49 and Counting.....

 

 

Today is our 49th anniversary!!! Thought you might get a kick out of a wedding photo....or two. Obviously our photographer was not the best as he blocked my Dad's face!!!

 

These are my parents and grandparents with us.

On to stitching...I thought I'd share my patriotic displays today. Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

I am leaving early Saturday morning for a stitchy weekend with friends in PA. I am picking up my parents on the way home Tuesday, then Jax and his Mommy are coming to visit for a few days on Wednesday. Gonna be a busy time!!!

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

Stasi
 

A Whole Lotta Stitching Going On......

 Between the heat and my knee, I've been getting quite a bit of stitching accomplished. I try to run out in the AM to do my errands and then home to the A/C. I feel so bad for workers who have to be in this heat to do their job....I don't know how they do it!

I finished hte stitching fo my exchange piece in the fall.....Bittersweet September by Blackbird Designs...this will be hard to give away! This chart was printed on both sides of one sheet of paper---Yuck!!! This made for an error on my part and that border on the right side wound up being too far over. Of course I didn't puck up on it until I went to 'join' the border. It took me quite while to figure out where I went wrong and I was NOT going to take all that stitching out. So I finagled!!! Another save!!! I hope this isn't going to become a regular occurrence!

 I worked a bit more on Puffin Party by Hands on Design.

And then I started a new project.....Mary Briggs 1806 by Erica Michaels. I love alphabets and the saying on this particularly appealed to me...." The greatest thing in the world is the alphabet, as all wisdom is contained therein". Linda provides two charts here...one is a reproduction of the original piece (which doesn't include this verse); the other is an adaptation, with the verse, which is the version I am stitching. I have a specific finish in mind for this and needed it to be under 4" when complete. So, I am stitching it, over one, on 46 count Wild Birdseed Legacy linen. Wish me luck!!!

Hope you are staying cool! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Hot Day Stitching......

With it being so darn hot, I passed on attending my grandson's baseball game in Charlottesville and stayed home and stitched. This is what I worked on.....Bittersweet September by Blackbird Designs. 

 

I love the fall colors in this! Since this is an exchange piece, I'm trying to knock it out sooner rather than later.

I hope you have a nice, relaxing Sunday. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi
 

Gone Fishin'.....

 I finished up Jax's birth sampler last night. I left off the mermaid and added his birth info. Now don't laugh but......as I was filling in the bottom section I realized I had forgotten to put in his birth date. I couldn't bear the thought of frogging all the green. Luckily I hadn't stitched the border across the bottom and it fit there perfectly.....SAVE!!!! A stitcher's gotta do what a stitcher's gotta do!

So, here you have Good Things by Birds of a Feather. It's stitched on 40 ct Antique sampler linen by the Victorian Motto Shop with the called for GAST. 

This is a much sought after OOP design and  I knew a friend of mine had been searching for it for a long time. I saw someone post on an ISO page on FB and a couple people responded that they had it in their stash. I reached out to a lady who generously said she would gift me the chart. I realized after I got it that it would be the perfect birth sampler for Jax, as his Dad is a big fisherman and the saying at the bottom was perfect for their family's baby journey. I asked my friend if she minded if I stitched it first, then passed on to her. She was good with that ....thanks Ann....and the chart is making its way, as we speak, to her. Stitchers are really the BEST!

Hope you have a great Saturday! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

A Tiny Finish and a Santa FFO......711

 Wow, it is almost the middle of July already....I feel like the month just started! We're in for a rainy day today, so after a few errands, it'll be time to stitch and, hopefully, finish up Jax's birth sampler. I just have to fill in around the words and add the border across the bottom. I have already mailed the chart to my friend, who has been patiently waiting for it. 

 

 

Here is my completed 'Christmas Eve' mat...already for cookies, a carrot and a note to Santa. This is Jolly Old St. Nicholas by JBW Designs and was stitched on a 32 ct. mystery linen with the called for GAST colors. I had made one of these years ago for my older grands and saved the extra place mat....now Jax will have one.
 

 

Lastly, I have a tiny finish that will become a necklace. This is a little kit called Milady's Quaker Pendants II by Milady's Needle. There are 4 designs to pick from and the fabric, fibers and glass pendant came in the kit. It was stitched, over one, on 36 ct. Luna fabric from Lakeside linens with Vikki Clayton silk, Old Maid of the Forest.

 

It's Friday...yippee!!! Wishing you a relaxing weekend with plenty of stitchy time! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendstitch.

Stasi

Santa is Ready for Cookies..........

 

 

This past Saturday morning I zoomed in on the DVHSG meeting. Linda from Erica Michaels graciously invited us into her studio where she shared her antique samplers and other needlework collectibles. What eye candy!!! It was a delightful visit! I so love her designs, especially the strawberries!

Saturday afternoon, I went to the RVA Stitchers get together. There were two new ladies who were very nice. Of course they had gadgets we had not seen, so some Amazon shopping was in order. Here is a great collapsible stand (cook book holder) to hold your charts. It folds flat and doesn't weigh much--great for traveling. And the price was right..only $8.99.

 

The I had a great visit with my friend, Lisa, the other day. We stitched, we chatted, we ate and we shared. Lisa had traveled to Ireland in May and brought me back some lovely gifts. She said she never found a "needlework" shop to speak of, but kept stumbling across stitchy related goodness. Here is what she generously gifted me:

Cute pins on the left and German needles on the right

An adorable sewing themed mug and beautiful Irish bowl (perfect for orts)

 ....the shamrock bag was filled with lavender and made from Belfast linen

 I was so tickled with everything!!! 

