And the winner is.....

Hello Stitching Friends!

The names of the entrants were carefully copied..and one was drawn from the group.  Congratulations to Moonbeam!  Please email me your name and address and I will mail the Bent Creek kit to you.  Thanks to all of you that entered. 

The weekend goes by much too quickly...  I did make it to Stitching and Stuff in Clinton, Iowa on Saturday with my California stitching relative that is here in Illinois for a week long visit.  Barb and I always have a good time together.  We like the same movies, books and enjoy stitching together. 

We went to the movies the other night to see One for the Money.  We both have enjoyed the Evanovich books.  I was a little hesitant to see the movie, since I usually like the books better than the movies...  But, all in all we both enjoyed it.  I thought Morelli and Ranger could have been 'hotter', but it was a fun movie.  If you haven't read the books, you should. 

I have done a little stitching since the last post.  I have been entwined in the seaweed on block #2...  I resorted to using a highlighter to track where I was on the chart.  After I started doing that it went much easier. 

Sorry for the messy picture, but I wanted to get this post done tonight, and didn't take the time to arrange a better picture.  But, as you can see a good portion of the seaweed is done.  I think this will be one of my favorite blocks.

The family has gathered this afternoon to watch the superbowl together.  We fixed the favorite snacks...vegetable pizza, wings, cocktail weanies, chili cheese dip and brownies...  Now that the game has ended the food is about all gone as well.  So, all in all it was a success. 

Well, thanks for hanging in to the end of this post.  Hope your weekend was an enjoyable one and you found time for some stitching.  The weather was beautiful here in central Illinois.  Sunny and unseasonably warm for February. 

Happy stitching!

Block #1 finished...

Hello dear stitchy friends.

I have been reading blogs and have become inspired yet again by the talented group of stitchers out there.  Yes, you.  I've seen samplers I have drooled over, and admired stitching/crafting rooms.  I just have to say I'm impressed..

I haven't had much time for stitching since Monday night.  I did get block #1 for Shores finished at our stitch group.  So, time to move on to block#2.

I have spent my spare time in the last couple of days helping our daughter with her bedroom.  Painting, cleaning, sorting....  She got a new bed for her room today..so prior to the delivery of the furniture we've been busy.  She decided it was time for a new color in her room, so off to the home improvement store for paint etc.  There are still details to be finished but she is happy with the progress.  She chose gray for three walls and a kind of bright pink for the fourth wall.  Then, pink sheets for the new bed. 

Needless to say the cats have helped through it all.  So much so, that when the painting was in progress they were banished outside. 

We were at the Mississippi river in Iowa at Lock and Dam 14 on Sunday hoping to find some eagles to photograph.  We were please to find these beauties.

With our interest in the eagles this year, I am regretting not purchasing the Soar sampler from With Thy Needle and Thread last year.  :(

If any of you stitchers out there are finished with the pattern and would be willing to part with it..just let me know.

Remember to sign up for my blogoversary drawing in the previous post before Saturday!

Happy Stitching...

Blogoversary!

Hello Stitchy Friends!

I've been writing this post in my head for at least a week....  It seems like something always seem to interrupt me from sitting down to write it. 

I checked awhile back and was surprised to see my first anniversary of my blog will be tomorrow....January 31.  I didn't get as many posts written over the year as I would have liked, but have enjoyed blogging.  The comments from all of you out there make it worthwhile.

I want to offer a giveaway.  So, I would like to have you become a follower of my blog to enter.  Repost it on your blog if you like.  I will keep the drawing open until Saturday, February 4.  I will draw a winner that morning.  Leave your email address in your comment so I will be able to contact you.

This Bent Creek Home in the Globe kit will be what I will be giving away.  So, if you are interested, please leave a comment on this post.  I will contact the winner on Saturday.

I have been stitching away on Shores of Hawks Run Hollow, I am nearing the finish line for the first block.

I am leaving for stitching night soon.  It will be fun as always to get together with my stitching friends.  I will try to remember to take my camera and get some pictures of what everyone is working on.  I hope to finish the waves on the water in my Shores block.

Happy Stitching!

Not the New Year's Start I'd Planned....

Hello Friends.

Well, my ambitious stitchy start to 2012 was a flop.  I did finish up Winter Wonderland by LHN.  Success. 

Then on to my first new start of the New Year....  Well I read the chart, measured my linen, and cut it to the size on the back of the chart...  Much to my dismay, I should have double checked the stitch dimensions and not just looked at the cut fabric size.  There is a misprint on the cut fabric size on my chart... only off by at least 5" in the vertical measurement....  So, my nice big beautiful piece of linen is cut too small for the piece now. 

