Spring, please come soon!!

The middle of February already! How did that happen? I always look forward to this short month of February as I feel that the worst of winter is over. And what a winter it's been here in the East! I can't remember having snow on the ground continuously (for most of January and February) in a long, long time. Thankfully, our deep freeze seems to be waning--it will be in the 40s this weekend. I know, I know... for those of you in the South or in California, you are thinking that still sounds quite cold. But... after weeks of not coming anywhere near the freezing point, 40° sounds darn good to us! 

So, what has been keeping me busy since I definitely avoid going outside at all costs? Well, three things--reading/listening to a couple of good books, stitching (of course), and spending way too much time browsing online looking for a mother-of-the-groom dress for my youngest son's wedding in June. Oh, boy... what a process! I've already tried on 7 dresses and my petite stature is not doing me any favors when it comes to long gowns. They are just overwhelming/swimming on me! They do make a few petite dresses, but none that I've really liked. Thankfully, both Macy's and Nordstrom offer free shipping for the dresses and then I can return them at my local stores so that is very helpful. It's just an extremely frustrating process. At age 71, I'm truly feeling like the grandmother of the groom rather than the mother. Sigh... I may have one possibility, though, so I'll be taking that dress into Nordstrom to see if alterations can easily be made. Any advice for mother of the bride/groom dress shopping? All suggestions are welcome! 

Anyway, back to my stitching... I've managed to stitch and finish my ornaments for January and February and both just happen to be Prairie Schooler designs. The first one is from the "Old World Santas" (Bk. No. 80) chart and is stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen. I changed the colors a bit and eliminated the base that Santa was standing on.

A new "Old World Santa" finish for January

As you can see, I wanted to make this an oval finish so I added lots of Smyrna-stitched snowflakes surrounding Santa. I then used handmade cording (DMC 221 to match Santa's robe) and a burgundy checked ribbon to embellish the top. 

Oval and round finishes are my favorites. 

If this finish looks familiar it's because this is the fourth Santa in this series that I've finished the same way. Love seeing them all together! There are four more in this chart, but I only have enough gingham ribbon to finish one more. Of course, I can always change it up... we'll see!

Such a handsome quartet! Do you have a favorite? Mine is the Santa with the walking stick and the little bird (on the far left).

February's ornament brought this cute galloping deer carrying Santa and his bag of toys. This is from the "Santa Rides" (Bk. no. 47) chart.  I rarely change colors in Prairie Schooler designs, but I did this time. I used DMC 610 (rather than the charted 844) for the deer so he would resemble the local deer that visit our backyard. I also changed the color of the motifs surrounding the deer, to white. They were charted as a sort of pale yellow color (DMC 3046) and I just didn't care for that look.  

Another Prairie Schooler Santa finish for February

To finish it, I created a simple pillow ornament bordered by green cording with just a touch of green ric-rac peeking out between the (40 ct. raw natural Newcastle) linen and the accent fabric.

"Santa Rides" his deer with some color changes

I tried something new to hang the rusty bells from the right side... I took three strands of DMC and braided them to create hangers for the bells and I love the look! Will definitely be doing this again. Here's a close-up for you...

To hang the bells, I simply braided some strands of DMC floss.

So, one-sixth of the 2026 ornaments are finished--ha ha! One-sixth sounds so much more impressive than 2 out of 12, doesn't it? On to March--time to select a new chart! I have an huge folder of ornament charts that I love browsing through to find my next project. 

Two down--ten to go for 2026!

 

So, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I think this is the first year in a long time that I didn't stitch a single thing for the holiday. But, I did do a bit of decorating in the corner of my kitchen. These are my "mostly red" ornaments, the  "mostly pink" ones never saw the light of day this year, I'm sorry to say... They're still buried in a dresser drawer and, at this point, they'll just have to be patient and wait another year! I bought the sweet felted mice on Amazon and thought they made a perfect addition to my tiered tray display this year. If you have any questions about the stitched pieces, just let me know... I was too lazy to link them to previous posts this time :) 

Such a bright, happy corner of my kitchen!

