I'm late, I'm late....

Once again, time has slipped away from me. These last few weeks have really gone by in a blur. Work has been crazy with planning our upcoming 100th birthday celebration and summer reading, and we've had special programs these last two weeks as part of our annual Community Wide Read. I have to say that I was really pleased with our author visit. After reading her book, I wasn't really sure if I liked Cheryl Strayed or not, but after her visit to the library I was really impressed. She was wonderful and everyone enjoyed her presentation.

Also in the mix of the last few weeks was a week long visit from my daughter. We had a good time and got a few last minute wedding things taken care of. I stillhave not even begun to look for a dress for mysef and I am getting just a tad stressed out about it. And don't even tal to me about shoes! I cannot wear heels, but I am also short...so I am afraid I will just look like a little dumpling instead of the mother of the bride!

So I am very late with my TUSAL photo. I was on a roll at the very start of the month, but everything went downhiill fast, so there aren't many threads to show.

 

I also sent out my last exchange for awhile yesterday. It's not that I don't love exchanges...I do! But I have two wedding related pieces that I really want to finish (well, start and finish!) and time is running out! So for now, I can show what was sent and received in the WInter Exchange at Stitched with Love Exchanges.

June sent me this wonderful package

 

and I just love everything she sent. Here is a close-up of the stitched piece...

 

And here is the package I sent to Mindi. She loves red, so I sent her lots of red things!

 

I stitched A Stitcher's Companion (also in red!) from Blackbird Designs and finished it as a small pillow.

 

I've decided on a Halloween and a Christmas ornament to do for this month, so hopefully I'll have a couple of finishes to show soon. And now, I just have to choose a WIP to work on this week with Friendly Stitchers...hmmm...what to pick???? There are so many to choose from!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and visit!

a late wipocalypse

Wow...I hadn't realized how long it has been since I have posted. I think these past couple weeks have been a blur. We are really busy at the library planning our budget for the next two years, as well as getting ready for our Community Wide Read programs this month. We chose Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed as our book, and she will be coming for a program this month, as well as us having a few other peripheral programs. And then we are also planning for the Carnegie's 100th birthday celebration this summer, and summer reading. I guess it's no wonder the weeks are flying by!

And I have also missed the official WIPocalypse posting date, but I did get some stitching done this month. I am participating in two ornament SALs...one for Halloween ornaments, and the other is for any kind of ornaments we choose, but I think mine will mostly be for Christmas.

The theme for our Halloween ornaments for February was Black Cats, so i decided to stitch the Black Cat ornament from Blackbird Designs. it is part of the Casting a Spell booklet. I used the called for colors, but substituted black for the cat, since the design called for that dark dark brown like the fence.

The Christmas ornament is a design from Lizzie Kate called Merry.  It is from one of the Tiny Tidings leaflets, but I can't remember which one right now.I love these little ornament designs. They are quick to stitch but also fun.

I've also been trying to finish up things already started, and the first one I finished was Coverlet Birds from The Scarlett House. The fabric is actually more of a pale bluish green color, and I changed the threads as well. I love this design, and I'm not sure how I will finish it yet, but I am glad it is stitched!

The second design is from Patty C.and is called Let's Stitch.  It is the pattern that was chosen for 2013 SAL blog that I am a part of. We are stitching designs from different designers, one every two months. I changed all the colors in this one, using mostly different shades of purple, and it is on a hand dyed purple fabric. Again, I am not sure how I will finish this one, but I love how it turned out.

It's hard to believe it is March already...we are supposed to have mild temperatures for the next week...I hope so! My daughter will be visiting from Boston this week, so I am really looking forward to that.

Thanks to everyone who stops by to visit,and thanks also for your comments!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned.

daybook for february 13

for today...

outside my window...the sun is peeking out
i am thinking...of all the work still to do
i am thankful...that my daughters are both happy and healthy
in the kitchen...wonton soup for lunch
i am wearing...a dress!
i am creating...more clutter than I can handle today
i am wondering...what the furbabies are up to at home
i am hoping...that my hubby's eye treatments will work

i am looking forward to...a weekend of stitching
i am learning...to slow down
one of my favorite things...eos lip gloss

Please visit here to read other daybook posts and learn how to join in with your own.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

TUSAL and a little Valentine's stitching

 

It's time to post our TUSAL photos...where did this month go?

Mr. Owl is guarding this month's orts...

Asher was here this weekend. He was fascinated by the pictures of all the snow at his aunt's house in Massachusetts. She lives in Quincy and they got 30" and lost power for awhile. I really really do not miss all that East Coast snow! We get a lot of rain here, but at least you don't have to shovel it!

Somehow, even with running all over after the little one, I managed to get a little bit of stitching done.

I finished up I Will Stitch You in My Heart from Heartstring Samplary.I have had this one since it weas first released, but somehow just never got around to stitching it. I don't know why...I love this design! Stitched on a piece of neutral evenweave with the DMC called for. I only made one change...using a red for the two hearts.

This next piece is a freebie from Jennifer at Feathers in the Nest. I stitched it on a rose colored evenweave fabric with a pink variegated thread. I think this is really cute...Jennifer always offers lovely little freebies on her blog. Thank you, Jennifer!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful relaxing weekend! Thanks for taking the time to visit!

catching up

We had a  Valentine exchange at Friendly Stitchers, and my package had to travel all the way to Saudi Arabia! Well, it finally arrived, so I can share what I stitched for Denise. The design is a freebie  from a blog (unfortunately I don't remember which one), stitched on a neutral evenweave with one of the DMC variations threads. I added a bit of lace and finished it as a pin pillow and added a couple of pins. Denise likes it, so I am happy!

We are also doing WIP Wednesdays, and I decided to finally get some of those languishing pieces finished. The first one I finished is Waiting for the Harvest from Blackbird Designs. This was one of my crazy January starts from either last year or the year before...I can't remember. It is stitched with a pretty Waterlilies silk that someone sent to me in an exchange, on a mushroom colored fabric. The fabric is more brown than it looks in the photo. I haven't decided how I am going to finish it yet, but at least the stitching is completed.

So now I will be working on finishing Coverlet Birds, from Scarlett House. I loved this design the first time I saw it, and I don't know why I didn't just stitch it right up, but...anyway, this is my progress  so far. I will keep you posted on how it progresses.

And finally...my start on my sampler for the Scarlet Letter SAL. I wanted to start this on January 1st, but didn't get to it until Super Bowl Sunday! The design is the Abigail Gould Sampler, and here is my small start. I think I will continue to stitch on this one on Sundays. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!

daybook for february 6

for today...

outside my window...the sun is trying to peek through

I am thinking...about several people who have left us way too soon

I am thankful...for my husband's sense of humor
In the kitchen...something simple for dinner, I hope
I am wearing...red!
I am creating...lots of cross-stitches


I am wondering...if I will ever get warm!
I am reading...Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

I am hoping...to stay on schedule today

I am looking forward to...seeing my grandson this weekend

I am learning...all about e-books today


I am pondering...why does my dog always seem to get under my feet?

One of my favorite things...my husband's home made chicken soup...yum!

Please visit here to read other daybook posts and learn how to join in with your own!

Thanks so much for visiting!

GYOB giveaway winner!!!

The winner of my giveaway is...Deborah!,,
Congratulations! I am emailing you for your address.
Thanks to all who entered and commented...the party was lots of fun and it as been great getting to know lots of new bloggers.
I hope you'll keep coming back!
Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting!

ornament SAL

I've joined the Ornament SAL this year...hoping to keep up with Christmas ornies at least, and maybe a few others through out the year. I'm a day late posting this, but couldn't get the sewing machine out yesterday! The design is from JBW Designs...A Very Merry Christmas. The fringe looks a little bit wonky, but it does look better in real life!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

a fun giveaway!

If you are a fan of Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks, you should stop by Heather's blog right away. She is having a very generous giveaway of some wonderful charts!
Good luck!

Thanks for visiting!

daybook for january 30

for today...

outside my window...things look gloomy
i am thinking ...about all the things I want to stitch
i am thankful...for a family that is always here for me
in the kitchen...there are leftovers for dinner
i am wearing...ski socks (and my feet are still cold!)
i am wondering...if I will meet all my deadlines this week
i am reading...An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor
i am hoping...that my daughter gets her health issues figured out soon
i am looking forward to...a lazy weekend
i am learning...that I have to slow down some
one of my favorite things...perlier honey body cream with virgin bees-wax

Please visit here to read other daybook posts and learn how to join in with your own.

Thanks for visiting today!

helping friends

Some of you may already know about our friend Gaynor's goal to raise funds so that she can participate in a walking event sponsored by the Irish Cancer Society. If you don't  know, you can read all about it here...she does a much better job of explaining everything than I ever could!

