Happy New Year

The season of Advent is upon us once more and in the Western Christian church it is the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is a preparatory season and is marked by a spirit of expectation, anticipation, and preparation. So many times I get too caught up in my preparations and forget to pause and remember what it is that we are preparing for. In our home we have an Advent wreath which was given by a friend to Bob and me prior to celebrating our first Christmas together. Every year since then our Advent wreath has graced our table. The lighting of the candles on the four Sundays prior to Christmas helps me pause and reflect on the true meaning of the upcoming season. On the first Sunday in Advent my DH always wishes our choir a Happy New Year. It is a gentle reminder to us all.

We had a house guest this past weekend so our weekend was a busy one but the rest of the week was fairly quiet which allowed me to finish stitching these two ornaments. The first is the companion ornament from Tra La La Duo de Noel. This one stitched up just as quickly as the first and I will be doing the final finishing today at our Wednesday afternoon group.




Tra La La Duo de Noel (ornament #2)
stitched on 32 ct natural linen
using DMC

The second ornament is a freebie called Winter Sampler by Carolyn Hofstede of Cosmic Handmade.  If there is no time for the finishing today I hope to get it done up by the weekend.
This was another quick stitch and I thought it appropriate for the beginning of Advent. 



Winter Sampler by Cosmic Handmade
stitched on 32 ct natural linen
using DMC

 As I sit here writing this there has been a dog, a golden Lab I think, making repeated trips from my driveway and then down the street. Each time he has been carrying something in his mouth. Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's not from my yard but I haven't figured out yet what he's doing. He's already made three trips back and forth. I snapped this pic quickly through the window as he trotted by. You can see that he is carrying something in his mouth.

 The weather has been mild this way and our snow has disappeared but rain has taken its place. I had hoped to walk to join the group today but I don't feel like braving the damp. I'm off a little early now to join them for lunch. Catch up with you later!

TUSAL Update

 Once again TUSAL time is here. My little ort jars are filling up with wonderful reds, greens and whites from all my Christmas stitching. I think we could probably determine what season it is by the colours in our ort jars.

I've been working on some ornaments this week for the challenge and have only one picture to share. You saw this little fellow on my last post but now he's all finished up into an ornament for my tree. For now I've hung him from the door to my grandfather clock.

I've almost finished the stitching on the companion piece to this one and hope to get it finished up at my stitching group next week. Tonight I'll be starting on another ornie. Then I'll take a break and get back to Jenny Bean's Christmas next week.

Happy Stitching!

First Snow

It's arrived! The first of the white stuff. Here's the view out my window when I opened my blinds this morning.

This is just a quick post to show off my latest finish. My little Tra La La Duo de Noel ornament was a very quick stitch and I plan on doing the second of the charts next. This afternoon I will be finishing this off into a small pillow ornament at my Wednesday afternoon stitching group.



Tra La La Duo de Noel finished as an ornament
on 32ct Sassy's Sugared Cocoa
using DMC floss

Now I'm off for a quick lunch before I head out stitching. I'm walking so I have to dig out the winter boots once more. Hope I can find them!



Catching Up

I'm slowly starting to catch up with my stitching now that our renovations are completed. Unfortunately I can't show my one finish since it is for an exchange. The stitching on this one is completed and I just have to do the actual finishing.

What I can show you is the square which I stitched on The Twelve Days of Christmas. Our Tuesday night stitching group meets in a local church hall. One of the members of this church approached our group with a cross stitch kit of The Twelve Days of Christmas. It's a Design Works publication and the designer is Joan Elliott. I didn't get all the details and I'm not sure if this kit had already been started and this lady was unable to finish or what but in any case we were asked if we would take on the job of finishing this piece. Several of our members volunteered and we treated the project as a round robin with each one of us finishing a different portion of the design. You either stitched a square, worked on the border, did the lettering or beading. I chose to stitch Six Geese A Laying.

I wasn't entirely happy stitching this one since I no longer enjoy stitching on aida which was the fabric plus it's just not something I would stitch myself.  I did my part as a thank you to the church since they don't charge us any rental fee for the use of the hall. There's not much left to be done on this now so we should have it completed in time for the holiday.

Now that my obligation stitching is completed I can get back to stitching on Jenny Bean and some more Christmas ornaments for the challenge. I started another one last night. As I was stitching on my Tra La La Noel Sampler, I thought that a portion of the design would make a cute ornament. So this is what I'm working on at this point.

