Are Stitching Friends the Best Friends?

I certainly am leaning in that direction!  

Over the past six and a half years 
I have met the greatest bunch of stitchers...

who are now my friends...my truly good friends.

We do so many really fun things together.

We also share in the harder times together, 

and not only my local friends,

but my blogging friends who I might only know 

by first name and blog site 

have reached out in various ways 

during my recent loss...

and it feels good.

Thank you, locals and bloggers.

You are the best.

The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights.    
Giotto de Bondone

A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world.                            
Leo Buscaglia

A woman's growth is seen in the successive choirs of her friends.                   
Ralph Waldo Emerson

A sincere thank you to all who shared 

their condolences on my previous post.  

It means a lot!


If you are so inclined, 
why not take a minute to share your favorite
quote or words about friendship, 
or a favorite story here.
Thanks. 

Until We Meet Again

My Mom...A Long, Long Time Ago 

Five Generations...Now Down to Four

Rest In Peace, Mom
September 10, 1924 - March 22, 2012

Thank You!

Thank you, Nataly, for the beautiful set of pins that you made.  I was one of the lucky winners in Nataly's recent anniversary giveaway on her blog.  These pins are gorgeous.  I'm really going to have to try making some of my own one of these days.

If you are not familiar with Nataly's blog, do give it a look.  She is a great stitcher, posts often, and has a great list of blogs that she follows that you can surf from.

Here are the photos I took of the cute little hand made package and the beautiful pins:

Love these!  Thanks again.

Hermits in March

Well, I never expected the March IH&SW  to have record setting warm temperatures!  I haven't heard exactly what our high temp was today in Cleveland, but I know northern (and probably southern, too) Ohio has broken dozens of records today.

My stitching for the weekend is off to a slow start.  I hope to get some in tonight, and then I have some stitching pals coming to join me for stitching/cookout tomorrow.  That will be fun.

So I can't wait to see what everyone is working on.  So far my entire stitching time for the weekend, which isn't too much, has been devoted to BBD's Limited Edition Wild Garden.  It really is a pretty little piece.  I hope to have a lot of stitches to show you on Monday.

Happy stitching, everyone!

2012 WIPocalypse - Third Full Moon

Hi, Full Moon Followers -

Most of what I worked on over the past month was the embroidery hoop pincushion project, shown in the two posts previous to this one.  We had a lot of fun with those.

My photos for today are from a new start...I know, I know, we are supposed to be whittling down our WIP list instead of adding to it, but that darned Nashville market got in the way!

I was drawn to the idea of stitching a sampler in wools.  I really like The Gentle Art's wools and thought this sounded like an interesting challenge.  Therefore, here is my tiny little start of Jane Pattison 1806 from Shakespeare's Peddler.  We'll see how it goes.  I really love the feel of the wool and the ease of working on 32 count fabric for a while...my eyes are enjoying this vacation!

Jane Pattison 1806 Sampler
Shakespeare's Peddler
32 count Lakeside Linen Lentil
Wool fibers from The Gentle Art

These big stitches are fun.
I hope I like the overall look as we progress.

HoopLa, Part II

Oh, rats, this makes me mad to have to break this post into two parts, but I didn't know what else to do.

Anyway, here are the remaining photos from the previous post about our HoopLa Saturday.

Here are the Prairie Point Pincushions we made,
each showing our own different tastes.
Lots of BBD fabric here, along with others.

Here is Terri's stitcher's box,
along with the pincushion that everyone pitched in and made for her,
since she couldn't make it Saturday because of a sinus issue.
She was surprised and thrilled with this gift.
P.S.  I told her she must make her round pincushion...
you can't put a square peg into a round hoop.

Here are my unfinished pieces.
I hope to get my stitched piece into the hoop lid this week.

Close up of my hoops (painted badly)
and my pincushion.
Love that Blueberry Crumbcake.

Well, that's all for now (be sure to look at the previous post, since I had to divide them up).
I hope everyone who hasn't finished continues on...these projects were really fun, especially the part of making them with others.

Have fun!!!

HoopLa

Saturday we had our HoopLa get together to work on our Embroidery Hoop Stitcher's Box and Embroidery Hoop Scissors Pin Keepe, ala Vonna .  We had soooo much fun.  All of our projects aren't finished, but we made some headway on Saturday.

It was a great day.  Everyone pitched in and helped others in their own special way.  It was heartwarming to experience that and just have fun and laugh.  Six years ago I didn't know any of these gals, except, of course, my daughter.  Three years ago I still did not really "know" a couple of them.  Now they are all very special friends.  I know that all the stitchers who might read this must have very special stitching friends as well.

OK, on to the photos.  Rose received her Certificate of Accomplishment 2011 from Western Reserve Sampler Guild for completing Anniversary Roses, the beautiful sampler designed by Lauren Sauer.
I mention that here because this piece was also voted Members Choice for 2011.

A happy Rose!

Great accomplishment.
This sampler is magnificent...
and big!

Now, on to the work of the day!  I have to include the first two photos for several reasons.  Toni is one of our unofficial cheer leaders and great helper.  She spent much of her day cutting out mat board and covering buttons and other helpful things...for others.  Toni has decided to stitch a different piece for the top of her stitching box, so most of her time was spent on our projects.  She gifted all of us with a little note pad with the cover stating that Arts and Crafts Keep you Sane, from Mary Engelbreit.  I immediately questioned that statement.  So, looking at these two photos this morning had to make me laugh.  BTW Toni is dressed in some left over Mardi Gras regalia, just for the fun of it!

OK...she looks sane and is having fun.

Well, maybe not so much on the fun part!

OK, finally some pictures of our projects:

These are Linda's finishes.
The photo does not do her stitched top justice;
her fabric choice absolutely set this piece off perfectly.
Thanks to Linda for encouraging us to have a day for hoops!

This is Lenore's hoop stitcher's box
and her coordinating prairie point pincushion.

A close up of Lenore's stitched box lid.
Really nice.
I love the charm she chose for the center.

Oh, I am so mad.
Blogger is not cooperating and 
will not allow me to add any more photos
to this post, so I am going to 
end this now and make a 
part two post.  
So sorry!