Ornament Time

I'm the recipient of Becky's ornament exchange group's April round, and Vonna got a head start on things, and sent me this beauty. It landed in my mailbox this past Saturday. It's lovely, don't you think?



Our recipient for March was Jill. She had requested that there be a pine tree somewhere in the design that we stitched for her. There are no shortage of pine trees in The Prairie Schooler's Christmas designs, so I chose this cute design from their leaflet Old World Santas. My daughter suggested the blanket stitched edge. I think it really adds to the design.



Thank you for stopping by.

A Week of Gifts

The weather here in Northern California warmed up a bit this week. This was a welcome change from the rather cool and grey days we've been having; and the fact that several lovely gifts were delivered by the mailman made it an even nicer week.

First to arrive was the lovely box that Becky stitched and finished. She generously offered her blog readers the chance to win her stunning creation and good fortune shone upon me. I won! It arrived a few days ago, and I've been admiring it ever since. Thank you Becky, for this beautiful keepsake.



The next surprise to arrive was from my friend Sonja in Germany. Sonja made me a very cute bag that I will use for my small WIP's, and a sweet little pincushion. Thank you again Sonja! I'm so glad that we met through our blogs and have become friends.






The last gift that came was a magazine from Mylene. Mylene surprised me by popping this into the mail for me and I've already found my next pattern for the Fair and Square exchange in this issue. Thank you so much Mylene for your friendship and this unexpected surprise :)



I also received my first ornament from the ornament exchange group that I'm part of. I'll be posting pictures of it next time.

CathyB's Round Robin

I'm finally done stitching for CathyB's round robin. I was happy to stitch this design that Diane Williams did for a UNICEF fundraiser in France. I purchased this chart through Gigi and this is the first time that I've stitched it.



Here is how Cathy's RR looks to this point. I'll be sending this off to Joan for her to apply her talented hand on Monday.

Make New Friends

The thing I enjoy most about having a stitching blog is the opportunity it affords me to make new friends. I left a comment on the blog of Sonja in Germany toward the end of last year and she kindly responded to me. We've been corresponding through e-mail and I decided to stitch her a little something and send her a surprise package. Here is a picture of the little two-sided pincushion that I stitched and finished for her.





Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog. Reach out and leave a kind word for someone, you just never know what may happen.

I'm Still Standing

Happy New Year! A bit late don't you think? I started the year with grand intentions to do some interior updating in the house that we've lived in for close to 15 years. As some of you probably know, it's a long, slow process and I still feel like I'm camping out inside of my own home. Hopefully, that will all be behind me by the end of this month.

Stitching time has been scarce but I did manage a small start to my Beatrix Potter piece last month. I decided to stitch the piece on 32 ct. desert sand linen and to use Gloriana silk in the Rosewood color.



I sent two ornaments for our group ornament exchange at the beginning of the week. The first one was for Cathy B and I stitched her Prairie Schooler's Christmas Bell



The second ornament was for Carol. I stitched her one of the santas from The Prairie Schooler's Father Christmas leaflet.


I hope that they both liked what I stitched for them.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate your frienship so much.

Linette's Gift

About a week before Christmas an envelope arrived for me from Linette. I was rather surprised to find the envelope opened but thankfully nothing was missing. Linette stitched this lovely ornament for me and she included a pattern that I have been wanting from a French designer.





I stitched and finished this ornament for Linette's tree. I also sent her other gifts but I didn't take a picture of them. If you'd like to see what I sent her, you can click on her name and take a look at her blog



Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2009.

Winter Exchange for Becky K

I had the pleasure of being paired with Becky K in the Seasonal exchange group. We agreed to stitch a Christmas ornament for this round. This is the ornament that I made for her. It is a design from The Prairie Schooler leaflet "A Christmas Visit".



Thanks so much for dropping by.

Some Special Ornaments

A little over a year ago, my mother moved from her house into a condominium. I went back to Michigan to lend a hand and I came back with some very special mementos of my childhood.

These are some ornaments that my mother made when I was a child and I remember hanging them on the tree every year. I'm so thankful that my mother has always enjoyed handcrafts and that she passed that on to me.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that these sweet ornaments bring a smile to you.

Odds and Ends

I realized that I haven't posted pictures of my Christmas Round Squares that I did for the Fair and Square group. My partner was Jill and I read on her profile that she likes Bent Creek designs. I was excited to see that because I've had a couple of their patterns that I've been wanting to stitch. Here are the two squares that I came up with for her. I definitely want to stitch "Glad Tidings" again for my own tree.



I also participated in the Prairie Schooler Fans Yahoo Group ornament exchange. I've been a member of this group for several years and always look forward to this annual exchange. Here is a picture of the ornament I received from my partner Denise.


Here is the ornament that I made for Denise


Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog.   I wish you peace and time to stitch in these next couple of weeks before Christmas.

Ornaments Galore

I received a super Winter exchange from Becky K. She stitched and finished my favorite motif from The Prairie Schooler's Button-Up leaflet. Becky stitched on both sides and even put our initials on the back. Notice the two cute tiny buttons that she used on either side. I just love this sweet keepsake because it came from such a sweet and talented lady.





And here are the two ornaments I made for the private Christmas ornament exchange that I'm participating in. The angel was for Joan and the other one was for Carolyn.