Stitching For a Cause: 2011

Good morning everyone! Hope you're all enjoying some lovely fall weather--isn't it hard to believe that October begins in two days? I can't say this has been ideal fall weather here in western Pennsylvania, but we've had a few crisp, sunny days to get me through the unusually cool and rainy month that we've had. So, enough about the weather...you're here to see what I've been stitching, right?

This is the second year that I've participated in stitching for the Pumpkin Patch & Co Breast Fund. (My entry last year was this little Christmas Chick). For the past two years, Cathey (our fearless leader also known as Pumpkin) organized a group of stitchers to stitch an ornament (or something else) to contribute to the yearly Attic Needlework Silent Auction For Breast Cancer Research. Each year stitchers from all over the world donate items and raise thousands and thousands of dollars to help fight the war on breast cancer and I'm honored to participate. Last year, Pumpkin's little group raised almost $900 for the cause! If you want to consider contributing a piece of your stitching, it's not too late. Just check out the Pumpkin Patch & Co Breast Fund for details or email Cathey...

I created two pieces to donate to the auction this year. First, I stitched this lovely French freebie from L'R de rien. I thought stitching it on pink would be perfect for the breast cancer auction so I used white DMC on a 28 ct. dusty pink evenweave. A simple beaded border and white hanger and bow accent it. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and I hope someone at the auction likes it, too...




My other donation is from Little House Needleworks and is called "Faith". I really loved the quote on this one: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for." Don't you think it offers a wonderful sentiment for someone battling breast cancer or any difficult life situation? This is stitched on 32 ct. putty jobelan with Crescent Colour threads. I substituted some of the suggested colors so they would show up better on the fabric, though. I really love the soft, muted shades in this finish! There was supposed to be a little lady bug crawling up the flower's stem, but I left him off. I think I wanted this to be a more "serious" piece.

To finish it off, I ended up ruching some white satin ribbon, adding some white pearly pins, topping it with a bow, and making a pinkeep. I just about squealed when I found the backing fabric at Joann Fabrics last week! I had originally pictured some sort of floral backing in my head, but when I spotted the fabric pictured behind the pinkeep, it had the perfect colors to accent the stitching itself. So, these two finishes will be going on a long trip all the way to Arizona and the breast cancer auction where I hope someone loves them as much as I do...





Last weekend, we headed down to Washington, D.C. to visit our youngest son; I hadn't seen him in over two months so I was more than ready. It was so nice to visit his new apartment and, wow, just look at the view from his balcony. Being on the 10th floor enables him to look out at the Washington Monument, the Pentagon, and the Potomac River. I told him it certainly looks nothing like our first apartment which was pretty run-down and, at times, had water trickling down the inside walls of our bedroom during the winter (which then froze creating a sort of arctic headboard at the top of our bed)!! But, it is those memories which make you realize how far you've come...

Here are a few shots I took of the memorials and monuments. Although I've seen them many times, I still feel quite patriotic each time I glimpse them again. All photos are clickable for a better look and you can also click the links underneath for more information...

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The Washington Monument
The monument has been closed ever since the
August 2011 earthquake that hit the D.C. area. The
5.8 magnitude earthquake caused a large crack at its top.

I think my favorite moment of our trip was when my son told me he's come to realize just how far treating others with kindness and respect would take a person in life. And then he said what good role models his mom and dad had been in that respect... Aww...it does a mom's heart a world of good to realize some of those life lessons that I tried to instill in my sons as they were growing up, actually sunk in. Kindness truly does go a long, long way...

Well, that wraps up another way-too-long post from me. Thanks ever so much for all those great comments on my last post. It seems many of you share my sugar addiction...I wish I could tell you I'm conquering it, but it's a struggle! And I so appreciate all of your suggestions for storing my ornaments--there were several good ones which I plan to implement in the future. Look for my 500+ follower giveaway next time--I hope you'll like it. Until then, enjoy your weekends and happy stitching. Bye for now...

Smokin' Snowman and Sugary Sweets

Brrr... and a chilly good morning to you, my blogging buddies. It's a rainy, 55 degrees here in western Pennsylvania with the temperature expected to plummet into the low 40s tonight. Doesn't that sound more like late November weather rather than mid-September? Whatever happened to the warm and sunny days of early autumn? I think it's a perfect day to sit inside and stitch. After working at the library Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, then catching up on laundry and cleaning yesterday, I think I deserve a day to relax, don't you?

Because I've worked more than usual lately, I don't have much to show you, but I do have a couple of Christmasy pieces that I hope you'll enjoy. I've finally caught up on my monthly ornament stitching--and, believe it or not, each one is finish/finished as well! This Prairie Schooler snowman (from the 1999 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue) made his appearance just in time to become my ornament finish for August. I've actually stitched him two other times, but the others were given away. And this is the first one on black fabric (32 ct. Belfast linen) as well. Don't you love how he just pops off the dark fabric? I backed this one with the cheery black, green, and red fabric shown behind it, and attached a green and red plaid ribbon with two green buttons to hang it from the Christmas tree.


