I Saw A Moose....BUT

It wasn't the one I really wanted to see. It was a bit smaller than I had hoped, but it was really, really cute. Our three and a half hour drive to NH was almost as horrid this year as last years trip. This year we had RAIN and I mean RAIN. Rain we did not need. Lake Champlain is well over flood level as you will see in the following pictures.

Usually when we drive on the ferry it is straight on. This year we drove straight up and on. We drove through water before we even got to the ramp.

The pictures are a bit blurry from the rain. You can see the water almost to the road.

Here it is over the road.

Both NY and VT states had traffic safety cones out and the roads were being checked frequently. During the weekend the roads were even closed at times for safety reasons.

Aside from the ride over to NH we had a wonderful time. The part of NH that we visited is South of us and there for they are about three weeks ahead of us. The temps were in the 70's and sunny. We even sat in the courtyard and stitched one afternoon before dinner.

The rest of this post is quite picture heavy with my purchases.


First is a design and basket from Olde Colonial Designs.

Some accessories to go along with the basket.

An Acorn Pincushion from Just Another Button Company. I love acorns! Why? Hmm... maybe my friends would say I am a little squirrely at times!

An old weaving shuttle and pattern to fit inside.

Another pattern and frame to fit.

A hodgepodge of patterns.

More patterns.

This is a book by Maggie Bonanomi. I took this class from Maggie a couple of years ago at Country Sampler in Spring Green WI. I bought the book for a reference when I get around to work on my book of days. (maybe in a few years) It is a beautiful project and I really do hope to finish it.

Some fabric... just because!

More needfuls.

Some vintage lace and vintage buttons. See the acorn button. I love it.

Last but not least is floss that I needed for the new patterns I bought.

We all had a wonderful time. Tons of laughs. Lots of new projects to keep us busy.

Even with the horrible weather , being pinned in the elevator with all our luggage and abandoned by a friend (who just had to go to the bathroom)!!! We are planning our next adventure to the 2012 Celebration of Needlework. I wish you could all join us. Have a great weekend. More rain is predicted for here thru Monday.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Happy Mother's Day

Hugs and Stitches,





Pat

Look What is Out Now!

Last week while looking at a magazine I saw an advertisement for the Spring/Summer issue of Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler. Love this magazine. I think that I have every issue. One of the shops listed was in Henniker, NH. Since we were going that way last week we decided to check out a new (to us) quilt shop. The magazine is nice but not as nice as some issues in the past. Maybe because there was not a real primitive shop this time around.

What a find. Quilted Threads is a beautiful shop in an old remodeled building. No pictures were allowed inside the shop. As you walk in you are in heaven. They had Japanese fabric in the first room. OMG!! I have never seen fabric that beautiful. I could have bought a ton of it. At $30.00 a yard I decided to wait until I knew what I was going to use it for. This is a picture from the magazine. That little porch is where all the Japanese fabric is.

This is the sign in front of the building. In a quaint little New England town.

Here is their quilt that is in Quilt Sampler. Beautiful! I touched it when no one was looking. It is made out of the Japanese fabrics. Kits are available and very reasonable.

This was my purchase. I think that I am going to make a pillow with this fabric.

If are lucky enough to live in the Henniker area you probably already know this shop. If you are in the area it is well worth a stop. The shop is clean and bright. The owner is lovely and her helpers were funny and knowledgeable. I know that my friends and I will be taking a day trip back to visit Quilted Threads, maybe in the Fall. I will be back soon to share our venture to the Celebration of Needleworks. Until then...

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

JUST BY THE SKIN IF MY TEETH

All of the projects from my last post are finished and are proudly displayed for Easter. Starting with the Easter Bunny or The Spotted Hare. I filled this pin keep with so much sawdust it should be bulging at the seams. I kept filling and pushing the sawdust down with a spoon. The more I pushed the the more I needed. I can not tell you how much sawdust is in this little pin keep. In this photo it looks like I could add more. But I'm not. It is finished and I love it. This pattern is now available on Stacy Nash's website.

The pin keep is straight. The problem here is with the photographer!! ME.
Those little stitches that Stacy uses are a bugger to make. Mine are bigger and they are staying just as they are.

Those little carrots are the cutest little things. I tried everything to get a sharper end on them. I was afraid I was going to push right through the fabric.

This is the last view. This pin keep will live in my sewing room.

My wool project is hanging on the wall. Love him!

I decided to follow the directions and place the cross stitch on the inside of the box lid. I glued the cute vintage stamped paper on the top of the lid.

