lots of exchanges received

Hi all,

I have not managed to complete a single thing this week, even Valentine Rose which only needs a few dozen stitches more...I have been exceptionally scatterbrained, bouncing from one project to the next, with at least 4 or 5 projects in my travel bag. Nonetheless, I do have some pics of various exchanges received by my partners. Please note that all of these photos are my partners' pictures, since no matter how I try I can never remember to photograph anything before mailing it.

First are the pics from the Please Pass the Biscornu 2010 exchange: the one on the top was for Gillian and is a freebie from the Floss Box. The second was for Michelle and is another freebie from a French blog, both done with DMC.

Next up is from the Seasonal (Spring) Exchange. Becky K was my partner and since she likes primitive designers I stitched a Stacy Nash design from the Garden Gate needlebook/pinkeep leaflet, but finished it as a pillow/basket liner on (I think) Days Gone By evenweave by Silkweaver. I always worry exchanges are going to get lost in the mail and this one gave me fits--it took 2 weeks to go from California to Oklahoma. What the....? I could have walked there faster!

Last but not least is the BBD exchange sent to Ela in France--another one that took forever to arrive.

This is BBD's Bluebird pincushion done in Carrie's Creation Old Brick. I also sent one of my box finishes--the design was a freebie on the BBD site and was an adaptation of an old/antique sampler.

I was sad as this was going to be the last round of the BBD exchange but thankfully Patti, one of the participants, took it over so it will continue.
Thank you girls for letting me steal the photos. I am going to try to remember to get out my camera next time before I shove something in an envelope. Thank you all also for visiting and(hopefully) commenting. Until next time!

two birdies, a little brick house and Paris at twilight

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great Mother's Day! Ours was free of drama and bloodshed, just the way I like it : ) Anyway, I finished up the La D Da birdie mentioned in my previous post. Here he is fastened to a prim box now being used to house my overflowing stitchy and sewing accessorites. I used a walnut stain on the box, painted over with whitewash and sanded it to make it look aged. The interior was lined with heavy card stock and varnished.This was a very simple finish but I like the way it turned out.

And here is the other birdie mentioned in the caption, my Seasonal Exchange piece from Conny. I thought this was quite adorable. It is from a Prairie Schooler booket, Birdsong. I have been on a bird-stitching frenzy lately so this birdie has lots of company! I am waiting (somewhat anxiously at this point) for my own Seasonal Exchange and BBD pieces to arrive at their new homes. Both were mailed more than a week ago so I hope they arrive soon.

I think I mentioned previously that I was working on the BBD Anniversaries of the Heart series. I finally got around to taking a picture of Valentine Rose. It would have been finished this past weekend but I forgot the chart at my office last Friday (work has been a little slow lately). I am hoping for another finish in the near future...I am falling behind on this series!

Finally, I had one more little finish--BBD's Souvenir de France, done on a greyish linen with Weeks Dye Works Twilight. The fabric it is sitting on was used for the backing. I recently discovered crushed walnut shells so I have been finishing some pincushions. Unfortunately it takes a long time to mop this stuff off the floor, as I learned when DD decided to use it for one of her own projects....

That's all for the time being. I added a poll on the sidebar relating to my impending blogaversary giveaway so let me know what you would be interested in receiving. Until next time, happy stitching!

virtual stitch-in progress and some garden pics

Well the year is flying by--I don't know if it seems that way due to my rapidly advancing age or because of the fact that I keep pretty busy (mostly because of the kids--I myself have no life) but it seems Halloween should be upon us soon : ). The garden is finally in full swing. I won't bore you all with too many plant pics but I had to show my favorite roses, called Stars and Stripes. I am not a huge fan of roses but these are pretty cool. And since I hate store-bought tomatoes I grow lots of them every year. My local nursery has a pretty good variety and I like to try some of the more unusual types--this one is Green Zebra. My still-tiny corn plants are in the background. The last is a picture of my herb garden with my big bay laurel in the foreground. Having a garden is my favorite thing (actually the only thing I like) about summer. I could really do without the heat and scorching CA sun.

All right, enough plant talk. One of my Yahoo groups had a virtual stitch-in over the weekend and I put several hours in on my latest project, Bird in Hand by La D Da, for which I used DMC and some mystery overdyed linen. Didn't quite manage to finish, though he is close--he will eventually be slapped on the top of a large wooden box I am using to contain some of my stash, so hopefully I will have a finish-finish picture soon.

I also wrapped up this little Stacy Nash Garden Gate pinkeep--this was supposed to be for an exchange but I didn't want to part with it when it was done so I stitched something else for my partner instead!

Not much else going on. I added a Wish List on my sidebar so if you happen to have any of these charts and wouldn't mind parting with them, please let me know. Thanks for all comments!