I was so mad at myself.  I haven't had the heart to look at any stitching since then.  I will have to go to my nearest needlework shop and re purchase a hunk of linen for Shores of Hawks Run Hollow, and start again.  The original piece of linen that I cut too small for it, was purchased at the shop in Galena, when it was going out of business, and the shop owner sold me a larger piece than what I needed...so that is why I was cutting it down to size....

Well, I guess I will just find other uses for my cutting mistake.

Onto other business...  Thanks to all of you sharp eyed stitchers out there, the source of the Snowman freebie has been found.  For those of you that are interested in obtaining the chart, see the comments from my last post that Carol made.  She has kindly posted the address for you to find the snowman freebie.

http://gazette94.blogspot.com/2011/01/bonhomme-de-neige-2011.html

So, thanks Carol for finding the link for the chart for everyone.

Well, I guess I will let you know when I gather my stitching mojo to move ahead.

Hope your stitchy start to 2012 was better than mine.

Snowman Freebie .....

For those of you that left comments wondering where I found the Snowman freebie I finished...  I have done some looking at the chart, but the url at the bottom of the page didn't lead anywhere.  And I'm sorry to say I don't remember where I found it.

The best I can offer is to make a copy of the chart and mail it to those of you that would want to have it.  Since it was posted as a freebie, I think this would be o.k. to do. 

So, send me an email with your name and mailing address if you would like me to send a copy of the chart to you.

melodyheck@gmail.com

Ringing in the New Year...

Hello Friends!

Happy New Year to you all.  I have been busy today undecking the halls.  I still have the tree to take out of here, but most of the other things have been put away.  I still have snowmen around, but they will stay through January at least. 

We are having mild weather still around here.  It's rather surreal.  It's not normal for me to be able to run outside to the storage shed putting away holiday totes with no jacket...  We do finally have some sunshine this afternoon.  It has been gloomy outside for days.  It's nice to see the sun. 

I just finished up the book I have been reading.  Another cozy mystery.  They seem to be my favorite genre.  I think I am pulling the new Patricia Cornwell off the shelf to read next.  I enjoy using the Good Reads site.  If you haven't explored it yet, and are a reader, you should. It's a great way to keep track of what you've read, add friends and explore authors.  I've kept track of the books I've read since about 1975.  A few years ago I added them all into an excel spreadsheet.  (I know, I'm a nerd).  But what do you expect from a librarian??  I haven't entered all the titles from my spreadsheet into good reads, but have done a good portion of them. 

I am close to having a finish of 'Winter Wonderland' by LHN.  I have been thinking about a New Year's Day start....  I am strongly leaning toward starting the Shores of Hawks Run Hollow.  I have the linen, and chart, just need to pull the flosses.  So, I may be doing that tomorrow....we'll see. 

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Shores, but if you're not, here is a photo of someone's completed work.  I am contemplating some changes in my piece.  We will see what I come up with.  I usually most always follow the chart religiously, but there are about three blocks in this piece I'm not so fond of...I am thinking my piece may be 9 blocks in all, not 12.  I feel almost sacreligious in writing this...I am a big fan of Carriage House Designs....

Stay tuned to see what happens.  As always I appreciate your comments and insights.  If you're wondering which blocks I'm thinking of eliminating, they would be the three in a vertical row on the right side. 

For the first time in many years, Mike is not going to have to work second shift tonight.  He traded with a co-worker and worked first shift today.  So, this means he'll actually be home for New Year's Eve.  I'm looking forward to it.  We're planning a quiet dinner at home, and then maybe go uptown to the local hotspot.  Our children and their dates are planning to be there, so we'll join them for awhile.  It will be a change from my usual routine of staying home stitching and reading.... 

Happy New Year's to all my stitchy friends in blogland.  See you in 2012!

Christmas is past

Hello stitchy friends...I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We had a very nice day at home. We did our traditional breakfast of egg casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls...yum. Our son brought his girlfriend to join us. We all opened presents together in the morning. Santa was generous to all. I was especially surprised to unwrap an iPad! I am experimenting with my first post from it this evening.

I started Winter Wonderland from LHN recently. It is coming along, then I've had some extra time for reading since I don't go back to work until Thursday....nice! We have been experiencing mild temperatures here for this time of year...and no snow yet. This is pretty unusual for Illinois in December.

I was going to include a picture of stitching progress but am still learning how to do this from the iPad. Hopefully I will figure it out for next time.

Happy stitching!