Keepsakes Stitch Away

I can't believe it's been a week since Stitch-Away.  Sigh.  Last week at this time I was stitching away on 'I sigh not for beauty'.  I had spent Friday stitching on my BAP for BeckyBee's Stitching Hive.  I will show that in another post.  I was quite pleased with what I had accomplished.  It's so nice to dedicate hours to stitching and not have to worry about anything else.  I enjoyed myself, my fellow stitchers, the food, the shopping, gifts and ambiance.  It was a great weekend.

Here is a picture of our conference/stitching room.  I don't have a wide angle lens but this gives you a good idea of our set up.  This is about 2/3's of the room.

Here are most of us that sat at our two table pushed together.  We shared a great many laughs.  We haven't seen A. in quite a while.  She is very busy with her children and scouting and we miss her a bunch but we understand.  Diane lives in Indiana and it's been a year since I sat next to her at this stitch away.  It was great seeing her again.

Memories to take home.

C. was very happy to be stitching with us.  Her health is a quandary right now and we all hope she feels better and gets definitive answers real soon.  Indigo Rain is the blog she authors.

D. here helped me with my four sided alphabet on my BAP.  I knew I was doing it wrong and I knew she'd have that stitch in her memory and could help me do it correctly.  It caused some ripping but I was glad to get it right.  Thanks D.

This is D.'s lovely sister J.  These two are very accomplished stitchers.  Their body of work in the few short years I've known them is amazing.  They are very kind and helpful too. (See Linda in the background?)

Saturday evening includes a show and tell of our past stitching.  I remember this lady from last year going through a particular rough time.  She was stitching this then and now it's complete representing her new path in life.  A Thomas Kincaid piece. A lot of the stories were like that.  Very touching and meaningful.

This is half of table of completed projects with stories behind each.  I had a display way on the end and, of course, forgot to take a picture.

Here are some of my favorites.  I love this first one but have no idea who the designer is. Anyone know?

J. from above stitched this Erica Michael's piece.  It was originally charted on silk gauze.  Her sister D. said, save yourself some aggravation and stitch it on linen.  She did, Love it.

Here's Diane of Nan's Needlework Notions and me.

L. of The Inspired Stitcher and Diane.

By Sat. night we were having way too much and fun and tired.

If you would like to see more pictures of our weekend go to The Inspired Stitcher,  Nan's Needlework Notions,  One Stitch Closer to Nirvana.  They have great pictures of the shopping room, the gifts we got and other inspirations from the weekend.

Stay warm.  I'm off to work on ice slicked roads.

Marsha

more stitching

Do you think you can stand more photos of Christmas ornaments?  If not, skip on to another blog.  If you can, look at these beauties women from the Queen City Sampler Guild stitched for our ornament exchange.

Along with our ornament stitching we can bring in completed pieces that we've stitched throughout the year.  Here are a few of the pieces that were brought in to share.

I know Marsha G. stitched this next one.

Lisa P. stitched up this next group.  We helped organize the 'Long May She Wave' needle book class with Ellen Chester.  Lisa and I also stitched the Christmas SAL together. 

Mary G. stitched the Shepherd's Bush stocking.

Here, in all her glory, is Linda K.  I sent her secret stitcher goodies for 2011.  That thing on her head is mistletoe.  She's a nut and fun to stitch with - Love you Linda!

Marsha

Ornaments and other Goodies Received

First Up, here is the ornament I received from my secret stitcher (the one who sent me gifties), Lisa, The Inspired Stitcher. Isn't it cute?  I'm sure it's a LHD ornament done in my favorite color blue.

Notice the beautiful, sparkly beaded edging. Lisa does wonderful work.


Notice on the back how she stitched a whole nother border around the whole ornament. I'm glad to have an ornament and goodies stitched by my good friend Lisa.

At the Tiara Christmas party I won this cute snowman. I'm not sure who the designer is and the linen is actually a much warmer color than is showing up in my picture. 

It's a pinkeep with gold headed pins along the edge. He was stitched by Christy Y.  She is a very talented stitcher also and inspires me also.  In fact, when I saw her Amy Mitten Forgery 15 - Polly Whitlock 1840 I knew I had to stitch it some day too.  It's in my stash, ready to stitch.  She has also stitched Dutch Beauty and many other wonderful samplers.

The third ornament I received in the Queen City Sampler Guild's Christmas party exchange.  It was stitched by Diane L. Once again, another incredible stitcher.  We have a lot of those in the guild. I am always inspired by her stitching too.

