Just in Time for Pool Opening.......

......bathing suits for the Grand's AG dolls. These will match the dresses I made for the girls.

 




Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!  Have a great weekend!
Stasi
Stasi

Down to the Wire with Near Miss.....

My Celtic Banner piece is winding down and I narrowly avoided a "pothole"! I only have about 5 more inches to do and am in a race against time to get it done before next Thursday. I am going to the Prim Stitchers Society retreat next weekend in Harrisburg, PA and Patti Nicolosi, a well reviewed framer, will be there. I am on the hunt for a new framer since my preferred framer in Cincinnati is selling his business. Well....as I turned my scroll rods to move the piece up, I was shocked I only had 6.5 inches of fabric left!!! Now, this could be my fault because I automatically add 3 inches round my design area but I had bought this piece because it was  custom cut and sized for this project. I guess they only allowed 2 inches and I am angry at myself for not double checking (who knows...I may have checked and forget). Long and short is I will sew a couple inches of fabric to the bottom so there is enough to stretch for mounting. I like my framing up close to the stitching so I should be A-OK. Here is the last part I stitched:

Had a pedicure this morning so, as my friend Pam would say, I have happy feet! I plan to spend this afternoon doing some more organizing in my sewing room...then stitching tonight while watching the finale of Survivor.

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi
 
 

A Little Crusing and Strolling.....(458-460)

After an extremely wet...and noisy..weekend at the beach, I am home and the sun is shining. My brother and SIL had invited us to meet them in Ocean City, MD for "Cruiser" weekend and we accepted. Unfortunately, it rained pretty much all weekend...and I don't mean just rained....I mean poured cats and dogs. We got there Thursday and didn't even leave the condo on Friday, except for dinner, as the rain was blowing horizontally and heavy! Made for a relaxing 'stitchy' day for me ( I got week 21 stitched on the Red Sampler Band SAL) while we watched some movies on TV.

  The rain however did NOT stop the cruisers from racing up and down Ocean Highway revving their motors with cheers from an admiring crowd. This lasted until the wee hours of the morning EVERY night!!! Can't say I'll be going back for this, though hubby and brother loved seeing all the souped up cars.

Of course I couldn't be in OC without a visit to Salty Yarns , so in between rain showers on Saturday, I was able to stop by and deliver my birthday presents to Sara and Sally. I was a little late with Sara's but early with Sally's and I much prefer giving them in person, if possible. So, a few additions to Stasi's Stitch Stroll:

For Sara, I stitched, for a second time, F is for Friend by Heartstring Samplery. I love this piece and it makes such a wonderful gift.

For Sally, who is celebrating a milestone birthday, I did Happy Birthday Heart by Lucy Beam. I stitched this over one using a 32 count periwinkle mystery linen and the called for fibers. I changed the candles on the cake to her celebratory age and added the crown charm. I finished as a flat piece with the rick-rack around the edge.

 And, since this is a special birthday for Sally, I was ecstatic to find a Mardina My Favorite Beading Tools box for her. It is a truly lovely collection of fine beading tools and needles.
 

 
I finished my exchange piece for the PSS retreat and am pleased with how it turned out. I did a nun stitch around the perimeter of the stitching and attached it to a wooden spool that I had painted. I added itty bitty bee and caterpillar buttons. I'm including a tiny pair of black scissors. 

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

He said "Yes" to the Pillow!!!

I had to make a quick swing by to tell you that Asher loved his pillow and I am so tickled! He should have a new bedroom by the end of the week (my SIL divided up the girls larger room into two separate bedrooms for the boys and the girls have moved to the boys old bedroom) and said he's going to put it in there. Here is the pillow again:

  
I'm pretty sure Sue Hillis has a soccer one that I will do for James for his birthday in June.

The other thing I'm so darned excited about is this:

A friend had shown one of these PVC lap stands on her blog made by a company called R&R from England. As I was googling where to buy it, I found a blogger who told you how to make one yourself and being a DIY-er, I had to give it a try. She gives you a list for all the parts needed to make a smaller one, but you could adjust sizes up and/or down to fit your needs. After you've made it, you just need to buy the Q-snap clamps (spare pairs) in the right size and voila....a lightweight, portable lap frame.  Now to be honest, Rich cut the PVC pipe for me with a special tool he had just for that purpose, but it was quick and easy and I could definitely do it myself. It was called a PVC ratchet cutter and can be found for as little as $10. 

