Another one back from the framer :-)

I picked this up yesterday. I stitched this a couple of years ago and just now finally got it framed. I am on a mission to get this framing pile down to something reasonable! This truly was a wonderful piece to stitch - it's "Sanctuary" by The Drawn Thread. I'm thrilled with how it came out.
One corner closeup below.....
I also dropped off 2 other pieces to be framed so since I've been spending so much lately I really held off from buying stash. I just picked up one pattern from Little House Needleworks called "Peppermint Lane". I love little pink houses so I couldn't resist it.

DH is off fishing this weekend so yesterday I did some errands and spent the afternoon sewing wtih my quilting buddies. I worked on some applique and again on my Just Nan "Autumn" piece. I have only one more band to go on this, then add the beads and I'll be done! This is my oldest UFO so you can imagine how psyched I'll be when it's done.

Keep on stitchin'!

Fall House Exchange

My partner Ulla has received her Fall House exchange finally so it's okay for me to post it now. This is a pattern from The Drawn Thread, made into a flatfold. I like how it came out and Ulla says she likes it so that makes me happy. I was in a hurry to finish it up the night I took the pictures and you can see my glue hasn't even dried yet! It had to go all the way from Arizona to Finland and it took 3 weeks to get there. I'm just thankful it wasn't lost.


And here is the exchange I received from Suzanne - isn't it cute? It's my very first pinkeep to call my own. I'd love to have a basketful like some of you but I guess it's going to be awhile especially with my slow stitching.

Halloween is almost here - I have all my Halloween decorations out to enjoy and the candy is ready for the little munchkins when they come trick-or-treating. We always sit on our front porch and hand out the treats to prevent the kids from ringing the doorbell all evening and making the dogs go crazy.

I had to spend some time last evening straightening up the stitching room. Between birthday gifts, stash shopping etc things were literally piling up. We spent 4 days last weekend in the Chicago area for a family function. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Thanks to a tip from a fellow stitcher, I visited a needlework shop in Orland Park called The Country Cupboard. What a cute shop it was! I loved it and helped myself to some new stash of course. I love visiting other shops and seeing different models and patterns. One of the patterns I picked up was "Prancer" from Nora Corbett - I had seen her reindeer patterns before but until I saw one actually stitched up I was able to resist them. They really are cute though, I love all the beads and sparkles on them. I also visited 3 Chicago-area quilt shops. I had a blast but will come down to earth when the credit card bill arrives! Sorry for the poor picture, I'm having camera issues.

I have been trying to put some thought into my neighborhood I'll be starting in January. I decided to do a Jane Austen neighborhood but I'm running into a few issues. Some of the house patterns I hoped to include are just too large so I'm going to have to swap out for smaller house patterns and I think I will just focus just on "Pride & Prejudice". Otherwise I'll end up with something so huge I'd never afford to frame it. I'm realizing I have no desire to be a designer - I'd rather stitch anytime and let someone else do that part!