Happy, Happy, Happy!!

Yep, that's what I am! I won the First Year Blogoversary drawing over on Vickie's blog and the mail man delivered a beautiful package to me today. It contained a beautiful bottle-cap pincushion, and pink pin pillow with beautiful pins included. There was also a gorgeous pair of pearl earrings (which just happen to be my birthstone) and a beautiful card.

Thank you Vickie.
Due to the predicted blizzard (that didn't come) for our area this past Wednesday, Stitch Night was canceled so I'll have to share the Friendship Bread next time.  I did get a chance today to visit the 50th Annual Needlework Exhibition at Woodlawn Plantation here in Mount Vernon, VA.

I picked up a patch and a commemorative pin to go along with my exhibit program.  I stopped in the gift shoppe and there was basket labeled "Nelly's Stash" and it was so inviting . I started thumbing through it and all of a sudden these charts jumped out at me as if they were possessed by "Nelly" herself and I had to bring them home with me for only $4.00

As I was driving home for some reason my truck just automatically turned and parked in front of "In Stitches"   and I had to go in. While there I found this:

Isn't it pretty?  Well I think that's enough excitement for one day, so I'm off to relax and make some beautiful little xxs.  Thanks all for stopping by.

I am being sabotaged!

I think my oven is working against me it burned the tops of my Friendship bread.  The first batch I made is low sugar.  The batter was made with and fed with real sugar but the actual bread was made with Splenda and sugar-free pudding. First of all the sugar-free pudding packages are much smaller than the regular puddings therefore the flavor wasn't as noticeable to me. It was suppose to be Cheesecake. It's okay... not my best.

The second batch is my own creation, it is Pina colada.  I used a regular vanilla pudding and sugar and instead of the vanilla flavoring I used 1tsp of coconut extract and 1/2 tsp pineapple extract. The oven still burned the top but this one had lots of flavor.

With errands and a doctor appointment yesterday I didn't finish baking so I still have two more batches to go. I know this is Friendship bread and I'm suppose to give three starters to friends but I don't know enough friends that actually bake. I'll be taking some to Stitch Night tomorrow and if they are interested next baking day I'll share and only bake one batch.

I stole the idea of bottle-cap pin cushions from Vickie  and tried my hand at making one, remember this is my first so it's not the best and nowhere near as good a her's, but it was a lot of fun to make. Instead of a bottle-cap I used one of my little containers you store beads in, I stitched the little ribbon on the orange felt and used green for the cushion. 

Last but not least is"Easter Bonnet" it is a free Herrschners chart stitched one over one on 28ct Monaco. I stitched it three times and finished them each differently. 

If you didn't notice they each have a different color ribbon. To show their size here's another view.

 This too is a first "one over one stitching".
Well baking bread and making little xxs is calling. Thank you to everyone who stopped in to visit, I really appreciate it.

I just popped in...

To give everyone who is following my bread baking project an up-date. Today is day six and a very important one. It's feed the batter day. So I measured out my 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and one cup of milk.

I was assisted by Mr. Jenkins.  I then added each one to my bag of batter and it was mixed by squeezing and massaging until everything was incorporated.

As you can see he helped with that part too.  For the next three days it's back to just squeezing the bag. Monday is the "BIG" day. Thanks for stopping by and I'm off to listen to a book and make some little xxs.

Wipocalypse Feb 2013

I did it again I almost forgot to add my post for Wipocalypse.  I had just sat down with a plate of over easy eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, toast (actually it's a bowl of oatmeal, but I like to dream) and coffee to do a little light blog hopping and it hit me. So here I am... First to answer your question, What is Wipocalypse? If you click here everything will be made crystal clear.  Well I didn't work on a lot of things this month, here's what I have done:

At last Wednesday's Stitch Night at my LNS I stitched on my "Rose Sampler" it went from this:

to this:

Not very much but every stitch counts.  Since the last Wipocalypse post where I mentioned starting a project by Joan Elliott I have stitched a week long SAL called a SWAT, an IHSW and a in-spirit Stitch & Bitch( I wasn't physically there) and it has all been on this beauty.

I know I've showed it before but I just love these little angels so here they are again.

 I also received the 10th installment of "Around the World in 80 Stitches" and it has gone from this:

to this

This is the part that I am working on now, I have lots more details to add before it's done. I love these stitches the orange is called a tied windmill stitch, the dk seagreen ones are satin stitch flowers, the light purple is a Amadeus stitch, the red and pink are called Indian herringbone  the vines with the yellow lazy daisies with the dk purple ray stitches on them is the Pekinese stitch and last but not least the center square is Ceylon stitches worked with DMC jewel effects as my metallic for this piece. You will see this one again once the details are done.

