Happy Home SAL Progress.... (and more!)

Please excuse my crooked pic, and the fact that the fabric is wrinkled, but I wanted to share my progress as of Thursday night. I took the pic yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it. It's coming along, though I don't like stitching that alphabet in 3 colors. That's what overdyed threads are for, right? lol It does look good, but next time I think I'd switch to an overdyed floss.

I also am in the process or working on a RR & also have put a few (very few) stitches in "And A Forest Grew". Rosewood Manor has a new one coming out very soon called "And A Garden Grew" (I think, I don't have it in front of me). Of course it's alredy on my "must have" list. I think I'll redo her verse a bit though. I only have a pic in a trade mag that I can't share just yet. But hopefully it will be out in early June.

So are there any Cladium experts here? This is a pic of my MINIATURE (yeah, right!) "Gingerland" Cladium's, and they have had 3 bloom spikes on them. I didn't know they bloomed & I've talked to sevearl others who have them who said they'd never seen a bloom on one either. Pretty neat huh? I have more of the same Cladium's outside & they're not nearly as big. Must be something in our home that's making them HUGE!!! The hummingbirds are here in full force, fighting over the feeders & almost knocking themselves out running into our windows/french doors. We also have lots of cardinals, 2 doves, Blue Jays, we've seen 2 Painted Buntings, Blue Birds that love to play in the fountain & but won't get near the birdbath, strange huh? And of course the pesty Mocking Birds & blackbirds. We also have a little zoo going with the squirrels, bunnies (which I ADORE) and a turtle! There was a big ol' guy sitting right out by our patio the other day, just sat that for an hour or so. I guess as long as the snakes stay away, I'm quite happy with the "wildlife". ;-)

Have a great weekend & happy stitching!

New SAL Project - Happy Home Sampler

Since I don't have enough projects to stitch yet (ha ha), I'm going to be starting another new one tomorrow - Happy Home Sampler by Linda Bird from the July 08 issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework! I'll be stitching this along with Becky & Vonna. Becky posted it & I feel in love with it. I had the mag on order & it arrived today, isn't it cute? I'm trying to decide between 32 & 36 ct fabric... Antique White. I have the DMC pulled & am ready to start. Hopefully I'll get to stitch at least a couple of hours tomorrow. :-) Won't you join us?

My niece had her last day of school today. She came over for a couple of hours this afternoon and we enjoyed having her. I can't believe she is now going into the 3rd grade! Where is that little baby girl I used to hold & cuddle for as long as my sister would let me keep her?! She's growing up so fast. We're very proud of her too. She made the "headmaster's list" for the year, which means she kept her average at 95 & above with all of her grades for the entire year! She's a smart little girl! :-)

Happy stitching!

My progress on "And A Forest Grew"....

Here are a couple of pics, finally! This was after working on it for a week, not that I get a lot of stitching time in really, but hey, it's something, right? I looked back & it's been almost exactly one year since I worked on it & posted pics. How's that for timing? ;-)

Here are the current pics taken May 17th (had to take two as I can't get the whole thing in one frame) ---

These were taken May 20th, 2007. ;-) Like I said, not a huge amount of progress, but better than nothing!

Thanks for looking! I'm going to stitch a tree, or two or three.... ;-)

Happy stitching!

Exchange TO Simone recieved!

Whew, I was starting to worry about this one... glad it finally was received by Simone. This is from the Birthday Bloggers group and I peeked at Simone's wish list & decided to stitch SamSarah's "March Baubles" for her & finish it into a pinkeep. I also picked a couple of other items from her wishlist & sent her some lovely (I think!) birdhouse fabric. I hope she likes it all. :-)

I have been stitching on "And A Forest Grew" a decent amount (for me!) and I'm enjoying it. LOTS of counting & color changes, but that's a good change after some of the monochrome pieces I've been working on lately. I hope to stitch on it more tonight. We still haven't charged the camera batteries.... oops! ;-)

Happy stitching everyone!

Seasonal Exchange TO Nancy...

Nancy posted on the Seasonal Exchange BB over the weekend that she has recieved her Spring package from me. This was the 4th & final package in this exchange group for Nancy. I stitched Erica Michaels "Random Thoughts of Spring" in Crescent's Meadow Green on Mint Green Belfast & finished it into a pinkeep with a green trim & green pins. Yes, I tend to thing of "green" in the springtime, can you tell??! ;-) I think it turned out cute & I hope Nancy likes it as well.

I have finished 2 more of the LK Double Flips in the past week or so with 2 more to go now. I pulled out "And A Forest Grew" yesterday to work on. It's about half done & I haven't touched it in ages. Ray decided yesterday that it would look good hanging over the buffet in our dining area, so since I already have the frame, I am going to try to work on it as much as I can & get it done. I love the design & hate that I let it go so long. Wish me luck & give me a nudge on it now & then. I'll get a pic of the current progress when the camera batteries are charged. We did go buy a new set (the 2 we have are just worn out!) but they're still in the package. Shame on us! ;-)

Hope you had a great Mother's Day & have a great week ahead. Happy stitching!

