The Last Day of 2010...........Really?

Happy End of 2010 my Dear Friends,

It seems so hard to believe that tomorrow will bring a new year.  My, how time flies. 

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2011.

To wrap up 2010 I have a few things to share with you. 

Christmas at our house was very quiet and enjoyable.  We went to my sister's house on Christmas day.  I was showered with lots of stitchy goodness.  My sisters and niece gave me all the patterns you see pictured below.  How spoiled am I?

 

My sister also gave this great Ott Lite. 

I've wanted one for a while and am tickled pink to have it. 

(My sisters are in the picture next to the Ott Lite...I'm in the middle)

 

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Next up is this great package that arrived in the mail.  Tricia at The Stamper's Stitches had a giveaway to celebrate the beginning of her stitching blog.  I was so delighted to win this awesome giveaway.  It included LHN "Tree of Life", Threads and Linen.  I think I know exactly who I'm going to stitch this for.  Thank you so much Tricia!

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Am I Crazy?..............Well.....Yes!

Here are the patterns I've picked for the Crazy 2011 Challenge

 

I have decided that I'm going to have to modify the Challenge a bit.  The challenge was to pick 15 patterns.  On the 1st day of January start one of the patterns and continue to start a new pattern every day for the first 15 days of January.  On January 16th you will have 15 WIPs. 

I can't do it.....I really think that having that many WIPs would drive me crazy.  I generally try to finish one before moving on to another.  Does that sound OCD to you?  ;-) 

So, my plan is to put them in my stitching basket beside my chair and pull them when I'm ready to start a new project. 

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And last but not least.....

My last finish of 2010.  One more ornament for my tree. 

"Happy Skater"

Little House Needleworks

Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 2010

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  It has been a great year and I've enjoyed getting to know you all.  I appreciate the time you take to read and comment on my ramblings.  Cross stitch is so enjoyable for me and I love sharing it with you.

We are off to a friend's house later this evening to ring in the new year.  I hope that however you spend your evening that it is enjoyable and safe.

Happy New Year,

Nan

Christmas All Year

Hello Stitching Friends,
I hope you are finishing all your Christmas decorating, shopping, wrapping, baking......does it ever end?
I have had a little extra time to get things done this year due to the winter weather Southern Indiana has received this year.  We had 2 snow days this week and (2) 2 hour delays. 

During this time I've been developing an idea for a Christmas stitching blog.
Please allow me to introduce
The All Year Long Christmas Stitch-A-Long blog. 

I've always enjoyed reading the blogs where people post their finished pieces.  I realized that..... 1. people generally post Christmas pieces at Christmas and 2.  There is no blog that I can find dedicated to Christmas finishes.  So......I got busy and created one.

Christmas is my favorite holiday to stitch for and I stitch for Christmas year round.  I hope you'll come and join me at The All Year Long Christmas Stitch-A-Long.  

Please feel free to share with your stitching friends and on your blog.  The more the merrier!

Merry Christmas,
Nan

A Productive Snow Day

Hello Friends,

School was cancelled today due to the weather so I've been finishing a few stitchy projects.

I finally decided to pull out my sewing machine and try a pillow finish.  I love seeing everyone's pillows but had never stitched a piece that I wanted to finish as a pillow. 

I stitched Parson Brown over 1 and it was still too big for an ornament so I decided this was a good piece to try as a pillow.

I loved Parson Brown the moment I laid eyes on the chart.  When I got him home he went right to the top of my "waiting to be stitched" list. 

The instructions called for severe tea staining of the finished piece.  I've tea stained fabric before but have never stitched a piece and then tea stained it.  I was so nervous thinking I wouldn't like it after I stained it and all that time stitching would be wasted. 
Well....here he is and I think he turned out OK.  I still need to find a ribbon or something to go around the pillow but I'm delighted with my first pillow.

The finishing fabric I used was from my friend Faye.  She sent this fabric to me as part of a giveaway I won on her blog. 

Parson Brown

By: Notforgotten Farm

Stitched over 1 on 28 ct white lugana with

suggested threads

Here is Parson before I tea stained the piece.

