This and that

Good morning, my blogging buddies! I hope this post finds you enjoying September in all of it's glory. I am loving this cooler weather and the sounds and smells that only autumn can bring. I took a stroll around our yard and gardens yesterday and, even though things are slowly withering and fading away, fall has a beauty all its own, don't you think? I just love the way the light shines in autumn--there is something so appealing about the way it streams through the windows and illuminates the house in a softer, quieter way than the harsh rays of summer. The world of nature is slowing down and preparing to rest for winter and that slower pace of life is so appealing to me right now...

I've been stitching a bit--not as much as I'd like, but I've still managed to get a few things finished... I've also started on my monthly "bowl" finishes for September, too--any guesses as to what my theme will be? My Christmas ornament for August is this winsome snowman. I mean really, who can resist that face? Doesn't he resemble Winston Churchill a bit? Well, I think that is what the designer intended as the name of this chart is "Winston the Snowman." It is a Trilogy chart which I stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen using the recommended overdyed threads with a couple of small substitutions.

I did make some minor changes to the original design; I added little snowflakes (Smyrna stitches) falling around the snowman and also added a handle to his umbrella. Winston is backed with a blue checked fabric that picks up the colors of his scarf. I then finished him off with blue cording and a wire hanger made by simply stretching out a spring--a super easy finish!

"Winston the Snowman" by The Trilogy

September's ornament is a companion piece to my December 2011 ornament which you can see about in this post. This is simply the motif at the top of the "Woodland Peace" sampler from the February 1993 issue of Leisure Arts Magazine. I wish the true color came through (my camera is wonderful, but reds always tend to look a bit "off" for some reason)--it is more of a cherry red than this fire engine red that seems to be showing (on my monitor at least). I used DMC 304 and stitched it over one on 28 ct. white evenweave.

This is a perfect example of how you can turn a very simple design into something a bit more special by adding various fabrics and trims. Isn't it cute? I love those miniature bells and the engraved silver button--I think they give the piece a nice, old-fashioned appeal. So, I'm now caught up with my monthly ornament stitching--whew! This has obviously been a year of stitching smalls for me and I'm so proud to say that I've been keeping up with my finishing for a change. (Of course, I still have a drawer full of things I've stitched, but not finished, from years past--I wonder if I'll ever find the time to get to them?).

"Woodland Peace" from an old Leisure Arts magazine

I stitched a couple of birthday gifts for friends last month which were well received. For my sweet friend, Linda, I made this small pin pillow. "Blessed Be" is a freebie from Plum Pudding NeedleArt which you can find right here. This is the second time I've stitched this one and the second time I've given it away! The third time will be one I keep (I hope!). It is stitched on 40 ct. flax Newcastle using DMC threads. I used a gold colored fabric (from a cloth napkin) and a bit of black ric-rak to finish it off quite simply. Linda told me she'll be displaying it in her office along with some of her own lovely stitching this autumn.

For my dear friend, Lois in Northern Ireland, I made this Homespun Elegance design ("Crows Treat" from the Tiny Stuff II booklet). If this looks familiar, it's because I made another similar one for myself which I showed you in my last post. Can you spot the differences? I simply made hers into a long pillow with the gingham fabric on the bottom and mine is a wide pillow with the fabric on the side. I also stitched the buttons on Lois's with a gold thread and used black on mine. This one, like the one I showed you last month, was stitched on 32 ct. dirty linen using good old DMC threads. I'm so glad you liked your birthday gift, Lois--I wish you a most happy year ahead!

Another special stitching friend sent me a delightful package of goodies this week--all the way from England! June, one of the most generous people I know, surprised me with this fun sewing themed tote bag along with some pretty fabric (in blue and yellow--my favorite color combination, no less!!), and ribbon. The bag will be so handy for storing charts or fabric--we stitchers can never have too much storage, can we? And I just love the little handmade cards you included, June!! What a talented person you are--thank you so very much! If you haven't visited June's blog, please stop by and say "hello!" She is always so warm and welcoming...


