Little Green Acorns Band Sampler Class

Saturday twenty-six of us from Western Reserve Sampler Guild took a class with Eileen Bennett, The Sampler House, from Michigan.  Her sampler this time was Little Green Acorns Band Sampler.  Perfect timing for getting in an acorn mood.  We had a delightful day with the class, a wonderful pot luck lunch, and dinner after at Macaroni Grille for those interested.  A perfect way to spend yet another 95 degree day!

A photo of the cover sheet for the design pack.
I really should have taken a photo of the actual sampler!

Ms. Bennett getting us started on the project.

Counting and proper placement is serious stuff!

I told you counting was serious stuff!

We had so much fun with Kim and Karlyn at our table.
Lots of laughs and fun conversation.
So glad they trekked in for the class.

I had a couple other photos from the restaurant, but a couple were too close for comfort, and blogger won't let me put the other where I want it.

Super fun day.  Thanks to the Program Committee and all who made this such a memorable time.

Bountiful August Blessings

This is our batch of food for Week Nine of our summer harvest from Fresh Fork Market.

Everything is so fresh and photogenic.

What a blessing this is,
and especially after reading the sad news this morning 

that half of America's counties are now considered disaster areas, 

as a result of the extreme heat and drought conditions this summer.

So sad.

Our Patriotic Small Challenge

Saturday was the reveal date of our patriotic smalls, a challenge that was given a little over a year ago after seeing endless photos of really cute patriotic designs made into small pillows, pin cushions, etc. on ever so many stitchers' blogs.


I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have, but here is what I have to share:

Here we are just getting started Saturday morning.

Rose bought these at a recent button show.
She repaired and repainted the frame
and has this display looking good again.

Here is Sandy's basket full of goodies.  Nice work, Sandy.

Linda's basket.  The picture doesn't do it justice.
Don't you love the little black bird and the strawberries?
I'd like to stitch those.

Carol's basket.
I think she should give us a class
on how to make those cube frames.

Toni's basket.
Toni and I are a lot alike...big ideas, smaller output!
But we have fun...

My basket.
I like how the pillow with the lace came out.
Rose helped me get that going.  Thanks!

Rose's basket.

Another view of Rose's basket.
She procrastinated until the end...
and then was completing a finish a day.
She and Linda are our group OAs.
(Over Achievers, as we affectionately call them.)

Both Linda and Rose were awarded a bag of small prizes for the challenge.


Terri couldn't come, but did stop by with mug rugs for all.  I'll post a picture of those another day.
Linda made snapper bags for all out of patriotic fabrics.  I'll post a photo of mine another day, too.
Should have taken a photo of all eight of them.  Linda has been having fun with her new serger.
Terri has been having fun with her new sewing machine!  We benefited!


Our friend Jodi came for lunch and gave us some instruction in zentangle, her new passion.  She is going to Rhode Island next month to become a certified teacher.  I should have taken some photos of her work...it is amazing.  The only photo I took was of our class creations.  I'll try to do better next time!  I haven't gotten to the point where it is fun and relaxing, as opposed to slightly stressful.  That's me!

We had a fun pot luck lunch.  Toni was nice enough to cook hot dogs on the grill...and finished about 30 seconds before a HUGE downpour began.  Boy did we need that rain.  We had some delicious fresh Ohio sweet corn and a wonderful selection of other summer goodies.  A couple hours later we made some hand churned vanilla ice cream (thanks Linda) with a variety of toppings.  Carol made a peach and brown sugar topping that was excellent.  And, of course, there's nothing like a jar of Smucker's Hot Fudge Sauce when vanilla ice cream is involved.


It was such a fun day.  Time with valued stitching friends really rocks!  

Beautiful Butterflies...And A Winner!

Here are two photos that Rose (no blog) took in her backyard.  Beautiful butterflies against a beautiful background.  Unfortunately the yellow swallowtail appears to have met up with some bad luck along the way, but is still magnificent.

