A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

More reading than stitching since I have been in a bit of a reading mood the last few weeks.  I am in the process of reading Christmas Boutique by Jennifer Chiaverini.  I think what started this reading trend was our bookmobile returning (pick up and drop of only) and I finally broke down and bought a Kindle. Here is what I have read so far.

Lost Among the Angels	Alice Duncan
Angels Flight	Alice Duncan
Fallen Angels	Alice Duncan
Angels of Mercy	Alice Duncan
Thanksgiving Angels	Alice Duncan
Scraps of Paper	Kathryn Meyer Grifith
Owl Be Home for Christmas	Donna Andrews
Love & Death Among the Cheetahs	Rhys Bowen
The Victory Garden	Rhys Bowen
What Child is This	Rhys Bowen
Above the Bay of Angels	Rhys Bowen
A View to Die For	Richard Houston
Christmas Bells	Jennifer Chiaverini

I have also been quilting and did a little finishing, so here goes the updates.

I  have worked a bit more on the Maria Antoni Sampler and it is a little over 1/4 done.

I also put together the blocks for a quilt top and moving on to the borders.

I used Layer Cake pre-cuts from the Moda Fabrics Farmhouse II collection and solid white layer cake pre-cuts (10" squares). I then followed Layer Cake Recipe Card 2 to create the needed half square triangles and sewed them together to make the T blocks. Used my "fancy" design wall (the back of a fleeced plastic tablecloth binder clipped to my bookshelf).

I also made a disappearing four patch star based on month 4 of the Missouri Star Quilt Company's 2020 block of the month club. I am not a club member, but used their you tube video to recreate the block using my fabric. It was fun!!

Finally I did a bit of finishing, turning this gingerbread man I stitched in 2014 into an ornament. It was from a challenge put out by the Columbine ANG chapter in Denver, CO to trace a cookie cutter and stitch an ornament.

I think that covers it for now. Take care everyone and 

Happy Stitching!!!!!!!!!!

Cross Stitch Magazines Plus a WIP

I have some magazines from the 1980s and a few earlier ones wondering if I should keep them? I probably have not looked at them since I got them! Are they worth moving to Arizona? Off to Goodwill?
What do you think?
Here is my current WIP. It is Snowcrystal Tree (c) 2010 Nancy Buhl - From Nancy's Needle. My Columbine ANG. Chapter project for September & October.

Happy Stitching!

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Progress on Santa

This is my progress on Libby Sturdy's Mile High Santa. A Colorado Columbine ANG project.

I just need to decide what to stitch for the background as designed or a suggested alternative.

I am also testing a blog post app to use on iPad.

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Stitch N' Pitich

Last night was the Colorado Rockies Stitch N' Pitch night - go here for more information on this nation wide (dates vary) event. Basically it is sponsored by TNNA - The National Needlearts Association and major league baseball. It combines two great past times, needlework and baseball.

One of my local ANG chapters, Columbine, got a group together and we met at the ball park. The Rockies also let us provide something in the goody bag they passed out to help promote the chapter. I met a fellow chapter member at her house and we drove to the light rail station and took the train to the 16th Street Mall and then we took the free mall bus to Wyncoop St. and walked 4 blocks to Gate E which is where we met the other chapter members.

This was my first time at a Stitch N' Pitch and my first time at a Rockies game, so I had a double good time. The stadium is beautiful and I understand that if you sit in right field and maybe first base, you can see the Rocky Mountains. I can't show you what I worked on while there since it is a gift for someone, but I did stitch until it got too dark to see the holes. Most of our group brought needlework of some sort, cross stitch, needlepoint and wool applique. I brought a small painted canvas so I could just fill in the colors and not have to worry about looking at a chart and it was 18 count so not too hard to see. I hope to go again next year!

Below is the goody bag we received by showing our ticket. Stitch N' Pitchers were all in the same section high up on the third base side. We sat almost a mile high - seats in the stadium at the mile mark the entire seat purple (click on the middle ball field picture to see them), and we were 5 rows below those. Someone said they put us high up so we won't get hit by a foul ball while stitching! :)

 Inside our bag were two balls of 50% NZ wool/ 50% alpaca blended yarn in Rockies purple, a crochet magazine, a post card announcing the Rocky Mountain Weaver's Guild sale, a coupon for a place in North Carolina that makes needle work tools (Twin Birch Products) and some lotion in a tin from Lavisha which is a local (Elizabeth, Colorado) company. The Columbine Chapter gave out glow in the dark bracelets with a tag on it with information about our chapter.

 As the song goes it was "A beautiful day for a ball game..." It started out in the mid 80s and by the end of the game the scoreboard said it was around 72 degrees. There was a slight breeze and over all it was very pleasant. We were also on the left field side so, while we could not see the mountains, we were not in the sun.

 In the photo above you can see the "Rockpile" which are the separate set of seats basically out in center field. I believe those seats are the least expensive seats in the ball park and lots of folks have a great time out there.

Most of the other people around us chose to knit at the Stitch N' Pitch, our group seemed to be the only ones using a needle with and eye. I had a great time, too bad the Rockies lost.

Columbine Chapter of ANG Gift Exchange

At our November ANG meeting (there is no December meeting) we had our annual potluck and gift exchange. It did not have to be something made by us, so my gift to give was a pair of Fiskars foldable scissors. One can never have too many scissors! Here is what I got from Madonna (aka Front Range Stitcher).

Santa is painted on a gourd and is already hanging on our tree. The socks say Stitching Girl (so appropriate) and the luggage tag is a fund raiser for the 2012 EGA National Seminar. It says Stitch in many different languages.