Goodbye 2010!

Today is the last day of 2010! I started the year in Killeen, Texas. I had a wonderful month visiting my friends. When I got back, I had to finish the preparations of my parent's 40th anniversary. We celebrated my sister's 30th birthday at the same time, since her birthday is the next day. In April I turned 40 and got a laptop. I spend the summer relaxing and letting my leg heal, which completely healed in September. The week before Thanksgiving, my mom passed away. I know grieving effects everyone differently. When I do everyday things or stitch, I feel normal,like she is still alive. However, I think of the future, I get so teary, because I wont be able share those moments with her anymore. This being the last day of the year, I am always blue. I usually don't mind of being alone. At this time of the year, I just feel the loneliness, and I just cry alot or get very moody. Okay, enough of my self-pity party.

I have some pictures of exchanges I had received in the last couple weeks. I had showed my work, now its time for the gifts. I got some lovely gifts. The last exchange came in last night.

This gift was from Jennifer of Tucson AZ. The exchange was a Wishlist exchange in Krafterskorner (KK) group. You list 5 items youwish for and your partner sends you 3 out of 5 items. Jenn gave me a piece of light blue material, size 28 needles , Cresent Colors Apple Fritters and Really Teally, and Mill Hill Kitty Stocking. Thank you Jennifer!
The next exchange was from Mary at KK group. This was a Stuffed Christmas Stocking exchange. She send me some stamps, an alphabet and holiday setts, ink pads, needles size 26, 6x6 q-snaps, marblized scissors, and Threadworx threads in Christmas colors. The picture below are the patterns and stocking from Mary. The patterns are Whispered by the Wind Recipe for a Snowman, Little House Needleworks The Chocolate Shoppe, Hinzeit Stitch Time and Lizzie Kate Where is the Party? Thank you Mary!

This beautiful dishcloth was crocheted from Ethel of KK. This is the second one she send, because the first one never made it here. I dont know what happen to the first one. It just disappeared. It was very nice for Ethel to send another, cause she didnt have too. Thank you Ethel!



The First Day of Winter exchange is from Judith of Germany of ILCSing group. She stitched an beautiful ornament, with a spool of gold thread thread, nativity ornament, a Christmas bell cross stitch kit, and a set of cards, which are precut to a window design. Thank you Judith!


Tiinna from Finland send me this wonderful package. This was for an ornament exchange from the ILCSing group. Tiina stitched a gingerbread man and added lots of beads to it and sew cording on the edge of the ornament. She, also. included a Moomin glass ornament and a chocolate bar filled with almond filling.
In the ILCSing group, I organize a 12 Days of Christmas Exchange, which consist of 12 gifts to be open for each day of Christmas from Dec 25 to Jan 5. Sandy R. was my partner and the following pictures are from the 7 of 12 days of Christmas.

On the 1st day, some floss and chocolate covered peppermint sticks.

2nd day, a mini Snowman kit
3rd day, Friends card kit

On 4th day, Needle threader and needles

On 5th day, Lizzie Kate A Bit of May Flip Its Bits
On 6th day, a mini hedgehog kit

on 7th day, Forget Me Not Mini kit

I love everything I am getting, and I cant wait for the next 5 days.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I will try to post my goals for 2011 and welcome in the new year. If I dont, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.

Many hugs,
Vicky

More Pictures and Blizzard 2010

Stitched by Berly
Shephard's Bush

Like I promise, I have pictures from my Ornament Round Robin. I sew them into mini pillows. The stitching is beautiful. All of them were stitch on 14 ct aida with silver metallics. I asked my friends to add pearl blending filament to the white. I thought it might be too much with the silver, but it came out good.

Stitched by Sandy R.
Prairie Schooler

Stitched by Karin H.
Brittercup Designs

Stitched by Shari B.
Country Cottage Designs

Stitched by Vickie H.
Country Cottage Designs

The next set of pictures are from the blizzard. Since I had a cold, I slept through most of it, lol. The first one was taken from my back door around 2 pm.



The second picture is from the front door around 11:30 pm. I was sleeping weird due to the cold. The last three pictures was taken at 730 am, Monday morning.This one I wanted to the view of the amount of snow piled against the door. I guess I didnt angled the camera right, but than I had just got up.



This picture I caught the wind giving me a show, and I captured it. It is one of my favorites. You will think it is a blurry picture, but it is the wind.The last picture is from the front door. As you notice, the car in front is bury in the snow. The car by the yellow sign is not covered. It is very weird but the second was in the open and the other was closer to the building. I had went back to bed and I woke up, the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue.
I want to thank you all for your comments. I appreciated all of them and very touch. You are all great and understanding bunch of friends from all over the world. I am honor to know you and to continue our friendship in the coming year.
I am including the website address for the Silly Snowquake just press on Silly Snowquake. I had to research the pattern again because I forgot how I found it.
My next post will be in a couple more days, with pictures of exchanges I received in the last couple of weeks.

Many hugs,
Vicky

Merry Christmas and Back to my blog

Karin's Ornament RR
By Drawn Thread in 1997 JCS Ornament issue
stitched 0n Pewter grey 28count
DMC threads one over one

Wow! Its been over 2 months since I last post about my stitching and I was in middle of a ornament RR. I had started on Karin's ornament. The instructions said one over one on the ornament I liked. Since I only did one over one for the first time at the beginning of Oct, I figured what the heck, I will do it one over one. At first I thought I was doing good and than I realize I missed a stitch somewhere. I couldnt find it and end up frogging most of I had stitched. OMG!!! It was awful to get the stitches out. I was almost pulling my hair out. I was afraid of cutting the material. I finished the ornament at the beginning of December.

On November 18, my world went upside down. My Mom passed away that morning. She has been a nursing home the last 5 years and had some serious health problems that we could not care for her at home. We always made sure she came home on the holidays or we went to her, but Christmas she was home unless she was in the hospital. The morning before, the nurse couldnt wake Mom up so they send her to the hospital. Around noon, she was stable and sleeping. They were waiting for a room. That evening when I was talking to my aunt, I was told Mom was in ICU. Than I got that gut feeling something was terrible wrong. I was so worried I didnt get to sleep until 3 in the morning. My brother woke me up at 9:40 to tell me about Mom passing away. She died from cardiopulmory arrest with septic shock and pneunomia. I called my sisters immediately. I got hold of Dawne immediately but with Amy, she was in classes and didnt call back until 4:30. By that time when I told her, I was choking on to the words, cause the shock had wore off. Mom's calling hours were on Sunday and the funeral was on Monday. I had volunteer to do an eulogy. My sisters and brother were too emotional. My melt down came at the gravesite, after the last prayer was said. I did no stitching until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I just wanted play Mahjong Dimensions,lol.

When I started to stitch, I just did not want to stop. I end up doing a total 6 ornaments, finishing 4 of the 6 into ornaments, plus put 2 pillows together , all before Christmas. Below are the pictures of the ornaments.

Vickie's ornament rr
Gourmet Shop by The Twisted Thread
14 ct aida, DMC threads

For Genia and Steve
Season of Love by CCN designs
from JCS Preview ornament issue 2010
Weddgewood blue 28ct lugana,DMC threads

For Teresa in KraftersKorners
Christmas Homemade Gift
Kitty Klaus by Val's Stuff
1997 JCS Ornament issue
Ivory 28ct evenweave, DMC threads

For Berly in ILCSing
Christmas Ornament exchange
Silly Snowquake by Ertnne Chard
Wedgewood blue 28 ct lugana, DMC 769

For Anthony, my nephew
Silly Snowquake by Erynne Chard
Wedgewood Blue 28 ct lugana, DMC 796

As you can see, I made the Silly Snowquake twice. I loved how Berly's was coming out so I had to make another, it was a quick design. I, also, finished my RR ornaments and had them on my tree this year. I will show pics later when I show off my gifts on Days 1,2, and 3 on the 12 Days of Christmas and a couple of other exchanges.

I have a lot to show and I dont want to overwhelm everyone. I will post later with news of the blizzard in Connecticut.

Two Giveaways

Dixie Sampler Designs is having a Halloween giveaway. It is very spooktacular! Go over and check it out. You wont be disappointed.

Teresa of At Willow Tree Pond has reached her 100th post and having a giveaway! It has a little of everything.

Autumn and Halloween Stitching

I was very busy stitching my exchanges I had to do to make my deadline on October 15. I made it with a couple days to spare plus I added one more exchange. Now on to a couple SALs. But I want to show you what I got and did for my partners.

The picture above the blog post is the Autumn ornament I did for Debbie Jo. The pattern is from Stoney Creek. Debbie Jo was the same partner I had in the Summer exchange, so I decided to use the same type of pattern. I did use Carrie Creations Autumn for the border, but the rest was done with DMC. Here is the ornament I got from Debbie. It is very beautiful and in my basket with my other goodies.


The next exchange was Christmas in September from the KraftersKorners yahoo group. I stitched a snowman from JCS Christmas 2009 magazine. I just got my 2010 issue about a week ago. The pattern is from Val's Stuff and I stitched him on Sassy's Fabbys Snowflake 14 count aida. I added a blue bead hanger and the fabric in the background in the picture, is the same one I used for the back of the ornament. Mary sent me this cute little angel. She is adorable.


This Halloween card was another exchange. I have not heard from the person if she received it yet. But I thought I would show it off. It is design by Ursula Michaels. The pumpkins glow-in-the-dark and looks so awesome in the dark. My brother wants me to make one with a skull with the neon threads.
This Santa ornament was for a Blind Swap Exchange. An ornament of your choice is stitched and finished. All of ornaments are send to the modator, Rene, with a S.A.S.E. and she will swap an ornament from another stitcher. So you wont know what you will get, plus you dont have to worry if your partner goes awol. This Santa is design from Praire Schooler on 28 count evenweave.



This was the Halloween pin I stitched for Katie from KraftersKorner. The pattern was a freebie from CyberStitchers. The designer is Angelic Stitches by Velda. It was orginally an ornament but I stitched it one over one on 25count evenweave. This is the first time I did one over one and it was very easy and fun. It took about 4 hours to make, including making it into the pin.

This roly-poly Santa is Sandy's ornament RR. He was easy to stitch. The backstitch really makes him come to life on the fabric. I sure hope she likes it. I am done with all my exchanges except for the Ornament RR. But the pressure isnt there to stitch to make the deadlines. My next project is Little House Pumpkin Hollow Farm. It is one of the new ones from Little House and I had to do it this year. I will have an update in a few days.

Thank you so much for stopping by and for making it this far.
Enjoy the fall before the snow gets here.

Another Giveaway!

Jennifer, from Feathers in the Nest, is giving away a Breast Awareness package. It is a beautiful pattern and a pair of pink scissors. Go over to her blog and enter.

Two Giveaways!

I found a new blog, Michelle's Stitchcraft Place. As I was reading it, I realize she was doing a giveaway. It is a great package.

From my Little House Country Cottage Needleworks Yahoo group, Carin from Stitches from Carin, is giving away 5 Halloween charts. Go over and take a look at these lovely blogs.

CraftyMoo's Giveaway

Sarah, from CraftyMoo, is having a giveaway on her blog. Plus she is putting a couple of surprises. The deadline is October 31. What a great treat for Halloween.

Two Exchanges

October is here! Time is going by so fast, and before you know it, Christmas will be here. Gosh, I can hearing you gasping "Christmas? Again? Really? Is it almost that time of year again?" From this point on to the New Year, everything is in a whirlwind of activites with family and friends. For me, it is my favorite time of the year. I like the feeling of the air getting cooler and the anticipation of the first fall of snow. It is the gathering of our love ones that gives me the warm feeling of coziness and new memories. I am grateful we have to deal with the beginning of Autumn. Now, on to some stitchy pictures.

Autumn from gazette 94.
28 count ivory evenweave with DMC threads

The first Autumn exchange is from ILCSing yahoo group called the First Day of Fall. The exchange was to send a package, worth $10 representing and your choice to send a stitching piece. I had plans to stitch a bookmark, but my partner I was given, had just received a bookmark from me. I had stitch an ornament for her, a free pattern from gazette 94. She designs some beautiful designs and uses both English and French words in her designs. I, also, send my partner a mini hanging wreath I bought at JoAnns with fabric, a WillyWonka dark chocolate bar, and from 123Stitch, I send her Mill Hill Maple leaves and a couple of threads.


In return, Susan P. stitched me an Autumn Sampler from Lizzie Kate and made it into an ornament. She did a fantastic job and I love how she finished it. The ornament is on top of the blog. The package came with Little House Needleworks Pumpkins4Sale pattern, 3 skeins of threads, Sweet Six Threads Pumpkin Pie, Threadworkx, Carrie Creations, JDW French Collection Bunny, and Silkweaver Iris Garden 28 count evenweave fabric. The fabric is blue with a touch of green and purple. It is very pretty.
Thank you Susan!


In my KraftersKorner group, there was a Halloween pin exchange. Katie send me a cute cat in pumpkin pin. It is very tiny and adorable. I am amaze on the detail she put in. She send a pack of Trident gum and covered it with a Halloween theme. What an awesome idea! Thank you Katie!

This last picture is a latch hook project my mom did. Mom is in a nursing home due to many health problems and she is hospitalized several times a year. Between her visits at the hospital, she does latch hook and crocheting. One of the employees asked Mom to make this latch hook for a friend. Mom had a bad summer this year so she was late giving it back. Usually my aunt does the backing for Mom, but because it was late, I was asked to do it. My aunt lives at Cape Cod and Mom does not care when it comes back, except for this time. After I finished the backing, I took a picture of the latch hook to show it off. I rarely have a chance to show off Mom's work.

Many hugs,
Vicky

Good-bye Summer!

Summer by The Stitcherhood

Today was the last day of summer. It was a perfect day, the sun was out with white fluffy clouds and a cool breeze that lightly touched your skin. It was so beautiful. My father and brother went fishing, so I took advantage of the quiet house and stripped my bed and washed the sheets and comforter. My bed is going to smell very fresh when I go to bed tonight. I just love fresh sheets. I do have a few finishes I can show off, including Summer by The Stitcherhood. It is a freebie you can get on their website. The fabric is a hand-dyed aida. Someone had send me the piece in one of my exchanges before I started blogging. The threads are DMC 995 and 996 with Weeks Dye Works Banana Popsicle. I am going to finish it as a pin pillow, like I did with Spring.
My Country by Lizzie Kate

I did finish Lizzie Kate My Country. I love how it came out. This was a kit I brought at Silver Needle in Tulsa, when I was there in 2008. I used the DMC threads instead of the speciality threads. I am going to frame the piece, just did not get to it yet.
Skate by Count My Blessings

I finished Berly's Christmas ornament RR. This little bird is from Count My Blessings. It was a very quick stitch. It had flown to the next person and visiting her, lol. I just hope Berly loves it as much as I loved stitching it. Sorry the picture is so dark, I think I didn't use a flash.

I hoped everyone had enjoyed the last day of summer. I have to go stitch a Christmas ornament for an exchange as I watch the results of Dancing With The Stars.

Many hugs,
Vicky

Bookmarks, a magnet and a Treasure!

I have another update already. First, I have pictures of the 2 exchanges I send out. One is the bookmark exchange (one on the left) I send to Berly in IL a sunflower bookmark, a few DMC threads and some coffee. Roz was my partner and she send me the cutest cupcake bookmark (on the right) , a few threads, a package of hot cocoa, summer beach theme buttons and a soft pink fabric. I am saving the hot cocoa for colder weather since it has been over 90 degrees the last few days.
In the last post, Elaine send me the cutest pumpkin magnet. She send word she received my magnet for her. I stitched her Owl on the Egg from Bent Creek. It was a freebie I found last year but I dont know if its still available. She loves owls so it was perfect for her.
I found a treasure, well, its a treasure for me. I have been looking for a copy of Mirabilia The Seaside Kingdom. It had went out of print a couple years ago. I have been looking on eBay on and off for about an year. This past July, there was, not one, but two patterns being bid. One was slightly used and the other was brand new. I got the brand new one , which cost less than the used one, plus the pattern Giggles was included for $10.

I cant start this one yet. I might start it on the first of the year. I realize today I have a lot of stitching this month. I have to do the following:
~ First Day of Autumn exchange mail by 10th
~ Christmas ornament RR mail out by 15th,
~ Autumn ornament mail by Oct 13th,
~ Halloween card by Oct 6th
~ Halloween Pin by Oct 15th
~ Christmas ornament by Sept 30th
~ 3rd Christmas Ornament RR by Oct 15 ( I already have the package here)
My needles will be busy. I am hoping the frogs wont come by too often so I can have things go smoothly. This pass week I have been stitching on Lizzie Kate My Country. Here is the picture of what I done so far. Since Hurricane Earl is passing by this weekend, it will be a perfect weekend stitching. Perhaps I will have another finish by Monday.

Hugs,

Vicky

More exchanges

It has been over a month since I updated, I am sorry. I even tried to update a couple weeks ago but I never finished. Its not like I been busy because the last 3 weeks have been so boring. The hot weather didn't help either. I have been stitching more exchanges and playing my games on Facebook.

The stitched V, above, was stitched for a friend in Las Vegas. She is making a quilt for one of her granddaughters. i am not sure who is the designer but it is going to be beautiful.

I got involve with a Christmas ornament RR. I send at least 5 patterns, with the fabric and specialty threads, and the package is send to 5 other stitchers. When I get them back I will have 5 stitched ornaments to finish off to put on the tree. The first one I got was Shari's and I picked one of the Prairie Schooler. Apparently, we picked the same pattern. What are the chances of that happening?

My i- love-cross-stitch Yahoo group did a bookmark exchange. I can not show the bookmark I did for my partner. My partner is from Saudi Arabia and I am waiting for her to received it first. However, I did got my bookmark exchange from Kim B. She did a beautiful job stitching a patriotic theme and she included 2 Crystal Light drinks and 2 Weeks Dye Works skeins, Banana Popsicle and Carrot. I am using the bookmark already and drank the drinks already. They were good,lol.

In my other I Love Cross Stitching yahoo group (2 separate groups) did the same bookmark exchange. The moderator at the other group send a reminder notice to the wrong group. She is a member to both groups too. So I figure, why not to do this one too. I just send out my exchange to my partner, so no pictures yet.

In the same group, there was a Magnet exchange being offered. I really wanted to do this swap but I was the only one signed up. I made a request for someone to join me and Elaine joined. She send me this cutest magnet. I love it! Elaine did a good job! Her magnet is in the mail and when she gets it I will post a picture.


While back I stitched a freebie from Stitcherhood. I finally finished it off into a pin pillow. I love how it came out. I have Summer freebie to do. I already picked the colors just have to stitch it. I, also, started Lizzie Kate My Country today. It is just a blob right now so no pic of that one yet. Maybe I will be finished with it this weekend.

Until next time,
Vicky