So, are any of you beer lovers? I'm not in the least, but all the guys in my life are, so in an effort to do something as a family, we all attended the 6th annual Steel City Big Pour beer tasting event on Saturday. In addition to my husband and three sons, we were lucky enough to have my youngest son's girlfriend from Washington, D.C., my brother-in-law from Indiana, and my nephew from Kentucky joining us. I was the DD (Designated Driver), but I didn't feel like I missed out on any of the fun. There were some tasty and unusual food samples from local restaurants and even home-made sodas--the root beer was my "drink of choice" that evening. I've heard there were over 2000 people in attendance--a bit many for me as I tend to do better in small groups, but I had my "posse" of men with me so all was well!











This was a charity event to benefit a Pittsburgh organization called "Construction Junction" which recycles used building materials and household items. The beer-tasting was held in their warehouse so the decor included rows and rows of used sinks, doors, windows, and (ahem) toilets just waiting for new homes. A true handyman's dream!! I loved the names of the different craft breweries--so fun and creative: Dogfish Head, Duck-Rabbit, Flying Dog, and by far the most interesting name: Smuttynose! Who thinks of these names anyway? While most of the crowd was male, there were also a fair number of females in attendance. There were even a couple of craft booths which I missed, but my son's girlfriend did manage to stop at one and make him a cute beer koozie all decorated with his name and the Pittsburgh Steeler's logo. Hmm... now that I know she's crafty, I might just have to introduce her to cross stitch! What do you think?


I'll leave you with a little beer-themed humor (in the photo on the right) that I've seen popping up on the internet lately, but perhaps it's new to you. Apologies to the men in my life, but this just cracked me up...

Whatever you have planned for your weekend, I hope it's filled with things that make you smile. Thank you all for your comments and emails; even though I've never met most of you, I consider you true friends and I'm always so happy to hear from you! I'll be working at the library ALL weekend, but I plan on finding some time in the evenings for stitching. Hope you find some, too! Bye for now...

For the Love of Sunflowers: Part II

Greetings from your long-lost friend! I'm sure many of you wondered if I would ever post again... Not only was I traveling a lot this month with trips to North Carolina, New York, and Ohio, but I also really seemed to lose my blogging "mojo." I still enjoyed reading and commenting on your blogs, but, as far as putting a post together... well, let's just say, I don't think I've ever had a month with only one post in the nearly four years I've been blogging. I sure hope this doesn't become a chronic problem for me. It has made me ponder when I will stop blogging altogether. I mean I'm sure I won't be blogging when I'm 85, right? 80? I doubt it--I'll be lucky if I can still thread a needle by then! How about all of you? What helps you get through the blogging "blahs?" Do you ever wonder how long you'll keep blogging?

Luckily, I've still been stitching--haven't lost any interest in that at all! Many of you were spot on when you guessed that my monthly theme for August would be sunflowers. I made it easy on you when I said it was one of my favorite things... They are listed right in my profile in my sidebar! So, to see what designs have made it into my monthly bowl, let's get started...

August 2012 sunflower finishes

You all know what a Prairie Schooler lover I am and two of my sunflower finishes for the month are PS designs. I actually used the June block (without the wording) from "Summer & Winter" (Book No. 91) to create this first piece. I loved the colors in it and when I discovered these fabrics in my stash, I thought they complemented them perfectly! The orangey-red strip is from a cloth napkin I purchased at Kohl's last month and the plaid is just a scrap of sample upholstery fabric from Jo-Ann's! Don't they look like they were made to go with this design?! The mama bird and her babies are stitched on 40 ct. flax Newcastle using the suggested DMC threads.

Prairie Schooler: "Summer & Winter" (June block)

This Heart In Hand design called "Sunflower Sampler" may just be my favorite finish for the month. I stitched it over one on 25 ct. mushroom lugana using overdyed threads (a mix and match of whatever looked right to me!). Then I sewed it into this cute little pillow using a brown print and a yellow and brown polka-dot fabric... Top it with the rope-like trim and a little yellow yo-yo adorned with a speckled cocoa colored button and...voilà!