Edited: If you decide to try this yourself, take a Q-snap clamp with you- we found two different 1/2" pipes--one measured by the inside diameter and one by the outside (which was too small).

Here is a link to the R&R version on Amazon: 
 R&R lap frame
 and one to the blogger for a DIY version: 
 Mommy Fang


 Now, I'm off to wash it in hot, soapy water because there is printing on the PVC. I doubt it will wash off, but I figure if it doesn't after a good scrubbing...all will be okay.

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Mother's Day and a Special Birthday.....(457)

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and grandmother's!!! I hope you are able to spend the day with your loved ones while being lavished with appreciative gestures thanking you for all you do! And...that you can show that love and appreciation to your own mothers. We are always in a quandary as to spend these special days with my parents in Baltimore or stay home to be with my older daughter and her family. This year we are staying put.....we have two new grandchildren to celebrate with!

And...today is also Asher's 10th birthday!!! Yes, I'm going to say it....where does the time go? It seems like yesterday I got the call that he was born and packed my bags to drive immediately down to Richmond to meet our first grandchild. My poor hubby was on a home inspection, in an attic and couldn't answer his phone. I called the realtor who yelled the good news up to him through the attic access!!! Asher was tiny...only 4 lbs. 9 oz. but oh so sweet!!! No health issues and was able to come home in two days. He has grown into a wonderful boy with a kind and caring heart, a thoughtful mind and physicality that amazes us all!!! He also "bleeds" baseball! Last night he got to be a guest announcer at the Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball game (he's the one with the hat). 

 

Adding as an official Stroll piece is his birth sampler, stitched in 2008. My daughter wanted a Noah's Ark theme and picked Lizzie Kate's Noah's Noel. I tweaked it quite a bit so it wasn't "Christmassy". I changed the wreath on the front door to a flag, added elements from the Trilogy's Zoo Line-up and some JABCO buttons. I also added the rainbow and saying around the perimeter. The crocodiles are special because he's had a huge "Croc" as his stuffed friend since he was a baby. Happy Birthday dear Asher!!!!

On the stitching front, I have been busy working on two birthday gifts. They will be delivered this week and I can then share them with you. I'm a week behind on the Red Band SAL, but hope to catch that up soon. I have been working on an exchange piece for the PSS retreat the end of this month. I still need to do the nun stitch edging and then it will go around a spool. I don't now any info on this piece; someone designed for a friend of mine's Guild and, knowing my love for bees, she passed it on to me. I had to adjust the height a bit to fit on the spool I had and I added the JABCO bee button in place of a stitched one.

Rich took me out for breakfast this morning to The Egg and I---it's the first time I've ever had to bring some leftovers home with me. It was delicious but waaaay too much food and too good to let go to waste. We are going to my daughters for dinner to celebrate our two special occasions.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

A Little Catching Up and A New Stroll Addition......(456)

Greetings! Hope all is well in your little part of the world...we are experiencing a HEAT wave...three straight days of 90 degree weather!!! I wilt quickly in this heat so hopefully some serious stitching is in my immediate future. We haven't put the A/C on yet..the house is actually cool. I'd love to throw open the windows..but maybe next week when temps return to normal.

I'm making my grandson Asher's pillow an official part of the Stitch Stroll. His favorite sport is baseball and we enjoy many a game on the weekends. I've stitched this for his tenth birthday which falls on Mother's Day this year. Not sure a ten year old boy will appreciate it, but I'm hoping one day it will bring back memories of his Mimi. :) It is Play Ball by Sue Hillis and following Judy B.'s inspiration, I made it into a pillow stitching it on  20 count Weeks Dye Works linen over two, using a combination of #5 perle cotton and Caron Collection Impressions from my stash. I wish I'd used a slightly darker blue on the top letters, but made do with what I had on hand. Judy also used this baseball fabric which I found at Serendipity quilt shop recently. It turned out nice and plump since I used a bigger than called for pillow form. It's approximately 16 X 16.

I'm up to date on my Red Band SAL and waiting for the next installment..due tomorrow.

I've stitched a birthday gift which I'll have to share after it is bequeathed, but managed to get some more done on the Celtic Banner. I would love to get this done and be able to take it with me to the Prim Stitcher's Society Retreat the end of this month to pass on to a framer. Not sure I can mange it, but I'm going to give it the ole college try!!!

