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.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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 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...

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

Secret Stitcher

Wednesday night I came home from work and found a squishy waiting for me on the counter.  At first I was a little thrown off by the return address on it.  I knew that person hadn't mentioned she was sending me anything let alone a squishy.  Then I opened it.

This is what I found inside and then I knew who it was from.  My secret stitcher had sent me the squishy.  You see, the person on the return address was our secret stitcher coordinator.  Ah ha!  Now it made sense!  Very tricky, Secret Stitcher.  You got me!  I can almost hear you giggling now.

 Here's a closer look at the chart she sent.  I've had my eye on this chart for quite some time.  I almost bought it at the Keepsakes retreat a few years ago and talked myself out of it.  Now it's been gifted to me and that makes it even more special.

Next up she sent me some wonderful autumnal floss.  These hanks seem bigger than usual but maybe it's just me.  No matter, I love them all!  And those needles, they are my favorites.  I've tried lots of different ones but I always seem to come back to these.

Funny side story about needles...

When we were at the Shepherd's Bush retreat, in Linda's class (Chessie & Me) I really liked stitching with the needle she included.  Linda and Evie commented they liked it too.  So at the end of class we asked her what brand of needle she included.  Guess what?  Yep, they were Bohin needles!

She said she liked the quality of these needles and their smoothness. So there you have it, you really can tell the difference!  Well, at least I can and I think the peeps did too.

Thank you so much Secret Stitcher!  I've really enjoyed your packages this year.  I can't wait to meet you next month at the Christmas party reveal.  It seem so funny to be saying "next month" and "Christmas" in the same sentence. Yikes!  I'm so not ready yet.

Thanks to all of you for stopping by for a visit today too.  I hope your weekend is good and you are getting to push your needles through some linen.  It's cold and blustery here today.  Just right for stitching with my Shelby nestled beside me.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Secret Stitcher

Happy Monday folks!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I spent my Friday night hanging out with some of my stitching peeps and Saturday the Tiara club had an all day stitch-in.  It was a fun weekend full of stitching!  I made some progress on the Parrots.  I'll share that in another post.  This post is dedicated to this mystery box that showed up on my chair after lunch on Saturday!

 

Isn't this just the prettiest box?!  I do love all things Americana and it's just in time for the coming July 4th holiday.  I've already got it on display in my dining room.  So what's in the box you ask?

 

Check out all this goodness!  I love it all!!!  The little picture to the right is a tiny canvas.  It's just perfect to display on my bathroom shelf.  Then there's all that wonderful patriotic ribbon.  I can't wait to use some in a patriotic finish.  Let's have a closer look at that super cute fob next to the ribbon!

 

I just had to blow this picture up so you can see the pretty pink beads and the hibiscus flower!  I wish you could see the sparkle.  I promptly attached it to my small zip bag that's holding my Parrots' floss and my travel tool box.  I love it!

 

Speaking of floss, check out this pretty floss and awesome chart!  I've had my eye on that chart ever since it came out but the LNS never got it.  Now I don't have to watch for it anymore!  I'm really tempted to start this one right away.  Maybe it could be my July 4th start!  Sounds good to me!

Thank you so much Secret Stitcher!  You really made my day and I love everything you gifted me.  I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness.  I can't wait to "meet" you and thank you in person in December!

I'm really looking forward to the short week this week.  Anyone have July 4th plans yet?  I hope everyone has a good week.  Thanks for stopping by today!

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher


P.S.  On a sad note, one of my stitching peeps' mom passed away yesterday.  She used to stitch with us until her hands just couldn't do it anymore.  She's not been well for a while and she's now in a much better place.  Please keep her family in your thoughts.

Secret Stitcher

I came home Friday to a rather large box waiting for me.  I knew I wasn't expecting anything.  Hmm...who could it have come from?  Then I opened it and knew!

My Secret Stitcher sent me an Easter box just in time for the holiday!  Just look at all these beautiful goodies!  I love everything.  The roses are little note cards and the spool is blue braided ribbon.  Then there is the cute bunny floss pallet.  Lets have a closer look.

Here's a closer look at this precious duck holding three juicy silk flosses!  The colors are Cake, Fresh Raspberries and Petticoat Blue.  I just love Belle Soie silks.  They are so soft just like the sweet duck holding them.  Yes, the duck came out of the box just like that too!  So sweet!

Does my Secret Stitcher know me or what?!  These chocolates are to die for.  Yes, there are some left but I did have to try them right away.

See this book, it's really a box!  Let's have a look inside.  There's wonderfulness in there!

Check this out!  My favorite needles and this amazing pin cushion! Oh. My. Goodness.  Just look at that pin keep!!!  We have to look at that closer.

This is my favorite thing in the whole box!  I am just in awe.  I wish you all could see this in person.  It is just exquisite!  It has a nice weight to it and I love the colors.  Aren't those pins just too dang cute too!

I recognize it as a Blackbird Designs piece.  It's called "Topiary in Bloom."  I've had my eye on it for a while and now I have a super special one.   I have this displayed where I can see it while I stitch. Thank you so much, Secret Stitcher!!!

Secret Stitcher, you spoiled me rotten this time.  I appreciate everything you sent me and especially the pin keep.  To think you took that much time to make me something this beautiful, I am humbled!  Thank you doesn't even seem to cover it.

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Thanks for stopping by today and allowing me to share.  I'm truly one lucky girl!  I hope you all have a good week.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Secret Stitcher

This is going to be a quickie post today.  I wanted to share with you the lovely package I received from my new Secret Stitcher!

For those who might be wondering what that is, the stitch groups I belong to decided to combine and do the Secret Stitcher program together this year.  We filled out a questionnaire listing our likes, hobbies, and such.  Once coordinator did the assignment of partners, then we were given our new Secret Stitcher partner for the new year.  We'll send each other little surprises throughout the year and we'll do the reveal in December like always.

 

Here's what was in the parcel!  Check out that super cute puppy card.  Looks like my sweet puppy girl if she had heart shaped spots.  Of course chocolate is always a welcome thing in my world.  I love the two sweet flosses, Sofia's Pink and Cherry Cobbler.  Just yummy!  Then there's the chart, I do love Lizzie Kate and this particular one is a favorite!

 

Here's a closer look if you haven't seen it before!  It's actually a sweet kit that came with the linen and a tiny bag of beads plus a button!  I may have to treat myself and start this one very soon.  I'm really in the mood to do some seasonal stitching.

 

Thank you so much Secret Stitcher!  I love everything you sent.  I'm looking forward to a fun year of surprises.  Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite holiday of the whole year.  I know I've said that before though.  Giggles!  Happy Valentine's Day to you and to all my readers!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Looking back, looking forward

Happy New Year, everyone!  Thank goodness we made it to 2014 in one piece.  I'm so glad to have 2013 behind me now.  I don't want to get into the details here but suffice it to say the last six weeks of 2013 were doozies and life got in my way!

I'm going to take this post to catch you up on the stitchy things that have happened last month since I didn't do a good job of keeping up.  Besides, I know that's why you come to visit me anyway.  So let's get going.

Design: “Joy Reindeer Floss Tag” freebie

Designer: marijke-steekjeskruisjes.blogspot.com

Fabric: 28 ct. natural brown scrap

Floss: DMC as charted

Started:  11/25/13

Finished:  11/25/13

Completed:  12/8/13

This is the "ornament" I stitched for my Secret Stitcher.  It was a Pinterest find.  I made it into a floss tag.  The floss ring is hanging on the back of the ornament.  I couldn't show it to you until after the guild Christmas Party on December 14th when we did the Secret Stitcher reveal.  If you want to see more ornaments and the show and tell, pop over to Marsha's blog.  She did a really nice recap.  I'll do another post to show the gifts given and received at the party another day.

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Lets look at some other finishes I had last month.

