Copyright

(c) 2009 - 2024 (MEM)

Please keep in mind that, unless otherwise noted, everything on my blog is copyright material of some sort. Either by me (as picture taker, writer, creator) or more importantly by the designer of the needlework pieces I present. If you promise to be copyright mindful, my promise to you is to do my best to provide you enough information in my post for you to obtain your own legal copy. Please be respectful of these copyrights and not take business away from our wonderful designers. Thank you.
............. . ."She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13 NAS


Sunday, June 26, 2011

Patriotic Display

In our new house we have an area in the entry that we put an antique octagon shaped table which if I remember correctly belonged to my hubby’s fraternal grandmother or great grandmother Anderson. It is situated in just the right spot to set up a seasonal display and FINALLY ALL my Patriotic stuff is out of the closet!! I have some stuffed animals and a wooden rooster dressed like Uncle Sam in other parts of the house, but the items on the table have spent most of the time in the closet (partly because of the lack of a good place to display them and partly because I kept forgetting about the stuff in the basement closet). With our new house I have a better (read easier to remember I have the stuff) place for the seasonal decorations (other than Christmas) and a nice place to display them.

The table runner is a gift from my mother-in-law, I recently stitched the piece in the bowl; and the rooster pitcher I got at Hobby Lobby a few years ago (and forgot about). Those of you who know me will note the rooster on the pitcher. I may need a bigger bowl if I use it to hold stitched things!

While it is just my hubby and me, I still like to decorate a little for each season and now I have the perfect place for us and folks that come to the door to see them too. My mother-in-law will be visiting us in August, so I would like to figure out a nice display for her visit. Is it too soon for fall décor? I kind of think so. I may just make it a summer scene. What do you all think??

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Grand Canyon Sampler Framed!

I finally finish finished a project from 2009. In August of that year we went to the Grand Canyon and I purchased this little sampler kit (finished size just under 5”x7”).  As time went by I found this nice mat and then had to find a frame. Well as luck would have it I was in Michaels the other day and saw this wooden like frame on sale! I thought it might work and so I picked it up. I popped the matted piece in the frame and we promptly hung it on the wall. Sorry the picture is not great, but that is what you get with glass.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Busy Stitching!

I have been a busy stitcher working on projects from the Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat which I previously posted about  which included (at the bottom) one project  finish and here are two more. They are not finish finished like the previous project, but all the stitching is done!

The first project is a freebie from The Work Basket and is called Pink Flower it is copyright dated 2010, so may still be available. I have taken the picture of it on top of the fabric that was provided to make a pin cushion or little pillow finish. I checked the website (www.theworkbasket.net/free) but it seems to be down, so if it does not work when you try it, I am not sure how you can obtain this chart.



The next project is a freebie from Dunmani Designs called Blackwork Needle Case #2. If you visit the site this chart is under blackwork designs.  For our purposes we were given fabric and thread to stitch the design, but not make the needle case. The finished model showed it in a frame and it looked very nice done up that way. We were given 6 different charms to place in the center. I was torn between a ladybug and a rosebud. You can see the rose won out.
That about covers it for now. Happy Stitching Everyone!!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Red, White and Blue

I stitched stitched this in 2004 as a guild project. The hand and some curly ques (which I may have accidentally cut off) were stamped on the fabric and a design stitched over it. I finished it into a pillow last night. It is sitting on the fabric used as the backing.  "Love and Liberty 4 all."

Just in time for the 4th of July!!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Surprises in the Air and Soil

Yesterday I was working at home and opened the window for some cool fresh morning air. I hear this noise. Sounded like air being blown into or around something. It was pretty consistant, so I go to investigate. I am looking around and I notice the dog looking up. So I do too and this is what I saw!!

Actually when I first saw it the balloon was a LOT closer and BIGGER. It seemed like it was at the roof tops.  Anyway, I ran in the house grabbed my camera, yelled at my hubby and headed back to take some pictures. I hate to report that the balloon seemed to lose altitude and I am not sure if it did not land in the park nearby - it was headed in that general direction. I was on company time, so I did not go and investigate. I live a few miles north of a state park that sometimes has balloon races. I have not heard of any race, so maybe balloonists also use the park at other times.



Then later in the day when I went down for coffee, what did I see but this - see the tiny leaves to the left of the dime??


Future DAFFODILS!!

