A Big thanks and Cross Stitch!!

I have read it often that the blogging and stitching communities are full of nice people.  Well, I am the proof that it is true.  So many of you took time , not only  to read about my "grinch" visit at Christmas , but commented and wished me well. I realize that it is such a busy time, I was moved to tears to think you took time to visit my blog and many of you commented.  THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  It felt so good to get enough energy to finally get to the computer and then to read your comments. Thanks to all the well wishes and some very good medicine and LOTS of water, I am much better.  Still a lot of coughing but that part just takes time.  I tried to drown it with water and the Dr.  said that was one of the best things I could do.(FYI, just in case the Grinch finds you).
I do have a few pictures to share.  On the day after Christmas, the DH(who is now in the clutches of the Grinch) took me for a little ride.  I have also continued to work on Margaret Cottam, and I have my New Years stitch picked out.

 A few more days, and Margaret will be finished.  I have made lots of color changes.  If you do have any questions, I'd be happy to share.

 I love the little scene at the bottom. It is hard to believe she was only 9 years old! 

 This is my New Year's choice.  The words are the old weather saying," Red at night, Sailor's delight......." This has special meaning for me.  My dad was an amateur sailor and built two of his own boats.  When I was a little child, he always recited this to me ,so  this was a project I wanted to stitch.

 Our beautiful Olympics, finally with some much needed snow!

 The bridge at the bottom of the picture is called The Hood Canal Bridge.  It connects the Kitsap Peninsula(where we  live) with the beautiful Olympic Peninsula.

Thank you again for all the well wishes.  I hope all of you have a very happy and most importantly a healthy 2015!!

A Visit From the Grinch!

The Grinch has paid me a visit this Christmas in the form of the flu!!!!!! and yes, I had the flu shot!  So no beautiful candle light service at our Church, no dinner with friends, and no brunch with my DD and SIL.  But I am still able to appreciate the joy and beauty of Christmas and it's amazing story of love.  I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and the Grinch stays far from your home.

 I finally got this finished.  It was stitched form last years JCS Christmas ornament issue.

 At least I can look out the window from my couch and see this pretty little visitor, a varied thrush!

Again, have a wonderful Christmas.  I'm back to my couch, tylenol, and tissues!!

A Finish and some Green!

Thanks for joining me today and I hope all of you that celebrate Christmas are getting things done and finding time to enjoy this beautiful season. I have the goal of making my grand -daughter, Hannah, a Christmas ornament each year.  Those of you who know how slow I am at finishing can understand that for me, this is quite a commitment.  Anyway, it is finished and I will get it in the mail tomorrow.
We have a Christmas song that they play quite a bit up here.  It is called,"Christmas in the Northwest."  My favorite line in the song is, " Christmas in the Northwest is a gift God wrapped in green."  When I got up this morning and looked out the window I thought of that line.  I grabbed the camera to share the "green" with you.

 I love the back fabric for a child's ornament. See the snowmen.

 This was just the right edging.  I got it some time ago at a  sewing expo. I wish I had more.

 All the following pictures were taken off our deck.  We have the same view out the window of the master bedroom.

 Some people don't like the moss.  I think it is quite pretty

 We have lots of these big sword ferns growing wild.  They stay green all winter.

 

Even my hellebores are showing life. I will have flowers soon.

Thanks again and have a wonderful week!!

All About Cross Stitch!

I hope everyone had a nice week-end.  We are finished with the Christmas decorating -thanks to my DH who put up the tree yesterday and did much of the ornament hanging!!  That means that this week I will get any shopping done that I need to do.  Then, hopefully, we can sit back and enjoy the holidays! As the title says, this post is all about the stitching I have been doing.

 I made this design into a sleeve that goes around a small quilted pillow. I had fabric left form the shams I made many years ago.  So I was able to match the fabrics.  I guess it pays to never throw out any fabric! The design is by Homespun Elegance.

 Sorry the little brass star is crooked!! I wanted to show the quilted pillow.  It looks much  more primitive than the photo shows.  In fact, the red is much more of a barn red.  Not the best day for taking pictures if you want the true color.

 If you remember, I found this wonderful little frame at an antique shop for very little  money right around Halloween time.  I put the witch silhouette in the frame in October.   It is solid walnut and I just love it.

 Here is my current project.  It is the Margaret Cottam Sampler.(Sorry for the wrinkles)  It is by La-D-Da and I believe it came out as a mystery sampler a few years ago.  The chart is in 3 parts. The linen I am using is Vintage Sand Dune 32 ct. by Lakeside Linens. I love the big flower border.  So very happy it matched!!!!!!!!

