Veterans Day

Hello Stitching Friends!

I'm thinking of all of you on this gray November day.  I have spent part of the afternoon deciding on my next ornament.  I have chosen one, from here:

Then found appropriate fabric and pulled flosses with some substitutions.  This may be the one for our annual ornament exchange in our stitching group.  I will have to see how it comes out.  I did finish this ornament last night.

The fabric is more greenish in color than it appears in this photo.  The design is an older one from Little House Needleworks.  

Our daughter and son-in-law will be moving soon.  They found a house they are buying.  It is in our town, just a few blocks away from where they are currently living.  The house needs some work, mostly painting in every room, and the downstairs bathroom needs a re-do.  But I think with our son helping them along with Mike and I, they will be able to accomplish most all of the work.  I see a paint roller in my hand before long.....  They are very excited about this, and not having to be renters any longer.  There's a perfect little bedroom upstairs for the baby!  

I've been enjoying my day off for the Veterans Day holiday.  The animals have been napping since Mike left for work.  

Here's Annie and Simon spooning in the chair.  They have it rough around here! lol.  

I did order fabric and flosses for this beauty from The Silver Needle last week.  They arrived on Saturday!  I am itching to start this!

 I've loved this design for a long time.  

I will close this post with a picture of a couple of my Thanksgiving pieces.

I don't have many things stitched for this holiday.  I do have "Be Ye Thankful" finished from the Cross eyed cricket.  But I leave it out all year, and don't necessarily think of it as a Thanksgiving piece.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and happy stitching friends!

Progress

Hello Stitching Friends!

I thought I would check in with an update.  I spent most of today taking it easy and doing some stitching.  I had oral surgery yesterday.  I'm very happy it's over.  I hadn't been looking forward to it at all.  I had tissue removed from the roof of my mouth, and then implanted in front of my lower front teeth.  My gums have receded there and this tissue implantation is supposed to be the solution.

But enough about that, here's an update photo on today's progress.

Sorry for the shadows.  But you can tell where I'm at.  I'm calling it quits for today.  It's probably one more day off work tomorrow.  

The weather is turning colder this week.  It is supposed to be a pretty chilly Halloween this year.  The leaves have really been falling as well.  The fall colors have been really pretty this year.  

Being home all day today I witnessed what the cats do when we are at work in the afternoons.

What a bunch of sleepyheads!  Ranger did wake up as I took her picture.  

I took this picture this weekend at the park while walking Harry.  

Hope you're finding time for stitching fun!

Thanks for visiting.

October nearly gone....?!

I don't know where its gone, but October is much closer to the end of the month than the beginning.  I have been busy!  My niece, was here for a nice long visit earlier this month.  We made the most of it and packed a lot of stitching and needlework into the time she was here!

Since I found out a baby is on the way this coming Spring, I wanted to see if I could remember how to crochet again.  Because a new baby needs a blanket from grandma!  So with some help from my niece, I got going again.  It's been a fun diversion.

The yarn is really soft, just what you think it should be for a baby's blanket!

There may be a few mistakes, but at least I've gotten the rhythm of it again.  I will need to get some more yarn this weekend.  I got it at Michaels.

Then I've been working on the Tortoise and the Hare...

Here's where I left off last night.  I always forget how much time it takes to do these Prairie Schooler charts.  I guess I'm just impatient to get it done.  I am thinking ahead to some Christmas ornaments that I want to do....  I haven't made final choices yet, but it's time to do some final choices.  

Then besides the crocheting, the cross stitching, my niece and I each started a patchwork and appliqué square!  Again, I was having to stretch out of my comfort zone.

We worked hard two evenings to get this far.  The designer is Bonnie Sullivan from 'all through the night '.  

Barb chose a different month for her project.  I still have to do the blanket stitching, vine, etc.  I am supposed to have that done before she returns in December, so we can do the finishing. I will finish it for a small wall hanging I think.  

So, that about catches you up on stitching projects around here!

But then I hosted our Rural Library Directors group at our library last Friday morning.  That entails coffee and breakfast foods, and after the meeting taking them to a local restaurant for lunch!  So, that is a full day since I finish off the day by working through the afternoon as well.

But, that wasn't the end of the entertaining!  I hosted our stitching group at our house this past Monday evening.  I made applesauce cake from scratch with my Mom's recipe for caramel frosting. It's perfect for Fall!  We had a fun evening stitching together as always.  We have a great group of women.

I better close for now.  Hope you are all finding some quality stitching time!

Finishes....

My future DIL stopped this afternoon with three of her finishes and some frames, so I showed her how to frame them.  I think they turned out nice.

I think this last one is my favorite.  That was her first piece.

I'm proud of her efforts!  Just wanted to share them with you.

Happy Stitching!

New start

Hello Stitching Friends!

I have been busy.  I have a couple finishes to share, and a new start.

I finished stitching up this little ornament.  It was unfinished from our finishing class with Mona at the Silver Needle.  It was my first attempt at sewing a beaded edge finish.  I found it challenging to count the stitched edge evenly to space the beads...

This was another one of the finishes from the same class.

Then this was the final one.

I received the new ornament issue this week.  I've made a quick pass or two through and found a couple that I may stitch.  

Then, my newest start is this

It doesn't look like much yet.  

I've always liked this design and have owned the chart a long time.  I have more of a reason to look at this now.....  Because,  we've been let in on a little secret.....

How about that for big news??  Holly and Joe are looking forward to a new arrival late next Spring.  Mike and I are pretty excited to say the least!  It will be the first grandchild for our family.  

I haven't located the pinking shears to trim the felt around the little tombstone ornament.  In case you can't tell I finished the top one as a flat fold.  I ran out of trim to put around it, so may find some when I have the chance to go to a fabric store and add some later.  I need to cover those edges!  

I do like the fabric I used on the back....

Well, thanks for sticking it thru to the end of this long post.  

I hope you are finding time to enjoy your stitching!

One more finish...

Hi friends!

One more finish... I had the frame in my stash, and found a piece this morning that would fit.  So, add one more to the finished pile!!  I couldn't be more pleased to get these done.

Another flat fold finish

Hello,

I did another flat fold finish this afternoon.  I am happier with this one.  I took the time to sew the trim on rather than gluing (thanks for the idea sis!) and I was much happier with the result.  

This is the piece I stitched by Cross Eyed Cricket from the retreat we attended at The Silver Needle.

This is a photo so you can see the fabric I used.

I just bought this fabric, with this piece in mind.  I really didn't have any Halloween themed fabrics in my stash.  But a trip to the quilt store in LeClaire, Iowa took care of that...

It took nearly all of the fat quarter of the orange polka dot fabric for the flat fold.  But I will have some other choices on hand for another time.  Needless to say, I've been able to leave my finishing materials out on the dining room table for a few days.  It helps when you don't have to take the time to round up all the supplies.  

I should keep my momentum going and continue on with more finishing...but this will probably be it for this weekend.  Mike will be home Sunday and Monday, plus I think the kids are coming over Sunday, so that means my mess will be put away for awhile.  I will most likely be putting my dining room table to use for feeding the herd!  

Happy Stitching, friends!