The Most Delicous Easter Egg in the World........

......is one made from my Gram's secret family recipe. I'm a little late making them this year and held myself to only one batch (approx. 24 eggs). I haven't made them for a few years as I have NO self control where they are concerned (in fact I am already down to 22 eggs.....oops..make that 21...I just ate my prop from the photo!!!), but have been known to make 4-6 batches to give as gifts to friends and family.   I have loved these so much that I used to trade all the other candy in my Easter basket for my siblings home made eggs!!!

I have started the pre-stitch for An Afternoon Leisure Basket and got one of the "books" stitched. It is over one except for the initials that are over two. Sweet isn't it?

I've also been busy going through things around the house and deciding what goes and what doesn't. I dropped off a huge bag of old towels to the local Humane Society. I've got boxes of books to donate and am gearing up for a yard sale at the end of the month.  Little by little................

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

Stasi

Tis a Gift to Be Simple.......

Greetings all--hope you enjoyed a nice Easter/Spring weekend!!! We had a quiet weekend at home, just the two of us, but ventured out to the Olive Garden for an early dinner Sunday.

We had made a day trip to Richmond on Good Friday ( more about that later) and were able to sneak in a quick visit with our daughter. This afforded me the opportunity to gift her birthday present to her in person. She was the recipient of the Year in Chalk project and I think it was a "hit". I chose the display idea with her decor in mind and it worked very well.

 I covered some mat board with a chevron patterned fabric to "stick" the pieces to and inserted that in the frame. I found some great fabric for the backing; it's what they use to make recyclable grocery bags and such out of. You can cut it and it doesn't fray; it's also very lightweight and inexpensive. I used industrial strength Velcro on the back of each monthly design and attached it to a "sandwich board" style display frame.  So, here's the finished "labor of love".

back of each monthly piece

Velcro on mounting board

Ta-da!!!

 Now , on to the reason for the trip to Richmond. I may have disclosed this before but we are going to be moving to the Richmond, VA area to be closer to our daughter and her family. This has been a bit of a  tough decision for us as we love our current home. But we have found one, as my SIL says, that is 'eerily similar". So a number of trips have been going on the past few weeks to find a house and decide  how we wanted to move forward. We are going to be getting a new house (to be built) in a neighborhood only a few miles from our daughter's family. So I am going to be a very busy BEE (thank goodness for my stitching that will help alleviate some stress) but the final result will be wonderful! 

The downside is there is NO needlework store in the Richmond area (if someone can contradict that, please let me know). There is no needlework store close to where I live now, and I always said I wouldn't move anywhere there wasn't one near by, but....... here I go again!!! On the upside, I've heard there are a couple of active guilds and I'll only be about 75 minutes from Williamsburg. Wish me luck!!!

Now for stitching news! I did get the edging stitch on the Long Garden Variety Pocket. It was a little tedious, but I managed to get 'er done and it does add a nice finish!

Then I moved on to the other Sherri Jones class piece, Afternoon Leisure Basket. Didn't get much accomplished, but it's a start.

So, that's it for today! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

One New stitch down......one to go......

Moving along on the Sherri Jones class piece. A new to me stitch was called for to fill in the cornucopia....the Peruvian Loop stitch (variation). I'm not convinced I've done it right but, after numerous practice sessions, decided to go with it. It does add some "texture" to the cornucopia; it's the filling for the narrow bands. It's staying put now, but I'm hoping Sherri may give us a "mini" lesson so I can be sure how it's done correctly.

 The next new stitch goes along the top and bottom edges and is the Three-Sided Pulled Stitch (variation). I've been practicing that too, but it's time to bite the bullet and put it in place. I'll post when it's done. After that, it's on to the pre-stitch for another Sherri class. 

If I'm not back before Sunday, Happy Easter to all! Hope you have a beautiful day!!!

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

Stasi

A Year in Chalk is done.........

I finished stitching the last two months this past week. I spent yesterday mounting all 12 on mat board by lacing them. Tomorrow, it's off to JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby to find some backing fabric--hopefully a wool felt. Then, I've got to put the ole brain to work ( I smell smoke already) and figure out what will work best to attach the pieces to the display so they can be changed monthly. I've read suggestions of Velcro and magnets so that's what I'll be researching at the store. These have turned out so cute, I'm going to hate to give them away!!! Maybe I'll stitch again for me at some point, though I figure I've put in about 72 hours of stitching time! So here are the final two, November and December. I'll post the finishing after I've gifted them. 

 Here is where I stand on the long Pocket class piece.

That's it for today. Hubby has a fire going and I'm getting ready to settle in to my stitching nest. We'll probably binge a few more House of Cards!

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

Stasi

Happy St. Patricks Day

From the I Love Being Irish page on Face Book

Coming back to life....slowly......but surely....

 I brought home a very unwelcome visitor from Richmond......a nasty chest/head cold!!! I pretty much slept for two days last week (not really sure what's worse...the cold...or the medicine to treat it that tends to "knock" me out). I've started to try essential oils ( my daughter swears by them, though she had the "crud" when we visited). So, I've had Immunity diffusing into my family room for a week now, so hopefully a preventative for the future.

I started to feel better over the weekend but energy level was still pretty low. What to do??? Why sit quietly, listen to a Harry Potter book on CD and stitch!!! I got two more in the Chalk series stitched, September and October. Only two more to go! Now I have to start deciding on how best to finish--I have a couple ideas but need to work out what will work best.

I used some glow in the dark blending filament on this one--I hope it works!

Lots to catch up on, so I will keep this short.

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

Stasi

Stitching on the road...........

 We spent 5 days in the Richmond area visiting my daughter and her family. We were able to attend a couple of my grandson's basketball games and my granddaughter's first cheer competition. Oh my, was that an experience!!! The make-up they require on 5 year olds was crazy, but her team won a trophy so she was very excited. And, as you can see from our selfie, she already has an affinity for make-up!!!

On the drive down and back, I was able to get another one of the Samsarah calendar pieces done, the final one for April.

I also managed another in the Chalk series, August. I only have until the end of the month to get these stitched and finished to make my deadline!!! I love this one!

And, I've gotten more accomplished on my class pre-stitch, but still have the rest bearing down on me..... and.... I still have another whole class project to get the pre-stitching done for by mid-April. Stay tuned to see if I make it!

That's it for today---gotta get stitching!!! 

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

Stasi