Stitches, Stitches & More!

Hello again, dear friends!  Oh where, oh where do the days go in such a flurry?  I wonder...... don't you?

My needle and thread can't seem to decide, these days, on which project they want to stitch, so I have a few going all at once.  Finally, the first band of "Huckleberry Sampler", by Rosewood Manor is now complete, and on to the letter "E"!

Isn't this a lovely letter "D"?

   A close-up of the pretty little details, and oh, so many colour changes, but well worth it for the effect.

"Giovanni's Alphabet" (Tempting Tangles) is my long-term work in progress, being done as a SAL with my dear friend, Donna, (no blog).  This one has been a challenging piece, for sure, as there have been very minimal directions, and one has to figure out some of the more intricate stitches without good stitch diagrams to follow.

I refer to these bands as "The Hunting Scene".

About two weeks ago, my daughter and granddaughter surprised me with a birthday tea party at a local teashop with some of my very dear friends.  Miss Ella was in her glory with the lovely teaplate brought to her, filled with lovely little cakes and cookies and two delicious red strawberrries.  They even gave her a little teapot, cup and saucer, and some milk and honey.

My wonderful husband gave me this lovely birthday bouquet!

Miss Meggie has been up to some naughty doggie tricks lately.......

 Mama had to scold her gently once or twice, and she turned around because she knew that she had been naughty.

Oh so sweet, she turned around to look at me, as if to say, "I'm so sorry Mama".  How could I ever stay mad at such a sweet little girl.......

All tucked up in her bed....Nightie Night!

Blessings In Stitches & Friendship!

Oh For the Love of Friendship and Stitches

They say that friendships can never be truly be broken, but that sometimes we just lose touch with one another, and must find our way back to them again, to mend the threads of friendships and make them new once again.  And so it is, dear friends, that I have found myself missing you, and now I have come to find you once again.

Would you care to spend some special time with me, and we can share a cup of tea? Maybe we'll share our needlework and some sweet words with one another, of times gone past and new times here and those yet to come another day.

At long last, after a year and a half, Quaker Christmas II is finished and framed!  This was a true labor of stitching love, as I stitched each one of these beautiful Quaker motifs.  Janet and I have been working on it as a SAL.

Another work in progress is 'Giovanni's Alphabet', by Tempting Tangles Designs, another SAL with Donna (no blog) from Tennessee.

"Buckleberry Sampler" is my newest love, by Rosewood Manor.  It is done in all DMC threads, and is a lovely design.

I find it nice to be able to switch off with the various pieces that I am stitching.....makes it more relaxing and fun.

 A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on a roadtrip to Pennsylvania, one of our favorite places in all the world to go.  We call it "God's Country" there, and enjoy visiting the Amish farms, shops and restaurants, where we love the homestyle meals.

 I alsolutely fell in love with these cute little fluffy chicks!

The goat family was so sweet, and this little fellow was quite a character!  He had everyone laughing at his antics!

 This fabulous old fashioned candy and soda fountain was in a wonderful old historic shop in Stausburg, Pennsylvania.  It reminded me of a shop in the little town where I lived when I was a little girl.  We even had the delight of watching the staff make fudge right before our very eyes.  Yummy!  Delicious!

 On the last day of our trip, we went to Winterthur, tucked in the beautiful Brandywine Valley of Delaware.  Here are a few of the gorgeous pieces of needlework that we saw in the incredible Dupont Family House of Winterthur.

 I would love to be able to interpret the German words stitched inside of the beautiful heart.

 Each of the large letters are all stitched in Queen Stitches.  Imagine all Queen Stitches!!

 This antique lace is all handmade, and each stitch is every so beautifully placed.  Imagine the patience required to make it!

Oh dear, this post is ever so long, and I so much want to share with you one of the big highlights of visiting Winterthur.......The Downton Abbey Costumes Collection is on display at Winterthur, and wait until you see the costumes I photographed.  We were able to get right up close to them and see every detail of each one.  It was thrilling!!

It has been a lovely time with you dear friends.  I hope to visit soon with you on another day, and sip some tea and share a thing or two.

Blessings in Friendship & Stitches!

May you be enfolded with the Love of Our Precious Savior this Eastertide.

With Love & Blessings!

It has been said that, "Happiness adds and multiplies as we divide it with others." (Author Unknown)

What a lovely thought, and so cleverly put, don't you think?  For after all, it is in the sharing of our love and our lives, with one another that relationships are made and strengthened over time, built one after another.  I have missed you, once again, dear friends, and am finally here once again to share with you the happenings in my life.

Although I have long been one that preferred to stitch on one design at a time, I have several of them going and am rather enjoying them all.

"Giovanni's Alphabet"

Tempting Tangles Designs

It is difficult to appreciate all of the intricate lacey bits from afar, so hope that you won't mind a few close-ups, to see the full effect.  These are quite challenging to stitch!

This satin stitched flower and leaves was a really big challenge, as this designer doesn't provide any stitch diagrams.  I had to look at the graph of the total design and graph each stitch to create it.  A major pain in the neck!  I think that it looks alright though..... it will have to do.

                         "Snow Angel" by Lone Elm Designs
I can't believe that I am still stitching a wintry design, now that it is already April, but it is almost finished.  Thank goodness......

Do any of you remember "Strawberry Shortcake" and all of her little friends, when some of our now grown up daughters, were little girls?  Well,  she is once again, most popular with our little granddaughter, and all of her friends!  Miss Ella turned 4 years old, and we had a Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party for Ella and her little girlfriends and Mommies and Grandmama and Nana. 

Our daughter, who is an expert baker and cake decorator, made these adorable cupcakes, and purchased vintage Strawberry Shortcake paper plates, napkins and utensils.  She even found a beautiful china teaset for Grandmama to give Ella for her birthday!

It was a perfectly lovely time, but poor little Miss Meggie was totally worn out when we came home.

Well dear friends, I will make an effort to try and keep in touch with you on your wonderful blogs too.  I think of you so much, and am so thankful for the beautiful threads that bind us to one another.......... one thread, added and multiplied, and divided with one another......
EQUALS HAPPINESS!!

Blessings! 

Two Very Sweet Valentine's Day Giveaways!!

How absolutely delightful to discover that there are two perfectly delightful giveaways for Valentine's Day!

First, please visit California Stitcher to see the wonderful handmade gifts that Annette is so generously offering for her giveaway drawing on February 14th!

Now, for another very special Valentine Giveaway from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe, Nancy has lots of her fabulous creations, all in RED, for her giveaway drawing on February 14th!

Love in Stitches and Friendship!

The Threads That Connect Us One to Another

Hello Dear Friends,

It has been much too long since we have connected with one another, and I have missed all of you so much.  So, I am determined to enjoy sharing with you once again and to be a little more faithful to my blogging once again.

Today is a beautiful sunny day here in the cold Northeast, and the temperatures are warming up enough to melt some of the icicles hanging from our rooftops.  We just missed a snowstorm hitting here on Sunday night, which nicely dusted the ground with only 1-2 inches, very pretty to see in the morning.  This Thursday night, we are supposed to get a really big storm, but I love the snow, so I am thrilled with the possibility.  Just more time to stay cozy and sip tea and stitch!

I have been working on two fairly large stitching projects for the past few months and thought that you would like to see my progress.  As you can see, I didn't finish 'Quaker Christmas' in time for Christmas 2013, but I have only 3 more pages to go!

 

For the past few months, my friend, Donna and I have been doing a long distance SAL on Sunday nights, stitching "Giovanni's Alphabet' by Tempting Tangles Designs.   

 

 

As you can see, each letter has all of these intricate little bits of stitching, which are pretty tedious and require a lot of attention so as not to make a lot of boo-boo's.  We try to watch Downton Abbey on Sunday evenings while stitching, so you can imagine that it is a bit difficult trying to concentrate on both at the same time, and not a whole lot of stitching is often accomplished!

 

"Snow Angel", a wonderful design by Lone Elm Designs, was given to me by my dear husband, along with a beautiful round wooden sewing box, for Christmas.  

 

As you can see, not a lot of progress has been made so far.  I really should be stitching this wonderful piece with all of the snow that we been having this winter!  I used to love making "snow angels" in the snow with our children when they were little ones.

 

Last month, my dear husband and I celebrated a big milestone anniversary, and traveled to a very special historic inn in Camden, Maine, called the Norumbega Inn, which was like staying in a small vintage castle type of residence.  Each room had an ambience of it's own, tastefully decorated with antiques, and the beds were just wonderfully comfortable.

 The view from our room was spectacular!  This was one of the few clear parts of the day at sunset.  Most of the time, there was a heavy fog over the bay. 

The Library Room was very special, a guest room that was very spacious with it's own upstairs library.  The gorgeous stained glass round window over one of the bookcases was more beautiful than my photo can depict.

This cozy little nook is right on the first floor just inside the main entrance of the house.  I could just imagine Jane Austen sitting cozily on one of these benches, writing or reading a book, can't you?   

Each morning, my husband and I would come down for a sumptuous breakfast, cooked by our host, Phil, a gourmet cook, who is also a chef, and served by his lovely wife, Sue.  The fire was always crackling warmly, and our breakfast was enhanced with beautiful melodies of of soft music.  We also enjoyed a 5 course "Mini-Tasting Dinner" on the second evening of our stay.

A very memorable anniversary, indeed!

 

 Until next time, dear friends, I think that Miss Meggie has the right idea.......Just stay as cozy and warm, wrapped up in your blanky as possible!

Blessings In Stitches & Friendship!