One thing....leads to another....

A dear friend called the other day to ask me to hem a dress for her which I did.  I had to get out the Pfaff sewing machine for a stretch stitch and one thing lead to another...  I finished these 'tweet' birds, one for me and one for Cherie.

Then I finished this punchneedle design that will hang on a closet door. The backing is a green wool and the buttons are from my Mom's collection.

Next up these two scissor fobs from Shepherd's Bush.

There was no machine sewing on this box but I was on a roll!  I finished this necessity box from Blackbird Designs called Secret Garden.  I lined the box with fabric. I think it turned out pretty good!

And my progress on June Morning.  Do you not love, love, love the colors on this piece?  I'm telling you...if you love stitching with Belle Soie..this pattern conversion from Attic Needlework is over the top gorgeous and a 'must have'.

My darling granddaughter Corinne and her boyfriend, Austin, will be in Florida tomorrow for two weeks! We are so excited.  I've planned a 4th of July celebration at my house for family and friends!

GOD BLESSED AMERICA

Have a simply fabulous week!!

Yummy Lunch and Stitch

Oh boy....look at this pizza.  It tasted just as good as it was pretty to look at.  I took a note from Kim's blog and roasted up some grape tomatoes and garlic this morning.  Added mozzarella cheese and fresh basil, a quick 10 minutes in the oven and mmmmmmmm....

June Morning:  These pics show my progress but the camera flash is washing out the beautiful colors of Belle Soie.  I should photograph this outside, but it's too dang hot!  I've moved on from being so rigid in my color section of floss of light, medium or dark, and just kind of go with the light side....or my personal favorite....the dark side...  The Belle Soie colors are so very rich and I love the feel and look of the silk.  Enjoy!!

Move Over - PALEEZE.....

Do you think I could have some room to put my feet up and stitch?  How many cats does it take to hold down the ottoman?  Three I guess...Pretty Belle, Casanova and Jaxon!  Jaxon is my darling little black cat that you can hardly see.  I love these felines.

They are so funny.  Where ever I am...they are too!

Here's my progress on June Morning.  This has been a really fun stitch.  I kind of shake my head though...using Belle Soie, a beautiful over-dyed silk floss that I cut up into dark, medium and light pieces to stitch with?  What was the point of over-dyed if I'm only using certain shades in certain places?  It's a technique designed by Attic Needlework who did the DMC / Belle Soie conversion and it is really a joy to execute.  I guess I could have just used the called for DMC but where's the fun in that?  I'm loving this piece.  

It's been very hot and humid in Florida this past week and will be until October I suppose.  Friday night at midnight it was 85 degrees and 81% humidity.  Thank goodness for A/C and ceiling fans.  With this kind of weather I'll be sittin' in the stitch chair with needle in hand and cats at my feet!

Have a simply fabulous week and thanks for stopping by!  Hugs and Happy Stitching!!

June Starts

It's a beautiful June morning and here's my start on The Goode Huswife's June Morning. I'm using Belle Soie as 'thread paint' instead of the DMC 'paint by number process'.  I'm really having fun using this technique.  I'm stitching on 40 count Vintage Dark Green Slate by Lakeside Linens.  Kind of like 'vintage dark black' except prettier!  Sunshine and my Ott lite are of great importance here!!

Look at this new sock yarn (like I needed more sock yarn).  Lorna's Laces Ysolda Red (thanks Mel for enabling!) and Butterscotch.  And two more skeins of that Crazy Zauberball in Red/Purple and Black/Grey/White colorways.

And, the start of a new sock using TOFUtsies yarn.  This fiber is made from superwash wool, Soysilk, cotton and Chitin.  This will shock you....Chitin is fiber made from shrimp and crab shells! NO the fiber does not stink....and the label says it's naturally antibacterial!  Go figure.....  I knit socks toe up using the Magic Loop technique.

Last, but not least, my pretty Belle.  She always likes to get in the action.  As soon as I put a blanket on the table and added the yarn she was all up in my business.  Her pose says...'Quit takin' pics of me'.....wink,wink. She loves every minute of all the attention!  She's my gal. 

 Thanks for stopping by and HAVE A SIMPLY FABULOUS WEEK!!

Charlotte Clayton

Here she is - CHARLOTTE CLAYTON - in all her stitched glory. I love, love, love her. And two of my favorite motifs...the CATS! The entire sampler was so much fun to stitch...tiny dogs, huge cats, huge birds, and a tiny lion.

Charlotte will be on her way to Jill Rensel in Utah along with Rejoice Always Rejoice, Ira Ray Crow, 'Tis the Season, Winter Cardinal, Stitcher's Prayer, Sail Away, Finch Song, and Earth Gatherer. Jill just shakes her head when I send an order to her for framing!. Sounds like another party in the fall to oohh and aahh over her framing!

Thanks for stopping by!

ABOUT TIME?

I'm here!! WOW - time flies doesn't it? I've been stitching and knitting but just haven't taken photo's and posted. I finally decided to get with it!!

Here are some fun punchneedle finishes. They are, however, in need of being finished-finished. This heart punch will be completed into sort of an angel and put on an oil can. The two birds are mine and Cherie's that need to be finished into the darling birds and poked onto the oil cans. Plus, I've been busy as a bunny with the rabbit inspired punches....so much so that I nearly wore out my wrist! Thank goodness for drugs and wrist braces!

Here's a Shepherd's Bush scissor fob...stitched but in need of finishing. I just need to get Elsie (my featherweight) out of her case and get her rev'd up!

