Happy Halloween!! fixed pictures .. I hope!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween .. with no rain on those cute trick or treaters and lots of candy *smile* .. Do your kids sort their candy when they get home? I remember when I was younger my brother and I would empty our pillow cases (yes we trick or treated with pillow cases! lol) in the middle of the living room .. mom and dad would do check to make sure there wasn't anything odd in our candy stash and then mom got first pick from both our piles! Then my brother and I would spend the next 30 mins sorting and trading our candy .. I loved watching my kids sort and trade .. it's one part of this silly holiday that I reall miss .. that and walking the neighborhood with the other parents and our kids .. and of course the older the kids got the further back we parents had to walk! ohhh what fun!

Thought I'd share a few pictures of my house and our halloween/fall decorations .. this is our fireplace mantel in the family room

My dad made these shelves for me .. they are really for my salt and pepper collection, but during the holidays, I take down my regular S&P's and decorate with halloween/fall and then Christmas stuff .. I have a wonderful collection of Christmas S&P shakers .. I'll share pictures later of those ..

Justa little decoration on the kitchen table ...

and this is the window over my kitchen sink ...


Boo!

I'm grateful for Halloween memories ...

Sunday and a few more pictures

Hope everyone had a good weekend .. I finally finished unpacking and got most of my stash put away, did the usual laundry/house stuff .. got to stitch quite a bit on Sunday .. finished my F&S squares but can't show you until they arrive at Pam's house. We went and got our pumpkins saturday, Terry and Robert carved them tonight. I'll have to put candles in them and take pictures .. they are pretty cute, and a bit scary! lol

I have some more pictures from Pals Fall Fling .. I think I've called it 3 or 4 different names so far lol ... anyway, there was an ornament exchange Saturday night. For every ornament you brought, you got a raffle ticket and got to pick from all the lovely ornaments on the table when your number was called .. here's pictures of all the ornaments .. aren't they wonderful!!





Here are the ornaments I picked .. can't wait to have them hanging on my Christmas Tree :) The first two were stitched by Ruth Ann, I knew Ruth Ann before she started blogging .. and she is as wicked funny as she is in her blog .. and a wonderful stitcher and I'm soo happy to have received two of her ornaments .. of course she stitched enough to give each and every one of us one! lol ...



This was stitched by Rosalie .. isn't it pretty :)

And this was stitched by Debbie .. This was the first Fall Fling that Rosalie and Debbie attended .. but I don't think it will be their last .. at least I hope it won't be. I really enjoyed meeting both of them.

Thanks for stopping by .. I really enjoy hearing from everyone :)
I'm grateful for new stitched ornament for my tree ...

Strawberries ...

Ahhhh Friday .. I do love Friday! lol .. I've been stitching this week, inbetween unpacking and laundry, but can't show you pictures yet. But I can show you pictures of what Pam sent me .. she was my Fair and Square partner this round. Look at these cute strawberries! I love these sqaures. The colors are deep and yummy. Pam said the design is called Russian Khokhloma-berries; designed by Barbara Sestok. She found the design in a mazagine that is no longer in business.

Pam also sent me some goodies along with the squares she stitched .. isn't the heart adorable?! She made it and it's just sooo sweet. She also sent me some fabric squares that look really nice with the strawberries .. and she included a Canada keyring and two postcards showing me pictures of Skatchwan where she lives. I've really enjoyed these F&S exchanges. Thanks Pam for stitching for me .. and thanks Vonna and Annemarie for organizing this great group!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comments .. I really enjoy reading them. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I should have some more picturs from MB soon :)
I'm grateful for stitching exchanges ..

Stitching and Classes at the Retreat

I did get some stitching done during my relaxing quite time .. I started and finished Just One More Stitch by Simple Stitches. I giggled a lot stitching this piece .. remembering all the times I've said just one more stitch lol .. I also stitched on my Fair and Square piece but can't show you pictures just yet.

Remember the Pals Sampler I stitched for the Signature RR? Well, here's a picture of what it looks like with a few signatures. There wasn't enough time for everyone to sign all the RR's that were at the retreat .. takes longer to stitch your signature than you think! lol .. and by the weekend everyone was getting pretty tired of stitching their name .. There were quite a few different center designs. Most of us are now going to send out RR's out to the girls that didn't get a chance to sign. I'll post some pictures of other finished RR's as they get done .. I really like the way this is turning out ...


