Spring Stitching In the Snow

Good morning, everyone! Isn't it hard to believe we're down to our last week in March? Believe me, you'd never know that April is almost here with what greeted me as I looked out my upstairs window yesterday. Yes... more snow. And not just a dusting either--we received  four inches here in western Pennsylvania. I honestly don't remember a year like this one in terms of weather. I heard a news report recently that said our area has received either rain or snow on all but nine days so far in 2013... I never thought I would be one to retire to Florida or the southern states, but, at this point, it is sounding mighty tempting!

But, things aren't all cold and wintry here...at least I've managed to bring in some spring cheer by stitching two of the cutest new designs from  The Snowflower Diaries blog. Hungarian designer, Maja Matyas Szilagi, has released the most adorable freebies for us and her "Spring Bunny Love" design (available here) immediately captured my heart. You all know how much I love bunnies, don't you? Well, who could resist this sweet courting couple? Maja's design calls for Nina's threads, but I only owned one of the suggested colors for this piece (the color for the bunnies) so I substituted various overdyeds from my collection. This is stitched "over one" and I am so pleased with how it turned out--it almost looks like a watercolor painting. I used 28 ct. bone cashel linen, ruched some wide pink satin ribbon, added some pearly white pins, and backed it with the pink and white fabric shown in the photo. I smile each time I pass by it!

"Spring Bunny Love" by The Snowflower Diaries

Maja has so many cute designs that I couldn't stop with just one! Next up was "Tulips With Bunny" (which you can find here).  For this one, I took a different approach and chose the thread colors based on a pretty piece of fabric I had been wanting to use. I simply laid out the blue flowered fabric with my white evenweave and began pulling threads until I had a combination that I thought would work well with the fabric. Would you like to see what I came up with?

Stitching choices for "Tulips With Bunny"

What do you think? I'm very pleased with this finish and I love how everything came together as I had hoped it would when I first pulled the threads. I found the palest pink ric-rak to embellish the little pillow with that perfectly matches the lighter pink in the design. This one is also stitched "over one" on white 28 ct. evenweave which, again, makes it very tiny. It will be perfect for my bowl of bunnies for Easter decorating.

"Tulips With Bunny" by The Snowflower Diaries

Here are both of them together... Thank you so much for designing and sharing your beautiful charts, Maja! You have brought smiles to stitchers worldwide with your generosity and creativity. I look forward to stitching more of your designs in the future...

Bunny love!

Now, in looking at these two finishes, you might think that I am a real "girly-girl," right? Nope! Not at all--I don't think you would find even a single article of pink clothing in my closet...Lace, sparkly things? No--not me! But, I just love creating these sweet little pillows so much. The pastels of spring stitching truly brighten my days after the long cold winter. And speaking of brightening my day, I had two lovely surprises waiting for me in the mail recently.

From sweet Maggee, at Stitching Devotee, came these two delightful charts. Maggee had listed several groupings of charts on her blog and asked if any of us would be interested in any of them as RAKs.  And just look at the lovely pair that she surprised me with: Brightneedle's "Finger Lakes Sampler" and  Ewe & Eye & Friends "Alphabet Garden." I couldn't be more pleased--they are both charts I will definitely stitch and the "Finger Lakes Sampler" has special meaning to me as that is the part of the country where my parents, brother, and sister all reside. Has anyone visited any of the Finger Lakes? It really is a lovely part of New York State--I just wish it was a bit closer so I could visit my family more often!  Thank you, Maggee, so very much for your generosity--I think the RAK chart listing is a great idea and one I hope to offer myself in the future!

 Thank you so much for the great charts, Maggee...

I love them both!

And from my dear friend, Brenda, over at  Brenda's Stitching, came these jaw-dropping gifts. I mean, I honestly just stood looking at these goodies with a goofy, stunned smile on my face when I opened the package. Just look at this sweet stitched box Brenda made for me! Isn't it adorable? And inside the box was the most lovely "ruler" I've ever seen. It is made of mother of pearl--can you imagine?

Surprise Easter gifts from Brenda!

 

One of the unique things about this handrafted box is that you can interchange the designs seasonally, so I plan on stitching a little something to place inside for each of the four seasons... And, of course, the box will always be filled with something like these pastel peanut M&Ms that I bought for Easter--yum!  Brenda, "thank you" doesn't seem adequate to express my gratitude. I am so pleased we have "met" through our blogs and I hope our friendship continues for years to come. I truly love your gifts and your kind heart...

 Beautifully stitched box from Brenda

GIVEAWAY UPDATE:  There is still time to enter my giveaway on my previous post. I have so enjoyed reading about the "simple things" that make you smile. They have made me smile, too--honestly. And I'm truly touched that so many of you would be interested in winning one of my little pillows--thanks to all who have entered. If you would like to enter, simple click here to enter your comments. The giveaway will close on March 31st...

I sure wish I was leaving you with a photo filled with dancing daffodils and beautiful birds that should be on a post dated March 26th, but this is what my backyard looked like yesterday! Easter? Hmmm... I hope no one is having Easter-egg hunts this year--the poor eggs would be totally frozen after too long in this weather!

 The last (please, please, pretty please?) snowfall of March...

Thank you all for stopping by--and for all of your wonderful and much appreciated comments. It's always nice to see who's been by for a visit! I'd like to welcome my new followers, too--so glad you're here...  And for anyone wanting to stitch that cheerful bunny in his bright yellow slicker in my new blog header, you'll be happy to know that The Cricket Collection has re-released that freebie and you can find Mr. Slicker Bunny himself:  just click right here. Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates and Happy Spring to all! Bye for now...