A gift

I just wanted to share this wonderful Christmas gift I received from my good friend, Erika. Lots of fabric which will really come in handy for my finishing. Lots of great colors to choose from. The ornament which I am going to stitch and add to my ornament collection for next year. I also wanted you to see her beautiful card. Erika, you do such a great job. I also loved Madison's. So cute. She loved her clothespin doll. I will post it here after we finish it this week. I am still working on my 2012 plan which I hope to post later this week. I am off from work until Friday so I am hoping to get that done and some stitching of course. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know I did!

~Maureen~

A few finishes and some fun

 A few more ornaments to share. I loved BeckySC's ornament challenge. I hope she does it again next year. I made ornaments this year that I wouldn't have done otherwise. I made 10 in all and have several new ornaments to add to my collection. This ornament I made up to remember this very sweet movie I saw for the first time this year. It actually came out in 2003. Where have I been? Well I loved it now and  I have ordered a copy of it so I am excited to be able to watch it whenever I want.  I just can't seem to get enough of it. Anyone else have movies like that. If not, I must need a life!
The Believe ornament is a freebie from the Sampler
Girl. I love red fabric at Christmastime!

The next few ornaments I did for the challenge. The Happy Holidays is from Woolen Thread, The little tree is from Bent Creek, and the last one is from an old magazine and I don't even remember who is the designer. I just liked it.

That's all my stitching for now. I am winding down my 2011 stitching and getting ready for 2012. I hope to post my plan next week. I am still working on it.


I am ending my post today with a little bit of fun.

Here is a picture of  my Madison and her Aunt (my sister) with their Birthday Crowns on. Their birthdays are 3 days apart so we celebrated them together.

The last picture is Madison with her good friend Abby, who came to sleep over for Madison's Birthday. They had a ball and it was funny because they didn't know they had the same PJ's until that night when they went to put them on. So of course I had to take a picture. Aren't they sweet!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and be safe if you are travelling!

~Maureen~

Some Christmas Finishes

 This cute snowman is my 8th ornament in the ornament challenge. It is Sam Sarah's Twinkle and was such a fun stitch. He will be added to my snowman ornament collection.

 Well, the Bills, what can I say about the Bills? They need major help! Well anyway I made this cute pillow for my hubby who, sadly yes, is a bills fan. He has been since he was a kid so he can't desert them now in their time of need.

 I loved how this turned out. I was reading Faye's blog http://www.carolinastitcher.blogspot.com/ and she had made 5 of these finished different ways. Just fabulous! It was a freebie bt The Primitive Hare which you can find here:http://www.theprimitivehare.blogspot.com/.

 So to end this post here is a picture of Perry in one of his favorite spots. On top of the blanket I made Madison last year for her birthday. So Santa is going to bring him one of his own. Madison is going to rub her scent all over it so he'll love it even more.

That's all I have today.  More shopping to do and cookies to bake so hopefully I'll something to show soon.
I don't want to scare anyone but there are 17 days left until Christmas. OMG!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Maureen

A few finishes

 Hello all,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent some time with family. I thought this was going to be a super quick post but I uploaded more pictures than I thought. First I have this little princess pillow which I made for my little princess who will be turning 8 years old on Friday. This pattern was inspired by her.

 The next two are are some ornament finishes. My last post are the ornaments unfinished.  the tree and Jolly are the two finshed ones. I still have a few more to finish which I will probably post next week.(hopefully!) These will both look nice in my Christmas decorated home.

This last photo is not very stitchy but I wanted to show it anyway. I follow this blog called sew many ways. Maybe some of you follow it too. Karen has such great ideas and uses for everything. I made this little wreath for my table. The base of it is the plastic part of the top of a candle jar. I added the bow and the little votive and now I have a cute mini wreath. The glass part of the top I use for a tea light. She is so clever. You can check out her ideas at: http://www.sewmanyways.blogspot.com/.

I will be back next week with some stitchy goodness! Have a stitch filled week!

Maureen

Ornaments

 Hello all,
I am doing Beckysc's ornament challenge and so far I have 5 ornaments stitched but only 1 finished. This is an ornament from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. It is called  the Half Hour ornament by Lizzie Kate. If you need a quick gift for someone this is your ornament. I think it took less than a half hour. There are white beads scattered around the top which are not visible from the picture. It turned out alot cuter than I thought it would.

