In my hoop...

I have been doing quite a bit of hand embroidery recently.  There is nothing more relaxing than sitting at a guild meeting or in front of the tv doing a bit of stitching.  For the past few weeks I have been working on the same little pattern...I have finished it in redwork and now have started working in some variegated threads. On this post  I asked for help and got some really good four letter words to put on their sweaters... 

I don't usually leave my needle in the fabric...I snapped this under my OTT light while I was getting ready to thread the needle again...

I finished the multicolor stitchery and started on this one using the one color variegated thread. This will be a Christmas present and made into a pillow.. You can see the "O" on that second little person there, but I won't be stitching that.  I will show you more when I get done.

Did you notice the little stripes on the first little person's hat?   I have been reading Aneela Hoey's blog for awhile now.  You may not recognize the name, but what if I said "Sherbet Pips" and "Moda" .  Aneela designed the Sherbet Pips line for Moda.  The little girl on the scooter?  That started as a stitchery and then was developed into her line of fabric.  I love her stitching..and most of all I love that fill stitchery she does.. I love the texture it gives to the finished piece. Well, guess what?  She has a great tutorial on her blog showing how to do that stitch and it's so simple and easy.....Doesn't that little girls coat  look like tweed fabric?... She uses all 6 strands of floss.. I usually use two strands of DMC and the fill stitch will take more stitching but it's working for me...

Didn't it make such cute stripes on her hat? And I really want to get a bigger needle and use all 6 strands and try it out...and I think I might fill in the rest of the hat... I also did the dots on the other hat with the same stitch...it wasn't as easy going around in circles, but it worked...

Don't you just love the internet? And all the wonderfully knowledgeable people out there that are willing to share?  Thank you Aneela..I have been stitching for more years than I care to count..and I still learned something new..

Now I need to get my butt in gear and design the master bath...Off to Lowe's I go...Did you know they can help you design a bathroom just like a kitchen?  Yea, I didn't know that either...

Nancy

Paying it forward....

I stumbled upon Kay Mackenzies' blog over a year ago.  I don't do a lot of applique (and when I do it's mostly by machine!) but I was drawn to her writing style and color choices and quilts...  I realized I can enjoy reading about quilts that I knew I would never attempt...and have been reading every post since.

 A couple of weeks ago, she posted that she had a few extra copies of her book "In a Twinkle, Youthful Quilt Designs".  She invited us to email her if we were a member of a group the made charity quilts for kids.  She very nicely sent me some of the books...  I got 6... I gave one to my quilt guild for their library as we make quilts for Shriner's Hospitals for Children in St Louis.  So far the guild has donated over 600 quilts sized 60"x90".   I gave one to a friend who makes quilts for a group called Love and Hugs..  I gave one each to two other friends that make quilts for charity...and I have two left over...

This book is filled with cute, simple, quick children s quilt patterns...   I would love to send a book to two readers that do charity quilts.   So let's have a "PIF"... and let's make it easy...

• If you’re a member of a group that makes and donates quilts for kids in need leave me a comment and  in a week I will let the random number generator pick two readers and send you a book.

If you know someone that makes and donates quilts for kids in need, tell them about the giveaway.  I usually don't like to advertise my giveaways, but this is different.  This is for the kids...

Kay wanted me to make it very clear that I didn't "win" these books.  She was nice enough to send them to almost anyone that asked and I would like to thank her for allowing me to Pay It Forward...

And if you are a lover of applique, then click over to her blog and look around...she does beautiful work and has some great pattern books.


Nancy

Announcment...

I won something...and I'm gonna share..

Come back next week...

Nancy

Modern Pin Cushions....

Photo courtesy of Splendorfalls

This is the selection that was available at the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild's Pincushion swap last Saturday.  We did a sort of pick a number, pick a pincushion and once it's been stolen twice it's yours.  I must admit to not having any strategy...although apparently Cara had played it before...she looked like the cat that just ate the mouse with a side order of cream when she picked her pincushion knowing full well it couldn't be traded again...Yes, Cara..I DID notice that little smile..lol

I made the pincushion in the second row then count over four... lime green linen with that brown circle fabric and the tape measure...cause apparently I think you can't count and I have to describe it?...{sigh}

My first pick was the big Dr Pepper Pincushion..It doesn't have it's own photo so double click on the photo and look at the photo with all of them together.  It is big, round in blues/greens and has the big DR PEPPER CAN HOLDER in the middle...others thought the hole was for seam rippers or tape measures and someone even said it could hold her thread ends...but I knew the true reason...to hold MY Dr Pepper ...

