My gift from Laurie

I could hardly believe it when I opened my BASG gift from Laurie!
I think it is the most beautiful thing!!!!!
And knowing that it was from Laurie, a dear friend of mine made it even better. I could not help but get tears in my eyes, I was so touched and love it so much.

She did the tiniest work. Gorgeous work. I just love birds, I'm sure you've all figured that out by looking at the things I've done.
And flowers! OMG! Yes, flowers, flowers, flowers.

A favorite book of mine is The Secret Garden. I read it as a child and loved it.
My grandparents had the most beautiful gardens and as a child, I learned all the different kinds of flowers.

I love what Laurie created and I love Laurie!!!!!

BASG Gift Exchange

I belong to the Bay Area Sampler Guild (California) and each year in January, we draw a name.
We then have all year to figure out what we would like to stitch for that person's Christmas gift, which gets given at the holiday party in November.

Lucky me got Ria, a wonderful friend of mine.

She put on her little hint paper that she likes purple and gold.
Well, I knew she liked knots. And she had taken a trip to Scotland in the spring. And she carries her stitching in these mesh project bags.

I love to make things that have a PURPOSE.(haha I'm thinking of Steve Martin in The Jerk)

So I found the purple mesh bags. Took it apart at the side seams. Stitched the design on linen band. (I first tried to stitch on the mesh. Oh forget that! The gloss the mesh had made it SO DIFFICULT to see, even under the magnifier, so banding won out.) 
Once stitched, I  put it all back together.

I think she really liked it.    :)

Here I am!

Oh I have lots of pictures to share with you! 
Soon though. Right now I'm working on something I found in my mom's things. This is a Blackberry Lane needle book she had started. I finished his back and have been working on the front now.

If you look closely at him, I added some sparkly royal blue filament.
And if you know me, you know I always have to have a bit of sparkles!!!!

Goatie

Tip: if your backyard gets too overgrown... get a goat!
Its easier on your husband than making him cut it down, grind it up and haul it out!
And then... there's the extra bit of FERTILIZER!
Win win!!

Happy Holiday Weekend

I've got an update for you!
See, I really *have* been doing a bit of stitching. With kitten in lap, as you can see from below. She's learning properly to lay in the lap and not bother my thread.  (I only had to extract her hanging body and needle-like claws once from my picture). haha

It was my birthday on the fourth. This was really a nice birthday. I must say it was the most nicest one I've maybe ever had. The cards I received were so touching.  And lots of nice messages on my facebook page (which I never go to, but think now I must just to say thank you to everyone). I guess I must have been nice this year! lol

Next week makes the one year makes that my mom died. sigh
I miss her but I'm doing ok. I'm just sure she visits me all the time.  :)

She's growing!

I love this little baby sooooooo much! I've never had SUCH a sweet little kitten. And she even sits in my lap while I stitch, like a good girl! Though... she did pounce on Eleanor and I did have a stitch or two I needed to fix as she hung there on it. lol

OOPSIE!!!!!

HA! Do you ever stitch something the WRONG COLOR on an accident? Mannn, I sure did. LOL Nearly the whole thing. And because its one thread over one on 32 count, the X's are soooooooo tiny that I can't even remove them with my needle. (that would be 1024 X's per square inch, just to get an idea of how many X's I removed...lol)Do you know it took me nearly SEVEN HOURS to remove them?! Wow. I had to use my verrrrrry sharp tipped tweezers. Those awesome ones that aren't even made anymore. Why do they quit making awesome things? What WERE they thinking?! Pfffffft what was *I* thinking stitching all that house with the wrong thread color... I briefly thought about making it a purple house instead of the intended beige house, but nooooooo, it MUST be right!

ohhhhh google...

I was just reading the daily newsletter from Mary at Needle ' Thread. Thank goodness for Mary! Check out this post about the important changes that are going to happen next month. http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/05/needle-n-thread-technical-stuff-rss-readers.html I am so glad I read about this because I would just be so bummed to all of a sudden not have all my favorite blogs being followed anymore. I took her advice and added a new follower thingy, Bloglovin button. And I saved all my favorites there, so now I'm safe!

I have a new helper!

