to anyone who is still following this blog...

Thanks!! My postings are becoming more and more, er, random.
I have not had any traumatic life event that has kept me away from the computer...just good old-fashioned laziness and a bit of distraction. You see, I'm in love...no, not with some guy. I bought myself a Kindle for my birthday a month ago and he (his name is Alastair) and I have hardly been apart since. So, as I've read about 15 books in the past month, very little stitching has been going on around here. Also for some reason, I cannot sign in to my blog at work any more (which is where I do most of my blog reading and commenting) and have had some difficulty accessing other people's blogs, so I feel quite out of the blogging loop now :((



One of the (very) few things I was able to finish this past month was my BBD exchange piece for my partner Patty, the Summer House pincushion from the Honeysuckle Manor booklet. This was the first time I had made a pincushion of this type and I'm afraid that I was a bit overenthusiastic with the ground walnut shells--the thing weighed about 10 pounds when I was done with it--but thankfully Patty liked it anyway (failing all else she can use it as a paperweight).

And this is what I received from my partner Lisa in the same exchange--the smaller piece is a motif from Blessings and Kind Wishes, and the larger pin pillow is the "Now I Know My ABC's" freebie--both beautifully stitched and finished!

No other new stitching--but I did finish a few things I had stashed away in a drawer for xmas gifts.These little quilt squares had been sitting around forever (so long that I forgot the name of the pattern/designer) so, since I was not about to put down the aforementioned Kindle and stitch something new, I finished them as ornies for the kiddies' teachers this year.




For me mum and dad I finished my Goode Huswife Pennsylvania Pillowe into... (gasp) a pillow, and
finally got around to completing my Carriage
House Pennsylvania Dutch stocking (yes I know it's a bad picture), which has been sitting in a drawer unfinished for so long I don't think it's ever made it onto this blog.



I am finally feeling the urge to pick up needle and thread again, so hopefully I will have something to show for it next time.
For all who celebrate it, I hope you all have a great Christmas!

my BFF's birthday present and some mail goodies

My blogging and stitching mojo has been in the dumps lately...I guess someone had better get out the cattle prod since I have one more exchange and several gifts to churn out :) I did finish the gift for my BFF, a late-October baby who is also (no surprise) a huge fan of Halloween. This is BYOB by Glory Be, on 32-count linen from the depths of my stash basket using the recommended floss. My projects frequently don't turn out like I envision them but this time I was quite pleased with the finished product.

I managed to get my offering for the Seasonal Exchange in the mail and the same day received this adorable little pillow from Lynn. It is a Bent Creek design and Lynn stuffed it with crushed walnut shells. I love designs with birds, especially crows, and the fall fabric is beautiful. Thank you again Lynn!

Some time ago I won a giveaway Natasha was having

on her blog to celebrate her 10th anniversary, and
she sent this beautiful little pin pillow--the pattern
was by Elizabeth's Designs, not sure of the name.
Her stitching is so tiny and delicate--thanks again Natasha!

Speaking of anniversaries, DD and I are both having birthdays this month--DD is entering the dreaded teens and I will be closer to 50 than I like :o So I think a giveaway will be in order for next time. Stay tuned!

I have seen the light and in fact emerged from the tunnel

That is, the long dark tunnel of auction-donation stitching! We do love our school but that fundraising auction comes along as inevitable (and unavoidable) as death and taxes every year :) This is one of my two offerings this year--Quaker Christmas Tree Companion Two by the Good Huswife, done on some lovely Goldspinner linen from Silkweavers, using Belle Soie Cranberry, B.S. Harvest and pretty overdyed "spice" floss from Victorian Motto Sampler Shop. Obviously this was not the original color scheme, but I could not resist using the Belle Soie. I wanted to do some Christmas pieces since the auction is held in mid-November and lots of folks go there to do holiday shopping. The other piece I donated was LHN's Poinsettia House which I stitched earlier this year--accidentally deleted the picture, so I will have to post that later. Frederick is staying with me, not quite finished yet, but close--DD did not want him to be given away. I don't know about Blueberry Hill, I might finish it sometime...or not. I still have a hard time bringing myself to stitch on aida.

After many moons, I think I am almost done with the Please Pass the Biscornu exchange. This
cutie I received from Gillian, and
the pumpkin biscornu was my last, which went to Nita. I was an interesting exchange...not very well organized, and the moderator disappeared early on and actually deleted the blog before the exchange had been completed, but the ladies involved were all very nice and very talented. Hope we meet up again sometime!

Now I can finish up my last few exchanges and more importantly get back to Halloween stitching! I can't believe October is almost over already. This month goes by much too fast for me. I don't have a lot of Halloween stuff to show but I did

manage to finish Raven's Roost, which now lives on DD's bookshelf next to her non-Twilight vampire series. No Twllight allowed in our house! I'm currently working on Witch's Ball which will be a birthday gift for my Halloween-loving BFF.

