A Cross Stitch Update!

Hi there cloud friends!  Thanks so much for all the sweet things you said about my family.  I am really missing them.  The good thing is we have had a very busy week!  The weather has been very nice and we have worked in the garden a lot.  After breaking that vertebrae and the surgery, the garden was really ignored last Fall.  So now we have a lot to clean up. But it's great to be able to do it and enjoy the outdoors!
I do have several cross stitch things to share.

Here is the framed Ann Topley by Scarlett House.  It looks very different from the one on the chart as it was stitched on a very dark fabric.  I do like the way this turned out.  It seems bright and cheerful to me.

 The frame is from Valley House Primitives.  If you have followed this blog, you know that Janet is my all time favorite frame builder.  Janet and her DH run this wonderful business.  The frames are just perfect for samplers or anything else you might stitch. Plus Janet is very helpful!  This is a new design she was working on.  I love it. It reminds me of the old frames made of tiger maple.  Now to find a special place to hang it. Thanks so much Janet for all your help!

 Here is my impulsive project.  I saw the design and decided to get it going at once!! I usually stitch on one thing at a time .  I think I am changing.  I am still doing my monthly Santa and one Halloween ornament plus the long term project. However, I fell in love with the pretty Fall colors and I have wanted a bag for quite a long time.  This seems the right project for the bag.

 Sorry for the wrinkles!

This is "A Ghoultide Welcome"  by Plum Street Samplers.  I have nick-named it the monster house.  It is 81 stitches across.  This is the long term project.  When I fly, I like to have a very simple design to stitch.  See those big solid spaces at the top and above the last row of windows, that was the airplane project.  I figured that I stitched 404 stitches each way on the trip.  The good news is that the solid rows are now done for the house! Actually that's not true as I still have the roof to stitch!

Well, thanks so much for joining me today.  Have a wonderful week-end!

A Visit!

We just spent a wonderful week in Alabama with our son and his family.  We had not seen them for over a year because of my back accident.  That's way too long!  Especially when we have a 10 year old grandson and a 2 1/2 year old granddaughter.  We also got to know our wonderful DIL and her son so much better.  We could not ask for a sweeter and more thoughtful DIL and her son was just amazing with the two small  children.  We also had lots of time for quality talks with our son as he took 4 days off to spend with us and the family.
If you just read this blog to see the stitching then come back tomorrow.  I have lots to show, but since I think of this blog as a kind of  diary, this one is all about family.

 I have a picture of my DH and Caleb when he was just about this age.  I'm going to have this made into a picture that I can frame and put it next to the one of Grandpa and Caleb.

 Our wonderful DIL, Kacey, and Hannah.

 Ian and Hannah.  This shows the kind of big brother he is to the little ones.

 

 Sweet Little Hannah!

 Very special Caleb! 

 This is the only picture I could find of our son Jeff, not a great photo but it will have to do. 

Just a cute picture!

Thanks so much for joining me.  My next post will be really full of stitching!

Tulips

Happy Spring and to those who celebrate it, a very Happy Easter!!!

It's been awhile!

Hi there cloud friends!  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted.  We have been busy.  I blame it all on the PT I have to do each day.  I do exercises for about 30 minutes every day.  Every other day I add about 20 more minutes.  That plus walking on the tread mill or outside for 30 minutes a day.  Yes , it is all helping my back more slowly than I would like.  Considering what could have happened with this type of injury, I know that I am very lucky and try not to complain.  Well, on to more interesting things.
I am keeping up with the Santas. I even have March finished.  I decided that I want to have at least 5 little pillows for my bowl by summer so I have added that to the mix.  They will be patriotic/summer designs. I have started Plum Street's " A Ghoultide Welcome"  for my long term design. That is quite a project.  The house alone is 81 stitches across!  Finally, I have added some pretty flowers that are blooming right now. 

 This is Happy 4th by Threadwork Primitives.  I used linen and thread that I had in my stash. The reds were DMC 355 and 356. I'm not sure about the blue and brown. I put them back in the stash already.

 This is by Little House Needleworks, the Sampler Tree Ornament Series. This one is called 

"Deer Valley Inn."

 

 Here we have a Santa from Book #36.  I changed the color of his suit and put in  snowflakes instead of the date and an anchor.

 The garden is really looking like Spring.

I love this double Hellebore.

I hope you are all doing well and  thank you so much for joining me today!!

