Catching up with finishes galore!

I can't believe it's been two months since we've had a visit!  We've got a lot of catching up to do.  I'll start with the cross stitch things first because I know that's the reason most of you visit.  I'll most likely do a separate post of the knitting finishes so the stitcher's don't have to be bored with my knitting natter.  So here we go!  I'll start with the oldest and work up to the most recent.

Design: Happy Hearts freebie

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  32 ct. WDW Cocoa

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  2/12/17

Finished:  2/23/17

Completed:  3/31/17

You may have seen other versions of this finish floating around blogs and Flosstube.  I was fortunate enough to take a couple finishing classes with the Twisted Stitcher, Her Very Self back in the spring at a retreat in Indiana.  This was our class project.  I really love how it turned out and I am definitely going to do this finish again.  Vonna showed us how to make her lovely bows and the two color twisted cording is the bee's knees.   A fun nugget she shared with us was that she likes to make ornaments "palm sized" so they show up better on the tree.  I'd never thought about that but it does make sense.

Design:  The Flagmaker freebie

Designer:  Notforgotten Farm

Fabric: 32 ct. Vintage Cedar Plank

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  1/14/17

Finished:  2/11/17

Completed:  4/1/17

This was my second finishing class with Vonna that weekend.  You can't tell from the picture but it is a flat fold.  I'm sure you've seen this one on Flosstube too. The construction on this was super cool.  Ms.Vonna is a genius...but then again, you all know that by now!  I am now an official graduate of Vonna's Finishing School.  I even have a needle minder to prove it gifted to me by The Master!  LOL!  Vonna knows I'm just messing with her.  She and I spent a lot of time together that weekend and we had a ton of fun.  I'm looking forward to doing it again too.

Design:  Watermelon

Designer:  Charted by me, designer unknown

Fabric:  10 ct. Cream Tula

Floss:  DMC

Started:  6/6/16

Finished:  6/25/17

Completed:  TBD

If you've read my blog for any length of time you know this finish is a long time coming.  I had originally started this one 5/1/11 using Monk's cloth.  Yes, that was a really stupid idea and thus a redo was necessary.  You see, the Monk's cloth began shredding on me midway though.  I put it away for a long while and then it called to me again so I restarted it on the Tula.  Much. Better. Choice!

I charted this from a picture I took of a pillow a friend of mine had in her sun room.  She said it was a gift and didn't know if it was commercially made or not.  If anyone knows who the original designer is for this, please give me a shout. I plan to eventually make it into a pillow like the original.  Now if only I had a sun room!

Design:  Chocolate Box

Designer:  Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  32 ct. Touch of Pink

Floss:  As charted

Started:  1/1/17

Finished:  6/25/17

Completed:  TBD

Last but not least, my Chocolate Box!  As you can see this was my New Year's Day start this year.  I'm so in love with this one.  That pink fabric is just so me.  I love it so much.  I decided to veer off the beaten path with this one and added a little bling.  I couldn't resist adding white beads to the border and pink beads where the designer called for French knots.  I think it really adds some nice sparkle.  I plan to finish this as a cube.  I still need to find some "just right" fabric for the finish.

~*~*~*~

Even though I've been missing, I have been stitching (and knitting too).  I started "But First Tea" by Zindagi Designs on 4/16/17.  I'll show that one next time.  I'm making good progress on it.  I'm also tempted to start a couple other ones too.  Hmm...

So folks if you've made it this far, I'm so glad you are still here.  I'll pop back in when I have time or something to share.  I hope everyone has a great July 4th holiday.  I plan to enjoy my holiday away from the rat race, relax and stitch/knit all the things!  Hope you do too.

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Two finishes...Heaven Above & an Ornament!

Dear friends I'm happy to report I've finally finished Heaven Above!  Yes, it's true.  I actually finished it Thanksgiving weekend.  I stitched on this all afternoon on Thanksgiving day and all the next two days to get it finished.  I was determined to get this one done before the end of November.  I was so pleased when I put that last stitch in it.  Let's have a look at it in all its glory!

Design: Heaven Above

Designer: Midsummer Night Designs

Fabric: 40ct. Sand

Floss: As charted

Started: 1/15/15

Finished: 11/25/16

To Be Framed...

Here's a close up picture of the top half.