Until next time, happy stitching and thank you for all your very kind comments!

death by UFO

Happy October everyone (greatest month of the year in my humble opinion)! I still have not much to show but in between stitching for various exchanges I have been working on some very old UFOs, Frederick here being one...I just loved this pattern and had to have it the moment it was released, but I fizzled on the border...and I have moments when I'm not sure about the fabric either. I was considering framing & donating it to the kiddies' school for the annual fundraising auction which is coming up soon, assuming I can motivate myself to put in the last few stitches, but wanted to get some opinions--finish, or use as bedding for DD's new mouse?

Same thing for this one--Blueberry Hill, one of my oldest UFOs--so old it's done on aida (yuk). I gave the school a few other Linda Myers pieces in the past and they sold. Worthwhile to finish or should I not bother? I do have the option of fulfilling my obligations by writing the school a check in lieu of donating anything, thank goodness : )

I have some exchanges in the mail so hopefully I'll have more to show next time.

and the winner is...

Just a drive-by post today to announce the winner...no pictures of anything since my camera has gone missing:( I went for the old-fashioned method of slips of paper in a bowl (thew some catnip leaves in too to see if my cats would pick a winner, but they just picked out the catnip and left the paper lol). Flaglady 8, I do not have an e-mail address for you, so please contact me with your mailing info and I will get your package out to you as soon as I can. Thank you everyone for entering and your very kind comments!

blasts from the past and S.A.B.L.E. giveaway

I know, two posts in two days...either feast or famine with my wee blog : ) I was looking through some photos of vacation yesterday, this being one--one thing they have lots of in PA is corn--and remembered that I had taken pictures of some cross stitch in my parents' house that I gifted them over the years.

I'd like to say I remember the names of these designs but I don't--I think the blue house pillow was from a cross stitch book. The other pillow is a Prairie Schooler design but I don't know which one. My DD thought it very odd that I was photographing pillows.

Kinda difficult to get good pictures of framed pieces because of the flash/glass interaction, but I took a few anyway. This is the Goode Huswife's 1824 Penny Rug sampler, one of my favorite pieces that I've gifted to someone else. At least it's still in the family : )

and another Goode Huswife piece,

Pennsylvania Quilt Pincushion (I think).

I heard from Mayte that she did receive my replacement BBD exchange (whew) but I will have to wait to borrow one of her photos since I neglected to take one myself.

On to what I'm sure you've been waiting for, the giveaway! I've been on a list-making spree lately and that included a list of my current WIPS and charts waiting to be stitched. This as you can imagine was a bit scary--about 15 WIPS/UFOs and some 56 charts as yet untouched, and another pile of charts of things already stitched. So I've hit S.A.B.L.E., I'm sure...and there are things due to be released at market that I've already decided I cannot live without, SO here's the giveaway--and since this photo will not cooperate, a list:

1) BBD Peacock Pinkeep

2)The Goode Huswife Raven's Roost

3) The Primitive Needle Follow Me

4) LHN's Poinsettia House

5) Carriage House Sampling's Samplers in Miniature

6) Notforgotten Farm's Pennsylvania Pillow

7) La D Da's Mocking Bird

8) Carriage House Sampling's Matter's Choice

9) Carriage House Sampling's Fall's Gifts, and

10) Stacy Nash's Liberty Sewing Pouch.

If y'all want individual pictures of any particular chart on the list, just let me know. I've stitched most, not all, of these. Though I have a harder time parting with things not yet stitched since I always think, maybe someday... some of my others which have been in my possession for years (decades?) will no doubt be offered up later this year. If anyone is interested in this batch, just leave a comment on this post. I will draw a winner in one week on next Sunday. Good luck!

no time and too much stuff to do in it

(if that even makes sense). This pretty much sums up my existence at this point. Things be a bit hectic. Between the kids' school stuff, work (inconvenient and often boring but unfortunately necessary), volunteer activites, and a house that needs cleaning no matter how I try to ignore the problem, there's the fact that I've signed up for a zillion exchanges and need to stitch for my BF's birthday, DD's birthday and the school's annual fundraising auction. It's so bad I actually dragged out a calendar and made a stitching schedule. My blogging and blog-reading and commenting have definitely gone by the wayside!

I have a (very few) things to show. I did do a lot of stitching during vacation but I think many of those finishes will end up being exchange pieces, so I won't show them here at this point. I didn't go too crazy at my favorite cross stitch shop in Reading (about two minutes after we walked in the door DS asked when we were leaving) but I did pick up a few BBD patterns--one of which was the Peacock Pinkeep above-- and indulged in some Belle Soie for the first time (which I love). I also finished a few WIP's including this little Goode Huswife quaker.