There are  little bumps in the soil where I think I planted the other two bulbs, so maybe they will pop up soon too and I will have a touch of spring just in time for the summer solstice. Sounds good to me!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

100th Follower and Secret Give-Away

A while back I noticed I had 99 followers. So I decided I would have a secret give-away when I hit 100. Well a day or two ago I did!! Woo Hoo. So I gave each follower a number, used the random number generator and low and behold #45 popped up. This number belongs to my follower Patty C. of the blog Hanging on by a Thread. I sent her an email and hope to hear from her soon to send her the prize - these cute little scissors and maybe a little extra something just for fun.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat - update

Heavens!!! I forgot to tell you that at the end of the day we were given a bag with rocks, potting soil and daffodil bulbs (that had been properly kept refrigerated) to put in our pots! I planted mine right away. I love daffodils and hope they bloom. I have them on a counter under a kitchen window.


If you missed round one of my retreat report (with lots of photos) it can be found here


Also for another perspective on the retreat you may want to visit with Debby.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat Report

This past Saturday was the Sampler Guild of the Rockies second annual retreat and a fun time was had by ALL!!!! I thought I would post about this fun event with LOTS of pictures. So here goes and I will do my best to remember it all.

First we came in the door and picked out a cute little pin cushion and got our name tag which was to be pinned on the cushion and served as our place marker at the stitching table and at the lunch table. See the pretty pins that came with it? The base is a painted wooden thread spool.


Then we got to choose a bag – here is the one I chose. I love roses! The first project we did was to make a name tag for our bag.  See mine on the right handle? We actually finished something at the retreat!! We were given a choice of flowers and our name was done in 4 different styles. We just cut them out and put them in these cool frames. The flower and name tag are sandwiched between two pieces of glass in a metal frame. We then got to pick the color ribbon for our frame to attach it to our bag.

While waiting to start we socialized and enjoyed our choice of bagels, muffins, banana bread and a number of different homemade scones with lemon curd. There was also a boutique with tables for members to buy and sell items. Then we sat down at the table which had 8 clay pots with different flowers and ribbons tied around the pot. This was the one at my seat.


Later we learned that inside were three of the projects for the day (one of which I finished already). Wasn’t that a cute idea? I should probably tell you at this point that the theme of the retreat this year was “An Elizabethan Garden”. So we had lots of flowery stuff, blackwork and even information about knot gardens.

Now I am going to be a little forgetful in the order of the rest of these things, but not sure that matters much anyway!

We got a goodie bag (or two or three, or four). Everyone got a bag with these things inside. Going clockwise from the ladybug pincushion. A pair of Elizabethan themed scissors with cute fob; A felt covered notebook with stiched flower (colors varied); a mint tin (no mints inside, but a nice magnet to hold needles) with flower sticker; and a crow needlekeep. I have since been corrected it was a RAVEN not a crow.
 Below is the goodie bag contents I recieved because I had a pink flower stuck to the bottom of my chair. Library bookplates and cute little thread winders.
 This Vera Bradly tin was in the bag I got because I picked the number 4 from the basket.
This lovely scissor fob I recieved was because I had that medium blue ribbon tied to my chair.
 These are the bags the goodies came in (with appropriate tissue paper of couse).

I got a door prize. Some great cloth project bags! There were a number of door prizes and we got to put our names in the basket of the ones we would like to win. I also put my name in the basket for the bags made with a kind of sampler type fabric, but did not win those : (. But these are sure pretty too and I am happy to have won them.

We got 4 projects in pretty cloth project bags. I hope to show you the projects as I work on them throughout the year.

We got a cool decorated paper mache box with goodies inside and a project (which I am currently working on).
 Inside was a small round box mathcing the bigger box; the pink packet is holding 6 charms and the plastic bage underneath has the "knot garden" project that I am currently working on.
 Here you can see the charms and that the small round box had a pincushion inside!

We got some charts and information on blackwork and knot gardens

This is a notebook (composition book) cover and the kit is for an alphabet with a cute bunny that you stitch and then attach to the front cover. There were numerous fabrics for the cover with the linen to stitch on and thread to match the cover inside.

We just kept getting stuff to open and look at, but at some point we did stitch! We could pretty much choose which project to start on and I picked one from the clay pot called “Tulip’s a Buzz” by Kay Cavnar of Lilybet Designs. It was a freebie distributed by Wichel Imports – I am guessing distributed to shops. The copyright is 2010, so maybe it is still available? Anyway I finished the stitching Saturday night and did the finish finishing on Sunday. All the finishing supplies to make a pin keep were included in the kit (except the pins on the side). I have never finished a pin keep and I thought the ribbon in the kit was too wide, so I used some I had on hand. I was not sure how to attach the ribbon, since I thought if I used glue the pins would not go through! So the ribbon is just pinned on. This is for show anyway so I won’t be taking out the pins!

