It's a rainy day here in Orlando and I have the boring job of laundry.  I'm getting alot of stitching in and have finished 3 pillows for Miss Rhonda.  I thought I would share them with you.

The two in the back are for a daughter and son who have lost their Mother recently and I think you'll recognize the stitching of the one in the front.  I'm now working on the primitive version of this same pattern and I thought I'd share what I have accomplished so far.

Quite different isn't it?  I just picked my favorite primitive colors and went from there.  At first I thought I'd do a pillow but I think instead this will be framed.  It's turning out about 6 x 6 so I think it's a little large for a needle cushion.  

Well Peyton, John and I went shopping this past Saturday and ended up buying some really fantastic baby items on sale.  It's so much fun to buy things for a little boy.....you must not think "cute".  I was told that by John several times.  LOL  We ended the day with hubby joining us at Kobe's a Japanese Steak House here in Orlando.  Their food is fantastic and they give you so much that there's no way you can finish it all.  The chef's cook it right at your table on a large metal grill so it's very hot and entertaining at the same time.  

I hope all of you have a fantastic week and that you enjoy lots of Blessings,

Barbara

And the winner is......

I used the random number generator and it came up with the number 2 which is:

Carol S. from MN

I don't have Carol's email address so if you read this Carol, please email me at grammy5822@gmail.com so I can get your package off to you.

Thanks to all who entered.

Barbara

A finish and a secret exposed....

I hope everyone has had a fantastic Wednesday so far and that your evening goes just as well.  I have a finish to show you that is just too, too cute.  It's "Louise and Henry" by Little House Needleworks.  It's not a really fast stitch and I hated doing all the cream on Louise's body, but she's finished.

I stitched them in DMC and the fabric I used is so appropriate.....Lambswool 28ct.  Forgive me for that one but I just couldn't resist.  

Now for the big news of the year......

Yes Peyton and John found out that they are having a little boy and we couldn't be happier.  It will be so wonderful to have a little boy to love and spoil since we aren't allowed to see our 4 grandsons anymore.  I just hope we get to see them again some time.  It's a great loss in our lives.  

Now I can get to the business of buying clothes and such for this new love coming into our lives.  Look out bank card.....here I come!

Blessings to all, Barbara

Giveaway and some goodies

Sunday's are such a nice quiet time at our house.  We usually make a nice dinner and watch some old movies and I get alot of stitching finished.  Well today I finished the freebie from Little House Needleworks.

I stitched this on 20ct. Jobelan over 1 thread using two strands of floss and I love how it turned out.  The bees were to be stitched but I found some JABCo buttons in my stash so I added them instead.  I want to stitch this again in primitive colors and this is what I've chosen.

What do you think.  The fabric is from Notforgotten Farms in a natural 28ct. so it's going to turn out pillow size which is what I want.

Remember I said that yesterday my LNS was having a big sale.  Well I came away with some silks, fabric and this beautiful Halloween needlepoint canvas.  I haven't needlepointed in years but for the price I couldn't pass it up.  I think it will make a nice stand up for the holiday.

Now for the important part of this post.  I'm giving away the freebie pattern from Little House Needleworks and all the thread to finish the design.  The pinks are the flowers and the rest of the design is stitched in DMC.  You should have plenty to stitch it. 

If you are interested in receiving this, just add a comment to this post only and we'll draw a name next Saturday.  Since this weighs hardly anything, let's make it world wide because the shipping shouldn't be that much.  I hope everyone enters because you'll love stitching this design.

Good luck everyone and Blessings to All,

Barbara

It has been one of the most glorious Thursday's I have ever had.  It was steaming hot....I didn't care one bit because I received something in the mail that just made me cry.  It was a good cry....a happy cry.  Sweet Robin who follows my blog asked me the other day what silks I liked to stitch with.  I told her Gloriana and Belle Soie were my favs.  Well she wrote back and said she would like to send me some Belle Soie because she really didn't care for it.  Have a look at what this wonderful, generous stitcher sent me.  

 Needless to say now you know why I cried when I opened the package and found 70 skeins.  Robin, I cannot express how privileged I feel for receiving these.  As I told her in my email of thanks, every stitch I take with these will be with a prayer of thank you to Robin.

Then if that wasn't enough I had made a trip to Sewing Studio to pick up some zippers and they had the most beautiful collection of fabrics from Moda I have ever seen.  The name of the collection is "Best of Morris" meaning William Morris an English textile designer, poet and all around talented man.  The collection has all my favorite colors, blues, reds, browns, teals  and I found a variegated quilting thread that encompasses all those colors by King Tut.  If you've never used this thread for quilting you're missing out on a great thread.  Warning it is a little pricey...$8.95 a spool but each has 500 yards of long staple Egyptian cotton.

Well that was my day and a better one I couldn't of dreamed up.  I hope your's was just as good.

Blessings, Barbara

Here it is Wednesday and so far so good.  Nothing going kaboom in the frig and my washing machine has accomplished this weeks laundry.  I'm just waiting for that one to go kaput.  DH went to cardiologist today and his aneurysm hasn't gotten any worse and neither has his leaky aortic valve so that's good news.  And I was able to finish something.  That's always nice!

This is Fraktur Bird by Shakespeare Peddler and it's a very fast stitch.  It came as a kit and I have to do some complaining because they didn't give enough floss of all the colors except the 2 blacks.  I'm putting this pattern in my store but be aware that they use Nina's Threads and if I was to stitch this again, pick your own colors based on the front of the pattern.  They do not give you any DMC equivalents to go by.