Here's the bottom half.  There's supposed to be a butterfly in the lower right corner but I wanted to incorporate my initials and date there instead.  I actually added a small purple flower above the signature after this picture was taken.

I'm really pleased with this one.  It's super special to me because my dear friend, Susan gifted the chart to me after she finished stitching it last year.  I plan to keep the chart.  I'm thinking once I frame it I may put it in a pocket on the back along with a note telling its story.  It's just that special to me.  Thank you again, Susan!  You are so dear to me.

I had wanted to post about this sooner but I got really sick the Monday after Thanksgiving.  A trip to the ER diagnosed me with chest pains caused by pleurisy, which was scary enough, and then I came down with the Norovirus.  Yeah, chest pains with violent vomiting is nothing I want to repeat anytime soon.  Needless to say that took the rug out from under me for a week.  I was pretty worn out the whole next week too.  Thankfully, I'm absolutely fine now and feel back to my old self.  Whew, glad to be back in good health!

~*~*~*~

Design:  Letter Sleds A to Z "QCSG"

Designer:  Foxwood Crossings

Fabric:  32ct. Belfast White

Floss:  DMC 817 & 699

Started:  12/2/16

Finished:  12/3/16

Completed:  12/4/16

My second finish I want to share today is this ornament I made for the annual guild Christmas party.  I was gifted this chart by Robin in Virginia.  Robin is such a dear sweet friend.  She's been there for me a lot this year.  I really cherish our friendship.  Someday I hope to meet Robin in person!  Waves to Robin.

I changed the original design a wee bit, so this is my adaptation.  The original says "NOEL" and is in more of a tag shape.  I decided to make mine more rectangular and use our guilds initials.  I hope the recipient liked it.  I think she may have gotten my ornament last year too.  I think it's so festive with the holly and berries border.  I can foresee myself using this chart a lot in the coming years.  It's a really versatile set of designs.

~*~*~*~

I hope everyone is getting geared up for the big holiday weekend.  I'm as ready as I'm getting.  For some reason this year I've really been in the Christmas mood.  I feel like it's because of my illnesses at the beginning of the season.  I know that sounds odd but I feel like being sick was a reset button kind of thing for me.  It caused me to stop, slow down and really think about what's important in the grand scheme of things.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm full blast all the time, sometimes to my own detriment.  I'm always ten steps ahead of myself in my mind.  It feels good to step back and really be present and in the now.

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I want to thank you all for your friendships, your comments, your emails and just being you!  You bring me joy and I hope I do that for you too.  I hope your holiday is merry and bright!

With much love and hugs,

The Inspired Stitcher

Rose Shield - Finish!

Brace yourselves, I'm back with yet another post and another finish!  I know, right!  Two in a row.  Someone get the smelling salts, I think some of you just passed out.  LOL!

Seriously though, I mentioned last time I had a new start and now it's done.  I just need to ornamentify it.  I had gone stash diving looking for something else and ran across this little cutie in my "basket o'joy."  Let's just say it's been in that basket a really, really long time waiting it's turn for some love.  Here she is!

Design: Rose Shield

(from the Christmas Roses II leaflet)

Designer: Mary Beale

Fabric: 32ct. Natural (2 over 2)

Floss:  Called for DMC

Started: 11/6/16

Finished: 11/13/16

Completed: TBD

I still love this one as much as I did the day I laid eyes on it.  This just hits all the right buttons for me.  I love the colors, I love the pineapple (or that's what it looks like to me), I love the vintage feel of it. Everything is just so me.

Here's the leaflet it came from in case you are wondering.  It's old, like published in 1989 old!  The charts are all hand drawn.  I did a quick search on the "bay of evil" aka eBay and there are several of these leaflets still to be found.

I haven't decided yet how I'm going to ornamentify it.  I need to dig the original leaflet out to see if there are templates in there for the shapes.  I usually make a working copy so I don't mangle the original.  I'm kind of doubting there are templates but you never know.

Several folks at the guild meeting were nostalgic about this one when they saw it.  I guess Mary Beale was pretty big back in the day.  Who knew!  I'm pretty sure I'll do some more of her ornaments.  There were several of her designs in the "free box" at the LNS the day I found this one and yes, they came home with me.  They've been ripening in the stash dontcha know.

