On a Sewing Spree! (Not me, exactly!)

Hello all my faithful readers!  I hope everything is going well wherever you are!  I have been a busy little bee stitching, watching my mother sew, stuffing ornaments!  Yes, you heard right!  I have some ornaments completely FINISHED!!  Mom and I spent a couple Saturdays together working to sew my ornies together!  We went thru her stash of fabric and trims and buttons!  She sewed them while I stuffed!  It was very nice to spend time like that with Mom!  She has a little TV with a DVD player on her desk, so we listened to movies like The Sound of Music and Momma Mia while we chatted and sewed together!  Thanks again, Mom!  You're the GREATEST!!

 These are the ornaments I sent out to one of my exchange partners!  Plus a couple more goodies!!  But I forgot to take a photo of the card I sent for another exchange!  I hope I can get my partner to send a photo to me!

 Doesn't this look so inviting?  My Partner Deb spoiled me rotten!  She is so awesome!!  Thanks so much Deb!  I can't wait to play with all the goodies!!

 The ornament she stitched is so pretty and finished so beautifully!  Truly made my week!

 Here are the ones DD stitched!

 Had this Lizzie Kate one made into a small cushion!

 Same with this CCN one from a JCS Ornament issue!

The rest below are just ones made into ornaments, and I will be giving away most as gifts!

 Since it is Fall, I pulled out Stoney Creek's Moonbeams and Stardust Witch to feel festive!  She is coming along quite well, and I think I will continue on with her until she is finished!  I have the rest of her skirt ruffle, foot and the moon that she sits on left to do, plus the backstitching!  And a few beads! 

 But I have had to put her down for a bit to concentrate on a secret surprise for my Mom!  I am stitching her a biscornu for her birthday next week!  Shhh, don't tell her!  I will post pictures after I have finished it!

I did take a break from all of the above to work on catching up on The Great Escape SAL by Abi Gurden of The Stitch Specialists' Yahoo group!  I spent last Sunday afternoon folding laundry, watching movies with DD and working on TGE!

 Part 2-Feather Stitch and Basque Stitch!  The Feather Stitch was quite easy, as I had done that one before! But the Basque Stitch was a different story!!  I could not get it to look right no matter how hard I tried!  I had pictures of the stitch magnified on my iPad from the pictures on the group (Thanks Carole!!)  I set it down a couple times to catch my breath and relax and breathe!  My DD almost left cause I was getting a little snarly!!  Finally I looked at Abi's diagram again, and realized that I hadn't looped the thread around the top of the needle!  My "A-ha" moment!  After that, it went much smoother!

 Part 3- Sorbello Stitch and Cretan Catch Stitch!  No real problems here!  Went very well, actually!

Part 4-Long Stitch and Satin Stitch!  This part was a cake walk!  He is starting to take shape now! 

Update on my vehicle!  My Cadi is doing much better!  After having the starter and u-joint replaced, there was one other problem!  We had to have the rubber mounts replaced on the torsion bar!  I have no idea what this is, but now that it's fixed, I have no clanking noises!  It runs like a dream!  These are the first "real" repairs we had to do since we bought it!  And we bought it brand new in 2000!

I think the last time I posted, I was heading out to the open house at my LNS, Stitch-It Central!  I had so much fun!  I met some lovely people who share a love for needlework!  It was so much fun to sit and stitch and eat all the goodies!  And of course I bought some things!!  I picked up some fabric, over-dyed floss and needle for my one exchange partner, the JCS Halloween special issue, and a few DMC floss to kit up other ornament for the other exchange!  I can't wait for the next one on November 26, where I hope to pick up the Christmas present from my Mom that I ordered, The Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Church chart, fabric and accessory packs!!  Plus I NEED the new CCN Gingerbread Sampler!! (See a pattern here?!  lol)

Last Saturday, DD and I went into the big city and hit my other LNS, Thread'n'Eye!  I went in for some more HDF for TGE, and whatever else took my fancy!  Well, what took my fancy was Janice Love's Hardanger Basics and Beyond book!  Plus I grabbed some DMC perle cotton in a lovely purple!  I see some Hardanger in my future!  Then we met up with Hubby and grabbed pizza out at our fav pizza place, Rico's and then hit the mall to pick up DD new winter boots, and got a couple Christmas presents bought!