There's a definite nip in the air here now and I had to dig out my winter jacket for the first time this season. Gosh I hate bundling up!

I want to wish all of my American blogging friends a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a most enjoyable holiday with friends and family. And for those of you who are travelling during the holiday, stay safe!

It's nuts around here!

Two things have prevented me from getting a lot of stitching done this past week. The first is the ongoing renovations to repair our flood damage. Workers have been coming and going, drywall dust is everywhere and displaced items are in my way everywhere in the house.  It makes things very hard to settle and concentrate. However the  new carpet will be laid on Wednesday and all our junk  belongings put back in their rightful place Thursday. DH and I spent yesterday washing drywall dust off of most surfaces.

The second thing which hasn't helped my stitching any is that my Daylite lamp with magnifying lens appears to be on its way out. The light keeps flickering and now has finally died, all of which is due to a broken socket. Bob tried to repair it yesterday with no luck. He has a local fellow that he's going to take it to for repair. I have some table top Ott lites but it's not the same especially without the magnification. I'm hoping the repair doesn't take too long. Last time he repaired my lamp I didn't have it for a month.
 I see that JoAnn's has had a sale on the Ottlites. Perhaps I should make a visit stateside to pick one up.

Don't you just love the pics of my furry visitor? I've never seen a squirrel with white tufts of fur on the ears like this one. Her partner in crime could be distinguished by the beige vest that he was sporting.

I've put my ornaments aside this week in favour of Jenny Bean's Christmas.  I really enjoy stitching this one and find it so unique for a Christmas design.

It appears my iron isn't working all that well these days! It's just not putting out the heat even when I try the steam setting. Sorry about the mussy pic.

The second piece I've been working on is for an exchange so I can't show any peeks of that one yet.  I've also made a start on Tra La La Duo Noel. I wasn't far into it before I discovered a  mistake in the charting of the alphabet. The W didn't look anything like what it should and came out looking like a more glorified letter V. The charts for both of these two stitches have the same alphabet so I flipped the chart over to the second stitch and found the correct lettering. Now I'm back on track. I'm thinking that my next ornament stitch will be using the top portion of one of these designs minus the alphabet.

I'm hoping to get back to my ornament stitching next week. During the past two weeks I've managed to get almost all of my Christmas shopping done. Just a few items left such as stocking stuffers for my granddaughters.  The weather here has been unseasonably mild which has also aided me in getting my Christmas lights out on my shrubs.

 I've recently picked up a few Christmas baking magazines to help me pick out some new cookies for this year's baking. I always try to find one or two new ones to try each year. I love the BH&G Cookie issues that come out every fall. A second favourite are the Canadian Living issues. Oh yes and the Taste of Home seasonal magazines. This one is an older issue I dug out. I always manage to find some new favourites within the covers of these three. I'm so excited that I actually have the time to bake this year!

With extra time on my hands I also joined the new casserole ministry at our church. We will be cooking up casseroles and freezing them. These will be used to send out to any members of the congregation who fall ill and are unable to cook for themselves or to anyone who has a death within their family. Before this ministry was announced, DH and I made three casseroles last week for friends who took sick. I think it's a wonderful idea and there is definitely a need. After all, many members of the congregation are elderly and live on their own so there is no one else to cook for them should they fall ill.

Lots of Christmas craft and bake sales are popping up in our area and I noticed that the stores are now displaying their seasonal finery. It certainly brightens up the dull November landscape. Lots to see and do! I hope that some of the excitement of the upcoming season is spreading your way. I can hardly wait until I have my family all together once more!

Dare I?

Remove my winter tires, that is. I'm afraid that as soon as I head off to have them removed we'll get dumped on once more. The temperatures have been quite cold here this week and we see the odd flake drop from the sky but my garden tells me that spring is definitely here and warmth won't be far behind.

My tulips are popping up all through the garden despite all that dry, cracked earth. Bring on some of those April showers and it won't be long before all those pretty flowers will be blowing in the breeze. Spring fever seemed to take hold of me this week and prompted me to start a new stitch.

Sweet Little Berries by Little House Needleworks is a kit which has been sitting in my stash for several months now. It came complete with fabric and floss but I've substituted a Silkweaver solo Jazlyn from my stash for the designated linen. I had a hard time finding a picture of this one online. I believe that this was a complimentary chart given out at retail shops if you purchased the required Crescent Colours floss. It's a fun design to stitch and I'm really enjoying it. My photo looks a little washed out though. Why is is so hard to get decent photos?