Cross Stitch and Flowers

Hi there cloud friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We had a nice quiet one here in the very rainy Pacific NW.  As my title says, the rain has been good for flowers.  Plus the temps have been fairly warm(50's) so things are starting to grow.  After my PT 30 minute walk, I treat myself to a stroll through the yard.
I stitched my second Santa. As I said in my last post, I am trying to do one a month for the tree that I bought.  I am very close to finishing Ann Topley 1802 by The Scarlett House.  It looks very different from the original as I did not use the suggested dark linen.  However, the colors are nice and soft.  I think they would stand out more on the dark fabric but I do like the way this looks.  Ann used lots of colors.  Who knows, maybe she just had scraps way back in 1802!  I am thinking of my next big project.  I am enjoying the rotation of 2 small designs each month (one Halloween and one Santa)  and one big project to work on when the small ones are finished.

 When I said soft colors, they are not this soft.  It is so hard to get a good photo when it is so gray outside! Just a few more days and Ann will be finished.

 I love the rocking horse in this design. 

 That hyacinth flower is coming out of the ground!

 Tulips!

 I have never seen these little guys this early!!!

 Flower buds, not just stems!

 Of course, the beautiful Hellebore's are starting to bloom.  That's more what I expect this time of year.

 This should be lovely in a few days.

 Here's one of my Valentine gifts from my DH.  I look out this window every day.  It is right by the kitchen sink.  We went shopping for these Primroses last week and he did the planting.  I smile every time I look out of that window!

Thank you so much for joining me today.  I hope you all have a great week.  Here in the US , Mon. is a holiday so enjoy President's Day!!

Another Catch Up!

Hi there cloud friends!  It seems that I am always catching up these days.  If you are in the East, I hope you have managed to stay warm and safe.  I heard how many people died of heart attacks shoveling snow.  I am thankful we have very little snow out here, at least  in the lowlands where we live.  My DH would be one of the ones out there shoveling like crazy.  We are just dealing with lots of rain-no surprise there.  It's what Seattle in known for, that and coffee.
Last week we stopped in a shop in town and found a cute Christmas tree for 60% off.  I thought it would make a great Santa tree so I am stitching one PS Santa a month.  It will take awhile to fill the tree, but in the mean time , I can put other things on the tree with the Santas. I'm also still working on Ann Topley 1802.  I will stitch a Santa at the beginning of the month and then go back to Ann for the remainder of the month. At least that's the plan for now.

 Here is the tree.  Sorry for the mess, it is already in the attic waiting for next Christmas!

 This is my second Santa.  It is from Book No. 20 "St. Nicholas". I changed the red and the gold.  The red is 3777 and the gold is 437.  I also changed a few of the minor colors. I used a small piece of linen from my stash. I'm not sure what it is.

 I have most of the letters stitched.  This design has a lot of different colors. I am enjoying the stitching but still not sue about all the colors.

 I picked this up at the grocery store for $7 after Christmas. These two flowers are worth that money!

I closed with a mountain view last post.  This time I will close with a beach post.  We had a nice sunny day last week and part of my PT is walking for 30 minutes.  This was the perfect place to take that walk.

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you are all having a great week, stay warm and safe.

Catch Up!

Hi there cloud friends.  We have had a busy time since Christmas.  First, I want to let you  know that according to the surgeon, my back has fused as he hoped it would.  Thank Goodness! That means that PT can get harder.  I am actually happy about that.  I saw a diagram of all the tiny muscles in the back.  Mine have done very little since that difficult day in Sept.!! That means that I still have quite a bit of discomfort in my back.  The only way to get better is exercise and strengthen those very lazy muscles.   I do my series of exercises everyday faithfully!!  Thanks to all of you who have wished me well.
I have been able to stitch all along(thank heavens or I would have gone crazy).  Books , cross stitch, and my wonderful DH have kept me from going crazy!! I'll show you the stitching I have been up to.

 This was my first finish of the year.  It is LHN "Christmas in the Country" from The Sampler Tree Ornament Series.   I am in the process of getting several of these finished.  This is the last one to be completed. Finally a house that isn't red! The color of all of my designs is very poor today due to the dark day we are having.

 I was waiting for some linen to be delivered so why not stitch a Halloween design!  I have this in my to do basket and it was all ready to go.  It is a PS design called,"Knock! Knock!" I will just keep this in the basket and when I finish a design if I have to wait for supplies to come in the mail, I will work on this one. I do plan to add color.

 Here is the design I am stitching on now.  I am not using the black linen.  I am using Lakeside Linen Sand Dune.  That is requiring me to change a few floss colors.  I didn't like the idea of stitching on black linen and I stitch for fun!  It's that simple.

Yea! The border meets.  When I am stitching a piece with a border, I always do the simplest part of the border.  That way if I have to frog, I won't have as much to deal with.  Now I can go back and add the details.