Crescent Colors came out with two new pinks and Little House Needleworks is offering up a free pattern if you purchase the 2 pinks.  Well duh of course I did and as soon as I'm done stitching this, I'm going to offer it up in a giveaway with all the leftover floss.  There should be plenty to stitch two of this design so look for that this weekend or sooner.

That's all that's going on here except it's so dang hot.  I walk outside and just sweat.  I know the proper name for females is perspire but down here there's no such thing.....You Sweat!  I wouldn't complain so much if you lost weight by standing out there in this heat but unfortunately that doesn't happen. 

Blessings to all, Barbara

I don't usually post twice in one day but something has happened to my blog account and I can't figure it out.  If you have me listed under your blogs that you read on your blog, it's come to my attention that if you click on the name of my blog on that list, it takes you to a blog called "44mamawsfinishedcrossstitch".  I had such a blog many years ago but I deleted it.  Now it is being used by someone overseas and I have no way of contacting them.  So I'm asking you to please check and see if you have this problem with your blog and to let me know.  Also, if you have any suggestions on how I can handle this, please let me know.

There have been better weekends!!  Mine started off Saturday morning with a can of Pepsi exploding in my refrigerator.  You have to be careful with mine because on the top shelf there's one place where it will freeze anything.  Guess what got frozen!  Yepper that can of Pepsi so I had a fun start by taking everything out and washing it.  Not fun and not something to bring a smile to my face.  

I did start some new projects which I hardly ever have more than one thing going at a time but I needed something to get me in a good mood.

First off is the LHN design "Louise and Henry" which I've wanted stitched for quite awhile.

Second is a new design by Shakespeare Peddler called "Fraktur Bird".  It came as a kit with Nina's threads in it which I love working with.

I belong to the Primitive Stitcher's Society and we are having a SAL of a design by Brenda of With Thy Needle and Thread called "May Day Sampler".  This has turned into a very fun stitch which has put the other's in the background for the time being.

Last but not least is my Cherry Hollow Farm which I haven't gotten alot finished on it but I'm happy with what I have so far.

I took sweet Vallie up to the groomer's this morning for her bubble bath and she always smell so sweet afterwards.  They always manage to get her so clean and white....much better than I can.  Of course she won't be real happy with me afterwards but it doesn't last long.  :o)

I'm hoping the rest of my week goes better that the start and that I'm able to finish at least 2 of my starts.  My LNS is having a sale this coming Saturday so there goes my budget for the month.  I want to pick up some more silks....they're my passion!

I hope your week is Blessed with many happy moments,

Barbara

Good Monday to all of you and I hope your week has started off great.  I think I've mentioned Peyton and John's little dog Chloe and I finally got a picture of her.  She is a sweetheart!  When they were packing for our vacation, she decided they weren't leaving without her and she planned on making for sure.  LOL  She's a mixture and a rescue.  We just love her!

I've started Cherry Hollow Farm by Stacy Nash and as you can see I don't have alot finished yet.  The kit came with 36ct linen but I had trouble seeing it so Debbie switched it out and gave me a piece of 32ct.  Now I've done some dumb things in my stitching career but this one was the worse.  I always iron my linen before I use it and I give it a light spray of starch.  It's on a shelf above my ironing area so I just reached up and got what I thought was it and started spraying.  It wasn't starch....it was spray adhesive!!!!  I sprayed about half of a fat quarter.  Does anyone know how I can get this out?  I feel like such an idiot!  Anyway so I had to pick another linen.  I had bought some 38ct. Gander Linen because everyone said how great it is and I have it in several colors.  But I'm thinking if I can't see 36ct how am I going to see 38ct?  I can see it!  Someone had posted on a board about how easy this 38ct. linen is to see and they were right.  So I am stitching Cherry Hollow Farm over 2 threads with 1 strand of Weeks Dye Works and I'm loving it.  If you get a chance to purchase some Gander Linen, I highly recommend it.

I'm also working on another Christmas ornie and this one also is from Little House Needleworks called "My House".  It's part of her village series.  

I hope everyone has a very Blessed week, Barbara

2 New Finishes and a Question

 I hope everyone's had a great week and has gotten alot of stitchie time in.  I've been trying to keep busy and get another ornament finished.  It wasn't easy and I'm not real thrilled with how it turned out but it's done.  This one is called "Oh Christmas Tree" by Little House Needleworks and I just love the design.  At this rate, I"ll have a nice selection of ornies for our tree.  I also want to do some of those old fashioned "quilted" balls where you cover styrofoam balls with fabric.  I've always liked them and thought they would make a great addition and coordinate nicetly with the cross stitched ones.

The next finish is a Blackbird Design called "A Garden Fair" and I stitched it on a 28ct natural linen.  It took me forever to do the words because they are stitched over 1 thread and with the shakes that can be difficult but I did it.  I have to get a piece of glass cut and then I can frame it.  I bought this as a kit and stitched it with what it called for.  I just love the colors.  I have plenty of the fibers left over to stitch another sampler to coordinate with this one.

Well I was suppose to go to the doctors this past Wednesday but was called back and they moved it to this coming Wednesday.  That's fine with me but I do want to find out what's going on.

Now I want to ask out there in Blogland for help.  Dear Sweet Sue knows of my love for pink and green together and this morning I received an email from her showing me a beautiful pink and green sampler called "Elizabeth Saville 1841".  If anyone has this in their stash and would like to sell it, I would love to purchase it from you.  You can email me at grammy5822@gmail.com and a thank you goes out to Sweet Sue for showing me another "Must Have".

Well that's about all that's going on here.  I hope each and everyone of you has a fantastic weekend and if you're in Texas, I hope you've started to dry out.  I love each and every one of you and keep you in my prayers.

Blessings Upon You, Barbara