And these socks...aren't they to die for? They're knit from Panda Silk...I love that yarn. The pattern is from 25 Favorite Socks.

And a La-D-Da finish......
And Ira Ray Crow from The Goode Huswife. Ida is delighted her DH will be joining her...she's been quite lonely....
I'm still stitching away on Charlotte Clayton. I'm to Adam and Eve. Only one flower pot and one huge cat left to stitch. When she's finished another huge order will be on it's way to Jill for framing.

Thanks for stopping by and to all the Mom's out there. Have a wonderful Mother's Day! Hugs to us ALL.

Sister's Stitching Retreat

Here we are --- Cari, Cathy and Joan. I think we are some pretty good looking chicks! We were at our favorite quilting shop in Florida - Rainbows End.

Whenever we get together we always have fun gifts for each other. Cathy gave both of us this darling Brighton bracelet and a goodie box she decorated and filled. Mine even had my own personal license plate for my bike. She added some keys, a button hook, old buttons and vintage needle packages. It was darling.

Joan made all three of us these very, very stylish aprons. We wore them for the Sister's Retreat - Meet and Greet - Open House. Are we too cute or what??

A close-up of mine with a little notebook stashed in the pocket....

She also had these necklaces made. The side pictured is a wedding picture of our parents. The other side has my initial - very precious.

She also gave us The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook which is full of the most luscious looking cupcakes. Break out the Kitchen Aid!

I gave the girls a gift bag that included punchneedle projects, lotion, thimbles, a magnet thingy, notebook, pen....soap.... and other stuff...

Here's a pic of the punchneedle projects and a few of the oil cans Cathy scored on eBay.

Then my stash of Valdani floss to use for our projects. I hope we have enough - LOL !! We each got our bird punched and pics of the completed project will be in a future post!

And a funny story about the bird punch. Cathy called me two weeks ago at 8:30 in the morning (now that's 6:30 in Utah). Breathlessly she asked me if I've been on Terri Boog's blog lately...had I seen the DARLING BIRD ON THE OIL CAN that Terri had punched? I answer...of course I've seen Terri's bird...I'm a huge fan of Terri's blog. And I answer, yes sister...this will be a sister Florida project....it's sitting on my kitchen counter!! Whoo Hoo!!

And I hosted a Sister's Retreat - Meet and Greet - Open House on Saturday afternoon. I invited my dearest stitching friends because I wanted them to meet my sisters and my sisters to meet them. We had such a good time. I served salads and lemonade on the lanai. It was a beautiful day. We ate, stitched, and laughed all afternoon. Here are some fun pics.

Sue and Joan

Barb (lounging stitcher) and Susie

Jenny and Cathy

Pink and Rita

Vicki and Cheryl

And my darling granddaughter Carly

All in all it was a wonderful visit but much too short. I have more pics that I'll post later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my vacation with me!!

Happy Day

Don't you love it when the doorbell rings and you find all these packages on your front porch that wouldn't fit in the mailbox?
Here's the latest stash enhancement including handmade soaps nesting in the bird bath. I love the two new designs from The Goode Huswife and of course, the Blackbird girls have outdone themselves, once again, with Honeysuckle Manor!
New Birds of a Feather - Happy Hearts and my second copy of 'With These Hands'. I thought I already had this one but couldn't find it.....until this copy arrived. One of the sisters may be getting this in their gift bag!
A new candle and these cute pettifore pincushion patterns. While cleaning out our parents house last year my sisters and I divided up Mom's tiny tart tins. Now we can fill them with healthy no-fat treats!
Finally - I picked this up this book my yarn store. If you love quilt patterns, and crochet or knit, you will love this book! In my opinion it is a 'Must Have'.

Stay tuned - the next update will be from THE SISTER'S STITCHING RETREAT!! I'm getting so excited! Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Stash Acquisitions

Here are some pics from the 'road trip' to the Golden Needle. I think I have too many Shepherd's Bush pieces...but I always buy more and love every one of them. Here are Holly and Ivy, Glad Heart and Quaker Heart. I also picked up Yule Sampler by The Primitive Needle. I love Lisa's designs.

I already had embroidered this piece and found this barnwood red frame. I think it's perfect.

Here are the fabrics I procured. All are 40 count Lakeside Linen and all are a stitchers half. Left to right: Vintage Winter Sky, Vintage Magnolia, Misty Rain, and Vintage Buttercream. The photos do not do these fabrics justice. They are BEAUTIFUL. Do I have a specific plan for them...of course not....but I will.

These are Erica Michaels designs on 40 count gauze. I had so much fun I stitching the Valentine one I wanted to do another. I couldn't decide which one so I got these. Mother always said, 'If one is nice, ten are FABULOUS". Didn't want to disappoint!
So ladies...I'm off to do some decorating in the Sisters Bedroom. They'll be here next Wednesday!! LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

Ya just never know what you'll find....

Two weeks ago some of my best-est stitching friends, Cherie, Joan, Pink and I take a road trip to Port Charlotte to shop at The Golden Needle. We 'shopped til we dropped' and mind you, this was a week before market! Cathy's shop is wonderful and we all picked up some super stash....of course I won!

ANYWAY...we're driving home and I see this ahead...geeze....why is a 'State Trooper' pulling that trailer...full of convicts?? Drive faster Cherie...let's see what's going on!

OMG - it's not a 'trooper' it's a 'TRAPPER'!
Can you see what they trapped? Two spunky alligators. And these are just babies. Can you see the black tape around their snouts?

Only in Florida...and only on a cross stitch stash enhancement trip!