 

I love the sweet white mouse couple carrying the fuzzy red heart!

Sending all of you a little L-O-V-E today! Aren't their little gold bow ties and hairbows adorable?

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

 

"V is For Valentine" (by Heartstring Samplery) hanging on the wall is one of my favorites!

Giveaway time... I received a wonderful package of birthday gifts from my friend, April, in Virginia, a couple weeks ago. In the package she thoughtfully included some small-sized charts that she said I could use for giveaways. Wasn't that sweet? So, why not start today? The first one I'm offering is just perfect for this time of year and is called "Spring Delivery" by With Thy Needle and Thread. Would you like to be entered into the drawing to win this darling chart? If so, please leave me a comment below with the answer to the question: "What is your favorite fabric to stitch on and why?" I think you all know mine: 40 ct. Newcastle linen! I love the feel of it, the weight, the muted colors. I don't like fabric to distract from the design itself which is why I often use basic colors like white, ivory, gray, or various shades of brown. But, the primary reason I love it is because I am able to stitch with just one thread--so much easier, in my opinion!  If you do want to be entered to win this chart, please make sure to include you email address (if I don't already have it). And thank you again to my generous friend, April--your charts will be much appreciated by the lucky winner of the one below and those offered in the future!

I'm giving away this sweet chart by With Thy Needle and Thread. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, please follow the guidelines above. I'll post the winner on my next post.

I'll leave you with some wintry photos...hope to have sunnier spring photos the next time I post. Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read my little blog and say "hello" in your comments--I truly appreciate each of you! Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this short month. Take care all! Bye for now... 

It's been such a cold year that even the deer have become frequent visitors to our bird feeders. Isn't this buck magnificent?! We usually only spot female deer so seeing this handsome guy was quite a treat.

 

No, my little grandson wasn't running around in the snow. These are all deer tracks shown in this night time photo! We call it our deer superhighway :) 

With the sunshine comes melting icicles. Can you spot the tiny water drop falling from the middle icicle hanging just outside our bedroom window? Spring is coming soon (hopefully)!  

♥ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL OF MY STITCHING FRIENDS! ♥

Two new Valentine finishes and an unwanted visitor

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends! Half-way through February already--how can that be? For a short month, it's already been a busy one here. I've been stitching away on a couple of sweet Valentine's pieces and just finished the second one  yesterday. I try to add at least one piece to my Valentine's collection each year and was very pleased to get two finished this year. Now, looking at these, you might think I'm a pink, lace, pastel type of girl... Nope--not in the least, but, for some reason, I do enjoy making these sweet little treasures when February rolls around each year. 

My first pretty-in-pink finish is by Erin Elizabeth Designs and is called "Valentine Tier." Just look at this adorable tiered tray! There is so much detail in this one and it took me longer to finish it than I expected (even though the final stitched piece only measures 3 inches by 4.25 inches)! It's stitched on 40 ct. burch Newcastle using the suggested DMC colors. But, I didn't always use the colors where they were suggested... For instance, I stitched a gray roof rather than the suggested brown.

"Valentine Tier" by Erin Elizabeth Designs

The main change I made was to the flower centers. I had the entire thing stitched with the suggested black flower centers, took a good look at it, and ripped them all out! They just looked too dark to me for a sweet Valentine's design. So, I replaced the black centers with the palest pink color. I also used Smyrna stitches for the birds' eyes, the doorknob, and the sprinkles on the cookie and on the whipped cream topping on the mug of cocoa. My final change was to add straight stitches for the birds' long skinny legs rather than the charted cross stitches. What do you think? It just makes me smile each time I walk by it!

I changed all of the flower centers to pale pink.

My second February finish is a wonderful freebie by The Drawn Thread called "All You Need is Love." You can find the chart right here along with a number of other great free designs! It's stitched on 32 ct. white Belfast linen, but I chose my own colors as I didn't have any of the suggested Gloriana Silks in my stash. I went with Dinky Dyes silks instead and used the following colors: Dandenong, Wild Cherry, and Raspberry Ripple (using the light pink for some of the hearts and the darker pink for others). And for the light green leaves, I used Needle Necessities 142 (the lighter portion of the thread only). 

