Spring and Exchanges ...

Happy May to you all! Did anyone get flowers on their doorsteps on May Day? I remember making paper cones our of colored paper, picking flowers out of the back yard, putting them in the paper cones and hanging them on the door knobs of some of my favorite neighbors ... sometimes they were filled with grass and dandelions lol .. what fond memories I have of the 1st of May :)

Last week I didn't stitch on my rotation pieces ... instead I finished up an exchange and then stitched a couple of fun quick spring stitches ... now to get them finish finished! First one is Fresh Spring by Homespun Samplar. The bunny is stitched with GAST Maple Sugar and the rest of it is stitched with an unknown GAST color. Quite a while ago I bought some of GAST's special edition sets. Unfortunately I didn't know that the floss tags for each color, didn't have the color name on them, and I threw out the list before realizing it ... owell, they are still pretty colors and nice to stitch with ...

Next up is a freebie by The Stitcherhood ... the fabric looks purple'y in this picture, but it's just a nice neutral ... I do love the DMC purple and green for this one ...


I have two exchanges to show off to you too ... I received this lovely floss tag from KarenSC for the Lizzie Kate exchange I'm in ... I love this spring design! Sooo colorful and Karen did a great job on the floss tag ... this was her first one! I hope it isn't her last :)

here's the back fabric on the tag ...

and over on the Pals message board I participated on a Spring Stash Exchange ... here's what I received from Meg (I don't think she has a blog) ... didn't she send some great things! It was really fun to do an exchange that wasn't about stitching something, but about ending along new stash ... I hope we do another one like this soon ...

Friday afternoon I took off to the ocean for the weekend with my dear friends Yvonne and Lisa ... this was our 3rd annual trip and we had a blast as always ... walks on the beach, yummy hors d'oeuvres, pomegranate margaritas, lots of laughs, hot tubbing, an evening at the casino (we were all winners thanks to Yvonne ... she won big on the penny slots!) and of course great shopping ... good times with good friends ...

Here's the 3 of us in front of a sign of one the shops we visited ... had to get a picture! Yvonne is the one on the left, Lisa is the one on the right ... little old me in the middle ... definitely 3 wacky women! lol

I'm back to my stitching rotation this week ... Peppermint Twist is up for this evening ... can't wait!

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

I'm grateful for the ocean and good friends ...

Hi there ...

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone has had a great weekend. My weekend was filled with yard work with hubby, some MLS (WTG Sounders!), some NASCAR (if they every get the track dry!), lots of Mad Men watching (season 2, episode 6) and a nap! lol

I thought I would give you a very wrinkled look at a couple of my rotation pieces ... first up is Peppermint Twist by BRD. I haven't worked on this lovely for a long time. PT is my Monday rotation piece. I just love this design and the Belle Soie's are wonderful to stitch with. I'm glad to have it back as an active rotation piece ...

Here's my Tuesday rotation ... Autumn Song that I'm SALing with Natasha. Just a couple more leaves and this pretty will be done ...

And here's what I picked to replace Primitive Wizard of Oz that I finished last week ... Wednesday's piece is Earth Laughs by Mdesigns ... fun fun fun stitch ...

I've been stitching on a couple of exchanges that I can't show you yet, but I can show you a quick sweet finish from a couple of weeks ago ... it's a freebie by primitivebettys called Tulip Time. Now I need to finish finish it before all the tulips are gone!

I've also been playing with beads again ... here are two scissor fobs I made ...

and here are a couple of new bracelets ... it's almost as fun to play with all the colors of beads as it is with all the colors/types of floss and fabrics out there ... is it a wonder that stitchers like playing with beads? lol

Well I'm off to do a few things around this house since the race is still on rain delay.

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

I'm grateful for tulips ...

I followed the Yellow Brick Road ...

And look what I found at the end ...

I loved stitching this design, Primitive Wizard of Oz. I used the suggested fabric and threads, 32ct Raw Linen and a mix of DMC and Crescent Colors. It was stitched with one strand over two threads. Now I can't wait to get it framed.

Now I get to find something else to put in it's place on my rotation schedule ... wonder what it will be??

We had a lovely weekend here ... sunny but still a bit chilly ... perfect for yard work ... So Sunday I got my hands dirty and it was heaven! I forget how much I really enjoy working in yard ... even if it was mostly winter cleanup. But I did plant some ranunculus ... they are one of my favorite flowers. Such vivid colors. I found some at Trader Joes Friday night ... I've never seen them for sale as cut flowers. Of course I had to buy some and oh are they pretty ... they are the flowers in my blog picture.

The rest of my weekend was spent with family and friends, some soccer and racing too ... perfect way to spend a weekend don't ya think? *smile*

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

I'm grateful for ranunculus ...

Happy Easter

I've been doing some stitching for Easter this last couple of weeks. As always, I left my finishing to the very last minute which usually doesn't work out too well for me since I tend to be finishing challenged ... but ya know what ... I'm really rather pleased with how they all turned out. First up is Chicks Rule by Lizzie Kate. I stitched this one for my daughter-in-law Monica. I'll be stitching a few of these over the next couple of months ... I love it and have a some Chicks that I know will love it too!

Here's the backing fabric ... I wasn't 100% sold on it, but once it was all done up, I kinda like it ...

Next up is Strawberries and Bunny by primitivebettys. This was a delightful quick stitch, so I stitched it twice! lol ... and will be stitching it at least once more for myself ...

I fell in love with this fabric ...

and here's it stitched up with a different backing fabric ...

Terry liked this one best because it brought out the red of the strawberries ...

We've been having some wonderful stormy weather this week ... I'm sure sunshine is right around the corner! We've had a busy Easter weekend ... but busy in that good way. Spent Saturday with my dad, watching basketball, enjoying a yummy dinner (ham, baked asapagus, sweet potatoes, rolls and fresh baked pies ... Monica made a chocolate pie and a huckleberry pie) and played a couple of games of farkle.

Then it was time to delivery our Easter baskets to our friends/family. We delivered six this year ... we love helping the Easter Bunny with his deliveries! lol

Today has been pretty lazy ... slept in, played on the computer a bit ... we'll be leaving shortly to meet up with my father-in-law for dinner ... no cooking this time, we're going to The Spagetti Factory ... love their broccoli!

Hope your Easter has been wonderful, filled with family and friends, or just quiet with some stitching and movie watching ... whatever it was I hope it was great!

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

I'm grateful for a Easter baskets ...

It's Tuesday ...

I had a very happy mail day yesterday. Karen sent me this lovely Friends Stitching Through the Seasons spring exchange. I was very surprised to hear that this was the first pinkeep Karen has made ... it is stitched perfectly and finished like a pro. I'm just delighted to have it in my house for all to see. She also made me the card and included some awesome beads and ribbons ... I know I'll have lots of fun with them. Oh and the design is by Homespun Elegance, called Welcome. I have always loved HE but honestly have never stitched one, I'm soooo glad Karen stitched it for me ...

In the same exchange group, I heard from Joan that she has received my spring exchange. I decided to stitch Carol's Sew Red, but made it Sew Green because Joan loves green. I used Belle Soie's Creme de Menthe and had it made into a flatfold for her. I also made her a green scissor fob and sent along some Belle Soie threads, a new BBD design, some fabric and a package of needles.

Thank you all for your kind words about our sweet Beau ... we miss him lots ... your words really do help. Damm Cat is my husband's favorite saying right now ... kinda says it all.

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

I'm grateful for a little sunshine and a little rain ...

Beau

Beau came to live with us in April of 2005 and left us on Thursday March 11th. He died in his sleep. It came as a shock to us because he hadn't been sick that we knew about. We're not suer how old Beau was. We adopted him from our local pet shelter. They thought he was about 5 or 6 at the time. Beau was a cat full of personality. We often wondered what his previous owner(s) was like with him because he definately had some funny quirks. I have never seen a cat that loved water like he did ... he would sit on the bathtub and drink from the faucet and he was very vocal when the dog water dish wasn't filled enough for him. And he could be very focal when he wanted to, he was hard to ignore. He had a purr that was definately a motor when he got going ... and when he was really happy he'd roll on his back and present his tummy to you to rub ... sometimes you'd be walking down the hallway and he'd be just laying there and as you walked by he'd roll over on his back, legs stretched out and you knew he wanted some belly love!

He could be anywhere in the house sleeping and would show up in a heartbeat when you poured milk or opened a can of tuna ... and as big of a cat as he was, you would never hear him coming until he was sitting at your feet wanting whatever it was you were having.

Everyone loved Beau and if you were willing to brush him or pet him he was your friend for life. He was one of three indoor cats that we have and the three of them kinda lived together. Beau did like to harass our female cat Chloee but of course she teased him too.

When Beau first came to live with us he adopted my husband. Over the years they became very close friends. Beau would sleep in Terry's chair when Terry wasn't there and would snuggle with him while they watched TV.

