A Tardy April WIPocalypse

So April has just flown by and it was a hectic month around here. Unfortunately it left little time for stitching. The first few days of April I did manage to make some significant progress on Dreaming of Tulips. I had completed the first half of this design by the week's end.

Last week I picked it up again and started on page 4 of 6. Here's my progress at this point.

  Besides some stitching on smalls this is as far as I have got on this wonderful piece. I love stitching this one and would stitch the day away on this if possible. However, as I said, April has been a rather busy month around here. For one thing it's a month of family birthdays...... my eldest granddaughter Oceanne, my youngest sister Lana and my niece, Dana.

 I drove to Quebec where my granddaughter lives to celebrate with her. My eldest son and his family have recently moved but it was easy enough to find. I had a wonderful visit with his girls! Oceanne just turned 11 and is a very thoughtful, quiet girl. In my previous post you will see the piece which I stitched for her as a gift. Her younger sister, Summer, likes to have lots of fun and tease. 

 Sisters and great pals! (at times at least, lol!)

 Grandma and the birthday girl

 What are these two giggling about?

 

Kat has jumped in the gift bag, hoping to hide from all the excitement.

I had an awesome time with the girls and missed them as soon as I hit the road again. I really wish we lived closer!

The next two family birthdays are only a day apart. This is my niece Dana and her mom, my youngest sister, Lana. Lana's birthday is first, followed by her daughter's. 

 

 Besides their birthdays, they were also celebrating Dana's graduation from university with her bachelor's degree in Social Work. Congrats to all!!

April also brought some sadness with it as we learned of the passing of three friends, all on the same day. Two of the funerals were on the same day in different cities so my husband and I split up, each attending one of the services.  
 The third service was for my husband's thesis advisor from his time spent at university.  Bob and John had kept in touch and John was always a strong supporter of Bob's music.
We travelled to the beautiful little town of Goderich, Ontario for his service. Goderich sits along the shores of Lake Huron and is a well-loved summer destination for many. The lake looked rather barren and quiet without all the crowds but it only seemed fitting considering the occasion of our visit.

  
 Despite the solemnity of the occasion, it was a time of friendship renewal as many of John's former students and fellow staff joined together to celebrate his life. For my husband, it was an opportunity to reconnect with many friends he hadn't seen for quite some time. 

On our travels home we stopped to visit one of my husband's cousins. She had in her possession something which she thought I might be interested in. It's a quilt from the late 1800's which had been presented to her great great grandfather on the occasion of his leaving the Methodist church in Fraserville, On where he had been the pastor.

As you can see from the pictures the name and location of each parishioner was added to the squares along with the date. 

   
I found it fascinating! The quilt was all hand stitched and is in remarkable shape. What a wonderful heirloom!

Things have quieted down here now so I'm off to spend some time with my needle and thread. See you soon!

April Small SAL

This month has been a productive one as far as small stitches are concerned. I managed to finish my granddaughter's gift into a pinkeep, finish stitching a second piece and then start another before the month was over.
 You saw my granddaughter's finish on last month's post but I had yet to do the final finishing. We had originally hoped for a pillow finish but because of its size I decided to do a pinkeep. I thought that it would be much easier for her to display it this way. I also have to admit that I detest using the sewing machine and I was much happier doing it this way. Once again, this is a finish by Blackbird Designs called Bird in Hand. I've also posted some pics of her opening her gift. 

 

Océanne has just turned 11 and she was so pleased that I had remembered to stitch the piece she had picked out. She was afraid that I might forget! I added a little charm to the bottom of the piece which says Stitched With Love. She loved it!

After finishing this I started another Blackbird Design, Pins and Tulips Pincushion which I shared the start of last month. Stitching is finished on this and it will be turned into a small pillow for displaying in my dough bowl.

I changed this up a little. I added a small sun charm in place of my initial. I then stitched my initials in a different colour within the small partial alphabet. 

I've started another new small by E Sub-Rosa called Such a Perfect Day. I love the little spool of thread in this one. It should be finished up within the next couple of days and then on to the next one! See you next month.