A little Stitching Fun and Family

Helo to you all: I hope the hurricane Irma has not done any damage to you and your city and town, my heart goes to all who were or are in her path, the news stories rip my heart apart, Blessings and thought sent your way.

I did manage to stitch a little yesterday and today, I finished the Hearts For You, a kit the lovely Kim over at http://wisdomwithneedleandthread.blogspot.com, Kim Thank-you I have never worked on cloth like this before, I like it, I am going to make a pillow for my stitching chair instead of a wall hanging.

Well its not much of a post today but will show more next time.

Be safe my friends.
Blessings
Catherine

Another Contructed Piece

Hello My Dear Dear Friends: First I want you all to please I beg you to pray for the safety of the people and animals in Florida, Irma looks to be a devastating hurricane, we must not forget about Texas and Louisiana if you donate please make sure it is a reputable organization, I am giving to the Salvation Army, they do such great things for humanity.
Now I want to show you my latest finish  I did stitch this back this summer, it is a Tammy Black  Scattered Seed Samplers Design, it is called ''Tea Time'' Kettle Mat, it is 5x5 and just the right size to hold my tea cup with jasmine tea.
I am not sure why I have not posted any photos before I thought I had.

This is Blondie in the Family room waiting for the fireplace to be turned on it was cold here this morning 45 degrees, brrr

I am going to start stitching this after I stitch a project that Kim over at  http://wisdomwithneedleandthread.blogspot.com last year she sent me a lovely porcelain box and a Shepherds Bush Kit. Please stop over to her blog and see what she is doing now. Amazing simply amazing.

This is another ornament I stitched back in 2016 I think,  I like the chenille around the ornament it reminds me of snow.

 

Well its Thursday and I need to clean today, I clean the bathrooms and kitchen on Wednesdays and the rest of the house on Thursday, I plan on stitching this evening when watching Project Runway, however this may be the last year I watch they seem to think some of these designs are wonderful however I have other ideas about some of them.

 

Blessings

Catherine

 

A Few Finish's Finally

Greetings my dear friends, I am sitting here and wondering if I should turn on the furnace, it was so cold last night I was shivering, it has been chilly here, something I do not like to do.

I have been busy doing finishing on some of my stitched items, I made a promise to not start a new stitch design until I finished four item's so here they are.

This is a Blackbird Designs Lady Liberty which I stitched early this summer, they may look a little wonky, only because I use crushed walnuts for stuffing which I love.

                                                     Next is Hats Off To Uncle Sam

 

I stitched this one this summer, I have a large collection of Pin Cushions

 

I received this next one from the stash relocation pile from the Minnesota Needlework Guild last year, I think it is a class project, not sure.

Again it is another Blackbird Designs kit, I love the color of the fabric.

I just need to iron them better.

 

 

Well I am going to start working on another kit from Scattered Seed Samplers, I do not have a photo just yet but will show you the kit photo soon.

 

I hope all our friends in Texas are finally getting back to their homes and getting their lives back, you are still in my prayers daily.

 

I hope the fires in Manitoba are out please pray for Peace and all who are suffering.

 

Blessings

Catherine

Its Almost Over Summer That Is

Hello to all my wonderful friends here in Blog-land, I hope this post finds you all well and stitching away.
I have been busy doing all kinds of things, yesterday Julie my sister in law came over I feel bad we did not do much beading but did finish a beautiful leather bracelet she made she use a peyote stitch with the beads and added it and other items to add elegance.

I have done some finishing and want to get through all my stitched designs and make them into something, so I will be busy doing that along with stitching and beading, I am going to be doing some stain glass but that will be left for fall due to I need to not think about being outdoors and if its cold its a good time to do the glass.

Her is one finish: I love this little girl, this is a Tralala Collection Priv'ee design, I finally framed her, I do change out my hanging pictures for the seasons.

 

I had to get a ornament done before Septenber, I am so far behind this year with my ornament stitching.

I am so sorry I do not remember the designer, I stitched this so long ago and the pattern is gone.

 

 

This is a Scattered Seed Sampler The Gatekeeper Pinkeep, Tammy Black has a series each year and ships out kits four times a year, I did this last year and finally finished it into a Pin Keep.

I used crushed walnut shell's which gives it a little weight.

 

 This is a small design I did in the Blackbird Designs Retreat put on by Stitchville USA Spring Fling, Deb at Stitchville does a fabulous job of getting wonderful designers here every year, next year Jeannette Douglas  will be back yahoo.

 

 

Its a little hard to see but these two hardly ever come close to each other, I think they secretly like each other.

Krissy is not supposed to be on this chair but I could not resist taking a photo, see the look of guilt on her face.

 

 

Time to get ready for my eye appointment and take Krissy to the vet to get her nails clipped, she needs to be put under because she hates it so much, poor girl.

