April update

Time for a little updating, well long overdue for a little updating actually. (inserting sheepish grin here)

The spring bug has bitten me and I really haven't wanted to be at my computer any longer than I have to - which has been far too long actually since work has been horribly busy. Leaving me little time for the more important things in life - stitching, quilting, knitting, walking my sweet little puppy, and the lesser ones - cooking, cleaning, laundry.

I received a wonderful package from sweet Melissa who sent along a gorgeous selection of coloured linens! Oh my, how beautiful these pieces are! I have to make sure to stitch just the right design on these to show the amazing colours. And how kind of Melissa to send these tasty linens along to me!! I'm sorry the picture just doesn't do them any justice.
At our stitching retreat (last post) I had a lesson on hand applique from my lovely friend Marg, which I sorely needed. My previous attempt at hand applique made for one very sad looking heart. But after some wonderful tips from her, this is what I have managed to get accomplished~
Uh, just don't look too closely at this please! This block is part of Block #7 for Leanne's House, which has been hanging about waiting for me to assemble for far too long. Of course I think I spent a year trying to get those final 3 blocks send to me after a horrendous experience with an online shop. Here is what the rest of Block #7 will look like, once I get the rest of the embroideries finished. But I haven't stopped stitching completely. I'm still plodding away at Mirabilia's Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky. My recent stitching hasn't been as exciting, since I've been working away at the frame area, which is full of very dull colours, but once done, looks far more interesting. Funny how you can work away at blobs of colour and placing a few random stitches here and there but when you back away from it, it really starts to look like something~
And I have to post a picture of sweet Bella. Hubby took this pic of her, while she was sitting in my chair, waiting for me to get home again. She hasn't grown very much and has stayed quite a small wee dog, but all the better to pick up and snuggle with!

Stitching Retreat

What a fantastic weekend! Ann (of Knowledge & Needles fame) organized a stitching retreat at Timber House in Brighton, just off the shore of Lake Ontario. And this place is gorgeous, huge windows 3 stories high, with tons of stitching room with beautiful natural light. Of course we all still came armed with assorted Ott lights and magnifiers as you can see from the pictures, that is all 18 of us! The bedrooms were lovely with big comfy beds when we needed to rest up for the next day of stitching. And food - well there was lots of it and it was all delicious. I neglected to take my camera to Ann's house where hubby Dan cooked up a scrumptious feast for us on Saturday afternoon. And of course a quick trip into the shop for some must-haves followed that.

I have lots of pictures of the stitching retreat to share....so here goes!
This is a shot of the great room, that I took from the upstairs dining area~

A shot of the dining area upstairs~One of the lovely bedrooms~

Awesome windows~And in case you are wondering what I did during this fabulous weekend~
This is Flock of Birds by Blackbird Designs. I started it on Friday shortly after we arrived at Timber House and finished it up last night. A quick, very sweet little design :-D

What a great weekend! Thanks Ann for organizing such a fantastic weekend for us all, its no wonder your next 2 retreats are already booked solid!

Blackbirding

I have some finishes to show ... finally!

My latest beauty, hot off the needle, and beautiful she is, even if I do say so myself. This is Sweetheart Sampler, a Loose Feather pattern from Blackbird Designs. Its an oldie but a goodie. I stitched this on the recommended fabric, 30 ct Kansas City Blend by R&R Reproductions, but once I started with the large alphabet, it looked far too chunky for me. So I switched to stitching over-1 thread and I was much much happier with it.
Uh, if you note at the bottom, it says Valentine's Day and I'm only just over a month late for this lovely occasion, or even better really, 11 months early for next year!

Next its pincushion-y time!
This is Buttons & Pins, also by Blackbird, finished on 40 ct remnant and finished into a pincushion. I found the crushed walnut shells recommended for filling these (bird cage litter in real life) and I love the weight and substance this filler gives these.

Small Tokens, one of the Nashville releases for Blackbird Designs. This is finished on 32 ct antique white linen with some very sweet crocheted trim. This one made a wee gift.

This Friday I'm going to a Stitching Retreat with ladies from Knowledge & Needles! This is my first weekend retreat and I am so excited. I just have to figure out what to pack. I think its time for a new start or two! My excuse is that I'm not taking my Dazor magnifier, so I will need some larger-for-my-old-eyes fabrics, and since most of what I have on the go lately is 32-and-up, well that's just as good an excuse for a new start as any I can think of.

I'm still offering up my contest (see last post) for a new phrase for finished-finished. The winner will get a lovely little something that has been finished-finished.

Meanwhile I better get back to working on my PhD (Project-half-Done) - a new phrase I learned last night!

What's the word for.....?

'Eggs' by Shepherds Bush, stitched on 32 ct antique white linen, with GAST and DMC

I finished up a quick little Shepherd's Bush piece last night ~ Eggs for Easter. Sometimes its just easy to pick up something and finish is in 2-3 days, I needed that quick finish. And shockingly for me, its actually done well in time for Easter. I am notorious for being on the back end of holidays. I start something before a holiday comes but never get it finished in time. I'll do a fabric dive later and see what I have to finish-finish this.