When my sons come over for dinner on Sunday, I always bore them with treat them to a little "show and tell" session of the stitching I've worked on since the previous Sunday. That's the price they have to pay for getting a lovely home-cooked meal! As I showed my middle son this snowman, I said, "I bet you'll really like this one." He replied that he liked the other ornament (shown below) better. The reason why? He said, with a completely straight face, that he didn't approve of the "drug use" in this one! Oh, he loves to tease me and he does it so well. Yes, the snowman is indeed smoking a corncob pipe, but, hopefully, he's "not inhaling"!


My September ornament is stitched with white DMC on 25 ct. Victorian green lugana. To make it ornament sized, I stitched it over one, so the tree is barely 3 inches high. This design is by JBW Designs and is from the Christmas Motif Sampler II leaflet. I think this may just be the first time I stitched a JBW design, but it won't be the last! It was very relaxing stitching with just one color and not boring at all due to the little motifs scattered throughout the tree.

I did change the part under the tree a bit by moving the bunny over toward the tree trunk and adding another bunny facing him. (You know me and my love of bunnies--and of symmetry!). To finish it off, I backed it with the fabric shown and then used a ruched satin ribbon and some pearl-topped pins and a tiny ribbon on the edges and the hanger. (This is the video that I used to learn how to do the ruching). Not hard at all--just a bit time consuming... I think it adds such a nice, elegant touch to the edges of ornaments.

Remember this little Prairie Schooler bunny that I showed you a few weeks ago? Remember I said he was headed far, far away to a new home? Well, he safely reached his destination all the way up in Nova Scotia, Canada--and I'm happy to report that Cathey (aka Pumpkin) welcomed him with open arms. I love surprising my friends and regular commenters with RAKs so look for more of them in the future. This is just my way of saying thank you to those of you who make the extra effort to say "hello" whenever you read my blog...

Now, I have a question for all of you who stitch a lot of small ornaments and pin pillows, like I do...How do you store them? I've been placing mine in this acid-free box and storing it under a bed, but I'm running out of room. The ornaments are starting to pile up on top of each other--some of the flat ones are stacked four or five high! I can't crowd them much more or the ribbons and bows will get all wrinkled and misshapen. Do any of you have any other suggestions on storing them. I have limited under-the-bed space so I don't want to get another box. Any ideas at all? I love opening the box up every now and then and seeing all my little pieces staring back at me--they just make me happy for some strange reason!

True confessions...

So, do any of you have an addiction (besides stitching and blogging, that is!). Well, my name is Carol, and I am a "sugar addict"! Oh, you'd never know it by looking at me--I'm very petite and slim. I exercise regularly and, in general, try to eat well (except for yukky green vegetables as all of my long-time blog readers know!). But, I do love sugar and I've come to realize I consume way too much of it. So, I've been making a serious attempt to cut down on the amount I eat.

My sugar of choice? Why, it's these little innocent looking chocolate-covered raisins that come in this giant 3 pound container at Sam's Club. In studying the nutritional information label, it says there are 37 servings (each with 25 grams of sugar!) in one container. So, if I had one serving a day, that should last me 5+ weeks, right? Wrong!! I could gobble up an entire jar in less than two weeks. You see, I just got into the habit of thoughtlessly reaching into the container and grabbing a handful each and every time I walked by it. I ate the last of them last week and decided it was finally time for a change. I need to replace them with healthier foods so I've been eating popcorn, nuts, and sunflower seeds instead. Do I miss them--yes, indeed! Am I trying to cut out all sugar--no way!! (I thoroughly enjoyed the small piece of chocolate cake I had at work the other day). I'm just cutting down on the amount of sugar... I think "everything in moderation" is my new philosophy. How does that sound? Hopefully, by posting this here, I'll really try to stick to it... And if any of you want to confess to being a sugar addict and join me in my quest--you're more than welcome!

Remembering...

This past Sunday, which marked 10 years since the horrors of September 11th, brought back memories of so many tragic images to us all. It seemed that I actually cried more this year when I saw the news coverage than I did back in 2001. I think that may be because I now know the whole story, from beginning to end, and know how terribly it all turned out. I live only two hours from the field in Shanksville, PA where the passengers of Flight 93 so bravely tried to overcome the hijackers and ended up perishing. So, of course, that particular memorial service received a lot of press in this area... Out of all the photos and images I've witnessed lately, this one video really brings me hope--hope for the future through the innocence of our children. I can't get this video out of my head--you've probably seen it already, but I wanted to post it yet again here on my blog to remember the past and hope for the future...

Thanks for your wonderful comments on my little crow collection in my last post. I haven't been able to start stitching Ira Ray and Ida Mae crow yet because my fabric hasn't arrived, but hopefully they'll be joining my crow family very soon. If you look over in my sidebar, you'll notice a milestone: 500+ followers!! I can't thank you guys enough--I'm so honored that you take your precious time to visit me each time I post. And to thank you, I'll be having a giveaway when I have enough time to get something together--look for it very soon! Until then...enjoy your weekend and thank you as always for your wonderful comments and your special friendships. Bye for now...