Ackworth Friendship Squares...and more!

I stitched my last Ackworth Friendship square today. YAY!!! I am so glad to be done with another project. I must say I liked having a designated day to work on a particular project. I may have to continue that.

Here is square #12.

We each stitched our own front and back square. Here are mine.

I had to stitch 2 squares for each of the other 5 girls. We each picked out our own color of fiber. The following pictures are squares for Lori, Chris, Jackie, Joan and Cathy.






Yesterday, my husband took my to the Stitching store, which was a nice treat. Some of my purchases I can't share as they are for a gift. Here is what I got for myself.

Yes, I got another scissors. What is it with us stitchers that we just can't have enough scissors? After all, we only use one at a time--for the most part. I have admired this one on other blogs for quite some time. It is the Tutor Rose scissors from Kelmscott.


I heard today that Moni received my Friend Through Threads Fall exchange.



This is "Pumpkin Etui" by hearty-craft.blogspot.com. It is stitched on 32ct. Belfast Raw linen with dmc as charted except outside border, it is Silk n'colors autumn bouquet.

Here is the entire exchange.



That's all I have for now. Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

A Few Things to Share

I heard from Nancy K. that she received my Fall Fair Squares. Here is the front square...


And here is the back square...


Does anyone recognize the design? It is part of Carol R.'s "Sew Autumn". The thread is Silk n'Colors "Autumn Bouquet". I love how it turned out. I wonder what Carol will think?

I got 2 new pair of scissors today! There was a "pink" exchange over on the HoE and Margaret gave her partner a pair of scissors with the pink ribbon pattern on the handles. I inquired about these to her and she graciously sent me a pair. I will be going to the LNS to get a few things in return for her. Thank you Margaret!!


The other pair I order from Joann's on-line with a gift card I got for my birthday. They are like scissors you used in school, rounded tips and everything--except they are Gingher's. I just had to have them.

After quite the day, I am going to honker down, stitch and sip hot drinks!

Have a great weekend!

November Goals

With everything going on, I forgot to do my goals for November!

First, October Goals:

2009 Christmas Challenge (October)--DONE
1 Pink Stitch--DONE
Finish Part 5 of Isa Vautier's SAL--DONE
Fair Squares Fall Round--DONE
HoE beCAUSE It's Pink Exchange--DONE
FTT Autumn Exchange--DONE
1 Christmas Gift--DONE

YAY! I completed all of my October goals.

NOVEMBER GOALS:
Stitch square #12 of Ackworth Friendship Squares (this will complete this project)
2009 Christmas Challenge (November)
1 Pink Stitch
Start Part 6 of Isa Vautier's SAL
Fair Squares Round #16
FTT Ornament Exchange
Personal Exchange with Cheryl
1 Christmas Gift

A Special Surprise

I received a special birthday surprise in the mail from my friend, Lynn.

Lynn says she started all of this back in March so she would have plenty of time. When I opened the package, here is what I found.



Isn't it beautiful? It is so nicely done and I just love it.


And, of course it was filled with lots of goodies. A pin cushion and a pinkeep, both made by Lynn, and a bunch of my favorite fibers--even some pink ones!


A little pouch and a beautiful needlebook. Wait until you see all the french knots inside the needlebook!



And here is what was inside the little pouch.


One of her famous fimo creations--a small teapot and an even smaller teacup. They are so cute!

This is truly a box of treasure. Everything is so detailed. The way Lynn uses crystals and charms gives everything that extra special touch.

Thank you so much Lynn! I absolutely love all of it. You are a good friend.

What a Weekend!

It has been quite a weekend, and it is not over for me yet as I don't go back to work until Tuesday.

We had to take my mom to the ER on Friday night and she is still in the hospital. She now has Atrial Fibulation and will be getting a pacemaker. But early this morning she decided to get out of bed by herself, which she was instructed not to do and fell. She has a fractured C2 vertabrae on her right side of her neck and will have to wear a neck brace for 3 months. YIKES!

I did manage to go over to my friend Joan's house (Minnesota location) and stitch for awhile on Saturday with the girls. They had birthday cake (yum) and presents for me! Oh boy!

Cathy gave me a Shepherds Bush kit and a pink ribbon magnetic pin that lights up alot!


Thank you Cathy! I think everyone knows how much I love getting "pink" stuff and I do like Shepherds Bush stuff.

Lori gave me 4 bottles of my most favorite Coffeemate, Peppermint Mocha. Girls, if you have never had this you must try it. It is delish! Unfortunately it is only in the stores this time of year for the holidays. I highly recommend it.


Thank you Lorus! I already cracked one open this morning. Aaaahhhhh. Love it!

Joan gave me a beautiful Just Nan peacock pattern and the fabric and floss for it. I think I will be making the needle book. It has a lovely peacock charm. Joan also gave me 3 skeins of silk and a very large lobster clasp. I need to find out where she gets these.


Thank you Joan. I love all of it. I can't wait to stitch the peacock and use those silks. They are yummy colors!

Chris made me a special fob for my Mia scissors. She stitched the 2009 Prairie Schooler Santa on 40ct (over 1). For the back stitching, she had to "split" a strand of floss otherwise it was too thick.


This is really something. Here is a picture of the fob with the ornament that I had already made.


Thank you Chris. This is a treasure.

Thanks to all the girls. For the great afternoon/evening, gifts, birthday cake (you know that is a food group, don't you), food and fun! I appreciate all of it.

When I came home last night, I had a special surprise waiting for me.


Simba, my niece's cat, was waiting for me at the top of my steps. We take care of him about 2 times a year while his mom and family go see Mickey Mouse. They are leaving on Wednesday for 10 days. He is a really good cat and we enjoy his visit which is really a vacation for him also. LOL!

Today I finished my 11th Ackworth Friendship square.


I only have 1 left. YAY! These have been really fun to do but I am grateful for another commitment to be almost over.

Well, I just watched the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers--YAY and now I am going to watch the World Series.

Thanks for visiting and I appreciate all the wonderful comments.

Happy Stitching!

October 31st!

Last day of Missy's 13 Days of Giveaways for Halloween!

The Day After

I have the day off of work today--YAY! It felt good to sleep in.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to send me birthday greetings yesterday. I appreciate all of them. It amazes me how close the blogging stitchers are and for the most part only know each oher through our computers!

My good friend, MamaJoan is coming home later today for about a week. We are getting together tomorrow for a stitching extravaganza. It should be fun.

Don't forget about Missy's Halloween giveaway.

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Stitching :)

It's A Great Day

I participated in the HoE beCAUSE It's Pink Exchange and today I received my exchange. Chris H. had my name and she did a super job.

Chris made me a hanging pinkeep with a breast cancer design on it. Chris was concerned that I had already stitched this design--no worries, I haven't stitched this one. This is one of those that you really need to see done to appreciate it. The pattern doesn't do it justice. It is very nicely done and I just love it! Great addition to my pink basket.


Chris also sent me some wonderful goodies. She must have done her homework because this exchange is sooooo me. There is a mechanical pencil, a pink cosmetic bag, a new fob for my cell phone, pink ribbon, pink (rose) soap, pink flowered post-it notes, pink beads and pink silicone cup cakes--I'm really excited about these. The juices are already flowing as to what I can stitch in these for my pink basket. I absolutely love all of it.


Thank you so much, Chris. This really made my day.

Ran into something interesting over on Edgar's blog. A posting about "What's In Your Stitching Bag?". This is good fun so I thought I would share.

I carry a large stitching bag everyday to work. I get about 45 minutes to 1 hour in a day at work. It doesn't seem like much but in a week, that is a good chunk. Anyway, here is my bag.


Now, yes this is more like a pouch but I love them. My good friend, MamaJoan, makes these bags and does a wonderful job. This one is the large one. I have at least 1 large one for every season. Inside this I have a project and a small stitching pouch.


Currently I am working on some fair squares, which is a rather small project. It is in a small clear pouch--this on is store bought.

Here is the 2 smaller pouches.


Now, this smaller pouch--the orange one, is Halloween for October. I have one of these for every month and they are themed for that month. You can see them all here on an older post of mine.

I have quite a bit of stuff in this smaller pouch. However, I think I have everything I use always or very often when stitching.


See, there is alot of stuff in there, isn't there?


Now, I will try to list what all is in here. I have a scissors (of course), needlecase with cross stitch needles, needle tube with beading needles, tape measure, pin cushion, small foldable ruler, pen, pencil, marker, papers and post-it notes, crystal beads, thread heaven, an ort container, a small light with clip, a calendar, hand lotion, hand wipes, an emery board, thread winders, pin cushion with colored needles that I use for marking threads and a small container that has various embellishments and some coins. Whew!

If I only stitched at home, I wouldn't carry so much, but I stitch at work, with friends, and once a week I go to my mom's and stitch and she knits.

There you have it!

Oh yes, don't forget about Missy's 13 days of giveaways for Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of the wonderful comments. I appreciate all of them.

Halloween Giveaway

It's Day 10 over on Missy's blog of her 13 days of Halloween giveaways!

It's Day 9...

of Missy's 13 Days of Halloween Giveaways. Go over and check it out.