Quick pic of a finish....

While I was doing some other finishing today, I decided to finish the F&S piece from Gaby into a pinkeep! I think it turned out cute if I do say so myself! That purple/green gingham ribbon was made esp. for this piece I think! :-) Thanks for looking & happy stitching!!

SBEBB Garden Exchagne from Andrea!

I received this LOVELY exchange yesterday from Andrea!! Isn't this a gorgeous Biscornu? It's Kathy's Violets by Chatelaine Designs. This is my first Chatelaine piece ever & it's just lovely!!
She also sent an adorable notepad, some finishing materials (which I can always use!) and a really cute card with a bookmark attached to the front! Below are pics of both the front & back of the Biscornu. She did a great job & I just love it!! :-) I'm finishing the F&S from Gaby into a pinkeep this afternoon & I think it will look lovely sitting next to my beautiful new biscornu! :-) Thanks for looking & thank you again Andrea for the wonderful exchange package!!!!!!!!!!!



Happy stitching!

My F&S from Gaby.... :-)

I received a wonderful pkg all the way from Gaby in Germany today! Look at this simply precious set of squares she stitched for me. I LOVE them!!!!! I love Pansies and these are so totally adorable! :-) Thank you Gaby, they are perfect!! She also sent me a lovely little pansy kit (all in German, but I don't have to read to stitch it!) ;-) and another cute pattern also in German. And look at this adorable fob with the strawberry bead.... isn't it cute? And it's RED too! :-) I think it might fit nicely on the new pair of scissors I recieved today (see the post after this one!).

And I now am the proud owner of Christiane Dahlbecks "Blumenwiese"!! We did a trade for some Country Cottage charts and I'm more than thrilled with the trade. Gaby, if you ever want more, let me know as I'd love to have the other CD book you showed me as well! :-) I am itching to start several designs in this book & I actually hope to get one stitched this weekend for my mom for Mother's Day. CUTE Stuff!!!

Thanks again & happy stitching!

GREAT Mail day!! :-)

Okay, who knows what this is? ;-)

If you are from CA you probably know exactly what it is by that lovely little gold foil seal huh? If you are Sandy LA or Susan TN you also know, because thanks to our dear Ruth who hooked me & Ray, I helped to hook the two of you as well! ;-) For those of you who don't know, this is a yummy wonderful tasty box of See's Candy from my dear friend Ruth in CA. :-) She sent me a bleated birthday gift which I will happily share with Ray. It's almost always a nice box full of key lime truffles as she knows they are out fav, but she might fool me one of these days & get us something else! ;-) She can be a stinker, that gal can, but we love her! :-)

And look at the other wonderful goodies she sent along this yummy box of candy... some lovely fabrics (which she knows I'm almost as addicted to as I am my stitching stash.... (they're all lovely, but that first red with the stars is EXTRA gorgeous!). ;-)She also sent some threads, a pretty pair of scissors (you spoil me my dear) and some Sees Peanut Brittle as well! And see "most" of that stitched piece? That's a PIF piece from her blog! Isn't it pretty? There is a better pic below. Well, I say it's better.... it's better because you can see the whole thing but the pic itself isn't very good. I'm just NOT good at taking pics, though I did try! Thank you dear Ruth Ann for my wonderful birthday goodies. :-) Can't wait to give you a hug for them in 5 months & a week or so.... ;-) Oct is on the way! lol (and don't forget the See's in your suitcase too!) lol

Thanks for looking & have a great weekend ahead!!!!

TWO Exchanges... (one sent, one received!)

Hi there, how has your week been going? I've had a headache most of the week. I guess it's mostly from allergies, but it's time for a break! I haven't stitched much at all, but I do have two pieces I can share with you today!

First, from Kate in the Make A Wish Exchange group, I received the lovely pieces below! My "wish" was for something done in redwork, and Kate stitched a lovely biscornu and also a little humbug fob for me. Aren't they great!?! I know it took awhile to add all those little beads around the biscornu... it's wonderful!! Thank you Kate for granting my wish & sending me such lovely items!! :-)

Next is my SBEBB Garden Exchange piece that I sent to Myrna. It's from a Plum Pudding chart & I hope Myrna likes it. I changed the DMC's to hand-dyed threads & made it into a small pillow. I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. :-)

I have two more that are stitched & one is finished & out the door. The other is stitched & I have everything out to finish it, maybe this evening. I'm also working on my first "Make A Wish" exchange piece for Shelleen. I hope to finish it up & have it ready to mail early next week. After that is done, I'm stitching on something for MYSELF!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to be selfish for a bit. :-)

Hope you're having a great week so far & happy stitching!!