Goodbye 2010...

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2011 filled with much joy.

UFO to WIP

I finally picked up a sampler. This is M A Tipper from the Scarlet Letter. I can't tell you when I started her but it is definitely over 5 years ago. Actually she has been on my to complete list for the last 2 years. Well, this is her year! She is huge and stitched on 45ct.
I am looking at my stash and thinking about stitching goals for next year.

Here is a picture of the sampler.
Wish me luck!

Back to work today.

Happy Tuesday and thanks for stopping by.


Chris

A Gift From a Friend

I received a wonderful package from my friend MaryAnn last week.
Inside was a fabulous little snowman pin that I have been wearing all week. I think that Snowmen are one of my favorite motifs. I have a purple corduroy sweatshirt that matches perfectly with his scarf and hat. My friends were very amazed at how well we were coordinated.
I am excited about the sampler calendar. I am going to try and keep track of my stitching this year. I can kind of tell you what I finished or worked on but I couldn't give you a total or what I bought. That is going to change with the help of this calendar.
And the last thing was a project bag. Now I can replace one if those zip locks that I carry around.
Thank you so much MaryAnn! I can't wait to catch up in February!

Now, I have to get moving. I need to go to the post office and by Goodwill and to the grocery store. I plan to be home to do some stitching this afternoon.

Happy Monday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another Gift

SNOW! It didn't show up at our house until last night. It is still snowing now. I love the quiet a peace of snow. The world is still and at rest. I was pretty sure that we would get some, you can tell by the way the birds in the yard were acting. The robins and downy woodpeckers were trying to get an extra meal before hunkering down to wait out the weather. I lived up north in Maine and Connecticutt and I miss snow. I don't miss driving in it! I hope that everyone stays safe and warm at home today.

Rich and I went to my mom's yesterday afternoon. This is her tree this year. We had a traditional roast beef dinner and all the things that go along with that.It was pretty fabulous. I am still full this morning.

So today there is nothing for it but to stay in my pajamas and stitch! I have pulled out MA Tipper and have started working on her again. Progress is slow and she is HUGE. I will post some progress pics soon.

I hope everyone has a warm peaceful Sunday.

Chris

Merry Christmas and a drumroll please

Rich helped me out and drew the winner of the giveaway.

Congratulations .....Meari!!!!!

Please send me your mailing info and I will get the package out to you next week.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends.

All the best in 2011!

Chris

Another finish and a few more days until the giveaway...

Here is the 2005 JCS ornament from Cindy Valentine. Kind of different from what I usually stitch. The backside is the same. I think that it turned out well. I have 2 more kits from the 2005 issue and then I can move on to 2006. The last year that we did the kit exchange was 2008...so I still have some more kits to work my way through:)

I really need to pull out a sampler and get back to work. I am having dinner out tomorrow and Thursday I will probably be running errands so maybe Christmas Eve I will get some more stitching done.

I was going to go shopping on Sunday morning but I got up to the top of the driveway and found this. It didn't take Rich long to get his chainsaw out and take care of this but it still disrupted my plans.

I hope that everyone is having a great week. I have 2 work days left until the long weekend .

Rich will draw the giveaway winner Christmas Eve night. There is still plenty of time to enter and I will  ship where ever :)
Just leave a comment on the giveaway post on 12/18.
Hope the rest of your week is great!

Some favorite things...

This is one of my favorite movies. Rosalind Russell is amazing. The costumes are amazing. If you have never seen it you should. TMC has it on today and of course I am hooked.
There is a musical version called "Mame" starring Lucille Ball which is also pretty great.
You will be a huge Rosalind Russell fan if you invest the time to watch this.
And who knew that Forest Tucker of F Troop fame could look so amazing :)

Here is another. Merry Hall by Beverly Nichols. If you have friends that are gardeners and Anglophiles this book is a must. It was written after WWII by journalist Beverly Nichols about his purchasing Merry Hall and his adventures there. This is the first book in the trilogy and I recommend them all.

Well, I think I will stitch and finish watching the movie :)

Don't forget you have until Christmas Eve to enter my Holiday Giveaway.

