Hello My Dear friends

Greetings Friends: Thank-you to all who do not have emails to send thank-you for posting comments on my last post.
I have been very busy, I have had several funerals from Church friends and Mikes Cousin this past two weeks.
I am excited to tell you I had a retreat last week-end, on Thursday evening a few of us arrived to have a relaxing time and loads of fun.
I was the second person to arrive, Judy was the first, I have to tell you she is an amazing stitcher, her cross's are perfect, I would love to stitch like her.
Many arrived at about five or later.
We eat a lite supper and have a few cocktail's, fun and more fun.

Blackbird Designs were the Designers, I am telling you they are amazingly beautiful, not only outside but inside too.

These are the projects:  Rope Pear, The box can be bought at Hobby Lobby, this came with the kit.

This is the Garden friends Bag, I am so loving this, the design is so sweet.

This is the  Summer Flocks A pin Pillow, so cute.

This is Hollyhocks Were There, this is a hufwife, I call it a needle roll.

These come with all the fabric threads and trims with box to finish all.

We had so much fun I sat a an amazing table, do not get me wrong the table I sat at the last few years was full when I arrived so I sat with four ladies, ( I really missed LaRue and Sue this year) not sitting together.

I sat with a Lady from Texas, she made me this: 

She copied the piece and made a box top label, they match, she is so sweet, a very funny Lady.

This was from my dear friend Kathy, she is such a sweetheart.

I do not want to make this a long post, I will post the rest of the gifts I received on my next post.

This is what is happening here: Thunder, snow rain sleet and more snow plus hail,  today.

We have so far seven inch's of snow not including rain hail and sleet.

Time for dinner, I will be showing you my progress and the Alter Cloth I am working on for Easter Sunday.

Have a great weekend.

Catherine

ISHW Update A Finnish and a Completed Project

Thank-you for visiting my last post, to those of you who do not have emails, thank-you for your comments.
It has been so busy here, Mike fell and almost took out an eye, I need to wrap him in bubble wrap, I have finally gotten over  my cold, I did do some ISHW stitching last weekend, on my Easter Stitch by Brenda Gervais.
I have been doing some finishing in between home things, I have been clearing out closets and cabinets, what a great feeling.
The snow is almost gone just snow in the parking its where it was piled high.
I hope it gets warm enough to get plants.
I am a geranium lover, the hummingbirds love them, so do bees, its fun to watch them be busy eating.

So this is what the fabric looked like before using the spray stain I used, the lighting is not the best today, it does give a better look in better light, I did not use a lot of the stain I just wanted a little color. I do need to press it, I am out of pressing cloths, maybe I will pick them up Thursday.
This is the spray, dries fast.

I stitched this pattern and finished on February this year, I love Brenda's designs.

I was going to make it into a pin cushion but decided on this finish instead, wood can be found in wood section at JoAnn's,  I like to have all my threads ready for stitching a design, I will be finishing ore that way I when I kit up a design I will have the threads ready, if I have a couple of kitted designs that use the same thread I put a little note saying which kit the needed thread is in.
I stained this wood with a gel paste you rub on and let sit for a little and wipe down, it has a bit of a satin finish.

Its Sunday a day of rest, I will be drinking my latte and stitching and maybe another finish or two, until next time, Gods Blessings To You.

Catherine

A Little Update

Thank-you to all who have commented on my last post, I will send email thank-you's tomorrow.
To thoise of you without email address thank-you and I hope you continue to stop by.

I have been able to stitch a little, I had planned to have this design finished by last evening, we had a call that my cousin had a stroke so family comes first.
I am so happy to be almost finished I will have this done by Easter, yahoo.
I am noy happy with the color thread for his vest, I bought the right color thread, it looks rather like a patch work vest, I am not going to frog it Mike likes the way it looks I guess that is okay.
I hope to have it finished by tomorrow evening, I am not sure I want to finish it into a pillow just yet, maybe a stand-up fold, I am loving him he is so cute.

My wonderful husband has bought me a gazebo for part of the deck, we have 52 feet of deck on the back of the house, i just want someplace to sit out of the sun and bugs, he has the rest of the deck opened for tanning.
It has been warm here I know some of you think 35-40 degrees is not warm but after the winter we have had  it is like a tropical heat wave for us, snow is melting way to fast some areas have been evacuated, it just breaks my heart to hear this, we are lucky our sump pump has never been used, the neighbors on each side have had theirs going, we had extra drainage done when we built this home.
It is time to stitch.
Have a great week
Catherine

Some Stitching

Hello my dear friends: I have had a busy week, we are putting in new cabinets in my sewing room, my beading supplies and fabric along with everything else has a new home, I just need to get the rest in order.
I had a ball  at retreat, I sat with three ladies who were a hoot.
I finished the Brenda Gervais designs I was working on, I will show photos after ironing them.

I started a new Brenda Gervais design it is the Easter Parade design.

See how light mine looks, I could not figure this out so I studied the above photo, I used the called for fabric and threads, the photographer took the photo in the shade, see the light on the left of the ducks face, I feel much better now about the colors, however I will be doing a tamp dye, I will use a cloth to just dampen the fabric and tamp onto the finished piece, of course I will try this on and different piece of fabric and thread first.

I see a designer pattern going on here do you? I love here designs and love the new ones out, she is doing a series, I am not sure I will do that myself.

We will be getting rain here today tomorrow and Thursday, however that means flooding, when will it just be a normal winter and spring, of course we have not had a winter or spring like this in years.

Just a couple of photos found on Pinterest to make you smile, I hope .

 This would be my dog we have so much snow I will have to take a photo of her out in the snow before it melts.

This is what we will look like after all the melting happens, of course my dog is a lot larger and I am oh so much older then this little sweety pie, giggles.

I hope your week is a great week

Thank-you for stopping by

Catherine

Victoria Sampler New Pin Cushion

I am so excited that Victoria Sampler has a new Pin Cushion out, I am on the waiting list for the next shipment.
This is an amazing design, I did the first Pin Cushion, it is on my header.

I just love this new design, I eat strawberries several times a week, so this is so perfect for me.

I will post a photo of my stitching project tomorrow evening.

On Friday I will be going to Minnesota Needlework Guild March To The Finish, it is a retreat for people to get WIPS finished, I don not have more then one stitching project going at once but love to go and relax with my stitching buddies.

I am hooked on The Masked Singer, I never watch any talent shows but this one has me hooked, the costumes and singers are wonderfuil, I only got two singers right Rumor Willis and Joey Fatone, two people I really like.

We have more snow, I am so longing for spring a hot not warm but a hot spring I hate the cold.

Time to stitch, stay safe and warm my dear friends.

Catherine

My New Start Berries And Blooms A Brenda Gervais Design

Hello to all: Thank-you for your comments in my previous posts.
I started a new project today, it is the Berries and Blooms from Brenda Gervais

I have had this pattern for a little while, I just love this set, I will be doing the wooden paddle a different way, I just do not want to have to  cut out a paddle from  wood so will do a different wood style if that makes sense to anyone other then me.

I was visiting Cathie over at: http://cathiescraftworks.blogspot.com

She was kind enough to let me share this photo of how she used a cork to help thread a needle, what a great way for some of us who need help, I use petit needles and my big fingers are always in the way plus the little bit of arthritis I have will make threading a needle so much easier.

I will be asking my favorite restaurant for one of their corks when I go to dinner next week, I love wine but only when out to dinner, I just cannot see buying a bottle and have the wine sit for so long in the fridge.

Thank-you Cathie for allowing me to use your photo, please stop over and say hello top Cathie, she has made some coasters in the shape of hearts this month, they remind me of the heart shaped candy for valentines Day.

We are getting more snow and on top of that ice, I am so sick of winter, I hope this is not an indication of a bad spring weather wise.

I am praying that the tornados down south today do not do much damage or hurt anyone, it is hard to see and hear the news when weather is involved, stay safe my friends.

I was asked a question a while back and forgot to respond, my favorite fabric count is 32 or 36 but I will work on anything even fourteen count it depends on the pattern, even if the pattern calls for 32 count I will sometimes change it to a  bigger count like 22 or 28, my favorite color of fabric is a  dark wheat or dark tan not sure why I guess it is what it is.

Well its time for coffee and a little stitching.

Have a stitch filled weekend

Thank-you for stopping by.

Catherine

Found a great Blogspot

Thank-you for your lovely comments, I will try and get thank-you emails out tomorrow afternoon after coming home from volunteer work.

I found this great site, she has so many free and sweet deigns.
http://millecrocette.blogspot.com

Please check her out, it is in French but she does have a translate button on her sidebar.

More snow coming our way. ICK

Catherine

A Finish Finally

Thank-you to all who have left comments on my last post.
Lynda Ruth from http://twododo.blogspot.com was right about Mother Teresa, she led an amazing life.

I took my finished piece to Michaels yesterday to have it framed, I am not sure I will like the finished framing, I will have to see, the colors in the piece just did not go with any colors of matting but found a beautiful frame, they honored the 80% off coupon I had, she even gave me a little more off, what a great place.

I did the two not sure which looks the best, I used initials of my parents the years they were born Mikes parents initials and years they were  born and the dates mike and I were born, I also used our initials for the middle of the leaf circle.

