Time to catch up...

So what's been happening over the past two weeks? Let me think back a bit. Well on March 17th we celebrated Mom's 77th birthday. She is still recovering from her ruptured appendix and staying with my sister in Florida. It's been a slow road and she's not ready to return to her home in Ohio but at least she's in good hands with my sister.

During the weekend of March 23rd we spent some time in Carmel, CA in honor of what would have been Yvonne's 38th birthday. She so loved the beach so it seemed appropriate to gather there to say a prayer and sing her happy birthday. The weather was just gorgeous considering in the Bay Area it was chilly and rainy.

I've been steadily working on my patriotic Yo Yo quilt and making progress. Had no idea how many yo yos it would take to make a quilt large enough for our queen size bed but I'm enjoying it and so hoping to have it done by this year's July 4th holiday. I'm also working a new model for Little House Needleworks which all you fans of Diane are just going to love. But that is all I can say about that. LOL! I have a new stash of charts from both LHN and CCN which are just wonderful. Oh, I so need more time to enjoy my stitching and the pile of charts and books slowly growing.

Update...

Not much to report on the stitching front I'm afraid. I'm currently working on a new model for Little House Needleworks and I'm making good progress on it. (Another winner, trust me!)

I do have some new charts to add to my ever increasing stash. Bee Joyful is one of the models I stitched for Country Cottage Needleworks and I had so much fun with it. I teased Nikki about the fact that she actually made me like pink...hehehe! It was hard to put down and I actually stitched it in less than a week. Good thing huh since I'll have to stitch it (and its companion) for myself.

Button, Button and Bee Joyful

by Country Cottage Needleworks

Speaking of pink...I got this adorable little sign from my grandkids, Victoria and Izaiah on my last day in San Antonio. Man, they sure know how to pull at Grandma's heart strings.

New from CCN

Sheep in the Meadow

by Country Cottage Needleworks

I was lucky enough to stitch the model for this new release by Country Cottage Needleworks. I so enjoy stitching this one, just love the sheep.

Finished Ornaments

This week I picked up the ornaments I worked on earlier in the year. As always my finisher Bette did a wonderful job in making my stitching stand out. I'm so happy with the results.

Mid-Week Update

Yet again I'm a little behind in posting my weekly update. Where do the days go?!?! I've been working on some exchange pieces so at the moment I have only one small finish that I can share. This is from the current Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue. I still need to make a list of the ornaments I'd like to get done from this magazine and hope to work on that while I'm on vacation next week.

Christmas Forest

by The Workbasket

I also did a little stash enhancement and got the latest designs from Little House Needleworks, Country Cottage Needlework as well as two from Lizzie Kate.

New from LHN and CCN

The Library

257W x 129H

by Little House Needleworks

Pie Menu

by Country Cottage Needleworks

Spring Social (Threadpacks)

239W x 90H

to be released between November 2009 and March 2010

New from CCN

Winter Wonderland

Country Cottage Needleworks and Crescent Colours have partnered together to bring a new line of thread packs in silks. Each thread pack comes with the chart and enough silk to stitch the design on 28 count linen (or 14 count aida). Each measures 47w x 89H. If you want to stitch the entire collection on one piece of fabric, the finished stitch count will be 239w x 89H.

New from CCN

A Pirate's Life

Mermaids

COUNTRY COTTAGE NEEDLEWORKS

Weekend Update

Seems like so much as happened this week considering it started off with a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA on Monday. My husband and I met our daughter and 3 of her friends for breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel and the spent the day in the park. We drove home on Tuesday and while we had a great time I was thrilled to leave the Los Angeles traffic behind us. Pictures of our trip are posted to our personal photo blog:

Through Our Lens

My finish of the week is "Beneath the Sunlit Sky" by Blackbird Designs. I played a little with the colors substituting the WDW or GAST with Crescent Colours. It's stitched on 28 count bone lugana.

I received the squares from the Fair & Square Exchange. For some reason my original partner dropped out and Sharon was gracious enough to stitch these lovely squares for me and even included some extra little goodies. Thanks Sharon!

And last but not least I picked up "Ladybugs and Bumblebees" by Country Cottage Needleworks from the framer. Picture is not the best since it's hard to avoid the glare from the glass but you get the idea. It's already hanging on the wall. LOL!

Finished!

Earlier this week I completed Ladybugs and Bumblebees by Country Cottage Needleworks. It's stitched on 28 count moss/celadon lugana using DMC floss. I love how it turned out and I'm my way home tonight I dropped it off at the framers.

New from LHN and CCN

New designs coming soon from Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks.

Sunflower Inn

Little House Needleworks

Be True

Little House Needleworks

Summer Retreats

Country Cottage Needleworks

I did the model for Ladybug Lane which is one of the 3 charts in "Summer Retreats" and here are a few closeup photos of it.

Weekend Update

I've had quite the week so bear with me as I bring you all up to date. The week started off with a pleasant treat when I was profiled in Nordic Needles' weekly newsletter.

NordicNeedle.com - The Nordic Needle Courier

I started a new piece for our stitch-along (SAL) in the LHN/CCN group and I made much better progress that I anticipated. It's one of those projects that almost stitches itself because each stitch is a pleasure and brings a great design to life. We had 10 charts to chose from and I changed my mind at least half a dozen times before deciding on "Ladybugs and Bumblebees" by CCN. I'm stitching this on 28 count moss/celadon lugana using the DMC called for.

I also finished two previous stitched pieces into mini ornamental pillows which I did by adding beads all around the edge.

And last but not least is the blocks I stitched for the Fair & Square exchange using "Bernard" by Hand in Heart Needlework.

Fair and Square

New from LHN and CCN

Some new goodies from both Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks.

Beach Cottage

She Sells Seashells

Coming to America

In the Beginning

*New* from CCN

Pretty in Pink

COUNTRY COTTAGE NEEDLEWORKS

Christmas Countdown & MySpace Layouts

New from CCN

New from Country Cottage Needleworks. Frames are from Crescent Colours' line The Family Tree.

Peppermint Lane

The Nutcracker

New from CCN

New from Country Cottage Needleworks...the Garden Party Thread Packs. Each pack contains the chart and cotton floss from Crescent Colours.

September - Ladybug

October - Dragonfly

November - Bumblebee

December - Butterfly