Pals Fall Fling 2010

I just spent a lovely week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Pals Fall Fling. I roomed with Karen once again. We've gotten to be really great roommates and she doesn't snore! lol Chris was in an adjoining room with Michelle ... the 4 of us really enjoyed staying together. Here's Chris and Karen in our room ...

and here's Michelle, Chris' roommate ... what a sweet funny woman ...

Here's the view from our room ... can you think of a better reason to visit Myrtle Beach??

Here's another reason I love my time in Myrtle Beach ... hanging with my dear friends ... Karen, Sharon and Chris ...

but here's the big reason I love attending the Pals Fall Fling ... stitchers! Lots and lots of stitchers!! Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones ... and we had a view of the ocean from the convention room that was open from 8am to midnight ... it was a perfect for stitching (lots of light) and visiting ...

stitchers everywhere ...

aren't they cute! Diane, Sharon and Karen smiling and stitching. This was Diane's first Fall Fling, but I don't think it will be her last ... she fit in a might too good too fast! lol

We got to meet Faye!

More stitchers ... that's KarenSC in the pink shirt. It was great meeting Karen, she's my exchange partner on the Friends Stitching exchange blog ... it sure is fun to finally meeting blogging friends ...

I can't tell you how much fun it is to spend 4 days with fellow stitchers ... we laughed and stitched and laughed and ate and giggled and stitched and walked on the beach and stitched and sat enjoying the view and laughed until we pee'd lol

After spending a week on the beach in 80 degree weather ... this is what I returned home too ... FALL! We had a wonderful wind storm all day today ...

I'll be back with more Fall Fling pictures tomorrow.

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

I'm grateful for time with my stitching girlfriends ...

Exchanges arrived ...

I had a few exchanges arrive at their new homes last week and I'd like to share them with you.

First is my year long exchange with Joan through the Friends Stitching Through the Seasons blog. For the Autumn exchange I stitched her a Blackbird Designs stocking. I love how it turned out. Karen finished it for me ... love the bat trim ... pictures stolen by me from Joan's blog ... I forgot to take pictures before I mailed everything ...

Blackbird Design stocking from

Tis Hallowe'en design called Deadly Nightshade

stitched with WDW Pumpkin and CC Blackbird

Here's a picture of other goodies that I sent ... I really had fun putting this together for Joan.

The next exchange was for Kathryn through the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. This was a fun stitch ...

Bent Creek Snapper - Happy Halloween

stitched with suggested WDW and GAST threads

on misc 32 count fabric

I stitched and finished this pillow for Lisa through the Season Exchange Blog. I just love how this pillow turned out ... I usually have a tough time finding fabric that goes well with the piece I stitched ... I really lucked out this time ...

Lizzie*Kate Autumn Greetings

stitched with suggested GAST thread

on a misc. piece of fabric

Have you seen this wonderful collection of pinkeeps? The purchase of Pinkeep Story benefits Unicef. I purchased it a couple of weeks ago. It's a wonderful collection of pinkeeps. For approximately $22 you can get either a hardcopy of the charts of a PDF version.

Hope you all had a great weekend ... mine went way too quick, as they all seem to do. I'm busy getting ready for my trip to Myrtle Beach, SC ... stitching stitching stitching and some finishing too ... I love participating in all the exchanges that happen at the PALS Fall Fling.

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

I'm grateful for sleep ...

Pumpkins and Crows ...

I just received the cutest squares from Kathryn. Kathryn and I were partners in the Halloween Round on the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. This was Kathryn's first exchange with this group and I hope it's not her last ... these squares will look great as a pinkeep, don't ya think? The design is Little Pumpkin in the Patch by Heart in Hand ...

Last month I stitched primitivebetty's freebie called Crow but I was really unhappy with the way the color of the fabric turned peachy colored instead of orange. I dug through my Halloween fabric and found this purple fabric with crows on it! It really worked well ... I love it now ...

While stitching on exchanges I try and do some small stitching for myself too ... here's what I stitched up over the weekend. I think I'll finish it with the fabric it's laying on ...

Autumn freebie by The Stitcherhood

with DMC and a scrap piece of fabric

I got my house all ready for Halloween last week ... here's a picture of my basket full of Halloween smalls ...And here's a picture of the mantle ... the Autumn Gathering metal sign is new this year. I found it at my favorite fabric shop ... they always have the cutest stuff ...

Don't forget to head over the Annette's blog today for the 31 Days of Halloween giveway ... there's a button on the right side of my blog ... good luck!

Hope your week has started out good and only gets better the closer to Friday it gets!

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

I'm grateful for pumpkins and crows ...

Happy October!

Just a quick post to let everyone know about a wonderful giveway ... 31 Days of Halloween hosted by Missy and Annette ... check out the link on the right side of my blog. Have fun!

EDITED to add another giveaway .. check out Jennifer's blog .. she worked at Market last weekend and has some goodies to give to a lucky winner!

Love my poopy bird ...

Heart in Hand has always been one of my favorite designers. When I saw the Tall Birds series for the first time I was hooked and over the years I have managed to stitch them all ... well almost all of them. When my local LNS was closing I purchased two shop models, Spring Bird and Winter Bird ... couldn't beat the price, $15 for each, framed. After Spring and Winter, Autumn was the only one I hadn't stitched, so last week I found the chart, pulled the threads and finished him last week. A few years ago I was at a retreat and some stitchers were talking about how they didn't like the Tall Birds cause they looked like they were pooping out the motifs ... I thought this was hysterical ... that's why I affectionally called them poopy bird ...

Heart in Hand's Autumn Bird

Misc piece of fabric with suggested

GAST threads

Sunday, while watching the Seahawks beat San Diego, I stitched this Halloween ornament. I don't know why put this pumpkin face makes me smile ...

