Apologies......

I have no excuses.   I blame online filing of taxes and bill payment; I blame retirement; and perhaps the current situation of the world for not knowing what day it is.

Without further ado, the winner of the Cross Stitch Nation Pattern is Rose Heck.   Rose, please email me your address at RED1974@hotmail.com. and I will get this pattern in the mail to you as soon as possible.

I have finish to share.    This is Blackbird Designs Easter Parade.   I stitched this from stash and substituted several of the colors - which as I stitched, I didn't like and then substituted yet again.   But a finish is a finish.    As I look at it, I am rethinking the peach colored tulip.    I'll have to think on it for a while.

More yard work in my future today.   Mr. Wonderful has found the yard.   It is a new discovery for him.   Until now it is something you walk across to get to the garage.   He has been an incredibly big help to me as we are ripping  out ground cover.   With his help, in a morning we can get more done what I would in a week.  We have two patches left and should be able to eradicate at least one today.

The weather is beautiful today and the laundry is in the basket already to hang.   Going enjoy the outside weather today before the rain comes back tomorrow.   

Have a great day, stay safe and keep on stitching.

Give-a-way

I have several patterns that I liked so much that I have bought them twice.  Like no on else has ever done that.    In my defense, some may have ended up in my stash by other means as well.   Since I now log all my patterns in an ap, I can hopefully avoid buying duplicates.

And hopefully I can brighten your day by offering up the following pattern.

Cross Stitch Nation by Heartstring Samplery

If you are interested and would like to be included in the (pattern only) drawing, please leave a comment below.   On April 15th, I will pick a winner using a random generator.  If you are not a follower, please become one.   USA and Canada entries only.   With the current self isolating I will mail as soon as practical.

Thank you Stasi at Bee-Mused and Bee-Stitching for sparking the idea.

As I "weed" through my stash, there could be other future give-a-ways.

Thanks for stopping by.   Keep safe, keep healthy and keep on stitching.

Lucky me

Sharon at MooseCraft USA ran a contest and I was the winner.   Woot! Woot!  I was thrilled to get home Saturday to find the package.    Look at all the goodies!

A Brenda Gervais chart using mixed media, two magnetic note pads and a DMC Color Chart.   I had one of these years ago and gave it away only to regret it later.

The caddy is awesome.   I can see me using it many ways.   A bag of scraps which is always an awesome thing, pretty brown and pink fat quarters, a candle and more do-dads for finishing.

This is making me think I need to go through my stash and assemble a give-a-way.  



Not only was it fun to open and discover all the goodies......it is going to be fun adding them to my stash and using them in upcoming finishes.

Thanks again Sharon.     If you haven't checked out her blog, please do so here.

.....and keep on stitching.

And the winner is...

No fuss no muss here...keeping it simple.....

Catherine aka Diamond C of I love to stitch! is the winner of my Pay It Forward Give-A-Way.   Congrats to you Catherine.

I apologize for not opening this up internationally.   I don't know what I was thinking when I added that to the criteria!  Next time all will be welcomed.

Catherine please contact me via email or comment here with your name and mailing information.   Remember - I am packing and leaving on a jet plane early early (5:15 a.m.  airport check-in) on the 24th and will not return from the land of no internet/no email until February 1st.   I will acknowledge receipt of your address on 2/2 or 2/3 OR select another winner if necessary by 2/4.

Thanks all and keep on shopping your stash!

Nancy's Give-a-way

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler is at it again.   She is having another great give-a-way.  It will features reds - flosses, trims, edgings - just in time for Valentine's Day.   Check it out.

Oy!

Well it is only the 4th day of the year and I need to put a disclaimer on my 2014 Stitching Goals.  I actually realized I had run amok when I did my annual New Year's Day new start which I didn't even technically wait until the 1st to start.  It's all relative - first of the year - again with the justification!    So my stitching path for the year has wild cards which include any guild projects or SAL's, any class projects, and my New Year's Day start will be EXEMPT from this silly concentrate-on-only-two-pieces-at-a-time mantra.

This is Penny America.  Ever have one of those brainless times?   I counted, calculated and even used my ICalc Stitching ap but just struggled with the starting point so disregard the upper left motif.  It is the first 2014 frogging needed.    I knew I would never have order fabric with only a one-inch to 1 1/2 selvage.    I re-started, as you can see, by finding the middle and working out.   Rather than proceed from the center out I just had to stitch over to the left side to validate I ordered a piece big enough.

Getting a new camera for Christmas and looking back I realized I took almost NO holiday pictures. Still too many bells and whistles I don't know how to use on the camera. This is my son, intent on directions to the Flex One I gave him.  

