I was hoping to

have all these stitched pieces finished before I posted, but it has been almost a month since my last post and I have done quite a few so here we go:

Mary Garry--When I was young and in my prime. Stitched on 32 count coffee/tea dyed fabric.
I used Belle Soie Poison Apple and Herb Garden. I started this one on 1-24-11 and finished on 1-29-11.


Then while I was down in TN and GA to visit with our grandchildren I stitched this LHN.
Sarah Street--Faithfulness. I stitched this on 32 cream with the fibers it called for.
Started on 1-30-11 and Finished on 2-7-11.


I had gone to my LNS with a friend on the 9th and February and had to pick up this Prairie Schooler book--Folk Eggs. I wasn't real excited to stitch this on 18 count black aida but I couldn't find 36 count black. So I went with the 18 count and used DMC threads.
Started on 2-10-11 and finished on 2-11-11. Can't wait to get this one finished.

In trying to keep with stitching a Christmas ornament between other projects I stitched up this Red Noel from the November 2008 Gift of Stitching Magazine. It was stitched on an unknown 32 count with DMC 115.

I started this La D Da piece last fall and decided to get it finished. The design is called Lauren's Voice. I stitched it on 36 count R & R Lt. Expresso with DMC. I made color changes to this design.

I am not a Halloween person but these Lizzie Kate--Halloween Rules intrigued me. I did not want to stitch them all on one piece so I am going to stitched them and then make pin keeps out of them and put them in a basket. I stitched these on a 28 count dyed fabric with DMC threads.

I received my Just Cross Stitch Magazine last Monday and decided I just had to stitch this Country Cottage Needleworks design called G is for Girl. I stitched it on 32 count Lambswool with DMC and changed out Crescent Colors Poblano Pepper for DMC 92. I can't wait to stitch up the "B is for Boy" design.

Well as you can see I have some serious finishing to get to. I was hoping to do that today with a couple of my stitching friends but the weather did not cooperate. We ended up with 14 inches of snow and traveling was not very good today.

WHERE IS SPRING????

Some more finishes

I have a couple more of my 2010 stitches finally finished. This is an Elizabeth's Garden design from "Three Swedish Pincushions". I stitched it on 36 count with Vicki Clayton silk called--Inner Space.

Next is this Lizzie Kate "Fa La La" kit. I found this moda fabric at a quilt shop. It is a perfect fit:) It was stitched on 30 count with DMC threads.

The final Lizzie Kate season fob--"winter". I stitched this up last month, but just finished it up this last week.

Here are all the fobs. They are pretty cute, but I really just wanted the scissors.

Now on to my 2011 stitches and finishes. I am really trying to be organized about how I keep track of my stitching and getting it finished right away. With that being said we will see how this year goes.

I have had this LHN--"Home of a Needleworker II" in my stash for awhile. I stitched it on 36 count fabric that I had coffee dyed so that it would fit in this frame. I bought the frame at an antique shop for $2. Another good match.
I have been trying to use frames I have found at antique shops, so I adjust the fabric counts to accommodate the frames I have.

Another thing I have been trying to do so far this year is to stitch an ornament after each "bigger" stitch I finish. So I stitched up this Country Cottage Needleworks ornament--"Season of Love" from the 2010 July/Aug. JCS magazine. I stitched it on 32 count fabric with DMC.

I stitched this Stacy Nash Primitives--"Monogrammed Pinkeep". One I have been wanting to do for sometime. I plan on gifting this one. But I will be making myself one too. I stitched it on 28 count natural with DMC.

A Primitive Betty's freebie--"Simplify". Stitched on 28 count natural with DMC and made into a pinkeep.

Brittercup Desings-"Mine" From the 2010 July/Aug JCS magazine. Stitched on 32 count sand with DMC. I must say that these ornaments are so much cuter once they are stitched up.

Finally I was at my LNS and pick up the first 2011 LHN ornament--"Cardinal Winter". Had to hurry and get it stitched up. Another cutie. This one was stitched on 28 count coffee dyed linen and stitched with Crescent colors and DMC.

Well now I am caught up again until I finished the last few 2010 stitches. I am off to do some coffee dying of linen.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Surprise in the mail and a couple of finishes...

I received this little surprise on Saturday from Jill. She stitched this for me as a Thank you for our mini retreat weekend. It is "Friendship Sampler" by Goode Huswife. I just love it and she was very creative on how she personalized it with our initials.
Thank you Jill:)

I have been trying to finish the last of my 2010 stitching. I still have a few left but this is what I did get done this weekend.

This is my Christmas Fair and Square from Jenna. I finished it into an ornament.

Here is a pic of the back of the ornament.

I had this piece stitched up for a month or so and finished it into this box. It is a Blackbird design.

A view of the inside.

Another piece that I stitched at the end of 2010 and framed this weekend. It is LHN Alphabet Rhyme.

This piece was in my last post but wasn't framed. I went looking in my frame stash and found this frame which worked perfectly for this project.

This is my sixth stitched finish for this year. It is "Valentine Cupboard Keep" by Country Rustic Primitives. I stitched it on 28 count natural with Waterlillies-African Sunset.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stitching:)

Two more finishes

I have been on a stitching roll.
This is my third finished stitch piece since the first of the year. It is Cherry Wood Designs--Needle. I dyed some celery gingham I had and used DMC 935. I have a frame for it, just need to paint it and get it framed.

I have wanted to stitch this piece since I bought it this last summer. It is Silver Creek Samplers--Eye of the Sparrow. I stitched it on some 28 count coffee/tea fabric I dyed. I also used DMC threads with this piece. I have a frame for this piece too. Guess I will have to do some finishing this weekend.

I am really trying to limit my stash buying and stitch up what I have, since I have enough stash for a lifetime of stitching. We will see how that goes--so far so good but we are only 13 days into the New Year:)

HAPPY STITCHING.

2010 clean up and 2011 finishes

Well I have a couple of 2010 housekeeping items to post.

First is the Christmas Fair and Square I received from Jenna A.

She stitched me French Country Star by JBW Designs from the 2010 JCS ornament issue. I wanted to stitch this design myself and now I won't have to:)

Thank you Jenna.

Now on to the rest of my 2010 stitching finishes.
This is LHN's Alphabet Rhyme. I stitched it on 28 count with the threads called for in the pattern.

I stitched this freebie from The Sampler Girl. It was done on 40 count flax stitched over two with one strand of Sampler Threads. I just used various colors I had.

These two designs are from Midsummer Night Designs. The first one is from the 2010 July/August JCS magazine. It is called I love Reindeer. It was stitched on 32 count with DMC threads. The second one is I Love Christmas from the 2010 JCS ornament magazine also stitched on 32 count with DMC threads.

Another freebie, this one is from Plum Street Samplers called Adore Him. It was stitched on 32 count expresso over two threads with various overdyed threads from my stash.


I stitched this Lizzie Kate kit--Fa La La on 30 count northern cross over two with DMC threads.
I have the perfect fabric to go with this design and I think I will be making a pillow.

On to my 2011 stitching so far.
I really would like to do some more Christmas ornaments so I started out with this one from Primrose Needleworks called Windows of Faith, Hope and Peace. I stitched it on 32 count antique white with two strands of Blue Jay Sampler Thread.

I also finished this Cherished Stitches piece called Sweet Land of Liberty. I stitched it on 32 count cream with DMC variations 4210 and 4240 and DMC 729.

I had a mini retreat this weekend at my house. There are seven of us that try to get together on Friday nights to stitch and so at one time or another this weekend we all were here. On Friday night their were five of us and then on Saturday six of us were here. Jill stayed the whole weekend and we got a lot of stitching done.

Now I need to have a finishing day!!