These 4 ornaments I still need to figure out how I want to finish them. Jolly is also from the 2011 ornie issue and HoHoHo is a Lizzie Kate. The Happy Holidays and the Christmas tree are old patterns I had in my stash. Isn't stash great. I usually can always find what I need but I still am always thirsting for more. The more the better I always say!
When I finish these ornies I will post them. What kind of Christmas stitching is everyone doing this season?
Welcome to all my new followers!  I am glad you're here. Early next year will be one year in Blogland so I hope to get a giveaway together. Any suggestions on what you want!

Have a great week!

~Maureen~

Retreat and Stash

 Hello friends,

I am back from the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat and what a fabulous time it was. Here is the group we stitched with all weekend. They were so fun! Kim and Brenda (the 2 ladies to the left in the front) joined us on the night of the banquet. It was so much fun I hated for it to end.  I can't wait to see how much of the projects everyone gets done before the next one in 2 years. I love stitching at the beach!
They gave us projects galore. The theme this year was Seaside Seasons. We had our opening project which was a bag with a design of the 4 seasons representing each designer. Thursday was a collaboration piece in which each designer did an accessory. There is a pincushion, scissor keep, scissor fob, and needle book. I can't wait to get started on these. I need to do my Christmas stitching first though. Friday night we made a nice liner for a basket with Pam from Olde Colonial Designs. So the basket you see in the photo with a close up below was our farewell gift. Is that not fabulous or what!! I was beyond words! The liner fits right in the bottom. The little acorn on the basket we also received at the retreat and is adorable. It is tiny and was made by the hands of Pat, Patty, and Wendy of Dyeing to Stitch.
This is a picture of all my stash. Do you think it's enough to keep me busy?                                                   This is a combination of gifts 

 from the retreat, the boutique there, and a visit to the Dyeing to Stitch shop. I love my basket! I just had to say that. I met alot of very nice stitchers whom I hope to keep in touch with and talk stitching. I didn't post pictures because I don't usually like to post pictures of people unless I ask permission. I didn't get a chance to do that with everyone so you'll have to take my word for it that they are wonderful people.





To close things up I just wanted to include this picture of  Perry. My Aunt gave me the little scarf for him on our recent visit. So I put it on and I think he got a little mad at me because he wouldn't look at me.He would look out of the corner of his eye and at one point he totally turned his head away from me. He is such a little stinker but I had to laugh. He got used to the scarf.
I am working on ornaments for the next few weeks for Becky's ornament challenge. I will show as soon as I get a few done.


Have a good rest of the week and Happy Stitching!!

Maureen

Goodies and a Finish

 Hello friends,

This will be short and sweet. I just have to share the wonderful goodies I received from Myra(Gr8dame's Place) yesterday from winning her recent giveaway. I just adore them. I usually never win anything so it was extra exciting for me.

I also have a quick finish to show. This Lizzie Kate snowman has also been stitched for several years and now is finally finished. Honestly, I usually don;t wait  that long to finish things but I had a few things stitched for a different purpose. Now that that purpose is non-existent, I did something else with them. This I will put on my L & K wall in my stitching room. Even though it is a snowman, I would like to enjoy him all year long.

6 more days for the fabulous retreat. Ahhh! Stitching bliss!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Maureen

A few finishes and countdown

 Hello all,

Here is my finished  Hocus Pocus by Lizzie Kate. isn't it so cute. Silly me put it away with just the border to do. Maybe about 2 years ago. I just pulled it out and thought I must finish this and so I did. The little bat I got from my mom's stash which is very fitting since there are bat's on the backing fabric. I love how it turned out.

 This next group of stitching is a head start on some holiday stitching. One is a birthday gift, one is a Christmas gift and one is just because I wanted to stitch it. The I love stitching was a freebie from The Sampler Girl. The other 2 designs are my own.

Two weeks from tomorrow my mom and I are headed to Virginia Beach for the Dyeing to Stitch stitchers retreat. I cannot wait! Not only to see some friends but also to have fun stitching with fellow stitchers and designers and coming home with so many goodies I won't know what to do with. I designed this pincushion especially for the retreat. I made 3 of them. One for me, my mom, and a good friend that I met at the retreat 2 years ago. She will also be attending and can't wait to see her. I also had a few other goodies to put in the bag. It's so much fun! That's it for now.

Happy Stitching Y'all!!

Maureen

Lots to show

 It's been a little while, and I finally have finishing to show. The rest of summer got away  from me but now that school is back in session and the weather is getting cooler, it's time to get serious. First, I've got Roly Poly Snowman. It is from one of the ornament  issues of Just Cross stitch but I am not sure which one. I am ashamed to say that I have had him stitched for  a few years but just didn't get around to finishing him until now.I am quite the amateur when it comes to sewing but I had so much fun finishing these that I just want to do it all the time now. Next, I have these 3 beauties. The pumpkin is Twisted Threads, Liberty is Heart in Hand, and the cute pink one I designed for breast cancer. When we went to the New York State Fair, Madison

picked out a braclet with that saying on it and I wanted to stitch it, so I did. This is the final result and I think it turned out really good. There is a little breast cancer charm on the end also. It is a little hard to see in the picture.









Moving on, I also have these beauties as well.
Bluebird from Blackbird Designs. You may recognize that from my previous post not finished yet. Well now it is finished and I just love it! The three on the right are also from Blackbird from the Stitchers Journey Book. Aren't they so cute! That is my favorite book. I made a sachet with a B on it also which is not in the picture b/c I already gave it to my mom. Pins and Needles is Littlehouse Needleworks. This goes with the Travelling Stitcher which I can't wait to finish also. Again, it is stitched but just needs to be finished. I need to step that up a bit.

Lastly, this turned into more of an experiment. With the lace anyway. I love this design by Lizzie Kate 

 and love the saying. I made it into a little pillow for my stitching room. Since I said I was such an amateur at sewing, I have never sewn lace on before. If the picture looks good then I am satisfied with it. If anyone were to examine it up close. Not so good! For my first try though it's not bad. Practice Makes Perfect!!





I'll leave you with a picture of my little Perry boy. I finally got him to look at me when I took this picture. He usually looks away before it takes the picture.

Even though he is a trouble maker, he's a keeper. He's lucky he's cute!

Happy Stitching! Fall is wonderful!

Maureen

Stitch Heaven and a few things to show

 Hello all,

I can't believe that summer is winding down already. It seems like it just started. This is a picture of my stitching haven. I would like to make it up a few times a year. However this year I only made up once which is very depressing to me. Alas, I had a few days of relaxation, stitching, jetskiing, fishing, and watching the ships go by. I just love the water. I wish I could live on the water so I could stare it all day long out my window.

 Madison caught herself a couple of fish. She missed her cousin coming up to fish her though. She did OK on her own though.




The next picture is just to show you the ships that go by our cottage.  Madison likes to watch them. My brother has kept track of them ever since he was a kid. He used to write the name of them and where they were from in a notebook. Now that technology has come so far, he can now track them on the computer and find out where they came from and where they are going. Interesting!

 This is a little bookmark I finished when I returned. I want to say this is #9 for the 2012 Bookmark Challenge.

This is Bluebird from Blackbird Designs. I just love it. I started this at the cottage and had almost finished it. I finished the last few stitches when I returned. It was such a fast stitch and I can't wait to sew it up.


This last stitch was from Heart in Hand and I think it is an old pattern. I found it in my stash and thought it would make a cute pillow for my collection. I think it turned out really cute especially when I added the multi colored star. These will be so cute when I finish them. I better get to work with that because I have  several other things to finish before these.

That's all for now! Enjoy the rest of summer!!

Maureen

Summer Stitching

 Hello everyone,

I am sorry to say that I love summer stitching but in the summer it is hard to find alot of time to do it when there is so many other things to do. Taking small trips and getting ready for a garage sale. It also being so HOT!! It really zaps one's energy. I do have a few small things to show. 2 of them I designed myself and finshed them. This is a bookmark I made out of a needlepoint square that was given to me from a stash cleanout. It now has a purpose in life.

This next one I designed and finished in honor of Caylee Anthony. When I saw that little girl's face in the  paper my heart just broke. I made this to honor her because I feel a terrible injustice has been done to her and its awful that someone so innocent had to suffer so harshly. I hope one day justice prevails!!

On a happier note, I made this little design to remember our family trip to Virginia Beach last April. ( I am a little behind on this one but better late than never.) I put a dolphin charm on it because when I think of Virginia Beach, I think of dolphins. Love it!!! I love the beach so much one of these days I may not come home.

That's it for now. These next few weeks is jam packed so I am not sure how much stitching will be done but I definitely will squeeze in as much as I can. Enjoy the nice weather wherever you are!

Maureen

Feathers in the nest giveaway

Another quick post today to tell you about a great giveaway by Jennifer from feathers in the nest. It's a pair of ginger scissors(Ella) in honor of Caylee Anthony.Go check out:  feathersinthenest.blogspot.com to enter. The drawing is on August 6 at midnight which is Caylee's birthday. You can put your comment on the second posting for July 6. Great giveaway!!

Maureen

small finishes

 Hello,

I hope everyone had a fun holiday weekend and that the weather was nice where you are. We had great weather and spent the day Sunday at Seabreeze Amusement park with some friends. We had a blast! My stitching slows this time of year because there is so many other things going on. For instance gardening, keeping a young child busy, and organizing for a garage sale in a few weeks. I did manage a few small finishes to show you. First, is this ornament I made for our xmas tree this year. It is to commemorate our trip to Virginia Beach this year. The pattern came from the Creative Gifts Calendar from Needle and Thread Stitching for Literacy. Thanks Jen!

I also finished these 2 bookmarks for the Stitching for Literacy Bookmark Challenge for 2012. I am off to a good start for bookmarks so I have to keep my momentum going. I think that brings my count to 9. The xoxo bookmark is on a light colored ribbon which is hard to see in the picture.

Well, that's all I have for now. thanks for looking and I hope to have more finshes soon.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Maureen

bookmarks and small finish

 I just wanted to share with you the display of the bookmarks donated to my local library. They loved getting them and they are going to be used for the summer reading program. The yellow sign in there mentions the Needle and Thread Stitching for Literacy which is very good. They are in a case right before you go into the library so everyone can see them. it makes me feel good!

A small finish to share. I found this tuck away pillow in the closet and I was making this patriotic eagle. So I left off the border and it fits perfectly in there. I added the buttons for a little extra something. I have been inspired by everyone doing patriotic things so I am starting my own patriotic display. This will be a nice addition to that.

That's all I have today. Have a great weekend! I hope there is some time for everyone to put your needle to thread!!

Maureen

Inspirational Thought

I don't have any stitching to show yet but I wanted to share something else. I received this from someone from my work and have really enjoyed sharing it. Here it is:

                                             Think before you Speak


Is it          True?

Is it           Helpful?    

Is it          Inspiring?

Is it           Necessary? 

Is it          Kind?  

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Have a great weekend !

Maureen

Surprise Stash

I just wanted to share with you all some stash that I received from one of my mom's friends. These 3 pieces I found in the bag. Can you believe it! Look how much stitching is done on bambi. I can't even imagine not finishing this cute piece. It is almost done and I haven't stitched any of it.
The next one is a needlepoint square that will make an awesome bookmark for the 2012 Bookmark Challenge.

The last one was the 3 stockings which I would love to make into ornaments. However, there was no pattern with them and I know they are not finished. Does anyone have any idea what pattern it is or how I can find out? I would love to finish them up and give them a purpose.

That's it for today!
Maureen

New wine charms

Just wanted to let you all know that I have 2  new sets of wine charms. I have updated my accessories etc. to show these. The one on the right is great for summer and the one on the left is great for anytime. They have a message on them. It's hard to see so they are: Live, Laugh, Play, Grow. Aren't they so cute!

Have a great day!

Maureen

small finishes

 I finished the teacher end of the year gift. Look how cute it turned out. I love the worm. This pattern came from those little doodle patterns. It comes with a cute button and then you use whatever floss and fabric you have. I took a picture of what I am putting on the back so you can see what it looks like. I have Madison write a little note to her teacher and put the year on it.

My next picture is of 3 bookmarks I stitched over the weekend. They are for next years bookmark challenge and my count is at 6. Yahoo!! I love the quick patterns like this for bookmarks. I can do different variations of the same pattern and make multiples in a short period of time.            

Hope everyone has a great week and finds time to do a little stitching!

Maureen