Sticking with the fruit theme, I finished Tra La La's Maison No. 4 today with it's lovely cherries.

The floss I needed to finish this one up was waiting for me in my mail yesterday so I didn't waste any time and started stitching that border. Here are the results.

This appears to be a series of some sort since there are several more of les Maisons available. Judy was asking me if I thought I'd do some of the others. Perhaps, at some point, but right now I have too many other things I want to get started at or finish. One of those includes Cast All Your Cares which is moving along quite nicely. I'll have a picture of that one for you on the next post.

As I sit here at my keyboard I can hear barking coming from my neighbour's dog across the street. He has spotted Clarisse sitting in the front window and I think he desperatly wants to meet her.

Nick is actually tied up in his back yard and has pretty well come to the end of his leash. He peers across the street from between the two houses and watches our front window for any sign of Clarisse. I cropped this picture so you could him a bit better so it's a little fuzzy but I was taking it from the dining room chair in my home across the street so I don't think it turned out all that badly. He's a real cutie! Thank you to all of you for taking part in my TOGA giveaway. It was a lot of fun and it won't be the last one. Thanks also for all of your wonderful comments on my stitching. I love hearing from each and every one of you. Hope your week is going exactly as you'd hoped it would.

Giveaway peek

My camera is back home once again and now I can give you a peek at the goodies in my giveaway! I've included some fabrics for spring finishes, a spool of ribbon adorned with butterflies, a pair of Uptown Girl scissors and the LHN chart Simple Joys.

Besides these I'm stitching up something with a spring theme. I only have about a days worth of the actual stitching left and then the finishing which will probably have to wait until my days off work next Thursday and Friday. Once I'm finished with it I'll post a picture of it for you. In the meantime here's a sneak peek! Any ideas? Just remember to leave a comment on my post of March 17.

Maison No 4 is at a bit of a standstill at the moment. I've put it aside in order to finish up the stitching on my giveaway. I'm so close to a finish on it though. Just a tiny bit of the basket to finish off and then the border all around.

With Spring Quaker I've concentrated on finishing up the motif I'd left half done in the last picture. That's pretty much where I'm at now. I've had a slow weekend with nothing more to do than stitching but I can't seem to settle much. I'm up, I'm down, checking the computer, back to stitching, sorting through my stash.... you get the idea! Maybe it's spring fever!!

Edit.. I forgot to mention that the draw for the giveaway is open until Sunday March 27 . I had mentioned in the previous post that the draw was open until Sunday March 26. I guess I don't know how to read a calendar! Also the draw is open to both current and new followers as well so pass the word along to your friends. The more, the merrier!

Slow stitching week

Some things never turn out the way you hope. I just had a couple of days off work after a rather busy 7 day stretch and wanted to do nothing more than kick back with some stitching in hand. However I spent most of the first day off trying to sort out computer related issues and the second day I spent taking my son into Ottawa for some errands. Hence, not much to show I'm afraid.

Here's what I've managed with Spring Quakers. I've completed 3 more of the smaller flower motifs as well as the backstitching of flower names which is seen throughout the piece. The colours on this are so beautiful but there are also frequent colour changes which mean I'm spending a lot of time threading my needle. Somewhere in this house I have one of the systems for threading multiple needles with all the requested floss and having them at the ready. Do you think I can find this? I've wasted so much time looking that I could have stitched the darn motifs three times over! So I've chosen to do things the hard way for now and perhaps what I'm looking for will show up when I least expect it. You think?!

In the meantime I'm enjoying my time spent on this.

The only other stitching I've done recently has been on my Maison No 4. This is a much easier design to take on the road with me and I stitch on this one at work during breaks and lunch. If I could just sit down and spend some quality time with this one I could have it completed in no time. At my current pace though I figure it will take at least another week. I took my pictures in a big hurry this time and they could be better. My DH was heading out and taking the camera with him so I snapped these very quickly and uploaded them before he left.

Weather reports indicate another significant snowfall overnight here which has already started. So I'm off to get ready for bed early. I'll have to give myself extra time during my commute tomorrow.