Speaking of...is there a word for finishing that I can't think of? I call something finished when I'm finished stitching it. But then there's the actual 'finishing' of it, that is making in into a finished piece, that I think I need a proper word for.

May be I could start a contest - whoever can come up with the best word for the actual 'finishing' of a stitched piece into something - needlebook, scissor fob, ornament, whatever. I'll gift a 'finished' object to whoever comes up with the best word.

Marj and I drove to Ann's Knowledge and Needles Open House on Sunday to see all the latest goodies she brought back from Nashville. It was so nice to see her and Dani and Christin and a few other ladies there. I was very very good and kept well within my budget.
Quakers & Quilts by Rosewood Manor, which calls for Valdani threads, which Ann also had but I didn't indulge in. And Celtic Cross by M Designs which I have coveted for a long time now.

And check out this lovely piece of Graziano gingham linen Ann had in stock - its perfect for this new Blackbird Designs piece called A Flock of Birds which is in the newest My Heart is True book. Ann is carrying several different colours of this and I was so happy to get it. Now I can't wait to start this lovely design - its my favourite in the new book.

And speaking of Blackbird Designs, Sue started a new blog for Blackbird lovers. Be sure to visit to see everyone's gorgeous stitching!

Cuba

Warning - very picture heavy!

What can I say about Cuba other than we had a perfect time! Beautiful country, beautiful weather, beautiful people = wonderful vacation. Although we seemed to spend most of our time at the poolside, we did get for a wonderful hour-long walk each morning along the ocean, spent a lot of time in the various restaurants, bars and buffet, and we did get in to Havana for a day trip. I wish I could go back tomorrow!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...The main building
Poolside~
View of the first pool
The hottub...come of my favourite spots!
Ahhh, the ocean!

The next hotel had a lighthouse!
Havana~
...with such cool cars from the 50's.
On a side street - looking into a courtyard.

Gifted!

Gasp - look at this treasure trove of knitting loveliness! I was blown over the other day by getting all these wonderful gifts from dear Nancy, a wonderful stitching/knitting/quilting friend.

The knitting/stitching bag at the top is the most gorgeous bag, with all kinds of extra pockets for slipping in a little sustenance to keep a knitter/stitcher going strong! There is a lovely book of knitting stitches, and to the left, an ingenious worm binder, yes, that's right, a worm binder. Its perfect for holding all our circular needles (which are my favourite, uh circular needles, that is, not worms). Some new sock patterns which are my most favourite thing(s) to knit and an absolutely gorgeous purple/blue/green flat of wool called Flat Feet. Its been hand painted after being knitted by machine. The idea is to start unravelling as you knit so come up with your own unique pattern. How cool is that? No more balls of yarn to get tangled ... or played with by not-so-innocent little puppies. I am still in awe of all this lovelies and have had the most fun by taking everything out of my new bag and playing with it all. Thank you, Nancy!!!

Stitching-wise....I'm still at my CHS alphabets and I expect I will be happy dancing very shortly. But meanwhile I couldn't resist a little detour, with one of my new favourite designers, Blue Ribbon Designs~
Valentine Wishes - stitched on 28 ct Blush Pink Cashel, with GAST threads.

Sorry for the dark pictures - its endlessly gloomy around here - with another day of rain....yes, that's right rain. It has turned our snow into glops of messy disgusting piles. But the cold air is returning tonight and I'm sure it will turn everything back into a skating rink.

Fine by me....I'm on the final countdown because a week today hubby and I will be vacationing in Cuba - hot sun, white sandy beach, stitching in one hand, and a mojito in the other!

Moving on!

Thank you all for the encouragement to keep with my CHS alphabet. Seriously I was ready to toss it aside for greener (actually snowy) pastures, but with so many ready to do some happy dancing with me, I felt I couldn't let anybody down. So the alphabet made its way back on the stitching hoop and W for Willow got finished off last night. Then I moved right on over to 'X'.

Lookee what the mailman brought home this week - my Quaker Friendship RR, completed! Isn't it gorgeous! Everyone did a fantastic job stitching on it. I used a DMC variegated thread for the centre motif and asked everyone to chose one of the matching threads to stitch their section. I really wanted to see the change-over from each person who stitched on it and I think it turned out beautifully. This poor RR group has had some issues with someone who left the group and absconded with 3 people's pieces and threads! Unbelievable to have someone drop off the face of the earth and keep others' RR's. We were so lucky to have lovely Valerie step in and take over and unfortunately then get swamped with RR's. Thanks Rowyn, Edgar, Donna, Carol and Valerie for stitching on this beautiful keepsake for me!!
And finally ~ I've been tagged by Melissa to name 5 addictions. And if you haven't dropped by Melissa's blog, be sure to swing over that way and check out her gorgeous stitching (and knitting :0D)

5 addictions (well, I'll name the top 5, or we'll be here for a while)
1. Stitching ..... of course!
2. Quilting.
3. Blog reading.
4. My doggies.
5. and my newest downfall ~ Honey Ginger Green tea (President's Choice brand).

Have a great stitchy weekend!