What you may not also know is that Nancy from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe has found a way to help Gaynor reach her goal of raising 3200 euros. She is having a fundraiser on her site for the next three months. You can read about it here.

This is an amazingly generous and wonderful thing for Nancy to do.

Gaynor continues to be an inspiration to me and others, and I hope that you will all read her story and consider donating directly or participating by buying one of  Nancy's  kits.

Thanks for visiting, and for being a friend.

January WIPocalypse

Last year, even though I posted each month, I never really worked on any of my older works in progress.Almost everything I posted were new starts and sometimes, finishes. This year, I've decided to really try and get to some of those UFOs and WIPs that have been lying neglected for awhile.

The first project I am tackling is Waiting for the Harvest from Blackbird Designs. This was one of my Crazy 15 starts from 2012 (or was it 2011???) and I have no idea why I just let it sit. It was going to be my take to work project, and I actually did do that at least once or twice, but then I hardly ever have stitching time at work, so it kind of fell into the basket, never to be seen again.

This is where I left it off last January:

And here is my progress after working on it for a few evenings this month. Wednesdays are WIP days at Friendly Stitchers, so I am trying to at least work on WIPs then. I'm about 2/3 done.

Everything else I have worked on this month has been for exchanges, and I have shown pictures of the ones that have been recieved.

On to February...Thanks for visiting!

Sharing time!

A few of my secret pieces have arived at their new homes, so I can finally share them with you all!

We had a Christmas/Winter exchange at Friendly Stitchers, and Libbie and I were partners. She said that she likes reindeer, so I stitched this design from Lizzie Kate for her. It is one of the Christmas Rules Flip-Its.

And this is what I received from Libbie...all the way from Australia! It's from the Gazette94 blog. I love it. Thanks again, Libbie!

I showed you the beautiful ornament that I received from Tami in our Valentine exchange, and this is the ornament I sent to Diane. It is a freebie from a blog that I have had in my stash...if anyone recognizes the designer, please let me know. I can't seem to find it. It is stitched with one of the DMC color variations threads.

And, finally, this is a little pillow I made for Mouse to thank her for loaning me a pattern a while back. It is a design from Homespun Elegance which was in the latest issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

I hope everyone is staying warm and comfy wherever you may be!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

what a wonderful mail day!

It is always such a treat when a little parcel shows up, but today I found three in my mailbox! And it's not even my birthday!

First, I received the last robin that I will be stitching on with the Friendly Stitchers group this round. It is a Just Nan design for Sally, called Miss Kitty's Dragons. I'm hoping to get to it this weekend.

I have belonged to the Stitching Buddies group for many years, but haven't participated in an exchange in a long long time. So when a Valentine exchange was mentioned, I signed up, And yesterday I got the most wonderful pillow ornament (along with a sparkly pair of socks, a box of candy and two beautiful vintage-y valentines). My partner was Tami, and this is the beautiful Jane Austen inspired design she stitched for me...I really love it! Thanks so much, Tami!

Lastly, there was a package from Gaynor. She has been stitching up all sorts of wonderful creations and giving them away in exchange for contributions to the Irish Cancer Society. You can read all about it here. The heart is a cute little pocket for stashing scissors, threads or whatever, and the owl is just precious. I thought it was going to be a small little pillow, but this guy is large! I'm hoping that Asher will help me give it a name when he visits this weekend. Until then he (or she) will remain nameless as he/she sits perched on my stitching lamp.

I've been mostly stitching on exchanges, so have nothing to show...but today I have picked up a Blackbird Designs piece that has been a UFO for awhile. I'll show pics on Saturday's WIPocalypse post.

Thanks so much for visiting...I'm still working my way through all the blogs from Saturday's party!

Daybook for January 23

for today...

outside my window...it is raining again, but not as cold as predicted, so no ice
i am thinking...about what to stitch next
i am thankful...for the blanket I brought today to keep me warm
in the kitchen...eggplant parmesan
i am wearing...not enough layers
i am creating...an exchange for a friend
i am going...stir crazy
i am wondering...if i will ever get this office cubby of mine uncluttered
i am reading...The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
i am hoping...for a smooth drive home
i am looking forward to...a new project runway season
one of my favorite things...cuddling with my doggies

and here is equal time for our other furbaby....

Please visit here to read other daybook posts and learn how to join in with your own!

Thanks for visiting!

