and are anxious to start next month's batch.

On another note...

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on "Truly Thine". I did find a white frame at Hobby Lobby so I just need to get busy and get it framed. After fondling my stash for a few nights, I finally decided to start an older design from Sheepish Designs.

I love the colors in this one...forgot to take a picture of my progress but here is the finished design. I t's stitching up quickly so hope to finish by this weekend!

Well...better get busy stitching. Happy stitches to you....

LK Ornament finish times 8.....

Whew...I finished them just in time!

LK "Peace*Joy*Love"
2002 JCS Ornament issue
18 ct aida w/DMC

Back of ornament

I decided a few weeks ago that I would stitch my staff an ornament. Since there are eight, I had to pick something quick, simple, and that I wouldn't get sick of after the second finish! I change the colors and decided to finish them with a beaded edge after Staci's wonderful post about her beaded edges. Let me say...I have a new finishing technique and best of all it doesn't require the sewing machine! I am proud to say they are wrapped and ready to go...truly a first for me!

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season thus far and many happy stitches!

Ornament finishes and UFO update...

Here are some ornaments I worked on last week. I tried finishing two circular designs for the first time and they are so-so....will need to use more batting next time.

Threads Through Time "Reindeer Garden"
2000 JCS

I omitted the reindeer from this design and added the initials for myself and hubby...so I guess "Reindeer Garden" isn't really an appropriate name!

Threads Through Time "Poinsettias and Pines"
1998 JCS

I omitted the pines and gold urns in this ornament just using the green/red combo. DMC 3363 and 3771 are my two new favorite colors for Christmas ornaments.

With My Needle "Needleworkers Pocket"
2003 JCS

Obviously, I didn't finish this as a needlepocket, but loved the design. The pic looks "pink", but the design is actually stitched on coffee-dyed 18 ct w/ 3771 DMC.

Progress on SB "Herb Gatherer"......

I missed stitching last week on my UFO, but got in about 6 hours this past Friday night. I have finished the lady with the exception of beading and will start the border and herbs next week.

Lastly.....

LK May Flip-It Stamp

I finished my May SAL with Needlework Haven forum....at least I will get to enjoy it for a couple of weeks!

Thanks for all of your nice comments and happy stitches.....