We are sure going to miss that funny cat ... he was such a presence in our life. We haven't lost a pet in a long time, you forget how much it hurts ... we've all been walking around in a bit of a fog. Subie and Chloee spent much of the day today walking around the house obviously looking for Beau. I don't know what made me sadder, watching them walk around kinda lost or watching my husband this evening, sitting in his chair missing his cat.

RIP Beau ... you will be missed!

With tears in my eyes I'll leave you with a few pictures of our sweet Beau ...

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

I'm grateful for the time we had with Beau ...

Weekends and Wips ...

I was sure glad to see the end of last week ... work just sucked ... but my weekend was great! Friday night Lisa and I had a much needed girls night. It started with playing with beads, then out to Red Robin for a yummy dinner and then back to my house to watch a movie and more girl talk. Saturday was more girl time, but this time it was with my sister-in-law. She lives in New Mexico and was here visiting for a week for my father-in-law's 88th birthday. We started out our girls day with breakfast and then it was off to the mall to do what we do best ... shop! After lots of shopping and talking and laughing it was time to meet up with the rest of the family for dinner. It was really nice spending time with my SIL, I really miss her. Today has been full of stitching, laundry, a great Nascar race and now the Oscars ... yep, a weekend like that makes up for the bad week at work.

You know what else makes up for a bad week at work? Getting a box in the mail from my dear friend Karen. For my birthday Karen had offered to finish a couple of piece for me. The first piece she finished was this sweet bunny that was stitched for me by Beth in a Fair and Square Round last year. I love how Karen finished the bunny ... the trim is a real hoot! ...

Karen finished BC's Good Morning into a flat fold ... I stitched this a couple of years ago and I'm thrilled to finally have it sitting in my kitchen ...

the back ... gotta love the swirlies ...

Tucked inside with the finishes was this lovely gift ... Karen stitched for me a scissor keeper and scissor fob, and included the stork scissors too! I just love it! This is my first scissor keeper ... thank you Karen for my great birthday presents!

Time to update you with the progress my wips that I have in rotation right now ... here's L*K's Christmas double flipits ... such a fun stitch ...

I'm getting really close to having OZ finished. I will be very sorry to see this finished ... but also really happy to have it finished cause then I can get it framed and hanging on the wall to enjoy everyday ...

and here's Autumn Song that I'm doing as a SAL with Natasha ... I made good progress after having the frog visit ... I can see the end in site ...

So no wip stitching this week. I have a couple of exchanges with deadlines coming fast and furious so I'll be spending the week working on those ... and using these pretties, yes I too got sucked into getting these lovely lovely scissors for Yuko and I'm soooo glad I did! omgosh they are great ... they aren't only pretty but they feel great in your hands and cut real good too!

Thank you all for your fun comments. I really enjoy them!

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

I'm grateful for stitching friends ...

My Pretties ...

Happy Wednesday. I hope everyone is having a great week so far. We've actually had a couple of nice sunny days along with some rain squalls ... gotta love Spring!

I was stitching on Primitive Wizard of Oz while dinner was cooking ... slowly but surely the kitties decided to join me ... Subie and Chloe were first to arrive ... they love the back of the couch. My stitching spot is left of where Subie is sitting ... when I got back to the couch from dinner another kitty decided to join in on sleep time ... but this kitty, Beau, invaded my stitching spot!

I have to say after seeing how cute he looked all asleep on my stitching it was really really hard to move him ... but he's been moved! lol I know, I'm a mean kitty mommy! lol

Last week I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay ... love this show! Anyway he was doing a burrito challenge and I learned how to fold a burrito ... kinda funny because we eat a lot of mexican food all the time, but I've never been able to fold a good burrito, I end up rolling them ... well no more rolling for this girl ... they turned out great! lol

At work we get a productivity bonus in February. I took some of the money to get a few things finish finished ... I sent these to Vonna to work her magic and look what she created for me (pictures shamelessly stolen from Vonna's finishing pictures) ... First up is Why Is It finished into a flat fold ...

Merry Winter as a cute ornament ...

LHN's Coffee as a hanging pillow ...

and my favorite .. Bent Creek's Rise and Shine, finished as a wall hanger ... how cute is that! and it's now hanging in my kitchen ...

I've been catching up on American Idol while writing this post ... I sure love the guys, but not very impressed with the girls yet. Big Mike has my heart right now ... we'll see how he continues to do. Back to stitching on OZ ... might have a few kitty hairs to remove first! lol

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

I'm grateful for Thursdays ...