Isn't she just the most precious thing you've ever seen?! I am so in love with my new little baby. Apparently the neighbor found her down at the river and brought her home, knocked on my door and asked if I knew anyone that wanted a kitten. Oh my gosh!!! I looked at him with irritation because I did not NEED another kitty. But she was so tiny and I just snatched her out of his arms and said, sigh, "I'll take her" and I went to slam the door in his face (because I did not need another kitty and my heart is tooooo big and tooooo filled with love to resist the darling little baby that clearly needed a home--and what better home than mine?)My husband stepped outside and I heard him saying "I told you not to bring her over here" and the neighbor was LAUGHING haha. Needless to say, my husband is in love with her, too. But the other kitties...well, not so much. Now, this little darling is the sweetest little thing I've ever met. She is the perfect companion for my lap, doesn't even try to bother my thread when I'm stitching. She knows she has just found her bit of heaven. Being all white, and arriving on the Full Moon, I named her Angel.

A tiny bird

I've been stitching away on this tiny little bird. I'm stitching it over one on 25ct. I purchased some fabric and changed the colors on the chart to match the fabric. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it once I'm finished, but I'm thinking I *ought* to make a cover for my magnifier lamp. It gets so darn dusty! Go figure... p.s. its not finished yet, but its getting close. Still some more leaves to do and "perfecting."

I ought to be stitching, but I'm procrastinating!

Its been awhile since I've posted and its because I'm busy making my this year's Christmas gifts. But the best part is my daughter's great big picture is finished, except for adding the zillions of beads! This was the first Mother's Day without my mum. My sister joined my daughter and I and we had a wonderful day at the loch. Soooooo gorgeous up there. We had a picnic and the sky was blue and it was warm with a gentle breeze. So very pleasant. I visited a friend who is here from Utah. Her parent's goat had 2 kids. And here I am holding it. I can't resist little baby goats, they are so precious. And I love the way they hop around. So cute!!!! Our stitching guild (Bay Area Sampler Guild) had their annual retreat a couple weeks ago. That was lots of fun, too. All in all, life is good and I am happy and doing well.

Evening in the Park Street Lights

If you look closely at the middle light, you can see a slight glisten. I added iridescent filament to give a bit of shine to the lights. Of course it shows much prettier in person. Cameras take a bit of it away...

Queen Eleanor update

Its been quite some time since I posted a picture of the queen. I don't think I had any of her horse done last time I posted her picture. I really want to work on her again...but I've a couple, no, THREE other things that must be done before I can indulge in her. I love the colors, really pretty in person.

wow...

Will you please LOOK at these ladies and their amazing samplers?! I wish I could remember where I found this picture, I should have listed it in the file name so I could give them proper credit. But for now, lets just admire this incredible set of stitchers with their amazing samplers. Have you ever done anything so large? Would you even attempt it? I'm pretty sure I would not...

Little Me

Its Little Me with my little goatie. Whom grew into the goatie that I would milk inside the dog house every morning and night so we would have goatie milk for our Great Dane puppies. Ahhhhhhh memories...

Evening in the Park center

Here is the center section. I so love all the detail and pretty stitches and lovely colors

Another gift

Here's a little something I made for the gift exchange in my stitchery group. You know, if any of you live in the San Jose/San Francisco/Santa Cruz area and would like to join our stitchery group, do send me a message. We meet once a month and just hang out and stitch. I made the group in 2003. Its just a wonderful group of ladies, I'm sure you'd love it!

Valentines Exchange

This is a little something I stitched as an exchange gift for my stitchery group's Valentine party, this past weekend. I blanket stitched the design to a piece of wool felt and then did a little crochet edging. It 'twas the first time I crocheted anything in 20 years. lol Its nice and thick and perfect for needles. I also purchased a pair of red scissors to include with the gift. I love Valentines Day.

Swan reworked

This is a little part of Chatelaine's Evening in the Park. I reworked the swan so the neck would flow more smoothly. I just love the fancy stitches. Look at that neat woven one in the planter boxes. And the lovely stitches for the flowers. Its so much fun stitching a Chatelaine design.

Another gift

I have been busy stitching away on a gift for my daughter. In fact, its the only thing I've been stitching. I don't want to post a pic because I don't know if she will come look at my blog. (its coming out so nice though!) So that's why I've been silent... But I do have another Christmas gift to show you. I forgot to show you earlier. Its a tote bag with a puppy on it. For my friend, Cathy. She has that kind of dog. I sneaked the package into the back of her car, hid it behind her seat when she wasn't looking. haha

A gift for my dear friend, Theresa

Here is the finished product! Remember a few months back, actually, it may have been in the summer... I found this pretty fabric, then the design, then changed the colors all around to match the fabric...remember? Then I measured the finished one I already had and figured out a pattern...and changed it to make it even better. Added a magnet on the top for the scissors to rest on...and added some lavender inside to make it smell pretty. And then it took hours to figure out how to put it together. lol Anyway, I love how it turned out and if I didn't love my friend so much, I'd have kept it for myself! (isn't that what giving is all about?)