January IHSW & Growing Your Blog

This was a fun and productive weekend...it was really cold here, but sunny, which made the cold more bearable! I was even able to get some stitching done too!

We are doing a round robin with the Every Stitch Counts group and I stitched my square on Sue's piece this weekend. She has asked us all to stitch a square from A Sampler Story by Brenda Keyes. I will stitch with orange every chance I get, so I chose to do this square, I love this design and have it in my stash, and have stitched some of the squares for gifts and exchanges in the past, but never the whole sampler. Maybe I will put it in my "to be stitched" pile finally!

I also stitched my Christmas ornament for January. I am going to try and keep up with stitching one a month again for this year. The colors in the photo are not at all true. The fabric is more of a bright dark green and the thread is a dusty green...I think it is a sampler thread but not sure...the label was gone. Maybe the colors will look more realistic after I finish it! The design is A Very Merry Christmas from JBW Designs.

I joined another SAL blog this year...we are stitching small designs every two months from different designers. The first design is from Patty C. and it is called Let's Stitch. I have changed the fabric and thread colors and am about 1/3 done. I love stitching this one. Patty's designs are really fab! Not sure how I want to finish this one yet.

I also started stitching on an exchange piece for Stitched with Love exchanges, but can't show that one yet or give any hints. You'll just have to be surprised when the time comes!

I would have got more stitching done, but Saturday was Grow Your Blog Day and I ended up spending way too much time on the computer scrolling through lots  and lots of wonderful blogs! There were a few stitching blogs that I was already familiar with, but oh so many more! I have not even begun to scratch the surface and I'm looking forward to finding lots more blogging friends. I even see that I have gained some new followers from this. It is a really fun experience. Thanks again Vicki for all your hard work and for hosting this wonderful party!

And now I should probably get back to work. Welcome to any new followers and thank you all for taking the time to visit!

Grow Your Blog Day!

Grow Your Blog Day is Vicki's brainchild and it is a way for bloggers to discover new blogs, get to know one another, and maybe get some new followers or find new blogs to follow themselves. I know that I am always looking for new blogs to read. There are so many wonderful and talented bloggers out there...of course, there is never enough time to read them all every day, but I love to pop in and visit when I can, and I hope that some people might also like to do that here.

One of the things that was suggested is that we give an introduction of sorts. I can't remember if I ever did that when I started this blog!Apparently, I have been on blogger since August of 2006, but I am far from a prolific blogger. I think that I have been posting more lately, but I know that when I first started, my posts were few and far between. I think that at that time I felt that I didn't have much to say or share. I don't know that I have that much more to say or share now either, but I don't care about that as much. I just enjoy what I am doing more!

So...if you look in my sidebar, you will see that my name is Lynda. you will also see that there is not a photograph there. I hate having my picture taken. My husband is always threatening to take my picture and put it on Facebook! Not nice, hubby! Maybe at some point I will give in, but not quite yet! You will see Flat Lynda there however. If you have children, you may be familiar with Flat Stanley. Anyway, several years ago, one of the online groups I belong to had a retreat. It was too far away for some of us to go, but we could go "virtually"...so I sent along Flat Lynda...she actually does resemble me a bit. I've used her ever since.

We live in Oregon, having moved here from New York nearly 19 years ago. I love it here, and even though I had lived on the East Coast all my life, when I got to the Pacific Northwest, I felt like I had come home. I have never had any desire to move back. We live with our two dogs, a Golden Retriever and a Brittney Spaniel/Lab mix, and out two cats. We have two grown daughters...one lives in Quincy, Massachusetts (just outside Boston), and the other lives here in Portland, with our adorable grandson. We are so fortunate to have him living so close because we get to spend lots and lots of time with him. He is almost 4 1/2.

I have been a librarian for nearly 39 years (yikes!). I used to work as a school librarian back East, but since we have lived here, I have worked in public libraries. I am currently the manager at an old Carnegie Library. We are looking for a new site for a bigger library because, although this building is beautiful (and will be 100 years old this summer), it is really too small for our needs.

I love reading, especially cozy mysteries and biographies; love watching baseball, especially the Seattle Mariners, even though they lose a lot!; love spending time with my family, especially my grandson; love exploring new places; love cuddling with our furbabies; and love cross-stitching.

Cross-stitching is the reason I started blogging. This blog is mainly a place for me to share my love of stitching and to post pictures of some of the designs I have stitched. Sometimes I'll talk about other things too. I started blogging myself after reading and enjoying other stitcher's blogs, and I hope that there are some people out there who enjoy reading mine as well.