It is snowing here today I am so sick of snow and cold weather, we have about 5 inch's on the ground so far, it started snowing about 5:00 a.m.
I hope you are you are having great weather.
I will be working on some aprons for the gift shop at the Pioneer Park gift shop, we have a very old looking village here in Annandale, Mn. one of the volunteers asked me to cut out and sew together the aprons, I am enjoying a little change.

I hear my latte machine calling my name, I will be picking out a project to work on later today, I will post what I am doing tomorrow.

Thank-you for stopping by

Catherine

Yes It Is

Yes that is a very handsome John Wayne, oh so cute, he is my favorite star of all time.
You are so right Lynda Ruth it is Mother Teresa, she was an amazingly beautiful Lady, what a beautiful life she led caring for the poor and ill.
I will be posting photos of my finished project tomorrow before I take it to the framers.
It is not so cold here, we do have more snow coming tomorrow evening into Wednesday 2-4 inch's.

This is for Marly, http://samplersandsantas.blogspot.com I thought you would get a kick out of this photo, I know you like cats as much as I do.

Found both of the previous photos on Pinterest, I love the look on the little guys face, so funny.

Remember to look through the rose colored glasses the world will look so much better.

Thank-you for stopping by.

Catherine

Happy Valentines Day

To all my followers: Happy Sweetheart day.
Thank-you for your lovely comments on my last post.

I have done a little stitching this week, here is my update:

I am using our parents dates of birth Mikes and mine also, I put our initials in the wreath, I am not sure if I will use the cities we were from or add more roses, I did change the color of the small roses on the bottom of the design, I wanted a little pink in there.
I hope to have this finished by Saturday evening.

Flashback: I made this small pillow way back when not even sure of the year, it ( I think was a design from Cross Stitch and Country Crafts)

I wanted to display my hearts on my table, however I cannot due to the cat has a love of playing with these, I hate when she gets on the table, I have to sanitize every morning just to have breakfast.

I am going to show you two photos I found this week, can you guess who they are? One was from Iowa and in the movies my favorite man of all times beside my husband and father.
The other was in Religious life.

                                                                He is so handsome

                                                     She is amazingly beautiful inside and out

I hear my needle calling my name, time to stitch.

Catherine

A Little Update And Snow

Greetings Friends: Thank-you for all your comments, I have sent email thank-you's to some of you and some do not have emails, thank-you from my heart for your comments, it  mean so much to me.
So this is how far I am on my Blackbird Design,  I did a little stitching last evening and this morning.
I am adding the birth years of myself Mike and our family members, I am not sure what the middle words will be just yet, I need to think about that for a while.

It has been snowing here, today it is minus 8 degrees very cold, it is sunny and very pretty outside, I went to drops some items off at the food shelf, I volunteer there three or four times a month, I love doing so, it makes me feel good to know I am able to help the people who are having a tough time, as I left our housing entrance the roads were so slippery,  glare ice I was only going 20 miles and hour and almost turned my car around in a circle, very scary, I present some snow photos.

The above photo is of snow on the one side of our driveway, the second photo is of the neighbors home, see all the snow up on there roof, I hope it goes away soon.

This photo of my Dear Friends home is adorable even with the snow on the roof, we were over there for coffee and pie yesterday, we are so Blessed to have them as friends, they keep an eye out on our home and we do the same for them, I could not have asked for better friends that are also out Dear Neighbors.

I know the Ground Hog said winter was almost over but come on this snow is crazy. So sorry about the swear word in the cat photo.

This could be my dog this is what she looks like when she does not want to go potty in the cleared spot for her.

And this little bird has it right winter its time to move on, let spring begin, all three photos were found on Pinterest.

I hope things are going your way today and always, thank-you for stopping by and leaving comments.

Catherine

Just A Little Stitching And More Snow

I am so sick of winter, I know we are on the downside of winter but still, she is giving us a run this year, with subzero weather, I am sure many of you have heard the temps last week, then ice storms now snow on top of the icy roads, the main Hi-way and Interstates are clear but town roads are not.

I have been stitching some on my Blackbird Design from 2017 retreat, I love this design.

 

I would like to have this finished by the end of this month, I want to paint the bedroom, before having this framed, so I have an idea of what kind of frame I want.

It is snowing again, UGH

Time to work on our half bath, i will be painting today and hopefully have the room done by tomorrow it is a half bath and will go fast.

Enjoy this beautiful day God has given us.

Catherine

Some Blogs I Found

I was traveling through the Blog world, I found a couple of sites new to me.

http://rosystitches.blogspot.com, she is a beader, stitcher and either a knitter or crocheter.

http://millecrocette.blogspot.com she has lots of her freebie designs to use, she has  a beautiful blog page also.

Well time to stitch, I will post an update tomorrow, so I am giving a promise and I cannot break it, until tomorrow.

