Beautiful Frosty Friends Exchange Received!

Look what I received from Hazel in the U.K.! Isn't it gorgeous?

Hazel stitched "Winter Pocket" from Beardie Designs -and she did a fantastic job! I made a similar one with an Autumn theme a few years ago and it was a lot of work so I know how much time Hazel put into it. Her stitching and finishing are just great. I love it and have it displayed in my sewing room. She also sent me a cute snowman pattern from Just Nan from my wishlist - "Snow Faces" , a freebie chart I don't have, and beautiful "frosty" accessories - pearl pins, and frosty colored felt and floss. I want to make the Just Nan pattern into a pinkeep for myself. :) Thank you so much Hazel! Also, Hazel just became a mom for the second time about a week ago and to think she was stitching this exchange and getting it mailed about a week before her delivery is something special. I am humbled! Congratulations Hazel!! Here are some closeups of the Winter Pocket.

Below is what I stitched for Vonna - it's by Heart in Hand and the pattern is titled "Winter Fobs". Instead of making this piece into a needleroll, I made it into a doorknocker. Vonna says she likes so I'm glad as I had fun making it for her!

A new year and new plans!

Happy 2008 everyone! It’s good to be back. Had a very busy break in December with the holidays, my father-in-law’s 80th birthday party, and guests staying with us from Chicago. I had no time for stitching except doing my Frosty Friends exchange piece which went out in the mail today. I will share pictures as soon as the recipient gets it.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get my Prairie Schooler wreath ornaments done for Christmas. I got 4 stitched but not the 8 I had planned, and only 2 were actually finished into ornaments. I got a wreath on sale and plan to complete that little project this year so hopefully next year they’ll be hanging up instead of sleeping in a Ziploc bag!

I am just now getting “organized” for the new year and taking a look at what I want to accomplish. I inventoried my UFO’s and combined my quilting and stitching into one list. It’s scary. I’m sure I have a few other small things lying about like unfinished quilt blocks but those are minor and not of real concern to me. I posted my UFO list in my sidebar and tried to arrange it approximately in date order – oldest UFO’s at the top. I had to guess at most of it as I really don’t know how old most of them are but I do know which ones are REALLY old and which ones are more recent. There’s no way I’ll get through this whole list during the year, especially the sampler BAP’s, but I should be able to make a dent in the list at least. Most of the quilts are completed tops that need to be quilted and finished up. The trouble is several of the quilts need to be farmed out to longarm quilters to be quilted and that always costs money. A couple of the appliqué quilts I had wanted to hand-quilt myself and that really takes time. However, this is a starting point at least to keep track of things. Any progress is good progress in my world!

Then I thought about making another list of all the projects I’d like to start, but I decided that would be just way too much to contemplate. I did start a quilting wish list several years ago and there were around 55 quilting projects on it so you can imagine what it would be by now and then including most of my stitching stash as well. It might give me a heart attack just looking at the whole list of things I need to do! I haven’t decided how I will manage UFO’s and new projects but I do want to try to complete a few UFO’s and then alternate with some new starts. You’ve got to allow yourself to start some new things now and then to keep the momentum going – otherwise you don’t enjoy being held hostage to your UFO’s. Sometimes I feel like my UFO’s are like the chain that the old ghost of Marley had to carry in A Christmas Carol –

“I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link and yard by yard.”

I need to start breaking those links off to lighten up the chain!

Santa's elf has been busy! Ho ho ho!

I've been baking lots of cookies lately. Some for DH and I, some to give away, plus we went to a "cookie-baking and football" party all day on Sunday. It was lots of fun - the guys pretty much sat and watched football all day and ate while the ladies baked hundreds and hundreds of cookies and then divided them up to go home. Hmm......seems like roles haven't changed all that much have they?! Here's a picture of some I made on my own - the cookies are purchased ones (Nutter Butters) and then you just do the decorating. I think they are so cute - I have seen these same cookies made into snowmen as well but I haven't tried those yet. The Santas are easy to do but time-consuming (click for closeups).

