Saturday, August 01, 2009

Some Stitching ...

August already and summer is definately here. After our record breaking temperature last Wednesday (officially it was 103, but there were a lot of cities claiming 107!), our weather has steadied at a very comfortable high 80's/low 90's, with the evenings cooling off and letting us all sleep a good nights sleep.

I did get one more 4th of July design stitched last week ... I'll blame this one on Staci ... ever since I saw this design finished on her blog I knew I had to stitch it for next year ... here's Bent Creek's Celebrate Freedom Snapper ... I think I'll have a fun group of new pinkeeps next 4th of July :)


Back in April when I went to Arizona with the Grand Canyon Girls Club I took Karen some things to finish for me ... remember, I hate finishing! Karen loves it ... so I took about 10 projects to hand off to her. Since they are all for me, there wasn't any hurry in when she finished them and got them back to me. Last week I received a few of them back ... and all I can say is woo hoo! They are lovely! I took pictures of 3 of them before my battery died ... may I present to you ...

Lizzie Kate's Chicky Easter as a floss tag ... adorable isn't it :)

Last year Jennifer stitched two lovely squares for me when we were paired up for a Fair and Square round ... Jennifer knew I loved Sunflowers and red and I was sooo pleased when I received the squares from her ... but you have no idea how excited I was when I saw the pincushion Karen made out of the squares ... too pretty to use??

the back ...

and the side ... look at those stithces ... perfect!


This no-sew cube was made from squares Amy stitched for me a couple of years ago ... I think it was my first Fair and Square exchange ... turned out pretty sweet didn't it ...

and here's the back ...

I took a picture of the bow cause I thought it was sooo nice, but didn't seen the tiny bow peeking out until after I'd taken the picture ... how cute is that!

I'll post the other finishing she sent me in my next post. Allow me a minute to plug Karen's new business ... Finely Finished ... Back in June, Karen decided to leap into the world of cross stitch finishing. Check out her services, I know you won't be disappointed.
I've been stitching a lot on Kindered Spirits so I thought I needed a colorful summery change of pace so I dug out MDesign's Earth Speaks. I started it sometime last year. I thought I'd stitched more than two of the flowers ... funny how sometimes I think I'm futher along on a wip than I really am. I forgot how much I enjoy these flowers. I think I'm going to start a rotation again so I can schedule stitching one flower a week. I'd like to get it done before Christmas ... I've decided it's going to be a Christmas present.
Time for me to rotate the laundry ... lol

I hope you find your joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for flowers ...

17 comments:

Nancy said...

I love your Freedom snapper! Those Bent Creek snappers are so fun to stitch!

Gorgeous finishes! She does do lovely work, and I especially like the sunflower pincushion. The beads are such a beautiful touch!

Cindy F. said...

Love the Freedom piece! and all those gorgeous finishes! She did a beautiful job finishing them! Can't wait to see more:)

staci said...

Gorgeous finishes!

Love your BC finish...I just love being a bad influence, lol ;)

Try to stay cool! and PS, love your new blog header.

Linda said...

Hi Michele...I love Celebrate Freedom it's a great addition to your patriotic collection. All the finishes are wonderful..Karen does lovely work, looking forward to seeing more.
Your new look is so cute...love the flip flops...hugs, Linda

DaisyGirl said...

Love the easter tag! Super cute. I always fret over how to put my finished pieces together. I want to try one of the cubes. We will see!
Donna

Melissa said...

Great finishes, Michele! I love the new header pic, too. :)

Thanks for the link to Karen's finishing blog. I have some things I want to have finished, but like you, I hate doing finishing. Perhaps I'll drop her an email. :)

Anonymous said...

I love the finishes that Karen did on your beautiful stitching. I'm like you....I really don not enjoy the finishing part of cross stitch :)

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Celebrate Freedome is cute, Marie P. made me one for my birthday and I love mine too ;)
Your things finished by Karen are all very pretty, she does exceptional work! :)

Michele B. said...

Aren't you lucky to have Karen put the finishing touches on things for you. Everything looks so pretty. And I love, love, love your blog header - what a neat idea!

Kim B said...

Love your snapper! So patriotic! And that finishing is perfection! It's good to know talented people ;)

Cheryl said...

Im with you, I cant ever imagine "loving" finishing! These pieces are all gorgeous.

Jennifer said...

OMG - I LOVE what Karen did to the squares I stitched for you. LOVE it!!!!

Daffycat said...

Fantastic stitching, Michele, and Karen's finishing is great! I really love the sunflower pin pillow!

Carolyn NC said...

Your finishes are great and I love how Karen made each one unique!

Karen said...

Thanks!!!! Your pics turned out better than mine, i might have to steal them and replace mine on flikr with them. Getting ready to go finish another ornament in a few. woohoo!

Marie said...

I love your finished pieces...they are beautiful (as are your nails BTW :D).
I will check out Karen's blog~

Great Bent Creek design...have it/stitched it/gave it away!

Karen said...

Karen's finishing is great! I love the sunflower pincushion...that is beautiful! Love the beads.