My New Project

I hope everyone has been doing well and surviving this winter and looking forward to Spring.  My bougeanvilla bush was getting out of hand this past summer and it was so big I wasn't able to cover it.  Needless to say I have to cut it off now at ground level and let it grow back.  One good thing about living in Florida is that everything grows very fast so I imagine by the end of next summer it will be well established.

I have been in a Blackbird Designs kind of mood and I started one of their oldies.  Live Each Season is the name of this one and I'm stitching it on a 30ct. primitive green with the requested overdyed colors.  I've had this design for years and years and really never looked into it but since I started it I'm loving the colors.  They go from rich burgundy to a light sunny yellow.

Next on my list to do's are also Blackbird Designs.  The first is a small heart and it's called My Heart is Home and that will be done on a natural linen using the 2 colors of DMC floss.  I was hoping I would have this finished by Valentine's Day but alas it's not to be.

And the final one in my "to do" box is Strawberry Garden.  I'm going to do this one on flax 28ct linen using the overdyed colors it calls for.  I love this design but I absolutely HATE making lazy daisy stitches and this one is filled with them.  I'll trudge thru because I love the design so much but it will be brutal.

I was able to finish Pumpkin Spice Farm but I haven't done the finishing part yet.  I was going to last weekend but the ills got me down and I just wanted to vegetate.  Here it is with the chenille braid for around the outside of the pillow.  I dyed this using food coloring and a little crushed walnut stain.  It matches the stitched pumpkin pretty close but I think I'm going to give it a second dip in the crushed walnut stain.  It's not "dirty" enough for my taste.  The small flowered fabric to the side is what I will use for the backing.  

I'm getting the urge to do some knitting so I was looking thru Ravelry and came across this design that I found very interesting.  It's knitted in the round and has shoulder shaping which will help it lie very nicely on the shoulders.  I'm going to make this out of a Sirdar yarn I have which is called "Colourwheel" and is 80% acrylic and 20% wool.  It has a nice soft feel to it and the reason I want to make this is alot of times at night while I am sitting here stitching, my shoulders and arms get chilly but it's such a bother putting on a sweater or a shawl so I thought this would be just the thing to keep me warm.  

Well that's all for now except to thank each and every one of you who visit me thru my blog and see what I've been up to.  I am grateful for all the sweet ladies I have met thru here and I count you all as my friends.  Please everyone have a safe weekend and enjoy your family and loved ones.

Blessings, Barbara

Who Likes Doctors?

Not Me!!!!  I think I mentioned that I haven't been feeling very good well yesterday morning I woke up with a horrible ear ache.  I'm thinking I have an ear infection because my hearing in that ear is down about 50% and it hurts down into my throat.  My hubby and I both have appointments with our family doctor on Feb. 5 but I'm thinking this had better be checked out before then.  I call and the nurse tells me, after I explained about my symptoms, that the doctor has no openings and that I'll have to wait until the 5th.  Now I ask you, why bother having a family doctor when you can't get into see them if you are sick?  Believe me when I say that is the question I will be asking him when we see him on the 5th.  I called an urgent care center near our home and I have an appointment for tomorrow at 11 am.  Needless to say, I have no good for doctors and never will.

I've been working steadily on my Pumpkin Spice Farm and I have an update to share with you.

This is working up pretty fast and tomorrow I am hoping to dye the chenille trim (orange) for around the pillow or however I decide to finish this.  If I don't use the trim for this design, it will always come in handy for Halloween.  

I stopped at a new store today on my way home from drug store.  It's called "The Black Sheep" and it's been around for years but now it's under new ownership.  She doesn't carry cross stitch but she does have a fantastic array of fibers.  Her specialty is needlepoint which is very popular here in Florida for some reason.  I think it's too expensive for my taste and I hate the fact of having to fill in every stitch.  Right?  She is just around the corner from me so that will come in handy for when I'm looking for that special thread.

Well I'm off to pamper my ear and my throat.  I hope they will be able to do something for me tomorrow because this is getting to be a bother.  Know what I mean?

You'all have a great week and I will post again when I have pumpkin farm finished....hopefully this week.

Blessings, Barbara

A finish and a find

Good evening my sweet stitchers.  I so love passing on great info about things I have come across and this past week was one of them.  I have trouble with shoes fitting me correctly.  Mostly I wear different types of flip flops because they are easy to fit.  I don't own one pair of enclosed shoes that didn't kill my feet until I came across these.  You might of heard of them....they are called Tieks and I love them.  I came across them on Pinterest and did some digging and reading reviews and decided to purchase a pair.  I received them today and they are wonderful Italian leather that just forms to your feet.  They are hand made so they are a little pricey but if they fit and don't give me sores, to me they are worth it.  They come in a wide range of colors and patterns and I purchased the taupe color so they will go with anything but I'm thinking of buying some of the different colors.  Here's what they looked like when I opened the main box.

A pretty teal box with a flower wrapped around it.

The shoes inside folded in half.

They come with a little black bag so you can carry them in your purse.

They also come with a larger bag so that you can wear your flats to work or wherever and then carry your heels in the extra bag.

Unfolded and ready to wear

On my feet and loving them.  Here is the website if you are interested.

Online Shop

I have a finish to share with you.   I did the Hats off to Uncle Sam by BBD and wow was that a quick stitch.  After so many years of stitching I just don't have any shelf room left so I didn't make the wooden hat that they give directions for.  I also changed how I finished the pin drum.  I used a navy blue print and found a brass star that I tied on with some twine.  I filled it with crushed walnut shells and it has a nice weight to it.

My next project is by my friend Kathy at Hands On Designs.  It's called Pumpkin Spice Farm and I'm stitching it on 28ct. Sage Jobelan using the threads that came with it from Romy's Creations.  I had never stitched with these before and I'm finding them very nice.  I highly recommend them for any project.  Here's what I have finished so far:

It has some very pretty colors in it and I hope you can make them out in the picture.

Yesterday was a day of adventure.  Peyton, John, Little John, Zane, hubby and myself went to Disney Animal Kingdom.  Needless to say today I am exhausted.  We had lunch at the Rainforest cafe and Little John loved that.  At least once an hour they make it look like there is a thunderstorm happening inside the restaurant and he loved that.  The reason I wanted to go was to see the Pandora part that is made after the movie Avatar.  I so loved the colors in that movie and I wanted to see if Disney could duplicate them.  Boy did they ever.  We went on a boat ride inside caverns that had the most stunning colors I have ever seen.  I wasn't able to take any decent pictures and that broke my heart but I still have them in my memory.  We all were tired at the end of the day but it was a happy tired.  Today the aches and pains are letting me know I over did it.  I do have one or two pictures to share with you.  It's one of my hubby and myself standing outside the Pandora land....

....and the huge "tree of life" that has all different animals carved on it.  It's huge and very beautiful.

Well that was my weekend and Sunday will be a day of rest.  My body so needs it.  I hope you all have had a most fantastic weekend so far and that it continues right into next week.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out what I've been up to.

Blessings, Barbara

It's Cold Again!

I don't see how I lived in the north for all those years because I am freezing here in 50 degree temps.  Either it has to do with blood thinning or just old age.  I'm voting on the second one.  To all of you who are still suffering under this last cold spell.....stay warm.

I have a finish to share.  I started this last weekend and I really got it finished fast....at least for me.  It's a BBD design and it really doesn't have a name.  The title just says "Necessity Box and Strawberry".....but I didn't make the strawberry and I finished it into a pillow.  I have to laugh at the names of the fabric and threads I chose...Gingerbread 28ct. and it's stitched with Crescent Colors Cherry Cobbler.  Sounds yummy doesn't it?

I've had that cotton print fabric for years and finally got to use it to make the pillow.  My motto:  Never throw anything away because you never know when you might need it.  This has gotten me into trouble several times with trying to find room in my sewing room for storage.

My next project is another BBD design called "Hats off to Uncle Sam".   I love how they have it finished and I'm not sure if I want to attempt it or not.  I'll wait and see and make up my mind later.

I'm stitching it on the called for fabric but am using different threads that I have on hand.  

Thank you all for stopping by to see what I've been up to.  Have a fantastic week and again, stay warm.

Blessings, Barbara

How to destroy a project....

....without even trying.  I posted last time that I was working on a Brenda Gervais design called "A Stitch in Time".  Well today I finished it and decided I was going to follow Brenda's instructions and make it into a pinball.  That was my first mistake.....not her instructions but my decision.  I did everything she said but mine turned out looking terrible.  I just have to keep in mind that it is suppose to look primitive and let it go at that.  I think my great/grandson could of done better....infact I know he could.

It's lumpy, uneven, off center, and just down right ugly.  But I can go to bed knowing I tried my best and to stay away from  making pinballs.  Whoever came up with this idea anyway?  Aren't pincushions good enough?  Jeez  If you would like to try your hand at this pattern, you can find it in my store.

Off to bed and to start a new project tomorrow....

Blessings, Barbara

2018 Finishes

Hello everyone.....I hope you are all staying warm if you're in the path of this wicked cold spell.  I actually had ice on my windshield last Wednesday morning and you know we all carry around an ice scraper here in Orlando.....NOT.  I just sat and waited for the car to warm up and myself also.  Dang it was cold!

I have two finishes to share with you today.  I finished stitching the Hands on Design in 2017 but I'm counting it as a 2018 finish because I just did the finishing work this morning.  Kathy had placed the fabric at the bottom but I didn't want this to be so long and skinny so I put mine on the side.  I found some buttons in my stash and added them....just because.

Then I stitched a small sampler by BBD called "Now I Know My ABC's" on a 30ct. Tin Roof linen using and HDF silk called Rum Cherry.  I wish I could get some more of this silk because I just fell in love with how it looked on this linen.  It's a hand dyed red with burgundy and black highlights and is stunning.  Unfortunately, Vikki has closed up shop.  I mounted it on a prefinished black wooden plaque and used some coordinating DMC floss for the twisted braid.

I've started work on a Brenda Gervais pattern called "A Stitch in Time".  I'm using the recommended colors and threads except for the birds.  The linen is a mystery linen from my stash and the blue recommended went invisible when stitched on it.  This is suppose to be finished in to a pinball but I've never done one of them so we'll see how it goes.  If all fails, then it will be a pincushion drum...those I can do.

I'm not sure how many of you have heard about the Linen and Threads Mystery SAL but I'm debating whether or not to do it.  It's quite large....209 x 478 and it's a medieval theme and I'm not so hot on that.  Last year's was quite beautiful and about the same size.  If you are interested in reading about this, check it out HERE.  They have a Facebook group for questions and for looking at other's work.  

Everyone stay warm and I thank you for stopping by today.

Blessings, Barbara

.....to all my friends and family.  Here's wishing that 2018 is better than 2017 was to our family and your's.  We had high's (Zane's birth) with real lows (DH lung surgery) but we all came thru it.  One thing I've noticed though is that the older I get, the harder it is to come thru the low's.  Am I the only one?

I want to share some pics of Zane and Little John that crack me up.  First off is Little John wearing my stitching glasses.  He looks like Ben Franklin...

...he's also a huge ham.  Then one of him with us at Best Buy....he said he was tired and took advantage of the shopping cart.

Here's a story about this little guy that will give you a smile.  He has begun potty training and the other day Peyton told him to go get on his potty and pee.  He was wearing his big boy pants so she figured it would be no problem for him.  She went back to the bathroom to check on him a few minutes later and there's our boy with his pants down standing on top of the closed potty peeing on the lid that he was standing on.  LOL  He actually took it very literally....peeing on his potty.  

Next is Zane who was wide awake for this photo and you get to see his big blue eyes.

I swear this boy changes his looks every day.

I started a new design by Hands on Designs.  It's called "Sunshine on a Stem" and I'm stitching it for a friend.

I'm doing mine a little different and I'll post a pic when I'm finished with it.

I hope everyone in the north is staying toasty warm on this Monday afternoon.  It's in the 50's here but damp and rainy.  To me it's freezing.  Vallie has on her sweater and won't get off my lap which is fine with me because she feels warm. 

Just keep in mind that after the Winter chill there is Spring.....

Blessings, Barbara