Here is a little ornament I stitched yesterday. 

This little one is staying here to hang on my tree.

Vonna's finishing inspired me to try to create something similar.  Vonna finished the ornament showcased in the JCS 2010 ornament issue.  I knew I would have to stitch it as soon as I saw the magazine.

Merry And Bright

Country Cottage Needleworks

JCS Ornament Issue 2010

Stitched on 14 ct pink aida using suggested threads

 

Thank you for stopping by to spend a part of your day with me.  I hope you are staying warm today.  It is currently 16 degrees here and there is about 5" of blowing snow.  I think I will go see if I can clear off a spot for my doggy.  He so short that he can't get any "ground clearance". 

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Stitchy Goodness!

My Pals Secret Santa package arrived today and it was full of stitching goodies!

Miss Shelleen sent this lovely package.

Inside were 4 fat quarters of fabric, a nice piece of 28 ct. linen, a Lizzie Kate and Prairie Schooler pattern, John James needles and an adorable Star Santa Tart Tin Kit.

Shelleen sure did her homework and really did a nice job of putting together these items for me. 

I LOVE IT ALL and can't wait to dig in and start stitching and finishing.  I think the Star Santa ornament may make it onto my tree THIS year.

Shelleen said she asked Santa if I was on the naughty or nice list.  She said Santa reported that I was a little naughty but mostly nice.   Hmmmm.....Shelleen may know me a little too well.  I think I must have been exceptionally good for this package to land on my doorstep.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!  Thanks you for stopping by to share part of your day with me. I love hearing from you!

Does anyone else see funky labels on my page tabs?  On my computer it shows something like     amp&39

Anyone have any ideas on how to fix that? 

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

I've Found My Christmas Spirit

Hello stitching friends....

I just wanted to drop by and share a few finishes with you. I've been busy working on exchanges and a few of them have reached their new homes.

Here is a cutie patootie little penguin I stitched for a card exchange.  I'm really starting to enjoy making cards.  I don't really scrapbook anymore but I've had fun putting my scrapbook supplies to use.  I'm thinking I might even finish some of the pieces I keep for myself as cards.  Then I can use the card/photo holders I found at Kohls to display them. 

Below is my Secret Santa Pals exchange.  I had so much fun shopping for the Christmas items I found.  This package found it's new home in Arizona with Meg. 

I have to give credit to my friends Karen and Michele.  I pilfered their pin cushion idea.  They were kind enough to give me a cute little pin cushion at the Pals Fall Fling.  I loved it so much that I decided to brush the dust off my sewing machine and give them a whirl.  Thanks for the inspiration girls. 

And last but not least....                           

Here is a little ornament I included with the Secret Santa exchange.  It's the first ornament that I've stitched over one.  (Thanks again Karen, the over one queen :-)

I have definitely found my Christmas spirit.  After visiting my house 4 days in a row the UPS man made the comment yesterday that someone was going to have a Merry Christmas. 

I hope that you are finding your Christmas Spirit this holiday season.  Someone once told me that Christmas is for kids.....all the more reason to never grow up.

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

How To Waste a Sunday

...Mess up your blog. 

And boy did I ever.  I spent yesterday afternoon getting in the Christmas spirit. 

I put up Christmas trees, went through boxes of decorations and in general started the holiday "house" stuff.  This morning I sat down with my computer to browse the blogs I follow.  I decided my blog needed a little Christmas spirit.  Well one thing led to another and before I knew it my blog was totally messed up.  But I persevered (about 5 hours total) and finally got it back to the way I wanted it, Christmas spirit and all.

So now that my blog is back to normal I wanted to share my cross stitched Christmas trees.  Last year I finally had enough ornaments to hang on these small trees.  This year the trees are bursting with ornaments.  Hopefully next year I will have enough to graduate to a big tree.  Many of the ornaments are from my cross stitch pals, or ones that I have gotten from exchanges.  The rest are ornaments that I have stitched.  If you've been my partner in an exchange I hope you can see your ornament on the tree :0)

My Christmas Tree in the Living Room

My Christmas Tree in the Basement

The Christmas tree in the basement is my Snowman themed tree.