SAL Saturday

Last weekend I spent most of my time feeling sorry for myself. I was home alone, trying to rest my back and hip and bored out of my mind. Everyone seemed to have something to do except for me. So this weekend I decided to do something about it and organized an impromptu Saturday SAL. I sent the message out to my Tuesday night group, distributed directions and got busy planning. The result was one fun filled day with 9 stitchers, doing what they do best...... stitching, eating, talking and laughing. I know it was the boost that I needed and I think it lifted the spirits of everyone present. One of the highlights was checking out my stash with much ooohing, aaaahing and fondling of fabric. Then there was the food. Although we were 9, we had enough food I'm sure to feed 9 x 9! Well ,maybe not quite that much but you get the picture.

There were some newbies joining us this time. Karen is one of my coworkers and is never able to come stitching on Tuesdays because of commitments with her children. It was great to have her join us and she's going to try her darndest to free up an occasional Tuesday in the future.

Mike joined our Tuesday night group this past fall and took the opportunity today to bring along one of his coworkers. Nancy has been considering joining the Tuesday night group and this was a chance for her to meet a few of us and see if the fit was right for her. I think she'll be out on Tuesdays in the future!

Sally and Diane are both regulars in our Tuesday group but had never been out to my little village to stitch with us. It was absolutely wonderful that so many were able to come and I hope that once I'm finished work we can do this more often. Here's a few more photos from our afternoon.

Lori & Nancy followed by Leslie & Diane

Sally (lt) and Roseanne (rt)

Clarisse enjoyed the day too. So much so that I had to put her away in my bedroom for a short while. She insisted on climbing into everyone's bags and at one point she took off running with one of Karen's skeins of DMC in her mouth.
Any for anyone who parked themselves on the seat where she normally takes up residence they were subjected to having their hair sniffed. A regular nuisance she was!

Being the hostess, I didn't really get a heck of a lot of stitching done. I tried spending some quality time with Spring Quakers but just couldn't concentrate enough so I switched to my Maison No 4.

Here's where I'm at with the 2 designs over the past week.

I have a few things I'd love to order that were released at the Nashville Needlework Market but they will have to wait until
next month. My budget for February has been blown!

Here's why...... Rose Quaker by Stickideen von der Wiehenburg and a new release by Jardin Prive ... Sampler au bouquet I.

I also managed to find an interesting design on Ebay. I've been looking for an Adam & Eve designs to stitch and came across this one quite by accident. It's by A Mon Ami Pierre and is called Paradis Perdu.

Thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to drop by and tell me how much you love my new framed stitch, Spring Lace. It's occupying prime space in my entrance and is receiving soooo many compliments from my visitors. I've grown rather fond of it myself!

I hope everyone is enjoying their own time to stitch this weekend. Spring is just around the corner!

First motif completed

I couldn't resist the pull any longer and so begins Spring Quakers by Rosewood Manor. I loved this design the moment I set eyes on it! I'm using the recommended Valdani floss and really enjoying it. This particular floss is overdyed and comes in a 3 strand spool. I'm using all 3 strands so there is no need for separation which is what the chart indicates. The colours are really beautiful and vibrant and show up great on my Queen Anne's Lace fabric. Unfortunately this picture really hasn't captured either one all that well. The lighting is so poor by the time I'm home from work. I started with one of the bigger motifs and it used all but 3 of the floss colours. It might take me awhile to complete this one but it is definitely going to be worth it!

Spring Quakers is too large a project for me to carry into work so I have a new travelling stitch. Tra La La's Maison No 4 is perfect for this and has a lovely spring feel to it. Most of these charts use DMC floss. However this particular one had DMC conversions for 2 overdyed floss. These 2 called for Atalie threads which I assume are available in France. I liked the colour variation for these 2 so I substituted with what I had in my stash. I'm using CC Razzleberry and GAST Currant instead.

The framers called this week with another of my finishes. As you know, I'm trying to get as many of my favourites framed as possible before I retire. Spring Lace by Whispered By The Wind was next in line. I absolutely love this frame but I when I picked it out I wasn't thinking about my wall colours at home. I wish that my walls were darker than they are. It would show this one off so much better. It's such a gorgeous frame!

My back is pretty well back to normal now. Thanks once again for all of your well wishes! My car returned on Wednesday and it looks so good. They even cleaned the inside which if you ever rode in my car you would know really needed it. I don't think I've seen it look this good since I first parked it in the drive! The weather here the past couple of days has been really mild and a good deal of our snow has melted. However temps are supposed to drop overnight again with some more of that white stuff forecasted. And I was just thinking that perhaps I could ditch the boots!