Happy Haunting by Shepherd's Bush

Here it is the weekend of Christmas. Not sure how it got here so fast. But if I happen to get one second of stitching time this weekend I'm going to work on this Shepherd's Bush Retreat project. It's a sweet piece to stitch and I love the fibers and linen. I got a fair amount done at the retreat, but I've not stitched on it much since. Any of you other SB retreaters working on this one???

Unfinished Obsession Part 1

Time to talk about UFOs. Lord knows I have about enough of them to talk about and it seems all I do is talk about them, because I'm sure not finishing any of them very fast. This one, if you can't tell is Mermaid and the Sea by Examplar Dames. I hope to start making some progress on this again and see it finished in 2007, so you'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

You can see what she'll look like when she's done here:

http://www.wyndhamneedleworks.com/Examplar_Dames/mermaid_and_the_sea.htm

Britter Kitty Birthday and a SB finish

I have a friend out east who is having the milestone birthday on Monday and since I'll be in Chicago seeing Mr. Tut, I'll wish her HB here and show you what I stitched for her. I found this frame that was just perfect and when I saw this cute kitty someone stitched I had to see if I could make it fit in that frame, which wasn't a problem at all. I'd say it looks rather nice there with my pink Longaberger basket, wouldn't you? But Kitty has already flown and been received.

Happy Birthday GF, make it special.




Peace For All/Shepherd's Bush was a very quick stitch. I did modify the straight stitches that say PEACE FOR ALL to cross stitched "PEACE" which is my Christmas wish. I plan to make it an ornament for my tree and on the back I'll stitch "Peace in 2007"

Progress on the Gameboard

Time for a progress picture of the gameboard. This hasn't gotten much attention in the past couple weeks as I stitched the Tribute sampler, fussed with a few other things and all but finished one of those little SBs that I picked up off the floor last night. That will be completed this weekend and I can mark it off the list.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, thanks to Jill Rensel

I love to stitch, I don't mind doing finish work, but I hate to stretch, pin and lace my needlework and then do the framing. As a former photographer, I've done my own framing and matting for years and at this stage in life it's just a chore.

I spent last weekend framing a piece and was so happy with the ease and speed that it came together I decided it was time to get on a roll and get some things cranked out, especially one that will be entered in a show next summer. So I sat down and measured some pieces and will be buying supplies this weekend.

In the picture above you will see a beautiful frame that came from my visit to Rensel Studio in Ogden UT in September. Jill is hands down the best framer I've ever met. She has an adorable studio with such fun things hanging on the walls, and she has such creative ideas that it's a joy to watch her work with people and then there's the spread of food she puts out for we SB retreat attendees. But she hates waste and saves all her framing ends and cuts them to make these adorable tiny frames that she then gives away. She not only gives you the perfectly made frame for free, but it has the backing board and the hanging hardware already in place. It's such fun to paw thru the baskets and find one that screams your name and the one in the picture above screamed really loudly at me this year. Isn't it beautiful? Now I have to find just the right celtic design to stitch for this beautiful free frame from Jill. THANKS JILL!

Kits, Kits and more Shepherd's Bush Kits

OK, I'm going to do it. I'm going to list all the Shepherd's Bush kits that are within arms reach. The only reason for doing this is that it gets them off the toddler bed and forces me to deal with them. And let's remember that this is just the SB collection, there are way more kits than this hanging around my house waiting on some attention.

A Bunny's Fill
A Shepherd's Purse
A Shepherd's Sheep
Americana Alphabet
An American Sampler CHART ONLY
Baby Bug Ball/2
Better Not Pout
Busy Bee
Come Tarry

The Dartmoor Sampler
Dresser Drawer Heart KIT
Easter Treat Bag
Fa*la*la
Fair Philomel KIT
Far Away
Gloria
The Goblins
Halloween ABC KIT
Halloween Haunting
Happy Day Roll CHART ONLY
Happy Wishes Scissor Fob CHART ONLY
Hark
Heart Necklace
Heart Treat Bag
Hunt
Huzzah Needleroll
Little Witch
Love Letters KIT
Merry Souls CHART ONLY
Millennium Needleroll
Moon Shadow KIT
Park City
Peace for All/COMPLETED 12/16/06
"S" is for Shepherd's Bush/2 KITS FROM FIRST FOLD
Sheep Necklace
Snow Treat Bag
Spooky Spots/2
The Stockings KIT
Thankful Sheep CHART ONLY
Tiny Flag
Tiny Garden
Wandering Shepherd
Yuletide Sampler KIT
Well, there's more but that's the first 50, with a few dups. I put them all nice and neat in a plastic bin and pulled a few to start working on during the holidays. More additions as time allows.

