Heartfelt thanks and patriotic finishes

Happy July, my stitching friends!  Can you believe 2015 is half over? Before I show you my stitching finishes, I just want to send each of you a huge "Thank You" for your many comforting emails and thoughtful comments on my last post. They meant so much to me--and to my husband. When he first broke his neck on May 21st, he didn't want me to post about it on my blog. But, I explained to him that I need support from my friends as we go through this recovery period, just as much as he needs support. And I couldn't ask for better friends than all of you who read my blog, could I? Even though I've never met 98% of you, I feel so very close to you--we've been through a lot together since I began my blog in early 2009. We've celebrated each other's success--not only in our stitching, but in our lives. And we've been saddened by losses of each other's family members and worrying health challenges. But, through all the ups and downs of life, your kind and thoughtful words have continued to mean so much to me. Thank you, my friends...

Since this is still mainly a cross stitching blog, I want to begin with two new finishes just in time for the 4th of July. Many of you know how much I love Chessie and Me designs because of the fun specialty stitches the designer includes in each chart. The grass is satin stitched, the border is done with Smyrna stitches, and the doors are done in Rhodes stitches. There is even some "over one" stitching in the ship and the date! This came in the form of a kit which was so very handy--I loved being able to just sit down and get started right away and not wait for the correct fibers or fabric to arrive if I had had to order them online.

This finish is called "1776 Harbor" and is stitched all in Gloriana silks--just wonderful and soft to work with! Don't you love the giant American flag waving across the harbor--so whimsical... I finished this piece quite simply as a little pillow with some star-strewn burgundy fabric, handmade gold cording, and an attached star button. It will be a perfect addition to my bowl of patriotic pillows, don't you think?

Chessie and Me "1776 Harbor" finish

Along with Prairie Schooler pieces, I consider Little House Needleworks designs to be my favorite form of "comfort stitching." Easy to read charts, no backstitching, not too many colors--just what I need as I go through the worries with my husband's health this summer... I bought this LHN "Old Glory" design last summer, but am just getting around to stitching it now. It is done on 40 ct. raw Newcastle with a variety of overdyed threads. I didn't have each one that was suggested, so I substituted a few and am very pleased with the result.

For this little pillow, I used a blue star-filled fabric along with some burgundy fabric, white ric rak, a red and white striped ribbon, and a stack of buttons. It is backed with the solid blue fabric shown behind it. This photo isn't the best due to our complete lack of sunshine lately, but it really looks quite cute!

LHN "Old Glory" finish

Since I try to stitch at least two new patriotic pieces each year, I now have quite a collection--in fact it has outgrown my original bowl. Here it is when I took the photo last year--see, already "bursting at the seams" so to speak!

So, I've had to spread out my little creations and luckily, my new kitchen corner cupboard is the perfect place to display some of them.  Here it is all ready for the 4th of July in all of its red, white, and blue glory...

Patriotic corner cupboard in kitchen

On the top shelf, I have my two little Lizzie High characters proudly waving their pinwheels. In their opposite hands they are holding tiny hotdogs--so cute! Next to the little boy, I've place a tiny crock of blueberries (thanks, Mom!).

The middle shelf contains several pieces of my stitching: Chessie and Me's "Love Liberty," a Prairie Schooler design from Book No. 13, "A Prairie Year," and an old freebie from Prairie Grove Peddler which you can still find right here.

And the on the bottom, you'll find this cute Williraye figurine holding an American eagle and nest in his right hand and waving the flag in his left hand. Next to him is another freebie from The Stitcherhood that I stitched last year. This freebie is still available right here. As always, I'd like to thank the designers for sharing their talents with us through their generous free designs! And way over on the right sitting in the little blue bowl is an old patriotic design from Homespun Elegance.

Here's one last look at the whole display. It's really brightened up the corner of my kitchen and I plan to leave the patriotic shelves up through late August when I'll switch things up for a more autumn look. 

Hooray for the red, white, and blue!

Gifts from a new friend... I've made a special new blogging friend named Shirley who just happens to reside way across the ocean in Cape Town, South Africa! Shirley just began a new blog called The Artfull Place and I hope you'll go say "hello" and welcome her to our blogging community. She is so multi-talented and she sent me this darling Christmas ornament and hand-painted tag. I told her the tag will be a part of my annual spring display on my corner cupboard--it is just so sweet. 

Gifts from Shirley, in South Africa

Here is a close-up of the little tag so you can see the marvelous detail. Shirley has just started her own Etsy shop and you can read all the details on her blog. Thank you again, my new friend--I will treasure your gifts!

