It's Me Again!

Ha Ha! Two posts two days in a row - whoo hoo!!

Last night, I just couldn't get myself in the mood to stitch on Paradise Lost. So, instead of just sitting around, I decided to just go ahead and start something new. It had to be small, it had to be something that I really wanted to stitch this year and it had to be something that I would not only start but finish....so here it is - Blackbird Designs Pumpkin Farm. I am loving this pattern! The colors are so yummy and it's the perfect size. Just a little project to give me a fresh stitching charge! Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart series "Pumpkin Farm" stitched with charted threads on 32 ct. Belfast Natural Linen (tea-dyed)

Happy February 2011

Bye Bye Snow and Ice - Bring on my Spring Time!

Long Time, No See! I know, you probably have wondered if I was gone forever. No, I'm here. It's just not easy getting this blog updated with everything else life throws in the mix.....the new year started off great. Had a little snow and then a little more and then I got a terrible stomach virus that landed me in ICU and the hospital for two days. I am finally feeling like myself again and getting back into a routine. And, that routine has to include some stitching......

Paradise Lost by Plum Street Samplers is not finished and I have to get it finished and on the wall soon. I finally got beyond "those" leaves and stitching it has become a little more enjoyable now. I noticed that my friend Nicole has finished hers and that is inspiring me to keep at it!

Here are some updated photos taken a little over a week ago.....(excuse the wrinkles -too busy stitching to iron - tee hee)


and this photo shows some of my progress since the photos pictured above. I'm working on this big tree (with leaves!).....

My goal is to have this piece completely finished by the end of the month. I don't think I will do it but that's ok.....soon, very soon!

Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you again soon - and that means sooner than a couple of months - LOL!

Happy Halloween

Just a quick update to say "Happy Halloween". Hope you had a great weekend enjoying the cool, crisp, fall air.

Sorry, I haven't updated my blog with the next installment of photos from the Pals Convention. I will try to get that done in the next day or two. There just never seems to be enough hours in the day for work and play and of course, work always seems to win!

Take care and check back with me again soon! I love to read your comments!

Hugs!

Hello! Back home to reality!

I know, I know.....it's been like forever since I have updated my blog and for good reason. You see, I decided I needed to get away. I needed to spend time with my needle and thread. I needed to laugh uncontrollably and be with great friends. I needed to smell the ocean and stay up late. I needed my PALS!! So, in order to make the most of this get away adventure, I needed to get some stitching done. I needed to put together a grab bag, ornaments and kit up projects. In order to do that, I had to neglect all of my blogger friends. But, I'm back - tired - but I'm back. Back to reality. Since there is just so much that goes on during a PALS Convention, I'm going to break up my blog posts and give you a little each day. Let's start with all of the stitching and finishing I had to do before I left for the trip to Myrtle Beach.

This is my grab bag container. I used my paper crafting skills to decorate an empty paint can and filled it with lots of linen, fabric, scissors and other Halloween goodies.

I also stitched up this altoid tin pin cushion and scissor fob to go inside my grab bag paint can.

On Thursday night, we had a Fall and Halloween stitched exchange. I participated in the Halloween exchange and this was my piece - a Blackbird Designs Halloween Stocking. My good friend Amy got this one.

On Friday night, we had not only the grab bag exchange but the anticipated Christmas ornament exchange. I stitched these three ornies and was finishing them up right up to the last minute!

And last, but not least, here is a Blackbird Designs Halloween Cat design that I made into a pillow for the stitched exchange. At the last minute, I didn't participate so this one got to come back home with me.

There are lots of pictures out on the blogs of those that attended this year. You can see some of the pictures by visiting the blogs I have bookmarked on the right hand side of this blog page under "My Blog List". Go check them out and be sure to leave us a comment. We love sharing and we love to hear what you have to say.

I'll be back tomorrow with another installment of the fun PALS Convention 2010!!

Stay Tuned!!

Thank You and Stitching with Friends!

First off, a big THANK YOU to all of you who have visited my blog and left such nice comments. I don't think I have ever had 14 comments on one post and it was such a treat!! I do hope you will visit often and I will do my best to keep you entertained - LOL!!

I'm a little behind the times with a post but I wanted to share my day from a couple of weekends ago. I traveled up the road a bit and visited some great stitching friends (and blog buddies) at The French Hen in Manning, SC. We had a great time stitching, laughing and enjoying a great lunch of homemade sandwiches and desserts (love that praline cake - yummy).

Here's some photos of some of us stitching away!:

These are my "table buddies" (L to R around the table) - Judy (in the bright pink), Donna, Karen, Amy, June, Susan and Carrie (in the blue):


Here's Nicole, Linda and Faye:

Here's Deborah and Carolyn:

Here's Donna, Myra and Lynn:

Thanks again for visiting my little place in the blog world. I hope to post some photos soon of some stitch finishes. I've been busy stitching away for the Pals Convention later this year so those will have to stay a secret for now. Chat soon!

Halloween Finish

I know, I know....I started with Christmas ornies and here I am with a Halloween finish - tee hee! Well, I thought I had better get started on this one if I wanted it finished for this year. It is Prairie Schooler's When Witches Go Riding. I started this right before going to Tulsa and finished it tonight. I love it! Enjoy!!

Sorry about the wonky photo - it's laying on top of my pillow!

I (HEART) Blackbird Designs

I guess by now you are wondering where in the world I have disappeared to. It's been quite some time since I posted here in blog land and I really have no excuse. I will let you know that I have been busy. Our family went to Myrtle Beach for a week, I have been cleaning/organizing/fixing, etc, my house AND.......I just got back from a fabulous trip to Tulsa Oklahoma to take a class with Blackbird Designs at The Silver Needle!

This trip to Tulsa was LONG - 15 hours - but was so worth it! After crashing from the long drive, we (Kathy, Lorrie and myself) were up early for breakfast at MiMi's Cafe and then headed straight to The Silver Needle. This shop is awesome! I have never seen so many models in one shop before. So many different ways of finishing (cubes, wall hangings, stand ups, etc) and so many of the models were stitched over one. Lots of Vera Bradley and lots of fabrics - oh my! We shopped for almost 4 hours straight! Here's some photos to just show you the goodness......





We then headed to Sonic for something to drink because it was quite warm (114 degrees on Saturday!) and then headed back to The Silver Needle for the Blackbird Designs Meet and Greet. We got to see so many of Barb and Alma's designs, including their original antique samplers, and hear them talk about their friendship, how they acquired some of the samplers and just how passionate they are about sharing heritage and the love of telling a story through stitching. We got to see our class kits all bundled together in a basket and also the actual needlecase and pincushion we would be making the next day (and might I add, served on a glass plate that we got to keep!)....I also got to have my picture made with these two lovely ladies!











And to top off the weekend, I saw some of my Cross Stitch Pals!

Here's Karen(AZ) shopping at the wonderful fabric counter:


Chris(NC), Michele(WA) and Karen(AZ):


Kathy, Lorrie and myself giddy with shopping excitement:


And, two of the nicest ladies I think I have ever met. I just got to "know" Cathy and Joan in Blog Land just a couple of months ago when I emailed Joan to find out how she had finished a beautiful Christmas ornament. The conversation went from ornament finishing to discovering that we were both headed to Tulsa. Joan told her friend Cathy and the rest is history. I now have two great friends to keep in touch with (check out their blogs too for more weekend pictures and fun facts):


I could go on and on about how much fun I had and also share the 156 photos I took, a large number of those were taken of shop models, but I'll stop here and leave you with pictures of an Oklahoma storm. This was just a little pop-up storm but for this southern gal, it was something to see!