~*~*~*~

Well friends, it's a quick one today but I just had to share. I hope your week is off to a good start.  Thanks for visiting today.

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Guild Ornament - Finish!

This year our guild's Christmas party is super early for reasons I'm not totally clear on but I suspect it has to do with our guest speaker's schedule.  We will have Theresa from Heart's Ease Sampler Workes coming to lecture on designing our Guild's anniversary sampler.  No, I'm not stitching it.  It's a BAP and I'm limiting my self to one at a time.  I've learned my lesson.  LOL!

So anywho, tomorrow is the party.  Typically we have it in the first half of December. I am not ready to even think about the holidays yet but I did manage to stitch an ornament for the annual exchange.  Want to see what I came up with?  You know you do!

Here's the chart I used.  This chart has so many possibilities!

Here 'tis with the stitching finished...all but the initials and date on it.

Design: Christmas Alphabet Book #64

Designer: Prairie Schooler

Fabric: 40ct. mystery scrap

Floss:  Called for DMC

Started: 10/18/15

Finished: 11/2/15

Completed: 11/4/15

I chose to use the initials of the Guild in this configuration so it would end up square.  I chose the 40ct so it would be relatively small or at least an appropriate ornament size.  The fabric in the background is what I used on the back.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  So if you are a guild member reading this, you could be the lucky one to get this cutie.

I'm planning to take a bunch of pictures tomorrow.  I have a feeling the show and tell is going to be fantastic and I'm hoping there will be lots of ornaments on the ornament tree too.  Stay tuned!

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Thanks so much for visiting today and listening to my rambles.  I hope your weekend is good and you get to put a needle into something.  I know you all can barely stand it that I've actually posted twice this week.  You just never know about me.  I'm a wild one like that.  LOL!

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Frosty Snowflake...Done!

Folks, have you ever gone rooting in the stash and run across an abandoned project?  I see heads nodding.  That's what happened to me.  The day I finished Snooty I went to my stash looking for something and ran across this.  I'm fairly sure I got derailed by the holidays when it got abandoned.

 

Photo not of it's found state but rather taken upon finishing

Now you all know I usually try to finish what I start in a reasonable amount of time, especially smalls or ornaments.  Since I'd just completed a biggie, I decided I might as well jump in and finish this little cutie.  I had all of Frosty's face stitched and a good part of his hat so there really wasn't all that much left to stitch!

Design: Frosty Snowflake (JCS 2013 Ornaments)

Designer: Needle Bling Designs

Fabric: 25 ct. avocado Lugana 1 over 1

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  11/24/13

Finished: 3/8/15

Completed: 3/8/15

The fabric in the background is what I used to back it.  I couldn't believe my good fortune to have some ribbon in the stash that matched the fabric so well too.  So here we are, a finished ornament!  Now I can say I've finished at least one ornament this year that I'll keep for myself even if it took me a couple years to get around to it.

 ~*~*~*~

 I hope everyone has a good week.  Thank you for stopping by for a visit today.  Who knows what I'll finish next.  I appear to be on a roll.  LOL!


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Gifts...Secret Stitcher, Christmas and Birthday

This one is going to be full of pictures today and quite lengthy.  I wanted to share them here in their own post to honor the thoughtfulness of those who are so special to me.  I don't know about you but I love these kinds of posts!  Go grab a cuppa and settle in.

Lets go back to the guild Christmas party.  This is the box I was presented with from my Secret Stitcher, Pam S.  Let's have a look inside!

 This is what caught my eye first!  Just look at this darling ornament all stitched over 1!

 Then I turned it over and she'd stitched the reverse too!  I love the pink house.

She and I have a thing for pink dontcha know.

Here's the rest of the goodies that were inside!  Oh. My. Goodness.  I was just so blown away.  I love the scissors.  She said they were as close to Shelby color as she could find.  Yep, they are polka dotted.  Love it!  The thread set is really interesting too.  I've not stitched with that before.  I can't wait to find just the right project to try it out.  There was one more thing in there that's not in the picture but it was for my birthday.  I'll save that for later.

Again, thank you so much Pam!  You really made my Secret Stitcher year so much fun.  I truly enjoyed your thoughtfulness.

