Saturday 14 June 2008

It's My First Bloggaversary!

I can't believe it... an entire year of blogging has passed by already! During this year I have met the most incredible ladies and made many new friends. Blogging has resulted in an increase in my stitching projects and encouraged me to keep up with my stitching. I would never have tackled a piece such as Cirques des Cercles on my own. It was your encouragement that motivated me to try. Visiting your blogs has opened up my eyes to the world of finishing techniques and greatly increased my stash, lol! To thank all of you I would like to have a draw for something stitched by me especially for you. Anyone who comments on this posting will have their name put into the draw. I'll accept names until Thursday, June 19th and will announce the winner on my post on Friday. Please keep in mind that I'm not that quick a stitcher but will do my best to finish the piece in record time.
















Last evening my DH and I were invited to the home of friends for dinner. They live in the most marvelous Victorian home in a small town on the St. Lawrence River called Morrisburg. There were a number of us invited and shortly after our arrival our hosts gave us a tour of their home. During this tour I found some very old stitching. Two were done on firescreens in their living room and date from about 1800. The colours in them are still very vibrant. I think that these are needlepoint. The other piece found on their mantel is The Lord's Prayer (done in French) and is dated 1742. This piece is definitely cross stitch. Our hostess Jill is from the Gaspe region of Quebec and this prayer had been stitched by one of her ancestors. I was amazed at how well preserved it was. What a treat it was to see these works.

























I've had another finish this past week. My Merry Tree by Helga Mandl stitched up very quickly. (Thanks for crossing your fingers Vonna, I had just enough floss!) I've really enjoyed working on this one. I personalized it by using overdyed floss, some Treasure Braid and beads. I love how this one turned out and I'm anxious to try another. Last year I ordered some of the personalized name trees from M Designs. They sent me an invoice, I sent my Paypal payment and then nothing. I kind of forgot about them if you can believe it until I started doing these other ornamental trees. I emailed them to let them know I'd not received the charts but got no reply. Finally on Tuesday I called and got Mary herself. She was very apologetic and said they had had some trouble in the past with receiving notification of the payments. Consequently she took my order again and has promised to mail them out this coming week. I can hardly wait to get started on some of them! Let's just hope I don't forget them again this time.


It's been another busy week here. I finally managed to squeeze in some time for dinner with my son Chris who just celebrated his 20th birthday. Our schedules have done nothing but conflict and we couldn't seem to find a day to celebrate. Tuesday evening we were both free and so dinner it was! We ate at a pub in Little Italy in Ottawa. Our table was on the patio and the skys were threatening all through our meal but we managed to escape the downpour. It started to rain just after we left! Chris is finishing up two classes over the summer and then he will have his diploma in Small and Medium Business Management. Some day he hopes to start up his own business.

Naturally since I finished my Merry Tree I've made a fresh start. No pictures yet though so I'll share it with you next post. In the meantime, keep on stitchin'!

14 comments:

  1. Happy Bloggaversary! I would love to be entered for your give away =) Isn't blogging neat? I love the stiching you shared from your visit, just incredible! Your Merry Tree turned out fabulous, I have yet to try one of these types of trees yet, it's on my "list" LOL. So happy you got to have dinner with your son, I haven't seen mine in a few years because we live so far apart *sniff*. Can't wait to see your new start!

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  2. Congratulations on your blogging anniversary! Time flies, eh? :)

    Thank you for sharing the pictures of those family treasures you discovered at your friend's house. They are beautiful.

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  3. Has it actually been a whole year? I'm shocked, I can remember when Dani and I were there helping you get set up and started! A stitched piece from you would be a lovely surprise, please add me to your draw.
    Sorry you were not available the weekend in July, I'll check my calendar and let you know if either of the two weekends you mentioned are free...

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  4. WOW...look at those treasures your friends have...think any of our cross stitch will be shown on some long future blog? LOL!

    I love your finish! It's a pretty one! I love how you made it your own and used the braid...stunning!

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  5. Hi Lynn,

    Congrats on your first year of blogging!! It's been wonderful
    getting to know you and seeing
    your wonderful stitching projects
    come to life through your blog.
    I look forward to lot's more posts
    and stitching from you in the next
    year.

    Your Merry tree is beautiful!! And
    I love the thread that you used to
    stitch it with. What a relief to
    have had enough to stitch the whole piece with.

    Your Secret Garden also turned out so nicely, and I love all the shades of pink in it. Not to mention the little wee bunny and the bee. So cute.

    The Christmas ornie is pretty too. I love cross stitched snowflakes.
    And the chubby little cardinal perched on the snowman's nose is priceless. Joy indeed.

    I expect you'll be entertaining the wave of storms in the next few hours that have been passing through here this evening. Some really heavy rain and high winds. But now the air is fresh and cool, and all the humidity is gone! Bliss! Windows will be wide open for sleeping tonight.

    Have a great week!!

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  6. Would love the chance to win something stitched by you Lynn, Happy Blogiversary and thanks for you generosity.
    The needlework at your friends house is amazing, and congratulations on finishing your Merry tree is looks great.

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  7. Happy Blogaverary! Love the colours of your 'Merry' tree. Wow, wonderful treasures. I love looking at old samplers and firescreens. I always try to imagine what the person was like that had stitched them.

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  8. Congrats on your blogaversary! Mine's coming up soon, too. Great pic of you and your son - you must be so proud!

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  9. Lynn,

    Congratulations on your blogaversary..
    I have had numerous dealings with Mary from M-designs, through the shop and have met her in Nashville, and I am confident that what she said was true..she would not knowingly neglect to send the charts...I am sure now that the two of you have spoken that you will receive them soon.

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  10. Happy Blogiversary! I agree with you; I've gotten a lot out of blogging as well :)

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  11. Happy Blogaversary, Lynn! Oooh, I love antique stitching and seeing that Lord's Prayer in French is amazing. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

    How great you were able to meet up with Chris and share a birthday dinner together :-D

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  12. Happy Blogaversary!! Love the Merry Tree. Your friend's old stitching is really neat and beautiful. I'm in my first year of blogging too. It's been fun. I love to see everyone's finished pieces. Truly inspiring and motivating. Never knew all this was out there. I'm definitely going to look into joining the SAL. Have a great day!

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  13. I've been thinking about ordering a personalized M Design tree and stitching it up for gifts for Christmas. Yours is lovely!

    Happy Blogoversary!

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