Jack OLantern by Casey Bonaugurio Designs

Misc fabric with WDW's Onxy and Sweet Potato

There's a couple more Halloween designs I would like to stitch from this years Halloween JSC ornament issue ... not sure I'll get them one this year, but we can always dream, can't we *smile*

On Sunday I also started some finishing, but ran out of bamboo fiber fill that I like to use for little pillows ... I had enough to finish off this little Boo pillow ...

I also spend some time decorating the house for Fall/Halloween ... I really do love this time of year. The weather is finally starting to feel like Fall ... crisp mornings, turning into sunny and 70's. I had been spending most of the day in my reclinder, stitching the afternoon away. I got up to take a few pictures of my mantle decorations ... turned around and found this guy sitting in MY seat! Subie had been laying on the blanket next to me ... guess he decided I had been sitting too long or what? I had to take a picture ... love the attitude!

Thanks for visiting and leaving your comments ... you guys make me smile and laugh!

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

I'm grateful for fall ...

Rocks, Reindeers and a Crow

It all started with an innocent Facebook message from my friend Jennifer. She is addicted to surfing craft blogs and likes to share her finds. One day she sent me this blog ... the specific blog post was about making these Pottery Barn Chalkboard rocks instead of buying them.

I do love Pottery Barn, but for some things their prices are a bit steep, and Monica (my dil) loves rocks, so I sent her the blog link. We decided it sounded like fun so on Labor Day we went on a day trip looking for flat river rocks ... here's what we found and what we created. The rocks ...
priming the rocks ...
rocks are aready for painting with chalkboard paint ...
We used black, green and red chalkboard paint ... think we'll use the red ones for Christmas or Valentine's Day ...

and here's some pictures of the final project ...





Monica and I had a blast working on these silly rocks. I'm so glad Jenn shared that crafty blog with us.

A few weeks ago I had posted some sunflower finishes. I received a sweet comment from Virpi asking if I wanted to trade for two of the charts. I love trading charts with other stitchers. Virpi is from Finland and asked if I would like something from her country instead of a chart ... of course I would love anything from another country! This week I received a box from her with a really nice dish towel with reindeer on it ... love love love it! Also in the box was this funny coffee cup (with more reindeer) and a cute skiing moose. Thanks Virpi for this fun trade!

And lastly, I had another quick finish last night ... the fabric ended up a looking a little more peach color than orange, but I think more black for the trim and backing fabric should help. I really enjoy stitching primitivebettys' designs ...

Crow freebie by primitivebettys

stitched on 28 ct Belfast Chalice

Wow, that was a long post .. hope your coffee/tea didn't go cold! Thanks for all your comments ... you know I love hearing from everyone!

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

I'm grateful for rocks ...

Happy Sunday ...

I had another lovely mail day yesterday ... I feel so spoiled! It's a great feeling! First up is an adorable pillow from Karen. Karen has been my exchange partner through Friends Stitching Through The Seasons blog. The design is from Heart in Hand's Autumn Trio. I just love this pillow! The black ribbon is perfect with the fabric ...

She also made me some Halloween pins ... I think I have the perfect finish to use these with ... and she included note that there's a gift certificate waiting for me at Down Sunshine Lane. I think there's a floss order happening *smile* Karen, thank you so much for spoiling me! I just love everything.
My other package was quite a surprise. Jill said she wanted thank me for helping out with the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. In the package she included a lovely piece of fabric, some needles, Halloween cording and a very nice needleminder. Thanks Jill!

Yesterday I started and finished Boo Tyme freebie by Homespun Elegance. What a fun little stitch. I think I'll finish it as a little pin pillow and decorate it with some of the pins that Karen made for me ...

Boo Tyme Freebie by

Homespun Elegance

Stitched on a piece of coffee dyed fabric

with Weeks Bark

And yes, that is a new coffee cup ... Two weeks ago I saw this cup at Starbucks when they put out their Fall decor ... every morning I would go into get my coffee and that cup would talk to me, flirt with me and ask to go home with me ... well, on payday I broke down and brought it home ... yep, I am a coffee cup slut! lol

I'm off to stitch another Fall/Autumn design ... there's sooo many to choose from. What are you stitching for Fall/Autumn?

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

I'm grateful for new coffee cup ...

Happy September ...

I've had a wonderful mail day! I won a drawing on MaryKathryn's blog ... I won this adorable needlebook stitched and sewed by MK ... I just adore it ...

and she included these Christmas pins ... how cute are they! It's almost too cute to use, but I know I will be using it ... soon!
I participated in another exchange through Blackbird Designs Exchange blog. Rebecca stitched these cute stockings for me ... and her finishing is perfect!

Here's the backing fabric ... perfect! I can't wait to hang these on my tree this year ... Thanks so much Rebecca for stitching these lovely stockings for me ...

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Chris and Monica and I took a day trip looking for flat river rocks for a craft project. We took a break and built some rock towers. We had a fun day, even in the rain and found some great rocks ... can't wait to try out our craft idea ... pictures soon :) Here's Chris building his rock tower ...the completed tower ...

and here's Monica's rock tower ...and here's my tower ... this was my first time building a tower. Rock tower building is something Monica's family has always done when they go camping ... I think the tradition started with her Grandmother. Have you ever built a rock tower to leave for others to see? Very fun, try it sometime ...
and here's my rock hounds, cute aren't they *smile*
I hope September is treating you good. I love this time of year, Summer leaving and Fall arriving. The poor trees around here aren't sure what they should be doing ... almost time for pumpkins and fall flowers ... but right now I'm enjoying all the sunflowers in the stores ... yummy colors.

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

I'm grateful for sunfloweres ...