Gift tag painted by Shirley

Medical update... Well, I had hoped to have better news for you regarding my husband's broken neck. He had an appointment yesterday and the hoped-for switch from the hard neck-brace to the soft collar didn't happen. The surgeon wants to keep him in the hard brace for at least another month to make sure the vertebrae that aren't quite aligned have not shifted. As I mentioned in my last post, there is no way to tell if this misalignment is something my husband was born with or if it happened after his fall down the stairs in May. So, unfortunately, surgery has not been totally ruled out as we previously thought...

Our spirits were flagging yesterday after the doctor's visit, but there is nothing we can do except try to be patient, wait, hope and pray. I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately as I just keep ruminating about that night six weeks ago when my husband fell down the stairs. I sure hope this passes soon as insomnia can really take a toll on your health over time... Anyway, keep praying and thinking positive thoughts, please; we're not out of the woods yet!

I'd like to leave on a cheerier note so I'm share this very addicting recipe for granola that I've gotten "hooked" on. They sell a treat called "Kimberley's Bakeshoppe Granola" at Sam's Club and I made the mistake of buying it one day. Oh, my!! Amazingly delicious and just filled with everything I love--lots of nuts, grains, and dried fruits. I stumbled upon a recipe online for a copycat recipe from Yammie's Noshery which you can find right here. It is fabulous--but addicting (don't say I didn't warn you!!). Hope you enjoy making (and eating!) it along with your other picnic foods this 4th of July weekend...

I dare you to eat just one bite of this tasty granola!

Wishing all of my U.S. friends a fabulous Independence Day! Thanks again for your kind comments and supportive emails--they mean so much to me. Bye for now...

HAPPY 4th of JULY TO ALL!

Small finishes and daily smiles

Finally! That long month of March is over... And how are my stitching friends feeling on this, the first day of April? Hopeful, relieved, renewed? All of the above? After more snow on Sunday and then highs in the 50s yesterday, March certainly lived up to its rollercoaster of a month reputation, didn't it? I get very bad headaches on the left side of my head with any major weather change so you can imagine how my head has been feeling lately--ugh! But, April will bring daffodils, nest-building, the blessings of Easter, and, most certainly, warmer days than we've seen in months... 

I have one spring finish and two Christmas ornaments to share with you today. Which shall I start with? Well, let's go with the spring one which was stitched and sent to a friend for her birthday. This little Just Nan bunny  called "Dewdrop" (love his name!) hopped all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to France to help my friend,  Valerie, celebrate a very special birthday.

I finished him into a little pillow using shades of purple and white for a very spring-like finish. Aren't you loving stitching with the pastel shades right now? Little Dewdrop is stitched on 40ct. pearl gray Newcastle using the suggested DMC colors. I did change a couple of the egg colors, though--omitted the blue eggs and replaced them with purple and pink. I don't know if you can see them in the photo, but there are tiny pink bead in the border. I don't stitch many Just Nan charts and when I do, it always surprises me at how many colors are used even in a tiny design like this one. I'm so pleased that dear Valérie loves Dewdrop--I think I may have to stitch him again for myself.

I'm proud to say I'm keeping up with my Christmas "ornament a month" stitching this year and I have March's and April's to share with you today. For March, I stitched a darling kit by one of my favorite cross stitch designers, Chessie & Me. I love the way simple cross stitches are combined with specialty stitches in these designs. The roof and the center of some of the snowflakes are finished in satin stitching and the berries and "Noel"  are done in Smyrna stitches.  And how cute is that tiny "over-one" stitched reindeer. This was done on the fabric included in the kit--36 ct. Vintage Exemplar linen  (which I wasn't crazy about--found it to be very floppy and difficult to stitch on) using the Gloriana silks that were also included. I rarely buy kits, but I'll tell you it was so nice to just pick this up and begin stitching as soon as it arrived in my mail box--no waiting for threads or searching for substitute colors.

I used a piece of the lovely fabric that I won from Laurie, in her fabulous giveaway last month. The colors were a perfect accent for this piece which I finished as a flat mounted ornament.  I added a couple of green wooden beads to the cording as an accent. Overall, I'm pleased with it, but it's quite a bit bigger than my typical Christmas ornament.

"Noel" by Chessie & Me

Here is a closer look so you can see how well the fabric accents the finish. Thanks again for all of that gorgeous fabric, Laurie--I'm already planning another finish with more of it!

My April ornament is from an older Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine (1997) and is called "Nutmeg Santa" by Schoolroom Samplers. I really love how this one turned out and I think it is mainly because stitching it on the 32 ct. black Belfast linen gave it a totally different look than the photograph in the magazine. The colors show up so much better and I also changed the date on the ornament at the bottom to the word "Noel." I am not a big fan of dates on the front of ornaments for some reason--they make me feel old when I see them years later. How do you all feel about them?

