Hello everyone...

Ok, Ok, I'm finally posting. Between work and rehearsals and everything else, time has flown by. June is gone and it's now almost mid-July. I hope everyone had a very Happy July 4th. I had my usual 3 concerts, one the evening of July 3rd and two on July 4th. The concerts went fine .... lots of Patriotic music and flags waving. I love playing Patriotic music. The concerts on July 3rd and July 4th are my favorites. Now for my stitching update:

Here is photo of Fair&Square 4th of July squares I stitched and mailed early June (yes, finally posting a picture).



Around the end of April, I had posted a picture of a needlepoint star I had stitched from a class at my LNS. I finished it into a biscornu several weeks ago. Here's a photo.



Since it was a needlepoint piece, using larger size fibers, the fabric used was a larger count. I also didn't stitch anything for the back side of the biscornu, so it's a little on the plain side, but I still like it. It's going to be a pin-cushion next to my sewing machine.

For the Society RR, I stitched "K", "L", and "M" from Elizabeth Designs "Nature's Alphabet". It's on 40 count fabric, stitching over 2 threads. I love how this is looking on the 40ct fabric. I finished these a few weeks ago, sorry for being so late in posting a picture.



I was late in finishing Fair&Square Round 7 square, but it is finally finished and in the mail. I'll post a picture once it has reached its new home in Austrailia.

And tonight, I finished a needlepoint piece from the May class at my LNS. The design is called "Log Cabin in the Woods". Everyone got to choose their own colors, one being a metallic. For my metallic, I chose a lavender shade in Rainbow Gallery FYRE WERKS. It's a metallic ribbon. I love how the metallic ribbon worked for this.



I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Happy Sunday everyone

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. It's a little on the HOT side here. Highs the last few days in upper 90's with heat index over 100. Today's estimated high is 102 with heat index around 105. I was out a little earlier, but am now inside and plan to stay inside the rest of the day. Stitching update....

I have pictures of the Fair & Square 4th of July squares I sent to Sue W, but she hasn't posted that she has seen them yet, so I can't share those pictures.

I can share the pictures of what Sue W sent me. Here are the Fair & Square 4th of July squares Sue W stitched for me:



I love the design. I had never seen this design and think it is absolutely the cutest 4th of July design. And here are all the goodies she included:



Stitching the 4th of July squares for Sue kicked off my "patriotic" stitching a little earlier than usual, and I found myself in the mood to stitch something else Patriotic, something quick. I picked up Sekas and Co's "Patriotic Heart" last weekend, started it this past Tuesday. Finished the stitching yesterday and attached the button today.



It is stitched on 10ct Tilla. Instead of the button that was listed, I substituted a Flag Heart button. A couple of the sections were stitched over 1, but the rest were stitched over 2, so it was really quick to stitch.

I'm going to get comfy on my sofa and get back to stitching.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. This is a weekend that marks the beginning of summer for many people. For many, first weekend to go to the beach.... have a cookout in the back yard.... big weekend for car races (if you're into watching car races)....

For me, it is also a weekend to remember our Veterans. A Memorial Service is held on Sunday afternoon of every Memorial Day weekend at the National Cemetery in my town. I play in a community band, and our band always performs at this service. It is a small thing I do, but, for me, is one of the most important concerts we do each year. It's my way to thank, to respect and to honor our Veterans, past and present.

You may not agree with me, and, thanks to the freedoms we have in this country, you don't have to agree with me. But, if you do agree with me, remember to take a moment sometime this weekend to think about our Veterans, remember them, and thank them for protecting us.



I'll end with lyrics to "Taps". There are multiple opinions on the origin of "Taps". Eventually, lyrics were written, and there are multiple versions of those also. Here is a version I found...

Day is done,
gone the sun,
from the lakes
from the hills
from the sky,
all is well,
safely, rest,
God is near.

Fading light,
Dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky
Gleaming bright,
From afar,
Drawing, near,
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun
Neath the stars
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This, we, know,
God is near.

Stitching and a Surprise

Happy Monday everyone. I hope everyone's week is starting out great. My week is starting on a high note thanks to a surprise I received Saturday night. Saturday night is date night for my sweetie (boyfriend) and me. This past Saturday night, before we went out to dinner, he disappeared to the other room for a second and came back and handed me a box. And in the box were these:



I was speechless and so surprised. Note, my birthday was almost 4 months ago and Christmas is a long way off, so this was a total surprise. Aren't they beautiful?

Now, onto stitching related things. Last week I completed a biscornu and mailed it to Karen for an exchange. She has received it, so I can now share a photo.



I found this biscornu on the Freebie Gallery blog, and fell in love with it. I love the red-on-red. I have enough fabric to stitch another and plan to stitch a second one for me eventually.

Tonight, I worked on finishing another biscornu, the needlepoint star I posted a few weeks ago. I have all sides joined except the last one. Just need to add the stuffing, close the last side and add the buttons in the middle. I'm probably not staying up too much longer tonight, so I'll finish it tomorrow night.

And, finally, I received the fabric I ordered from Silkweaver and now have everything needed for Mirabilia "The Lady and the Flag". I thought I would share the "ready to start" photo.



The fabric I chose (everything is piled upon it) is a Silkweaver Expressions Hand Dyed Lugana, 32ct. The color is "Chasescape". Piled on top of it is the pattern/photo and all of the DMC flosses, Kreinik #4 Braid and Blending Filament, and Mill Hill beads that I'll be using. I plan to start it tomorrow night as soon as I get the biscornu done. I have other projects I'll be finishing up and starting the next few weeks (squares for Fair and Square and for the Society RR), but my plan is to stitch on "The Lady" at least 1 or 2 nights per week over the next few weeks.

That's all for now. Good night all.

Do you like PINK?

If yes, take a look at these:



It includes hand-dyed, silks, satin, ribbon, & wool there, a total of 50 different fibers.

The Stitch Pink blogsite is hosting the contest. All you have to do is visit Stitch Pink and add a comment to the contest post. Deadline is May 15. There will be 5 winners, each winner getting 10 fibers.

If you have never visited Stitch Pink, please do. It's a nice site that tries to bring awareness of the importance of breast screening, and early detection of breast cancer.

Time flies, where has April gone?

It's hard to believe April is almost over. Wasn't January just a few weeks ago?

Here are a couple of recent finishes. First is a star designed by my LNS owner Sarah. This was from a class at my LNS this past Saturday. It was stitcher's choice whether to just stitch the inner square or to include the star points. I included the star points and plan to finish it into a biscournu.



Next is snowman I finished tonight for The Society RR. I hope you like him Shelleen.



Update on Mirabilia "The Lady of the Flag". I ordered fabric today from Silkweavers. I'm guessing I'll have the fabric within a couple of weeks. I have other things to work on while I wait for the fabric. I'm working on another biscournu I'm working on for PALS Biscournu exchange. Then I'll get to work on my square for the Fair&Square 4th of July holiday round.

I hope everyone's week has gotten off to a great start. For me, I'm off to bed, as the alarm clock will be waking me up in 6 hours.

GIVE is finished

I finished LK DoubleFlip GIVE tonight (well, really "morning" since its a little after 1:30am Monday morning).



Planning 1 per month, this catches me up through April. Now to get caught up on the LK 2007 FlipIts.

While at LNS yesterday, I did purchase the Kreiniks and all but 1 package of beads for "The Lady of the Flag" (see picture in post below this one). I want to stitch her on an overdyed fabric, still trying to decide on which fabric.