Well I think I have rambled on enough for now!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween last night!  And that the weather wherever you are is treating you well!  Chat soon!

It's Autumn Already?!?! (VERY Picture Heavy!)

Where did the summer go?  I remember July was HOT!!  And August, well it was nice, so I was enjoying the nice weather!  September was beautiful, but we've been having a lot of rain here in SW Ontario!  So that is why I haven't been blogging!  That is the story I'll be sticking to!  But I have been stitching!

I have started a new BAP!  Mirabilia's Cinderella was screaming at me, so I started it!  This is my progress so far!  I just love fairy tales, and Cinderella is one of my favs!

This is July's ornament of the month!

And this one is August's!  I felt like a change from Christmas ornaments, so decided to stitch a Halloween one instead!

I am a little behind in the ornament SAL, as I still have to do September's and start October's.  But as I have two exchanges coming up that call for some ornament-type stitching, I will use the exchange pieces as ornaments as well!  Killing two birds with one stone!

Hubby picked up a new camera for me in the middle of July!  My old camera is still a good one, but it took really bad close-up shots!  My new Nikon 3100 is SPECTACULAR!!  This camera is a digital SLR with manual and automatic functions!  It takes amazing close-ups!  So here are some new close-ups of my Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Stitching House!

I also finished my LHN Gingerbread Trio over the summer!  This one was so much fun to stitch!  And you know I love my gingerbread men!  LOL!

Now on to my SAL's!

First up is my Tree of Stitches!  I finally finished Part 7, Jerusalem stitch!  Oh crap!  I forgot to take a picture of Part 8, Flower stitch, which I also finished, plus the beading up to that point!  Oh well, next time!

I started a new SAL! (you know I can't help myself!)  This one is The Great Escape by Abi Gurden from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo group!

I used some pink linen I had in my stash, but then I splurged and bought Hand-Dyed silk floss!  It is so yummy to stitch with!  I just love fondling silks!!  LOL!

Part One-The Montenegrin Stitch!

Just this morning Abi released Part Two, which includes two new stitches, the Feather Stitch and Basque Stitch!  I have never done the second so this will be a real learning experience!

And just this week I started  another SAL!!  And finished it!!  This is called The Little Lace Hardanger SAL, an older one from The Stitch Specialist group!  Again designed by the wonderful and talented Abi Gurden!!  Sorry folks, it is no longer available!  I used 22 count Hardanger fabric from my stash, Caron Watercolours and Wildflowers in Flame and Mill Hill Petite gold beads!

I can't believe that I actually did it!  I have to admit that I was scared to death to make that first cut!  But I am so proud of myself for doing it!  And I am so pleased with how it turned out!  I am going to make into a needle roll!

I also started a Chatelaine, as I joined the sister group TSSChatelaine SAL group!  This is my progress so far!  Mini Rose Mandala freebie!

I only have a couple of animal pictures this time!  Here is our sweet little bebe, Chloe!  Doesn't she look innocent?  Not so demon-like here!

That is what we thought!  Until one early evening, when I sent out DD to see if she could coax Chloe in the house!  DD followed Chloe into the bean field to discover this poor baby rabbit she was mauling!  Now as far as I know, no rabbit was harmed during this adventure!  The rabbit was playing possum!  I ran out with my camera to take a photo, then DD and I went in to eat supper. By the time we had finished eating, the rabbit had disappeared!  I hope the rabbit made a clean getaway!  LOL!

It has been busy here at the Joyes house!  We have had a new roof put on, my washing machine broke and has had a new switch put in, so it's back working!  And just this week, my vehicle broke down!  