The chart called for WDW Baked Apple for the flowers.  I did not like the color as well as this GA color called Country Redwood.  The ladies at the shop said it was one of the newer colors.  If you like a barn red, you will love this color. It is quite variegated.

I have really enjoyed all your blogs and seeing all the many wonderful Christmas decorations and the Christmas stitching you have done.  Thanks for joining me today.

Lucky Me!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We had a great time with friends and family.  I must admit that wonder knee (my replaced knee) was very tired by the time it was all over.  It took a few days for me to get back to where I was before spending 2 days on my feet cooking.  Well, the main purpose of this post is to show you the beautiful ornament I received form Andrea.  Her great blog is called "The Craft Room". If you are not following her blog, go over and have a look. I know you will enjoy it.

 As soon as my tree goes up, this pretty ornament will be on it!

 I was amazed at this beautiful beaded finish on the ornament.  I emailed Andrea and asked her what she used for filling,  it was so firm and well done.  She just uses the regular filling.  I think I am not putting in nearly enough. Her finishing was just perfect.

In addition to the ornament, Andrea included this very pretty card that she made.  Thank you so much for the wonderful gift!

I will be doing a post this week-end to show you my latest project and one of the finishes. I hope you all have a great week-end and thanks for joining me today!

Some Little Projects!

I hope all of you are having a great week-end.  I can't help but think of the poor folks in the Buffalo area and all that snow.  Now it  looks like a big melt is coming.  We had a few very cold days.  Actually extremely cold for this part of the world.  Many trees and bushes still had leaves so now they look very pathetic as they all froze and are now drooping badly.  We won't really know till Spring if any serious damage was done to the plants.  I hope they will all be just fine!
I have done a little work on a few ornaments.  Now just to get myself together and get them finished! If you have read my blog for awhile, you know that finishing is not my favorite thing!!! I am determined to get them finished right after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy them this year.

 This is a   Homespun Elegance design.  I do have the brass star that goes in the Y.

 Each year, I find myself drawn to the PS Santas.  I used Whisper for the coat and beard so they are kind of fuzzy. This cute guy will go in the antique oval frame we found this Fall.

 This will be Hannah's ornament for this year.  I still need to add beading to the tree.  This is a Little House Needleworks  design.

 I stitched Santa last year.  He is from an old issue of the JCS ornament magazine.

 Looks like I will have a Thanksgiving cactus this year.  I had put it out on the deck last summer and just before the freeze, I remembered it.  I was so happy to see it full of buds.  Many of the buds are now open.

Thanks for joining me and I wish all of you in the US a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Winter Is Here!

I have seen the snow in many parts of our country.  It seems very early for that much winter weather.  Wasn't it yesterday we were eating on the deck?  The old expression "time flies" is so true.  We woke up to winter here in the Seattle area.  No snow but very cold, temps in the 20's.  You notice I'm not really complaining.  I am one of the weird people that can deal with being cold better than being hot!
Anyway, I have stopped Fall stitching and am trying to get a bit of a head start on Christmas.  I actually have much less Christmas stitching than Halloween.  This year, however, I am enjoying a few holiday designs.

 Here is my final Word Play design.  I stitched all but two, October and June.  If you saw my last post, you know that I have more  than enough Halloween designs.  I did the PS June and it goes in the place on the wall where I hang the Word Plays.  This color is really off. I stitched on Lakeside Linen's Vintage Sand Dune and the red I used was GA Cranberry.  I also changed the green that was called for.  I wanted a more pine green color.

 Can you believe this is the same linen as above? That shows you how bad both colors are showing up today on my camera.  This looks almost pink-yuck!  Anyway it does show the wonderful Valley House Primitive frame that I use for all the Word Plays.

 When I shared my plans with them, they put this wonderful back on the frame so I can easily change the design from month to month!

 The frozen bird bath!!

 This has never happened before and we never close down the fountain until November. It is really frozen. I hope there will be no cracks!

Still a bit of wonderful Fall color on the pyracantha .

Thanks for joining me and if you are in this polar vortex, stay warm!!

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for joining me on this festive day.  I hope you all have fun tonight.  We will have lots of trick-or-treaters.  My DH,DD, and SIL will join me on the porch passing out the goodies. The rain has finally stopped! Well, this is far from all the Halloween things I have stitched.  My little grandson has one for each year until this year-that means he has 8.  This collection does cover many years.  I first started stitching when I quit quilting because of arthritis in my hands so that goes way back. These are in no particular order. Thanks again for taking your time to look at them.

 This little gem took one week of frogging!!! I did the whole second floor and as I worked to the top, it did not work. I had missed one stitch a so I could not reach the peak!

 My first Halloween stitch!

Obviously not a cross stitch but my favorite Halloween photo! He was two when this was taken.  Now he's 9.

 Again a very Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!