Every ornament on the tree is some sort of snowman. 

I've collected snowman ornaments for several years.

I switched trees this year and put my smaller one upstairs because it was getting too full.

I guess that means now that I have the bigger tree for my snowman I can buy more.....right?

Christmas Stitchin'

I took some motivation from my friend Faye at the Carolina Stitcher and became a weekend warrior.  (Thanks for the motivation Faye)  I have been busy stitching and finishing and will hopefully be able to share some with you very soon.  Lots of exchanges going on right now so I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone. 

And last but not least.........
Another head for the basement.  My husband is an avid hunter and was overjoyed with this buck.  We always try to send 1 or 2 deer to the local food pantry each year so this one will be going there before he starts filling our freezer for the year.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I appreciate you spending a part of your day with me. 

Here's hoping that you find your Christmas joy!

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Gobble Gobble

I love stitching for all the holidays.  Most of the stash that I buy is somehow related to holidays. 

BUT...this year I realized that I had nothing for Thanksgiving.  No patterns, no stitched pieces....nothing.

Well, maybe a couple of patterns but definitely nothing stitched.

So...I set to work.  I bought and stitched, and bought some more, and am glad to say that I now have Thanksgiving covered.  I've even got a few patterns stashed in case I want to get a head start on next Thanksgiving.  Several of the Thanksgiving pieces I stitched went to new homes but I just had to keep these goofy guys for me. 

 

Bent Creek Photobooth

Pilgrim Pals

WDW & Gast Fibers

Linen included w/pattern

Bent Creek has an entire series of photobooth pals.  I think the next one will probably be the Easter Surprise Photobooth.  I have very little stitched for Easter so I'll have to get an earlier start on that holiday.  In the meantime I'll have to resist the Christmas, Snowman and Valentine's bear photobooth cuties. 

Thanks for stopping by & I wish everyone a

Happy Thanksgiving

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Thanksgiving Surprises!

Happy Thanksgiving

I had so much fun putting together my Thanksgiving "Giveaway" packages. 

I stitched two pieces to send with the packages and I tried some new finishing techniques.  Sorry that the recipients had to the guinea pigs but I think

 they turned out OK.

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 blessings

Heart in Hand

Easel finish

This was my first attempt at an easel finish.  It is very similar to a flat fold finish but much quicker and easier.

I think I will be using this finish more than the flat fold from now on.  If you are interested in a tutorial for an easel finish click here.  I also used piping for the trim, another first. 

Turkey Flatbed

Bent Creek Zippies

This little turkey was so quick and fun to stitch.  I decided to try a pin cushion finish.  After seeing my friend Karen use crushed walnut shells for "stuffing" at the Pals Fall Fling I was inspired.  I used Rainbow Gallery's Wisper thread to sew him up.  I was surprised at how easy it was to use.  The only draw back is I had to spend a lot of time pulling out the fuzz after I finished stitching.  It flattened and was stuck inside but the end result was what I was going for.  

Here are the rest of the surprises I included in the packages. 

I hope Deborah and Calamity Jr. enjoyed their Thanksgiving goodies.  

+

As I contemplate all the things I have to be thankful for I realize that I am very lucky and blessed. I have a healthy, happy family, a great job and everything I need.  

This year I am especially thankful for all the stitching friends I've made.  I am so glad that I got to meet so many of you in person this year.  You've been a great inspiration to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

And the winners  of my Thanksgiving Giveaway are...............

Deborah & Calamity Jr.

Congratulations!  Please email me your address so I can get your package in the mail.


Thank you to everyone for entering my Thanksgiving Giveaway.  I appreciate you stopping by to read my cross stitch ramblings.  I love, love, love you all!
Happy Thanksgiving and.........

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

I Can No Longer Say..."I Never Win Anything" :-)

The Carolina Stitcher rocks.................

I want to give a great BIG thank you to Faye at the Carolina Stitcher for her great giveaway. I was the lucky winner and received this great package in the mail today.

Inside were some great stitching goodies.......Linen, Fibers from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe, Finishing Fabric, Hemp Rick Rack, and St. Noel from With Thy Needle and Thread. 

