Lots Of Finishes (Picture Heavy Post)

If I haven't already mentioned it, I am going to attend the Pals Fall Fling in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I am taking Milsey and the children and we leave next Tuesday for the retreat. I have been fast and furiously preparing for the trip and that means lots of stitching. We have to bring several items for exchanges and so I have been trying to get those items ready. I sent several items off to Vonna for finishing and I received those items in today's mail. This first pinkeep is a freebie design from The Primitive Needle.



This pinkeep is a Little House Needleworks thread pack pattern called Pumpkins.



This flat fold is a design from Lizzie Kate and it was an early birthday present for Miss Bonnie. She loves it and so does her cat Domino. We lost it for a few minutes this afternoon and found it under the kitchen table. Domino has impeccable taste!



These two pyn pillows are from La D Da and can be found in this year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween ornament issue.



This tin finish is from Plum Street Samplers. I filled it with candy corn for Halloween and if you look closely you will see that it says Take One My Pretty.





I am just tickled to death with everything and am hoping that the various recipients will enjoy them as well. I may post before I leave but if not, have a wonderful week!

End Of Summer Colds and Fall Stiching

It has been a rough couple of weeks around here what with all of us having end of summer colds and all. Finally went to the doctor for something totally unrelated and ended up on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. I have been on the medication since last Wednesday and am feeling sooooo much better. We have been staying home a lot lately and I have been stitching up a storm. I finished two projects over the last week or so. The first is a Little House Needleworks piece called "Love One Another" and the second one is a La D Da piece from this year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween ornament issue. I actually did the ornament one twice and have sent them off to Vonna for finishing.






Early this morning, we went to Jacksonville for an Herb Festival. I bought a bunch of herb plants for my fall herb garden. I sure hope that they do well. I have decided to attend the Pals Fall Fling in Myrtle Beach this year and can hardly wait. There are only about two and a half weeks until the retreat and I am so excited. This will be my first stitching retreat. I hope to make many new friends and get a lot of stitching accomplished (probably more talking than stitching). Well not much else is going on, have a wonderful weekend!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hello friends! I have been very busy these past few days and haven't had the time to write. I went with my newcomer friends to Ponte Vedra this week for a cooking class. We learned how to make homemade ravioli and marinara sauce from scratch. The ravioli were delicious and I had a lot of fun making the marinara sauce. We also made a dessert ravioli using wonton wrappers. On Saturday, we went with my friend Linda and her mother to a craft show in Jacksonville. We had a lot of fun and we ate lunch at a very cute little diner called Johnny Angel's.

I have been busy stitching this week and I completed a piece from Plum Street Samplers. Once finished, it will be an Altoid tin topper filled with candy corn just in time for Halloween.



I am currently working on a Halloween piece from The Drawn Thread. I'm not sure how much I like it so I don't know if I will continue with it. I am totally in Halloween mode and I am constantly digging in my stash to find Halloween related pieces to do. Well, my youngest caught a cold and I have been taking care of him all day today. I am in mommy mode! Blessings.

I'm A Student And A Finish

Hello folks! I, along with Bonnie started piano lessons today. I used to play when I was a child and I was very interested in starting again. Bonnie's teacher had an opening and I started today! I was so excited that I woke up at four this morning in anticipation of today's lesson. I felt just like I did when each new school year would roll around and today was a wonderful reminder of days past. Bonnie was also very excited to begin her lessons again as she has practiced almost every day since her lessons ended last spring.

I have also been busy stitching and finished a piece by Little House Needleworks called "Pumpkins". It is one of Diane's thread packs using Crescent Colours threads. I stitched it on 28 count Light Mocha Cashel Linen. Here is a pic!




I started a Pine Mountain Designs pillow yesterday for my friend Linda. She has admired my work and I thought that she needs something special for her home from me. It has been very rainy here and I am wondering when we will see the sun again. Have a wonderful week and blessings to you!

Still Here And Stitching!

Long time no post. I'd like to say that I have been a busy little bee over the summer, but I must admit that the summer has passed me by. I have not been feeling up to snuff and I have only recently started stitching again. I did read a few of the books that I had on my list and have taken two trips with my Newcomers Club. In July we went to St. Simon's Island in Georgia and had a lovely trolley tour and ate at cute little hamburger joint called Brogans. Our tour guide Bunny showed us the sights and we learned a lot about the slave and Methodist histories of St. Simons. I took my Bonnie and we had a grand time. Two weeks ago, Milsey and I and my friend Linda took the children tubing down the Ichetucknee river here in Florida. It is fed by nine springs and was crystal clear and very refreshing at 72 degrees. I fell out of my tube at the beginning but that didn't dampen my spirits. Actually, I provided the comic relief going feet over top right out of my tube. The children had a ball and we vowed to go back very soon.

I have decided to do two exchanges over the fall and have been busy getting those ready for October send dates. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I have been stitching Halloween designs in anticipation of cooler days. Soon hot apple cider and pumpkin bread will be on the menu. Oooohhh I can't wait. Here are two of the designs that I have been stitching. The first is a freebie from The Primitive Needle called "By The Light Of The Moon". I think that it turned out just adorable. I stitched it on a mystery hand-dyed linen using the called-for Weeks threads.




The second is "Halloween Grins" from Shepherd's Bush. Stitched on Newport Linen with Crescent, Weeks and Sampler Threads.




Thanks to all of you who have sent notes inquiring how I am feeling. I haven't been keeping up with my correspondence lately and am truly sorry for that. Hopefully, I will be able to remedy that in the future. The children start back to home schooling tomorrow and hopefully I will have a little more time on my own while they are in class with Milsey's portion of the lessons. Blessings!

The Summer Of The Book

Well folks, I am a card carrying member of the "Stitcher's Slump" club. I haven't put needle to fabric in weeks. I even received a package of stash and I can't even work up the enthusiasm to photograph my haul for all of you. I think I feel faint - must be stitcher's flu. Do you think that they make an antibiotic for that?

Ohhhhhh, the title of this post - on to that. I have, however, been reading up a storm. Be it an audio book on my snazzy new iPod or that stack from the library. I just finished Janet Evanovich's "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" today and boy was it a laugh riot. I highly recommend it to those of you who have kept up with the series, and for you Janet E. newbies - what are you waiting for? Run to the library/bookstore and check out "One For The Money". I was hoping that some of you might be willing to recommend some titles to add to my summer reading pile. So far I have the following books on the stack:

"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult recommended by my friend Bridget

"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith receommended by my friend Linda L.

"Tears Of The Giraffe" also by Alexander McCall Smith (Thanks Linda for loaning this one to me)

"The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie" by Alan Bradley

"The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Whew, that's a lot, but I did read "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" in one afternoon so I think that I am up to the task. Please please please share your ideas with me. It's going to be a long, hot summer!

Twilight: New Moon

The producers of the soon to be released New Moon movie, released a new cover for the "New Moon" book by Stephenie Meyer. For those of you who are "Fanpires" doesn't Jacob look yummy?