Starts and Finishes ...

Hope everyone is having a great week. It's been pretty crazy at work and at home .. I'm thinking the plants are a bit out of alignment? Owell, as they say, this too shall pass .. quickly I hope! I have been stitching, but mostly on exchanges I can't show you yet but I do have a couple of pictures of stitching to share. This is my first pictures of Joyful Summer by CCN. I changed the fabric to a neutral brown (can't remember the name of it). I already have a couple of pieces stitched on the light blue and just wanted sometime new. I really like the colors on this fabric. It's a very fun stitch .. the birds make me smile! I'm leaving all the french knots to do after it's all stitched .. poor birdy doesn't have any eye yet :(





Earlier this year I posted pictures of my finished Christmas Drawers by Shepherd's Bush. This piece has meant a great deal to me .. all the challenges with new speciality stitches, the number of retreats it attended and just the fact that after about 7 years I really finished it. The bad thing, I waited to long to order the frame that SB had used. I was talking to Lois at Elegant Stitch about it and she suggested I have Jill Rensel do the matting and framing. I loved the idea and decided I was worth the splurge. Well it arrived home on Saturday and all I can say is I'm so glad I decided to splurge .. it turned out better than I ever expected. And DH was still impressed with the framing after seeing the bill *grin* Here it is ...


A close up .. yes, there is a bead missing on the top drawer :( I didn't noticed I had left it off .. until after it was framed! owell .. makes it mine, right? along with a few other "mistakes" ...


Don't you love the mats! So danity and a bit whimsical too :)

I don't know what I love more .. the frame or the mats .. but check this close up .. this is a lovely frame ...


I know I won't spend this kind of money on everything I have framed, but I am very glad I have Jill do the framing and now I know what to do with that "special" piece in the future.

Before I close, I would like to ask you all for positive thoughts and prayers for a couple of my dear friends. One is dealing with some major health issues concerning her 19 year old daughter. The other is my good friend and neighbor who had surgery today, they were taking a biopsy for possible lung cancer.

I'd like to say hi to a couple of new readers of my blog .. it's always nice to get comments from new readers (and old ones too! lol) .. check out Jade and Dawn's blogs. I'm really enjoying getting to know them.


I'm grateful for Karen and Joan ...