 Gavin looks happy with the afghan made in Penn State colors by Aunt Amy.

Yesterday I had a *snow* day from work.   After shoveling and clearing walkways, a bit of stitching and a bit of napping in the recliner with Buddy on my lap, I thought I needed to get in gear and take advantage of the bonus day at home.   I started the 'undressing' of the house.   Usually it looks bare but this year I am embracing the sleekness of the clean kitchen counter.  Almost everything is down except for the trees.   Small problem, the snow has drifted and blocked access to the door to the section of the garage when the storage tubs are.  Oops!

I moved upstairs with a mission in mind.    I ~Shopped~ My Stash.    I organized my charts and kits.    One small problem....I didn't know how to proceed.  How do you organize them:  by designer, by what is completely kitted, by desired stitching order??    I decided to order by theme:   Christmas together, Patriotic together, etc.  Don't know if it it right or wrong but it works for now.  

Here's my AFTER view of everything sorted and stored.   I got the nifty boxes from Ikea.   There is not enough height in my cabinet to stand the magazine files upright but they work just fine on their sides. 

All these finished pieces that even have the finishing fabrics chosen but I never returned to complete.   It's on the list for this year.  I moved them out of the box they were stored in and into a basket I will have to see every time I go into my sewing room.  Goal - one finish a month.  

If you have managed to stay with me this far, here's a treat.  On my mission to sort I did an honest evaluation of my stash.    I made a decision to get rid of those charts that even though I still love I realize I will never ever do in three lifetimes.   I love Ellen Chester but do I really need another Huswif or Necessary? That and tastes change, new charts come along, etc., etc.  I am offering these up in a PIF/Pay It Forward Give-A-Way.  

Rules
1.  Let's keep it simple.  No jumping through hoops.  One entry per person.  Enter by responding to this post only.
2.  You can share this with others, or not.
3.  The winner must agree to peruse the charts, keeping what they wish and passing on what they don't care to keep in a PIF Give-A-Way within 4 weeks of winning.
4.  The winner must agree to shop their stash and include charts, floss, trims, fat quarters, etc. they no longer wish to keep.
5.  Winner must have a blog.
6.  Sorry, USA and Canada entries only.
7.  Winner will be drawn on January 22rd.   I  will be away from the 24th of January until       February 2nd.   Winner will need to follow up via email or a comment during that time.  When I return from the sunny, warm, snowless, Caribbean I will send the package out.  No response by the winner by February 2nd, a new winner will be selected from existing entries.

Whoosh! And that is what I thought was keeping it simple!

Here's the some of the booty:   Mill Hill, JBW, Shepherd's Bush, Maureen Appleton, Milady's Needle, Ellen Chester, Rosewood Manor, Drawn Thread, Cindy Valentine and more.   Most are just the charts, some have embellishments, some have floss, some are complete kits.

That's quite a stack o' stuff.

As for me, I think I will be staying cozy and close to the fire today.   Yes, that is Buddy on the mantle.   After countless times of replacing everything back to its rightful place each evening, I resigned myself that this is where Buddy wants to sleep.   I am not a Cat Owner, I am rather  Owned by a cat!

Happy stitching all and a thank you for stopping by and your comments.   I don't always reply to your comments (life gets in the way sometimes doesn't it) but I do read (and re-read) and cherish that you took the time to visit and leave a note not to mention that I am inspired by your blogs, your stitching, your finishes and your generosity and friendship!

Winners

I have winners in my Side-tracked Give-a-way.  In no particular order......

Joyzce of Random Ramblings

Nataly of Nataly's Needle Creations

Cristina of Cross@Stitch

I  wrapped up each package in a camera friendly display and added a picture.   Now you didn't think I would spoil the fun and SHOW you all the goodies inside?

I have contacted each winner via a comment to their individual blogs.   As I explained to each, I will be out of town for several days.  If they have not contacted me with mailing information by the time I return from the beach on September 11th, I will select another name.

Thank you to all my wonderful followers.   I do enjoy each and every comment as well as I do enjoy visiting each of you back.   Happy Stitching and have a GREAT September!  I know I plan to!

Please benefit from me getting sidetracked!

 

What is this? Pattern is striking.

Not sure about this either?   Pretty greens....

More pretty colors and a bumpy bit near the edge.

Look at this heap of a mess!

I am hosting a give-a-way.  You don't need to do anything but be a follower.   I will select three names from those who are my blog followers as of noon (east coast) on August 31st using the random number generator.    I will divide the goodies between the three names selected.  Winners will be announced on Labor Day (that's September 3rd here in the USA).  

I spy some favorite designers.   Barrick Samplers, Homespun Elegance, Victoria's Sampler, LHN, La-D-Da, maybe even an Ellen Chester pattern.

What possessed me to offer up some goodies?

I was looking for the buttons for Heart of America by LHN and well, ummmm, got sidetracked, and starting looking at my stash.  Looking at my stash turned into sorting my stash.  I decided to sort **with extreme honesty** through my stash, weeding out patterns, that although I love, I know I with never do.   An hour later, my sorting is your gain.  My stash is still S.T.A.B.L.E. (Stash That's Available Beyond Life Expectancy!!) but it is neater and more organized for sure. And I never did find that buttons.

Give-a-ways

Check out Sarah's Give-a-way at the Crafty Moo
and check out Michelle's Give-a-way at Michelle's StitchCraft Place
and another, see Tammy's Give-a-way at I Want To Do One More Stitch
and yet another, must be the season!  see this pink giveaway  on Nataly's Needle Creations

A glass of wine and....

I haven't had a glass of wine in soooooooooooo long and it feels good to unwind.  Not that I have been wound tight lately.   Scary but things have been falling into the right place the last week or so...... been able to get back to my yoga class, to be a regular at the gym again and lost .4 lbs at my WW weigh in today.   Not earthshattering but not a gain either!  (And Yoga kicked my butt this week but I loved it.)

Today, I arrived home to a  *Surprise* in the mail.   I won the give-a-way on  Stitching Devotee's blog.   It is the four Erica Michael's Random Thoughts designs - Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.   I do believe I will have to put fiber and fabric on my shopping list for my retreat at Salty Yarns in October!  I wonder if buying the fabric and fiber will break my pledge not to spend a small fortune on this visit?  hmmm, to be decided....



Here's Autumn!



I also have progress on my Sew Spooky thanks to a few lunch times in my car soaking up the warmth of the sun and sitting in the customer waiting room at my Toyota dealers while I got an oil change before work this morning.    I love her hair and the photo also showed me a 'cross' I didn't finish.  So far I am happy with my progress and have been thinking of different ways to finish thanks to checking out all your blogs/neat ideas!  I am liking these smaller works.......it really has renewed that old feeling of pleasure in stitching when things were simpler.

New Stuff

We all know 'stuff' is good and for those of us who remember George Carlin, he knew all about 'stuff'.   I have some 'stuff' for sharing......

A new blog with a giveaway - Harvest Moon Hollow.   It is a new blog so the giveaway is in celebration of the blog and the Etsy shop.

Now for some real treats - at least for me - and I am sure for some of the others who visit here.   These two blogs are ones my daughter forwarded to me.   They are "Crafting" and "Stitching" and not necessarily cross stitch.   But hey!  We cross stitchers are sewers and crafters, right?

The first one is "uCreate".  My daughter kept sending me neat/awesome/totally fantastic projects from this thing called "uCreate".  Dah!  It's a blog.  So as of this morning, I am a follower.   I haven't really looked around the site yet but know I have seen some awesome things from the "Creative Guest" tab.   Like this zig-zag pillow.  I love how it is shown how to do it with on continuous piece of fabric!

The next site is "Stash Manicure".  Again, I have not been all through the site, but what I have seen so far, I am liking.  

There is something soothing about fabric squares all folded and sorted and piled.  Some people would like to roll around on satin sheets in a sea of money....but I would be happiest rolling around on a comforter surrounded by threads, fibers and fabrics!  I love to go to other sites to see how people do things, to have some eye candy, to get ideas.....to learn a thing or two.

I can hear it now...what my daughter is thinking......OMG, Mom has too much free time on her hands!

I hope you enjoy my new finds!

MODA Give-a-way

Check out what is going on at 44th Street Fabrics.  Nice giveaway.

After much delay

I have finally packed up all my Give-a-ways and RAK's and will be dropping them at the Post Office on my way to the train station this morning.   Must pick up the wedding photographer and then off to the wedding/reception venue for a look around and some questions and answers about the big day.    It is a beautiful venue and I plan to post some photos of it later today.  I so hope I can put needle to thread tonight and start sewing my dress for the event!   hmmm, I wonder if I should do that before or after I work on the grant I have to complete?    Wedding deadline - Aug 27/Grant Meeting  Aug 10/grant due Sept 1.  Tomorrow is a bridal tea I arranged for the bride, ring bearer, flower girl and mother and grandmother of the flower girl.  No rest for the weary I guess.   More important, when will I fit in my much needed cross stitch time?  I think know I will pass along serious instructions to all expect no cook out on Labor Day and  to let me stitch all day long! or perhaps I will secret myself away somewhere.........

Threadheads Giveaway

Check out Kim's website and her current giveaway!

My WIP Give-a-way and RAK winners

Ladies - I am a bit under a deadline crunch with bridal shower favors and other obligations....I haven't got your prizes out to you yet...........so sorry......I know the anticipation of a goodie in the mail.......please bear with me and I will hit each of your emails to let you know when I do get packages in the mail......hopefully Saturday AM.......

PS  Favors are turning out cute cute cute so I will post some pix when done.

Wrapping up some WIP's

I put out a challenge a while back for a give-a-way...........the challenge was to find a WIP and move it from the WIP basket to the completed project side.    I know I have tons of things that I start filled with excitement and anticipation of the project at hand.....I somehow get lured away by something shiney and new that I can't live without stitching.....I was doing a grand sort out (I dis-a-vow any knowledge of trauma associated with grand sort outs that my children might recall from episodes of cleaning their rooms when growing up).  When sorting and culling and purging my stash I was first amazed then horrified that I had so many WIP's.  Hence the challenge went out.

Yesterday when I went to my LNS - not that local, I traveled in 3 states to get there and none of those was state of confusion, I thank you very much.  I took one of my WIP's to be framed and shopped for give-a-way prizes. 

These are not them!  These are three nicey nicey's I picked up for myself.   Justification - early birthday presents!.   Please ladies visit your LNS...the internet just does not do these justice.

I know the internet is easy and quick and I sure do make purchases via the internet.  But I sure do like to go and see things in person and if we don't support our shops they will end up closing.....ok, that's my rant on that and I have no affiliation with any LNS!

Now for the results........my finishes

• I finished a lace shawl - a new start and not a WIP but a start and a finish that occupied time that I could not devote to a WIP - Justification!
• I made progress on my stitching room - not finished - a true WIP
• Between The Sheets, Nan Tyson Euler class piece - WIP Completed
• Sweetheart Tree Graduation Sampler - WIP Completed
• Flower Girl Bag - another new start not a WIP - Completed
• I completed my first quilt! Table top size - Completed
• Wedding Sampler for my son - WIP Completed

So my scorecard is not that great.....I completed three WIP's, started and completed three new projects and added only one new WIP to my basket.....so I figure I end up two ahead in some crazy kind of new math.  Going forward my efforts are to be concentrated on completing Drawn Thread Love and Wisdom, assembling Ellen Chester/With My Needle My Petite Sampling Etui and Blue Ribbon Designs A Little Quakeresque and trying not to start anything without a finish first.  Yeah, I'll let you know how it works out. 

And now, on to the winner(s)and prize.....ummmmmmm, could I delay more....this is what I picked up as prizes........A Carriage House Sampler, fabric and floss, some random floss and a cute JBW...... for the winner............well, I think bloggers are all winners and all wonderful,  so I chose two winners:    Mare and Catherine!  Please email me at red1974@hotmail.com with your addresses.    

And let me I am going to round out with winners 3, 4 and 5 as RAK (random acts of kindness) on my part........so Tracy J., Hazel and Raven (Misssy).  Your goodies area a Little House chart, assorted floss, a thread cutter and a design tablet seen to the right.  Please pass along your mailing addresses to red1974@hotmail.com and I will get your goodies out to you as well....all of us should  be commended for the good ole college try.

tis the season for give-a-ways

Found another great blog and giveaway as I was popping in and out of sights trying to unwind my tightly wound brainwaves with some mindless entertainment........check out Belfonte Notes.   Don't forgot my WIP challenge that will be up on the 18th of July.  Get your completion groove on ladies and be part of my drawing.   Let me know what your have finished by replying to the WIP Challenge post;  share some photos if you want and I will add them to my site; let us know if you picked something up and gave it the old college try to complete it..........

Here's another from another blog I follow.......check out Cindy's Giveaway

Another Summer Give-a-way

Check out Jennifer's Give-a-way at Feathers in the Nest.  The pattern is called Sallie's Feather Tree by Carriage House Samplings and the scissors are called the Augusta scissors.

A give-away

Check out the give-a-way at Confessions of a Serial Starter!  Don't you just love that name?  It says it all!

Drum Roll please.........EDITED!!!!

And the winner is......................

#7 - Josie!  Congratulations and hope you enjoy it.  I will follow up in the next day or two to make sure I have your mailing info and hope to drop this at the post office this weekend.  

Edit - Josie sent me a very happy thank you......but....I tried to reply and somehow deleted the comment.   Josie - please email me at red1974@hotmail.com with your address!  Thanks

Thanks all for stopping by and better yet, thanks for the wonderful comments.