Heart In Hand: "Sunflower Sampler"

Or, maybe this other Prairie Schooler finish for August is my favorite--it's so hard to decide! For this one, I stitched just a portion of the PS Birdhouse Sampler from Book No. 45: "Garden Samplers." I used the suggested DMC colors and stitched it over one on a 28 ct. khaki evenweave. I just love how tiny and delicate it looks stitched over one. I added an additional blackbird at the bottom of the birdhouse, backed it with the cheery print fabric shown, and finished it with a simple cording to match the sunflowers. Cute! Cute! Cute!

Prairie Schooler Birdhouse

This Homespun Elegance Design is called "Crow's Treat" and is from the "Tiny Stuff II" booklet. It stitched up very quickly on 30 ct. dirty linen with the suggested DMC threads. Aren't the satin stitched sunflowers sweet? They give this simple piece some nice dimension along with the addition of the wee black buttons. I love using gingham in my finishes (as you've probably been able to tell!), but I especially love it in the fall--it just gives finished pillows a nice cozy feeling.

"Crow's Treat" by Homespun Elegance

Next up, is Lizzie Kate's August Stamp Flip-It. I like to have a piece included in each monthly bowl that has name of the month stitched on it and this seemed to fit the bill perfectly. It is stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen using whatever overdyed threads I had in my collection. The colors in the fabric I used for the backing of this flat mounted ornament pick up the colors in the stitching beautifully, don't they?

Lizzie Kate's August Stamp Flip-It

My final sunflower finish is a freebie called Manuela's Sunflower that you can find right here. I stitched this a few years ago, but finally finished it off into a tufted pincushion just last week. I left off the outer border, added some brown beads, and turned it on a diagonal. I'm not sure what linen was used, but I know I used the recommended DMC colors. It is backed with a cheery yellow floral print that perfectly matches the colors in the sunflowers.

Manuela's Sunflower freebie

Here are all six August finishes grouped together...So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite?

August 2012 sunflower finishes

And that completes my 8th bowl of finishes for the year--can you believe summer is just about over and fall is right around the corner? I'm so happy with how these sunflower finishes turned out--very cheery and just perfect for this time of year...And my sunflowers even cooperated and two lovely smaller ones bloomed just in time to take the photo yesterday!

August bowl of sunflower finishes

But wait--look closely! There is one finish there that I haven't described yet. Look in the back right corner--can you see that darling Country Cottage "Sunflower Alphabet?" This little beauty came to me as a surprise from my friend Linda as a very late birthday gift (I had to laugh when she told me it was actually for my birthday back in 2011!! It's never too late to remember someone's birthday, especially when the gift is as adorable as this one!) . When Linda read my blog last month, she just knew that sunflowers would be my theme for August (she knows me well!) and decided to get her gift to me as soon as possible so I wouldn't stitch it myself (indeed, I had already pulled this CCN chart!). I just love your gift, Linda--your stitching is so, so perfect. After she had finished stitching it, she sent it away to be beautifully finished into a flatfold by Vonna. Two very talented ladies, I'd say!! Linda just loved the sweet green bow that Vonna added and I have to agree--it makes me smile whenever I see it. Thank you again, Linda--your sweet gift is, indeed, the perfect addition to my August "bowl!"

Gift from Linda--thank you so very much!!

Our hot and sunny summer has been perfect weather for the sunflowers in our garden this year. I never remember them reaching the heights they have this August--many were too tall to even cut! The tallest are probably over 12 feet tall with thick, green stalks almost two inches in diameter... The bees just go crazy over all of that lovely yellow pollen. If you click the photo below, you can even see a trio of pollen-drunk bees on the middle sunflower...

Sunflower gardens: Summer 2012

In early August, we gathered for our annual family trip/reunion in North Carolina's lovely Outer Banks. Our house this year was in South Nags Head and was large enough to accommodate all 23 of us! Unfortunately, the older I get, the less I can take the sun. Even when slathered with plenty of sunscreen and sitting under an umbrella, I seem to develop a red, hive-like rash on my arms. Not exactly something I want to remember from my trip! Anyway, it was great to catch up with my husband's whole family who are spread throughout several states. Would you believe this is the 28th consecutive year the whole family has vacationed there? We missed a couple of years due to me just having given birth in 1988 and an early school start back in the 90s, but it has been a great way for my sons to really get to know their cousins. Now that the "kids" are all grown, they tend to just come for a few days, but this year, we were lucky enough to have all three sons there for a full week. Here are some of the scenes from the week and the pretty salmon-colored beach house that we so enjoyed...

