Some Stitch'in Going On Here

I have told you before that Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. It's my stitching day with friends. For the past two weeks it seems that I have done more ripping out than stitching. I have put that ripping project back in the closet. I was using silk floss and as you know it doesn't rip out well. I have ordered some more silk floss and I am going to take a break from that project for now. I have started my next project from A Stitcher's Journey by BBD. I love this book and want to stitch every project in it. Please excuse the photos. We have not had a lot of sun up here in the Northern part of NYS. Below is the Tulip Pincushion that goes inside the Tulip House Stitching Companion.





This is a picture from the book. I was very fortunate to have some of the same fabric that Barb and Alma used on their project. It is my dream to someday take a cross stitch class from these ladies. I was lucky enough to take a quilting class from them. They had a beautiful trunk show with them that included some cross stitch projects as well as many beautiful quilts. They are down to earth, sweet and funny along with being very talented. If you ever get a chance to take one of their classes you will not be sorry. They are taking this year off from teaching but hopefully they will be back next year.

I also have a finish to share with you. This is also a design by BBD. It is going to be a gift for a friend for Christmas. I am so excited to have this one finished already.

Stitching day is always fun chatting about family, friends and new projects. We have tons of laughs. School has let out for the summer so I can stay longer than usual as I don't have to pick up my grandchildren from school. Speaking of grandchildren, I had a very busy week with them. First we had Fifth Grade Moving Up day. My grandson will now be going to the middle school. We also had Eight Grade Graduation. OMGoodness! My granddaughter will be going to the high school next year. How in the world did this happen?? I am so not ready!!!

Now back to my stitching day. Along with the fun and laughs we also have a great lunch. I took one bite of my zucchini crepe and had to share it with you.

OH MY, were they delish!! I licked my plate clean. It would be nice if you could join us some Tuesday.

I am off to stitch for a bit and then it is off to bed for me. Have a great week. I hope that you find time to do what ever makes you happy.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

Recently I had another Birthday. The older we get the faster these Birthdays seem to come. I was feeling down and not real happy about this one! It is better than the alternative I guess! Then I received a gift from my friend Debbie. It is a Blue Vintage Rose Tea and Toast Tray. It made my day. The tea cup is now a pincushion. You may click the picture to enlarge and see the beautiful stitching and beading on the top of the cushion.





Here is a close up of the top. She added some decorative pins.

I saw this pattern several months ago in the Attic newsletter. The Attic is a shop in Mesa, Arizona. They do mail-order. They are a bit slow in getting orders out sometimes but the wait is worth it. I have never been there but it is on my bucket list. Thanks again Deb. I love it.

The Pattern is by The Stitching Parlor.

Have a great week.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

DONE!

My Sewing Tray by BBD is finished and I love it.









A close up of the handle. It is a door pull from Lowes.

I glued a piece of scrapbook paper to the back.

I liked the back so well that I wanted to show it off twice. Kidding!! Blogger is not playing nice. It will not allow me to delete the second picture.

The Sewing Tray is from the BBD book below. There are so many projects I want to stitch.

I ordered my book from Needle Delights in Florida. Kathy, the owner, had a room near the BBD girls at market. Barb and Alma signed all of Kathy's pre-ordered books. What a nice surprise
to find when the book arrived.

I have the box for this project and all the supplies to make it.

This is the inside of the box.

Here is another project I want to stitch.

The inside of this one. I have all of these supplies too!

Now I have to decide which one to stitch first. Hmmmm! I hope you are having a great weekend and finding time to stitch.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

An Almost Finish

I just completed stitching Heart In Bloom Stitching Tray. It is from the latest book by BBD "A Stitcher's Journey". I have loved this project since I saw it on Alma's blog last year. My friend Debbie's husband made a 6"x6" frame and had glass cut to fit it for me. Thanks again LD. I purchased my door pulls at Lowes. I used a 30 ct fabric to stitch it on. I'm not sure of the name of the fabric I used. The pattern calls for 30 ct Espresso and Crescent Colors. I used the DMC conversion colors since I didn't have one of the colors that it called for and the piece is so small. I think that I'm getting thrifty!!

My frame is painted and the handles are in place. Hopefully I will get it finished tomorrow. I hope that mine will look like the picture below.

I would finish it tonight but tonight is the final of American Idol. I am in Scotty's corner. Lauren is great too. Such talent for two seventeen year olds. They will both go far in their careers. Good luck to both of them. I will be back soon with my finish.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

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