Mary Turley of MDesigns taught 3 classes during the retreat .. I took all 3! and I was really glad I took them! The first class was a stitcher's pouch. You could stitch either a Fall design or a Halloween design

you can see the fabric bag on the right .. the flower fabric center is where the stitched piece slides into. The polka dot fabric is the backing for a scissor fob if you want to make one and the fabric/threads are on the left of the bag .. I started stitching the Halloween design .. I just love the colors and the purple spider is sooo cute and fuzzy!


The second class was for a stitcher's bourse .. below if the design for the inside of the bourse .. I love the design and the sweet saying. The flowers between the girls can be stitched like on the chart, or you can make a separate pin cushion and attach it between the girls.


Below is the fabric for the bourse that I picked .. Mary had 3 or 4 different fabrics to pick from .. all coordinated very nicely with the threads she choose. As you can see, I only got a bit of the words stitched ... and in all honesty, I would have gotten a lot more stitched but I was at the chatty table .. it's really hard to stitch when you are laughing and even harder when you have your hand raised .. nope not to ask a question of the teacher, you raise your hand so that you can take a drink of your water and everyone at the table has to be quite .. that way you don't end up with water up your nose .. or spiting water at your table mates .. right Ruth Ann? *grin*


The stitcher's pouch and bourse classes were taught on Friday .. the 3rd class was taught Saturday morning .. this one was called small and large ornament finishing class .. Mary put together a wonderful assortment of finishing supplies to try and get us to think outside the box with our stitching and finishing. There was wool, floss, scrapbook paper, boxes and buttons and cards .. it was really a fun class .. I made the card in the center of the picture, with Fa la la on it ..
Teejay, there really isn't anyting quite like a vacation at the beach is there! and in the off-season I was surprised how reasonable the room rates were for right on the beach. Sounds like you and your mom had a wonderful time!

Chelle, did you attend the first two Pals retreats? We need to talk! I'd love to meet you there someday! I was at the 2nd one in 1999 .. wish I'd known you then.

Michelle, as you can see .. I did get some stitching done .. but never as much as I took with me in hopes of stitching! lol .. eyes bigger than my stomach lol

more later .. I'm off to bed .. night night and thanks all for stopping by *smile*
I'm grateful new projects ...

Rest in Peace Laurel ...

I just learned that one of my favorite artist passed away on September 13th ..
http://www.laurelburch.com/
I don't remember a time since the late 70's when her art wasn't part of my daily life .. whether it was the pair of earrings I was wearing one day or the cup I was drinking my coffee from .. her art was always with me. My mom and my sil also where huge fans of LB. I first fell in love with her bright colors and her cats. DH's favorites have alwasy been her birds. It didn't help my addiction to her art when DH fell in love with her stuff too! lol .. although it's really nice to collect/lust after things that you actually have DH's permission to purchase! *smile*

Back in I think 1978, mom and I went to her Laurel speak at a woman's breakfast .. she talked about her illness, she had brittle bone disease, and her art and her connection to animals and people .. she spoke a lot about Kindered Spirits .. a theme that runs through so much of her art.

Here's just a snippet of her artwork .. there's a lot more to view at her website ...

and here's one of my favorite quotes of her's ..

"A woman's spirit blossoms in the colors of her soul."

I'm grateful for kindered spirits ...

I'm home ....

and exhausted .. my mom always said if you didn't come back from vacation tired, you didn't have a good time .. well I had an awesome time lol I have lots of pictures to share .. some I'll put in my blog but most I'll put in my webshots album and give you the link when they are uploaded.

My trip to Myrtle Beach, SC started early Saturday morning .. my flights were very uneventful, which is a good thing when you are travelling, don't you think? lol .. The retreat I was attending didn't start until Thursday .. a lot of the girls were arriving on Tuesday .. so I had a couple of days just to myself .. and it was heaven! I missed the family a lot, but I have to admit it was totally dedicant to wake up in the morning, walk outside my room, and look at this view ... I just love these little Palmetto trees .. they are all around Myrtle Beach ..

My front door ...

and my room .. cute and comfortable ...


The 2-1/2 days I had to myself were very very nice .. walking on the beach, stitching, napping, having the tv remote to myself (lol) it was just what I needed and got me ready for when the girls all arrived ... more to come tomorrow ...

I'm grateful for the beach ...

Packed and ready to go ...

Yep, I'm leaving on a morning flight to Myrtle Beach! Woo Hoo!!! I can't wait .. looking forward to walking on that beautiful beach and feeling 70 degree weather one more time before winter sets in! lol .. and I'm also looking forward to spending the week with stitchers! See old friends again and meeting new friends ... add laughter and stitching and late night eating .. what could be better than that!

I have one more finish to show off .. this is a shop exclusive from SB .. I really like it made into an ornament!