I will close with a photo of our amazing Olympic Mountains. We are all so happy to have all that snow this year.  If it is a sunny day, this is my view as I go shopping! I think I'm very lucky!! 

Thanks so much for joining me today! Have a wonderful week!

A Christmas Finish!

A very Merry Christmas to all of you, my cloud friends.  I finished "Promised Lamb" by Plum Street Samplers.  It was fun to stitch and I think it will make a beautiful pillow.  I have changed the colors so if anyone would like to know what I did, I will be happy to share the flosses that I used. I'm also sharing the adorable Woolpet Elf that my DD made for us.  Again I hope you all have the Merriest of Christmases!!!

 As you can tell, I have not pressed this or blocked it yet.

Doesn't this just make you want to smile!!

Thanks for joining me on the Christmas Eve!

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Hi all!  It is December 14th, my day to post on Jo's Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  Thanks so much Jo, for organizing this blog hop.  Jo has a great blog at Serendipitous Stitching.  So if you haven't been over to visit her, take a look and I know you will enjoy her blog.
I have chosen a piece that I stitched in 2009 to share with you today.

This is " A Weary World Rejoices" by Shakespeare's Peddler.  I have added the explanation of the symbolism that the designer chose. I still put this up in my foyer each Christmas season.  I love it for two reasons. One, the title is taken from one of my favorite Christmas Carols, and two, it is designed as a sampler.
  We are asked to describe our traditions on Christmas Eve.  This is not easy because it seems like ours keep changing.  Our children are grown and that makes a difference.  Every other year we go to Alabama to spend Christmas with our son, daughter-in-law and our two wonderful grand children.  This is not our year to go so it will be much simpler.   I picture that we will spend the day quietly.  I will probably do some stitching and my DH will do some Sudoku.  We will go out for a very nice lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in the early afternoon.  The most important part of the day will be attending Church services that evening.  We are Lutheran so we have not been singing Carols only songs that celebrate  the Advent season.  I always look forward to the candle light service and the singing of the Christmas Carols. After Church we will watch a Christmas movie and enjoy some eggnog and cookies.
Christmas Day will be much busier as we are having friends for dinner. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas!

Hannah's Ornament

Hi there cloud friends!  I have really enjoyed reading all your blogs and seeing how you are preparing for the coming holidays.  We have all the decorating finished thanks to my DH.  I have done quite a bit but when I poop out due to a very tired back, he takes over.  I have started PT.  So far, they are just trying to get my stamina built back up.  I am not allowed to do any real bending or twisting until I see the surgeon in Jan. Hopefully at that time, the bones will be where he wants them and I will be able to go on with more strenuous PT. This whole thing is just taking patience which I am not very good at demonstrating. At least I can stitch as long as I take a walking break every hour. So I finished little Miss Hannah's Christmas ornament. As you know, I don't love finishing so it did take a few days to get it finished.  I used the flat ornament directions from "The Twisted Stitcher".  Vonna gives wonderful directions. Thanks Vonna!!

This is "Peppermint Twist!" by Little House Needleworks. We are having a very dark rainy day  so sorry for the dark photo!

 Here is the cutie herself! Miss Hannah!

 This was last year's ornament. I have forgotten the title but it was also a Little House Needleworks design.

I am also stitching The Promised Lamb from Plum Street Samplers.  I am really enjoying that project.  I will show my progress on the next post. Thanks so much for joining me today.  I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my Cloud Friends!  I am thankful for all of you!

A Little Bit of Everything!

Hi there cloud friends!  I'm sure this is a busy week for many of you here in the US with the big eating holiday coming on Thurs.  We were suppose to spend it with our son, DIL, and grand children this year.  Due to my back, a 12 hour travel day is just not going to happen.  I am not complaining as a dear friend has invited us for dinner.  Plus, she won't let me bring anything!! I do have so many things to be thankful for that I think it will be a good holiday. We went out for a very brief walk in the garden or what is left of it, so I have a few final garden photos to share with you .  Plus we got some wonderful snow in the mountains. Last but not least, I stared a Christmas sampler at the end of last week.

 Well, you can tell I took this photo when the sun was fading.  The linen is Lakeside Linen Vintage Examplar, a light pretty color, not this nasty drab color you see here! The design is by Plum Street Sampler called, Promised Lamb.  The border is very pretty and the entire design has the look of a sampler.

 The majestic Olympic Mountains!

 The Golden Rain Drop crab apple is just full of these little golden crab apples. The sky really was that blue yesterday.

The Santa Claus fushia  still has a few red and white flowers.

 Thanks so much for taking a look at my blog.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!