One of the fun things about stitching, other than the actual stitching itself, is just enhancing your stash...buying stuff you know you will probably never live long enough to stitch. I know this is true with other crafts as well. But it is part of the fun! I am one of those people who is not as organized as I would like to be when it comes to my stash, which often results in my buying the same patterns more than once. This actually happens way more than I feel comfortable admitting to! One of my favorite designers is Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance. And while looking for a design for an exchange the other night, I realized that I like her designs so much that I repeatedly buy them more than once! So I would like to offer a giveaway of a selection of these beautiful designs. You can see her designs here . Anyone can enter this giveaway...all you have to do is leave a comment saying that you would like to enter and please include an email address where I can reach you. The winner will be posted here on February 1.

Lately, I have been discovering lots of other fun blogs, not just ones that talk about stitching. There are so many wonderful blogs out there and I am living vicariously through some of them. I love to look at the beautiful handmade things that others make, and the wonderful ways people find to decorate their homes. There is so much creativity out there...it boggle the mind. There is so much to learn, and one of the things I love most about blogging is that so many people are so willing to share their talents and knowledge with the rest of us.

I am hoping to discover lots of new blogs through this Grow Your Blog Day, and meet lots of new friends. Thanks in advance to all of you who continue to expand my horizons, thanks to those who have come to visit here, and thanks for your comments...they are always appreciated!

TGIF - yay!!!!

This feels like it has been a very long week. Short-staffed, too many meetings, and it's been icy cold besides! I am so looking forward to this three day weekend. Asher is going to his dad's, so I'm envisioning a weekend spent sitting in front of the fire with something warm to drink and lots of stitching to play with.

Most of my stitching over the past couple of weeks has been for exchanges, so I can't show those yet. But I did do a few things that I can share.

I joined Lainey's Halloween SAL because Asher is totally into Halloween, and I thought it would be great fun to have a little Halloween tree for him this year. Each month will have a theme...January was pumpkins...that we can follow if we want (or not!). I chose to stitch this little design from Lizzie Kate called Eek!!!. It is stitched on a dark spooky looking linen (darker than it appears in the photo) with the recommended GAST threads. Even though I really do not like spiders, I found a little spider button to add...he's not too creepy!

The Stitchers' Timeout yahoo group has been doing block exchanges for years, and these are always fun to do. There is a theme for the month (these used to be monthly, but now we do them every other month) and we stitch a small design and then they are exchanged with someone else in the group. We don't know who gets our square until they have been sent out, but we always post pictures on the group as soon as they are stitched.

January's theme was "beverages"...and since tea is probably my favorite beverage, i chose to stitch Official Tea Lover, again from Lizzie Kate. I stitched it on a piece of light blue aida with DMS threads.

March's theme is "birds" and I stitched this little design from (I think) Heart in Hand...it's an older one and I know it is one of the Trilogy designers...I'll check when I get home! Anyway, it is stitched on a scrap of evenweave with DMC threads. (Actually, this is from Bent Creek - Red Winged Blackbird)

This is the first International Hermit & Stitch Weekend  of the new year, and I hope you will all be joining me for a weekend of stitching. Tomorrow is also Grow Your Blog day. You can check here for details about that.

Thanks so much for visiting, and for all your lovely comments! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Daybook for January 16

for today....

outside my window...it is icy cold
i am thinking...that I would rather be sitting in front of a nice warm fire right now
i am thankful...that we have a roof over our heads, and warm heat on days like this
in the kitchen...roast beef sandwiches for dinner
i am wearing...not enough layers
i am creating...small stitched pieces for exchanges
i am going...to too many meetings today
i am wondering...how my grandson will make out at the dentist today
i am reading...budget reports
i am looking forward to...a weekend of stitching
one of my favorite things...hot apple cider

a peek into my day...our golden, Boonie

Please visit here to read other daybook posts and learn how to join in with your own!

Thanks for visiting!

TUSAL January 2013

It is the first TUSAL of 2013...we have been doing this for a few years now and it is always fun. If you don't know about TUSAL - Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long - you can read all about it here on Sharon's blog.

Since I haven't found my "perfect" vessel for a year's worth of orts yet, I've decided to post each month's gatherings on their own before adding them together...so here is my little collection for January. Lots of pretty colors in there!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!