"All You Need is Love" by The Drawn Thread

What I loved most about this piece were the specialty stitches; on this small design there are at least a dozen specialty stitches! Below is a close-up so you can see them a bit better. Rather than my usual corded edging, I chose to do a beaded edge with the palest pink beads. I find beaded edges to be so lovely, but, for me, they take so long to complete! My go-to tutorial can be found right here on "Snippets and Stash" blog. 

I love the specialty stitches!

Unfortunately, I've been so busy this month, I never did get any of my other Valentine's stitching out on display! Shame on me... All those hours of making little pink and red x's through the years and I left them sitting in the drawer. Oh, well--I'll be sure to get them out next February. At least I have these two new pieces to brighten up the day!

So many shades of pink...

I also stitched a card for a friend who is going through some health issues. This is called "Buttercup" by Nickyscreations and can be found in the April 2017 issue of Just Cross Stitch. I used 40 ct. platinum Newcastle with the suggested DMC thread (although I changed the birds' legs to DMC 420 and the centers of the flowers to DMC 832).  I sure hope it brings a little sunshine into my friend's day!

A cheerful card for a friend

So, I mentioned an "unwanted visitor" in the title of this post. I'll bet most of you can guess what it was, can't you? Yes, Mr. Covid reared his ugly head and visited my husband on February 2nd. He's quite sure he got it on the plane ride home from Florida at the end of January because he tested positive just five days later. Thankfully, it was a mild case and he only felt bad for a few days. And, even better--I avoided getting it! We slept in separate bedrooms, used different bathrooms, and pretty much stayed on opposite sides of the house during the daytime. This was the second time he had it--and I escaped contracting it both times. I'm sure I'll end up with it at some point, but so far, I've been very lucky! How about you? Have you had Covid yet?

 

My uncle playing Santa

 

My last remaining uncle by marriage (he was married to my dad's sister),  passed away last week at the incredible age of 101. What a life he led--definitely part of  "The Greatest Generation!" He survived the Battle of the Bulge during World War II (during which 90,000 Allied soldiers were killed) and was the last remaining WWII veteran in the southwestern New York county where he lived his entire life. I grew up in the same small town as all of my dad's siblings and their spouses and this particular uncle was the one tasked with playing Santa each Christmas Eve for my Grandparents' 21 grandchildren! Down the stairs he would come, sleigh bells jingling, with a big sack of gifts--one for each of us. Even in my late teens, I still looked forward to that annual tradition. My siblings and I still get a big laugh about the hilarious (somewhat scary, truth be told!) Santa costume he wore each year. So, here's to my uncle and all the other brave veterans out there! Thank you all for your service...

My youngest son and his girlfriend, otherwise known as the "world travelers" of our family are visiting Oman for ten days. Oman?! I had to look it up on a map to know exactly where it is. I knew it was in the Middle East and, of course, immediately went into "worried mother mode," but my son assured me it is one of the safest countries in that part of the world. He's been treating us to some breathtaking photos and I think you'll agree, the scenery is stunning. I'm sure I'll never travel there, or to many of the places they've visited over the past three years, but it sure is fun traveling vicariously through them! 

Just a few of the stunning photos my son has sent from Oman

And my little grandson did a bit of traveling of his own as well... he and his mom and dad went to Disney World for a few days. I thought he was a bit young to be going, but he did pretty well. He was scared of The Haunted Mansion and the interactive "It's Tough to be a Bug." But, he adored the roller coasters and the costumed characters. Here he is getting acquainted with Goofy at an Animal Kingdom breakfast (my daughter-in-law reported that it was the most expensive meal the three of them had ever had together!). Next time they go, we hope to go with them!

Mister B meets Goofy!

