Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Whether your celebration is large or small I hope you have a wonderful day. I am so thankful this year for all my wonderful friends and family. We had Thanksgiving with our kids last Sunday. Chris and Monica head to her parents this year. We had a great day filled with lots of good food, racing and football and lots of laughs. Tonight we'll be going out to dinner with my father in law and my dad. It's be nice spending time with them both.

I have been doing a little stitching, some I can show, some are for gifts that I'll share later. This cutie is by Country Stitches called October Word Play. It was a fun stitch. Can't wait to get November's Word Play and I'm really hoping there's a December one :)

Country Stitches October Word Play

Stitched on 35 ct WDW Beige

with recommended threads

Give Thanks is a freebie from Paulette at Plum Street Samplers. I stitched this once for myself and once as a gift for my neighbor across the street. The one on the left is stitching with 1 thread over 2 and the one on the right is stitched with 2 threads over 2. I really love how they both look. I used the recommded DMC colors and stitched them on the same 35 ct WDW Beige that I used for October Word Play.

and here they are all finished up ... this one is mine, the rick rack is some of Nancy's from Victorian Motto Sampler. I love her trims. I made mine so it could hang up.

and this one I gave to Joan ... she loved it and hung it up right away. I really enjoy giving stitching gifts to Joan, she really really appreciates what I stitch and displays it right away. I used some of Nancy's chenille trim in dark brown .. love how it looks.

You have a couple more days to leave a comment on this blog post if you want to be included in my blogiversary drawing. Thanks for visiting ... talk to you soon.

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

I'm grateful for my wonderful children ...

Happy Blogiversary to me ...

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!! I can't believe I've been blogging for 5 years! WOW :) I love looking back at how my blog has grown and how many followers I now have. I've loved reading all your comments over the years.

And I've met so many wonderful stitchers through my blog. Some I've met in person over the years and some just remain very good friends in cyberland. I value all my relationships with you.

Now you all know I'm a big coffee fan, reindeer fan, and red fan ... so I think I'll do a giveaway incorporating all 3 of my loves ... including something stitched and finished by me. If you want to be included in my giveway just leave me a comments on this post only. I'll make leave this open until November 27th.

Thanks everyone for 5 great years ... love ya all!

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

I'm grateful for stitching friends ...

More from Myrtle Beach ...

So glad you can join me for another long long post about the Fall Fling. Grab your coffee, tea, hot chocolate or favorite drink, there are a few pictures below lol ... I promise to have these posts about Myrtle Beach done before the end of the year! lol ... This post is all about the generosity of stitchers, exchanges and more finishes ...

Beth came armed with sweet gifts for a bunch of us ... I love the little Christmas ornament! and all the goodies where so fun ... check out the reindeer eraser!

Diane's been making these darling project bags ... love my Halloween one

Faye surprised us with these cute envelopes ...

and inside where new beachy scissor fobs! A girl just can't have too many scissor fobs :)

It sure was fun getting goodies from my stitching friends. Every time I use one of my gifts I'll remember that stitcher and how they made me smile with their creativeness and thoughtfulness.

One of the really fun parts of the Pals Fall Fling are the exchanges. Amy hosts 4 different exchanges over the weekend. I participated in 3 of the 4. Below are some pictures of the lovely Christmas ornaments that the stitchers worked hard on ... these birds are sooo sweet ...
Funny this ornament was stitched by three different stitchers, including me ... I love this one done in red ... surprised? lol
Santas! Who doesn't love Santa ornaments ...
Just a couple more of the lovely ornaments ... unfortunately it's hard to take a good picture through the bags ... I wasn't very excited about the ornament on the right when I saw it in the new 2011 JCS Ornament magazine, but after seeing it all stitched up, it's moved to the top of my want to stitch list ...

How cute is this one ... might have to stitch this one too!
below are just a couple more pictures of more ornaments ... yep there were a lot!

I stitched 4 Christmas ornaments for the exchange, so I got four in return. Unfortunately I can only find 3 of them ... wonder wonder wonder where that 4th one is hiding?! Bet Ill find it in January! lol Here are the three I picked out ... This lovely ornament is from my friend Myra in SC. It's a Lizzie*Kate design ... I love L*K and love Myra ... it's too cute ...
And look at these two lovelies ... The ornament on the left is from Mary Hal, SC ... it's a design by Little House Needleworks and the one on the right is from Becky Gwynn, Virginia ... I don't know the designer, but I adore the little snowman button. My tree will look so lovely with these three new ornaments ... can't wait to decorate with them!

Another exchange I participating in was the Halloween/Fall ornament exchange ... here's the ornament I received from Linda Knipple, it's a design by Paulette of Plum Street Samplers. I've loved the rabbit family but haven't stitched any of them ... now I don't have to stitch the Halloween one ...

The last exchange I participating in was the stitched piece exchange. I received this cute cube from Maggie in Virginia. I love how she finished it ...

and love how she personalize the back ... such a lovely momento to look back at year to year ...

And look more finishes! My dear friend Toni finished this cute turkey sheep by Bent Creek. The design is called Gertie Gobble ... fun finish Toni!

I had one small finish and one new start while I was at the Fling ... ya think I would have stitched more at a stitching retreat! lol ... I stitched LHN's Baked Goods for my dear friend Lisa ... we bake for the holidays and I thought this was perfect for her ...

I started this design at the Fling and finished it when I got home .... I love how it turned out ... I used 32 ct Vintage Blue Whisper and GAST Presidential Blue. I can't wait to get this framed!

Along with my initials I also included the initials for my 3 bestest stitching friends ... we've attended many Fall Flings together so I thought it would be nice to remember them on this piece.

I bought myself a little goodie while I was at the Fling ... this lovely shaker tray. There were so many pieces I wanted, but this one just called my name ... I think it looks really nice next to my stitching area.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you to much *smile* Thanks for stopping in and thanks for all your comments ... I love them!

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

I'm grateful for retreats ...