This was finished as a simple pillow with an ecru bow and hanger to match the ecru in the snowflakes and the wording. I also added a few more snowflakes than were charted. The backing fabric is the dusty green shown in the background (a cloth napkin that I picked up on sale at Kohl's). What do you think? It's hard to believe that I'm one-third of the way through my annual ornament stitching--2014 is flying by for sure!

Nutmeg Santa finish

I'm positive that  all of you are familiar with the generous Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. Nancy has giveaways galore throughout the year offering her beautiful threads, trims, and charts and I was lucky enough to win these five luscious spring shades recently. Thank you so much, Nancy--I'm already using the green on a new WIP that I'll share later this month. It is a pleasure to stitch with your beautiful threads!

Beautiful floss won from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

MY DAILY SMILE JOURNEY...I'll have to admit that the past few months of our horrid winter weather have really gotten me down. By mid-March, I was really frustrated and looking for a way to pull myself out of the slump that was starting to set in. So, I decided to start keep a small journal and write down one thing that made me smile each day. I found this little blue (of course!) notebook at Target with the quote "Light tomorrow with today" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning imprinted on the front cover that I thought would be perfect for my latest venture. After all, the purpose of it is to look back on my daily "smiles" for years to come, especially in times of sadness; in other words to "light my tomorrow" with the things that make me happy each day.

A smile a day...

I have neither the time nor the inclination to write a long journal entry and the few sentences that make up each daily entry are so quick and easy to achieve. They range from things I've seen (four horses grazing in a snow covered field thoughtfully covered with heavy wool blankets) to things I've smelled (the return of spring when I opened the window last week) to things I've felt (my mom's hug which soothes all hurts) to things I've heard (my dementia-riddled father telling me, "I know who you are" when I visited him last month) to things I've tasted (some fabulous soft pretzels made by my oldest son). In other words all five senses can--and do--bring smiles. I'm anxious to see how long I can keep recording these thoughts--what fun it will be to look back at them when I'm on old (older!) lady and recall the happiness that a simple smile brought each day. Some days are harder than others, but I guarantee if you keep your eyes open you will find your special smile for the day :)

It was so nice of you to visit me today--a special thank you to all who leave me comments each time I post. I know how busy all of us are in our daily lives and the fact that you take a moment to say "hello" means so much to me. And I want to wish a warm welcome to my new followers, too--so glad to meet you! I'll be back with some spring stitching soon and photos of another RAK that was sent out yesterday. Bye for now...

A bit of the red, white, and blue

Hello, hello! And how are my stitching friends today? I know I don't usually post on Sunday evening, but I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I would try to post at least twice a month, so it's now or never. The month of June is over--on to one of the busiest months of the year for my family. July includes several birthdays and anniversaries. Before I go any further, I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post--I'm so glad you enjoyed the up-close-and-personal visit with the baby animals at the zoo.

I've noticed that many of you have been stitching patriotic pieces this time of year and I'm joining the crowd. I think that after Christmas ornament stitching, patriotic is my favorite theme. I only had time to add a couple of new things to my ever-growing collection of red, white, and blue stitching, but I'm really happy with how they both turned out.  First up, is this little scene from an old issue (Summer 2002) of Fine Lines magazine. I couldn't seem to get a good photo of the stitching itself, so you'll have to trust me on just how cute this one stitched up. The flag, grass, and fireworks are stitched over two on a 32 ct. mystery linen. The people and animals are stitched over one--so tiny and detailed! I didn't have any of the suggested colors so I simply substituted them with similar overdyeds. The ribbon/kite-like thing that the girl is waving was made by twisting some red, white, and blue DMC into cording and  simply tacking it down with some gold floss.

"Americana" by Dames of the Needle

The type of finish for this one is a first for me--a box finish! I was going to simply make one of my little pillows, but then I remembered a collection of small craft boxes that I'd purchased last year and wondered if one of them would be a good fit. As you can see, the largest size was perfect for a round finish! I painted the outside with three coats of navy blue (DecoArt American in Prussian Blue)--not sure if I should have primed it first, but I didn't.  And what about coating the paint with a finisher of some sort? Is that something I should do?

Americana Box finish

The inside of the box was also painted with three coats of Prussian Blue and a star-studded fabric cushion was applied to the bottom along with some red cording in DMC 221.

I'm not sure what (if anything) I'll store in it. Any ideas? Overall, I'm very pleased with this considering it was the first time I had done a box-finish!

 "Americana Box" design by Dames of the Needle

(Chart from Fine Lines Magazine: Summer 2002)

My other patriotic finish is from one of my favorite designers: Chessie & Me and is called "True Blue Chessie. This piece includes a satin and smyrna stitched border and is done on 32 ct. antique ivory Belfast with overdyed and DMC threads. The words are stitched "over one" while the rest of the piece is done over two. The stars on the grass were charted to be stitched into the hill, but I couldn't get them to show up well, so I just hand stitched two rows of stars on top of the green.

