Giveaway at My 1/2 Dozen Daily

Just a quick post to advertise a giveaway on a blog I follow, My 1/2 Dozen Daily. Carla is giving away one of her marvelous custom-made wallets or mug rugs--your choice! Check out her blog at http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/

Bride's Tree Ornaments

It's been so long since I updated this blog--it's time to dust it off and try it again. I have
been very busy stitching the last seven months. I've ambitiously decided to
work on Brooke's Books Bride's Tree Ornaments for my daughter, but have only
managed to finish two of them. They are small, delicate designs charted for
silks or DMC (I used DMC). I'm not crazy about beading but the designs aren't
overloaded with beading so that part has been fine. They remind me of spring which is in full bloom in late March! Right now I'm working on Olga from Plum Street Samplers and Bunny Umbrella by Praiseworthy Samplers and both are a job to work on. Will post pictures soon. Thanks to all of you who follow my blog--it sure hasn't been very active lately.

Give-Away Winner!

Congratulations to Kimberly. My husband drew the winner out of a bowl this morning. Thanks to all who entered. I'd like to do more of these in the future. Maisy says 'hi'. She and I took a little trip to Holmes Lake this afternoon to get some exercise. It is a pleasant 76 degrees with some humidity, and a beautiful walk along the lake felt good!

Long-Time UFO finished and a giveaway

This is Sunflower Sampler by Sunflower Samplings. Stitched on 30 ct Sunflower using Weeks Dy Works and Gentle Art Sampler Threads.

I finally finished this sampler started probably nine or ten years ago! I ran out of the main color of floss and put it aside. I do like how it turned out.

I want to offer the chart to anyone who is interested. Obviously the chart is used--there is a little coffee stain on it that does not affect readability. I recently went through my freebie charts and found lots of duplicates that I would like to include in the giveaway. If you are interested, please leave a comment and your e-mail address and I will put your name in the drawing. I'm sorry, but I'll have to limit the giveaway to USA addresses only because of postage costs. Please leave your comment through Saturday, August 27, and I will draw the winner on Sunday.

Getting So Close to Finishing

Quaker Medallion Sampler has been a joy to stitch I'm really close to finishing this one. It's been a joy to stitch. This is only the second Quaker design I've ever done.

I just had to stitch this one by Blackbird Designs from their newest book. I love the spring colors!

I love stitching on this one--especially love the dog. I started this last year and put it down. I'm making an effort to finish my stack of WIP's by finishing this soon, hopefully!

Finally Finished

This is Sheepish Designs first pillow, B is for Bee stitched on 32 ct Lambswool with Anchor and DMC floss. I struggled with the stitch for the beehive--it's a buttonhole stitch that I found difficult to do, but I broke it up into 3 sessions and finally got it done. I do love the finished results. Now to get it made into a pillow. There are four more pillow designs in this series I believe: H is for House, R is for Rabbit, S is for Sheep and V is for Viper.

Hope everyone is staying cool! It's so hot here in he Midwest this week.

Some WIPs

Blogger and I have problems with each other sometimes, which is why I'm posting twice in one day! At the top is Strawberry House--I love the colors used in this one--very bright and cheery.

Then there's Snow Garden. This is very relaxing and easy to stitch. I love the soft muted shades of the thread used in this design. I will be travelling to Tulsa and the Silver Needle for the weekend to meet the BBD ladies and I couldn't be more excited!

Next is Lizzie Kate's Summer Fab Fob kit. So cute and fun to stitch, I'll have it done in no time. We all need those quick finishes to keep us inspired!

Last but not least is Quinn, my boy cat. He will be 12 years old this fall and is just a sugar cookie. The other cats are girls and they keep him in line.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Another Design to be Framed

Nobody Loves Me on 30 ct WDW Old Mill Java with the recommended DMC

I'm really happy to have this one finished. It was fun to stitch but the latticework got kind of tiresome after awhile. I started this one in early spring so it was fun to work on while spring was actually here--it's definitely gone now! We have 115 degree heat index today. Hot, hot hot.

Framed

The Absentminded Squirrel by Of Female Worth in a beautiful frame that brings out the colors in this piece just perfectly. Framed by Michaels--I think they did a great job.

Earth Sampler by Primitive Needle. This was such a fun one to stitch even though I had to frog quite a bit. I love all the individual elements of this piece and the vibrant colors throughout. Sorry about the glare.

Last day of the 3-day weekend. It's been a quiet one here despite all the fireworks. It rained most of the day on the 4th and today has been quite gloomy. I'm always grateful for extra days off however!

Thanks for the lovely comments on my previous post. I really appreciate having some readers. I plan to post some of the WIPs I'm working on at the moment. The list is sure growing--I can't seem to stop myself from starting new projects every week! Hope your weekend was a good one.

Maddie says Hi!

This is Brightneedle's JCS ormanment from 2007. I thought about making the year 2010, but it seemed like a lot of trouble and I left it alone.

This is Spring Morning from Lavender Wings. I saw a model of this hanging in a shop in OKC and just had to have it. It was a fun stitch, with several specialty stitches using silks and beads. I just finished this last night. It's stitched on 32 Ct cream Belfast Linen.

So sad to see the weekend almost over--it seems like Monday rolls around way too fast. Oh well, might as well try to enjoy what's left of it.