Absolutely gorgeous.  Thanks for sharing these.

And now on to our Winner of the Day....

as you can see below,

the winner of my first blog giveaway is.....

Charlene in SC.

Congratulations, Charlene.

If you will email me your address,

and be sure to let me know if you already have any 

Widgets & Wool designs so I don't send you any duplicates, 

I will put a package together in a couple of days 

and get it in the mail to you.

Thanks to all who signed as followers and who entered the drawing.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend

and found some time to stitch!

Three More Days to Enter

Hi, Stitchers -

Three more days to enter my first blog drawing.  I will have some of my local stitching friends here Sunday afternoon, so one of them will be pulling the name of the winner.

Good luck to all who enter, and thanks for visiting and following.

Pictures soon...of different things.

My First Blog Giveaway

Hi, Stitching Friends!

I am finally announcing my first giveaway.  I am celebrating several things:  this little blog now has over 60 followers; I am another year older; temperatures in the upper 90's are leaving tomorrow; and life is good!

A month or so ago I wanted to have a giveaway with strawberries as the theme.  Don't you love strawberries...stitched and otherwise?

Then a more important theme attracted my attention.  This giveaway will include four patterns from Widgets and Wool.  I know many of you are familiar with this company because I have seen some of your stitched projects on your blogs.  The company is comprised of a grandmother, a mother, and a granddaughter.  What a wonderful, family oriented way to share a common interest.  I want to give this family some extra recognition and some extra TLC during a difficult time.

The four patterns that I chose will reflect the seasons of the year...and of life.  The designs are fairly quick stitches, most of which can be made into little pillows if you chose.  I think we all like to pick up some quick projects as a break from the larger designs that we tackle.  I will throw in some fun extra surprises, too.

To enter the giveaway, you must be a follower of this blog and of my BlackBird Designs blog, which you can find here:  http://obbdg.blogspot.com .  Also, you must post a comment on this post on this blog only.  Deadline for commenting is noon EDT USA on Sunday, July 15, 2012.


I will choose the winner of this giveaway on Sunday, July 15th.  Some friends will be coming over for stitching that day...an early get together for IHSW (see button at top of blog), since most of us are busy the weekend of the 20th - 22nd.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.  Stay cool and keep stitching!  And thank you for visiting my modest, sometimes neglected blogs!

Bobbi

No Time for Hermits

We didn't get together for some good old hermit stitching this past weekend.  Seems that most of my hermit buddies were busy with stitch classes out of town, or out of town company, or Fathers' Day events.  I'll try to check on your weekend activities over the next couple of days.

I have been busy purging stuff out of my messy, overcrowded office in order to finally have my desk and office things in one part of the room and my sewing machine cabinet, etc. in the other part.  I have accomplished about sixty percent of what needs to be done.  Unfortunately my dining room is currently full of files that need to be gone through and reduced before being put back into the relocated file cabinet.

Isn't it amazing how relocating some pieces can disrupt so many different rooms?  There is light at the end of the tunnel, though, which is very exciting.  Stitching and some quilt blocks are right around the corner.

As Promised, More From Last Weekend

As promised, here are more photos that I took at the big stitching bash at Rose's last weekend:

I think this sampler was one that Rhonda stitched and had framed.
If I'm incorrect on this, please, someone, let me know and I will edit my post.
Beautiful stitching finished in a great frame.

This is one of those absolutely wonderful over one designs
from Maureen Appleton.
It is totally awesome in person.
I think this was stitched by Joan.
Again, if this isn't correct, please let me know.
I can't check with Rose today.
Love this...and the frame.

Totally sweet little purse and shoe combo.
I'm in trouble again...
I think these belong to Joann
but were stitched by Joan.
Please tell me if I am wrong,
and I will correct.

The sweet little spring design from
Widgets & Wool
stitched by Pat.
This is on my to do list.

Another cute little stitch by Little House
stitched by Pat.
Makes me want to sing every time I see this!

