Happy New Year!!

Well, 2008 is almost here, where did this year go so quickly? I'm looking forward to 2008 & hope it will be a happy & blessed year for all of us. I'm very thankful for so many things, my dear husband, my family, that our health problems aren't worse, that we finally built our house after 19 years, for our business which I enjoy so very much!! 2008 brings our 20th wedding anniversary, which is so hard to believe!! When did I get old enough to have been married 20 years? Am I not still only 20 years old? I guess not, as my aches & pains tell me often enough.

My stitching goals for 2008 are going to be quite different than 2007. I participated in LOTS of exchanges (more than 20) but as many of you know, the exchange groups I've been a part of this year are closing. I will stay with the F&S exchanges & hope to do some here & there, but other than my RR's, I'm going to be STINGY & stitch for myself & our new home this year. My list is quite long with many large projects (it's to the right if you care to peek). I'm planning to start the Personalized Quaker today for our 20th Anniversary piece. I hope to finish it by the end of Feb. at least. (Our Anniversary is Feb. 14th!). Wish me luck!

I have enjoyed meeting many of you in my first "year" (actually 9 or so months) of blogging and will continue to visit your blogs & hope to hear from you often.

Happy stitching & Happy New Year!

Edited to add: PS - I KNOW I can't accomplish even a small portion of my "2008 Goals" list posted here, but it's awfully fun to wish! ;-) These are just some of the many designs I want to stitch the most from my ever expanding stash! ;-)

Some finishes to share..... & a congratulations!!!

I started the new Lizzie Kate Double Flips on Saturday & finished all 4 of them by yesterday. I changed all but one of the original colors and I stitched them on 28 ct linen banding to make a bellpull when it's all finished. I'll add the charms when all 12 are stitched. Aren't they cute? These are my fav LK's yet I think. I like my colors changes as well!

Next is Renee's Ackwork Friendship RR square I stitched. She chose WDW 30 ct Aztec Red linen & Crescent Colors Raven floss. She has seen the square already & loves it! I love the fabric personally! :-) Also, the congratulations is for Renee, she became engaged to Shawn on Christmas day! I'm so happy for you my friend!!!! Can't wait to see that ring! :-) :-)

And last but not least, I stitched this little JBW design & made it into an ornament for my friend Terry. She got it Christmas Eve (just in time huh?!). I love this little tree!!

Thanks for looking & happy stitching everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a very happy & blessed Christmas & I hope your day is filled with love, joy & all of your favorite things. I am truly thankful to be so blessed with my darling husband, my wonderful family, my friends and all that we have.

I wanted to share something that was in a Christmas card I received this year that I just love:

If, instead of a gem or even a flower,

we could cast the gift of a lovely

thought into the heart of a friend,

that would be giving as angels give.

by George MacDonald

Isn't that lovely!? Thanks to all for visiting my blog & MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh, a couple of ornament finishes too....

I made these last week as well. The Valerie Pfeiffer bird is for a friend of my mom's. I actually stitched it last year but never got it finished & to Donna as she was going out of town for about 6 weeks, then I "lost" it. I finally found it again & finished it off. I wish the cording was thicker but it's okay. I will give it to Donna sometime today, I think she'll like it.

This is Sandy's ornament that she stitched & sent to me & had me to finish for her to go with her others. Yes, she sent PINK fabric! lol She said I'd just *love* it. It's okay, it's hers & not mine. ;-) I do love the design and plan to stitch it for myself one of these days, but it won't have a pink border! ;-) lol

I don't know if she's gotten it back in the mail yet or not as she is super busy with the holidays & family right now.

Thanks for looking & happy stitching!

Two Exchanges Received....

I received two wonderful exchanges from Terry the other day but haven't had a chance to post them until now. She had my name in the SBEBB Bourse exchange and she was also my Secret Santa at the Needle Nook!! She sent me two LOVELY stitched gifts and lots of other great goodies as well, take a peek at these...... (sorry the pics aren't better, I'm not a good photographer...)
And MY Scissor case stitched on 36 ct linen w/Soie Belle Cranberry! I say MY scissos case because she put my name on it! :-)

Aren't they lovely? She really outdid herself on these!!! Thank you again Terry, I love them both!