Finally, some stitching pictures

I finally got my camera going and took some shots. This is another fall design, The Absentminded Squirrel from Of Female Worth. Love those long-eared squirrels! I started this eons ago and decided I should work on it one night a week until done and I'm so glad to have it done. In fact Michaels just called to say it's finished and ready to pick up. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Pictures of the pet kids--Millie (the cat) and Maisy. Millie loves to fit herself into any size box and can stay there for hours.

Weather is finally getting nice here in Nebraska. It was an especially long, cold winter and it's so nice to see tulips blooming and trees greening up!

Five Little Pumpkins in February

Five Little Pumpkins
JBW Designs
Natural Linen
DMC Threads

Since my last post was in October, I decided to post this piece I completed a few years ago. I'd really like to make it into a pinkeep some day. I just love Halloween designs and have to limit myself to buying only one or two per year.

Kathy's Give Away

Kathy has two great give-aways on her blog. Check it out! http://kathystitchcomments.blogspot.com/

I had never stitched a BBD before this year so I'd love to win 'Awake The Dawing Day'. Alas, I never have much luck winning a drawing.

Happy Dance!

I have two finishes to show! I was so excited to complete Betsy--she was so fun to stitch and since on concentrated on getting her done I didn't get to work on anything else! Sorry the pic is so far away--I'm going to have to try and get better photos of my work. Oh Mother Dear was a quick stitch--I think that'll make a sweet pillow.

Will try to concentrate on LK's Boo Club for now although there are all those ornaments I want to stitch in the new JCS ornament edition!

Hope ya'll had a nice weekend--the weather here was beautiful--really nice for walking and shopping and just enjoying. We're going to get down to the 30's tonight which is too cold for me!

Born to Stitch

Greetings! It's always amazing to me how quickly the time passes, especially when I consider how long it's been since I posted to this blog. I saw a great cross stitch pattern that said "Born to Stitch, forced to Work." I'm not sure where I saw this and I don't know the designer, but it's exactly how I feel a lot of the time. The two hours of stitching time I have every evening is just not enough time for me to accomplish what I want to. I've been working on Betsy Monday-Friday and making great progress--I'm thinking I'll be able to finish her yet this week! On the weekends I've been working on the rest of my WIP's including Lizzie Kate's Boo Club, Crows, Corn and Cats by Goode Huswife, and Oh Mother Dear cupboard sampler by the Sampler Girl.

I also have a huge list of things kitted up and ready to start, as well as a long list of goodies to purchase from the St. Charles Market! I just love Primitive Needles' Witches Hollow, LHN's The Library, and several Plum Street Samplers offerings, not to mention Carriage House Sampling's Christmas at HRH. The Goode Huswife is also planning to release reprints of some OOP charts as well as another book. In order to afford all this, I'm definitely forced to work.

Oh, well, at least I have this creative outlet I enjoy so much. I'm so happy that we have so many talented designers out there offering their gorgeous designs to us. We've also got a great many fabric and fabric choices--it is mind boggling at times but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Michaela & Austin are Engaged!

Youngest daughter Michaela & boyfriend (now fiancee) became engaged a couple of weeks ago. These are pictures of the happy couple. I wish we lived closer so we could celebrate together.

Betsy Progress

One of My WIPs

This is a freebie from Midsummer Night Designs from last year, Love Bird. It has been a quick stitch so far. I hope to finish it this weekend. I really love how the colors go together. I don't have pictures of my WIPs but hope to get them this weekend. I have about half of Betsy completed and have started stitching on the peacock. I believe this is the first peacock I've ever stitched! Suddenly I've developed a fondness for everything peacock. Another WIP is Sheep in the Meadow, a freebie by Shepherd's Bush. It should be a quick stitch for me but the isolated stitches and backstitching have put me off. I am getting close to finishing and will love the finished design because of the colors. I also started Oh Mother Dear by The Sampler Girl and Bless This Home from CCN. Oh Mother Dear is a quick, fun stitch.

That's all for now--Have a good weekend!

Travels and Stitching

Brianne
This weekend we'll be travelling to Oklahoma to meet this handsome couple and my sweet granddaughter! Of course we have to make a stop at The Silver Needle in Tulsa!

The first cross stitch I ever did was a stamped cross stitch baby sampler in 1982. I remember a lady at my table during coffee break was stitching this sampler and I liked it so much I found out where she bought it and I got myself one to stitch for my 2nd daughter who was born in March. I was immediately hooked and stitched a pair of Hummel children for my mom (also stamped). Eventually I bought a counted cross stitch kit from Current magazine. It was a small design with a coffeepot and some fruit and stitched on Aida with DMC floss--very basic. I still have the piece but have never framed it. We had one craft store in town that sold kits, patterns, fabrics and floss. A few years later I discovered we had a very nice cross stitch store in town and I started stiching with linen and using sampler threads. Unfortunately, this store closed its doors in the 1990s. We started traveling to Omaha for soccer tournaments and I found a store there dedicated to cross stitch. I made sure to visit this store whenever I was in the area (much to the soccer player's dismay). We either stopped before or after the game and I got to spend some time and money there. This store also closed before too long and I had to content myself with a yearly excursion to Des Moines for the cross stitch festivals that were held there in the 1990s. Luckily for me the internet became available and it opened up a whole new chance for stash building!

I love to visit cross stitch stores when I'm traveling and have been able to visit quite a few in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. I always check to see if teh shop is still open when I'm planning a trip. I'm always quite sad to hear that another shop has closed.