A TUSAL, Stitches, and a Garden Walk

I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your kind words on my "I Sew'd My Heart" finish.  I am anxiously awaiting the frame and will get it together asap once I have it in my hands!

 I am glad to say that this past month saw some new threads added to my jar!

They mostly came from the sampler in my last post, a thank-you gift, and some seasonal stitches.

If you remember from a few posts back, Jackie was kind enough to send me some charts.  I wanted to send her a thank you and this seemed appropriate.

I finished this one, thanks to a giveaway by Cathi.

And now I am working on this.

The last two are on 32 count Golden Wings by Silkweaver.  This fabric, as well as that used on  "I Sew'd My Heart", were given to me by Fiona as part of an exchange.  I had never used Silkweaver prior to this and I am loving the feel and the colors!

Here are some more pics from around my gardens.

A fungus among us.

The color of the sedum is becoming deeper. 

Bright and cheery mums.

Another sedum.

Food for my feathered friends.

The leaves are starting to turn.

A bathing spot for my feathered friends.

 An early morning jeweled web.  This reminds me of a project that Susan is working on - take a moment to pop over and see.  And if you have the time, look at some of her past projects,  she never ceases to amaze me!

I love the morning light dancing off of the dew.

A few late raspberries have appeared.

I'm not sure what this is.  Found it growing in our small vegetable patch.

 The little pods open to this pretty flower.  Does anybody know?

I hope you enjoyed walking through my gardens with me!

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to reading each and every one of your comments!

I Sew'd My Heart...

Here is my finish of "I Sew'd My Heart" by Heartstring Samplery.
The fabric is 32 count Days Gone By from Silkweaver fabrics.  I used all but two of the called for colors, substituting GAST Old Brick for Woodrose and GAST Summer Meadow for Caramel Corn.

When I started stitching this I had all intentions of replacing the name in the original pattern with my own, like Peggy Lee did.  You can see her finished piece here.

But then, while I was stitching, something about the colors and the verse made me start thinking of my grandfather's little sister.  I can't explain why, but it just did.  As you can see from the sampler, she was only four years old when she died.  I wondered what she would have been like, if she would have done needlework had she lived.  It was then that I decided to do this sampler for her.

I love this little bird.

And the flower. 

And if you look closely, I stitched 2011 over one above the heart and my initials (over 2) are tucked in by this motif as well. 

I have already ordered a frame and can't wait to put it all together.  It is safe to say that this is now one of my favorite pieces that I have done.  

All you have to do to get this pattern is send a picture of Heartsting Samplery's blog header out and about to Beth Twist and she'll email you this exclusive pattern.  There is a tab at the top of her blog where you can see all the pictures that have been sent in so far.

Thanks for stopping by - Happy Stitching!

Falling in...

We are slowly falling in to the routine of a new school year and fall schedule.  School, homework, baseball, scouts and time to just "be".  It is definitely a balancing act. 

This past Saturday, we decided to head to the PA Renaissance Faire with some of our friends.  What an interesting day.  There was a game of chess (played on a life-sized board with real people), jousting, the Queen's court and many, many shoppes.  My boys really enjoyed the honey shoppe - they enjoyed tasting the honey and were also intrigued by the bees.  Some real and some not so real....let's just say that the young lady working the shoppe was cute and dressed in a costume that showed her assests.  She also had bees highlighting said assests.  I'm not sure if they were temporary or permanent marks, but either way, they caught the boys' eyes!  ;)  There were many attendees that came in costumes and let's just say it made for an interesting day of people watching. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Signs of fall are sneeking into the garden. 

One turned leaf..

The winterberries are looking brighter.. 

The sedum is very colorful.. 

The honeysuckle is climbing over my wall.. 

And from my kitchen window, I can see one of the sunflowers, grown in a pot on the patio from seeds sent to me by dear Myra.

This was a week ago,

And just this morning.

I plan on leaving it here so I can watch the birds eating the seeds during the coming season.

On the stitching front, I am slowly, but surely, working on the design from Heartstring Samplery that I mentioned a few posts back.

I'm getting close!

I was lucky again and was chosen by Cathy of the Inspired Needle to receive a copy of Penny America.  I have seen this on a few blogs and love it!  Thanks Cathy!

And from Cathi, I was chosen to receive this pattern.

I'll have to hurry up and get to this one!

The boys just walked in the door, so the chaos is about to begin!

I'll leave you with a picture of my PS Autumn piece.

I was wondering if anyone noticed that I left the pictures a little bigger on this post.  I am hoping that it makes them a little easier to see.

Happy Stitching!

Somebody Had Nothing Better to Do...

Just a quick note to let you all know that someone had nothing better to do than to hack into my email account.  Oh bother....

Emails appear to have gone out to every one of my contacts.  If you have received and email from me with nothing in the subject line and only a link in the body, it is not from me.  Please just delete it.  If you click on the link out of curiosity, please do not hold me responsible for what may happen or what you may see!  ;)

I have taken steps to prevent this from happening again.  Please let me know if these emails continue, as I may have to then take the next step of changing my email address.

Thanks! 

Summer Exchange

I am finally able to show the Summer Exchange hosted by Lainey at the Stitched With Love Exchanges.

I had to create a package for Christina from Whilst Iris Naps.  We were to create a stitched item based on a summer vacation/travel theme.  As soon as I heard the theme, I knew I wanted to stitch this BBD piece.  We were to also include some other goodies.  I know the Halloween pattern and threads don't fit the theme, but I also know that Christina loves Halloween - so in they went! 

 

I just had to include this mermaid scissor fob.  I was happy to hear from Christina that this was her first fob! 

I received a wonderful package from Barb of Barb's Ramblings - Stitching 'N Things.

The first thing my boys found was this box.  Needless to say, it did not last long!

Then there was this beautiful fob and pair of scissors.  Love it! 

Look at the cute charm on the back!  If I ever travel over the pond, I am told I have to visit the Abbey!

She also included this wonderful Summer Needleroll.  A first for me!! So pretty! 

A lovely lace bookmark for my summer reading. 

A package of needles - it is always great to have those extra needles.  See those little seashell charms?  These were attached to the ribbons on the packages.  They will no doubt find their way onto a future piece of needlework.

And finally, this beautiful candle holder.  I love it! It is even more special, since it was made by her husband!!  Isn't is great?

When you look at it from the side, you can see that going along with the summer theme, this was made to remind you of the sea.  See how the bottom has the coloring of the sand!  My boys thought this was pretty cool.  One of them even tried to take it to his room - I put a stop to that, this one is mine! 

The note card is a scene from her town, as is the postcard.  Definitely a place I would love to visit one day! 

 

Thank you so much Barb for your wonderful and generous gifts!

The current exchange theme is Fall/Halloween.  I opted out of this one.  This is such a busy time of year for us, adjusting to back to school, along with scouts and baseball starting up again.  I've barely had time or energy to put in any stitches lately. 
Lainey will be putting up info soon for the Christmas Exchange.  If you'd like to participate, keep an eye on the exchange blog, the link is at the top of this post.

Don't forget to keep an eye on Ned the Gnome's Adventures.  Just click the picture on the side to see what he's been up to. 

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Stitching!