April 28 - a pair of twos + one

Two finishes to share: Jane has received the squares I sent for round 12 of Fair & Square so I can share a picture.
This is "My Pink House" by Blackbird Designs. I used Olde Willow "October" for the house instead of the called for Weeks thread, and it is stitched on 32 ct. "bay rum" jobelan.

The second finish is my version of the little sampler that BBD offered as a freebie. It is stitched on a solo from silkweavers (cashel, 28 ct.) and stitched with Carrie's Thread in "Wild Orchid". The little bird is from a Stacy Nash design. Like so many others, I chose to stitch in my grandma's name and birth year. She loved purple and this thread is a lovely purple color and there is a lot of purple in the mottled fabric as well.

The other "two" is another pair of giveaways. Edgar is generously offering his copy of the book which contains the popular "Lo How a Rose" design that so many have been stitching. And Simone is offering a wonderful giveaway grab bag for her blogoversary. Check them out!

And one more fabulous giveaway...go to Sharon's blog for a chance to win some beautiful fabrics that she hand-dyed herself!

Thanks for visiting!

april 25 - catching up

It's the New Moon, which means another update to the Totally Useless SAL. There are a few scraps from the exchange I finished this morning as well as the usual pieces of floss. This container is almost one quarter full already!

I've been stitching on an exchange for the Prairie Schooler year long exchange which I can't show yet. I mailed it off this morning though, so maybe soon...This is my bit on a round robin that we are doing in Ally's group. This is Ginny's robin and her theme is birdhouses. I found this pattern in Cross Country Stitching magazine (Feb 2009) and used a bit for my part. The fabric is actually a brown color... I don't know why it is showing up like this!

These are the beautiful squares I received from Jane for Round 12 at Fair & Squares. She stitched Papillon Designs "Tiny Little Quaker" with a dusty rose thread from Carrie's. I love this design...in fact I stitched it for a partner once for F & S, but never got around to stitching it for myself. I'm trying to decide what kind of little pretty I can make with these. Thanks again Jane!


My daughter was visiting from Boston last week, and we also had our grandson here for the weekend. We had lots of fun, but not much stitching got done! So here are a couple of photos of Asher with his Auntie Sara.

Now I am off to stitch on my Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler. It has been a bit neglected so far this month. Hopefully I will have a progress photo to show next time.
Thanks for visiting!

april 22 - two great giveaways!

I have come across two new-to-me blogs and both are having giveaways.
Valerie at Fog City Dweller is celebrating her four year blogging anniversary with a surprise giveaway. And Alicja at Retro Charm Garden is also having a giveaway at her blog. You must visit her and see the beautiful retro charms that she makes. They are really lovely.
Hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

april 13 - wonderful mail day

Another wonderful mail day for me! I received this beautiful Easter bookmark and these pretty ribbons from Angela, as well as a PIF from CJ...she sent a wonderful heart shaped basket, and a box that I think she made...inside there was a tiny stitched flatfold. It is adorable...one of my favorite colors and types of design. It is also my very first flatfold.
Thanks so much Angela and CJ!

april 8 - Another award to pass along

Thank you so much Cindy Mae for giving me this wonderful award! The award is accompanied by the following words:
"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."
I was asked to pass the award on to eight other bloggers, and you know how hard that is to do! I read so many really wonderful blogs each day and always enjoy my visits with you all. But my sister always used to tease me about "always doing what you're told", so here are eight friends who I hope will accept the award. I hope you will check out their blogs if you are not already familiar with them. I know you will enjoy your time there!
So...in alphabetical order (I am a librarian after all...):

Ally
Amy
Carolyn
Cindy
Judy
Linda
Marianne
Milly

Thanks for visiting!

april 6 - a beautiful weekend

What a beautiful weekend we had! Spring has finally arrived! We had our grandson with us all weekend and we all had so much fun. We got to spend lots of time outside thanks to the warm temps and we took a ride up to Multnomah Falls yesterday which is always gorgeous.
Now I'm back to work and tired out! But it was worth it! I only managed to put a few stitches in the squares I am doing for this round of Fair & Squares but I can't show them yet anyway!
Thanks to everyone for your comments on my stitching. I didn't have too much productive computer time this weekend...Asher loves to bang away on the keyboard which tends to play havoc with trying to read anything! I did give him our old keyboard which he loved banging on until he realized I was trying to divert his attention. Even when I put them side by side he managed to get to the one I was using!Anyway...I'll try to get back to as many of you as I can during the week.
Guess it's time to get back to work...thanks for visiting!

april 2 - stitching update

So...I have been making some stitchy progress this week. The photo above shows where I am with my Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler. I haven't stitched any initials in yet because I'm not sure what I will be adding where, so I will leave those till the end.


This is my "Alla Turca" with Parts 1 - 4 stitched. I couldn't wait for Part 4 to arrive, so I stitched it up right away. Of course, now I have to wait a whole month for the next part! But I really like how this is turning out. It's the first monthly mystery SAL that I have actually been able to keep up with (at least so far...maybe I shouldn't jinx it?)

This is "Daisy Sampler" from Country Cottage Needleworks. We are having a spring SAL on the LHN/CCN yahoo groups and this is one of the pieces I stitched for that. The fabric is actually a very pale yellow called "Ray of Light" but you would never know it from this picture! Both the LHN and CCN designs are always such a pleasure to stitch. They just make me happy when I stitch them!

I had to stop by Acorns & Threads the other day because I needed some floss for the square I am stitching for this round of Fair & Squares, and while there I couldn't resist picking up a couple of things! (and I'm supposed to be on a stash diet...yeah right!) There is an Ink Circles trunk show on display right now, so I picked up two of those - "Twisted Heart" and "Celtic Quilts: Friendship Star", as well as the February Blackbird Designs stockings. I can't wait for the next batch to come out. These are so pretty!

It was so cold and rainy this morning, but the sun is actually out now so I am going to take a little walk and enjoy it while it lasts! Thanks for stopping by!