Happy stitching to you all please drop over to http://xstitchlibrarian.blogspot.com you have to see the cute Snowman Stocking she is doing.

 

Blessings

Catherine

I am back

Greetings to you all, please forgive me for not posting the last almost two months, it has been very busy with vacations and other happenings.
I will not go into this now only because there is way to much to tell, however I have been busy stitching and a couple of retreats in between.

First I did the August Needlework Guild which I look forward to every year, we had a blast, I took a class from Ruthmarie Hoffman, I did finish the stitching and have constructed the box, the only work done for us was the cutting of the sides and top all the rest we did ourselves, we had to draw the design on the Congress Cloth  and stitch it, add beads and other great goodies to finish the look, however the construction was horrible, I finally took it apart and did my own rendition of the finishing of construction, so here it is, I hope you like it, I have never done anything like this before but am willing to do another in a different style and colors.

This is what the strips looked like before cutting apart to add to dark linen.

This was a little tricky you had to use just the littlest bit if glue ( I do not know what that means ) I use lots of glue but this time I had to restrain myself.

These little clips are the greatest invention I just love them, they are so strong for being so small.

This is Wind, I love the colors, but the instructions show more gold then browns, however I like this better.

This is Water this is my favorite of the four sides.

 
This is Earth, that big wave is suppose to be a tree trunk, kind of cool I think.

This is Fire, I thought that the yellow should be on the bottom due to fire being yellow like, and the darker colors like smoke but I did not want to make the teacher upset with me, I think she would have thought I was a rebel in the class.

The top has many beads on it all done by hand beading  and attachment.

The top pull is made of deer antler bone which I think is so cool, I do have a deer antler bone  on the Fire section also, many beads and different items used to make this beauty, even tea bag paper, mine still has some tea residue on it, I just used my finger nail to get rid of it, I did not want it on the fabric.

I took a beading class last Saturday with my Sister-in Law Julie, we made tennis bracelets that are so pretty the photo's to not show how pretty they really are, Julie did a beautiful Aura Borealis which looks like a diamond bracelet, mine is green, but I did buy another set of beads to do one like Julies.

 

  So sorry not really good photos of bracelet, it really is prettier in person.

Well I do have more lots more to show you but need to have coffee with my wonderful main man Mike, I hope you all are well and I will start to catch up on commenting on your Blogs this afternoon or evening, promise.

Blessings
Catherine

Minnesota Needlework Guild Prework and Bracelets

Thank-you for all your lovely comments on my last two post, I would send individual email thank-you's but summer is very busy here in our home.
Many tomato's popping up the cherry kind of tomato's, most do not even get into the kitchen, due to us eating them off the vine, yummy in our tummy's.

I am starting work on a Guild project that will be a  guild retreat class  by Ruthmarie Hofmann, it is a beauty in my eyes, it is called Well Of Wishes 11, you know I love thread and beads this is perfect for me.

 

 

I made two bracelets this week, one is a kit, the other is a class project, I love me some beads, but my first love is counted thread. The top one was the class I took at Becka Beads, stop on over to her website beckabeads.com she is now making fly swatters out of horse hair, they are wonderful, this is for the horse rider of course, but you can surely have one made for swatting flies when sitting outside on your deck, I will try to have her send me a photo, or you can visit her web site and ask for information.

 

We are getting warm weather here this week, I love the hot weather even the humidity, it does not bother me at all.

We have been sitting and laying out to get a tan, this is the first year in over 40 years I have had a front and back tan, yahoo.

A little visitor to our yard, sometimes I get mad at them but they are so much fun to watch, sadly a mink has been coming around and leaving small gifts for us, not nice ones either, I can put up with the rabbits but not the minks, they are a vicious animal towards humans and other animals, even large animals like dogs, swans etc, so I want to get rid of the mink but need to do a live trap due to poison can harm other animals, we need to either have this mink caught and transferred to a different unpopulated area or destroy it I would rather move it to the forest but some of the neighbors have other ideas. we will see what happens.

Chicken for dinner and French green beans so time to cook.
Have a great week and find time to stitch, thank-you for stopping by.

Blessings
Catherine

Found On Pinterest

I had to post this I love this photo, I find it touching and lovely.
Found on Pinterest.

Blessings
Catherine

Stitching Beading With Some Nature Photos

Thank-you for all the beautiful  comments.
I really am thrilled to be back posting, reading and leaving comments.
I have been having problems with Google, I cannot comment on Gracie's blog http://needlespinsanddragonflies.blogspot.com and another is Preeti over at http://createwittyunleashed.blogspot.com
 For some reason Google will not let me leave a comment on their BlogSpot, does anyone else have a problem like this? please let me know or if you have a solution.

I did get a bit done this week, I sat in my sewing room all day on Wednesday, I had to take in three pair of slacks, one pair of capris and a dress, it was so comforting to sit and sew finally, I also finished the Heart I stitched  With Thy Needle and Thread Love Letters a heart shaped pin pillow, I love this little beauty, I stuffed it with crushed walnut shell's, I find the batting dulls my needles to soon, the walnut shells seem to not do that.
Mike found the crushed walnut shells at a pet food store, they are ( I guess used for lizard aquariums)
Of course you know I love this designer.

 

 

I took a beading class last Saturday, it is always fun to go to Becka Beads in Maple Lake Minnesota, Becky is a hoot and a new Grandma two times over.

This is the bracelet, I have never beaded anything in purple but this one really turned out pretty in my eyes, so sorry about the threads I was anxious to get a photo, the threads are now gone, I wore it to lunch today with my Sister In Law, she really liked it, this is a pattern from Ellad2 it is called Duoletta Bracelet,  you can google her designs, Ellad2

This is the first time in over 10 years my cactus has bloomed, yellow flowers this time, last time they were pink, I am not sure why it has not bloomed more or why the color changed, it sits in my sewing room window in the southeast window.

We have a visitor every evening he is a beauty he is small I do not know if the bumps on his head can be seen but when he is standing in front of me close I can see the bumps where his antlers will be, we feed the deer and rabbits along with birds and of course the little rascal squirrel.

We were going to fill the old garden with cement and a fire ring but cannot do this till late August or earlier September due to the three spots a turtle laid her eggs, it was very interesting to watch, she dug and dug with her hind legs one at a time and got very deep and laid the eggs, I am excited to see them little creatures come out of the ground and start their life. it takes up to 90 days for some turtle eggs to hatch, I am not sure about this type, I am hoping it only takes 30days, I will take photos if I see them on their new journey of life.

  
I cleaned house yesterday and today it always takes two days due to I move all my furniture and the washer and dryer every week, I guess I am a little finicky about dust.
I am taking a tatting class in August at Needlework Guild Retreat, I had my interest piqued by Gracie and her lovely tatting charms with the crystals she does.
Well its almost time for bed the dog needs a little walk and so do I.
Thank-you for stopping by.

Blessings
Catherine

 

I am finally Back

I want to Thank Vickie over at http://astitchersstory.blogspot.com she has checked up on me to make sure all is well, thank-you from the bottom of my heart Vickie, you are an angel. I also want to thank RJ over at http://stitchingfriendsforever2.blogspot.com, you also are an angel thank-you for the beautiful letter and your kindness at the passing of my Mother.

I have been very busy since April, with my Mother being ill and then passing, it has been a challenge, she was my dearest and best friend, I do miss her so.
Cleaning and getting the home she owned was hard, my husband and I gave the home to my sister in law, she lived with my Mother and was her care giver, so it was only right she get the home, she has made some beautiful improvements, is having fun doing so and I really want to keep her in the family, she was my youngest brothers wife, after he passed away from cancer she let my Mother live with her in her home, until my Mother bought a home, then Julie moved in with her.
Julie is like a sister to me now, I am so lucky.

I have been away also on a almost two week vacation with my wonderful husband, we left on June 4th and came home June 15th, I am so relaxed, I needed that vacation., we went to Live Aqua in Cancun Mexico our second home is what that place feels like to us.

They had a message on our bed made out of rice, they are a fantastic place we only mentioned to our favorite waiter that we had been married for 40 years, he must have mentioned it to management and this is what they did for us, this is the best place to vacation for us.

Mike had a message put on the beach made out of seaweed as a surprise for me, the words are about four feet tall and one foot wide so you could see it from the balcony's of the resort, all rooms face the sea, none face the streets of Cancun.

I did get a few stitch's in on Plum Street Sampler Merry Friends, I love this design, I bought the tins to put the finished design in from a second hand store, so they will be hanging somewhere in the home this Christmas.

I finished this at a stitching retreat in May, I found the buttons in my stash button jar, I need to have a finishing day soon, I have loads of stuff to put together, the stitching is done but if you know me I like to stitch and not finish, maybe I need to send a bunch to Vonna!

I did finish the stitching on Blackbird Designs Lady Liberty and need to finish the top for the pin cushion, soon very soon.

I had a beading day with Julie, she made these adorable bracelets for me, I did not know she was making them for me at the time, I was also making bracelets for her one I finished the other I had to finish after she went home, one I have a photo for the other I will have to post later when I get her wrist in front of the camera.
This is the one I made for her.

So sorry the photos are not so great I do not know what is wrong with my camera.

I hope you are all well I am going to get caught up with commenting on other blogs today.

Blessings
Catherine