Alas it was stolen by Jamie...  she has a better photo on her blog...and oh! Look!  she has a lamo seam ripper and tape measure in there... HEY JAMIE!! IT'S FOR A DR PEPPER...

So then I picked consoled myself with the cute little bird... and of course it was stolen also...

and I ended up with the pink one in middle photo in the first row of photos... It's is really cute and already has a spot sitting next to the couch...I will use it when I do embroidery.  I have no idea who made it, but I really think it's pretty...

Off to do errands that should have been done Monday, but then I thought Monday was Presidents Day, and thought the post office and bank were closed and then I was going to run errands yesterday, but had drama and so now we have no milk, no bread and when I the son asked if I was going to the store he said "get every breakfast item there is"...

Nancy

A Single Thread winner...

I have had a long day today, but wanted to announce the winner of the book A Single Thread.  There were 12 comments...and I called my Random Number Generator (he's in Indiana right now) and he picked number 8 which is PAT... 

Back sometime in the next few days ... have some family drama I am working on..

Nancy

Like High School...

Will I get picked last?

Will I be popular?

Inspired by a linen pincushion I saw somewhere but can't remember...

Today is my Modern Quilt Guild meeting and we are having a pincushion swap.  I don't know how it will be run...how we will pick...but please...don't let it be like gym class in high school....this is the

3rd pincushion I have made...I hope someone likes it.

Nancy

Birthday cake...

no recipe...I used a vanilla cake mix, whipped cream frosting and coconut.

Well, cupcakes...

Coconut cupcakes...

YUM..

Nancy

oh...the pressure...

Every year it comes around.  Today is hubby's birthday.  He has to be the hardest person to buy for in the world. He doesn't watch sports.  He doesn't collect anything.  He reads, but buy paperbacks at the airport and I have no idea what he has or hasn't already read. He doesn't garden.  He doesn't have a man cave.   He does do a lot of woodwork, but I think he owns every tool there is and a GC to a wood shop is not a very fun thing to wrap.  Today I finally found his gift. We have a Rockler store.  Rockler is to wood working what a quilt shop is to us.  It's a small shop in a very obscure strip mall in a seedy part of town.  I don't really like driving down there...  I walked in and was immediately stared down ... I guess they don't get very many of my gender in there.  I wandered around for a bit before a salesman asked if he could help me.  "No", I said..."I'll know it when I see it".  I had no idea what I was going to get him...but I had faith there would be something there that would be perfect.  After strolling a bit, I found it.  He has been looking at a DeWalt battery operated Circular Saw on Ebay...and he has lost the last couple he bid on.

And we will have spaghetti for dinner and I will surprise him with Coconut Cupcakes... He is a HUGE sweet eater and I can't have them at all.  He can't possibly eat a whole cake by himself.. If I make cupcakes, I can freeze some for later..

So now I can start thinking about Valentines Day... he will be out of town..which is fine. I don't get all excited about Valentines Day.. especially since he already told me what he is getting me...

Click here..

Romantic devil...isn't he?

Nancy

Need some help...

Right to left ....DMC 4180, 4030, 4120 and 4070

I am certainly getting my money's worth with this pattern..  I started the little one on the left with a variegated thread I had up in the sewing room...then realized that pink was the only color I had...so I took off for Michael's and bought 6 more colors.  I love these...  I will use some regular colors to do the faces and hair..

And I am doing all backstitch.  I usually do a stem stitch, but I have always wanted to do an all backstitch embroidery so this will be it.  I am getting better as I go..

BUT...I want to change the word to something else.  It would have to be something to do with Winter as these kids have on coats and hats and one has a scarf...  I would like to be able to have this out longer than just the Christmas season.  Any ideas??  One family has 4 people, but I don't know if I want to put B. K. O. A. (the first initials) on the front of a pillow.  It looks like I can't spell... and the other family has 5 so I could draw another one and put M. K. G. J. A. on it.  What do you think?  Or I could use a 4 letter word that is winter themed, like COLD or SLED or um... that's all I can think of...

And Pat asked me yesterday what thread I use... I use two strands of DMC most often..  For the redwork I had some Floche that I remember now that I bought at a local thread store.  Floche is a little more delicate than DMC and has a tendency to shred so you have to cut it shorter and that means you have more ends to deal with.   And you don't separate it, so there are less tangles.. 

So any ideas on a words or thoughts on using initials...

Nancy

No kona yet...but some redwork...

I finished the redwork last night...  I need to measure it and find a frame for it and I think I will make some more into pillows for the girls for Christmas.  I think it turned out cute.  The designer framed hers in a hoop. It still needs to be pressed along with a stack of dress shirts...

The Kona didn't come in the mail yesterday, so I am hoping for today.  I am also waiting on something else to come into the mail...a surprise...if I can master it...and when I do master it...I will have a giveaway...you might need to remind me....k?

Now off to iron those shirts.

Nancy

EDIT-  PDF pattern can be found HERE

some sewing, some reading and a giveaway...

I really have been doing some sewing over here...  I just can't show it.  The St Louis Modern Quilt Guild has issued a challenge and I am waiting for some Kona cotton to show up in my mailbox.  I finally decided on a background color and ordered it where I always get my Kona... from Jackie at Canton Village Quiltworks.  She carries most of the Kona colors and has fabulous service.  I ordered my fabric last week and when it didn't come over the weekend, I wondered what had happened.   Apparently paypal had accepted the payment, sent me a receipt and then instantly refunded the money to my paypal account ..  I had no idea this had happened, other than I kept getting emails saying my cart still had items in it and would be canceled in 24 hours. hm...  An email to Jackie clued me in...She thought I had changed my mind and canceled my order.  I still don't know why paypal debited my account and then instantly credited it, but my Kona will be on the way today...

I have been doing some more stitching...

This is a little pattern I picked up on Etsy..  It's so dang cute...I am doing redwork on ash gray Kona and will frame it in black ...

WOW...I just remembered I had a hair cut appointment at 9am...so I left and now it's 10:30am and I am back..lol   with much shorter hair...lol

So now on to the giveaway... .  It's a fast read and I enjoyed it.  It follows a recently divorced woman who decides to just take off and open a quilt shop.  I won't tell you more than that...but you can go over to Amazon and read more if you want..

Back on January 3rd, I won this book in a giveaway from another Nanci... I just finished it last night and  I am ready to send it on to another reader.  This will be the 4th time this book has moved on...

First a few rules...

• .You must promise to pass this book on to another blogger after you are finished reading it
•  You must have an active blog
•   I will use media mail so International bloggers are not eligible...sorry...

So how to win...

Simple...leave me a comment that you would like to be in the running.  I will leave it open for a week and then draw a name.

Nancy

wow...

I just realized it's been a week since I blogged last.  That "other house" is taking up a lot of time..and then hubby is home with the weather and I get nothing done.. If I go to the sewing room a mere 30 minutes will go by and hubby will come upstairs to find me...  Is this what retirement will be?

I did finish up the second block of the Little Miss Shabby BOM.. 

You will notice that I changed the hearts in the drawing to those little squiggly lines..  I don't do hearts. I don't draw hearts, I don't stitch hearts, I don't sew hearts.  I think I bought candy once in a heart shaped box, but that was for a grandkid and I would do anything for a grandkid...  The reason goes back a long way and I won't bore you..

Of course you know we just weathered the worse storm in history...they called it a blizzard and they called it right...  All the colleges and universities were closed for the first time in forever...We officially have 11 inches of snow.. but we are in the middle of a hill so we get lots of drifting...and some places in our front yard we have upwards of 24 inches...We finally got out yesterday...and the main roads are mostly clear... but when the son got home around 11pm last night he got stuck in the snow right in front of the house.  So at 11:30pm he and hubby were digging him out...I guess he will be parking at the top of the hill until we can shovel him a spot..  He had a spot, but the plow guy came through and fixed that...and the trash man hasn't come this week..and the hubby took out the trash and left bags on top of the cans (I told him not to!)  and now the dogs have gotten into the bags and trash is everywhere..He thought the trash would freeze and the dogs wouldn't smell it...live and learn...

It's tough to grow up and realize that snow means work...not fun!!

Nancy