So, what has been keeping me so busy this month? I've been working on redecorating two bedrooms! And the large one (ours) involves removing wallpaper. Ugh! Never, ever am I going to put up wallpaper again! We hadn't done anything to update our bedroom in over 25 years so it was definitely past time. So far, we've removed the wallpaper border and some of the wallpaper below the chair rail. We also decided to purchase a king-size bed so we've been shuffling beds around as well as other furniture. The new mattress arrived and we love it! Right now, it's just placed on the floor as our new king-size bed frame hasn't arrived. Hopefully, soon! There have been a lot of trips to various stores, searching online, returning things that didn't work out, etc. But, it will be so nice to have things updated when we're all done. We're in no hurry--I haven't even picked out paint colors or linens yet. But, we'd like to have it mostly finished by the time spring rolls around. 

Hope each of you has a wonderful Valentine's Day! I'm hoping for some chocolate later on--hint, hint to my dear husband. Maybe I'll make a special dessert, too. Thanks for stopping by today--and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to leave a comment. I truly appreciate your support! Bye for now...

♥♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥♥

Stitching, travels, and a special visitor

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's going to be a warm one here for the middle of February--in the mid-50s! And tomorrow will be almost 70°! My husband and I don't have any special plans for today. We are not exactly the most romantic couple, to be honest--just very practical, I'd say. For example, last week when we were doing the grocery shopping, I spied a display of Valentine's candy and said, "Let's just buy some treats for ourselves right now!" "Great--that makes it easy," he replied. Definitely takes the pressure off :) Now, we just need to remember where we hid the candy so we wouldn't eat it all up before Valentine's Day. Hmmm... that's a real problem as we get older. Anyone else with me on that little "forgetful" issue? 

I like to stitch a new little Valentine's Day pillow each year to add to my collection. There are so many delightful free designs available at this time of year and I'm very thankful for those generous (and talented!) designers out there. This year, one of the cutest designs came from Cherry Hill Stitchery and can be found on the Facebook group called "Cherry Hill Stitchers." (I am only on Facebook to follow stitching groups and designers--I do not post, comment, or have any friends there). Because I love tiny things, I chose to stitch the design "over one" on 25 ct. black Lugana using the following threads: DMC B5200, Classic Colorworks "Ribbon Red," and Gentle Arts "Green With Envy." If you look closely, you might be able to spot the little gold beads I added to the center of each flower.

Cherry Hill Stitchery freebie finish

This finished up so tiny and cute--just the way I'd pictured it. The whole pillow measures a mere 3" X 4" in size. The other major change was that I added an apostrophe; as a former librarian, I just had to! You can also see the little red gingham and flowered hearts (in the bowl in the background) that I made last year.

I've put together a list of some other Valentine's Day freebies that you might like... There are 20 links below--hopefully, you'll find something quick to stitch for your Valentine! As always, with any freebies, I recommend printing them off as they often disappear from online over time.

"Happy Valentine's Day" from Stitch Wit

"Un Ago Tra i Fiori" by Cuore e Batticuore

 "Do Everything In Love" from Silver Creek Samplers 

"Stupid Cupid" by Brooke's Books 

"True Love" by Sub Rosa 

"Love Makes Me Happy" by Crocette a Gogò

"Love You Too" (and many more) by Cathy Habermann of Hands On Design 

"Be My Valentine" by Lizzie Kate 

"Heart Throb" by The Drawn Thread

"Be My Valentine" by Sandy at Stitchin' & Life in a Small Town

A trio of 3 Valentines by The Stitcherhood

"Be Mine" by Cottage Garden Samplings 

"Love Is All We Need" by Feathers in the Nest 

"All You Need Is Love" by The Drawn Thread

"Je T'aime" by The Drawn Thread 

"Love Never Fails"  by The Primitive Hare 

"Valentine" by The Primitive Hare 

"Coeur Mon Amour" by Passione Ricamo 

"Love" by La Comtesse & le Point de Croix 

"Waiting For Love" by La Comtesse & le Point de Croix 

 

I mentioned that I had completed a large (for me) finish in my last post. Well, just look at this handsome guy! At almost 9 inches tall, he is definitely the largest Santa I have stitched. This is the 2019 Twin Peak Santa from my friends at Twin Peak Primitives. I fell in love with that blue robe (DMC 930) as soon as I saw him and just had to stitch him. Of course, that sweet red cardinal perched on the end of his staff called my name, too. He is stitched on 40 ct. summer khaki Newcastle with good old DMC threads. I did make some color changes to better work with my fabric.

