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 ...

Happy June

Hope June is treating you well so far. We've been having really rainy gray days for way too long. We finally have some sun ... lovely warm sun ... so Terry and I spent most of the day out in the yard doing some much needed yard work ... sure felt good to get my hands dirty. Because of all the rain we've had only my white lilacs survived ... the light purple ones bloomed and immediately turned brown ... sniff sniff sniff ... but the white ones survived and look amazing. I love my lilacs!

I had a couple of finishes so far this month. Renee was sweet and loaned me her copy of this Lizzie*Kate design that is OOP. I took this picture before I added the cute chick button. This was a quick fun stitch. Thanks Renee for letting me borrow it!

Lizzie*Kate's Green Eggs

Stitched on misc green fabric

using suggested GAST and WDW threads

except for WDW Peony ... substituted Begonia

I'm really glad to be done with Needle ... I can't wait to have it framed and hanging in my stitching room ... but it was a very boring stitch. Ever stitch a design that bored you to tears but you were looking forward to the finished product? I am planning on stitching Stitch and Scissors too but I think I'll spread it out a bit *smile* If you would like the Needle pattern, let me know in a comment. I know I won't be stitching it again.

Needle by CherryWood Design Studios

Stitched on 28 ct Gingham

with GAST Espresso Bean

Monica and I did some gnome painting at our local you paint pottery place. We had a fun time and the gnomes turned out so good! I haven't painted ceramics since the 70's ... but I know I'll be painting more and more ... Monica and I have a list of "want to paint" lol ... My gnomes in on the left ... I know I'll be painting the little guy soon ...

And before I go I totally forgot about the Travelling Pattern drawing I was supposed to do last Monday ... bad bad bad me. Sooooo the winner is Sally. The gnomes picked her *smile*

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

I'm grateful for sunny days ...

Peeking in ...

May's almost over, how crazy is that! I've been stitching a little this month, just easy stuff lol ... haven't been feeling great all month, lovely female issues, and it's zapped my energy big time. Ya know there are just days that you shouldn't pick up a needle. Speaking of needle ... I started Needle by CherryWood Designs. Nice easy stitch ... I'm planning on doing Stitch too.

I have 2 friends who are going to be grandmother's of little girls. I haven't stitched a birth sampler in years but when found this design I just had to stitch it, it's an older design by Sisters and Best Friends. I love the font and the colors are so little girl. This one is number 2. Number 1 was given to the new mom to be last weekend. I forgot to take a picture of it before giving it away ... I will get it back after the baby (Layla Marie) is born and add the her birth date and height/weight and will get it framed for them.
Here's my April Christmas ornament all stitched up and ready for final finishing.

Consumed by Gifts by Brittercup Designs

from JCS 2010 Ornament issue

stitched with suggested WDW/DMC

on a piece of misc fabric

Remember this sweet pincushion I received from Diane for Easter? Well today I stole her idea and made a new pincushion for myself ... Here's Diane's ...

and here's mine ...

When I first saw this miniature coffee cup I knew I had to have it ... who knew it would make such a cute pincushion!

here's a close up of the fabric ... perfect don't you think?

A few months ago I was the winner of The Travelling Pattern from Diane's blog. I haven't been able to get excited about stitching this pattern ... not sure why just can't get into it. I don't want to hold up passing her on to the next stitcher so if you want to be the next recipient of The Travelling Pattern then please leave a comment (including your email address) and I'll draw a name on Memorial Day, May 30th. Good Luck!

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

I'm grateful for sunny days ...

Weekend fun and great mail ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (for those who celebrate). We lucked out and had a very sunny day on Saturday ... of course most of my day was spent cooking and putting together our Easter baskets, but hey, going to the store in the morning and not having to wear a jacket was almost heaven! lol

We headed to my dad's about 4 ... my brother and his family joined us for dinner and and Easter egg hunt ... yep we still do egg hunts for the kids, plastic eggs stuffed with candy and coins ... the youngest child is my niece Jessica, who will be 16 in November ... the oldest is my son Chris who will be 29 in May ... are you ever too old for a good old fashion Easter egg hunt?

Get ready, Get set ... GO!

Would they really put an egg in there???

hmmmm, should be one here ...
I just love my niece's smile in this picture ... wonder what her mom was saying *smile*

And here's a picture of all the kids ... minus my nephew Nick, he had to work ... aren't they cute!
Here's a picture of our Easter baskets this year. The makings for mimosas was a hit ...
I received my Easter/Spring exchange from Fiona on Saturday. Fiona stitched and finished a very cute Easter egg. I just love it. The bunnies, the flowers, the little pouch that I could put scissors in and look at the sweet pins stuck in ... just adorable! She also made me the cutest ort bag ... yep that's a frog holding the ort bag ... it is too cute and will be well used and hopefully it will keep the frogs away! She also included a coffee pattern and coffee themed fabric. I've never seen this coffee design before and I'm itching to start it ... think I'll stitch it in red :) Thank you Fiona for doing this personal exchange with me. I had a blast! and I love everything.