I think that about covers it, already can’t wait for next year, but there were so many projects! If I can’t get them done by the next retreat, I may have to start going every other year.  But it is so much fun anyway!!! I do believe everyone in attendance can’t wait for next year! OOPS I almost forgot to tell you about lunch. Two of the husbands cooked! They made a great soup for which I can’t recall the name, but it was a kind of minestrone with beans and tiny meatballs and pasta. They cooked it in crock pots and we could smell the yumminess  as we stitched! It was accompanied by Olive Garden’s salad and bread sticks. For desert were some yummy spice cup cakes, a chocolate bundt cake and a raspberry bundt cake. All to die for.

Try not to drool on your keyboards!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Murphy Dog

The year we got married we also got a fox red Labrador Retriever puppy. Our first dog and our first lab. He was the sweetest dog and we still miss him to this day. He left us way too early, at age 7, due to stomach cancer. I found a close-up I took of him when we lived in Iowa, so he would have been two or three years old. Kind of an artsy picture, but you can see his fox red color. I posted the picture on the side bar under the pictures of our current lab, Miss Maddie. We love her too, she is a sweet heart. Both dogs had similar personalities, but also different in a lot of ways too. Folks may differ in opinion but, LABS RULE!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Shell Game and WIPS

While unpacking and organizing my new studio space I discovered a WIP from 2006 that my Raleigh Chapter of ANG started. It is called “Shell Game” by Dakota Rogers and was from the ANG Chapter Project Notebook. When I pulled it out everything you see except the upper and lower right peach corners had been completed – well over 75 percent! Why I put it down I do not know. After I finish the peach corners the center is all that is left. It will have a woven shell and then real shell attached. I remember collecting shells for this in my travels to try and find ones that matched. Anyway it was so far along I thought I’d pull it out and work on it!

I took this picture last week, and I have been working on it. As of last night, all the peach corners are done. Now I start the center which involves padding and making a woven shell. Then real shells can be attached.

Which brings me to a new idea regarding WIPS. I think I will try and find them all and rate them as to percent finished. Then work on the ones with the least to do working toward the ones with the most to do. Maybe I will actually make a dent in them??? One can only hope.

Have a great day everyone!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Studio Re-Do & First Finish

Today I thought I’d talk about my studio. At our other house I had California Closest make me a work area. It was removable, so I had them take it down and put it back up in our new house. It fit pretty well, except the wall with windows would not hold all the cabinets, so one cabinet is not over a desk surface any more, but I put a lateral file there to prevent head bumps, and the corner shelf had to be cut down in width also to accommodate the cupboard on the window wall.

Here are pictures of the room before:

 These are the walls the system is going on to.

Here are pictures of the room after:
     Still needs a bit of organizing, but I am getting there!
Below is the system installed. You can see where the cabinet on the left is no longer over the desk space. In the other house the right corner had two cabinets, but this new house has a window in the way! It all worked out though.
Note Miss Maddie has reclaimed her "cave" spot in the corner under the desk. This was her favorite hide away at the other house and I barely had the system up before she reclaimed it!

I got it all set up and about organized – still have a little to do on that – but was able to complete my first project in the new studio. It is a 2” square ornament that was the May ANG Chapter meeting project. It was a needlepoint freebie by Jean Hilton off the Rainbow Gallery (RG) site called Rainbow Gem #1 (side note -  on the RG website the pictures for Gems#1 and #2 are switched). But if you like the one I did it is Rainbow Gem #1. If you decide to do this it was easier to do step 3 before step 2, also this was an alternative colorway the presenter of the program worked up. She gave us two other colorways besides the one on the chart and suggested the change in order of the steps. This worked out real well.


ENJOY!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

EUREKA! June TUSAL & Miss Maddie

The ort jar has been found!! And I placed all the orts I have accumulated since the last new moon into it. Last Friday (May 27), I had the California Closets Office System reinstalled into my new studio, and I spent the Memorial Day Weekend unpacking and putting things away (I will post more on this later) and I found the jar.



In a post that seems to have gotten lost in blogger land, I mentioned that I was a pilot stitcher for a possible future EGA Group Correspondence Course (GCC) and while I could not post pictures yet, my ort jar has orts from it. The dark peach, periwinkle, green and mauve threads are from that; I also discovered a WIP from 2006 that was well over half done and I pulled it out to work on (also a planned future post). It has some peach thread too. I see some lavender in there too and I am not sure what that is from….hmmm. Anyway, things are about back to normal after the move. We still have a few things to take care of and slowly but surely it is getting done.

We bought a tri-level with basement style house (also called split levels in some parts of the country) and I leave you with a picture of Miss Maddie at the top of the stairs that lead from the family room to the kitchen. She is mostly on the landing coming up from the living room that also have stairs (unseen in the photo) that lead to the bedrooms on the upper level. She seems to like to find a spot where she can keep track of everything (unless she is in one of her "caves"). She has a few spots in the house that is surrounded by walls and/or furniture that we call here cave. She seems to like some peace and quiet once in a while.
WOOF!