I was fortunate to have met Faye at this year's Pals Fall Fling.  She's an awesome stitching buddy and she provides me with endless inspiration when it comes to cross stitch finishes.  Thanks Again Faye!

I can't wait to get busy stitchin' St. Noel.

Thanks for stopping by....be sure to check out Faye's blog if you haven't already.

Keep on stitchin' on,
Nan



I'm In The Mood..............................

Thanksgiving Glitters

-

IT'S A "THANKS"GIVING GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The season of giving thanks is upon us and I am so thankful for all of my blog followers.  I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and share part of your day with me.  So, to say thanks I'll be sending out 2 packages.  To be entered to win please leave a comment on this post only.  The last day to enter will be Saturday Nov. 13th.  I'll be drawing names on Sunday so I can get your package out to the lucky winner in time for Thanksgiving.

Now...........you may be wondering what the lucky recipient will receive.  The package will include something stitched and finished by yours truly and a few surprises. 
Thanks again for letting me share my stitches with you!

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Loves Me Some Lizzie Kate

Dear Santa, I Can Explain...............................

I came home to a lovely exchange package today.  I received these awesome Lizzie Kate pieces from Kathy.  She stitched the dec 25 ornament from the 2010 JCS ornament issue.  She said it was smaller than she thought so she stitched Dear Santa, I can explain...... to go with it.  I love them both and I'm thinking I'm ready to skip Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas.  She packed her stitched pieces in a cute stocking and Christmas fabric bag.  What a nice thing to come home.  Thanks Kathy.........I can't wait to display these beauties on my tree this year!

The piece that I stitched for this exchange was Lizzie Kate's Turkey Time.

I started and finished stitching this piece at the Pals Fall Fling.  I finished it as a flat fold/pinkeep.  You can't see it in the picture but it does stand up.  I really enjoyed stitching and finishing him.  I realized that for all my love of holiday stitching I don't have anything for Thanksgiving so I may just have to stitch one up to keep.  :0)

Thank you so much for stopping by.....after years of not having anyone to share my stitching with I get so excited when I have something finished to share.  I really do appreciate your comments and you taking the time to share in my accomplishments. 

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

OMG!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT!!!!!!

MY FIRST FRENCH KNOT!!!

I have been stitching for 20 + years and have never been able to do a french knot.   

For some reason I decided to try it again tonight and Voila! 

(In case you can't see it, it's the bright pink dot in the top left chocolate) It worked!

I was so excited that I just had to jump on here to share it with people who could appreciate it.  My hubby was less than impressed....MEN!

In the past I've always gotten by with using a bead or just putting in a regualar cross stitch if I could get away with it.  No more faking it for me. 

I'm currently working on LHN's Chocolate Box.  I have the perfect finishing fabric and I received a perfect piece of linen to stitch it on in my grab bag from the Fall Fling. 

Can't wait to finish it!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my new accomplishment!

Keep on stitchin' on,
Nan

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to share my only two Halloween finishes for this year.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to stitch for so I'm a little bummed to only have two pieces finished. 

Scary Halloween

Cherrywood Design Studio

Stitched on WDW Cashel Linen ~ Pumpkin

WDW & GAST Threads as Charted

I started Scary Halloween while at the Pals Fall Fling.  I finally finished it this morning and started right in on the finishing.  It took me 4 hours to finish this little beauty. I put the clothespins on to hold it down while the glue dried and went outside do some yard work.  I came back in, took the clothespins off and realized I had the pieces on the wrong sides.  To my horror it read WEEN! HALLO- HAPPY.

So what's a girl to do?  Well......I started trying to pull it apart.  I was able to get it apart but in doing so I stretched the fabric.  I glued it back together and here is the end result.  It's a little whopper-jawed but I'll have to live with it.  I still love the design and will proudly display it in my house.

I decided to join a cross stitch Halloween card exchange.  Here is the card I made.  I had fun finishing this card and will probably do more.  I hope it made someone smile on Halloween.

I've been working on more exchanges and will have more to show you very soon.