Catherine

Oh My What a Month

Hello To All: Thank-you for all your comments on my last two posts, I do want to tell you how sorry I am I did not send email thank-you's, it has been a very busy three months.
We have had our kitchen torn up for so long I forgot what it looked like before.
Finally last Thursday I was able to start the clean up what a mess dust makes when so many people are in and out of the house, I love my new cabinets.

I have a small kitchen and love it, in our last home the kitchen was so big you could have 20 people  in there at once, I love a smaller area to work in.

Mike bought me a lot of goodies to put on top of the cabinets I wanted just a couple of fake vines in baskets but nope my sweety pie went shopping, I think her did a greart job.

I have been away from the computer do to a virus, I will never again have an external harddrive again, Best Buy found a virus hiding which caused me lots of problems, after the tower and harddrive were at Best buy for a week  we decided to buy a new tower, what a difference.
I did not want to post or email much due to I did not want to infect anyone else, I am not sure where it came from, however I was told that even though it is hard to get a virus on an IPAD or iPhone I did not want to chance it.
I have been busy stitching and beading not so much beading, I had orders for the beaded crystal beads.

I did a small which I love doing one over one on 36 count, this is one of the Doodles which I love doing, the fabric called for was a little bit bigger count, I wanted to make a scissor fob so wanted it smaller, the bumble bee  came in the little box I had to supply fabric and thread.

I did another project I started last fall, I finished this set when staying in a hotel for a week during the last week of construction, this was a kit I found in the stash relocation pile at Needlework Guild retreat last August, it came with a pattern and I had to cut all the pieces out and stitch together.

I love Brenda Gervais designs,  as you can see this is a Pin Cushion, I have an old wooden spindle I plan on putting it on, if I ever get the time to do some finishing.

I started working on a Blackbird Design it is from a retreat I took a little under two years ago, Stitchville USA has a spring retreat every year, I have not missed on in ten years, again this year we have the pleasure of having Alma and Barb back again, this will take place in April.

It is a large piece, I am excited to do this one and have it framed, I want to repaint our master bedroom and have all Blackbird Designs on my walls.

Well its time for a little stitching, I have been kind of staying in the house this past week it was minus 31 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, however we did make it to daily Mass on Thursday it warmed up to minus 27 degrees, this morning it was a - 7 degrees so a lot warmer but still bone chilling, tomorrow it will be  warmer in the 40s that at this time of the year is a treat.
I hope you all are getting as much stitching done as your heart desires, I am off to stitch.
Thank-you for stopping by.

Catherine

I Am Adding New Bloggers To My Post

Greetins Everyone: As I sit here eating my Christmas Chocolate (Swiss Chocolate yum ) from Mike, I decided I will be adding people to my blog roll periodically.

Today I welcomehttp://justinescrossstitch.blogspot.com/

http://stitchthrifty.blogspot.com/

Please stop by and visit them.

Catherine

My New Start And A Note

I hope this year has been good to you so far, it has been to me except the kitchen, I have been trying to keep it as neat as possible, they did deliver center island half finished which is okay with me.
I know it looks a little odd but the doors and drawer fronts need to be added, it really is pretty, we went with hickory for the strength of the wood, I wanted a bright color and not painted, I have asked realtors how hard it is to sell a home with painted cabinets, they said it can be a hard sell, I love painted cabinets.

I did get another Christmas present a big one, a new table and chairs, I love what Mike chose, they are heavy and the chairs are so comfy you could sit in them for hours.

I have been stitching, I started this on New Years Eve, worked on it night before last and plan on stitching on it this evening, I am not sure  why the fabric looks so light, it really is a more wheat color. This is the Spring Fever Loose Feathers Series For The Birds.

I wanted to show you an amazing note that was under our windshield one day last week, we have Viet Nam Vet plates on our car, someone left this note
I find this so sweet.

Thank-you for all your sweet and lovely comments, I hope your needles are working hard this weekend.

Catherine

Happy New Year

2019 oh my: When I was a teenager I never thought I would live to see this year let alone the year 2000, it just seemed so far away, I am going to be 68 this month and feel young, I have been blessed with great health with this short and very pudgy body.
I hope this year brings you all a beautiful family fun filled with loads of stitching  year.
I want to Thank-you all for your sweet comments I only had two that had to be deleted by me.
I am also writing today to say please please if you get an email with my email address on it and it is an ad for anything, please know I would not do this, you can tell if it is an authentic email by looking over the address it came from.

 I will be posting my new project this evening, it is another Blackbird  Design, I love this series, I do have a place in mind where I want to hang them when I get them all done.

 

 

I am so sorry I have not sent thank-yous to everyone for your comments, it is very busy here with the remodel of the kitchen cabinets and other things going on.

From my Heart thank-you for your comments.

Happy New Year
Catherine