Christmas and exchange update

Well as usual it has been awhile since I have blogged. I have been busy getting ready for Christmas. I always seem to be working right up to the last moment! My DH and our youngest son and myself drove down to Chattanooga, TN to spend Christmas with our DD and her hubby and our two oldest grandchildren.

Here is some of the fun on Christmas morning. I had made the two grand-kids capes. Jacob is into spiderman, so of course I made a spider-man cape and pillow for him and Emily loves princess', so I made a princess cape and pillow for her.

Here is a princess tie blanket I made for Emily's birthday, which is in January.

These are the capes and pillows.

This is what we woke up to on Christmas morning in Tennessee. I couldn't believe I drove 1000 miles for this. I could have stayed in Minnesota:)

Our car just before we left Chattanooga for Atlanta. The drive was just terrible for most of the trip because of the snow. We did make it safely to Atlanta, actually Newnan, Georgia where DD number 2 lives. We ended up with 4 of our six children in Georgia for part of Christmas, which was very nice. We had a great time except of course for the weather.

When I arrived home from down south my Friends Stitching through the Seasons exchange was waiting for me from Michele. She stitched me this BBD piece which I have been wanting to do for myself. It was made into a very cute pillow. The back ground fabric is two fat quarters that Michele sent with the exchange. Thanks Michele for another great exchange.

Michele also included all these goodies: 3 skeins of Belle Soie (my favorite), a scissors, two pieces of linen, two patterns, some marking pins and mints plus it was in a really cute basket. I think I will be using the basket for the ornaments I plan to stitch through the year. I have really enjoyed this exchange group. I received four wonderful exchanges from Michele.

I decided to stitch ornaments for my children so here are the six I stitched from the 2007 JCS ornament magazine. The designs is from Sisters and Best Friends called "All Flakes Welcome". I think they turned out pretty good. Now my goal is to stitch ornaments every year for the children, check back next year and see if I accomplish this goal:)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a healthy and happy 2011.

Happy Stitching!!!

Lots of Finishes...

I have been quite busy with stitching and finishing over the last three weeks. Here are some of my results:

This is the Fair and Square I received from Kathy A, in it's finished form. Turned out cute.

Here is the back view.

Then I stitched this Bent Creek stocking for my grandson Silas. I my plan is to make each grandchild a stocking, this one is number 3.

I have also decided to stitch an ornament for each grandchild and I have used this pattern for their first Christmas. I also stitched this ornament for my youngest child, so the first one I stitched was 22 years ago. This is such a cute first Christmas ornament.

Here is that first ornament stitched back in 1988.

Here are the two ornaments stitched for my grandson Jacob and granddaughter Emily. They live in Tennessee.

This ornament is from the 2010 JCS ornament magazine. This design is by Ladybug Lane Designs called "Joy". I stitched it on 32 count lime green with Belle Soie Kiwi.

Here is the 2010 Snowman by Lizzie Kate. I knew I wanted to do this one and finish it as a stand up box.

A view of the side.

This is LHN's Winter Wonderland. I stitched this one up about a month or so ago. I made the pouch with some fabric from the Minnesota Quilt shop hop.

Here is the inside of the pouch. I added some pockets and a place for needles.

I have been making a lot of pin pillows. The to one is Miss Mary Mac's Pins and Needles by M Designs. I believe the bottom one is from Notforgotten Farm Samplers called Alphabet Pin Keep.


I also stitched this about a month ago. It is Erica Michael's design "Button, Button". It was stitched on 32 count antique white with Belle Soie Kiwi. I made this into a bag for my buttons.

A view of the inside of the bag with some of the antique buttons I have collected.

I decorated my little Christmas tree. These are all of my LHN ornaments and some ornaments I have gotten from other blog stitchers plus a few others I have stitched. My tree is quite full I may need a bigger tree next year.

I still have a few more finishes to post but that is it for now.

Have a great weekend and Happy Stitching:)