I hope to have some exchanges to show soon. I had to stitch a replacement piece for Mayte for the BBD exchange since this went missing, much to my distress (although, according to the post office records, it was delivered, Mayte never received it--she lives in an apartment complex and I am afraid someone might have stolen it). I sent the replacement piece with signature confirmation required, but she never received the notice (although, again, according to the P.O., a notice was left). I hope the second turns up since I don't know if I can produce a third!

Thanks all for letting me rant. I promise the next post will have more stitching and less complaining : ) At least the weather's cooled off...and only a little over a month until Halloween!!

bad bad blogger

That's me. I have been back from PA for a week and just have had too much stuff to get caught up on to make it to the computer--and DD and DS are back at school, so unless I happen to be up at 5am or thereabouts blogging might be scarce. I did want to show some exchanges I received--here is my gift for the Blackbird Designs exchange from Laura R., Pumpkin Blossom, front and back....


and two biscornus received from Michelle for the Please Pass the Biscornu exchange, one a Sweetheart Tree design and one Michelle's own design. Sorry for the crappy photos. They are both beautiful!




I did lots of stitching during vacation but haven't taken any pictures yet so I will share next time. I think a small giveaway is in order in the near future since I now have over 100 followers. Until next time...

RIP little guy

My daughter's cute little brown and white mouse, Pippin, passed away this morning. I know he was "just a mouse" but he was a sweet and funny little soul and we all grew to love him over the two years he lived with us. Rest in peace buddy, we miss you.

A fall explosion

It's August. I don't know what that means to most people but to me it means it's time to kick my Halloween fervor into high gear. I've had some help this year from the very generous Ranae (http://crazyxstitcher.blogspot.com/ --still haven't perfected my hyperlinking), whose blogoversary giveaway I was lucky enough to win a while back. Can you see all this fall goodness?! Ranae included this cute ornie she stitched as well as charts, Halloween fabric, needles, floss, a Mill Hill kit, and handmade scissor fob. Thank you again Ranae, I love everything!

I pulled out my mongo tub of Halloweenie decorations and am ready to get started! I have been finishing up some Halloween/fall smalls of years past which are finally ready for display this year.

Can you tell I'm really really tired of summer?

Finally, I heard from Catherine that she received my giveaway package...

unfortunately of the stitched items in the three packages I sent, this was the only one I remembered to photograph beforehand. You'll have to check out Cindy's and Valerie's blogs to see the rest!

That's all the news that's fit to report. Have a good weekend and thank you for all your past comments!

one last pumpkin...

is all I have to show, and then I must get off my hiney and get a final exchange out the door, as well as the packages for my giveaway winners...I have not forgotten you ladies, your goodies should be in the mail next week! Pumpkin is from an old old old xs magazine, done with a variety of overdyed floss from my stash on Sugar Maple fabrics Pumpkin Patch. Not sure how I want to finish it, a pillow maybe--ideas anyone?

Almost forgot my Please Pass the Biscornu exchange for Sheila--pattern from a French blog, stuffed with crushed walnut shells. I am pretty proud of myself on one hand for actually remembering to photograph an exchange before it was mailed, but I can never take a decent photo of these little things.

That's about all. I'm in town for another few weeks and then it's VACATION in Amish country!! Wot Wot!! Can you tell I'm ready ?

Pumpkins in July

Greetings to those of you who are still following this blog despite my absences! I have wanted to post over the last few weeks but with kids and DH underfoot it has been near impossible to get near the computer or to stitch either, for that matter...

I am on the countdown to Halloween : ) much to the amusement of my family. Everyone seems to think my pumpkin frenzy is a bit premature but once the solstice has passed and the 4th of July festivities are done I am ready for fall--as evidenced by my recent stitchy choices:

Pumpkin Pete by The Trilogy--minus the words, colors tweaked a bit in accordance with what I had on hand. His shirt bears a scary resemblance to one of my DH's shirts which I am convinced is the world's ugliest

And Boo to You by Homespun Elegance, using some great hand-dyed thread from an eBay seller I recently discovered. I am working on another pumpkin from an old cross-stitch magazine and started Witch's Hill from Notforgotten Farm, but not enough progress to warrant a picture yet.

Do you like my eerie Casper pumpkin shot above? I wanted to show how big they have become, --I have four now, hoping for more by fall...

A few recent exchanges have been received by my partners. As usual, I forgot to photograph them before they were sent so the photos were all borrowed from the recipients. First off is my biscornu for June sent to Mayte at MagicXS (picture better than any I could have managed : )) This pattern was a freebie from the My Aunt's Attic blog, one of my favorites, done on antique white linen with Carries' Creations Phantasm. This thing turned out HUGE, the biggest biscornu I have ever done, but thankfully Mayte likes it..