Pat made this pin cube...and the pins.
Really pretty.

More from Rhonda.
This is the Eileen O'Brien Sampler
that was published in Antique Sampler and Needlework.
I focused in on the diamond row because
Linda talked Rhonda into adding some
texture and interest in the piece
by stitching the diamonds in Rhodes stitches.
Rhonda liked to remind us that this meant
521 Rhodes stitches!
I think it was worth it.
They really stand out and look great,
don't they?

An older piece stitched by Rose
that still needs to be put together.
This is a design from Lauren Sauer - Brooch Receiver.
Beautiful, and aren't those buttons perfect
lily of the valley?

Sandy's Twelve Days from Victoria Sampler.
She is leading this project in the WRSG
Christmas in July 2013 SAL.
Right on schedule, Sandy.

Here is Toni's start on BBD's Christmas Garden.
She is leading this project in the WRSG
Christmas in July 2013 SAL.
Maybe a little behind schedule?
Me too!

We had many laughs, too much food (we didn't even need to order in on Sunday, just feasted again on what was brought and grilled on Saturday), a lot of wonderful stitching projects to dream of doing ourselves, and great girl time together.  Thanks, Rose, for hosting, and for everyone who participated.  Great memories.

Have You Tangled Yet?

Have any of you tried Zentangle yet?

If you don't know about it, just google...it is everywhere.

My friend Jodi first mentioned it to me

and when I saw it I wanted to try it, but had no confidence.

Jodi is a natural.  She created amazing designs 

without even taking a class.  

I am not a natural.

I have no natural artistic talent.

But I had fun at the class I took last night, 

free at our local public library,

and I wasn't stressed while doing it, 

like I thought I would be.

I can see some tension in my strokes 

but am pleased with what came out 

when first putting pen to paper.

It is supposed to be meditative doodling,

beneficial in many ways.

I'm looking forward to working on another tile 

at my leisure and on my own.

A Fun Way to Start the Month of June

Rose had one of her spectacular weekend gatherings 

to start off June in memorable fashion.  

There were 24 of us on Saturday
(don't know how she keeps her sanity) 

and about 15 on Sunday.

This is photo heavy, but, alas, not with projects that I have stitched!  

I will post part today and part tomorrow.  

Enjoy...

This is Ginny's work.
I should have put the usual dime in the photo
for size reference.
This is one of the Erica Michael's
silk gauze designs.
It is teeny, tiny and SWEET!
Alas, also a little blurry in the photo...sorry.

Ginny's EM finish.
Her WIP was shown on this blog three weeks ago.
Ginny has been busy.
Isn't this just the sweetest?
Love it.

A little kitty from Carol.  Cute.
I wonder how many pins have been sold
since they came up with these little projects!

Amazing pieces from Diane.
This was from several years ago,
as you can see,
at a seminar in Cape Cod.
C.A. Wells designed this grouping.
Beautiful work, Diane.

A closer view of some of Diane's work.

Ellen Chester's Fruit of the Vine Sampler.
Stitched by Linda, aka
Stitcher Extraordinaire!

Partial close up.

Part of the Fruit of the Vine grouping
that Linda decided to make into an etui.
I think she said it was designed as a huswif.
I should have taken a photo of the inside, too.

As noted, I will post more photos tomorrow.
I simply must get some work done this morning.

Wishing everyone a beautiful beginning
of the first week in June 2012...ready or not!

Thanks for visiting, and, I hope, commenting!  Happy stitching.

IH&SW for the Beautiful Month of May

Our Special Weekend started with eight of the nine of us 

meeting for lunch at the Welshfield Inn,

a nice old place - sorry I don't know its history -

with great food.

Mixed feelings about having pictures taken!

Pondering what to order from the wonderful lunch menu.

More mixed emotions about having photos taken.

The lovely walk to the entrance of our weekend site.
It kind of reminded me of Maine.