Nags Head 2012

View from our third floor deck

The dunes and sea grasses looking down the beach

It is beautiful at night, too!

Believe it or not, I actually do have a couple more pieces to show you--gifts I stitched for friends and a new Christmas ornament finish, but I'll save those until next time. I want to welcome my newest followers--so glad you're here! And I want to send a huge "thank you" to all of my dear friends who leave comments or send emails just to say "hi" or to tell me that my blog has inspired them in some way. I truly appreciate each and every one of you so very much.

Happy Labor Day weekend to my U.S. stitching friends--I hope you'll find many relaxing moments to sit and stitch a while. I'll be working at the library on Saturday (oh, the life of a public servant!), so my weekend will be a bit shorter, but I'm still looking forward to a nice picnic dinner on Monday with my family. Hopefully, I'll be back soon! Bye for now...

Star-Spangled Stitching!

Good morning all! I was overwhelmed by so many kind comments and anniversary wishes on my last post--thank you all very, very much!! Your words certainly made it easier to deal with the fact that my husband was so far away on our 35th anniversary. I'm very happy to have him home again, all safe and sound...I don't think we had ever been apart on our anniversary before. But, there was a silver lining to his being in Alaska--I had a lot of free time to stitch (along with the fact that I didn't have to cook all week!). And here is what sprang from my needle. Yes, my finishes for my July bowl are complete--and just in time since a new month begins on Wednesday! Not all of these were done this past week, of course; I've been working on them throughout the month. They're a bit late for the 4th of July, but with the Olympics going on, I've thoroughly enjoyed working with all the red, white, and blue threads and fabrics.

July patriotic finishes

So would you like to see how I finished each one of them? Well, here we go! First up, is this adorable design by Heart in Hand. I'll have to admit, the whole time I was stitching this, I kept thinking of two of my sons. No, they don't remind me of long-legged birds, but the little red and white banner draped over the bird is almost exactly like the University of Richmond crest which is where my youngest and oldest sons graduated from. Do you see the resemblance? "4th of July Bird" is stitched on 36 ct. Belfast linen with the suggested DMC and overdyed threads. I stitched the gold "Cecilia's star" (first time I've ever done that particular specialty stitch--or even heard of it!) in place of the flag charm because the colors on the flag charm just didn't coordinate well. It worked out nicely because I ended up making cording of that same gold and I think the color is a perfect accent. The blue star fabric shown behind is what I used to back the tiny pillow. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Prairie Schooler designs always seem to make their way into my monthly "bowls" and July is no exception. This patriotic heart (using a bright--for PS designs anyway--DMC 311 blue) is from Book No. 13: A Prairie Year. It is stitched with the suggested DMC threads on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen. For the pillow, I combined two blue fabrics--a stripe and a dotted sort of blue. Topped with a burgundy button and a white star, I think the whole effect is quite classy looking. This is probably my favorite finish of the month, but it's hard to say!

The Lizzie Kate July Flip-It Stamp is my next finish... Another example of taking a very simple design and adding fabrics and trims to turn it into something special! Again, I used 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen (I love that stuff because the whites show up quite well on it) and whatever overdyed threads I had in my stash. I did make a few changes in this one (of course!). I changed the color of the word "July" to match that of the watermelon. I also sewed black matte Mill Hill beads on for the seeds. The original design had ants on the finish, but I decided to leave those off. The striped and solid blue fabrics are both from old shirts (go through those closets everyone--you never know what goodies you'll find!) and I finished this one off with some rope-like trim and a little yo-yo made of the blue fabric. Cute!!

This little cutie is called "Summer House" and is a Little House Needleworks design (it was an old freebie which I don't see available any longer on the internet). For this one I used 40 ct. flax Newcastle with a variety of overdyed threads. If you wonder why I use so many 40 ct. fabrics, it is so the pillows will turn out small enough to fit in the bowl. I actually think I stitch faster on 40 ct., too, because you only have to use one strand of thread and there are no worries about twisting as there are when using two strands. I chose a red and white gingham reminiscent of a summery picnic tablecloth and some red ric-rak to finish it off very simply.


Finally, I found a very cute Prairie Grove Peddler freebie available here. This was such a quick stitch--just took a day. Yep, you guessed it--another one on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen!! I used the suggested DMC threads, with the exception of changing the blue to DMC 824. I wanted it to match the blue in the tri-color ribbon I had chosen for the edging. I usually use only one strand of thread when I stitch on 40 ct., but I wanted the USA to stand out a bit, so I ended up using two strands just for that portion. What do you think? A quick and easy finish in just one day!

Below are my five new finishes along with the Chessie & Me "Love Liberty" finish that I shared with you in my last post. Do you have a favorite this month?

July 2012 patriotic finishes

And here they are all snuggled into my wooden bowl along with three patriotic finishes from last year. Don't they make you just want to stand up and salute?! On to August... I have a theme in mind--can anyone guess what it might be? I'll give you a hint--it's one of my favorite summer things...

July bowl of patriotic finishes

THANK YOU!! Through blogging, I've been lucky enough to "meet" so many wonderful people from around the world. One of my dear friends, Hilda, who lives in Austria, recently surprised me with a pair of French cross stitching magazines. Oh, I was so tickled to receive these--everything from the designs and colors all the way down to the advertisements was simply lovely. My one year of college level French helps a bit with the translation, but honestly, isn't the language of beautiful stitching universal? If you haven't visited Hilda's blog, Hildi's Good Life, please stop by--her stitching and photography are absolutely delightful! Thank you, Hilda, for your thoughtful gifts and even more, for your friendship.



MY NEW PET (well for one week!!)...
While my husband was on his Alaska bike trip, I was tasked with keeping his garden alive. That meant daily trips to check on the vegetables and watering if necessary. Luckily, we finally received many, many inches of rain last week--the first time all summer--so, I didn't have to water at all. On my very first day of "garden duty," though, just look at what greeted me! Peering through the Havahart Trap, was this little guy--a small woodchuck. Not exactly a friendly bundle of fur; he bared his large, ugly, yellow teeth (he obviously hasn't visited his dentist in quite some years!) and leaped at me when I tried to open the door of the trap to get him out.


I tried and tried, but I couldn't figure out how to release the door so he could escape. I couldn't just let the poor thing sit there all week and die, so my soft-hearted self began feeding him--from my husband's garden. Oh, he ate like a king all week--fresh tomatoes, lettuce, succulent green leaves. All under cover of some shady pine trees. When my oldest son came over for a visit on Friday, he was finally able to figure out how to get the door open. We expected the woodchuck to make a mad dash for his freedom, but what did he do? He just sat there in the cage for a while--obviously he had gotten used to the easy life and didn't really look forward to being on his own again and having to scavenge for food! Eventually, he waddled out to, hopefully, be reunited with his furry family. (Ssshhh...don't tell my husband I let the little fellow go--I don't think he would be quite inclined to have dealt with him in the same way!)


I'll leave you with something far prettier than that image of the homely little woodchuck. Isn't this a lovely photo of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that was perched on our orange Cosmos? Click on the photo and you can see all the colors that make his wings so special--the blues and little bits of orange along with that pale yellow and black. What a mosaic of beauty!

Thank you all for sticking with me this far--I keep telling myself to make my posts shorter, but it doesn't seem to ever work out that way for some reason! (***Special Note: For any of you who have ask me questions in your comments, the only way I can respond to you is if you leave me your email address. You may email me directly (my email address is in my profile on the sidebar) and I'll be happy to respond). I hope your week is a relaxing one... I'm looking forward to the month of August and lots of family gatherings. Because of those, I may be a bit "absent" from blogging in the coming month, but will try to visit your blogs whenever possible. Enjoy your week, my friends! Bye for now...

Catching Up With Christmas On a Very Special Day

Good morning everyone! Well, it's a special day for me, which I'll get to later in my post, but first I have some stitching finishes I'd love to share with you. Many of you have been asking about my monthly Christmas ornaments. Am I still doing them, when will I show them, etc. Well, I'm happy to say I've finally caught up--I hadn't finished a Christmas ornament since March so it was a lot of work, but I love how each and every one turned out! Below is a shot of the stitching along with some of the finishing materials I gathered. Sometimes I think finding the perfect trims, fabrics, and buttons to finish a piece is as much fun as the actual stitching!

Monthly ornaments waiting to be all finished up

My ornament for April was actually started last November and then got cast aside during the frenzy of Christmas stitching. Finding this little snow guy half-finished was like running into an old friend. How can you help but smile at that crooked grin of his? The suggested DMC colors and a mystery piece of 32 ct. linen were used. I think this finish is a perfect example of how you can take a simple design ("Let It Snow" by A Stitcher's Hands) and make it more special by adding fun fabrics and trims. The wee orange nose was called for on the chart, but I added the white pompom and jazzed him up with two fabrics, white ric rak, and a candy-cane striped hanger. The chart includes three other charming snowmen, all wrapped up in their warm scarves and knit hats, which I also hope to stitch one of these days.

"Let It Snow" by A Stitcher's Hands

I honestly enjoy (gasp!) stitching on black--in fact three of my seven ornaments for 2012 are stitched on black so far! The May ornament is stitched on 32 ct. black Belfast linen with DMC threads. I love how white just pops on the black fabric and with snow and wintry themed charts, there is always a lot of white on Christmas ornaments. This cheery piece is Sue Hillis's "Candy Canes" and includes a little brass candy cane charm. The color of the red is really more of a maroon shade than is shown in the photo. I changed it from the suggested DMC reds to DMC 815 which I also used to make the red and white cording. It is backed with coordinating red and white striped fabric and topped with a little white pin. I left off the backstitching for obvious reasons. That's another good thing about stitching on black fabric--no need to backstitch!

"Candy Canes" by Sue Hillis

For my June ornament, I stitched the winsome Trilogy design called "Cheer." This is the second one of their little trees that I've done. I also stitched the Spooky Tree for my dear friend, Myra back in 2010. If any of you are familiar with the original design, you'll notice I left off the rectangular border and one of the little stars and finished it into an oval shape with a ruched ribbon and bow in slate blue. It is backed with the beige and white homespun fabric shown. Some miniature white buttons serve as snowballs just waiting for that next snowball fight between this trio of little guys. I don't know about you, but the sight of them certainly brings me "cheer!"

"Cheer" by The Trilogy

And finally, back to my all-time favorite designer, Prairie Schooler, for my July ornament! "A Visit From St. Nicholas" is from Book No. 48, "A Christmas Visit" and is the second piece I've stitched from it. The first was Sunflower Santa done back in 2010. Again, I love every single design in this booklet and I hope to complete all seven. This one is stitched on 40ct. flax Newcastle linen using the suggested DMC threads and is finished very simply with handmade cording in DMC 221. A red and white gingham bow was added to the corner to cover where the cording ends meet.

"A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Prarie Schooler

And here are all four--April through July...ready and waiting for December's Christmas tree:

April, May, June, July 2012 ornaments

I've had some lovely gifts arrive on my doorstep lately from three blogging friends around the world. First of all, Suzanne in Washington state (no blog) sent me this sweet Lizzie Kate kit as a thank you for lending her an out-of print chart. Secondly, Melody from Bookwoman Stitches blog sent me this cute "Jolly Jack" chart to thank me for lending her two out-of-print charts. She's hoping it will make the cut for my "October Bowl"--I just bet it might, Melody!! And finally, all the way from England, came these gifts from Linda. Linda doesn't have a blog, but has written to say how inspirational my finishes are and wanted to send me a little token to show her appreciation. She sent me my first (and probably only!) souvenir of the Diamond Jubilee and a wonderful bookmark with "Desiderata" on it (boy, does that take me back to my college days in the mid-'70s. I think every girl in the dorm had a poster with that lovely verse on her wall. If you would like to read the whole thing for yourself, click here ). She also included some postcards and leaflets from Sandringham. I am so touched by all of your gifts, my friends. Really, nothing is expected when I lend my charts out, but I so appreciate your friendship and generosity!

A most special day: July 23rd, 1977...My wedding day--which makes today our 35th wedding anniversary! I seem to find myself humming that old Carpenters tune We've Only Just Begun quite a bit lately. (For all of you in your fifties and sixties you'll love this old video--does that bring back memories or what?! I think I wore out multiple copies listening to the Carpenters' records over and over when I was in high school!).

"We've only just begun, to live...
White lace and promises,
A kiss for luck
And we're on our way..."

We were so young and so full of hope. Our sons can't believe we married at age 22, but that's the way it was done back then... graduate from college, get married, work for a few years, and have kids. Today the order of things has definitely changed up a bit, hasn't it? And the time-frame has certainly slowed down. But, you know what, I wouldn't change a thing about the way we did things way back when...

Wedding Day Memories

Here is a tiny snapshot from our big day along with our wedding invitation (yes, it was the palest blue color!) featuring the quote "And this... our life, our beginning." The white lace is all that remains of my wedding dress which was damaged and discolored beyond repair from decades of storage in my parents' attic. So, I removed a few pieces to save before discarding it. (Having no daughters who might want to wear it someday, made that decision a bit easier!) And how about that 13¢ butterfly stamp--that just shows you how prices have jumped over the past 35 years--today it costs 45¢ to mail a card this size! (If it looks like there are no people in the pews behind us, that is because the minister would not allow photos during the church ceremony, so this was "staged" after the actual ceremony. There were actually nearly 250 people in attendance!).

So, how will we celebrate? Well, believe it or not, my husband is 3183.11miles away right now. He is on a week-long biking tour of Alaska! (This is not him in the photo, but I'm expecting some equally breathtaking shots to be taken by him this week.) I'm a bit sad, of course, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and biking is to him what stitching is to me. I know we'll celebrate later, in fact we already have plans to head down to the mountains of North Carolina (Asheville vicinity) this fall. And this is where I could use your help--have any of you vacationed there who could give me advice; the best time to go to see the leaves changing, must-see sights, good restaurants, even the name of a great place to stay (I'd love to stay in a little cabin!)? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Well, that wraps up another very lengthy post--I hope you've enjoyed your visit today! Welcome to my new followers; so glad you've joined the fun. As always, your comments and emails are very much appreciated--thank you, my friends. I'll close with the final lines from Max Ehrmann's "Desiderata." Although written in 1927, it is still so applicable to today's world...

"With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy".

May your week be a special one! Bye for now...

Small Finishes and a Big Harvest

Good morning, my stitching friends! I sure hope the worst of our heat wave is behind us and those of you who suffered the widespread power outages last week are recovering and returning to normal. What a week! We "only" reached 99° here in the Pittsburgh area and I feel very lucky when I hear of the 100°+ temperatures so many of you in the mid-west had to deal with. And my poor blogging friends in the United Kingdom seem to be faced with day after day of nothing but rain. Is there no happy medium? At least those high temperatures gave me a very good excuse to sit inside and stitch and read...

I managed to finish the first of my small pieces for my July "bowl" and I had the best time stitching it! This is "Love Liberty" by Chessie & Me and I stitched it on 32 ct. Confederate gray Belfast linen with the recommended threads. The only change I made was to use two threads for the cross stitching rather than the one suggested on the chart. One of the main reasons I enjoyed stitching this (outside of that adorable black cat--I love black cats in case you didn't know!) was the fact that it incorporated so much "over one" stitching and lots of Smyrna stitches. The entire roof, stars, leaves, and border are all made up of Smyrna stitches. Sure, they each took more time than a plain old cross stitch would have, but they give such nice dimension to the finished piece.