Next is my offering for the Seasonal Exchange/Summer. This is the LHN pattern "Heart and Home" which I changed by replacing the berry basket with a flag, and the row of hearts on the top with a star, photo borrowed from my partner Tanya of the Friendship Crossing blog.

Finally, this is my exchange for Blyn for the Holiday Exchange (4th of July)--Happy Flag Flag Day by The Trilogy. This was my first attempt at a pinkeep and I am pretty happy with how it came out.

Thanks everyone for letting me borrow the pics, I am really going to try to remember to photograph my next exchanges before the mailman takes them away : )

I also wanted to thank Staci (Snippets and Stash) for her 400-follwer giveaway which I was lucky enough to win and which I received over the weekend.
There are some cute buttons, rickrack, napkins and note cards, among other things. Thank you Staci, this really cheered me up!

Until next time, happy stitching!

sorry I'm late...

Hi folks. I know I said I was going to draw the winners for the giveaway yesterday, but lately it's been too much to do, too few hours in the day--so much for the lazy days of summer : ) At least we're over the hump, the summer solstice has passed and we're counting down to fall (finally)!
Anyway, with the help of Mr. Random Number Generator, the winners are:

Catherine

Cindy

Valerie

I will be e-mailing you ladies shortly for your mailing info. Please don't expect blazing speed in getting your packages to you, but I should have everything in your hands, or at least in the mail, before I leave for vacation in August. Thanks to everyone for entering, and for your comments and support! I still have a stack of charts I will never get around to stitching that defies belief--it's a bit depressing actually--so I may have a de-stashing giveaway later this summer. Hope everyone has a great week!

just wow

Once again, I have no stitching of my own to post about, but I wanted to show off this stunning flatfold I received from Raffaella for the Holiday (4th of July) Exhange. This is Brooke Nolan's Spirit of America Angel which was in the Just Cross Stitch magazine last year, stitched on 28 count navy cashel. The stitchng is beautiful and the finishing absolutely flawless--my crappy photography does not do it justice. Thank you so much Raffaella! The funny thing is, as my long-time followers may recall, I partially stitched this last year on perforated paper, but due to overzealous trimming, I did not leave enough room to stitch the angel's hand, and threw this project in the bottom of a drawer in disgust...I guess I don't have to figure out how to salvage that piece now : )

The only other cause for excitement (in my mind anyway--aside from the fact that the kids are starting summer school on Monday) is the fact that I will now have at least one Casper pumpkin for fall, and have been seeing more and more of these goodies starting to ripen : ) : )

A last reminder, too, my giveaway is on Tuesday, so please check out my June 3 post and leave a comment to enter...that's about it so have a great weekend!

another week and not a lot to show

Hi everyone,

I think the title of this post says it all. This was kiddies' last week of school and with the end-of-the year parties, procuring the traditional teacher gifts and everything else, I have had hardly a minute to sit my butt in a chair and stitch. I had a "where have the years gone" moment when I dropped off Daughter for her last day of 7th grade. I always get sad at the end of the school year (my kids have the opposite reaction). This year was particularly bad. In a year's time she will be off to high school--what the...? What happened to the two-year-old who used to walk around with a baggie full of plastic dinosaurs? Eighth grade graduation is going to be tough (for me anyway), even more so as she will be leavng the much-loved school she's attended since her preschool days. Crap. Maybe I can sneak some white wine in a Sparklets bottle into wherever they have the graduation ceremony.

On a happier note (kinda) I have been working on The Goode Huswife's Quaker Four Corners sampler but the frogs have been jumping, leaping, cavorting all over this little piece so progress has been painfully slow. I am currently picking out the entire motif on the lower left corner... and just the "W" in the alphabet had to be frogged three times! Arrgh.

The rest of my own stitching has been on exchange pieces so I have no more of my own work to show. I did receive two exchanges this week. This one is from Michelle for the Seasonal Exchange--it is a JBW design stitched with Dragon Floss thread and beautifully finished. Thank you Michelle! I don't have a lot of summer-themed goodies for decorating (definitely NOT my favorite season--I feel a lengthy rant coming on about all the things that are wrong with summer--maybe the next post : )) so this will be displayed prominently! The other piece was from Julie for the Summer Ornament exchange for the ILCS Yahoo group. Julie did not mention who the designer was, but it is cute and I love her finishing--I will definitely have to try making a no-sew cube sometime.

Since I have nothing else to show, I took some snaps of my pups, who hardly ever make it on to the blog, with good reason--I had to wait at least 10 minutes for them to hold still so I could take a picture. Can you tell they've been chasing each other all over the yard?

And the garden...tiny corn plants are tiny no more, and hopefully soon I will be enjoying my home-grown tomatoes...

That's all for this week. Don't forget to enter my giveaway (previous post). Happy Stitching!