Here's a close up picture of the egg .. love the ruched ribbon!

Doesn't it look great in my Easter/Spring basket? It will be hard to put all these lovelies away until next year ... not that I'm in any hurry ... I think the basket will stay around until Summer time.

I gave into the enabling of Faye and Karen and a few other bloggers and ordered some finishing stash and some floss from Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shop. I'm really looking forward to some finishing with red buttons and this yummy chenille trim ...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and saying hi ... love your comments! Hope you all have a lovely week.

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

I'm grateful for quiet Monday evenings ...

Easter Egg Dyeing ...

Saturday night the kids and I decorated Easter eggs. I had found a silk tie dyeing process Monica and I wanted to try. Here's the link if you are interested in trying it ... http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/silk-dyed-eggs-aka-tie-dyed. The eggs are aren't edible so we did a few hard boiled then we blew out about a dozen so we could keep them "forever". Below are come pictures of our process ... we had a blast and the eggs turned out so interesting looking. We are definitely going to be making more next year.

First step ... take apart the silk tie. We went to Goodwill for the ties. then you wrap them ...
our little bundles of color ...
then you cover them with old white pillow cases cut up and tie them again ...
into the pot with water and a little vinegar and boil for 20 miutes ...
let cool, untie them and here's what you get ...

Here's the empty eggs getting ready to be dyed ...

Robert wanted to dye eggs in the traditional way ...

I love the colorful bowl of eggs!

I'm so glad that my kids all in their 20's still enjoy "kid" stuff.

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

I'm grateful for dyeing eggs ...

Busy Bunny ...

I've just been having the best time stitching and finishing for Easter this year. Every year we put together Easter baskets for friends and family and deliver them Saturday night so when they get their paper in the morning, there's a sunny surprise on their doorsteps. This year I'm hoping that every basket has something stitched in them too. And of course there's a few new ones for me too :)

I stitched this design a few years ago. Never got around to finishing it ... I never could find the right fabric for it. Well this year I really just wanted to get it done so I could enjoy it in my Spring/Easter basket. I love the rick rack I found ... the fabric isn't horrible and now I can enjoy it!

Egghunt by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on a misc. piece of fabric with the
recommended threads

I stitched this sweet freebie from Carol of iStitch for my dear friend Elaine. I've know Elaine since I was in high school. We lost track of each other over that last 10 years, but that's to Facebook, she found me and I'm sooo glad she did! She lives about 60 miles south of me. I've been going to visit her about every couple of months and it's like we've never been apart. And one of the best things is that she's a stitcher too! She also knits and scrapbooks. We have lots of fun crafting together. I'll have to get her to start a blog someday *smile* I loved stitching this design and have it kitted up to do again for me.

Easter freebie by iStitch

Stitched on a scrap of white linen with

CC Candied Yams

When I saw this design I knew I had to stitch it, at least once! ... thought it would be great in the baskets ... since we are the Easter Bunny's helpers lol I've only got one stitched so far but it a really quick stitch so one or two more should be no problem ... nothing like leaving it to the last minute!

Here bunny bunny by Angel Stitching

Stitched on coffee-dyed 28 ct. linen

with Belle Soie Chocolate, Fern Frond and Carrot Cake

Lastly, I stitched two more Easter freebie by primitivebettys. I stitched this for Beth in our personal Spring/Easter exchange and just loved it when it was done ... so I stitched another one for me and one for one of our Easter baskets ...

Yep, I having way too much fun stitching for Easter! Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments ... love love love them!

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

I'm grateful for bunnies and chicks ...

My Exchange arrived ...

My last two personal exchanges arrived at their new homes. First up is the exchange I sent to Nataly. I stitched a little pincushion for her from Raise the Roof's Pins and Needles leaflet. She loves birds and the color blue so I though this was perfect for her ... and she loved it *smile* I made pins for the pincushion and included a scissor fob that I made too .... along with a few other goodies. Nataly has better pictures on her blog ... go over and visit :)

My last exchanged head to Fiona in Scotland. It didn't as long as I thought to find it's way to Fiona. For Fiona I stitched the other pincushion from Raise the Roof's Pins and Needle leaflet.. I'm really glad she likes pink! I also made her some pins and a scissor fob too.Here's close ups of the pincushions ... the fabric they are laying on are the fabrics I used to back them with. I stuffed them with crushed walnuts to keep their needles nice and sharp.

I really enjoyed spoiling all three of my exchange partners and enjoyed being spoiled by each of them too.

Thanks for all your fun comments from my last post. My fuzzy chicks were a hit! lol ... I've had them for about 5 years and have always enjoyed seeing them again every Easter time ... but now with Chicks Rule all finished up, those chicks are more fun!

I've been doing more Easter stitching and hope to have a few finishes to share with you in the next couple of days.

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

I'm grateful for bunnies and chicks ...