The lovely cross stitch is on the inside. I just may prop the lid on the box or leave the top off entirely so the stitching can be seen. I may use this little box for my stitching supplies as it looks like Spring to me and not just like Easter.

On Thursday of this week three friends and I will be going to Nashua, NH to The Celebration of Needlework. I am so excited I can hardly wait and so are my friends. There is not a thing in this world that I need but I am going anyway! We have been going for years and we have such a great time. I am sure that there is a funny adventure awaiting us. There usually is. Unfortunately Several of them involve me. The girls get lots of giggles. When we first started to go we drove over and back on the same day. Now we make a four day long weekend and mini vacation out of it.

I would love to see a moose. Not close enough that anyone would get hurt, but out in a field in the open would be nice. Maybe this will be the time. Each year I hope and I keep my camera on my lap ready just in case. Keep your fingers crossed for the moose and for nice weather.

The Celebration of Needlework is always the last weekend in April. This is what we drove in last year.

The weather was terrible!! I think the worst weather of the winter.

When we got to NH we stopped for a little....Stitch Therapy here!

And did we need it. It was our first actual visit to this shop. I think that we had all ordered from there before and visited their website. This year I will take some pictures.



Happy Easter everyone. I hope that you are all spending the day with family and fiends. Stay safe and don't eat too many jelly beans!




Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Projects In The Works

Here are a few of the projects that I am working on. This pattern is "Bunny Tails" by Brenda Gervais. The pattern combines wool applique and cross stitch. I appliqed the wool to prairie cloth instead of using the cross stitch fabric that was suggested. It has taken some time but well worth it. Still a bit more before it is finished. This project is a kit I ordered from Country Sampler. I was unable to attend this class last year. They had some extra kits and I purchased one. The class was taught by Stacy Nash. I love her patterns.

The pattern fits inside the top of an oval paper mache box lid. It is so pretty to put on the inside....hmmm. I really like the stamped bunny too! What to do, what to do?? I have to cover the box with fabric. I applied shoe polish to the inside of the box and the lid top. What a SMELL!!! I didn't think that I would be able to use the box ever again. I was sorry at first that I had used the shoe polish. I was very pleased when it dried that there was no lingering odor. I really like the look of the shoe polish. I guess these designers know what they are doing and I should have had more faith in Stacy. You can see the difference the shoe polish made if you look at the pictures above and below.

Here we have the Spotted Hare pattern by Stacy Nash also. This project was another part of the class that Stacy taught. This is to be made into a pin keep drum. I love the colors and the fabric for the top and bottom of the pin keep match perfectly.

I only hope that mine looks something like this!

Very cold and windy here in upstate NY today. High wind warnings are in effect. Come on Spring, I am waiting for you!! In the meantime I am going to be stitching away. I would like to have these projects ready for Easter. The crunch is on!

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

HELLO, HELLO. REMEMBER ME?

Hopefully I am back in blog land to stay. I have tried to keep up with my blog list but sometimes it was just to hectic to do so. Now I am going to try harder and do better at this blogging business.



On my first post back I would like to share with you a Christmas gift I received from my friend Margaret in Spain. This package was mailed in the early part of December. As some packages do, this one took the long way around to get here. Margaret was very worried around Christmas when she had not heard from me. She was sure that the package was lost and was never to be seen again. I told her to have faith and believe that it would arrive soon. Well near the end of February the package arrived looking in great condition for being in the postal system for two months.


Inside looked pretty good too.

Then I ripped that pretty paper and bow off and found this treasure inside. OMGoodness a new stitching bag. I just love it. It is so big and Margaret added extra pockets to the inside. I take my bag to stitching every Tuesday. As you may know Spring has not arrived here in NY yet. I am still waiting for it. ( I did see a Robin this week. yea!!) We still have snow, ice and lots of dirt all over everything from sanding and salting the roads. Because of her fabric choice, putting my bag in and taking it out of the car several times still looks great.

Don't you just love it? I sure do.

In the two smaller packages I found these beautiful cross stitch ornaments. I hated to have to put them away until next Christmas. The fabric is so fine and the stitches are perfect. Everything that Margaret does is beautiful.

I treasure all my goodies from her.

Thank you again Margaret. I love all my goodies. I treasure our friendship more than anything.

I will be back soon with more gifts both given and received.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Boo!!

Happy Halloween Boys and Ghouls. I hope that you have a safe and fun day. It is cold and wet here in upstate NY. Not the best night for trick or treating. Don't do to much of this....

I am off to get my cider and doughnuts. I will get extra if you would like to stop by.



Hugs and Witches,

Pat