North to Alaska!

Do you remember that old song by Johnny Horton?

I keep singing it in my head.

Yes, I am back from Alaska and it was a wonderful time!

 

Here is what I was stitching on before I left on the cruise-Prairie Schooler Alphabet on ecru congress cloth using overdyes. 

 

There is now enough stitched to move the whole project over on the stretcher bars and continue on with the last 9 blocks. See below-

 

Gosh, I hope it is finished this year!!

 

Here is the ship I cruised on-the Norwegian Jewel.  It was my first-ever cruise!

 

Here is who I cruised with-yes, Sponge Bob!  My grandson was not happy that he wasn't invited :)

And Diego and Dora

 

We got to see a lumberjack contest in Ketchikan, Alaska. 

And we got within 1/2 mile of the Sawyer Glacier! Yes, it was actually blue snow.

When we got to Juneau we had to wait to dock.  So the ship used engined lifeboats to "tender" us to shore.  This photo is from above when we had taken the Mt Roberts Tramway up the mountain.

Never doubt that I had some stitching with me and this is what I finished onboard the ship. It is a freebie by Red Brolly.  But for the life of me, I can't find the link :(

 

Have a great week!

Labor Day Weekend labors & More Good News!

I set a goal for the long Labor Day weekend.  Finish stitching 3 items. Then that set me off onto a search for 3 things that were not too far from being finished  :)

I worked all day on Saturday. But finished this February block of A Wooly Good Year.

After church on Sunday, I finished Patrick's Woods Spotted Hare Needle Purse.

And 2013 SAL de Maryse was finished on Monday!

Really love the chocolate cherry mystery fabric I used with the Gloriana Fresh Snow silk.

 

No new starts though and I'm dying to start something new :)

Couldn't remember if I shared with you this Laura Perin Christmas ornament all finish-finished?

And did you see LHN Mellicent Turner all framed?

We bought a youth bed this weekend and assembled it for Amber.  She is just too big for the pack n play.  This was her first time using it for a nap.  Yes, she figured out that she could get out of it but she stayed in the second time.

 

Oh, yes, I also canned 14 pints of salsa and 17 pints of kosher dill stackers this weekend. And hosted a family BBQ on Monday. 

 

Now for the more good news  :)

DD#2 missed all the excitement of baby Brooke arriving because she was on a cruise.  Well, she came back from the cruise and informed the family that she is expecting!! Woo Hoo!  3 grandkids in 3 years!   She is due in March. 

 

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog.

Welcome Baby Brooke!

 

 

A hearty welcome to Baby Brooke Sapphire!

She was born two weeks early on Wednesday, August 21st after only 4 hours of all natural labor  ( I'm so proud of DD#3) Here is DD#3 with 19 month old Amber and very new Brooke.

(Don't know why I didn't get a picture with son-in-law in it too-he was there and very happy)

 

Here is DD#1 holding her new niece.  And Grandson is closeby keeping a careful watch on both of his cousins :)

DD#2 was on an Alaskan cruise and missed all the excitement.

 

Here are the happy grandparents!

 

 Brooke's quilt is finished and barely in time. The baby shower is this Thursday and Brooke will get to attend in person :)

And the Birds of a Feather birth sampler is now completely finished and framed with name and vital statistics. It will also make its appearance at the baby shower.

 

 

We were able to follow thru with plans to visit Mountain Springs Lodge just outside of Leavenworth, WA on Friday with DD#1's family.  We were treated to a wagon ride pulled by 2 Belgian draft horses-they weigh 2,000 lbs each!

 

Here is our wagon, driver and team.

 

Here is grandson getting to hold the reins and drive the team.  Not bad for 8 years old.

After the scenic ride, we got a down-home BBQ meal including chicken, ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, cornbread, iced tea or lemonade and chocolate fudge pie dessert (can't remember the exact name. Suffice it to say it was delicious and rich!) OMG! I didn't eat for 24 hours after this meal.

More news-

I won a giveaway on Nicola's Scarlet Letter blog. The email notification arrived on Brooke's birth day.  (I thought I should buy a lottery ticket as it was my lucky day)  

It arrived promptly and I just love it!  It is  c. 1800 gift pincushion kit (small, fast to stitch and with all the linen and threads already here)

 It says "The gift is small but love is all". Wonderful sentiments. Thank you Cheri!

 One more finish-the wool applique project from my LQS weekend retreat.

I added the buttons and stripes on the flag (the original showed embroidered stripes on the flag).  I love the way it turned out.

 

I know many of you are waiting for my update about the Debbie Macomber yarn shop and tea shop field trip. Which happened the day after Brooke's arrival.  Well, I was busy with grandma duties and had to miss it. Oh, don't worry. I plan to go in the not too distant future and will give you an update and pics then.

 

Recent Doings

I got a letter in the mail with an ad for my local EGA newsletter. It was from a needlework finisher reminding us of the Oct 19th deadline for Christmas finishing.  Can that really be happening already?

So I frantically pulled out the Renaissance Designs Seven Snowmen Grinning and guess what?

 

It is finished!!

 

Yes, I made a lot of changes from the stitch guide.  Why do a serendipity stitch when a diagonal mosaic will do the same and the compensations are much easier?  :) And pom-poms with floss are .....well, limp.  I like a button far better.

So this one is already at the finishers along with Maddie Button and a Christmas ornie. I am having Maddie made into a frameweight.