LOTS to share today.....

Wow, just 5 days until Christmas Eve, hard to believe. Where has the year gone so quickly? I have actually been stitching! Woohoo! I finished up a RR piece after I had a quick lunch (actually, more of a snack since it was already 2 p.m.). I don't have a pic of it yet, but I'll post one soon.

First I want to share the F&S piece I sent to Vonna (she got it today).... it's Shepherd's Bush Fa La La & I just love this little guy. I think Vonna will as well. He just begged to go & live with her so I had to stitch him up & sent him to her. That's okay, his cousin is going to live with me when I get him stitched! ;-)

Below is a pic of a LOVELY ornament I recevied from Ruth today! She also sent me some other goodies that are wrapped & I'm supposed to wait & open them on Christmas. Want to bet they don't last that long? ;-) Isn't my new ornie beautiful! Thank you Ruthie!

Next, here a pic of my Christmas Tree this year. I know you can't see the ornies close up, we may have to take another pic. :-) I LOVE my ornaments.... I'm an avid collector and I treasure them all! There is also a pic of a few on a stand & also a pic of Ray & I in front of the tree. Don't let that scare you away though! ;-) I have an ornament tree with all stitched ornies on my table as well. I'll try & get a pic of that before Christmas.

And last but certainly not least, this is something extremely special that Ray made for me that I have to share. When I was much younger, my grandma told me that when she was gone, she wanted me to have her cedar chest that her dad had built for when she was very young. I'm the oldest granddaughter & my great-grandpa lived until I was 19, so I remember him very well. When my dad brought the cedar chest to me a couple of years ago after my grandma passed, it was in pretty bad shape. The top was in several pieces & we needed a cedar board for Ray to be able fix it. It wasn't very "pretty" either. Well, after the house was finished and we put it in the house, it really didn't "fit" anywhere (and it was pretty ugly). We decided instead of using the chest, that Ray would find a way to use the wood. Ray built this beautiful quilt chest for me and lined it with the cedar from my grandma's cedar chest. He didn't want me to see it until it was finished, and he surprised me with the label he put inside of it. I will cherish it always & someday it will be passed down to our darling niece. I hope it will mean as much to her as it does to me.

Thanks for looking & have a great day! I have more pics to share soon, so don't forget to visit!

SBEBB Bourse Exchange to Dawn....

Since the Bourse was to be mailed in December, I decided to make a Christmas themed piece for Dawn. I love the fabric (and the tree from JBW too) and hope that Dawn like it as well. It did turn out rather large, but that just means she can put more goodies in it, right? ;-) Thanks for looking!

Autumn Seasonal Exchange from Myrna..

I received a nice box of Autumn themed goodies from Myrna yesterday! Look at this tin she stitched & finished in wonderful Autumn colors, can't get much more FALL like than this! And all these goodies, wow! I've been spoiled haven't I? ;-) Thank you Myrna, hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

You know the old saying....

about your eyes being bigger than your stomach when you take more food than you can eat? Well, my problem isn't with food, it's with what I want to stitch. I keep seeing/reading about stitching goals in 2008, and I keep thinking about all I REALLY want to stitch. Geez, it's NOT humanly possible. It's really frustrating to have such a long list & KNOW you can't do 1/2 of it! lol

So I guess I need to pare it down to something that's somewhat sane at least....

MUST do projects:
1 & 2. Finish up 2 RR's I'm in (one is Ackworth Friendship Book & it's just starting).
3. Stoney Creek's The Lord's Prayer (finish this!)
4. Personalized Quaker by Martina Dey (this is my big Jan/Feb project)
5. My Personalized Sampler by Nouveau Encore Designs (currently a UFO)
6. Finish Rosewood Manor's And A Forest Grew (it's about half done)
7. Hannah's Hummingbird Knot Garden by Liz Turner Diehl (for my mom)
8. AMAP's Victoria's QUaker (another UFO)
9. Just Nan's Common Ground
10. An ornament each month
and 11-100. - LOTS of smaller designs & exchange pieces.

