I Hate Winter--but Love Exchanges!

Have I ever mentioned that I hate winter? Yesterday was a true testimony for that.

I came home from work and walked down to get the mail. I slipped and fell on the ice and pulled/tore my hamstring. Talk about painful! I managed to finally get myself up and into the house with all my stuff after about 20 minutes. The worse thing was that I could not sit or bend without a very sharp pain. I had to go to the bathroom and the pain was so intense that I thought I was going to blackout. I laid in bed with ice and ibuprofen the rest of the day. I did not go to work and when I got up about 7 a.m., I was able to go to the bathroom with much less pain. And, I was able to sit on the couch and stitch this morning.

I am hoping it will even be better tomorrow so I can go to work and not miss my Friday Night Stitch fix.

On a cheerier note, Cathy B. was the January recipient for the Christmas Ornament Swap group that I am in. The ornament I stitched for her is from the 2005 Just Cross Stitch ornament magazine. It is "Folk Art Topiary" by Brown House Studio. It is stitched on 40ct. ivory with DMC Floss.


It is not your traditional Christmas ornament, but I think it is cute. I hope Cathy liked it.


Ulla finally received my SBEBB Winter House Exchange. A funny thing is that I had Ulla for the summer house too! I sure hope she likes my stitching.

I stitched "Chalet" from Bent Creek's Winter Snapperland. It is stitched on 32ct Country Grain Linen with DMC Floss. The inside is 32ct. Belfast Twilight Blue Linen. I finished it as a needlecase. This is my first needlecase that I have made and I think it turned out pretty good.




I hope Ulla is as happy with it as I am. Here is the entire exchange--


I sent Ulla the Holiday Pack of DMC Floss, Thread Heaven, a wintery thread counter, a skeing of the gorgeous #115 Red Variegated DMC Thread, some wintery buttons and a tuck away pillow.

This is my last exchange on the SBEBB as it is closing. I am OK with this as I am looking forward to doing more "me" stitching.

Well, I am going to lay down for awhile now--I wouldn't want to overdue it!

Have a great day!

A Couple of Exchanges Received

I finally got word that a couple of my exchanges were received.

First, I found out that Ulla, in Finland, received my SBEBB Summer House Exchange last week. I mailed this over 2 weeks ago and was anxiously waiting to hear from her.

I stitched the house from "Houses and Homes" by Birds of A Feather. I stitched this entire design for myself a few years back and thought that it is a great looking summer house. I used Weeks Dye Works and a piece of 32 ct. home-dyed linen.


I also sent Ulla a few goodies. A DMC marbleized scissors, needles, ribbon, a thread counter, some fabric, linen threads and a tape measure.

* * * * *

Then, today, I got word that Olga received my HoE Summer Quaker exchange.

I stitched the Summer block from "Seasonal Accents Samplers" by Needle and I on Floba with DMC Floss. I finished it as a tin. This was my first attempt at this and I think it turned out kind of cute.


Olga also received some goodies. I sent a marbleized scissors, some needles, a thread counter, personalized notecards, fabric and a chicken pin cushion.


Both of these exchanges were alot of fun and I'm glad they arrived safely.