Stitching Friends

This little bag was made for me by a very special stitching friend and was sent last week. I finally got to meet up with her this fall in Utah, even though we don't live that far apart. We always planned to meet one day, but it just never happened, The fact we both have jobs and families doesn't help much either. She sent me the goodies you see here along with a chart kitted up with the fabric that I intend to stitch next year.

THANKS SUSAN! I treasure it and carry it around with me all the time.

HERE'S ANOTHER TREASURE!

The other treasure arrived today. It's my Christmas gift from my friend Angi in Italy. Another year, another smashing gift with over one stitching from Angi. OH MY GOODNESS, this is a little gem and I've taken a few pictures of it to share with you. I recognize the charts as being EEFs. One of my all time favorite designers. This is the needlecase all tied up.

This is the outside.

This is the inside with a little pincushion, a little pocket, a little flap that lifts to hold your needles and another little pocket at the top. Just amazing.

THANKS ANGI, I TREASURE IT ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER TREASURES I HAVE FROM YOU!!!!!

So, is there anything better than a stitching friend? I've been blessed with some very special friends who I consider amazing stitchers and I am in awe of their work. I, on the other hand, stitch to relax at the end of a long, pressure filled day and could never do anything that would rival some of the beautiful things I have received. So I sit with these treasures on my lap and look at them and merrily stitch away.

THANKS FRIENDS, and you know who you are!!!!!

F.O.E

That stands for Friend of ESSY. You know ESSY right? Her real name is Esmeralda and she lives in Modesto, I believe. ESSY has hot lips, a long pink dress and wears her big red heart on the front of her dress. (Not too healthy I'd say). But ESSY represents a very good cause, one I'm quite familiar with in my work in medical research.

ESSYs mission is to support women who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer in making their journey a little easier along that long bumpy road. She provides a meal when a woman is too weak to cook, a wig to cover a bald head, massage when every part of the body hurts, and other care that may be needed. All these things ESSY does makes the burden a little lighter and lets a woman know their guardian angel is looking out for them, because she knows well of what she supports and she's been highly successful doing it.

So here are my ESSY's. As you can see we started out pretty well together, I was managing to whip those ESSYs out in no time. Then suddenly ESSY and I weren't seeing so much of each other anymore as my completions are a little lacking of late. I think in 2007 I'm going to have to make more time to visit with ESSY, but I have to say I've certainly enjoyed every minute I've spent with her and will contine to take her along with me and show her off whenever I get the chance and wear her with pride while helping support her cause.

Thanks ESSY! You're not only fun, you're the best!!!!!

Steve Irwin Tribute Sampler

I felt overwhelmed by the idea of stitching my grandson a little ornament last weekend, so I started this sampler for him instead. Don't ask me where the logic is in that. But 5 days later, this is the result.

This Lizzie*Kate is one I've always wanted to stitch and after the death of Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" on September 4th, I decided it was finally time. My 3 year old grandson and his mommy (my daughter Emily) were big fans of Steve's show on Animal Planet. These words were Steve's motto and it's what I want Bryce to grow up believing, so I stitched it for Bryce as a tribute to Steve.

RIP Steve Irwin.

I've also made those changes that peeve a designer off bigtime, and charted out Nemo and Dory and Marlin. I'll add a few buttons to it before framing it this weekend.

Now on to that ornament.

One Ornament Done!

It's been that kind of fall, so this is the only ornament that I've managed to get done so far this year. Tanner (age 6mo) needs to have a first Christmas ornament even if he won't know or care one way or the other. I now have to scurry to get Bryce's (age 3yrs) done or he'll be convinced that this one belongs to him. I may just flip the image and make him one much like it. That would be so much easier than the BOAF I have in the works.

This is DT inspired (Stefan's Stocking) and my moons are always blue.

I did manage to get a little gift stitched for a friends very special birthday and have to get that sent, and I'll share it once it's received.

December Progress Report

I've added September and October to my Cherish Sampler.


And I've made some progress on my DT Game board.