Secret Stitcher

I entered the June Giveaway over at BeckyBee's Stitching Hive. You really have get over there and enter. She is very generous besides being an amazing stitcher and finisher. While I was entering the giveaway, I noticed that most of my WIP's are Little House Needleworks. Hmm, I did not realize that. Well, seems my secret stitcher has me all figured out. Look what she sent to me. I LOVE it. The colors are gorgeous. I can't wait to get it started. First though, I really must complete SOMETHING!!!!

I love my secret stitcher from the Queen City Sampler Guild.

Marsha

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

My DH, Rich, and I were married 34 years ago today. It surely does not seem that long ago. I will have to go to work soon but we will celebrate soon. Tomorrow is Rich's birthday. When we planned our wedding date, we put all the Saturday's in May on pieces of paper and put them in a hat. Rich pulled out May 15th. He decided he would rather be married on the 1st so no one would forget his birthday. Silly guy. I love him madly still.

This piece is from Just Cross Stitch, June 1989. It's been a UFO for quite a while. I pulled it out Thursday and decided to finally finish it for our anniversary this year which I happily did yesterday afternoon.

Marsha

Tulip Purses

Ta Da! Here they are. The Two-Hour Tulip Purses. I am really happy with the end result. I had a couple fits and starts with them with a shout out to Treadleworks by Tammy and the designer herself, Janice Pope. Both helped me out and I got 'em done.

This one is mine. The colors are just a little more vibrant than they are showing here. I used the large pattern version which the designer, Janice Pope, describes as volleyball size. I also used flap 'B' with a magnet closure. One side of the magnet (female side) is on the outside pocket which is under the flap. She has you place the divided pocket on the inside of the front. I chose to put the inside pocket on the backside to help balance the purse.

This is the lining which is the same print as the outside of my Mom's.

This is my Mom's purse. It's nice and springy. Evan, my grandson, helped pick out the button. He was pretty emphatic - "The black one Mawma" (even though it's brown).

Here is the lining on my Mom's purse. I liked her lining a lot. She chose a simple print. I made her a divided pocket for the inside too. The pattern does not say to sew it to the lining to divide it in half but I did for both of them to help contain items.

They take more than 2 hours, but that's ok. I think another one in a smaller size I could now knock out in 2 hours - maybe. Hope you like them.

Marsha

So, I took a small vacation and travelled to Pgh., Pa. to visit my parents. We had a nice time catching up with each other. My mother and I took a few shopping trips and we went out to eat every night. One evening we went to The Rivers casino to enjoy their international buffet. It was yummy. My mom gave me $10 to play slots and I won! She won too. That was enough for me. Quit when you're ahead. It was a great visit. My Dad is writing his autobiography and it was interesting to read about the depression, his early years as a child, his experience in World War II and then his work years. I'm looking forward to it being completed.
Here they are, aren't they adorable. They were married in 1948.


I arrived on my Dad's birthday and my Mom's birthday is a week later. My nephew, Eric, sent his grandparents this wonderful fruit arrangement. I was happy to help eat it.

One of my favorite places to shop while visiting my parents is The Quilt Company. It's just a short trip away from their apartment and I always find something I want to sew. (Like those darn 2 hour petal purses) This time I found:

A sample jacket of this pattern looked really simple. Easy fitting, no facings, just a light something to slip on in the evening when it's cool and a fleece or sweater is too warm. Just right for coming home after second shift in the summer. The batik fabric is what I'm planning on making it with.

This book has lots of cool projects to sew and make.

I love bees and I found these coordinating fabrics. I want to make an apron from them. (the picture is washed out, it's a little more vibrant than this but still muted.)

From Pittsburgh, I traveled to Grove City, Ohio. Saturday was the Ohio Soap makers annual gathering. There are vendors, demos, a swap, garage sale and gathering of like minded people who like to make soap and toiletries. Hobbyists and professionals are welcome. It is fun reconnecting with other soap makers every year. I gave up my soap business a couple of years ago but still have friends in the biz and I like to keep up with what is new and try some new products.

This year a challenge was thrown down - Iron Soap maker! (A take off on the food channel's Iron Chef) The surprise ingredient? Oatmeal. It was a lot of fun watching the two women weigh their supplies and get busy making soap.

The winner was Joan W. It was a slanted contest - no surprise. She was showing off a new product by Oils by Nature which eliminates weighing out all your oils from different buckets into one step - all oils bought premixed. If you're a soap maker, you're impressed and, of course, I bought a bucket!

My favorite demo. was the color swirling. Here are two examples. The one on the left is in a log mold and the one on the right is a slab mold

Here is a close up of one of her bars of multi-colored soap. Isn't it gorgeous?

People are really generous with their time and knowledge at these gatherings and it is greatly appreciated.

After a fun and interesting day, I packed up what was left of my garage sale items (yeah, I sold a LOT), my goodie bag, my new items along with Kay's homemade goat milk fudge and headed home. It was a good week.

Marsha

Vaca.

I am going on a short vacation to visit my parents in Pittsburgh. I will share new pictures after I return. I need a break.

Marsha

Clark

Our Clark died April 1st. He was only 7. All Cavalier King Charles Spaniels develop heart problems and I guess Clark's was worse than we thought. He died too soon. We will miss our snuggle bunny. Our hearts are broken.

Marsha

Happy Easter!

I thought I should show some Easter decorating before Easter is over! I made this Mama bunny a long time ago. She's so cute with her baby bunnies in her pockets. She sits on top of a jar so she doesn't have a real body. I found the table runner in a thrift store. It has huck weaving on both ends and cost about a $1. What a find.

I used to paint wood and took quite a few classes. This was one of my first projects.

I have a shelf in my kitchen that has a drawer on the bottom with 3 handles. During the year I hang a small pillow on each handle. On the left is the previous month, in the middle is a house (that stays up year round) and on the right is the current month. I love these little hangings and stitched them years ago. I've been thinking of stitching a new set to hang two pillows of the same month but didn't see anything I really liked until Little House Needleworks came out with their new series. So, I set the pre-order in motion and instead of starting with January I started with March. I might have it done in a couple of days. This picture is behind since I've stitched the word March, the small flowers on top and the first inside border. I used the same fabric, Davosa in 18ct, in a similar color to the first set. Stitched over one. The kits come with Crescent Colors Threads and they are a joy to work with. It hardly ever knots. Oh, and Linda, at our guild's last stitch-in gave me a needle to try. Bohin brand from France. The eye is a little smaller but what a joy to stitch with. They slide right through those threads on the back. I very heartily recommend them. You can find them here Crewel Jewels along with other cool things. (I already put a birthday order in to my DH)

Here is March from the first set I stitched by Prairie Schooler. They hung in a local shop for years on a peg tree and then I begged for them back when the shop closed. Someone had stolen the Santa Claus for December (can you believe people?) and I restitched him.

In keeping with my Easter theme, here is a piece stitched by a newcomer to our Queen City Sampler Guild . She had lots of other stitchy pieces to show and they were all beautiful. I hope she will join our guild.

Look what my secret stitcher sent to me! I don't have time to stitch it this year but, hopefully I can get to it for next year. I love the hazy blue linen and look how the thread is almost corded, it has such a cool look.

Have a Happy Easter and/or a wonderful spring fling!

Marsha