Some small projects

We are in the midst of a heat wave since Friday. Yesterday we took the dogs to the beach. The Oregon Coast is so beautiful and it was a gorgeous day with a wonderful breeze. I got a little bit sunburned but it was worth it!
I've been finishing up a few small projects this weekend. The first is my June ornie for the STO group JCS ornie SAL. It is an Erica Michaels design from the 2004 issue. I had the little tuck pillow and thought it worked with that nicely. The second is an ornie for an exchange. I stitched one of the older Prairie Schooler Santas. The back has both our initials with a small poinsettia plant. The thirs photo is the pinkeep I stitched for another exchange. It is from Prairie Schooler's "Forget Me Not" leaflet. The last photo is of a tin cover...it is a freebie design from The Sampler Girl called"Love Birds". I stitched it with a silk from Vikki Clayton called Peach Tree. It feels good to get all of these done. I still have a round robin to finish and then I can get back to some long neglected projects!

Stitchy mail!

I was very excited when I finally picked up my mail to have 3 wonderful surprises...one was the "Americana Sampler" pattern from Little House Needleworks which was a prize for completing a SAL on the STO group. I also received my Christmas in July ornament from Julie L...she also included lots of adorable Mary Engelbreit goodies which I love. The last package was a beautiful pinkeep stitched by Mylene for an exchange with the Prairie Schooler yahoo group.

the best of times and the worst of times

This whole month has gone by in a blur...we got back from the East coast a week ago. It was a nice, but busy trip. We flew in to Portland, Maine, then drove to Boothbay for a family reunion. it was great to see everyone, and I finally got to meet my niece's 2 children...they are 4 & 6 and both adorable. We stayed there 2 nights,t hen drove to Ellsworth, Maine where we stayed another 2 nights. While there, we took the ferry over to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The boat ride was fun but we only had a very short time in Yarmouth...just about enough to get some lunch...which was delicious! From there we drove to Foxwoods in Connecticut...this is a huge casino...we got there a bit late so they upgraded us to a suite at no extra charge which was really wonderful. We were only there one night and then drove to New Jersey for my nephew's wedding. It was a very nice affair and we got to see people we hadn't seen in over 15 years. We drove to New York the last night to stay with an old friend of ours and then headed to the airport where....our flight was cancelled! This started the hellish portion of the trip. We were flying Jet Blue and they were less than helpful. They offered to get us on the next flight...3 days later. We had our daughter with us, who is 7 months pregnant and we all had to get back home for work and to pick up our puppies. Like I said, they were no help at all and we barely made another flight out at the last minute. They actually had to hold the plane to get our bags on board. To say it was stressful is an understatement...not to mention the extra cost to get home which was no small amount. I'm still not through with Jet Blue...everyone is going to hear from me this time! They cancelled the flight due to "weather', yet somehow all the other airlines were
able to get planes out at the same time...hmmm. Anyway, at least we got home safely...and my daughter even got to ride in business class...at least she could put her feet up!

catching up on stitching

I was able to stitch two blocks for the monthly block exchange at STO during my commutes last week. One was a stitcher's theme and the other is a mermaid. The stitcher's square is a Lizzie Kate block found in the book Celebration of Stitching, and the mermaid is a section of the Twisted Oaks Design, "Nautical Nuptials". I still want to stitch that one for an anniversary sampler for Jeff and I...one of these years!

Club Mutt

We are off on a 10 day trip back East at the end of the week...a family reunion as well as a wedding. We will be flying into Portland, Maine for the reunion, taking a one-day excursion to Nova Scotia, driving through New England, stopping in Connecticut and then on to New Jersey for the wedding and down to Middletown (where we used to live) for a day before we come home. So...we had to find a place for our puppies. Originally, my daughter was going to take care of them, but then she decided that she really wanted to come along on the trip. So we had a friend's son who was going to help out, but then he got a new job and the hours wouldn't work. So we looked on-line and found "Club Mutt". This lady has turned her entire house into a doggie "Bed and Bone" as she calls it. They have a huge yard (actually 4 yards), a pool, their own room...it's amazing! She even has a "time-out" area! We took the doggies over last night for a sleepover and they both fit right in and did really well so I feel good about leaving them for the long trip. I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving them in kennels. They're just not used to cages and it would have broken my heart. The separation is bad enough!

Happy dancing big-time!

Well, I am finished with the wedding gift! Yeah!!! I realized how totally consumed I have been with this piece...it's been in the back of my mind for months, even before I started the actual stitching...I always get like that when I have a gift to do for someone, don't really know why. Anyway, I put the last stitches in yesterday and found a perfect frame at JoAnns...it's the muted blue from the design and looks like it has sand woven through. The stitching itself was a bit of a challenge. I stitched it over one and so many of the floss colors were so similar...after awhile I felt like everything was one color. But the finished effect was worth it. Here is a picture...not a very good one, since the flash is beaming off the glass...but I am really pleased with the way it turned out.