Holiday Giveaway

Dear stitching friends and followers,
  I have been trying to get my act together and get a giveaway together for my blog friends. I think I finally have something :)

The area that I live in in NC is very famous for local potters. Hal & Eleanor of New Salem Pottery have been making a gift for me to give my stitching friends every year. This years is a small dish/ornament. I have friends that hang them on the tree  or use them all year long as a pin dish .

I also have some WDW floss and some Lakeside Linen ornament cuts to add to the giveaway.
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. I will pick the winner on Christmas Eve.

Just a small way for me to say thank you for all your kind comments and stopping by to visit.

Chris

Out of my comfort zone

I am still working on the ornament kits that I have based on the 2005 JCS ornament issue. This is the Cindy Valentine ornament, not really what I stitch. I still have a bunch of eyelets and some beads on this side and then I will stitch the other side. I am enjoying it but as I said it is not really what I normally stitch.

This is the Erica Michaels design from the same issue. This is more my speed. Sorry the picture is so bad, the colors are much better in person.

I know that everyone is really busy with the holidays. I have dinner plans with friends and for work the next 3 nights, so there probably won't be much stitching.

 I got some stash from Needlecraft Corner with my birthday coupon. The new Prairie Schoolers, the Jenny Bean friendship sampler and a few more treasures.

I need to go stitch now :)

Have a great week!

Chris

My Christmas Questionnaire

1-When does your tree go up?
     Thanksgiving weekend
2-Is your tree real or artificial?
       Artificial
3-white lights or colored lights?
      colored
4-when does your tree come down?
     after the new year
5-Does your tree have a theme?
      no, it is pretty eclectic
6-Do you send xmas cards?
     yes, and they are finally finished!!!
7-How many types of cookies do you bake for the holiday?
       none so far
8-favorite Christmas cookies
     Everyone asks me to make 7 layer cookies, they are so rich and easy, but I think every one's are different depending on how they layer them
9-Christmas dinner?
      My Mom always makes a rib roast
10-When do you open presents? Christmas Eve or Christmas day?
       As a child it was always Christmas day but now it is both
11-Favorite Christmas song?
         all of them, I love listening to the classical station this time of year
12-Favorite Xmas movie?
       I love The Ref. It is so sarcastic and you have to love Dennis Leary. Christmas Story is also a classic.
13- Favorite Christmas motif?
         I love those snowmen :)

That's all that I can think of right now. I have to go to work.
This is a pic of last year's tree.
Have a great Sunday and have fun with these and add your own questions.

Chris

A good day off..

I finished stitching this little guy last night. He is the SamSara design from the 2005 JCS ornament issue. He will go into the pile to be finished during next year's finishing frenzy. So good-bye for now Mr. Snowman.
So, did I pull out my sampler....noooo. I started the Erica Michaels design from the 2005 issue. At some point I will have all the ornament kits that I have stitched! I am determined!

My friend Susan drove out to my house today and we hopped in Zippy and went down to Salisbury, NC. Salisbury is a very old town with lots of history. After having a nice lunch we went to the Josephus Hall house to take a tour. This house was originally the Salisbury Female Academy in 1820. The ceiling height downstairs is 12' and upstairs is 14'. The house was all decorated by local businesses and groups for the holiday. The iron work was put on the house in the 1850's when the House was purchased by the Hall family. I always enjoy going to visit. There were samplers stitched in Salisbury. I like to think of the girls stitching here.

We then drove out to Granite Quarry, NC to see if the Old Stone House was open. Sadly it was closed. This was built in 1760. It always surprises me to see it. There are not many houses like this in NC. I almost think that I should be in PA.

After that we headed back to my house. It was a lot of driving for Susan since she lives on the other side of Raleigh. She gave me a beautiful project bag for Xmas. I can't wait to put a project in it. Maybe I need to put that sampler in it :)

Is there anything that smells better than orange and cloves? 

I hope that everyone is having a nice weekend full of holiday cheer.

Thank you for all your kind comments.

Chris

Is it Friday yet?

