A Finish and Lots to be Thankful for

Well here we are several days past Thanksgiving and I'm still full.  We had wonderful people and a wonderful meal thanks to our beautiful grand daughter, Peyton.  She did most of the cooking while John fried the turkey out in the driveway.  If you have never had turkey done like this, I highly recommend it.  John's parents came down from Jacksonville and one of his sisters also joined in on the fun.  We laughed and gave thanks for everything that has happened in our lives this past year.  I hope your Thanksgiving was just as nice.  It was always one of my favorite holidays growing up and it still is.

I did finish my Shepherd's Bush Home for the Holidays and I thought I would share it with you.

I like how I finished my Halloween House with the banner across the top so I thought I would do the same with this one.  I was able to find coordinating fabrics in cream with gold snowflakes and red fabric with gold snowflakes.  I decided at the last moment to add a tassel at the bottom to make it a little more festive.  I purchased the button pack from Just Another Button Co and added them at the end.  This was a  ball to stitch and finish and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a quick stitch.  I did mine on 20ct. even weave but it would be adorable done on a smaller count and made into an ornament without the buttons.

This pattern is now in my store if interested.

Blessings Abound, Barbara

We Begin Again.....

I hope your week has been as good as mine has so far.  I decided to work on 2 Shepherd's Bush designs.  The first one is Home for the Holidays and I'm doing that one on 18 count fabric over 2 with 6 strands of DMC.  For the lettering I'm using a HDF silk called Sour Cherry Soup.  Isn't that a great name?  I wish Vickie was still dyeing silk threads but unfortunately she went out of that type of business and I really do miss her.  Here is what I have finished so far...

The remainder of the stitching will be done with 6 strands of DMC floss.  I've ordered the button pack from JABCO and I hope it doesn't take too long to get it.

I've also bought everything to do this Shepherd's Bush stocking.  I'm thinking of putting our family name on it instead of one person's name.  I haven't made up my mind about that yet but here's the one I'm going to do.

I find that if I work on this large count linen, I am able to work a little faster because the holes of the fabric are easier to hit even with the shakes.  Maybe this is what my future holds in store and I could live with this with no problem.

I hope everyone has a Blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.  We are hosting our future grand son in laws parents and 2 of his sisters.  It should be a fun day filled with lots of food and laughter.  

Blessings, Barbara

Disappointed

Hello all my find lady friends.  I hope everyone is enjoying a fun Saturday and doing something that you love.

I'm disappointed about how much I have finished on the Thanksgiving Quaker I've been working on.  I know I'm not going to get it finished for the holiday so I'm thinking of putting it to the side.  It is a pretty quaker but the colors are very boring.....browns, tans, and coppers.  I decided the add some green as the border because it needed some extra color.  Here's what I have finished so far....

I'm in the mood for some Christmas colors so maybe I'll work on a Christmas design.  Maybe I can get that one done before the holiday's arrive.  Who knows.  Maybe I should stay away from all holiday designs that way I don't have to worry about finishing them in time.  The shakes are taking their toll and making it take longer to finish a design.  One of these days I'm going to have to just say "that's it" and quit completely.  I'm not looking forward to it but I know it's going to happen.

Blessings, Barbara

God Bless All Veterans

My Father during World War II

Two Finishes

I've been busy at my sewing machine today finishing up two projects.  One for a friend and one for myself.

Remember the elephant cross stitch I did a few months ago.....well I finally found fabric that went with it and finished that up for Rhonda.  I hope her friend's daughter likes it.  She's East Indian so I wanted to find fabric that did the design justice.  I added some gold braid on the sides and some gold tassels to finish it off.  

Then there's the Weaver's Sampler that I did in honor of my Aunt Margaret.  I'm not the best machine quilter.  I do alot better by hand but I know Aunt Margaret was a machine quilter so I wanted this done that way.  I used two packs of mini charms in the same color family and just did rows of blocks.  I didn't want anything fancy because it's a primitive design.  Here is my mini quilt....

I attached the cross stitched piece at an angle just because I thought it looked better that way.  You might be interested to know that the crystal bowl at the back of the quilt was a wedding present to my grandparents in 1913.  It's one of my many family treasures.  I also want to thank Robin for coming up with this idea.....Thanks Robin!!

Well it was a day well spent in my sewing room but my back is aching.  I still have a few things to sew together but I think I'll wait till sometime next week.

Blessings, Barbara

A finish and a new start

You've probably noticed by now that I've changed my blog background again.  I did this to help get me into the Thanksgiving, Winter and Christmas spirit.  It's really hard to do down here when the temps are in the 80's.  I added the falling snow only because this is the only snow I will see this year so I figured fake is better than nothing.

I have finished The Weaver Sampler and I thought I'd share a picture and the packs of mini charms I am going to use to make a simple quilt and add my cross stitched sampler that honors my aunt who was a great quilter.

I love how this turned out and will be doing the quilting this weekend.  I'm not sure if I want to make a bellpull or a wall hanging.....will decide once I start sewing.

I've also started a Thanksgiving Quaker design by Bent Creek that I've always loved but never got around to it.  I figured now is a good time.  This is what it will look like when finished.....

This will be made into a pillow.....I just don't know what kind.

Well I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and you're able to enjoy time with family and friends.

Blessings, Barbara