I think tonight I'll start on a Little House Needleworks I've been waiting to stitch.  I received some linen that is perfect for it in my grab bag from the fall fling. 

Thank you for taking time to look at my stitching.  I love sharing it with you and thank you for stopping by!

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

If You've Never.................Well, You Should!

If you are a stitcher the Pals Fall Fling is like heaven on Earth.  I don't have any friends who stitch in my town so it was such great fun to be around a group of like minded ladies.  If you've never been to a cross stitch gathering, I highly recommend it.  Stitchers are such a great group to be around and in my opinion PALS are the best!

Look at this table full of goodies.  On Friday night we had our grab bag and Christmas ornament exchange.  For the grab bag exchange we had to fill a "container" with cross stitch goodies.  When our number was called we got to go to the table and choose a "container" or we could steal a container from someone.  It was quite interesting to see which containers were stolen the most.  The trash can and Santa's butt were very popular. 

When it was all said and done I got the cute beach baby can that is in the first picture.  It was full of great stitching stuff:  fabric, threads, needles, a pair of antique scissors, a thread sorter, a Vera Bradley coin purse and many other useful supplies. 

 

Friday was a busy night!  We also participated in a Christmas ornament exchange.  Here are the two ornaments I received.  I was so excited about this exchange I forgot to take pictures of the two ornaments I stitched and finished.  So if anyone out there in blog land received my ornaments, I'd love to have a picture of them.  :-)

This little beauty was stitched by Robin.  The design is from the JCS 2007 Ornament Issue.  It was stitched on Silkweaver Reflections "Angel Song" 32 ct. linen.  I love the effect of the fabric and think I'll be getting some soon. 

This little cutie was stitched by SusanNC.  I love snowmen and he caught my attention immediately.  I'm not sure of the designer but he seems familiar.  I'm thinking he came out of JCS Ornament issue.

We were blessed to share the convention center with a group of Miley Cyrus lovin' Mary Kay ladies and

X-CON.

The Mary Kay ladies were hard to ignore but the X-CON people were surprising inconspicuous, except for Saturday evening when they invaded Myrtle Beach for their Zombie Walk. 



On Saturday night we ended our evening with one last exchange.  Here is a cute little piece from Michele (aka Mavis).  

Michele told me this was her first attempt at beads and I think she did a great job.  It looks perfect sitting in the basket on my stitching table. 

I'm already looking forward to next year's Fall Fling.  My goal for next year is to take more pictures.  I was so busy enjoying myself that I often forgot to capture things with my camera.  I guess I'll have to go blog stalking and steal some pictures from fellow Pals.  :0)

Thanks for letting me share my Myrtle Beach trip with you.  I appreciate you stopping by and I love reading your comments. 

Currently I am working on a Halloween piece that I better get busy on or Halloween will come and go.  I'll be excited to share it with you when I get it finished.

Keep on stitchin' on,
Nan

Back Home Again in Indiana.........

The PALS Fall Fling was a great way to spend four days.  We stitched, we participated in exchanges and games and on occasion laughed until we cried.  I met some great new friends and had a wonderful time.  Thanks to AmySC at Down Sunshine Lane for organizing the event.  She worked so hard to make sure everyone had a great time. 

I didn't get as much stitching done as I thought I would.  I brought about 10 projects with me and got one and a half complete

(apparently I'm easily distracted). 

Our base of operations was the Springmaid Beach Resort on the very South end of the Grand Strand.  Here is the view from my room.

Wednesday was a day of stitching and getting settled in.  I checked into my hotel, got some snacks for the room and then spent the evening stitching.

Thursday evening was the Fall/Halloween exchange.  Here is the piece I stitched and finished for the exchange.

Beth (aka hipgrammy) chose my piece from the table. 

There were lots of beautiful designs to choose from for this exchange. 

It didn't take me long to choose my piece from the table.  Karen (aka Badonkadonk) stitched and finished this lovely pillow.  I'm not sure who is cuter......us or the pillow.  :-)

I'll be posting more from the Fall Fling soon.  It was a fun filled 4 days and I can't wait to show the other goodies I came home with.  Stay tuned!

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan