Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year!




Happy New Year!  I wish you great health and Joy in 2013.  May we find Peace in the World and in ourselves.
I have been away for awhile but I have been busy.  I will be back soon with pictures of what I have been working on.    Have a safe Holiday.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas




This year certainly flew by. It is hard to believe that it has been so long since my last post. My son was married in early October to a lovely young women that we all love dearly. Working with them on their wedding plans we saw how much they loved each other. Their wedding was and always will be one of the highlights of my life. My mom, 89 years old, was so excited for them too. She lived the last five years with me. She attended the wedding and the reception staying longer than I thought she would. She was so proud of her "Will". His name is Bill but she always called him Will.

Shortly after the wedding mom wasn't her spunky self, lost her appetite and wanted to sleep more. She passed away in November the Monday before Thanksgiving. She was so loved and is missed every minute of the day. Our holidays this year will be so different.

From our family to yours we are wishing you a very Merry Christmas.


Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day and Some Gifts

First I would like to wish you  a Happy Memorial Day.  I hope that you are having a warm, dry and safe Holiday weekend.  Please remember all of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, along with all the men and woman who are defending this great country of ours today and everyday. God bless you all and  keep you out of harm's way.


A few weeks ago I had another birthday. The older I get the faster they seem to come around. I received some lovely gifts from my friends.  One of those gifts came from Margaret in Spain.
 


Inside the package I found several wrapped goodies and a card that looked good enough to eat.  I don't know if blogger is having a bad day or is just having a little tantrum!!  Or heaven forbid is it me?? This is my first post since all the changes have made to improve blogger.  So far I am not impressed.  My pictures downloaded much faster but I am not sure what happened to all of them.  They are among the missing.  Anyway, I will try to continue.  Is anyone else having these problems.  Pictures and words just go where ever they want to!!  I have lost control here too!!!


 Below is a Couch Companion that Margaret made  using French General fabric.  Here it is closed.

                                           

And opened.
The outside.

 
Inside there are several little pockets to keep my treasures.

On the other end there  are bigger pockets to slide your floss or ruler in.
There is a pincushion in the center.  My family will really enjoy not getting stuck by needles that are left in the arms of chairs when I am stitching.  They thank you Margaret!

Next is The Fancy Brown Sewing Pouch by Stacy Nash.  I love this.  I had the pattern and the supplies to make this one for myself.  Isn't it lovely?  Thank you so much Margaret.  Here is the front.



Here is the back.  There is a button on each side attaching the strap.

Below are some little pillows and pincushions that Margaret also made.  The first one is for my birth month. I love Lily of the Valley.  Now I have lost the the picture of the backside of the May pillow.  OMGoodness I am not happy.  I will get a picture of the back because I love the fabric that Margaret choose to finish it with .
  

This next on is by Shepherds Bush.  I love SB!!!


The back side.  It is as cute as the front.  Now who could stick a pin in that little cutie?
Last but not least is the cutest little bunny.  He is just the sweetest.  I had also purchased this pattern and had the supplies ready for this project.  I guess that Margaret really knows me well.  I have told her that I believe we were friends in another life or maybe we were even related!

I have all my little cushions displayed in a  small, old wooden drawer with a doily. I have them sitting right by my stitching cha


Thank you so much Margaret. I just love everything that you made and will treasure them always.






I have been spending way to much time on Pintrest of late.  I find it so inspiring.  Too inspiring maybe. If that is possible.  Below are two projects that I found there and had to make.  The first is a tall canning jar with a doily glued on the front of it.   I added a couple of decorative things that I had on hand and some ribbon to dress it up a bit.  I have a battery  operated candle inside that lights up every nigh for five hours and then shuts off.  I love it at night.  I will have to take a picture of  it this evening.




This next project I fell in love with. It is a photo holder. I saw it made  in a silver creamer.  I was unable to find a creamer but I did find this little old metal container.  Now I just have to get new pictures of my two grandchildren and it will be finished.  Cute isn't it?
Hubby has the grill fired up and the family is here so I should be off to put the finishing touches on our dinner.  Take care.  I will be back soon with some new purchases.

Hugs and Stitches,

Pat

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Gift For Margaret

I finish this stitching project from the BBD book Christmas Garden. I have had the Tea and Toast Set for quite some time. I couldn't seem to find a pattern that really caught my eye to stitch for it. When I got this book and saw the little Gift Box pattern on the cover I just had to stitch it for my set. It was a fun and quick stitch. As I was stitching it my friend Margaret came to mind. I was way behind in sending her birthday gift. Last week I mailed a package off to Spain. Margaret received her package yesterday. It arrived all in one piece. I was a little worried about sending something so fragile in the mail. The USPS did a great job in getting it there in short order and intact.





I found the decorative pins on an ETSY shop. I thought that they matched so well I just had to purchase them.







I have started another project. I will be back soon with some progress. I hope everyone is having a great week.






Hugs and Stitches,






Pat




Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A Gift and Some Finishes

Recently I ordered some pin books from a very sweet lady in the UK. I was introduced to Angela through a mutual online friend. Angela had so many wonderful patterns to choose from that I couldn't make up my mind which ones I wanted. I left it up to her to select some for me. What a job she did. They are all beautiful. Angela made all four of them a gift to me. I don't want to give any of them away now. If you are ever in need of a beautiful little handmade pinbook please check out Angela's selection of pin books here. http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/24032668 . Thank you so much Angela. I will treasure mine always.

Next I have a couple of small finishes to show . The first is a Homespun Elegance pattern Snippet's and Stitches I. I purchased this pattern last year. It came with a lovely piece of vintage lace. I put my lace in a very safe place so I wouldn't loose it. Well guess what? When the time came to sew in on I could not find it. So I used a piece of lace I had on hand. After I had it framed I found the lace. I put it in a small Ziploc bag and now it is among the missing again. Why didn't i just leave it with the pattern to begin with? Sometimes I do the most foolish things!! Anyway, I love the way it turned out. I love the little frame too. It's from Michael's.




Last but not least is a BBD pattern Woodland Berries. It is from their Loose Feathers Mystery Sampler Summer from last year.



Below is a close up of the frame.





It was a fun stitch. I love this frame too.


It is almost dinner time and tonight is Idol. What talent they have this year. So I am off so I will not miss a minute of tonight's show. Who are you voting for?


Hugs and Stitches,


Pat





Saturday, March 17, 2012

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

THEY ARE BACK!!

I love them!! I could eat them year round.





Hope you are finding lots of time to stitch and eat chocolate too.






Hugs,






Pat







Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pay It Forward! Would You Like to Play?

It's been a long time since I participated in a Pay It Forward. This is the first time I have taken part in a cross stitch PIF. I have played along on quilting PIF's and had so much fun.

I have been reading Cathy's blog for quite some time and really enjoy keeping up with her. A few weeks ago she posted that she was participating in a PIF on Maureen' s blog Maureen's Mountain of Stitching. I commented on her blog and was one of two people chosen to play along. This Pay It Forward was started last November by Karen at Stitching and Sharing . Since I will be receiving from Cathy, I have agreed to "Pay It Forward" to two lucky stitchers. If you would like to receive a gift from me, then you also must agree to do the following:

1. If you win, you must be willing to post this PIF on your blog and do the same for at least 2 people.

2. Send no less than 5 stitching related items per person within the next 365 days.

3. Items can be DMC, other threads, stitching needles, straight pins, buttons, scissors, ribbons, ect. - a combination of items such as 3 threads, 1 pack of straight pins, and 1 pack of stitching needles or just 5 threads.

4. The items must be new and not used.If you are interested in participating and would like to receive a Pay It Forward gift from me, please leave a comment on this post by Wednesday February 29th. Make sure you include your email address (or have it available in your blogger profile). If more than two people express interest, I will draw two names.

Miss Cathy had 365 days to get her supplies gathered and mailed out. Well, she certainly is a speedy little gal! I have already received my package.


This is what I found when I opened the box. Every thing wrapped so pretty. A sweet little card and Chocolate.




Inside I found a corner gauge, hand dyed chenille, Cathy's favorite needles( and mine too!),CC floss (QUEEN BEE very appropriate for me) and a beautiful pincushion.






Cathy made the pincushion. It is in an old zinc canning lid. She did a great job. On the top of the cushion she added some of her mom's tatting. By the way her mom is 79 years young. It is beautiful!










Here is everything all together. Thank you again Cathy and Cathy's mom.





I hope that you will play along and keep this PIF going. I do not have a LNS, but I have a few gifty things ordered. I will be attending The Celebration Of Needlework's in NH the end of April where I will shop until I drop looking for some new goodies. My gifts will be sent out before May 15th. If I give myself 365 days to send my gifts off, I will forget what I bought them for! Come on, leave a comment. I know you will not be disappointed.




Hugs and Stitches,




Pat









Sunday, February 12, 2012

Not Sure If This Is Legal...But

I am not sure if photocopying a pattern from my own book to use while I am stitching it is legal ....But let me show you why I do it!


You can imagine what my book would look like!


I am back a little later than I thought that I would be to show you a finish. The stitching has been completed for a while. Now I need to have it framed.



I am very pleased with my finish. I have been working on birthday projects so I can't show them yet.


Have you been to Pinterest? OMGosh!! Love it! Be back soon.


Hugs and Stitches,


Pat




Friday, January 13, 2012

First Post Of 2012

2012 wow! I feel like I went to bed on Halloween and I woke up the middle of January. Time is flying by way to fast. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Did that Jolly Old Elf bring everything that was on your want list? I am sure that he did. The new year has been quiet and an icky brown here in upstate NY. The temperatures have been unseasonably warm. No snow UNTIL TODAY. It is very messy out with a rain/ snow mix event. Most schools in the area were closed today. Tonight the temps are dropping and we have ice everywhere. I have been wanting snow. It reminds me to be careful what I wish for.

This is a project that I started at the very end of last year. It is a BBD Woodland Berries. It is stitched on 32 ct Light Vintage Examplar fabric and I am using the called for colors in silk. It is a bonus pattern in with the Loose Feathers Summer pattern. I am enjoying working on this fabric and very happy with the progress I have made. I like the size of this project. I have decided that I am going to work on a few smalls for a change. My last several projects have been good size samplers (which I love) but I need a quick finish. I have several picked out but I need to finish this one up first. Then, of course, market is in February and I will probably change my mind again because I am sure that there will be a hundred new patterns out there that I will have to have!
I will be back soon to show you a few finishes and some beautiful gifts that I received from my stitching friends. Enjoy your weekend. Here in the US it's a long one. I hope that you find time to do lots of whatever makes you happy. I am going to be putting the last of Christmas away and inside stitching. It's going to be very cold here this weekend. Take care.

Hugs,

Pat