"True Blue Chessie"

For the finish, I chose some red, white, and blue fabric and ric rac and made a simple pillow for my bowl of patriotic finishes. The backing is the red and gold fabric shown on the left.

 "True Blue Chessie" pillow finish

I'm getting quite a nice collection of stitched patriotic pieces, don't you think? These were all stitched within the past few years and they're so cute I wish I could leave them out on display longer than a month. Do any of you keep your patriotic stitching out all year long? I had a friend years ago who had a bathroom all done in red, white, and blue Americana decor--a real conversation starter that's for sure!

True to the red, white, and blue!

My mail man was kept busy this past week with deliveries arriving from England, Portugal, and Connecticut. My package from England came from my dear friend, June. I had won her giveaway way, way back in April  and we both feared the package had been lost at sea or something! She mailed it on May 2nd and it took seven long weeks to arrive. Can you believe it? June was thrilled to hear it finally got here and, believe me, it was well worth the wait. Just look at all the blue and white goodies June sent--fabrics, ribbons, thread, pins, beads! Lovely... There was also some chocolate which had melted into a gooey mess, but did that stop me from eating it? Heavens, no!! I just popped it into the refrigerator until it solidified and then popped it right into my mouth--delicious! Thanks you so much, June--everything is so lovely!

 Thank you so much, June--such lovely goodies!

From my young friend in Portugal, sweet Nia, came a Random Act of Kindness in the form of this cute Lizzie Kate snowman chart and some pretty stitching themed fabric. What a nice surprise, Nia! I am so happy to have met you through blogging and thoroughly enjoy seeing your latest creations on your blog. Your gifts definitely put a smile on my face--thank you so very much!

Thank you so much, Nia--your RAK was wonderful!

And last, but not least, I received this darling LHN chart called "Heart of America" from my generous friend, Melanie. She offered the chart as a giveaway/traveling pattern type of thing and I will definitely be passing this along after I've stitched it. Knowing me, I'll just stitch a few of the little motifs as smalls rather than doing it as one large piece. So, keep an eye on my blog for a chance at winning this chart in the future... Thanks so much, Melanie--and I love the sentiment on the card you sent, also. It is, indeed, the small things in life that make it so sweet!

Thank you, Melanie--the chart is just lovely!

I just finished a thoroughly enjoyable book which I wanted to share with you. It's not a new book, in fact, many of you probably read it when it was published in 2009. As a librarian, you would think I would read all of the best-sellers when they first come out, right? No--I am such a slow reader that I tend to wait a few years after a book is published to actually read it, so I'm always a bit behind the times. This book truly was both bitter and sweet--a sweet love story between a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl and a look at a bitter part of U.S. history that has so often been glossed over: the internment of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII. I learned so much about that time period in Seattle and the northwest U.S. and think this would make a delightful movie.

And look what else I came across, when I was working on book selection the other day at the library. I don't select fiction (I am in charge of psychology, Large Print non-fiction, weddings, etiquette, interior decorating, and crafts--yay!!), but this book popped up when I did a keyword search for "cross stitch." Do you think this will be on your summer reading list? It isn't being published until August 2013, but here is a bit about it on Amazon if you'd like to get an idea of what it's like. Frankly, I think that's something everyone should do: cross stitch before dying!!

It's hydrangea time here in the east and oh, they are so lovely this year. Just look at these fat, full blooms on the bush right outside my kitchen window... Stunning! And I love how a bush can sometimes have blue, pink, and purple hydrangea blooms on it at the same time.  

One of my favorite flowers

When I was photographing this hydrangea, I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and froze. I was so scared to turn my head to see what it was because our neighbor had just told us he had seen a bobcat, yes a bobcat, in the woods behind his house. Now, that is a first around here--I won't be walking back into the woods alone as long as he may be lurking! But, I didn't need to worry;  as I turned my head, this sweet, brown bunny was all that I found. He was just looking for a little snack for dinner amidst our flowers. Our patio garden looks so pretty this year, although the deer have been nibbling on the small Japanese maple that we planted last year. And just last week I noticed two more deer mouths to feed--yes, little twin fawns were romping back by the pond with their mother!

"What's for supper tonight?"

Whew--I'd say that is about enough for this post. I'm so glad I managed to squeeze in this final post for the month of June! Thanks for stopping by to visit me and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to comment. I so appreciate hearing from you. I hope each of my U.S. friends has a fabulous 4th of July with your families and I want to wish my Canadian friends a most happy Canada Day! Let's hope for good weather for all of the picnics and fireworks that are planned!  Bye for now...