 

Well, our little Santa is done and ready to be mounted on his final resting spot. The little pocket for the 'reindeer' food is also set to be added.

 

I have a PT session this morning, then stitching planned for the afternoon...too hot to do anything else.....at least that is a great excuse not to do anything else!!! LOL

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

Stasi

Back in My Own Bed......

 

Our grand sitting gig is over and we are home after a week of ferrying back and forth between our house and my daughters. Luckily, they are only 5 minutes away! We had a quiet week.... too hot to do much of anything outdoors.  

I did manage to get quite a bit of stitching accomplished in the evenings as everyone watched TV. I worked a bit on Jax's birth sampler. 

I just have the bottom saying to do and fill in around it, then finish the border.

Then I started the next in the Polar Plunge series, Puffin Party, by Hands on Design. Stitching this on the same 32 ct. mystery linen as the other three with DMC.
 

 

Lastly, I signed up for a fall exchange and chose this piece.....Bittersweet September by Blackbird designs. This was a kit, fabric is 32 ct Korty's Special Blend by R&R. Fibers are GAST.

 

My friend, Lisa, came over Monday for a day of stitching and catching up. We try to get together at least once a month, but life has gotten in the way since early March. I will share the sweet gifts she brought me from Ireland on my next post. 

On  personal note, I did something to my left knee while walking two weeks ago. Went to a walk in ortho clinic and was prescribed 6 weeks of PT. It is so much better....I could hardly put any weight on it for a few days... I am doing exercises daily to strengthen it. I need it to be in tip-top shape for our Canadian Rockies trip in September. 

I hope you are doing well and dealing with the heat. If you aren't dealing with summer heat, I am jealous...lucky you!

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

Stasi
 

A Mouse in the House...oops....I Mean the Car.....

 We went to Maryland for the fourth of July holiday.....it was a nice time except for......a mouse in our car!!!!! I had a small bag of almonds in my car door to snack on. As we were leaving for our trip I noticed they were all gone. I assumed my granddaughter had eaten them and promptly went and filled a new bag for our trip. I enjoyed some on the way, but left an almost full bag in the car...evidently not zipped shut. 
The next afternoon I noticed the bag only had 1 almond left in it. Again, I assumed my Mom might have knocked them out of the car that morning and forgot to tell me. I called both my Mom and Cora and both said they had not eaten/spilt any almonds.  I then jumped to the conclusion that Rich was pranking me; he vehemently denied it. My brother and SIL thought I was going "nuts" or I was pranking them. Basically they didn't believe me! So we started thinking 'critter'....a mystery to be solved. We left the bag with 1 almond and five animal crackers on the floor. When we checked back, only 2 animal crackers were left and teeth marks were in the bag. Voila!!! We tore the car apart and didn't see any mouse activity , except for three almonds under the mat in the back of the car. We set a trap that night....I was fearful of driving home down I95 and having the mouse run across our foot and cause an accident. Luckily we caught it....I sure hope there is not another!!!  I can't fathom what one little mouse did with all those almonds; there were probably a hundred or more in the bag. I fear they are stashed in the body of my car somewhere and will attract more critters. I am on the alert!!!!

 On to stitching....I've been working on my Santa for the Christmas cookie mat by JBW Designs. He just needs some legs!!!

 We came back from MD on Wednesday and are watching three of the grands and their dog until next Wednesday. Asher has a baseball tournament in Atlanta and his parents took him. We are back and forth between my house and theirs..... so far, so good. 

I'm planning on doing the Zoom meeting for the DVHSG this morning. We are getting a tour of Linda's, from Erica Michaels', studio. Then I plan to go to the RVA Sticthers group for the first time since the fall... so looking forward to it.

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship.

Stasi

 

A Little Start......

Not much to report today  I wanted to get some stitches in on my July camp piece, so here is the start of Santa.

My daughter and the girls took us to see the new Indiana Jones movie and out to dinner afterwards. Rich has been doing a lot of work putting in the electric at their new house, so this was a sweet thank you. It was the same old formula as the past ones, but who can resist Harrison Ford in his fedora?

 Hope you're having a good weekend.....bad weather moving in and so we're not going to our family picnic in the Baltimore area. 

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

Stasi

A New Month and a Couple New Starts.......

 ....am I crazy ...or what??? I have so many projects going on and so many more I want to start. I have to admit that this is my favorite part of the needlework process...choosing a fabric...auditioning the fiber colors.....pondering a possible finish......and then.....putting that first stitch into a virgin piece of fabric! The possibilities excite me......I may have to join the "serial" starter club!!! LOL   Are you a multiple project stitcher or a one at a time?

So, I haven't actually put a stitch in on this one, but pulled everything together for my July Summer Camp piece with Colorado Stitcher. Our prompt this month is to stitch something that grows. I chose Jolly Old St. Nicholas by JBW Designs. My rationale is that Santa's belly grows, as does the carrot on the small pocket. It's being stitched on a piece of 32 ct. mystery linen with the called for GAST....my faves!!! This will be for Jax.

 

Then I started attaching the seam binding to the perforated paper folio project by Needlework Press. You need to do this before you stitch to be sure your "words" are in the correct place on the flaps. I subbed out the binding I received with the pattern (a very dark navy) with a green one. I got two pieces done and have three more flaps to go.

 

Today my daughter is taking us to see the new Indiana Jones movie, one of my favorite movie series. I hope you all have  a great weekend, especially if you are celebrating the 4th. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship.

Stasi