Autumn & Halloween finishes....

I have been busily stitching my exchange Christmas ornaments for the Pals convention, but couldn't resist stitching some autumn and halloween goodies. I just love autumn...though it practically skips South Carolina each year.

Homespun Elegance "Autumn Time"
Stitched on 32 ct coffee-dyed linen

I had this little frame and finished it right away. Just too cute!

SB "Be Witch"
Stitched on 14 ct. coffee-dyed aida

I just love this series from SB and this one stitched up pretty quick. Isn't this the cutest...though my camera skills have turned a light brown fabric into white. Can't decide whether to finish as a cube or treat bag or pillow...guess it will depend on whether I feel like dragging out the sewing machine. We shall see....

Thanks for all your comments on my needlebook. Thank goodness for all of the wonderful blogs with finishing instructions...made it very easy. I can't wait to try another but I have to stitch something first!

I also must report that the recipient of the Petite Rainbow Row was over the moon with the gift and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of it framed but will do so next time I visit it.

Oh well...off to stitch. Work is extremely busy right now with all of the college students reporting back to school so it will probably be an early evening.

Happy stitches.....

My first needlebook....

Well....not too bad for my first attempt! I made this needlebook for Jan for a LK Exchange and was pleased with the results....

My sewing skills are something to be desired so I definitely had to use my noggin for this one. I even figured out to make two little pockets inside but still can't sew in a straight line! Jan liked it and I certainly enjoyed stitching and finishing it for her.

Thanks for looking...happy stitches....

Finished "Joy in the Journey"....

Thank you for some many wonderful comments on Rainbow Row....it is now at the framers and can't wait to see it "finished".

More importantly .............I have my third finish in one week! This amazing for me! After Rainbow Row, I was itching to start something new, but decided to stick with my latest WIP and finished it up today. I loved stitching this and can't wait to get it framed.

Diane Williams "Joy in the Journey"
FTLOCS July 1999
Stitched on 18 ct. white w/ DMC

Now...I can get busy stitching my Pals exchange items for the October convention. I have several things ready to go and now I just have to start stitching.

Happy stitches .....

Petite Rainbow Row finished....

Well....I just put the last stitch in and it will be going to the framers on Saturday.

Petite Rainbow Row -- Barbara & Cheryl
Stitched on 32 ct linen with DMC

Now I'm trying to resist the urge to start something new.... maybe something small that I can finish quickly! Oh what to do....

Thank you for the comments on Evergreen...they always make my heart smile! Happy stitches...

"Joy in the Journey" & BBD "Evergreen"....

Yesterday, I was lucky to stitch with Amy. Renae, Linda, Deb, and Faye and had a wonderful time making some new stitching friends. We had a lot of fun talking and laughing and stitching, believe it or not. After a little shopping at Down Sunshine Lane, we got down to business and I got a lot of stitching done on a new start.

Diane Williams "Joy in the Journey"-- FTLCS July 1999

I had started it a couple of weeks ago and love stitching it. I figured being in my To Do pile for 10 years was long enough and decided to not neglect anymore!

Once finished....it will look like this. Isn't this pretty?

Lastly....I finally finished "Evergreen" after picking up some more thread yesterday.

BBD "Evergreen" stitched on 23 ct. linen

I changed Palomino and Havana to Collards and Kudzu since I wanted it "greener". This was a fun stitch and I will probably frame it someday.

Thanks for looking and happy stitches.....

LK Exchange......

The mailman had this wonderful little goodie waiting in my mailbox today!

Jody (no blog...yet) from the LK Exchange stitched this for me and made it into a needleroll...how neat is that. I love the design, which I don't have in my stash, so I am so glad she stitched this for me. Now I can't wait until Fall to display it!

Thanks for the nice comments ...glad to know someone's reading this! Happy weekend and stitches.....

Some Cruising, stitching & TUSAL.....

Some cruising.....after 7 days of rest and relaxation....I am pooped!! I didn't realize that no working, cooking and cleaning could be so exhausting. We did have a great time and I just wanted to share a few pictures.

Our home....Freedom of the Seas as we sun on CocoCay

The beautiful waters of St. Marten.

Hubby enjoying Orient Beach.

The Good....beautiful waters, fruity drinks, daily trivia (Team Thomas ruled!) .....

The Bad....food, sunburn, Visa bill ....

The Funny.....nude beach (no...if you've seen one you have NOT seen them all!)

Some Stitching....yes, lucky for me, I packed some stitching. After suffering a severe sunburn, I was able to spend a whole day stitching and actually have a finish to show for it. This has been in my "To Do" pile for awhile...

Bent Creek "Here Comes the Sun"

Cross Stitch & Needlework-- June 1998

The there is a companion piece, Full Moon Rising, and I hope to get that stitched in a few weeks.

Lastly...Totally Useless SAL

With the full moon, it is time to show my progress on the SAL...

Well...we are half way through and my jar is getting pretty full! Want to join in? Head on over to TUSAL and join the fun.

Thanks for looking! Happy stitches....

Christmas In July Exchange....

I received my package today from Robyn Y (no blog) for the HOE Christmas Exchange and contained this ornament.....


I have always liked this design but have never stitched it so I am excited to add it to my collection. She also sent some goodies, including some pretty hand dyed fabric and hand-dyed thread. The fabric has green and violet tones and is so pretty....will have to find something special to stitch on it.

Robyn's package arrived from New South Wales and when my hubby told me I had a package from there, all I could think of was the Clancy Brothers singing....

"Here we are in New South Wales....sheering sheep as big as whales"

Hopefully I will get there one day, but am happy to have met a new stitcher from there.

P.S....Cruising....

Well....only 4 more days until I am enjoying fruity boat drinks in the Caribbean! Of course....I still need to pack some stitching just in case I get tired of laying by the pool and sipping said drinks. To simplify things, I may just sleep in my bathing suit the entire trip. Would make getting up in the morning a lot easier!!!

Oh well....enough rambling...off to stitch. Thanks for visiting and happy stitches...

A cool 4th of July.....

Hubby and I decided to ride up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, only a 2.5 hour drive from Columbia, and had the most relaxing 4th! We got on the Parkway in Asheville and drove south getting off at Sylva and heading home through Highlands.

The views were wonderful....but better yet were the temperatures! We left Columbia at 93 degrees and enjoyed 64 degrees at Richland Balsam Overlook! Riding with the windows down it was actually pretty chilly but none of that nasty humidity!

How beautiful.....we would love to live there. Well, until the snow came in the winter, but think I could deal with it. Reality then hit us again when we arrived home at 11:00 pm and the temp was still 82 degrees in our fair city.

Lastly.....

I also received this nice award from Marie ...it really made my day. She has been feeling a little under the weather lately, but I definitely enjoy visiting her blog so she certainly deserved it. It would be impossible for me to pick just 7 blogs I visit so many each day. I offer this to all visitors to my blog since everyone's blog gives me joy when reading! Please feel free to post on your blog and offer to your favorites too!

The rules are:

Put this picture on your blog.
Put a link to whom you got it from.

Name at least 7 blogs!
Leave a comment on their blogs.

Hope all had a great independence day and happy stitching....

Some stitching progress......

Happy 4th of July!!!

My progress on Rainbow Row....

Barbara & Cheryl "Petite Rainbow Row"

Thanks to Marlene, I have stitched the second house and am moving right along. Well...at least until I reached the 6th house. I have stitched what I call the "original" B&C Rainbow Row and have been using it as a guide since I really liked the colors. House #6 color is more "peachey" in the original but the petite chart used DMC 223 for this house. Assuming the original was correct, I skipped over it and went to the next house. I finally got the bright idea to search the web for a photo to confirm the color. Lo and behold....the color does appear to be more pink so I will stay with the suggested thread colors.

Interestingly.... house #9 appears in photos to be a light grey. Looking at the original, my last house is a light pink! How there could be such a difference? Hubby suggested there may have been a renovation....but to Rainbow Row? I doubt that...guess the color is in the eye of the beholder. I will stick with the light grey. Oh well.....enough about that!

More stitching......

BBD "Evergreen"

While I debated the colors on Rainbow Row, I decided I would ponder it some more while stitching BBD "Evergreen". I love the design but hate the "counting" since the design is all over the place. Of course, this resulted in a miscount, so again, I have made this design my own. Simply put....I was too lazy to rip out my mistake and will work around it when I get to the border.

P.S........

I just received the new Elizabeth Gaskell collection including "Daughters & Wives", "Cranford", and "North & South". I have always loved Jane Austen and had seen snippets of these on PBS so decided to order. I just love stitching all afternoon and evening while watching these movies so I have gotten a lot done in the last few days. I still have "North & South" to watch and can't wait to do so.

Enough chattering....hubby and I have decided to celebrate the 4th with a field trip somewhere in South Carolina. Oh where will the road take us.

As always...thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you all have a great holiday and weekend. Happy stitches....