Oh Say Can You See ...

a lot of finishing for me! lol ... In June I stitched Happy Happy Flag Day by The Trilogy (top left in the picture) and July 4th by Bre Stewart of Hodgepodge Cottage (top right in the picture). The other 3 I found when going through my 4th of July fabric ... my goal is to have them all finished up before the 4th ... stay tuned!
Besides stitching 4th of July designs I stitched up this sweet fob design by Shepherd's Bush called Be Happy. Someday it will be a scissor fob ...
I also finished an exchange piece for the Fair and Square Exchange Blog, but it hasn't arrived at it's new home yet, so I can't show you any pictures :( but I can show you pictures of my 4th of July decorating around the my house ... here's my basket of red, white and blue ...
a little display in the powder room ...
My mantle ...

Have you been stitching red, white and blue?

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

I'm grateful for sunny days ...

A couple more finishes ...

Finally an end to a long week at work ... but a good week. I love being busy and having a few challenges thrown in the mix ... makes the days go fast and you actually feel like you've accomplished something. Speaking of accomplishing something ... I actually finished 2 more patriotic designs this week. They aren't finish finished .. but they are stitched and I'll get them finished before the end of the month to enjoy next 4th of July.

The first was a freebie by Shepherd's Bush, called Free. I bought it kitted up from Needlecraft Corner ... it was a really fun quick stitch ... I think I'll finish it as a pinkeep ...


The next one is an old pattern by Bent Creek called Patriotic Cracker. I have all the crackers they released back in 2001, but this is the first one I've stitched. After taking the picture I realized that I left off the buttons .. there are 4 off white buttons that are supposed to be on the four corner squares. I'll attach them before I make this into a pinkeep too. I did decide to leave off a larger border around the design. It was full of satin stitches and I'm not a huge fan of satin stitch ... so I left them off lol ... I think my little roosters look great with the designs ... when I bought them I wasn't thinking about them for the 4th ... but don't they look great?!


What are your plans for the 4th? We usually stay home, bbq with friends and then go to our local fireworks display ... but this year we are actually go out of town! We are leaving tomorrow and coming back on Monday. We are meeting up with friends and family in Twisp, about 4 hours from us. My friend Cheryl, who lost her husband Larry last January is having a bunch of us up to her cabin for the long weekend. 4th of July was Larry's favorite holiday, even more than Christmas and New Years Eve ... we are having kind of a memorial whoopla in Larry's memory and will sprinkle some of his ashes on the 4th at his favoriate places around Twisp. I am really looking forward to getting away ... away from the house, the computer, just out camping and hanging with friends. Should be a great time!

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments about my finishes and my decorating around the house and my new blog look. I really enjoyed reading all of them.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July with your friends and families and get lots of stitching done ... can't wait to see all you accomplishments when I return. I'll leave you with one last pictures ... this is our kitchen table ... I really love changing things up :)

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

I'm grateful for long long weekends ...

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 ...

Happy Groundhog Day ...

although by the time most of you read this blog it'll be the next day! lol I heard the "official" groundhog did see his shadow .. so looks like 6 more weeks of winter .. and I for one am ready for some warmer weather. I got hit again with this stupid cold/flu crud. It's been a long time since I've felt quite this bad .. my head is sooo plugged up and all I seem to do is cough and pee .. tmi?? lol I did go to my dr on friday. She heard a little rattling in my left lung, but said I don't have bronchitis or pneumonia .. haven't been running a fever at all. So she wanted to start me on an inhaler 4 times a day and a 20 min steam .. it's only been 24 hours since I started this .. but I'm not sure it'll help. I do have some antibotics but she didn't want me to take them until I try the other stuff .. I haven't been stitching much .. too afraid of making mistakes when I feel this bad .. but I did start a pine mountain pillow this morning .. Spot of Love .. really hard to mess up on aida lol


I did finish one more wip before Janauary was over .. This is Christmas Drawers by Shepherd's Bush. Sure feels good to get this one done. I started it years ago when it was first released. It was one of the first times I was using linen and silks. There were also some speciality stitches, which were new to me but I didn't think I'd have an problems .. see, that's what I get for thinking lol. I believe this little design caused me more problems than any of done todate. The biggest problem was that I don't follow written directions well. I learn better when someone shows me how .. reading directions just gets me all turned around. Since I don't have any friends that stitch, I would take CD to stitching retreats with me .. some retreats I would actually remember I had it along with me .. I'd find someone that could help with a speciality stitch and off I'd go .. of course I'd run into a wall with the next speciality stitch and then would have to wait again to be around stitchers .. long story but I'm really glad to have it done .. finally!



I feel really good about the wips I got finished in January .. I still have a few more, but I'll get them in some kind of rotation and get them done soon too .. I hope :) Now I'm looking forward to starting a few new pieces .. just have to lay them out and figure out which ones to start .. that's soo much fun to do!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend .. enjoy the Superbowl! And thanks for the comments about our snow, which didn't last long at all, and on my wips .. I really enjoy hearing from all of you.

I'm grateful for being done with CD ...