I also finished working on my mantle finally - I had splurged on some new decorations I fell in love with at a candle shop. I couldn't capture the candlelight with my photos but when they are all glowing it's really Christmas-y. The lanterns hold a mix of tealites and pillar candles - since my other half is "Mr. Fire Safety" I bought the battery-operated tealites and pillar candles they have out and they work out really well. I love the battery-operated tealites, you can use them in votives around the house and not have to worry about pets, kids, etc.

It's been rainy and chilly here lately but I'm not complaining as I see so much bad weather around the country.

P.S. 3 more days of work to go this year!! Then 15 glorious days away from the office. :)

7 more days, but who's counting??

Well, I am! I have 7 more days of work in 2007 - yippee!! I can hardly wait. I cannot believe that Christmas is a mere 19 days away. I still have most of my shopping to do, mailing of packages etc. No doubt I will be racing around until the last minute like I usually am. I have no stitchy pictures to share today - I'm trying to finish up some Santa Claus ornmants for the PS Wreath SAL but not sure if I will get my wreath up before Christmas or not. Oh well - there's always next year right??

I did enjoy my Merry Cox class which though only like 3 weeks ago seems like months! I have not touched the project since I got home that night. I did get to meet up with an internet friend though and we had fun during the class - Laurie, maybe you've got yours done already?! I do like it and plan to get back to it after the holidays. Last Saturday I got our tree out and decorated - what a job it was. It took me 4 hours just to unpack the tree, assemble and fluff it out, and put on the lights. Then unwrap and decorate with all the ornaments. Each year I tell myself maybe I won't put it up next year but once it's up I really do enjoy it and it doesn't seem like Christmas without a tree. Here it is - not the greatest picture but it looks very pretty.


We have to remove part of our sectional sofa to fit it in so that's just another chore to store that in the garage during the Christmas season. A friend was telling me they saw a show on television about a high-end home that had a beautiful curving stairway in the foyer. They had it built around a narrow circular space with a hidden door panel. In this hidden tall space, they stored their large Christmas tree on a rolling platform - roll it out at Christmas-time, and back in when you're done. Now that's the way to do it!

I'm working on finishing up the binding on a quilt for my Mom for Christmas. Hope to have a picture in a few days as I have to get it in the mail soon to her. I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading - I've been encouraged seeing several of you posting about all your UFO's. I have so many it sometimes gives me anxiety. Lately I've had that depressing "here-it-is-the-end-of-the-year-and-I-didn't-get-as-much-done-as-I-had-planned-to" feeling so I am cheered up a bit by realizing I'm not the only one. The good thing about a new year coming is it gets me re-enthused to tackle the pile of projects and plan (like I do every year) to accomplish more in the coming year. I did make a dent in my UFO list this year but there's plenty more to do.

A special note to my sister who found my blog while cruising the internet - Hi Nancy!! Glad you are stopping by to see what I'm up to. :) Don't forget to get working on your stitching project!

Catching Up and Birthday Stash :)

I wanted to post a quick note about a beautiful exchange I received from Michelle. The theme was "Harvest Time" and she stitched this beautiful pattern called "Autumn Blessings" from Imaginating. She made it into a wonderful wallhanging - isn't this just perfect for November? She also sent me loads of goodies including a pattern from Just Nan I'd been craving (Crystal Roses), 3 wonderful hand-dyes from Weeks in autumn colors, cute towels and matching potholders for the kitchen, stickers, and a great scented candle. Thank you so much Michelle - I just love all of it and feel so fortunate to have received it! The wallhanging is hanging in my family room and looks great.



Below is the piece I stitched that went to my exchange partner Terry. It's called Pumpkin Flower Sampler from Bent Creek - an oldie but goodie. I tried to come up with something slightly different so I finished it ornament-style and added a curly wire hanger. One of the things I love about these little projects is the chance to use up some of my quilting stash. Every little bit helps! This stitched up quick and I really enjoyed making it.