 I also need to get cracking on an exchange piece for the PSS Retreat...... at least I have it picked out!!! I may have forgotten to mention that I am going to the PSS Retreat. I had been on the wait list and got in due to cancellations. A friend from Cincinnati is going to drive to my house and we're going to drive up to Hershey together. I'm not taking any classes...just relaxing and stitching and, hopefully, making new friends and running into some old. It sounds like a fun group from their FB page and I am really looking forward to it.

Have you heard about Stitch Maynia??? I guess I am out of the loop because I just heard about this recently. Evidently, you are to pick a new project to start each of the first 15 (?) days of May. Not sure if you have to commit to keeping them going or just start them, but it's intriguing....maybe next May! :)

I have not gotten in floss tube, but watched a few yesterday as I heard two ladies I know had started one. It was nice seeing what they are working on, and I was interested because I actually know them. I can see the usefulness of tutorials but kept wondering about how much time is invested in watching these when you could actually be stitching!!! Am I clueless? Do you watch floss tubers? Are their ones I should check out in particular for hints or ideas? Let me know...I remain open to the idea if it can be a learning experience or entertaining.

We're going to have visitors tomorrow night  and they've been threatened to within an inch of their life to NOT get up at 3:30AM as they have the last two times they've slept over!!! Fingers are crossed as we're hitting our first Farmer's Market of the year Saturday morning.

I hope you are relaxing with needle in hand.....thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Another Visit to My Happy Place.....and a New Stitch Stroll Piece (455)

Well, I can see not blogging on a regular basis makes for looooong posts when I finally do one, so hang with me and hopefully enjoy---I will try to be as succinct as possible. 

I was able to plan a visit to Salty Yarns/Lankford Hotel last week and managed a 6 day stay...boy do I LOVE retirement!!! I was attending a class with Sherri Jones on the weekend, but a couple of friends (one from Europe) were arriving the Tuesday before and I drove up to spend some extra time with them. We visited a quilt shop, Berlin MD, and enjoyed each others company on the days leading up to class. 

Wednesday we spent in Salty Yarns and here is my haul from there :

Some finishing velveteens and 56 count cotton fabric (for needle pages) from Lady Dot Creates and Puntini Puntini Christmas buttons

I love this tree and am planning to do over 1 on 32 ct. green slate Lakeside linen

I already had the chart but bought the two tart tins

Dinner was at Fagers Island where we timed it perfectly to see the sunset. As the sun sets on the bay, they start to play the 1812 Overture, and just as the sun hits the horizon the music reaches the crescendo..pretty exciting! I wish I could have captured on video but we were blocked by people at the windows, so you'll have to use your imagination.

On Thursday, we went to Serendipity quilt shop in Dagsboro, DE. Lots of beautiful fabric and wools. I restrained myself and only got a few pieces.

Those are tiny scissors on the top fabric!

That night dinner was at Mickey Finns where I think I had the best cream of crab soup ever!!!

Friday I took it easy and chilled. Sara had a reception for us that evening in the hotel lobby with lots of delicious appetizers and desserts, after which I hung out with the ladies in the lobby and stitched! I managed to get this stitched for my grandson, Asher, for his birthday in May. I found the baseball fabrics at Serendipity and need to thank Judy B. for the inspiration to make this into a pillow.

Play Baseball by Sue Hillis

Saturday was my class with Sherri Jones, the most fabulous teacher!!! It is called Fanciful Fragaria; fragaria means strawberry. It is a delightful design consisting of two parts, the tiny scrimshaw basket pincushion with a pair of silk gauze strawberry emeries and a needle roll stitched on 40 count silk gauze. We mounted some gauze and started a strawberry emery in the morning and made the velveteen pincushion that will go between the two scrim pieces in the afternoon. 

Sherri is a wonderful teacher with a great sense of humor and sadly is retiring...what are we going to do???
 
Sunday I hung out in the shop cutting fabric, since they were short handed, which I love to do and hopefully am a help ...not a hindrance!  Sara, Sally and Mary are always so generous and hospitable with us. Here is the goodie bag we received this time with all the trinkets inside: 

Lots of great supplies for finishing

 Now on to my latest Stitch Stroll addition...I made this for my friend Paola, a small token of our friendship. It is Friend So Dear Pinkeep by Merry Cox. I had a little mishap with the cream ultra suede that was included, but had some lilac (thanks Phyliss) on hand that I think actually made the colors pop more. I added the itty bitty bee! Stitched over one on 32 count linen, the size is approximately 1 1/2 inches.

I think that's about it...hope I didn't bore! I appreciate you sticking with me and enjoy any and all comments, that I try my best to respond to. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi