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