Thank you all for your wonderful comments .. I'll miss you all and your blogs and expect that I'll have lots and lots of catching up to do when I get home .. be good and I wanna see lots of finishes when I get back *smile*

Hugs, Michele

I'm grateful for vacations ...

Even with a cold ..

I had a very productive weekend stitching wise .. and it felt great! On Friday I worked on a new name tag for the retreat (dogs ate my old one! lol) and worked on my signature for the signature RR .. take a look .. I really like what I came up with *smile*



Saturday was ornament finishing day .. I really pleased with how the ornaments all turned out although I won't go through all the gory details, I'll just say I learned a lot .. read some wonderful tutorials out in blogging land and I'm looking forward to finishing the other 2 or 3 I have left to do. This is from Glory Bee that I finished last month ...

This ornament I stitched last year ... it's from a Heart in Hand leaflet but I can't remember which one right now lol

Here's the back fabric for the tree ornament .. I thought it worked really well with the design :)

The next two ornaments were also stitched last year. They are MDesign and from a class she taught last year at the Pals retreat .. I'm really happy with how they both turned out when finished .. even my cording turned out good on these! lol These two were finished using the metal finishing forms (they came with the kits) and ohh I am in love with these forms, you are right Monique, they really make finishing a bit easier .. no measuring and cutting and recutting .. the fabric looks spotty, but its supposed to .. it's fabric from Picture This (I think that's the name) and the backing fabric is the same yummy yellow.


While I was looking for all my Christmas fabric and finishing supplies I found this old old design I stitched .. I can't remember when I stitched it .. back when I was using only aida though. Anyway, I found this tuck pillow amongst my tucks that I've purchased over the years .. and wow, they went together really nicely! Not the most difficult finishing but I do love the pillow none the less ..

Thanks everyone for your comments .. I am starting to feel human again .. a bit sniffling still and coughing now .. but I am getting better!! lol

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
I'm grateful for some finishes ...

ah choo ...

Ahh the first cold of the fall/winter season .. I'm sooo excited! lol .. what I'm really excited about is tomorrow is friday and I'm staying home so I can get over this crud .. I have way too much to do between now and leaving on the 13th for the Pals Retreat. So this weekend I'll spend figuring out what I have done and what still needs to be done and then figure out what I can do .. somethings not going to get done .. but ya know what, that's ok .. I do tend to procrastinate too much and this time it's biting me in my rear end lol

The one thing I really want to get done are some Christmas ornaments .. I think I have five that are stitched and just need finishing .. just!! lol .. not my favorite thing to do .. but I will get them done .. tonight I found some metal finishing forms for ornaments that I had forgotten I had! That should help lots in getting them finished .. all I have to do is go out and get some more Christmas fabric. And I have to work on my signature for the signature RR we are doing at the retreat .. I have a few ideas, just need to sit and stitch them and see which one I like the best.

DH is gone for a long weekend .. he went to Santa Fe with his dad .. they are meeting up with his sis and bil (they live in Farmington, NM) .. my fil is 85, in great health, but he doesn't like traveling by himself anymore .. so DH gets a nice little vacation and time with his dad .. and I get a fairly quiet house all weekend .. Robert works this weekend so he won't be around much .. I am looking forward to a weekend of stitching, finishing, football and nascar .. and hopefull getting over this cold! Wish me luck! lol

Thank you all for your comments! I do enjoying reading them :) Here's a few answers to your comments/questions ...

lol yes we are going to attempt to make 15 of those candle mats! I think once we get the cutting out done, putting them together will be a piece of cake! Marie .. you've made some of the Bareroot designs before?? I'd love to pick your brain a little about them!

The Family Sampler is a design my Mary of M-Design .. it was a class piece from last years Pals retreat. I don't know if she'll every release the design to the public .. but if she does I'm sure you all would love working on it! Ruth, the wine color is Diane's Rouge from Vicki Clayton. When we were design our samplers I really wanted to incorporate Red .. when I found the color I wanted, I decided that our first name initials would be in the Red and so would the W .. and the word Joy. The sampler includes our names, words that mean something to all of us, like believe, laughter, music .. the house is dated with the date of our marriage .. the two intertwining rings will have Chris and Monica's initials in them and the date of their marriage below the rings. The sampler is still in work, I don't know if I'll but a border around it or not .. and I'm not sure Ruth if I'll get it done in time for the retreat or not .. I was hoping too .. but it's not looking good! lol Oh and Ruth .. the shop name is Threadneedle Street .. I'm sure she ships anywhere! I love enabling :)

Hope everyone had a great week! I've really enjoyed reading your blogs this week .. and finding new blogs to enjoy too .. thanks Vonna!