Country life and a stitch-in

So last Saturday was the guild's all day stitch-in and I woke up to this in my driveway!  Yep, you know you live in the country when there's a combine, that doesn't belong to you, parked in your driveway.   This seriously does not happen in the burbs!  LOL!

Actually, it's owner did ask permission to leave it overnight. Apparently it threw a fanbelt and was overheating. Our driveway was big enough for him to pull it off the road so he could investigate the problem.

I had been sitting on the couch stitching when I noticed headlights reflecting on the wall in the foyer.  So I got up to see who was out there.  I knew it was too soon for my honey to be coming home.  When I first looked out I thought it was my neighbor and didn't think too much of it.  He's been running corn lately on another farm. 

Turns out it wasn't my neighbor but another farmer from down the road.  He asked to leave it since it was too hot to work on it at that hour.  So yep, I woke up to a new "vehicle" in my driveway.

Thankfully he was able to pull it over far enough for me to get my car around it and still keep it on the concrete without wrecking the yard.  I sure wouldn't want to have that get stuck in the grass!  It's always some kind of unique excitement when you live in the country!

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We had a good turnout at the stitch-in.  I always like to try to go if I can.  We have an amazing group of very talented folks in our guild.  I always look forward to getting together and seeing what everyone is working on.

I took my Ellen Maurer-Stroh BAP.  I was able to make some pretty good progress on my November's "assignment."  It's almost finished and hope to wrap it up this weekend.  I'll be sure to post about it when I get it done.  One more month and it will be complete!

Let's look at some of the wonderful Show and Tell folks brought.  I'm always so inspired after these get togethers!  We really are a talented group.

This one is so pretty.  I love it!

 

 

This is one of those that the more you look at it the more you see.



This one was done by my peep, Marsha.  It turned out so nice!

I've not seen this one before!  I've always loved this old church song. 

This was one of the guild's class pieces from this year.  It's a Mexican sampler by Ellen Cross.

My dear friend, Nicole, made this one.  I had to shoot it from an awkward angle since it was so big! She likes to do really large samplers.  This piece is almost as tall as she is!!!  It's amazing to see in person.  EDITED:  I found out this is the first phase of Dutch Beauty.  Nicole didn't want to stitch the whole thing so she just did this part and filled in a few spots with random motifs.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things I saw.  I wish I would have taken even more pictures to share with you.  I get caught up visiting and forget sometimes.  Imagine that?!

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Well, I'm going to go back to my stitching.  I hope you are able to get some couch time this weekend too.  Thank you for your sweet comments and for your visits with me.  I really do enjoy our time together.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Vacation day 5

Friday came and it was the last day of our trip.  It also happened to be our 16th wedding anniversary!  We were finally going to get to see one of the main things we came to see.

My long time readers know my husband is a motorcycle enthusiast and by default so am I now.  When planning our trip we searched to see what motorcycle related places we could find and saw that Motorcyclopedia Museum was having a Cannonball Run that kicked off on our anniversary!  It was a given we had to be there for it no matter what!

For those not familiar with what this is, there are 70 pre1930s motorcycles that are crossing the US in approximately two weeks starting in Newburg, New York and winding up at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with riders from 13 different countries!

This is the line up of motorcycles waiting to head out that morning!  They are like rolling works of art and history. 

Some of them looked a bit questionable as to whether they would make it off the parking lot though.  I loved this one's sign "California or bust!"

The rider/owner of this one is from England!  We had a great visit with him the night before.  He's an old hat at these kinds of rides.  He says they do it all the time where he comes from.  Love that!

This rider and his wife were from Australia!  They both were riding in the race.  He at the helm and she in the basket side car!  Now that would be fun and I bet I could stitch in there too.

The excitement was growing and you could feel the energy in the crowd that was forming.  The size of the crowd finally spilled out into the street and the police had to shut the street down!  It was so fun!

Here we are after the riders were on their way and the crowd was dispersing.  What a way to celebrate our 16th year together!  My honey was in the height of his glory.  It always makes me happy to see him happy.  I enjoyed being a part of this event too.

After seeing the museum's exhibits we got on the road to head home.  There was one more stitch shop I wanted to visit along the way in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania called The Village Stitchery Shop but it was not to be.

As we pulled into the parking lot we saw a hand written sign on the door saying they were closed for vacation.  Imagine that?!  I laughed so hard.  The stitch shop was on vacation on my vacation.  Too funny!!!  I guess we'll just have to go back sometime.

However all was not lost.  On the way through town we passed a building advertising a quilt show!  So we turned the car around and went back into town to the Packwood House Museum.  Their exhibit is on until October 13th!  There were close to 200 antique quilts displayed throughout the Museum.  Unfortunately they didn't allow photography.  There were certainly several I would have loved to have photographed!

We pulled into our driveway later that night at 11:30pm in the midst of an incredible thunderstorm with lots of lightening and thunder!  We left in the rain and we returned in the rain.

We'd traveled a total of 2,077 miles in five days on this trip.  It was so good to get away, see some fantastic sights, meet some interesting people and recharge our batteries!  Most of all, it was good to get to spend time together.

I recently found this quote that I think pretty much sums up my feelings on travel.  I highly recommend it!  Getting away from the everyday of life definitely soothes my soul.

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Thanks for hanging with me through this post even though it really wasn't all that stitchy.  I appreciate your visits and I hope you have a great weekend!


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Tiara Stitch-in

Wow, what a week I've had!  Lots of things happening lately and now today is the first of August!  Really?!  This summer has just slipped right past me for sure.  Let's start with the stitchy stuff...

Saturday was our monthly Tiara stitch-in.  I worked on my Rouge du Rhin "L" for my tote bag project.  I actually got the stitching finished on Sunday.  Hmm...I should probably take a picture of that.

Moving to my left, check out these beautiful morning glories!  I'm told this one is going to be close to four feet long when it's done!  Looks great so far.

I love the colors in this Shepherd's Bush.  This peep is hoping to get it done by September so she can have Jill Rensel frame it for her.  Won't that be stunning?!

This one is a reproduction of an antique quilt in the Shelburne Museum's collection.  I love the bright colors!

I actually saw this quilt when the traveling exhibit "Art of the Needle" came to town.   The quilt was donated to the museum in 1955 by Ida W. Beck who lived from 1880 – 1967.  She was a shut-in who specialized in needlework and monogramming. It's stunning in person!

This one is a golden anniversary sampler one of my peeps is doing for a friend.  Her friend's hubby passed away not long ago but she's going to finish the gift anyway.  So bitter sweet.

This is a new start on the "Folk Art Hornbook" by Hillside Samplings found on the Bay of Evil.  I'm glad to see the Bay of Evil (eBay) gets other folks in trouble too.  LOL!  I love the painted hornbook that goes with this one!

Making the full circle around the table, this is the one that was being worked on to my right.  It's by Jeannette Douglas called "My Story."  I have this one in the stash from the Shepherd's Bush retreat 2010.  Unfortunately I never got further than the trees.  LOL!  This one is so pretty in person!

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We were a smaller than usual group as you can tell by the WIPs.  Here's what came for show and tell.

An Erica Michaels piece.  I like the frame!

I love the saying on this Country Cottage piece.

I love the colors of this Praiseworthy Stitches "Faith."  There's just something about Quaker designs.

I don't recall who this one is by but I love the charms on the ribbon.  I'm told they came from Hobby Lobby.

I love the colors of this JBW wedding sampler.  That silver frame just sets it off!

This is Little House Needleworks' "Elizabeth Hancock" sampler.  I remember when my peep was working on this earlier in the year.  She changed out the colors of the flower vine because the called for white was just now showing up.  I like how it turned out! 

This one always reminds me of my "I Sigh Not for Beauty" since they both have the same verse on them.  Speaking of, I did give "Beauty" some more attention at the stitch-in in the afternoon.  I got the house all the way done.  I didn't take a picture because it doesn't look that much different than the last time you saw it.

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As I mentioned earlier there's been a lot happening around here lately.  Some of you know my 10 year old car gave up on me before I gave up on it.  LOL!  So we had to go car shopping.  Most folks would be excited about that...me, not so much!  I equate it to bra shopping, a necessary evil.  So we spent two angst filled days shopping and I found one...finally.  Whew!  Hopefully I won't have to do that again for another 10 years!

The same day we picked up the new car, my little girl got her snippety snip done.  Poor baby!  Here she is that evening.  As you can tell by the ears and the sad face she's not feeling too hot.

She was a real snuggle bunny that night.  My little velcro dog wanted me to stay right by her side all night long.  At one point, she even put her head on my shoulder and let out a big sigh.  Talk about melting my heart!

I'm pleased to report it's been a week today since her surgery and you'd never know anything happened to her.  She was actually her normal fired up self the very next morning!  If only people bounced back from surgery like that.  LOL!

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Well folks, that's all I've got today.  I've been doing some gift stitching lately so I can't share that just yet.  I hope everyone has had a good week so far.  Thankfully we are barreling toward a weekend! Yippee!!!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Secret Stitcher

Yesterday the mailman brought me a big package from my Secret Stitcher.  I couldn't imagine what she could have possibly sent!  Well, check this out...

Oh Secret Stitcher, you got me!  You really got me this month!!!  I giggled and giggled when I opened this package last night.  Here's what was inside. 

Now dear friends, I know you are thinking okay what's so funny about that?  I have to tell you a little back story.

Last month at Tiara we got on the subject of shoes somehow.  I don't remember how.  Anyway, I told the story of how my honey hates gold shoes.  He calls them Grandma Max shoes.  This is because his grandma loved her gold shoes.

Well, I bought a pair of metallic gold sandals one summer and he just about had a fit!  Now mind you, my honey is not one who normally says anything at all about what I wear.  However, he just kept on and on teasing me about these shoes.  He was really a happy the day these sandals finally died.

For Christmas that year he and his sister even went so far as to find a pair of sneakers just like the ones I wore, spray painted them gold, and wrapped them up for my present.  Well, I just about died because I thought they were my sneakers!!!  Of course they were quite pleased with themselves that they got me.

Ever since the sandals died, I've been on the look out for another pair of gold sandals to tease him with and actually wear.  Guess what?!  Now you know why I loved this package so much!

The craziest part is these flip flops are exactly my right size too!  Now Secret Stitcher, you really are good!  I don't remember mentioning what size I wear.  Maybe I did.  Anyway, they are great and I intend to wear these as long as they last!  LOL!

She also remembered Shelby and sent her some treats.  Which she enjoyed and wouldn't leave me alone once she sniffed them out.  That pup just cracks me up!

Speaking of, I thought I'd show you a recent pic of my girl.  I just love that tail!

Well, folks thanks for hanging with me on this post.  I know it's not really stitchy but it was just too good not to share!  Hope everyone is having a good week.


More tomorrow,

The Inspired Stitcher

Exchange received & a fun weekend

Wow, what an action packed weekend I had!  It all started before I ever left work on Friday.  My honey called me to tell me there was a card in the mailbox saying I had a package to pick up at the post office.

Well, I knew exactly what that just had to be!  So on my way home and before I left for the stitch-in, I stopped by to get it!

My Blackbird Designs Exchange arrived from Mexico!!!  I'm so relieved it finally made it.  These were so worth the wait.  Just look at these darling stockings Laura stitched for me!

They are just so perfectly stitched! Laura even included some beautiful lace which she told me is 60 years old!  I love it!

Check out the violets on this one and that cute ric rack hanger!  Oh my goodness, such cuteness!

Thanks again to Laura for a wonderful exchange.  I'm so glad we both finally received our packages safe and sound!  Thanks also to Patti for hostessing a great exchange.

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As I mentioned before, I was headed into the city to our monthly first Friday stitch-in at the LNS.  We were a super large crowd for some reason!  If the weather were warmer the peeps and I were going to move to the porch to stitch!  However, it was 55 degrees so we stayed put inside!

Mid-way through the evening the owner said I won the super grand prize!  I wasn't real sure what she was talking about.  Turns out one of my readers (you know who you are) traveled all the way from Champaign, Illinois, just to shop there because she saw this picture on my blog!  Can you even believe that?!

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around someone reading this here blog,  going to all the trouble to search out where the LNS is, and then driving hundreds of miles to go there just because of something I wrote!

Now tell me, is that crazy or what?!  This blog thing continues to amaze me.  Really!  I can't believe I inspired someone that much!!!  So Judy from Champaign, if you would please email me (my email is in my profile) I've got a funny story to tell you!

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So what else did I get up to this weekend?  Well this pile tells quite a story!

One night last week my honey heard a thud right before we went to bed.  He looked outside and didnt' see anything so no worries.  Well, the next morning I looked out the patio door and the tree had randomly dropped a huge limb!  This is the very same tree we had Miss Shelby tethered to the night before while my honey mowed grass!

This tree has been dead since the hurricane rolled through several years ago and we just hadn't gotten around to cutting it down yet.  Needless to say the tree won't be dropping any more limbs!

We are donating this pile of wood to a family we know who only has a wood burner to heat their house.  This little under taking took the biggest part of Saturday's daylight hours.  We quit when it got too dark to see anymore.  Glad to not have that worry anymore!

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Yesterday my honey asked me if I wanted to go for a ride?!  Well that's a no-brainer!  Yes!!!  Anytime I can get him to get out the Harley for a ride I'm on it!!!  I just love riding that bike with him.  It's something that makes him happy and something we can do together.  Win-win all around!  Needless to say we took a good long ride and I loved every minute of it.

This also means that between taking down the tree and riding, I didn't put a single stitch into anything since the stitch-in Friday night.  You know what, I don't even care!  Yep, that's probably blasphemy to say on a stitch blog but it was so much fun spending time with my honey!  Sometimes you just have to seize opportunities when you can...and when the weather is cooperating!

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To keep the end of this post somewhat stitch related, I will tell you that I did get the stitching done on my biscornu at the stitch-in (sorry no pic yet) Friday night!  I can't wait to show it to you!

I was also invited to join another online exchange over at the Seasonal Exchange blog!  I'm super excited about this one as my blog buddy LisaS is hostessing this one.  I can't wait to see who my partner is!  This one is summer themed!  It is going to be so much fun choosing what to stitch!  Summer is my very favorite time of year, dontcha know!

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Well, if you've stuck with me this far, congrats!  I know this post is much longer than my usual ones but there was a lot that happened between Friday night and today!  I can guarantee you all got more stitching done than I did!  So I'm passing the Wonder Woman cape to each of you!  LOL!

I hope you all had a great weekend too! Thanks for visiting with me today.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

If I can't be stitchin'...

...then I'll just dream about stitchin'!  I've been cruising the online shops looking at all the wonderful things coming out at the Nashville Market this weekend!

Oh. My. Goodness. 

Here are some pretty things that caught my eye in no particular order.

Giulia Punti Antichi
Shabby Chic Pendant

I think I like this pendant the most!
I love those buttons and it looks like a quick stitch.

Giulia Punti Antichi
An Icelandic Christmas Sewing Set with Finishing Fabric

I'm starting a collection of stitched hornbooks and this one would just be fantastic to stitch up!  Actually I like any and all hornbooks.  They don't have to be stitched.  LOL!

Blackbird Designs
For My Friend

What can I say, I'm a sucker for anything BBD does.  I knew of them as quilt designers first and was delighted to find out they also design cross stitch.  I guess that's why I'm fond of them.

Praiseworthy Stitches
Mermaid's Love Tokens

I don't know what it is about me and mermaids lately.  I seem to really be drawn to them.  Maybe it's because I'm a Capricorn.  You know, half mermaid/half goat.  Yeah that's it!

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I want to thank you all for your emails and support this week.  I really feel so thankful.  Really!  Your kind words and sweet comments are so very appreciated.  I feel a sense of community and friendship here in our corner of blogland.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart!  You all are the very best!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

It's TUSAL time again!

 Holy cow, it's TUSAL time again!  Now just where did this past month go?!  I'm pretty sure lots of things happened since the last TUSAL but unfortunately it hasn't involved much stitching as evidenced by my pitiful addition to the jar.

So what has been my deal you ask?  As my close peeps know, we've had two deaths in the family very close together. My honey lost both the men in his life that were father figures.  As though that wasn't enough, my maternal grandmother had a heart attack also. It's been a really emotionally trying time for us. So that's why I've not been myself lately. I say this not to extract sympathy but to just explain my quietness and lack of stitching.

The other thing occupying my time as you might know is the adoption of our little fur baby, Shelby. Tonight we started puppy class! Yes, she's going to learn manners even if it's the last thing I do.  I'd like to raise a pup that folks don't mind being around and I'd like to keep my hands intact as well as the furniture! Cross your fingers that this school thing takes!

I hope you all have made tons of stitchy progress so I can live vicariously through your blogs until I can return to my normal stitchy self!  I'm slipping in a few stitches here and there but not nearly as many as I'd really like.  You know what they say..."this too shall pass."  Oh how I'm countin' on that right now!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

An update...

From a fortune cookie on my bulletin board

Firstly, I want to start out by saying thank you to all who have offered encouragement and support these past few days.  It means more to me than words can describe.

I wanted to let everyone know we came out on the other side and our family member is now back at home.  DH and I can now breathe a sigh of relief.  It's hard to see the ones you love go through a health scare.  We are blessed and thankful.

The stitching posts will resume shortly.  Thank you so much for stopping by!

The Inspired Stitcher

When life gets in the way...

Have you ever stood at the end of a tunnel wondering what's on the other side?  That's where I've been these past few days.  A very dear family member was admitted to the hospital over the weekend.  Needless to say my mind has been a bit distracted.  So if my posts are few this week you will know why.

On a more positive note, I am pleased to report that I have finished stitching both the BBD project bag and the Pumpkin Keeper.  Now if only I had a few spare moments to do the finishing.  Maybe later this week when things settle down.

In the mean time, hug the ones you love and know I really appreciate your stopping by for a visit.


The Inspired Stitcher