"2019 Twin Peak Santa" finish

 

Love the cardinal and the pretty blue robe!

The snowflakes were what I call a "happy mistake!" The chart originally had a bag of toys on the snow next to his staff, but I started the design in the wrong place and had to leave it out. I wanted to add a little something, though, so I basted a running stitch down each side of him and filled it with pretty snowflake designs found on some of my other charts and online. I love the final effect!

I added the snowflakes on each side

This one will be framed--and I think I have a frame right in my stash that might work well. I just have to decide if I want to paint it or not. 

He has such a gentle face, doesn't he? And I love the subtle shading in his beard.

What are you stitching this week? Have any of you begun spring stitching like I have? I'm so enjoying the pretty pastel colors and hope to have a new finish to share with you at the end of the month.

Giveaway winner... Wow! What a great response I had to last month's "Getting To Know You" question. I loved reading about your favorite quotes and have written down several of them (I keep a running list on my phone in Notepad so I can read them over whenever I need a lift). If you get a chance, go back to my previous post and read through the comments--lots of inspiration there! Thank you all for joining in! There were quite a few entries for the "Wintertime" chart by New York Dreamer and the name picked from the hat (well, really the bowl!) is...

Heritage Hall

 

Heritage Hall--you are the winner of this chart! Please email me with your mailing address and I'll get this out to you this week.

 

I was the lucky recipient of a lovely package of gifts from Kay! I had loaned Kay a couple of charts and she surprised me with a delightful thank you package. Kay made me three little project notebooks with matching floss drops. I love the sweet fabrics she chose and her work is absolutely meticulous!

Such wonderful thank you gifts from Kay!

 

Kay, obviously a multi-talented crafter, also made a very cute calendar for me with scrapbooking papers. Each month can be placed in the acrylic magnet which she included. Just look at all these twelve creative designs she came up with. The calendar now resides on my refrigerator and I hope to find more of those tiny monthly calendars to print up each month to use in future years. Thank you so very much, Kay--I love each and every gift.

An adorable new calendar page for each month! Thank you again, Kay--this is so special!

February travels...Well, the first of our February trips has come and gone and it was a bittersweet return to our family's flooded home in Naples, Florida. If you remember, Hurricane Ian flooded my husband's family home with four feet of water on September 28th. He and I emptied the house of its soggy, molding contents in mid-October (you can read about it in this post) and this month we concentrated on cleaning out the garage. It was much easier as we didn't have to deal with that revolting, smelly water this time around. We made very good progress and even had time for a couple of walks to check out the beach. 

As we walked to the beach, this statue captured my eye. It's called "Inner Dialogue" by Jim Rennert. The description online says it's "a metaphor to remind us of the subconscious conversations we are constantly having with ourselves." Love it!

Sadly, the beautiful Naples beach is still a bit of a mess. The beach access points were either closed or in a shambles from the hurricane. The foliage still looks beaten and gray. And the sand, once so white and pristine, seemed dirty and uneven.

This group of birds didn't seem to care that a hurricane had drastically changed the beach, though! Aren't they adorable?

It felt so good to feel the warmth of the sunshine and walk along the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico!

A trio of pretty white ibises scoured the waves looking for their next meal.

I thought there were more pretty shells  on the beach than in past years. Not sure if it was from the hurricane stirring up the waters and sand or what. When I got home, I photographed the ones I picked up on a piece of black Jobelan.

The shells that I picked up and photographed on the black fabric reminded me of a smaller version of this shell table. It was created by my husband's grandmother and passed down through the family. Unfortunately, it, too, was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in September.

Sadly, someone had broken into the Florida house and something very special to our family was stolen. Do you see this window-like opening into the bathroom? Well, that once contained a colorful stained glass window which was made by my mother-in-law and some rotten person came in and stole it. I mean, honestly... talk about adding insult to injury! We had planned on removing it on our next visit--we simply ran out of time in October. I just shake my head with disgust when things like this happen. They left other things that could have been stolen--light fixtures, faucets, etc. But, they stole the one thing that remained that had a personal significance to our family...

The empty space left by a thief who stole the beautiful stained glass window right out of the wall!

 

Thankfully, I had taken a photo of the stained glass when we were renting the house on Airbnb. My mother-in-law surely spent many, many hours creating this lovely window with the little fish swimming among the sea grasses. When I think of how the house used to look before the hurricane, I just have to block it out of my mind... it simply hurts too much. As I said many times before, it was a true blessing that neither my father-in-law or mother-in-law were alive to see what happened to their Florida home.

This stained glass window created by my mother-in-law was stolen from the flooded home in Florida some time over the past few months.

 

A poppet and some puppets... We arrived home from Florida last weekend and guess who arrived just three days later?! My grandson,"Mister B," and his mom and dad came for a four day visit! He just lights up our lives when he visits--life sure would be boring without him around! Here he is at a local "indoor playground" interacting with a puppet. He just had the biggest smile on his face!

A friendly wizard puppet...

Unfortunately, all puppets are not created equal and his experience at a Japanese puppet performance at the local children's museum the following day was the complete opposite. I think the performance was meant for older kids as he was terrified... He questioned if "the boy" was going to "get him," asked to "go home to Pompaw's and Nonna's house," and said he "wanted to hide." Poor little boy... I wasn't there, but my son and daughter-in-law obviously didn't stay for the entire performance. When he got home he told me all about the "boy who looked like a skeleton!"

... and a scary looking puppet--at least for a two-year-old!

So, it's been a busy February for us so far. My grandson is being baptized later this month so we'll be traveling for that as well. It should be interesting to see how he reacts to the priest and the holy water. Hmmm... I'll keep you posted! 

I want to remind everyone who has a question for me to please include your email address--or better yet, email me directly (my email address is in the my profile in the sidebar under "A Bit About Me").  I hope that, however you celebrate Valentine's Day, you enjoy yourselves. Eat some chocolate, watch a "feel-good" movie, treat yourself to a little something special--you deserve it! Take care my friends! Bye for now...

V is for Valentine!

How can it be (almost) the middle of February already? I always look forward to February because it is such a short month and it leads into March which means... spring! I also love February because of the beautiful Valentine's Day designs that are out there. It means stitching with pinks and fuchsias and reds--not colors I use very often. I managed to stitch two Valentine's Day pieces this month (I try to add a couple new ones to my collection each year) and I'm so happy with how they both turned out. 

First up, is a finish for me to keep--and there was a lot more stitching in it than I originally thought there would be. That basket! Anyway--isn't it pretty? This is "V is for Valentine" by Heartstring Samplery and I adore those colors together. The red thread is a gorgeous Gloriana silk called "Poinsettia." Other than changing the red and that pale pink color (I substituted Gentle Arts Cameo Pink), I used the suggested colors and stitched it on a beautiful 40 ct. linen called "Alabaster" (which is the palest of grays). I ordered the linen from this Etsy shop in Hungary: xjudesigns. Her linen is lovely and she offers free shipping when you spend over $50.00 (be sure to use the code mentioned on her Etsy page).

"V is For Valentine" finish

I added a bow made of a sheer black ribbon and then topped it with a smaller bow made of black and white gingham check. A sweet silver heart charm was then sewn to hand down from the bows. I thought the background fabric really picked up the colors of the stitching perfectly. Surrounding the circle is black pompom trim. The frame is one I've used before for a previous finish; will just pop in this piece each February and then replace it with what normally lives there. This was a thrifted frame that I chalk painted and distressed. 

Love the pretty filigree heart

 

Did you notice that wonderful old key in the photo? That was given to me years ago by my mother-in-law and I so wish I knew the history behind it. I will  have my husband check with her, but at almost 94 years of age, I doubt she'll remember. Anyway, it is old and crusty and huge--almost 9 inches long (which gives you a better idea of the size of the finish). I love it so much and usually have it as part of a seasonal vignette on the table in my entryway.

The special antique key was given to me by my mother-in-law

My second finish may look familiar to you long time readers because it is one I've stitched before--in fact this is the third time! This Lizzie Kate design (called "Be Mine Valentine") was sent to a friend for her February birthday. I thought it would be perfect for someone with a birthday so close to Valentine's Day. I used 16 ct. natural Heatherfield (which has been discontinued) with most of the suggested overdyed threads. The pink gingham shown is the backing fabric and I used my handmade cording to surround it.

"Be Mine Valentine" for a friend

Here is a closeup of the double bow and the sweet silver-toned key charm. I'm happy to say my friend loves her birthday gift!

Love the effect of the double ribbon, pearl topped pin, and key charm!

 

Behind the scenes, I'm working on a very special Christmas themed piece. Remember I told you I planned on working on some larger Christmas pieces this year? Well, I spent my Christmas gift certificate at 123 Stitch last week and these goodies just arrived! I'm thinking about stitching the "Christmas Rules" in the upper left for my little grandson at some point in the next year or two. But, I wonder which one I should start for myself? Which would you pick?

I foresee lots of Christmas stitching in my future!

 

Giveaway winner... Oh, how I loved reading about your early jobs in my last post in the "Getting To Know You" section! Thank you so much for joining in--it's fun to learn a bit more about our fellow stitchers, don't you think? I had quite a few entries for the pretty "Thistles and Flowers" chart and the winner's name pulled from the hat was...

CLARE (in England)

Congratulations, Clare! I hope you love stitching this sweet design. Please email me with your mailing address and I will get it off to you as soon as possible. Thank you to all who entered--and please keep an eye on this space for future giveaways.

Blog book... As many of you know, I have my blog put into book form using blog2print.com. I wait until I have two years worth of posts to send in for each book and my latest one covers the years 2019 and 2020. It's a big one--the biggest one yet at 437 pages! Can you imagine?! The good thing is that blog2print offers discount codes fairly regularly and I got this book for 45% off the normal price. I'm very pleased with the quality of the book--my only complaint (as usual) is that the captions don't end up centered under the photos. But, I can live with that!

 

I chose "Winter's Wisdom" for the cover of my latest blog book

 

And the back of the book my finish of the "Birds of a Feather" sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread

I love having an actual book that I wrote filled with photos of my stitching, travels, holidays, family memories, and baking. This 2019-2020 book is especially meaningful because it contains photos from...

... our special anniversary river boat cruise down the Danube in 2019

...photos of every single piece I stitched in 2019 and 2020

...recollections of some of my life's biggest milestones including the birth of my first grandchild in July 2020 and the death of my dear mother just 16 days later. The Covid pandemic also haunts nearly every post of 2020.

Here is the stack of all six books! I can hardly believe I wrote every single word in each book and took most of the photos. My 2019/2020 book is dedicated to my mother and my little grandson. 

 

That's a heavy stack of "Stitching Dreams" from 2009-2020!

 

It's still very wintry here... haven't seen the grass since early January. I took this photo the other morning as the sun was peeking up over the hill. Everything looked so very calm and tranquil. The ice storm we got left everything shimmering--like a fairyland! Of course, the ice caused some branches to fall, including a large one in our pond. But, we were lucky--we didn't lose power at all. How did you all fare in that latest winter cross-country storm?

A sparkly February morning view from my bathroom window

 

I'll leave you with this little vignette of a few of my Valentine's finishes. I actually didn't put all of my Valentine's stitching out on display this year for some reason. The snowmen in the Pottery Barn cubby refused to yield their spaces so I simply left them there for the month of February. I may need to get tough with them in March, though--ha ha! I did put together this little display shown below  containing my newest Valentine's finish along with three little gingham hearts that I made last week.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

I hope each of you has a lovely Valentine's Day... Nothing special is planned here although I will probably make a tasty dessert. How about your plans? Thank you so much for stopping by today--it's always wonderful to hear from you and see some new stitchers' names among the comments. Welcome to all of my new followers--I'm so glad you are here! Take care, my friends! Bye for now...