Christmas in July

In May I signed up for Kim's Christmas in July Exchange. My package arrived a week early. To avoid the temptation to open early, I placed it where I won't see it everyday. Well........ , (insert drum roll) yesterday was opening day. Here is what my exchange partner Melissa made for me.

                                                      

                             I-Inspirational words:

S-Snow Flakes

                                  M-Mistletoe

Melissa was kind enough to include some extras, chart, fabric, charms, notepad, candle, ribbon.

Thank you Melissa! I love my ornaments and will enjoy them. Thanks Kim for organizing the exchange, hope I will be able to take part again.

Christmas in July Linky Party: The Reveal

Thanks for stopping by,

Gwen

 

What a Coincidence

Got a minute? Let me tell about my recent exchanges:

I took part in two exchanges on Hooked on Exchanging last month, a Christmas Ornament (any type of ornament) and a Christmas Smalls Exchange (something Christmas related but not an ornament). When I got the name of my exchange partners I had to smile. I had exchanged with this stitcher on another blog in the past and although the Christmas Ornament Exchange and the Christmas Smalls Exchange were hosted by the different moderators on the board I got the same name from each of them, Becky K. Now from past experience I knew that Becky loves reindeers and has a lovely collection of reindeer ornaments so I set out to find something she didn't already have. My choices were Prancer by JBW Designs from the 2004 JCS ornament issue and the pinkeep from Just Add Tinsel by Blue Ribbon Designs.  

 Yesterday I received my ornament from Nicole. The piece she stitched for me ........?

Prancer
JBW Designs
2004 JCS
25ct Lugana over 1




 I loved the design so much I  had already started to stitch one for me. Now I have my very own, Prancer, wonderfully stitched, finished and ready to hang thanks to Nicole.

So what of my smalls exchange piece you ask? I received from Aubree and she stitched me a Christmas Tin.

This design was making it's way to the top of my to-be-stitched pile, (which is very high esp. with Christmas projects) so when it appeared in my mailbox, stitched and finished by Aubree I was very excited. Thank you very much Aubree and Nicole.

Coincidences the same exchange partner for 2 different exchanges, receiving the same design that I had stitched and one that I planned to stitch... Oh, did I mention that both of the stitchers I received from live in Canada?

Thanks for stopping by, come back and visit soon.

Gwen

For the Birds

The title of this post was the name of the latest exchange I took part in. The exchange was hosted by Hooked on Exchanging. Within the guidelines each stitcher's creation had to have a bird somewhere in the design.

My piece for Suzanne turned out to be something on her wish list. Pumpkin Blossom from Blackbird Designs. I used the recommended fabric and fibers and finished it as a pillow.














From Lillie  I  received this pinkeep/scissor holder stitched from Prairie Schooler  book #24. The whole this is finished with a lovely batik fabric on the front and back.

Until next time,

Gwen

The Reasons ....

I am very excited! Why you may ask? I finished my first projects for 2010!

Reason #1
Between Christmas and New Years, I stitched 3 small projects from It's Fine-ally Finished. Well on Saturday I put Rip-It together and here he is:
..
Closed ................................................................... Open
Rip-It Kit
It's Fine-ally Finished.

Inside the case is a seam ripper for the times when you have to rip-it, rip-it , rip-it ... I had fun stitching Mr. Frogger, but I hope I will not be needing his services very often. The inside front cover also holds a needle page. As you may have noticed mine is missing, it has taken me a couple of days, okay 3 0r 4 days to locate one of my 2 scallop scissors. I just found a pair today and now my needlepage is ready to be attached.

Reason #2
I have increased my stitched ornaments by 4! Here are 4 ornaments that have been in my to-be-finished pile for awhile. A friend at stitch-in on Friday was kind enough to hold my perle cotton for me while I made twisted cord. On Saturday and Sunday I finished attaching the cord to my ornaments.



Reason #3
I a also very excited to receive this pinkeep from Michele from Haven and Earth Designs. We took part in a Quaker themed exchange on Legacy BB and she stitched me a wonderful pinkeep. It is stitched one over one! Thank you very much Michele!



Thanks for stopping by,

Gwen

Halloween stitching

I have finished a few Halloween pieces. The first two are Mill Hill Autumn Harvest Kits.

Wanda's Hat .............................. Magical Spell

The kits were designed to be pins, but I covered the back of each with sticky back felt, added a hanger and made them into ornaments.

I was looking through my stash and found this kit from Shepherd's Bush and decided to finally stitch it. I put the finishing touches on it last night.

Halloween Treat Bag
Shepherd's Bush Kit

On Saturday I received this needleroll from April. We took part in the HoE Blog Fall Needleroll Exchange. April stitched a LK Flip It and turned it into a needleroll. Tom Turkey is at home with my other needlerolls. Thank you April! April has been stitching up a storm stop by and take a look.

November Stamp
Lizzie Kate Flip It

Thanks for stopping by,

Gwen

Wow and WOW!

First off Wow! Has it really been that long since my last post? It seems that I have made several but, I guess I thought about them but never sat down in front of the computer and actually did any typing.

Anyway, I have to take the time for my next WOW! I have been taking part in the Year Long Prairie Schooler Exchanges, for round three RebeccaM got my name and I received the most beautiful scissor holder/needlebook. The pictures just do not do it justice, I love it.

Front ........................................ Back

Inside

This is really a WOW!! Rebecca's stitching and finishing is great. She also shared with me that the wool used on the inside of the piece is from a suit coat that she has recycled. How coo is that!
Thank you, Rebecca I will treasure this always.

More to share later, Gwen

Oh Happy Day!

My two exchange pieces have arrived. I mailed them both on the same day. One went to Canada and the other to the UK. From the acknowledgment of the recipients they arrived on the same day on at least within a day of each other. An other wonder of the postal system.

Here is the Prairie Schooler that I stitched for Angela. Angela plans to stitch Prairie Schooler Santas for her Christmas tree this year so I thought I would stitch one to add to her collection.


Prairie Schooler Santa
stitched on 28ct fabric from stash
Fibers: recommended DMC

The exchange for LegacyBB Quaker Quarterly Exchange was to use black/grays to stitch a Quaker/Quaker inspired design. I stitched this pinkeep for Patti and a added some pins with black Swarovski crystals for the pin heads. (I forgot to take a picture of the pins.)


Pinkeep for Patti
Pattern: Quaker Trifles of Affection, Crown & Thistle
Fabric: Silvery Moon
Fiber: CC Noir

My Prairie Schooler Exchange from Rosalie : YLPS Exchange Round 2

Last but my no means least my QQE from Mercedes. Mercedes and I have been partnered on several exchanges and it is always a treat to receive from Mercedes, this time was not exception.

Thanks for all you good thoughts,
Gwen

Summer is here

Well not officially. Summer will be here on the 20 or 21 of June depending on your location in the Northern hemisphere. Where has the first half of the year gone? One of my bright spots of this summer will be in my stitching basket. Here is a pinkeep that I received from Rosalie as part of the Year Long Prairie Schooler Exchange.

Pinkeep
PS leaflet #138

Thank you Rosalie for the your wonderful stitching and finishing.

Thanks for stopping by,

Gwen

Three more finishes

I have been away from blogging for a few weeks. For now, I will just share some projects that I have finished stitching.

First up is the Traveling Stitcher, LHN.



Second is BBD's, Sampler Stocking. It is the first ornament I have stitched in a couple of months, so I was very happy to get it done. Hopefully I can get back to stitching one ornament per month.


I see from her blog that Annette has received the bookmark I stitched for her. This was a part of HoE Bookmark Exchange.


I have had a couple of family emergencies in the past couple of weeks and now some issues with appliances at my home. I hope that things will settle down and get back to normal soon, need to get my stitching rhythm back.

Happy Stitching, Thanks for stopping by.

Gwen

My Weekend Stitcing

My stitching over the weekend was divided between 3 projects, Where My Heart Blooms, Traveling Stitcher and Easter Parade. Yes, I have started yet another project. EP was on my wish list ever since I saw it stitched. Dyeing to Stitch had the chart and I was able to get it there along with the fibers I needed. I hope to have it done in time for Easter and finish as a pillow.

My exchange piece has made its way to Becky. I am so happy that it arrived safely. Red is Becky's favorite color so I stitched this for her.


Both designs are from the Ackworth Pattern Book. They are stitched in DMC 815.

I took part in a Christmas Ornament Exchange on HoE blog. This is my ornament. It took the long way from South America. Thank you Janaina! This now my first finished ornament for 2009.

Happy Stitching,

Gwen

Polar Opposites

This past weekend was on the opposite spectrum from the one prior. The temperatures were in the 70's to low 80's. Could this be the same place that had snow on the ground the previous Sunday? Yes, this is just another reminder for how crazy the weather can be in GA.