Here is the backing fabric. I know her thread colors were based on this fabric - love it.

Christie M. gifted me with this adorable pin cushion.  She was my Secret Stitcher last year.  The bottom is an old canning jar lid.  It's on my desk already waiting to be stuck and poked.  She also knows I love the color blue.

At our place settings this year we each received a cute needle book, complete with two John James petite needles.

My last gift from Lisa P. for Christmas included this great set of stamps.  I like to make cards and she knows I love bees.

 A lovely set of post its, list and note cards with a bee theme also.  The problem is I have a hard time using them 'cause I like them so much.  I gotta get over that, I know.

And we both share a love of Hello Kitty.  You need to run over there and see the Hello Kitty things she got for her birthday from Jenny of One Stitch Closer to Nirvana.  Way too cute for words.  Looks like I need to do my own internet search for Hello Kitty designs.

Patti F. gifted me with some more cuties.  Patti travels to lots and lots of stitch retreats.  Some day I'll be able to make a trip with her.  She has a unique stitching style that is very happy and vibrant.  She finds the prettiest color linens for her projects.  She is in the guild also so is a sampler lover also. Love this pretty bird.  My Christmas tree this year has my bird ornaments on it so this new one feels right at home.  See the green sparkly needle keeper with my name on it?  Thank you Patti!

My sister, Terry, sent me a big surprise in the mail.  A new ring.  She's the best!  Love you Terry!

Marsha

Christmas ornaments

Ornament number one was stitched early this year and waited patiently to be finished.  It's hard to see, but there is green ric rac around the edge.  All the hangers that I used this year are from Hobby Lobby.  It's sold as a beaded trim, on a spool in the ribbon area.  Very easy to work with and makes a really nice hanger.

Here's the back. The linen came from stash and I can't remember the floss that I used but I'm thinking it was an NPI silk. This one went into the Tiara group ornament exchange and Janice was chosen for it.

Ornament #2 was stitched on the other half of the linen with the same color silk.  I added the little jingle bell to dress it up a bit.  I also used ric rac around the edge of this one.  I prefer the look of flat ornaments but I ran out of time this year and made pillows instead.  I used raw (but clean) wool for stuffing and it works really well.  Much nicer than polyester filling.  The candy cane pillow was the only one that I used plastic beads for fill. It gave it a nice feel too.  Lisa, The Inspired Stitcher, chose this one as her thank you gift for being my secret stitcher.

Here's the back.

Ornament #3 is a LHD.  I used Autumn Fields linen and the floss colors called for.  The trim along the bottom came from Archivers - a scrap book store.  Beware: it does not like a hot iron!  I hid the balls on the left as they became a little deformed from the iron.  ( I could say a lot about this but it just wouldn't sound right LOL)  I will not be ripping it out and redoing as most people won't notice. i.e. my family.

And the back.  I'm keeping this one so no one has to be subjected to deformed balls.

Ornament #4 I made as a floss tag.  I invested in a crop-a-dile to make eyelets, and I'm really glad I did.  It makes things so much easier than trying to punch a hole with scissors.  I used a coupon and got it it at Archivers also.  This ornament went to the person I had as a secret stitcher, Linda K., and gifted through out the year.  It was fun sending anonymous surprises to her.  I never got a chance to stitch something for her so I wanted to do something she could use all year.  It is stitched on 36 ct. Dubloon linen from Picture this Plus.  The color is not showing up well in this picture.  I used the DMC called for and stitched it one over one. It's a Little by Little design 'Quaker Blackbird'.

the back.

I did our initials in the reddish brown instead of the green, LK and MK. This ornament was for the Secret Stitcher ornament exchange at the Queen City Sampler Guild's Christmas party.

Ornament #5 was stitched for the Queen City Sampler Guild's regular ornament exchange.  Not everyone participates in the secret stitcher activities so if you want to make and a receive an ornament, this is another way to participate.  Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers designed this one - 'Yuletide'.  It's from the 2011 JCS ornament issue.  I used 36 ct. Dubloon linen again and some of the listed floss colors, 1 thread over 2.  I didn't have all of the colors so I substituted what looked to be a close match.

I just had to add a red bead to the lead reindeer's nose.

Once again, the back.  Evelyn was chosen for Yuletide.  This might be the 3rd ornament of mine she's been picked for. Hmmmm.

My next posting will be the ornaments I received. They are really nice.

Marsha