See, I'm TOTALLY insane. This doesn't even touch on my UFO list hardly! Who wants to join me in the crazy house? They will let us bring scissors AND needles I'm sure! ;-)

Happy stitching everyone!

Seasonal Exchange to Nancy....

I finally finished the Autumn Seasonal Exchange & sent it to Nancy, and here it is! I stitched an older PS design with Acorns & made it into a scissor fob. I used Needle Necessities "Salsa" floss, which is one of my favs! I included the scissors & some other goodies, but I don't think I have a pic of those.

I hope to get some stitching in this weekend... I've been working all day so I'm ready for a break! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Rabbits Big Day TO Becky (SBEBB)

I had Becky's name & she emailed me & asked me to post a pic as she isn't going to have time. I chose to stitch the LHN design from the 2007 JCS Ornament issue as I was hoping it was one that she hadn't had time to stitch yet. I had other finishing ideas, but could find no "good" fabric in my stash so ended up making it into a pinkeep. I know she likes pinkeeps, so hopefully it's okay. Most of the other items I sent were "Bee" related, including the LHN exclusive Busy Needle from The Busy Needle. Hope she liked it all. Thanks for looking & happy stitching everyone!

Merry Stitches... HO HO HO!

He's finished! I started him Saturday & finished up the backstitching last night & made him into an ornament today. I love how he turned out!! I try to make at least one ornament for myself every year, and this year it's Merry Stitches by Homespun Elegance. My Pal Michele gave me the pattern in MB in Oct (thanks gal!) & I just had to get him made for this Christmas.

Thanks for looking & happy stitching!

Lots to share today.....

Hi everyone! I haven't had a chance to sit down & blog in awhile. Things should slow down a bit now I hope.

SBEBB Rabbit's Big Day Exchange

First, let me share this lovely exchange package from Chris! This is SBEBB's Rabbit's Big Day exchange (you all know I love rabbits) and Chris certainly did a wonderful job! She sent me a wonderful rabbit stitched it in red (which is my fav color) and filled the package with all things red (and the ADORABLE note cards too!). Thank you Chris for a wonderful exchange package, I love it all!!!

STITCH-IN

I had some friends over to stitch yesterday and it was a great day. I really enjoyed the "down time" & I finished most of an ornmanet. Hope to finish the stitching today & as soon as it's done, I will post a pic. Say hello to Deborah, Chris, Myra, me (in red of course), Malinda, Carolyn & Renee. Some of these gals drove down from NC for the day & we stitched, laughed & talked, ate, laughed & talked a bit more, had a little gift exchange, laughed & talked more, stitched a bit more, ate again & then it was time for everyone to go home. :-( Wish it could have last longer. We're doing it again in March, so if anyone wants to come, send me an email!!!


Here we are in "Ray's room" actually stitching! I had moved the red chair from the living room to have room for the Christmas tree, so that gave us an extra seat too! :-)

The Lord's Prayer
This is my current new project that I've started that I will work on around the exchange & RR's I'm in. It's an older OOP Stoney Creek Pattern, The Lord's Prayer. I just love this one. I started it Thanksgiving night but haven't had a lot of stitching time (not with all of the muscle spasms in my back) but I will get it done. I changed the word colors to CC's Onionskin as it is a close match to our wall color & I didn't wnat to do the words in blue. I like it & that's what matters! :-)

Actually, I've done a tiny bit more on it since this pic was taken. I'll post again when there is some progress to show. I think it would be a fairly quick stitch if I didn't need to work on other things!

I should be able to post some of my recent exchange finishes soon. I had to redo the Redwork for Cari as the first one never arrived. Isn't the postal system "wonderful"? ;-( Check back later for more pics!

Thanks for looking & hope everyone has a great day & a great week ahead! Happy stitching!!