Design:  “Merry Christmas” freebie

Designer:  Threadwork Primitives

Fabric:   36 ct. iridescent white

Floss: DMC 115 & 367

Started:  9/28/13

Finished:  9/28/13

Completed:  12/8/13

I started this one at the Tiara Retreat and finished it with the fabric you see in the background.  I've had that fabric in my stash forever.  I think it goes really well with the stitching.  I had intended to give this one away but decided to keep it for our tree.  It really turned out cute and I just couldn't give it away! 

Design:  No "L" Sampler

Designer:  Eileen Bennett

Fabric:  36 ct. white opalescent

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  11/21/13

Finished:  11/24/13

Completed:  To be ornamentified

I picked up this chart on the "free to a good home" table at the Russellville Retreat.  Thank you, Kathy!  I really liked the humor in this one.  I stitched the "L" in a different stitch since it's my first initial.  When I get around to ornamentifying it, I'm going to use the fabric in the background.  It's cut out and ready to go.  I just need to find some time.  Anybody got some they can loan me?  LOL!

Design:  Mary's Sampler II freebie SAL

Designer:  Plum Street Samplers

Fabric:  40 ct. Light Examplar

Floss:  As charted (except the white DMC B5200)

Started:  9/29/13

Finished:  12/29/13

Completed:  To be framed later

This was my last stitchy finish for 2013.  I decided I was going to buckle down on my birthday and actually finish it.  All I had left to stitch was the berries.  I really enjoyed stitching it and watching the local peeps stitch this along with me.  It was also fun to see the different ones popping up in blog-land too.

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I've also made some progress on my Hornbook.  I can't wait to show it to you.  I'll save that for it's own special post.  I also want to show you the Foster brothers and their women all together at the Christmas Party.  I think that deserves its own post too.  Then there are my New Year's day starts.  Yes, that was plural.  I actually had a finish yesterday.  I'd also like to do my usual recap post as well.  So stay tuned there is more to come and hopefully life won't get in my way like it did last month.

For now, I want to wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!  It is my wish that you all get to cross as many X's as possible this coming year.  You all continue to inspire me and I truly enjoy your visits!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Much more later,

The Inspired Stitcher

Secret Stitcher

Last Friday was the LNS First Friday Stitch-in.  When I got there I found a bag waiting for me from my Secret Stitcher.  She spoiled me rotten again!  Just check out all this fall themed goodness! 

Do you see my photo bomber up in the right corner? Yep, Miss Shelby was just itching to get that nose all over everything. I'm sure she could smell the apple candle. It's really fragrant and I haven't even lit a match to it yet. I love that silly pup!

Love the apple tea too. Of course I love the M & M's. Those didn't last long. Yum!

How did she know I'd just used up my purse size hand sanitizer?  This one is extra special since it has Hello Kitty on it!  Love that! 

Then there was the orange bag stuffed full of trims! I'll show you those in a minute. The metal oak leaf and acorn holder and the crow with it's harvest sign are super cute too. The nail file has candy corns on it and I'm always needing one of those. Especially this time of year when my nails seem to crack and snag so easily.

 

Here's a closer look at the trims that were in that little bag.  Lots of black ric-rac, buttons, and ribbon.  Some grey and orange buttons along with some brass charms.  Then some ric-rac in shades of orange and some chenille on bobbins!  It's all so festive and seasonal!  I've never seen anything like it.

This is the chart she included.  I love those tiny stork scissors and actually have those very ones too.  This chart is extra special to me because I've actually visited the Sunflower Seed's shop.  How cool!  I'm sure she didn't know that.

Check out this super cute scissor holder too!  We were teasing at the stitch-in that all the "in crowd" has one of these.  Actually there's a stitcher's necessary that the shop owner sells that includes these in it or you can get one separately.  This one is in my colors and has a really cute print.

Thank you so much Secret Stitcher!  This was a fun package to sort through.  Next month we'll get to "meet" each other at the Christmas party.  That's going to be a lot of fun!

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  Our guild is having an all day stitch-in on Saturday.  The theme for this meeting is Thanksgiving.  I'm sure the show and tell will be awesome.  I also suspect there will be some completed Foster brothers there too.
 
Well folks, that's it from this side of the screen today. I hope everyone has had a good week so far.  Thanks for stopping by.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher