A Friendship Heart

So here is my reveal! :D

Last week I posted the what... Renato Parolin's Magie di Fiori

and now I can tell you the why, when, and where!

I made this pillow for a surprise party for a great friend I have known for over 20 years.  The surprise party was this past Sunday, her lovely daughters gathered all of her friends together and off we went in a stretch limo to spend the day on the East End of Long Island at the vineyards.  

What a fantastic time!  

The last couple weeks have been a little nerve wracking trying to finish, but I luckily did just under the wire!  :D  

I really fell in love with Renato's design.  

I am glad I have found his Italian designs, I love his flower patterns.  

This was a BIG challenge for me, my first pillow ever.  But I think it came out very nice!  :D

...and I added a special quote about friendship and flowers.....

It will be a day to remember for sure.  

I hope my friend will enjoy the design and pillow and remember the special day too for years to come.  

Thanks for visiting!  I really appreciate all of your comments and thoughts.  

Have a wonderful week!  xxxx

A Sneak Peek

Hi there!  I started something new but it is a surprise so I can only give you the what for now, and will give you the who, where, and when soon!  But I have been working on it fast and furious since Friday.

 It is Renato Parolin's Magie di Fiori...

Magie di Fiori by Renato Parolin
CC Barn Door, 32 ct light mocha linen

I am really enjoying the monochrome pattern, although I would never have guessed that it would need more than 2 skeins!  See that needle threaded above?  That is my last thread left, oh NO!  but I have more on the way and hopefully in my mailbox when I get home.  :D

I hope the week got off to a good start for all of you 

and it continues with miles of smiles!  :D

Happy Stitchings to you all!!  xxxx

Some Progress, and a Finish!

I know, it has been a few weeks!  I have not been stitching as much as I would like, but have done another three motifs on Mary Wigham.....

I am happy with how she is coming out, and still on target for finishing her this year.  I am still on the fence over the yellow, but will wait 'til the end to decide to switch it out possibly???? 

Another project I did was for my cousin's new baby, Gianna Rose.  Her Christening was this past Sunday, so I am now able to share it with you.  Since the theme in the baby's bedroom is Winnie-the-Pooh, I found a sweet pattern called Pooh and Piglet's Room online from the UK.  

It seemed very girl-ie to me, lots of pink and purple :D

While the pattern did not call for personalization aside from the name in the pink ribbon, I decided to put the birth date and weight in the dandelion that Pooh and Piglet are blowing into the wind :) 

....and lots of french knots!  Love them! 

I hope the piece brings her lots of joy and smiles!  :D

So now I will be switching back to Rachel Hyde and the neglected Elizabeth Hancock....trying to get to the finish line on that one soon!  

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Have a wonderful week and Happy Stitching!! xx

A Stitchin' and Rockin' Weekend!

Helloooooo!  Happy Monday!  

My weekend IHSW update is a little late, but I had today off so for me it is still the weekend! :D   Tomorrow - back to reality!  

There wasn't much hermitting going on but I did get a few stitches in. 

I have been working on Mary Wigham again for the facebook Sampler World group SAL.  I got another motif done... trying to keep up with my goal of at least one motif each weekend so it will be done by the end of the year.  

And I also got started with the Papillon SAL.  

Here are the colors I chose, the pattern called for 3 shades of green and 8 floral colors.  The whole idea of picking colors for a pattern I can't see just makes me twitch!  LOL  

Now to decide which color is A, B, C, D, etc.  I think I will need some wine first!  :D  or maybe I should try eenie, meenie, minee, moe!  LOL

It is TUSAL time again, and I am a few days late but I was away for the weekend so here we go... at this rate, mine will hopefully be filled by the end of the year! 

This past weekend was a fun and rockin' one!  

I went to Atlantic City to see a concert, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones with friends.  What a fantastic show, Ronnie rocked the place!!  

Here are a few pics I snapped.

He played some of his own hits and, of course, some Stones classics... 

It's Only Rock and Roll but I like it, like it, yes I DO!  

Ronnie Wood with Friends
Golden Nugget ~ Atlantic City, NJ
4/21/2012

So, it was a lot of fun and great times, but back to work tomorrow!

I hope everyone has a wonderful new week and happy stitchings! xxxxx

Two for Tuesday

Hi Everyone!!

I have been working on yet another new start, the new Blackbird Loose Feathers.  

I could not resist it! :)

So now I have 4 (yikes!?) projects in rotation.  

I feel like i am having a round robin with myself! LOL

So after a while on Mary Ann Blackburn I switched back to Rachel Hyde.  

With this SAL there are specific sections to do each month so it doesn't seem so overwhelming.  This month was the large alphabet, which has rice and eyelet stitches.  I made a few alterations of which letters were rice and which were eyelet, and also put the U and V in their proper places.  

It wasn't until late last night when I realized that there was no Z???  

I guess Rachel must have run out of room!

I am enjoying this one a lot, can't wait for what is next in May.  

I have also decided to join in the new Papillon SAL, 

Around the World in 80 stitches!  

It is a 24 month SAL so it will be a really loooooooong stitch, but I am enjoying the specialty stitches in Rachel and would love to learn some more.  So I am working on picking colors and fabric, which takes me too much time.  It is so hard picking colors for something that is a mystery!

If you are interested in more information, here is the link to Yvonne's site Papillon Creations.  Here you can sign up for her newsletter which gives the info about the SAL.  The cost is a one-time fee of 2 euros.  How can you beat that??  I am looking forward to seeing everyone's choice of colors.

And take a look at this gorgeous new wallet I got from Natalia!  

She does beautiful sewing and I just love this black and white bird design.  

It is just perfect for a project!

So that's all for now :D

I am going to get back to Mary Wigham for a bit and into the IHSW weekend.  

I will be traveling this weekend but I hope to get some stitching in too!  

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting!!  

Have an awesome week and Happy Stitchings!!!

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Easter Wishes

Hello Everyone! It seems like it has been a while since my last post.  Not too much stitching has been getting done, unfortunately!  I got myself into looking for something special as a gift so each night I was pulling patterns and linen and threads.... which is SO time consuming!  And after each evening I just wasn't happy with what I chose and started again the next night.  Finally, I just gave up!! LOL   When the right design for that special gift appears I will know it.  :)

So, I have spent the last few days working on Elizabeth Hancock and I am so happy stitching again.

I have finally finished the top row and all that is left is the border around.  

And yesterday there were goodies in the mailbox!  I got my Blackbird Mary Blackburn Loose Feathers with R&R Sheep Straw linen and overdyed threads :)  

The tulips had me at HeLLo on this one!!  

I will have to put some stitches in this one today :D

Thank you so much for visiting!

I hope you all have a lovely and blessed Easter weekend with family and friends!

Happy stitchings!  xxxxxxx

RAK Surprise!

Today I came home to a special surprise in my mailbox!

I won a RAK giveaway from Angela last week, which was a surprise itself, I am not usually lucky.  It is a BEAUTIFUL needle and pins box that Angela painted.  Look at the sweet card, love it!!

It is so beautifully stitched and finished...

...with such sweet details, charm, and trim....

It is just PERFECT for holding my scissors and notions!  LOVE it!!

I can't even explain how special it is to receive this gift.  As a stitcher, I have made many gifts for others over the past 30 years, but I have NEVER received one myself since there are no stitchers in my circle of family and friends.  I think that this idea of RAKs in the blogging community is so special and it is nice to be a part of it.  I hope to send out such love and kindness to others as well very soon.  

Thank you so much, Angela!!  :D

As for my weekend and week of stitching, I have been working on Elizabeth Hancock faithfully, although not as far along as I thought I would be.  I had hoped to have the top section done, the flower pot and house.... Almost!!

And so, stitching Elizabeth continues on!

Happy Weekend and Happy Stitching to you ALL!!!

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