My Favorite Day

Today is Leap Day! 

Is this my favorite day?  No.  I don't like having only one favorite. My favorite days are those where I am able to spend time with needle and thread, where something related to the craft touches my day.

I've had some favorites lately.

June sent me a wonderful package that arrived the other day.  I had commented on a linen towel that she shared on her blog and soon after, she let me know that it was headed my way.  What she didn't tell me was that there was more!

Isn't this the perfect towel for spring!  (Excuse the wrinkles, I have to iron this yet.)

Three of my spring favorites...lambs, bunnies and birds.

 

There were some fun goodies ~ a chart, note cards and little nail files.  And three cards with the sweetest notes! 

June made this card.  Just look at the detail!  I will use this in a summertime display!

The final item in the package really surprised me!

Simply beautiful!

I love the chocolaty brown color and the mother-of-pearl thread rings!

Thank you June!! 

Maybe I need to start a basket of chocolaty colored smalls...hhhmmmm....

June is also my partner in the grand scheme to stitch one ornament a month.  Even though the month flew by, I managed to get the stitching done.

I have the fabric that I think will be used to finish the back.  I may decide to go with a smaller print fabric.  What do you think, is the print too large?

Do you think it works?

I am going to wait on the finishing, as I have chosen to do the last stocking from the booklet for my March ornament.  I will finish them both together, hopefully by the end of March!

Another favorite day brought more surprise mail.  My partner from the last Stitched With Love Exchange, Tricia, sent me a thank~you.  I'm so glad she loved her exchange goodies, and certainly wasn't expecting such a wonderful surprise.

 

I just love this blue fabric!

And the front.  I love this santa and the light he is holding!

 

Then there was the card, handmade by Tricia!  Such a sweet little sheep!

Thanks so much Tricia.

Finally, one more favorite day brought me this.

 

The blue flowers remind me of the forget-me-nots I have in my garden, replanted from my grandmother's garden.

 

Pink tulips are another favorite. 

Look in the square ~ my initials!

Such soft, beautiful colors!

This was stitched, for me, by my mother.  Her initials are just to the right of the year.  Believe it or not, this is the first thing that she has ever stitched specifically for me!  I will treasure it always. 

I love you mom!

I hope it is easy to see why I don't have just one favorite day! With that, I'll leave you with this quote and the wish that your life be full of many favorite days....

“What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day," said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Preparation and Gratitude

Preparation.  It's a large part of life and keeping up with all of the activities that go along with having active boys.  We hit the road this past Friday bright and early.  Four o'clock in the morning early.  It's not just the professionals that head south for spring training! 

Two and 1/2 days of training at the Cal Ripken complex in Myrtle Beach.

Our older two boys have been training over the winter inside since early December.  It was fun seeing the teams able to play outside on a full field.

Our Oldest

The Middle Guy

Our little guy enjoyed the playground and practiced taking pictures.  He made my husband and I pose for this picture.  I think he did pretty good!

And of course, I had to take one or two of him!

We did get to spend a little time on the beach.  I enjoy being at the beach when it's cooler.  No crowds and no worries about fitting into a bathing suit!

 

 

 

 

There were quite a few dead jellyfish on the beach.  The boys were very interested in these! 

 

 

The men in my life are Kiss fans, so we had to hit this place...

 

And I like Jimmy Buffet and margaritas, so...

In case you were wondering, I did take my stitching along.  With all the activity, the stitching time was limited though.  Here's my start on my ornament for the month.

I picked an easier one to stitch this month, so even though I don't have much done, I know I can get there by the end of the month!

It's TUSAL time already!

I have been stitching!  And now, I can reveal on what!  I participated in the Stitched With Love Exchange.  The theme was Love and Friendship.  Here is what I sent to Tricia.

Since this was a secret partner exchange, I had to ask Lainey to get me some information, as she moderates the exchanges.  I placed Tricia's maiden initials, her husband's initials, and their wedding date on the pin pillow.  I didn't even realize it until she told me, this year marks their 25th anniversary!  Tricia's blog is The Stamper's Stitches, if you've never been, pop on over and say hello!  I've definitely made a new blogging friend.

My package was from Pam at Confession's of a Southern Stitcher.

 

Pam mentioned that this was a new type of finish for her.  She did a fabulous job and I love it! 

I loved all of my goodies ~ oh, and there were cookies too.  Can you guess who ate them?  Thanks again Pam, I love it all!

If you are interested in joining along in the next exchange, you can do so by clicking on the link above.  The next theme is Spring into Easter.  You can also see the gallery of all the goodies that were sent during the last exchange!

Thanks for stopping by!  I am grateful, grateful for being able to do the things we do with our boys, and grateful for all of the friends I have made through my blogging journey!

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
― A.A. Milne



Cakes, Samplers and Busy Times

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope all of you had a wonderful day with those you hold near and dear.

Can you see the hearts in the rocks from my garden?

This past week or so has been very busy.  We celebrated the birthday of our oldest ~ he's a dozen years old now!  Wow, where did that time go?

His cake request this year was my home~made chocolate cake with home~made icing.  Yummy!  Oh, but first we had to have a dinner fit for a preteen....

Yep...that would be potato skins and Filet Mignon.  All washed down with Coca~Cola.

This past week and weekend brought baseball practices, baseball scrimmages, Little League tryouts, and a visit from Grandma and Pappy....phew....

Mother Nature also brought us another round of snow and cold winds!

The snow is all gone now, but so pretty while it lasted!

As you can imagine, not much stitching was going on.  Just enough to finish the Humility Sampler from Heartsting Samplery.

I really enjoyed working on this one.

Now I need to get working on my ornament for February!

I received my exchange package from the Stitched With Love Friendship and Love Exchange.  We are supposed to wait until everyone has their goodies to share, so that will be for another day.  I can say that I love what was stitched for me and all the extras!

What I can share, are two pieces that were stitched by my mom years ago.  I framed them for her this past weekend so she could take them home ~ although, they would have looked just fine in my house too!

And here's the other one:

I don't have the names of the samplers, or the details on fabric and threads.  Mom doesn't keep track of those things, sorry!

Edited to add info about the above sampler in the gold frame:

The second sampler of your Mother's that you showed appeared in Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly the first hardcover book. It is called Frances Jewkes Sampler after the little girl who stitched it long ago. Starts on page 34. Maria S.

Thanks Maria for sharing that information!

The craziness will continue this week with the Blue & Gold Scout Dinner and more baseball!

Until next time...

“How do you spell 'love'?" - Piglet
"You don't spell it...you feel it." - Pooh
―A.A. Milne