Here are the results of this morning's work in the garden.  I even found my first potato on top of the ground.  Those are beets in the blue colander.  Six zucchini and seven cucumbers. I have given away so many zucchini people are starting to run away when they see me coming  :)

I finally got some more samplers hung on the wall.  I rearranged my sampler wall in the entryway and this is the result.

And here is the new arrangement above the couch left top-City Stitcher Adam & Eve, left bottom-LHN Melicent Turner, center-L'Atelier Perdu Stitch Me Club 2012, right top-Mary Glover, right bottom-Hands to Work This Is The Day

I spent Sunday at a retreat put on by my local quilt shop. I made the pincushion above (on an adorable Mason jar) and the crocheted ribbon necklace below.

And I got a good start on this wool applique table mat. I like the combination of fall and 4th of July on this project.

Here we are hard at work in the lovely sunroom.  The sunroom is on the far left in the picture below.

Isn't our hostess' home beautiful?  It is in a rural area on several acres.

On Thursday a group of stitchers from my local EGA guild is taking a field trip to author Debbie Macomber's knit shop in Port Orchard, WA.  (The new Hallmark Channel tv show-Cedar Cove- is from a book by Debbie Macomber.) We will be eating lunch at Debbie's daughter's tea shop.  I hear it has a wonderful gift shop. I'll try to take some photos to share with you.

It's a Busy Summer!

My new consignment business has been busy. I have received my first consignment from an out-of-state seller.  And I have a new local consignee who is a former needlework teacher and has lots to sell :)  I am selling their items on ebay under my ID-kiddlady.  Feel free to follow along with my auctions to see what I'm selling.

 

 

 A Finish-Finish!

I found a black wooden tray at JoAnn's with an ugly fabric under the glass bottom. I bought it on 50% clearance and with an additional 15% off my entire purchase.  Then I asked DH if he could get the bottom off without breaking the glass and he did!  I think Mary looks great in this tray!

A finish!-The Scarlett House

Maddie Button

Misc linen piece (I think LL Sand Dune)

Called for Crescent Colour threads

I love Maddie Button.  But the words are all over one stitching and I am getting real tired of over one stitching.  See below- 

A new start-

2013 L'Atelier Perdu

Stitch Me Club

32 ct mystery linen (until I find where I wrote it down :)

Called for threads-DMC and WDW

All over one stitching-see more below

Another new start-

Patrick's Woods thru Shining Needle Society

Spotted Hare Purse and Coussinet Biscornu

32 ct linen in the kit

Silk threads in the kit

More over one stitching

(See why I'm getting tired of it :)

2013 SAL de Maryse

I am caught up again and only one more month to go!

This one is over two stitching.

A new start-Renaissance Designs Seven Snowmen Grinning

From the 13 Days of Christmas series

The deadline for Christmas 2013 finishing is coming up fast.

New stash from Jackie du Plessis and the Swan Sampler Guild.

This is not all my new stash but I'll leave more for next time.

And last but not least the most recent photo of my garden.  The potato patch is in front.  The green beans and peas are done.  I am still picking beets, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage and strawberries.

Too Long Between Posts!

It has been too long since I visited with you and showed you what I have been up to.

Good news!  The weather has been wonderful here!  Sunny, 70's and low 80's everyday.  The only thing is I need to be faithful in watering my garden.

 

I finished my Diane Clements Autumn Jewels class this weekend.  This is what I finished in class-

 

 

It was my first experience with Montenegrin stitch and braid stitch. Thank goodness Diane had them charted out in the instruction booklet!

 

This is Diane's completed model-

 

The inside of Diane's model box with the smalls-

I still have 5 more classes before the end of the year-

1. Terry Dryden's Tropical Jazz in September

2. Sherri Jones of Patrick's Woods-Button Lover's Brag Book in November

3. Catherine Theron-Hidden Magnolia (all in September)
4. Catherine Theron-Peaceable Kingdom 
5. Catherine Theron-No Place Like Home book

 

Here is my latest finish-

Blackbird Designs Flowers for Sarah needlecase

(inside the Thank You, Sarah Tobias book)

30 ct belfast linen-cream color

Called for threads

 

I folded up the linen to make the pockets and pinned them so you could get the idea of what it will look like when actually finish-finished.

Remember this one?  It is Birds of a Feather Birth Sampler.  I just got it back from DD#2. It only needs the baby's blanket and the name/date added to the roof to be finished.  DD#3 and her hubby are keeping the baby's name a secret.  So I've been calling her Bubba (hoping to aggravate DD#3 and get her to correct me with the real name, but no luck, she thinks its funny :) Oh, yes, due date is Sept 6.

Here is my progress on Margaret Bendig's All American frameweight.  It was the June program for my local EGA chapter. 

My neighbor had a barn sale. I saw it after dropping off grandson at VBS last week.  Look what I picked up for $1 each!  I thought it was a good haul :)

Another new start-you probably recognize Part One of the LHN mystery.

Two more finishes in the Red Brolly free Le Jardin quilt. One is American daisy and the other is English daisies.The link here is to the latest block in the series.

 

One question-I just found a little stain on the fabric of the Poppy block. If you click on the pic you will be able to see it on the right margin. Do you think I should re-stitch this block? 

Here is something else I have been doing-pickles and green beans.  51 quarts of green beans from my garden (and I gave away 16 half-full grocery bags of beans that we just couldn't eat).  And 4 pints of kosher dill stackers and 5 pints of bread and butter pickles.

Whew!  I'm exhausted!