Not much is happening here. I have been stitching some on this little Sam Sara guy from the 2005 ornament issue. Once he is done I will start back on a sampler.
  Rich gets up at 4am for work, I usually get up at 6. Yesterday my mind woke up at 4 too so I just got up and I am paying for it :)

I hope that everyone is having a great week.

Chris

Exchange for Rowyn

Here is a picture of the ornament I sent Rowyn in the private exchange that she organized. It is a freebie from Drawn Thread. I was very happy with the way it turned out. One of my friends really wanted this one and I owed her big time for donated some sick time to me while I was out with my surgery. She got a different ornament :)

Not much is going on here. Working Xmas cards and trying to get everything together. The 80 Xmas cards I bought were not enough.

Hopefully I will stitch some towards the end of the week!

Back From the framers...

Here is Isabella Johnstone. I love that cow!!! I really enjoyed stitching this one. I loved the greens and the red in this sampler.

She is hanging with Sarah Boone and Susan Jackson over the bed in my guest bedroom.

Now I just need to get the bedroom organized, all the xmas presents are on the bed along with gift wrap!!

This is Better Late Than Never from Eileen Bennet. It was a kit that I received in the Round Robin one year at Sampler Gathering. She gave you a piece of fabric to stitch it over 1 or 2. I chose over 1 and let me tell you it took so long for me to sit down and finish it because the rows of eyelets were evil over 1 on this fabric! I had to wrap them twice to get them to open up.

And then here is Jenny Bean. I think she is pretty fabulous and I love the frame.
Now seeing all of these framed and hung up has made me say whoa! I need to be stitching some more samplers so I have something to show for next year. I love the ornies but I do love the girls too. So in the next few days hopefully I will be updating you on my sampler stitching.

I hope that everyone has a good week. I hope to be getting a giveaway together soon. I need to get the xmas cards done and also some gifts packed up.

Talk to you soon.
Chris

Snow

Yes believe it or not we had a little snow yesterday. It turned to rain so it wasn't around that long.
Rich and I broke out the hot chocolate and marshmallows in celebration. Rich's brother in Connecticut and his sister in Massachusetts were shocked that we had snow.
Yesterday I stitched a little. Rich worked on his half of the xmas cards.
We drove down to Southern Pines for Rich's work holiday party.

I did not get my new needlework hung up. Maybe tonight after work.

Have a great Sunday.

EGA Holiday Party

Thursday night was our annual EGA Holiday party. The chapter is small right now, 19 members. We met at our chapter president's house. For this meeting members signed up to bring an appetizer, salad or desert and we enjoyed a great meal together.

After dinner it was time for the ornament exchange. I have to say that every year I look forward to getting an ornament from a different member of the chapter. This year I was so lucky to receive Allison's ornament. Isn't he fabulous? I need to do some canvas work.

These are all the ornaments from the group. Aren't they all fabulous? Rachel did a drawing for the ornaments where numbers were drawn and then the person who got the last ornament passed the ornament they stitched to the person whose number that they drew. In the past we went to smugging the ornaments in in identical bags so that when you drew your number you couldn't target a particular stitchers bag every year. Are we devious or what?

Rachel did a beautiful job hosting the party. Her tree had a thousand white lights on it. I think it can be seen from outer space! It was so beautiful.

Rachel also showed us the project that Meg Shinall will be teaching the chapter in the spring. It is a beautiful hardanger table runner. I have wanted to learn hardanger for a long time. I would love to stitch some hardanger ornaments. So, one of my stitching goals for next year is to finish that table runner and to stitch at least 1 hardanger ornament.

I am not disciplined enough to sign up for one of those 15 project challenges floating around out there. I just don't stitch well with others.

I hope that everyone has a great Saturday.
More news later....back from the framers :)

Chris

Exchange received

I participated in an exchange with Rowyn from Stitching Under A Southern Cross and today I received a wonderful surprise in the mail. Look at that fabulous ornament! I am so grateful to Rowyn for this lovely gift. Look at that snowman too! You know I have to stitch him up to add him to my group of snowman ornaments.


I hope that everyone is having a great week. I have lots of stitching news to update you on but not tonight.

I am going to sign off and spend some time fondling all these wonderful things Rowyn sent.

Good night!

Chris