I also used my birthday month discounts recently and loaded up on several items from my wish list you can see below. I am so excited to be getting some new stash and to cross so many things off that have been on my list for awhile . I got Rose Sampler & Acorn Hill from LHN, Pumpkin Patch and Birdsong I from Prairie Schooler, Pink Plaid Pear from Casey Buonaugurio, the full sets of Autumn and Summer Snapperlands from Bent Creek, all four of the Bitty Buttons animals from Victoria Sampler, Letters I & J from M Designs (someday I'm making a sampler with DH's and my initials), the new Bianca scissors from Gingher, the Lighthouse Sampler from By the Bay Needlearts, and 4 Mill Hill kits for houses in their Christmas Village series. You get all the specialty buttons and beads along with the pattern and perforated paper. I will be substituting fabric but I think they are so cute, they remind of the Dickens Village houses.

Now I must get back to stitching - I am frantically trying to finish up the pre-stitching for my Merry Cox class this Friday night. As luck would have it, I'm extremely busy at work this week and having to squeeze in work in the evenings as well as the stitching. I can't wait until next week when things hopefully slow down!! Thanks for visiting and as always, it's so fun to read comments that you have taken the time to leave. :-)

Jeanne

Trick or Treat!

Since the recipient (Suzanne at http://myrestlesshands.blogspot.com/) has received it, I can now share what I made for the SBEBB Halloween exchange. This was a cute kit from The Sweetheart Tree titled "Trick or Treat". I made it into a flatfold with some Halloween fabric I had on hand and made matching cording out of DMC. I really think I'll stitch another one for myself - it was a fun stitch! :)

Now I'm working on my Autumn Exchange which is due to be mailed by Nov 1st. Busy busy busy!

Look what wonderful things I received!

Yesterday I received this lovely package in the mail all the way from Lima, Peru. Carla stitched this treat bag for me as part of the SBEBB Halloween exchange. Isn't it great? I love the colors in it and she did a fantastic job of putting it all together. And no, that's not all! I received a beautiful cut of Silkweaver's linen, 4 pretty packs of ribbons in Halloween colors, yummy chocolates, some cute Halloween decorations to put on my mantle, and a new pattern from Blue Ribbon Designs called "Halloween Story Sampler". I am just thrilled with everything. Thank you so much Carla! I will so enjoy displaying this in my house. My friends at work are jealous. :)

Peddling as fast as I can!

That's what I feel like lately, trying to meet all my deadlines for this month. I did finish off my Halloween exchange piece and am waiting for the recipient to get it before I can post a picture of it. I hope she likes it! I got it mailed the day before the deadline at least.

This past weekend I made 6 mesh project bags for some quilting friends. Our little quilting group is hosting an autumn luncheon for another small quilting group we met at a retreat this year and we wanted to give them each something. We are filling the bags with fun things and quilting notions. I think they turned out nice - I have materials all set aside to make several for myself as I want to store all my WIPs in them. These are fun and easy to make if you don't mind a little sewing. The pattern is "Zip It!" from Nancy Ota. They sell these in my LNS but they are $25 each which is not unreasonable but I can make my own for about $4 apiece. These were hard to photo as the camera picks up all the light going through the mesh. But you get the idea. :)

Last night I started on my Autumn themed stitching exchange. It is due out by Nov 1 and I STILL have not started the pre-stitching for my Merry Cox class on Nov 9!! I hope to get started on it this week. I can't believe I left it until now but didn't think I'd be that busy in October. Lesson learned!

I had a nice birthday last week. DH bought me flowers and a new flat-panel TV for my sewing room. I had an older one in there so we gave that away and the new one is really nice. I mostly watch movies and they look great on it. DH is enjoying his new job that he started last week and finally has gone and purchased himself a new big-screen TV that he has wanted for years. Men and their electronics! We actually have 7 TV's in our house - it really is crazy in my opinion but I guess he thinks the same about my stash! I finally bought a pair of the Gingher "Julia" scissors on eBay which I'd been wanting. I am still looking for "Amanda". That will conclude the out-of-production ones that I can afford - some of the older ones are far more than I want to spend on them.

I hope all of you are enjoying fall activities. Pumpkins stands are all over and so much cute stuff in the stores for Halloween - it is hard not to go crazy buying more stuff to store!

Can’t believe it's October already! I’ve been doing more quilting lately. I finished Chapter 1 of our book quilt last night. We are a group of 9 ladies reading the book “Like Water For Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel and doing a story quilt from the book. Each chapter in the book will have a section of the quilt that relates to it. Sometimes it’s the name of the block that expresses something in the story, or it may be pictoral or symbolic. Each member of our group will design a chapter in the book.

The story takes place in turn of the century Mexico. It is a short love story about a girl named Tita and her family. Tita loves to cook and throughout the book her emotions are magically transported into the food she prepares for her family. (and at times affecting them when they eat it) In Chapter 1 we introduce the main characters. The block labeled #1 will be repeated in various places throughout the quilt to provide unity. The main character, a young girl names Tita, crochets to ease her mind when she is troubled. The interlocking pattern of fabric represents her crocheting. Block #2 represents domineering mother Mama Elena in the story – hence the arrow patterns pointing inward and outward from the center. Mama Elena treats her daughter Tita rather like poor Cinderella. Tita does most of the cooking for the family and her life has little freedom. Tita is closest to the family housekeeper named Nacha. Nacha has taught Tita how to cook and gives her the motherly love she doesn't get from Mama Elena. In block #3 we have 3 matching patchwork squares that represent Mama Elena’s 3 daughters – Tita (the youngest), Gertrudis, and Rosaura. Mama Elena rules the house with an iron fist – she informs her youngest daughter Tita that she must honor a traditional Mexican custom that the youngest daughter may not marry, but must stay home to take care of her mother. In those days you never went against your parents wishes, so Tita is understandably heartbroken as she and a young man named Pedro are in love. Block #4 is called “Solitude” and represents Tita’s loneliness and despair that she can never marry Pedro and have a family of her own. I did this block in blue to represent Tita’s mood. Block #5 represents Pedro, and the name of this block is “Bachelor’s Puzzle”. Note that the Bachelor’s Puzzle block ironically forms a ring! This is very fitting for Pedro who is in anguish that he cannot marry Tita. Block #6 has an appliqued heart to represent the love that Tita and Pedro share. I also added in some embroidery to this section as I want to include small blocks of embroidery work in my quilt. My friend had actually designed a small block here with some tears appliqued on it to represent crying but I wanted to do embroidery instead so I made a substition.

Tonite my group meets again and we will receive our assignment for Chapter 2 of the quilt. I’ll have a month before our next meeting to sew up that section and add it to the chapter 1 section. My own chapter that I will design won't be due until sometime next year as I have chapter 9.

I visited my LNS on Saturday and had fun catching up with all the new things. I finished paying for my Merry Cox class in November and picked up some linen, fibers and several Halloween patterns. Most of what I bought is pictured below. I cannot resist cute Halloween stuff! I also jotted down a few more patterns the store was out of stock on to add to my wish list. I want to go in this month and do an order because I’ll get my birthday discount - hooray!! I had 2 Loose Feathers sitting at the shop waiting for me to pick up as I hadn’t been to the shop in awhile. I am so far behind in stitching my Loose Feathers it’s just pitiful. Well, maybe someday! Last night I started my Halloween exchange for the SBEBB board – yes I’m late starting! It’s due to be mailed by Oct 10 so I have to go full speed ahead to get it stitched and finished on time. Luckily my DH is going fishing this weekend so I will be able to stitch all weekend mostly. :)



Also, I’ve “met” another local stitcher named Teejay online. Teejay has organized a meeting place for us this Sunday to meet and stitch. It will be fun to meet you in person Teejay! We’re trying to get a group of Phoenix stitchers together so if any of you live in our metro area and want to join us let me know!

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the time taken to leave comments or emails. I hope everyone has a tremendous autumn - this is my favorite time of year although it doesn't get too "autumnal" in Phoenix until winter time.

I'm up to date with blog reading!

Now no one post anything else for a day or two! It's taken me 3 days of reading off and on to catch up with all the ones I have listed in Google reader. You people are way too productive! :)

Another day, another stitch.........

I only had 2 signups for my PIF challenge - Ruth and Sherry. I am so glad to have you on board! I have left comments on your blogs to please send me your snail mail address and I will start thinking on what to stitch for you. Should be fun! If anyone else still wants to get in just let me know. Next up on my list is getting my Halloween exchange done and my pre-stitching for a Merry Cox class in November at my LNS. I don't know where the time goes. This weekend I got started on my second list of UFO's this year. In January I promised myself I would make 2007 "the year of the UFO". I decided to tackle 10 things at a time. I finished my first list of 10 and now starting my second list. I've added the list to my blog instead of just keeping it in Word. The list is a mix of unfinished quilts, stitching, and miscellaneous things I've started and not finished. My goal eventually is to get down to having only a few outstanding projects but I've still got a long way to go.

This weekend I worked on machine-quilting an old quilting project I last worked on about 5 years ago (pictured below) . Five years! How pitiful is that?? It's a quilt in all patriotic fabrics - some friends and I pooled all our patriotic fabrics and we all made similar quilts. The blocks were easy and fun and I got so carried away making blocks that I had enough for 3 quilts. Two of the quilts I finished and gave away to friends and the third (mine) never got done. Isn't that the way it goes so often - we get our gifts done but not our own projects. I'm hoping to finish it up this week and be able to scratch another one off the list. Having so many UFO's was starting to stress me out and I couldn't enjoy starting new ones with so much left undone and making me feel guilty.


I'm certainly getting anxious for a stash binge. I've been pretty good all summer while my DH was out of work. He's working now and I'm looking forward to my birthday discount next month and a self-indulgent trip to the LNS!

P.S. the book I had been searching for is "Race the Wild Wind" by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Probably no one else has ever heard of it but it sure was bugging me. There's nothing like a mystery solved!

Back from vacation!

Well I'm back from 5 days on beautiful Coronado Island near San Diego. We had a wonderful trip - went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, ate breakfast every morning with a view of the ocean, walked the beach every evening and ate many wonderful meals. All in all, it was just great. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I really enjoyed seeing the panda bears for my first time.








I also have to share a little story today because I'm so thrilled. Have any of you ever tried to find a favorite book from childhood? It’s amazing to me that sometimes you can recall books you read as a child or teenager so clearly yet you forget a book you read a month ago. Well I had such a book I read when I was probably about 15 or 16. It’s not that the book was so tremendous – it was a typical teenage story about a young girl conquering her lack of self-confidence and dealing with the usual adolescent issues of popularity and high school. For some reason, all the details of the story stayed with me but I haven’t been able to recall the title or author of the book in the past 30+ years. It was driving me crazy! Years ago I even made my sister go to my hometown public library and search the shelves in the young adult section because I thought I had a glimmer of the author’s name. That proved fruitless.

Then a couple months ago I ran across a website run by a woman in Ohio who specializes in selling used books for children and juveniles. It’s called Loganberry Books. She got so many requests asking for information about childhood books that she started a “book stumper” service. For $2 you can send in your request and she posts it to see if she or any of her customers can identify the book. I sent my query in trying not to get my hopes up but I got an answer shortly with the name of the book and the author. The person had the book and checked out all the details I had provided about the story so I know the answer is correct. I am absolutely thrilled! There are used copies available very cheap on Amazon and other places. Some of you booklovers may understand how I feel. I told my husband how excited I was but as he’s not a reader I suspect he just thinks I’m kooky. :) On days like this, I am thankful for the power of the internet!! It’s like a piece of unfinished business I can now lay to rest.

Looking for Pay It Forward signups!

I forgot to post about my PIF challenge last week. I have signed up for Patti's (Tapestry of Dreams) PIF challenge group. I haven't been involved in a PIF before and I thought it would be fun because I love making gifts for people. For those of you who might not know already, usually a PIF agreement is for making gifts for 5 other people. Therefore, once you're chosen, I agree to send you a stitched gift sometime in the next year. I don't really think it will take me that long, however, that is the general rule. You in turn, agree to "pay it forward" by yourself making 5 gifts for some other stitchers of your choosing. I realize many of you have already been in PIF challenges, so if you don't feel like you want to commit for 5 gifts for others, I think 2 or 3 is just fine. I think it's a fun way to get to know more stitchers and be involved in the online stitching community. I'm looking for 5 people that I will stitch for and will agree to pay it forward for some other stitchers. Please leave a comment on this post if you're interested. If I get more than 5 people interested, I will draw names. Remember, your stitched PIF gift can be something small like a scissor fob, just something fun to share with another stitcher.

This weekend I finished my second Prairie Schooler Christmas ornament. Six more to go for my grapevine wreath!

3 day weekend and lots of pictures!

I have been a busy bee lately. I finally finished my bee-themed exchange gift and mailed it off to the recipient. I can't show you yet until I know she's received it but I was happy with it, after a few bumps in the road along the way! I changed my mind twice about what I was making so it took me longer than I thought. I do enjoy making exchange gifts and always want them to be something I would be happy to receive myself.

I received this wonderful package from Cathy B last weekend. Isn't it great? Cathy had my name for the "What's the Buzz" exchange on the SBEBB board. She stitched this fob from Shepherd's Bush and included all sorts of fun items as well. I love the bee fabric she sent and also she included a cute hanging bee ornament I already have displayed in my sewing room. Since I have been accumulating more scissors lately I am excited to get a new fob! Thank you so much Cathy, I love all the things you sent. There's just something so exciting about receiving a package in the mail and especially when it's something stitched. :)

I finished up some more of my Shepherd's Bush monthly series pictured at the bottom of this post. I started these a few years ago but only got 2 months completed and a start on the third before falling to the UFO-syndrome. I'm determined to finish these this year! I am now done with 7 of the 12. I am using an old frame I have at home to size them and do all the mounting of the pieces on foam core. I do want to get a new frame made so that I can rotate the piece out each month. There's no way I'm going to pay for 12 framing jobs and I've no place to put them all up anyway. It's likely I'll end up with a white frame since each month uses a different color linen. It's been fun as I can use up some of the 28-ct linen odds & ends I have and get to stitch on some fun colors instead of just neutrals for a change. It's amazing how happy I get when I get to stitch on pink linen! I love pink but have none really in my house. My plan is to someday redecorate my sewing room in pink but that's a task for the future.

Oh happy day, a 3-day weekend is here! I'm so thankful. I hope all of you enjoy the Labor Day weekend and plan some fun activities. I am planning on spending some time with a quilting friend on Sunday to show her how to do some finishing techniques for cross-stitch. Making cording and things like that. Vonna if you are reading this, I gave her the link to your easel tutorial and she was so pleased with it. We're going to be making one on Sunday. Then I need to catch up with the Prairie Schooler Wreath SAL and a multitude of other things. DH and I will spend time with the dogs and generally relaxing, we're not doing any traveling this weekend. Both of our dogs swim well and enjoy playing in the pool.

I so enjoy blogging and hearing from all of you stitchers out there. Thank you for stopping by and have a safe and fun holiday!

New blog look

Well I was getting real tired of my old blog look so I fiddled around today and created a new scheme. Maybe the 'cool' colors will help me stay cool - I am so tired of being hot! In a few weeks we are off to San Diego for 5 days and I can't wait. We haven't been there in about 6 years and looking forward to visiting the Zoo, Sea World, and cooling off at the beach.

I went through a whole stack of old Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazines recently. I tore out a few patterns I wanted to keep and tossed the rest in the recycle bin. Mind you, this is the second time I've had to do this - I got rid of my own years ago. Then a couple years ago I started collecting the annual stocking patterns through eBay. I was forced most times to buy a lot of 5 or 6 magazines to get the issues I wanted so I accumulated this whole stack of old magazines. It was fun looking back at how patterns have changed - so much of the 80's was ducks and country style in blue and pinks. CS&CC used to print a stitching cartoon in each issue. I cut them out and I plan to upload a few now and then. If some of you haven't seen them you'll appreciate them as only an obsessed stitcher can. :) There was no copyright on them in the magazine and they are about 20-25 years old so I'm thinking it will be okay.

A beautiful gift!

I want to share the beautiful scissor fob I received from a fellow stitcher I recently met on the phone. I shared an extra pattern and some fabric with her and she sent me this wonderful gift. Laurie I hope you're reading this because I lost your email address! I love the colors - pink is my favorite color and I have made several pink and green quilts so you made an excellent choice. In fact, won't it look good with my Gingher Jamie scissors?? :) Thank you so much!!


I'm almost ready to start on a group quilting project. I picked up some cute fabric and the charm collection from Moda's "Chez Moi" collection. (plus a really cute bag pattern!) The large flowered print is going to be my border fabric and the colors will be chocolate brown, pinks, lime greens, aquas and yellows. My picture was taken at night and the colors look a bit orangey but really they are quite pretty in person.


This little book is a romantic story about a turn of the century family in Mexico and it's all about a young girl thwarted in love. She takes her passion and puts it into her cooking instead. We watched the movie made from the story at our meeting last week. It's rather an odd little book, so far I'm not that impressed but I did like the movie alright. Each of us in our group are taking a chapter of the book and designing a section of the quilt to go with the story. We make copies of our design for everyone in the group, and then each of us sews their own quilt using their own fabric choices. We did something similar a few years ago using a set of 3 books about a pioneering family that quilted called "The Trail of Thread". Here is a picture of that quilt which is hanging in my sewing room.


The motifs and names of the blocks in the quilt relate to the story in the books. What I really like about this quilt is I can remember pieces of the story when I look at the quilt and I know which of my friends designed each section. It's a nice remembrance. I will post progress on this new quilt as we go along. We get our Chapter 1 assignment next month.

As far as stitching goes, I am working on an exchange gift right now. I am behind schedule so I need to step up the pace. I'm kind of designing it as I go so I hope it turns out alright!

Weekend Progress

Well it only took me 20 years and a mangled finger to finish my Christmas stocking! I used to subscribe to Cross Stitch & Country Crafts Magazine back in the 80's when they started their annual Christmas stocking editions. I put this one aside as I always wanted to stitch it for myself. I started it about 2.5 years ago and finished the stitching this past January. I finally did the finishing work this weekend on it. YEAH! It's finally done! Unfortunately the sewing machine and my finger had a collision - I'm kicking myself as I have been sewing for over 30 years and though I've nicked my finger a few times, this one was pretty bad. The needle hit my finger as I was sewing a tricky part and I jerked away creating quite a bad tear. Luckily for me, my doctor's office is about 3 blocks away and they have limited Saturday hours for urgent care. They fixed up my finger with some epoxy type of glue and special bandages. Luckily it's not my stitching hand so I can still stitch although typing is a bit awkward. I'll be back to normal in about 5 days. I was a bit reflective as I photographed the finished stocking. The theme of this stocking (Stitcher's Studio) fits me so well as I stitch, sew, quilt, knit a bit etc. I still own my Grandmother's Singer Featherweight, and I learned to sew on my mother's Featherweight. When I first saw this pattern and planned to stitch it I was single and living in Chicago. Now I am married, living in Arizona, and my life is very different than I could ever have imagined back then. So here is the finished product, plus a picture of my stocking and DH's (which I finished 2 years ago), and the mangled finger ha ha.







I also finished up my first Prairie Schooler Santa ornament for my grapevine wreath and am nearing a finish of a small Shepherd's Bush piece.


I watched several episodes of "The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery channel, plus 2 movies - A Tale of Two Cities and GWTW. All in all, I had a great weekend!