A view of the dock from the deck of our hideaway
on Conneaut Lake, PA.
It's something like 90 steps down (and up!)
from the house to the lake.

Here is our wonderful work/eating space in the guest house.
Some are working on their mason jar projects provided by
Lauren & Robin; some are stitching.

The finished mason jar project,
a sweet little square pillow
designed for us by Lauren Sauer, Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches
as a memento of our weekend,
and a history with charted instruction for the
Hannah Cook, 1834 Sampler.

This Pennsylvania German sampler is 18.5 x 43 inches,
stitched on 50 count fine linen.
I discovered that between trying to take a photo of her
and trying to get scenic shots,
I must invest in a wide angle lens.
(This comment was greeted with laughs and jeers
when I announced this
at an inopportune time this weekend!)

From the large to the teeny, tiny -
this is Ginny's Erica Michaels WIP
beautifully stitched on 40 count silk gauze.
It is so wonderful...I can't wait to give this a try.
Ginny is stitching the extra background border
so that the piece can be put on a wooden box.
Can't wait to see the finish on that.

I worked on my BBD Spring's Song
while not out on the deck enjoying
the amazing location and weather.
I'll show photos of that another time.

Here is Sue's gigantic salad for Saturday night.
Looks wonderful, doesn't it?

And to leave you with a sweet thought,
here is a picture of the obscene strawberries,
yes, these are strawberries,
that Nancy brought for dessert for Friday night.

Sweet memories of a special weekend.
Thank you.

Only Time for a Tease...

So sorry, I have been busy with too many things to get my IHSW post up today.  I have many photos to share and a lot to tell you about my special IHSWeekend.

Teases:  I was out of state with stitching friends.  I got quite a bit stitched on my WIP for the weekend.  I have another photo to share of a WIP of a friend of mine...a piece I have in my stash that I haven't started, but am drooling over.  There will be scenic photos of the perfect location we had for a perfect weekend in what has been a perfect month of May in these parts.

I do have about twenty minutes now...I will go visit some fellow IHSW blogs to see what all of you were up to!

Hermits - Different View in May

This has been the most beautiful month of May that I can remember. Mostly 60's and 70's with low humidity...my kind of weather. I realize how blessed we have been here in Ohio...I saw some pretty nasty things on the news this morning. Those fires out west are very scary and sad. I am hoping for more moderate conditions everywhere. I plan to stitch on two BBD projects this weekend...the Spring's Song box lid and maybe get a few stitches in on Christmas Garden. I'm way behind on that project, especially after starting over. I'll have some different photos next week, as I experience hermitting with a different view in May. Happy stitching, everyone!

Have a Wonderful Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day
Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

WIPocalypse 2012 - Super Full Moon in May

Good morning!  I hope everyone is going to have a weekend full of beautiful May weather like we are anticipating here in Cleveland.

I am posting my WIPocalypse post early in the day in the hope that I will be able to spot that super full moon tonight.  I think they said the moon will appear 14% larger than normal and 30% brighter.  Gotta love that!

This month was mostly about BBD for me.  I finished Wild Garden (see earlier post).  I still have not had it framed.

I re-started Christmas Garden, after seeing Rita's beautiful over one thread start at WRSG.  I wasn't liking my start and decided to switch to the over one plan, which I am loving!!!  Not enough to show you yet...maybe next month.

I have a modest start to show on Spring's Song - Treasure Box.  I love this piece.  I don't plan to stitch the sampler in the Loose Feathers booklet, but will do the box lid and the little bird.  So far I have part of the quick and easy one third across the top stitched.  The middle section will take more time.

BBD Spring's Song Treasure Box start

Strawberry Bleu - The Purple Thread

And lastly I started a quirky strawberry pattern from The Purple Thread.  I changed the blue thread to purple.

I look forward to checking out a bunch of blogs from fellow WIPocalypsers Monday.  Have fun, stitch much, and don't forget to check out the moon tonight.  (Howl, if you must!)