I started my weekend looking forward to a finish on WMHB, but it was not to be. I was able to get a few stitches in, but I was way too tired for the amount of stitching I hoped to accomplish. On Saturday I made a 4 hour trip out of town (2 hours each way), then came back and tried to run some errands I had been putting off. Do you see a trend yet? On Sunday the dreaded loss of an hour to DST and I am totally out of whack.

One of the bright spots of the weekend was an exchange that I received. It is a wonderful purple pinkeep from Darla. We both took part in the Quarker Quarterly Exchange on Legacy BB.

Isn't it lovely! It is soo pretty IRL, it is stitched on 32ct white Lugana with WDW "Peoria Purple". I love it. Thank you Darla!

Thanks for stopping by,
Gwen

Is it over already?

Where has February gone already? I know that it is the shortest month of the year but....... is it really the 27th already?

I took two trips this month which have really thrown me off my schedule (such as it was). I had a blast visiting with friends to celebrate a fellow stitcher's birthday. I lined a Whitman Salmangundi tin for her and made a magic neeedlebook, strawberry emery and a waxer for her box. Unfortunately I can only show you a picture of the box. I forgot to take pictures of the finished box with the smalls.

This month was the first exchange for the Year Long Prairie Schooler group hosted by BeckySC. This is the exchange piece that I stitched for BeckyK. BeckyK is stitching deer/reindeer ornaments this year for her Christmas tree so I stitched this PS freebie for her.

I used some fabric from my stash and the DMC called for but, I substituted Mill Hill beads for the holly berries.

Yesterday I received my PS exchange piece from Conny. My pinkeep traveled all the way from the Netherlands. It is just lovely, Conny did a great job.

Come back and visit soon.
Gwen

A no picture update..........

My stitching time last week was limited, but I was able to work on WMHB. I have almost finished the house. I should be able to get that done this week. On Sunday I restarted my Quaker Garden. I started this last month as a SAL with QI. I measured according to the margins my OLS recommended, but I noticed that the first motif was off. On Sunday, my chosen day to stitch on QG, I flipped my fabric remeasured and started over. I will frog my first motif later, I just wanted to get going again and not get too far behind. I think I am on the right track now.

I have been working on my exchange piece for Year Long Prairie Schooler Exchange. I finally completed the stitching and put it together tonight I just need to add a bow and hanger. It will be in the mail tomorrow. I hope I don't forget to take a picture.

Well last,but not least I am working on a birthday present for a friend. I have a few more days to complete the last piece for this project.

Check back later I should have some pictures soon.
Thanks for stopping by,

Gwen

Happy Christmas Eve

The last few weeks I have been working on Christmas ornaments. Although I have not completed the assembly of all that I stitched this year I was able to finish a few. Here are some that I finished this week.


In this group the top ornament went to a co-worker/friend's new baby. (see below)
The second 2 went to the Cath Lab at one of the local hospitals.
The last is hanging on my tree.


Christmas Story Ornament
Leisure Arts' 250 Christmas Quickies
Stitched for Sam's first Christmas.



Noel
2006 Prairie Schooler freebie.

The last 2 ornaments I have to share where stitched by wonderful stitching friends.

This ornament was stitched for me by my good friend Dixie.
(Blue Ribbon designs?? I need to check.)

Lizzie Kate : Tiny Tidings XII
This ornament I received today from Wendy Jo. She was very sweet and stitched this for me after the original from my exchange partner on HoE went missing. We are still hoping that the original will show up. Miracles do happen!

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas to all!

Gwen

2 Halloween bags on the move

Jill on Legacy BB has posted that she has received her exchange piece. The exchange was a Halloween Treat bag with a some form of stitching incorporated. I stitched the Prairie Schooler piece Night Owl from the JCS Halloween book. I made it into a patch pocket that was attached to the front of the bag.





Of course what would a treat bag be without treats? Jill also received some socks, chocolate, cards and a couple of other treats I found for her.


The second bag is for my DN. Her bag doses not have any stitching, but has 3 spiders hanging out! The spiders are suspended from some FunFur that I attached to the bag using the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine. It was mailed off on Tuesday and should arrive at its destination in a couple of days.



Edited to correct designer & pattern name.

Gwen

Look what came in the mail.........

PS BK 130

Country Wise

20ct Cashel

DMC as charted

Earlier this week I received a wonderful PS Banner from Joke as part of the HoE Blog's Prairie Schooler Exchange. While I updated the HoE Blog I forgot to post here. Joke stepped in and stitched this after my original partner became ill and couldn't complete the exchange. (I hope that stitcher is felling better now.) Thank you Joke, I love my banner and the extras you sent.

I have just the right spot for my banner I just need to find the right rod/hanger to show it off.

Gwen