 Because most of those stitches are new to me and take lots of concentration I couldn't work on them as I watched last nights episode of the "Walking Dead" so I started another set of Angel Wings (kind of a weird combination when you think about it, but it worked).

That is it for this months Wipocalypse maybe I'll get more done by next month. 

Oh yes I mentioned in my last post that I was thinking about starting some Amish Friendship Bread, well I did.  This is now day 3 and this is what the batter looks like.

It looks just like pancake batter but when you open the bag and smell the yeasty aroma you know it's not just pancake batter. Stay tuned for the updates on the bread and if it turns out right I'll share a slice or three.  Thanks everyone for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your stay. So look around and leave a comment and I'm off to listen to an audio book and make some beautiful little xxs.

It's cold and rainy

Yes this is a cold and rainy Saturday and I feel blaaaaahhhh. The lack of sunshine affects me I think but it may be the fact that I don't want to do too much of anything anyway.  I have cleaned the kitchen from breakfast and have a load of whites in the washer so now to relax.  I read or should I say listened to a very good book the other day, it was "Rusty Nail" by J A Konrath.  The main character is a female police detective in Chicago, IL by the name of Jack Daniels. I really liked this book so of course I had to find more and I did. On my trip to the library yesterday I found "Fuzzy Navel", "Bloody Mary" and "Dirty Martini", hummmm there seems to be a pattern here :-)

I've stitched about half of the white scroll on the Angels banner but I had to stop and put it away for a spell, I receive the 10th installment of the Around the World in 80 Stitches mystery SAL and if I don't do it now I'll get behind and it will never get finished and besides there are specialty stitches that I've never done before and I love a challenge. So I'll be starting on that a little later.

Have you ever heard of or tasted Amish Friendship Bread?  It takes 10 days to prepare. It starts with a batter that is feed and allowed to grow for 10 days, you bake your bread and then share it along with a cup of the original batter with a friend = friendship bread.  From the batter you can make everything from banana to butterscotch to chocolate pecan bread, the possibilities are endless.
I will be starting my batter and the book Friendship Bread by Darien Gee today.

Oh there goes the washer, my whites are ready for the dryer and they sure won't get there on their own so I'm off. Here is a picture of the Angels.

Maybe next time I'll have a picture of some delicious bread.  Thanks for stopping by, until next time happy xxs.

Almost forgot my IHSW post

  I decided to do the back stitching on the top half of "Angels of the World". I filled in any missing stitches, and finished all my butterflies.  I got a little more of the white done, and I've figured out this is going to be the problem, all of that plain white.  I wish I could finish it and get on to the lettering but, it's sooooooooo boring. I'll keep going but for how long, I can't say.

Thanks to all my followers for stopping by, I hope everybody had a happy and productive IHSW. Going to make some little xxs.

Please join me...

In this months IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) hosted by Joysze over at Ramdom Ramblings.  It's some of the best incentive to snuggle in on a cold winter weekend and stitch, just what I will be doing.  I am enjoying working on Joan Elliott's "Angels of the World" so much that is what I will be continuing to stitch this weekend. Here is my starting point for the weekend.

There is still a lot of work on in this one, I could continue filling in the scroll or start some of the back stitching or even start on the bottom half of the chart. Which ever is going to be fun. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all join me and make some wonderful little xxs.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Here is my picture from Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, it is from a "Secret Stitching Sweetheart".  I'm waiting to see who it could be!

Please leave a comment and reveal yourself.  I'm off to search for my picture. xxs

February TUSAL

Back by popular demand and to again present my TUSAL is Mr. Cleo Jenkins.  He is displaying all of the beautiful pinks from my finish of "My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me" and the gorgeous purples of the "Spring Heart".  On top are all of the different shades of the "Angels of the World" that is currently being stitched.

Mr. Cleo Jenkins also wants to help share my progress.

Welcome new followers and thank you all of stopping by. Time to make some more wonderful little xxs.

I'm a few days late

For the 1st Wipocalypse of 2013 but better late than never:-)  I have a couple of finishes to share, the first is "Spring Heart" this was a freebie I found at http://olgamaxden.blogspot.com and I just loved trying the specialty stitches. This was before I started working on the AW80S and I finally finished it. Her blog is in Russian and I can't read a thing but the charts are beautiful, this one you can find by scrolling down and looking on the left hand sidebar.

 This is stitched with DMC #552 medium violet on 25ct black Lugana with iridescent purple seed beads. The second finish I have was actually done this weekend while participating in the SWAT hosted by the group I'm in on About.com Cross Stitch.  This SAL last all week starting on Saturday the 26th and ending this coming Saturday the 2nd of Feb.  You stitch as much or as little as you can on what ever you like and know that somewhere in the world someone is stitching with you.  This chart I had started already and I was able to finish it last night.  It is "My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me",  from Waxing Moon Designs and is stitched on 28ct tea-dyed Irish Linen with DMC floss.

I will be starting a new chart by my favorite designer Joan Elliott, I found it in a book "Cross Stitch Angels" it's called Angels of the World. I will be stitching it with DMC floss on 28ct Pewter Blue Lugana. It is finished as a small banner in the book so I will be trying that when it's stitched.

Welcome to my new followers and thank you to you all, I hope you return often and leave comments, I really enjoy them and try to respond to everyone.  Well it's time to get back to stitching so I will have some progress to show next time, so I'm off to make some wonderful little xxs.

Wow! What a week! Or should I say 8 days!!

   Since my last post I finished watching “The Grand” and the first season of “Call the Midwife” it is very good and can hardly wait for the second season to start in March.  I have kept up with the current season of “Downton Abbey”, been watching the final shows of Fringe and waiting for the start of “The Walking Dead”.  As you can tell I am addicted to TV in addition to cross stitch. 

   On the stitching front I have finished stitching six pair of angel wings for my quilt squares; I received and have finished stitching the 9^th part of AW80S. The stitches for this part were not as complicated as some of the others we've had. There was the Persian, the Bokhara couching stitch, the crown stitch and the Clematis square. These were all new to me and they actually turned out pretty good, I think.  Most of this stitching was done during the last IHSW which of course I forgot to post until now.

   I was going through my wips yesterday and out of the blue I started ripping out the first spider rose on “Spring Heart”, which I hadn't touched for about 9 months. Once I had it out I re-stitched it along with five more, I have 2 more to do and then it’s on to the dreaded daisy stitches and French knots. 

   I have had to renew my loan of the audio books from the library so I can finish listening to “The Widow’s Tale”, I also have three others, so I need to get cracking on them.

   I have been saving my best news for last… as you all know the 54^th Presidential Inauguration (ceremonial inauguration) was held this past Monday, which was also the celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., well I was on the National Mall for the ceremony. If you watched on TV, you probably saw me or at least my flag waving in the crowd. I was the one near the back on the left-hand side J  for me it was a phenomenal experience. Just being in the proximity of our first African American President was amazing, and to be there to see him take the oath for the second time is something I can tell my grandchildren.  I was there!  A part (yes a very small part) of history!

I thank you all for stopping by to visit, I hope it was worth it and you will leave a comment and come again.  Here are a few pictures.

Overall shot

Close-up

Spring Heart

Now it's time to go make some wonderful little xxs, see you next time.

My Needle and MY Floss

They Comfort Me is what I have been working on since this past Saturday. I started it at my friend Jan’s house during our first stitch & bitch of the New Year. It is by Waxing Moon Designs and I’m stitching on 28ct tea-dyed Irish Linen with DMC floss. I've bounced between angel wings, MN&MF and Africa this week also putting the finishing touches on my biscornu exchange package which is now ready for shipment. Now is the worst part, waiting to find out how your person liked what you did and who stitched for you as soon as everybody has received their exchange piece I will share what I sent and what I got.  It has been raining here for two days and two nights and it is driving me crazy, I am not what you would call an outdoors kinda of person but I at least like to look out and see the sunshine.  I paused listening to my audio books last week to watch the old series “Upstairs, Downstairs” on Netflix, it was fun watching all the episodes back-to-back without the commercials.  I have started watching “The Grand” it’s pretty good too.  I want to order the previous episodes of “Call the Midwife” that looks like a good show.  Well I guess I owe you a couple of stitching pictures, so I won’t keep you in suspense.

Now I think I will call up a couple chapters of “The Widower’s Tale” (an audio book) and make some little xxs before bed. Thank you to all of my wonderful followers for stopping by.

Almost missed the first TUSAL of 2013

I've been stitching away since that last TUSAL and have collected quite a bit of orts. Some are from my  pink and blue angel wings, the rest are from "Africa" that I've been working on this week.

Thanks for stopping by.