~*~*~*~

Next up, Christmas with the peeps!  As you could tell from the haul picture yesterday, we really had a ball opening gifts together.  It was like Christmas when I was a kid, lots of giggles and squeals.  We had such a blast that night.

Anna Mae gave me this super cute stitched snowman cupcake ornament, a yummy smelling candle, a cute ORT tin, and note pad!  I even put the ice skate tag on the tree with the ornament.  It was just too cute not too!  Thank you so much, Anna Mae!

Christie gave us all this sweet freebie with some fabric and floss.  As well as this super cute snowman bucket with chocolates inside.  Needless to say there were more chocolates before the picture.  Yum!  Thank you so much, Christie!

 Evie stitched us all a version of this heart tree ornament.  I absolutely love it!

 

Here are the other things she gave us!  I love the cute reusable bag.  I wish you could smell the bees wax candle, the poinsettia holder is so pretty too, and yummy chocolate that actually survived the drive home without my eating it.  Thank you so much, Evie!

Marsha gave us a pretty design to stitch and a lovely vintage napkin ring!  I wish you could hold it.  It's so heavy.  The silver and crystal just sparkle!  I do love me some bling.  Thank you so much, Marsha!

Meem gave us a stitched teacup pincushion!  She said she found the antique teacup and saucer in Williamsburg after much hunting.  Thank you so much, Meem!

Linda gave us all a big red ball ornament with our initial on it and she gave me these blingy acorn ornaments too.  These looked so pretty on our tree!  Thank you so much, Linda for the gifts and for hosting us that evening.  We had such a great time!

Patti gave us these pretty Santa boxes filled with goodies.  I love the polka dot interior.  She gave us some wonderful hand lotion,  a nice smelling candle, and more chocolate!  Thank you so much, Patti!

Do you sense a theme here?  See why I love hanging out with these girls, we never run out of chocolate!  Patti told me this is a gift that keeps on giving.  The ornament she had intended to give me didn't arrive from the finisher in time so I'll get it later.  I suspect next week at the Stitchaway retreat.  Stay tuned for that!

 Design:  Merry (2012 Retreat Welcome Project)

Designer:  Teri Richards (Shepherd's Bush)

Fabric:  25 ct. White Lugana

Floss:  DMC

Started:  12/8/14

Finished:  12/16/14

Completed:  12/17/14

I almost forgot to share what I stitched for the peeps' presents.  I even stitched one for myself this time. I'm going to try to do that more often.  These were a motif taken from our 2012 Welcome Project at the Shepherd's Retreat.  I decided to stitch them on a larger count fabric so they wouldn't be too tiny.  I used DMC that came close to the colors I had left over.  I think they turned out really cute!

I also included a headband and some mints in the bag.  You'll have to pop over to Marsha's blog and read about the headbands.  She has a picture and a funny tale about us trying them on.  I still giggle when I think about it.  Yep, we really had a good time that night for sure!

~*~*~*~

Now moving on to birthday stuff!  As you all know, I get pretty sentimental when anyone remembers my birthday.  It's just a thing with me.  The holidays are not the best time of the year for birthdays.  If you have one in the last two weeks of December or first week of January you know what I mean.

This was the other thing that was in my Secret Stitcher box from Pam.  It's so pretty in person. The lighting that day wasn't the best.  I love the cute little card too!  Thank you for remembering me, Pam!

Evie gave me this beautiful wine box with the lovely Eiffel tower bottle inside wrapped up in this super cute Dalmatian fabric!  I can foresee a project bag being made out of this.  Oh how cool!  Thank you for remembering me, Evie!

Linda stitched this precious sampler for me. To say I was blown away is an understatement.  This is just so so special to me.  I will always treasure this gift and I can't wait to have it framed.  I absolutely love it, girly!

Patti gave me this Republic of Tea holiday assortment.  She knows how much I enjoy my tea.  She also remembered Miss Shelby with a tin of her own treats.  I almost tried them until I read they were for dogs!  Good thing I did.  Shelby liked them!

Speaking of Miss nosy pants, here she is checking out the treats and the stuffed pup Patti gave me in addition to the tea.  That girl of mine makes me smile.  She's got to inspect everything.  Needless to say this pup when up on the buffet with the other one.  Way out of Shelby reach!  Now she stands and barks at them.  Funny girl!  Shelby and I thank you, Patti.

These gifts all came before my birthday but one came in the mail on the day, it was from Marsha.  She knows I love pink and I'm a gadget girl.  Aren't these the cutest?!  I enjoy seeing them in my tool box at the ready when I need them.  Thank you for remembering me, Marsha!

Well folks, I hope you enjoyed this post.  It was fun to share it with you.  I truly appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness and kindness.  I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends.  I hope all of you are doing well so far this new year.  I'll be back with my annual recap post.  I like to do that just to see what I got up to in the last year.

More later,

The Inspired Stitcher

Catching up...

Hello friends!  As you probably noticed, I've been offline for a bit.  I really needed to recharge and just take a break.  This last year really whooped my tail.  Besides, holiday time is so good for that kind of thing.

There's so much I need to catch you up on since our last proper visit.  Let's see if I can recap without this getting too lengthy.

The guild had it's annual Christmas party on the 13th.  There was so much beautiful show and tell to drool over due to the guild's Quaker Challenge.  I'll let you read about it over at Ellen's blog.  She did a really nice recap post shortly after the event.

I do want to share a couple special things here with you though.  Firstly, my contribution to the challenge.  I started stitching "Quaker Faith" back in January last year as my New Year's start.  I'm pleased to share that it's now actually framed and completed.  Check it out!

 Sorry for the dark picture.  I was trying not to get a glare on the glass.

Check out the corner close up below!

Design: Quaker Faith

Designer: Little by Little

Fabric:  35ct. Jackalope

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  1/1/14

Finished:  8/10/14

Framed: 11/29/14

Special thanks goes to Melissa over at Words and Blooms for offering this as a giveaway and for pulling my name as the lucky winner!  Also, thanks goes to Nancy C. for suggesting the Quaker challenge.  It prompted me to pull this lovely out and work on it.  This challenge had the most participation we've had since I joined the group!  And last but certainly not least, thanks to Barb and Joe at Keepsakes for the beautiful framing.  You two make everything look spectacular!

~*~*~*~

Keeping with sharing special things from the guild party, here's the ornament I stitched for my Secret Stitcher.  This was for the person I'd been sending to all year.

Design:  Faith (2014 JCS Ornaments)

Designer:  Nickyscreations

Fabric:  28ct. Natural

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  9/12/14

Finished:  9/26/14

Completed: 12/8/14

This year we didn't do the traditional reveal we usually do but did a more informal one.  Turns out my person sat next to me.  I expected she would be at my table anyway because my person was my peep Linda!  Yep, it was really hard to keep that secret all year long.  LOL!  She said she had no idea it was me.  Too funny!  Linda, I really enjoyed sending you packages this year.  I'm glad I was your Secret Stitcher.  Love ya!

Design: Merry Christmas (2013 JCS Ornaments)

Designer: My Big Toe Designs

Fabric:  32ct. Cream

Floss:  WDW & DMC

Started:  11/16/14

Finished:  11/30/14

Completed:  11/30/14

This is the ornament I stitched for the person who had been sending me my Secret Stitcher packages all year long.  I like to stitch something as a thank you for all her thoughtfulness.  Turns out my person was Pam S.  I just love that girl...she "gets" me.  Pam, I loved all the packages you sent me.  You made my day each and every time!

I'm going to do a separate post to share all the beautiful gifts I received at the party and during the holiday season.  They really deserve their own post!  Stay tuned for that.

The guild has sadly decided to do away with Secret Stitcher this year due to lack of interest.  However, that's not going to stop me.  Nope, I've decided I'm going to RAK (Random Act of Kindness) folks this year.  I love surprises and I figure other folks do too.  It's going to be so much fun!

 ~*~*~*~

 This holiday season I had the good fortune of being able to get together with the peeps more than once for stitching and visiting.  The Friday before Christmas the peeps got together for a stitchy party.  We didn't do much stitching that night but more eating, visiting and exchanging of gifts.  It was such a fun evening.  Here's a picture of the table filled with the haul!

There was so much on that table, I couldn't fit it all in.  LOL!  I really have some thoughtful peeps.  More on that later...

~*~*~*~

Then there was getting together with my quilty peeps the Monday before Christmas.  We've taken to going to a local BBQ restaurant for our get together.  That way nobody has to clean house.  Tee hee!  It was nice to get to visit with those girls too.  We still get together once a month at one of our homes to work on our current projects.  We are down to the four of us now and a couple of us don't really quilt much anymore but we still enjoy each other's company just the same.