Wednesday, this week, after school, I took DD to rowing.  And when I went to run some errands, it wouldn't start!  Thank heavens Hubby was home!  Although he was out cutting the grass, and I couldn't get him on the phone,  I called my neighbour who ran over to tell Hubby!  Hubby showed up and checked the fuses and looked around under the hood!  Then we called CAA and had it towed to the dealership!  It was the starter!  So they fixed that!  Then as I was driving it home yesterday, from the dealership, it started making a horrible clanking noise!  So Hubby checked underneath and discovered a universal joint is bad!  So in it goes to the dealership again this afternoon!  Sigh!  Hopefully it will be fixed later this afternoon!

Tomorrow I am heading to my LNS for an open house to sit and stitch!  I hope to pick up my silk floss and the new JCS Halloween book, plus whatever else takes my fancy!  Will let you all know what I pick up there!

Thanks for sticking with me for the update!  I know I've been long-winded!  Hope all are having a wonderful fall or spring in the southern hemisphere!  Chat soon!

Big News! A BIG Finish and Two New Birds!

Hello all my faithful readers!  It is the start of summer here in SW Ontario, Canada!  It has been hot and sometimes humid.  We aren't getting the rain we had in the spring, and we could sure use a little now!  I keep watering my tomatoes and herbs and flowers, so they are all doing fine!

I have been busy, obsessed really, with finishing my Castles In The Air!  I have finally finished it, beading and all!  I ran out of gold beads the other day, so I had to grab some at my LNS during a dash to the big city!  Here it is in all its GLORY!!!

 There really is a castle!!  LOL!

I am so excited to finally share it with you all!  It seemed a little bittersweet as I was stitching the last part.  In a way I'm sad that its done, but on the other hand, I think its time to move on!  Now it goes to my Mom and she can frame it up!  I will post a picture when she has it framed and on her wall!

Before I got the last part of CITA, I was working on The Stitch Specialists Tree of Stitches!  I showed you the fabric and threads in my last post.  Here is what I have completed thus far!

Part 1-Cross Stitch

 Part 2-Smyrna Stitch

 Part 3-French Knots

 Part 4-Eyelets

 Part 5-Rice Stitch

 Part 6-Cushion Stitch

I am working on Part 7, Jerusalem Stitch now!  I hope to slowly catch up on this one.  I have just been using overdyed floss that I have in my stash in greens and pinks.  I am loving this one!

I have a small ornament that I have been stitching while my DD is rowing, and when I ran out of beads for CITA.  I hope to be finished that in a couple of days, then I would like to concentrate on TW Designworks Spring Carousel Horse!  I hope to finish it this summer!

I have joined a new SAL group, actually an off shoot of The Stitch Specialist's group, called the TSSChatelaineSAL yahoo group!  Everyone will be working on Chatelaine's of some sort starting  August 1!  I have chosen to work on three of the smaller ones, a freebie called "A Tiny Rose Mandala Garden", and two from the Gift of Stitching magazine, "Lavender Garden" and "Romantic Rose Garden Mandala".  I am waiting for some silk threads to come in from my LNS and then have to find the beads, as they don't call for Mill Hill!  I have been searching in vain for a bead conversion for Delica beads or even a good supplier, but have had no luck!  Maybe someone out there in blog world could help!

I have a couple of my animal and bird pictures to share!  First off is this cute bunny that has been hanging around in the evenings!  I managed to snap this one thru my window!  Isn't he cute?!

 This beauty is a Baltimore Oriole!  He loves the nectar from my hummingbird feeder!  Come to think of it, I haven't seen any hummingbirds for a while!  Hmmmm.

 This shy one is a White-Breasted Nuthatch!  I have been trying to snap a photo of this one for almost a year!!  Every time I tried, I couldn't get the camera turned on fast enough!  The reason he is upside down is because I had Hubby attach a suet feeder on the bottom of my cedar feeder.  I saw similar feeder in a magazine and they didn't give a price, and I really like the idea!  Hubby said we had an extra feeder kicking around, so he just attached it!  And we saved some money! 

I hope everyone is enjoying summer, or winter in the Southern Hemisphere!  And that you enjoyed my update!  I will post soon with more stitching to show and can't wait to see what everyone else is working on!  Chat soon!