august 29 - it's TUSAL time!

It seems like we just did this, but it's another new moon and that means another TUSAL posting. I had to change containers...my original one has become too small. I'm on the lookout for something nicer, but until then, this will have to do! There are lots of bits and pieces this month. I don't feel like I've accomplished much but I have been putting needle and thread to fabric, and here is the result. Lots of pretty colors....

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

august 23 - SALs, Exchanges and New Starts

Life around here has been so hectic lately...if there isn't something crazy going on at work, there's something crazy going on at home! In fact, I actually started this post last week, but am just now actually getting it blog ready! But in the midst of all this craziness, I have found some time to sit and stitch...thankfully! I love SALs, even though sometimes I have a hard time keeping up! This weekend, Carol, from IStitch, sent out Part One of her Mystery SAL. I am lucky enough to be one of the participants (lucky, because I love Carol's designs and know that this SAL will be wonderful). I am stitching my piece on 28ct. lugana from Kiwi Illusions. The fabric color is "Sweet Violet" and it was sent to me a long time ago from a stitchy pal. It is a pretty purple color and really nice to stitch on. The thread is called "Sugar Plum" and is from GAST.
Edited: I have removed the photo of my SAL piece. It seems that some people may be enlarging photos from our blogs to try and duplicate this design. I don't want to enable anyone, so please go to Carol's blog to see all the in progress photos from everyone stitching along. Thanks!

The second SAL I am currently doing is with the Little House Needleworks/ Cross Country Needleworks yahoo group. I made a very small start on The Chocolate Shoppe, but was so happy when Carrot Cake arrived in my mailbox on Saturday because that is the design I really wanted to stitch! So I made a small start on the border and hope to get many more stitches put in this week. I love these little cakes!
I've also started a SAL with the Blackbird Designs group. We are stitching the new Loose Feathers design...Summer. I am having some problems with a few of the thread colors. One just faded right into the fabric, and all my greens look alike, so I will try to remedy that at my LNS before I get too much farther. This is my small start.... The Stitchers' Timeout yahoo group has bi-monthly block exchanges every year and these are always fun to do. The theme for September is "owls". I started stitching an owl block months ago...part of a design from Blue Ribbon Designs...but somewhere along the way it got misplaced. So I decided to start another little owl. This was a teeny tiny design from someplace I can't remember right now!. Well, guess what disappeared as well? So when the new JCS issue arrived with the cute Halloween ornaments I decided to sit down with my threads, fabric and magazine and stitch this one up until it was finished. I figured I wouldn't be able to lose it that way! so this is the owl that was finally sent off for the exchange. It is called Fall Owl and is designed by Casey Buonaugurio.

Here is the summer block that I received from Renee....sorry for the shadows in these pics. Thanks again Renee!

And here is the adorable CEC acorn that I received in the anniversary block exchange from Sue. Thanks again Sue...



I love these acorns! Some time back, we also had a SAL on Stitcher's Timeout. If I remember correctly it was a Fall/Halloween theme. I chose to stitch CEC's Acorn Autumn, and finally finished it this summer when we were on vacation. Another acorn design!
The other exchange that I have begun participating in again is the Fair & Square exchange, where each round, partners stitch a pair of squares for each other...one square is a design, the other is an signature square. I was partnered with Nancy this last round and since I knew she liked La-D-Da, I stitched their Tiny Sampler for her. It is stitched on a mushroom evenweave with DMC 4130.

Nancy sent me the greatest squares. This is another La-D-Da design (one of my favorite designers as well) called 'Tis Better. This design was on my to do list for this year but I never got around to it...Nancy did a great job with these and I really love them. And I also have another new start. I was lucky enough to win Summer Splendor from Diane Williams a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to get started stitching this. I'm missing one of the threads and hope to find it at my LNS later today. I just had to put in those first few stitches! Don't you all sometimes feel that way???? I also went overboard with stash buying these past few weeks, but I'll share that next time! I didn't realize there would be so much to share when I started! I guess when it rains, it pours!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!

august 9 - the lost art of letter writing & an exchange

I love writing and receiving "real" letters in the mail. E-mail is great, but there is nothing like having a handwritten (or typed) letter waiting for you in the mailbox. At least, I don't think so!
So...I was so happy when Parsley posted on her blog looking for people who would be interested in having a pen pal. Sign me up! This is also interesting because we are all secret pen pals...we won't reveal our identities until December. Doesn't that sound like fun? I received my first letter last week, and also sent a letter off to my partner. I'm not sure if I can keep the secret for that long, but I'll try!

There is also a yahoo group dedicated to writing real letters, and I am a member there too. This is not a secret pen pal, and there are about 25-30 of us in the group, I think. We don't all necessarily write to every other person, but I do try to keep in touch with as many as I can. We are all stitchers, and one of the other common threads running through the group is that many of us are avid readers. So when the idea of an exchange came up, we all thought a bookmark exchange would be a great place to start.

This is a photo of the bookmark that I received from my partner. Lisa stitched parts of a Victoria's Sampler design, and it is so pretty in person. I love lilacs, and the colors are perfect. She also included a wonderful lighthouse bookmark kit, so I have another bookmark to stitch (and I love lighthouses, so this was a perfect choice!)


This photo shows the bookmark I stitched for Lisa. I adapted Plumberry Sampler from Bent Creek for her piece. I haven't stitched a bookmark in a long time and this was fun to do. I also sent along a mystery book that I thought she might enjoy.



Thanks for stopping by to visit!