~*~*~*~

Then there was Christmas!  This year was pretty low key for us.  We did our traditional Christmas Eve with my honey's side of the family.  Always a yummy meal cooked by my MIL and SIL.  The actual holiday was really low key for us this year.  Just my honey, Shelby and I hanging at the house.  My folks were both sick with the flu that everyone is getting so we didn't see each other till my birthday/their anniversary.

~*~*~*~

Then came my birthday four days later.  It too was pretty low key.  As I mentioned, my folks came down for a little visit.  It was nice to see them even though I could tell they were not 100% yet.

Oddly enough, this year I didn't get much in the way of stitchy things.  My honey did get me a gift certificate to Keepsakes for stash enhancement at the upcoming retreat.  He's a keeper, that one!

~*~*~*~

Then the stitchy peeps had an impromptu sit and stitch the day after my birthday since the majority of us had the holidays off.  There were a couple that couldn't make it.  Although one kept our phones dinging like slot machines with her group texts.  LOL!  I decided to work on the Parrots that day.  I hadn't shown them any love for a while.  No, I didn't finish them before the new year.  I'm hopeful they'll be a finish in 2015.

~*~*~*~

My final visit for 2014 was on New Year's Eve with one of my quilty peeps, Mary.  She invited me over for tea at elevenses.  She puts up three separate feather trees and wanted me to see them before she took them down.  One is a white tree she decorates with heart ornaments and leaves up until February!  Sadly, I didn't get a picture.  It never crossed my mind.  We were too busy visiting.

Later that evening, we rang in the New Year just the two of us...well and Shelby.  I was pulling floss and fabric for a couple new starts.   As well as winding DMC onto bobbins. I have a goal to get my entire stash of DMC wound eventually.  Yes, we really set the world on fire at our house...such partyers we are.  LOL!  And that folks, is how I ended my year.

~*~*~*~

As you can tell there was a lot of socializing done during the holidays.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family.  Thanks for sticking with me on this lengthy post.  Believe me, it could have been much longer.   I'll be back with more year end wrap up soon.  Gotta go download some pictures!


Happy New Year everyone!

The Inspired Stitcher

Good Tidings - Exchange Received

Now that I know Shirlee has received the exchange package I sent her and opened it, I wanted to pop in and do a quick post to show what I stitched for her. Here 'tis...

Design:  Good Tidings

Designer:  Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  32ct. Natural

Floss:  Called for DMC

Started:  11/1/14

Finished:  11/7/14

Completed:  11/16/14

The fabric in the background is what I used to back the ornament.  I like that the organza ribbon hanger doesn't take away from the ornament itself.  Those little sheep...oh my, just so cute!  This is another one that I may have to stitch for myself someday.

I'm going to try to pop back in and do at least another post or maybe two before the end of the year.  We'll see how it goes.  It's tricky when you don't have a computer at home to use.  Hope everyone is further along than I am with the holiday preparations.  I keep telling myself "it will all get done."  I'm not convinced yet.  LOL!

Hopefully more later,

The Inspired Stitcher

Exchange Received

Oh. My. Stars.  This week has been quite the whirlwind.  Between holiday prep and general life craziness, a whole week has slipped right past me.  I had intended to post this earlier.  Sigh.  Enough of that...what you all really want to hear about is the exchange! 

Earlier this fall Shirlee from The Easily Influenced Stitcher contacted me and asked if I'd like to do a Christmas exchange again this year.  Of course I said yes.  Exchanges are so fun and especially when you know who your partner is going to be!  So like last year, we exchanged our ornament wish lists and away we went.

 I came home Monday to find a box with all these goodies in it and a super sweet card!

 Here's all the goodness unwrapped!  I know, right?  Can you even stand it?

 I just had to take a close up of this sweet floss ring.  It's just too hard to see in the picture above and you just had to see it closer.  Love the little scissors dangle on the bottom!  OMG, so stinkin' cute!

Here's a closer look at the charts she enclosed.  I do love me some Ewe & Eye & Friends charts. Seriously!

