A Finish and Soon-to-be-Start

Happy Monday Everyone! I want to share a finish with you....this is Stitch Together by Tree of Life SamplingsThis design was stitched with GAST Freedom on an exclusively hand dyed piece of linen from Tree of Life Samplings. I'm not quite sure if the color is Caramel Frappe or Espresso Bean but it is lovely!! It has the perfect brown tones that I have not been able to find in linen. Not only is the color yummy, but the smell!! I could sniff this fabric all day long - LOL! All of the attendees, for the One and Only Ewe retreat next month, are stitching this design in a specially chosen thread based on their favorite color family. Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher, is going to teach us a finishing technique with our finished piece. What exactly, remains a mystery! I'm sure whatever it is, will be fantastic! I am so excited about the retreat and I can hardly wait to go.

Many of you may be familiar with Brenda Gervais' designs under the With Thy Needle and Thread company. She recently released the 1st part of a Birds of a Feather mystery sampler. I got the 1st pattern, threads and fabric and if the colors are any indication on what to expect for the next two rounds, I am in for a treat! I just love it! As soon as I get my retreat stitching done, I will get started on this one.

Well, not much else to report. This past weekend was definitely the start of summer here temperature wise. We were still in the 90's at 8:00 last night. Too hot to do anything but just hang out by the A/C. Hoping for a little cooler weather this weekend with it being the Memorial Day weekend.

Until we chat again........Hugs and Stitches!

Stitch Palooza - Part 2

So here is the story behind the little "side-trip" to an Exxon Gas Station. While visiting the Stitch and Frame Shop, Lorraine (a truly wonderful sales clerk and enabler of anything worth stitching - LOL) brought out her wonderful stitch bag full of goodies so we could drool on them. Lorraine has a good eye for mixing colors and changing things up on a pattern so we HAD to see her works in progress. Before she could even dig into the bag, we had to know WHERE she got her bag. She said "at a little peach stand at the gas station". She gave us directions and off we went. Well, this was no ordinary peach stand and no ordinary Exxon gas station......
This "gas station" had an "indoor" produce stand (which BTW, I don't remember seeing any peaches - LOL), an ice cream shop, bakery, butcher shop and cafe. It was sweet and so inviting. All of the produce items they sell are locally grown. Just look at this produce..... You can see the ice cream shop and those lovely straw baskets hanging that are the perfect size for carrying your cross stitch goodies.

Lovely syrups with candle wax tops....

Lots of jars of pickled okra, pickled asparagus, pickled quail eggs,...if you can fit it in a jar, you can pickle it!!

Tasty bakery treats.....no convenience store candy bars here!

This was a really neat place to visit and I would love to go back. It was the perfect ending to a great night away.(Karen, Lorrie (with her new basket tote on the table) and me!)

Stitch Palooza! - Part 1

Me and my two good stitch buddies - Lorrie and Karen - decided to take a small, overnight road trip to our not so LNS to shop and have a girls night stitching away. We had a blast! We left around noon on Friday and headed to Rock Hill, SC to visit the Stitch and Frame Shop. Here are just a couple of snaps showing our adventure....
You know how stitchers have their hands full with shopping bags, luggage, snacks, etc. Some times you have to use your "head" (no pun intended!!)
Here we are soon after check in getting ready to head out to Outback for a yummy steak dinner.
The Friends Stitch Bed...This snap was actually taken AFTER removing some patterns, thread boxes, etc., out of the way.
It doesn't take long before we start getting silly with the camera! Let the shopping begin!
Fabrics, glorious fabrics!
And you can't forget about all of the lovely, colorful and fun threads!

Unfortunately, all good things do come to an end but stay tuned......because I need to tell you all about a little "side-trip" to an Exxon Gas Station. This was unlike any gas station I have ever visited!

Happy Mother's Day

This is the reason I love this day........
Thanks Corbin for:
*making me happy
*giving me a good laugh
*playing pranks on me
*getting on my last good nerve
*listening to me every now and then
*taking out the trash
*being my concert/music buddy
*just being YOU!

To all the Mom's out there.....Happy Mother's Day!

Just Little O' Me

I haven't posted in a while and that is only because - I have nothing to post! I have taken a small stitching hiatus to work (finish) on my Christmas Mini Album (2010) so that hasn't left much time to stitch. This is always a really a busy time of the year for me - Corbin will soon be out of school, weekend trips to the lake, vacations and get aways, and we won't even mention year end at work!

But, I did take a little time this week to do some "sketching / designing". Now, don't get too excited. My "design" work consist of taking motifs from various patterns and coming up with my own, unique piece. I've done this a couple of times in the past and it's something I like to do. Kind of like my own round robin - LOL! Of course, I'll change it a million times but it's fun to go through my patterns and look for little motifs here and there. As soon as I have it all sketched and stitched up, I'll be sure to post a snap.

Until then......have a great one!