"Love Liberty" by Chessie & Me

And here it is all finished up! The crows, flag, cat, and heart are all stitched "over one"--don't you love how detailed they look? For the finish, I chose a burgundy fabric dotted with gold stars and applied some handmade gold cording (DMC 3045) and a burgundy colored star. I seem to have managed to get this one quite straight (compared to my poor crooked Lizzie Kate finish in the last post) so thanks to all of you who suggested pinning and lacing the finish and making sure my mat boards were perfectly square--what a help! I took your advice and I think this one is much less "wonky!"

"Love Liberty" by Chessie & Me

My dear friend, June, had a birthday last month and I wanted to stitch her something special. For those of you who are familiar with June's blog, Butterfly Wings, you'll know that in addition to her being an amazing stitcher, she is also an avid gardener. Her flower photos are an instant pick-me-up on a gloomy day. So, what better piece to stitch her than "Earth Laughs In Flowers" by Prairie Schooler? This tiny pillow is stitched with DMC threads on 40 ct. antique white Newcastle linen and surrounded by handmade cording in a yellow-gold color. I did add in more pinks to the mix to coordinate with the fabric backing. June seems to love it and I hope she'll think of me each time she looks at it--I so enjoyed every stitch!

"Earth Laughs In Flowers" by Prairie Schooler

Another stitched creation was made for my dear friend, Cathey's (also known to many of you as "Pumpkin") sweet new baby boy. I thought this marching teddy bear proudly carrying the Canadian flag would be just perfect for his very first Christmas. The chart is a freebie which can be found here. I did change the maple leaf on the flag a bit--made it larger and a bit more detailed. It is stitched on a mossy green evenweave using DMC threads and finished into a small hanging pillow with red ric-rak and a coordinating green flannel. (Cathey's son's name is stitched under the bear, but I've covered it up for privacy). I hope this happy bear makes her little guy smile for years to come!

Canadiana Teddy freebie


2012 Garden

Even though we've been faced with extreme temperatures, "our" garden (well, honestly, my husband deserves 99% of the credit--all I do is enjoy the fruits of his labor) has flourished with all the sunshine. Just look at this crop of goodies that he picked on Saturday! Now, all of my long-time blog readers know I'm not an eater of green vegetables (remember this post?), but I will eat lettuce, peas, and uncooked spinach. If the zucchini is disguised in breads, cookies, cakes, or muffins, it will also make its way into my mouth, too! My husband can't possibly eat every green vegetable that he grows, so much of it is given to friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Are any of the rest of you green-vegetable haters? I sometimes feel like a little girl who never grew up when it comes to eating my vegetables!

A bumper crop of vegetables from this year's garden

To use up some of the zucchini, (well, exactly one of the ten zucchini on hand!), I made this yummy Blueberry Zucchini Bread. To make it even healthier, I substituted 1/2 cup of the vegetable oil with 1/2 cup applesauce. Look closely--can you see the little bits of green? At least I consumed a teeny portion of green vegetables this weekend! Does anyone else have any tried and true zucchini recipes that I might like?

Blueberry-Zucchini Bread

And here's a little bit of garden trivia... Do any of you know what the mystery plant below is? Hint: it's something my husband uses in another of his hobbies!

Can anyone guess what plant this is?
(Answer is at the bottom of this post!)

July is a month filled with celebrations in our family. My youngest son turned 24 yesterday (yes, he's bemoaning the fact that he is "getting old!"), my husband catches up with me on Saturday and turns 57 (yes, I married a younger man--six months younger!), and my dear parents celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary tomorrow. 59 years together--quite a feat in today's world!! I'm heading up to New York tomorrow to see them for my monthly visit so I'll be able to help them celebrate.

♫♪♫ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ♫♪♫

to my parents, dear husband, and youngest son. I love you all so very much...

Thank you for taking time to visit me today--I know it is especially hard in the summer months to read blogs, let alone comment, so I truly appreciate hearing from so many of you! I plan to be back next time with some Christmas stitching--fingers crossed! I hope the remainder of your July is filled with things for you to celebrate as well. Bye for now...


(ANSWER to the mystery plant question: it is "hops". My husband brews his own beer and uses this in the process. I'm not a beer drinker so I can't tell you how it tastes, but he certainly seems to enjoy it! Cheers!)