Of course I saved the very best for last!  I have admired this ornament on several occasions when stitched by others.  Now I have one of my very own!  Shirlee, your stitching is perfection!  I love, love, love it!

Thank you so much dear friend, for bringing some early Christmas cheer into my home!  I love each and every thing you sent to me.  I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness!

~*~*~*~

I hope everyone has had a good week and I wish you all happy weekend!  I'm kicking mine off at the LNS with the peeps for the annual cookie get together.  Um..I probably should have salad for dinner.  I can foresee lots of cookie sampling tonight.  LOL!

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Exchange given

Now that I know Shirlee has received her package from me, I can share with you what I stitched and sent to her.  A while back she and I exchanged a list of ornaments we'd each like to receive.  We then picked from the lists and set to stitching.  Here's the ornament I sent.

Design:  "Oh Night Divine" from 2013 JCS Ornaments Issue

Designer:  The Sampler Girl

Fabric:  32ct. Cream

Floss:  as charted

Started:  10/19/13

Finished:  10/25/13

Completed:  11/29/13

 

The fabric you see behind the ornament is what I used to back it with.  I also tried twisting Sugar N' Cream yarn into the cording.  It's something I've wanted to try for a while.  I like the end result.  I bought the yarn to use for Boutis quilting but haven't gotten around to that yet.

I picked this ornament for Shirlee because this is my very favorite Christmas song.  It just makes me tingle all over when I sing it.  It's such a special song.

 

Since I forgot to take a picture of the extras I sent Shirlee, I grabbed this one from her blog.  I know she won't mind.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the other things I sent along with the ornament.

 

I couldn't resist sending Shirlee one of my project bags.  I use one all the time and really enjoy making them.  I dearly love William Morris' prints and this one is done in repro of his Strawberry Theif.

 

I also love haunting the local antique store.  That's where I found the primer and the china tea strainer.  I knew Shirlee collects primers and is a tea lover like I am so I couldn't resist that little strainer.  Of course, there had to be tea included to go with it.

 

I'm glad Shirlee liked my humble gifts.  I still have one more to send.  It is on backorder.  So the fun will continue later on.  I always enjoy giving gifts to my stitcher friends and enjoy sharing with you all too.  We stitchers really are a great group of people.  I'm so thankful for each and every one of you.

 

I have more finishes to share in another post now that I know they've been received.  I've enjoyed my Christmas stitching this year.  Be well and be safe everyone!

 

More later,

 

The Inspired Stitcher

Last ornament done!

Firstly, thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my BAP finish!  You can't possibly know how much your kindness means to me.  I am still on a cloud!  Thank you.

Since I finished the BAP I had plenty of time to complete my last commitment ornament last night too!  This one will be for the guild's ornament exchange.  Yesterday was a day filled with finishes.  Love that!

Design:  My Little Christmas Gift (1999 JCS Ornaments issue)

Designer:  Little by Little

Fabric:  40ct. Parchment

Floss:  DMC as charted (one over two)

Started:  11/24/12

Finished:  11/29/12

Completed:  12/5/12

The fabric in the background is what I used for backing.  Yes, it's the same fabric I used for my stitching pouch I made earlier this year.  I really wish I'd bought more of it!

I decided to do the hanger a little differently than I usually do.  I wanted to have little fluffy knots show on the front of the ornament.  If the recipient doesn't like the hanger she can snip it off and have a cute little pillow to display. 

 

I usually like to stitch my ornament backs with personalization. I didn't need to do that since this chart had it as part of the design. I did have to rechart my initials, the date, and the word "You."  I really like this one and  I have enough fabric left over for both the front and the back to stitch this one again.  I'm seriously thinking about doing just that too.  It was a quick stitch.

As of now, I'm ready for the guild's Christmas party on Saturday!  I'm so glad.  I accomplished exactly what I had hoped to get done...all the ornaments and the BAP for show and tell.  I can hardly wait now!

The next two days are going to be filled with holiday festivities.  Tomorrow night is both my department's holiday gathering and the LNS's monthly stitch-in and cookie exchange!  Then as I already mentioned, Saturday brings the guild's Christmas party.

I'll be sure to take pictures of all the show and tell at the guild party as well as all the ornaments.  We are going to have a grand time!

Thank you so much for your visit with me today.  I know we are all busy at this time of year and I appreciate your stopping by.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher