Breaking the long silence!!

Hello dear friends and fellow stitchers, its been such a long while since I posted anything on my blog!  I'm not proud of that by any means, however I’m back to share some of what I have been doing over the past months.  I’ve been doing some cross stitching but still need to do some finishing.  I am also stitching my Christmas ornaments and am pleased to say that I am one month ahead, yeah!!  During my long absence, there was a Spring Exchange with my group from Hooked on Exchanging (HoE).  My partner was Marie P and I choose a motif from Signs of Spring from the Prairie Schooler Book No. 163.  It was a fun stitch and I was pleased with how it turned out considering there was a lot of frustration on my part putting it together.  My sewing machine broke down which meant I had to stitch it by hand.  Marie seems pleased with what I made for her and I breathed a sigh of relief thanking God that she liked it.

Design: Motif from Signs of Spring

Designer: The Prairie Schooler

Finish: Pincushion

Fabric: Creame Jobelan Evenweave

Cotton fabric for backing

Trim: Olive green satin ribbon

I received my exchange from Linda O.  She stitched a sweet “Lizze Kate” design made into an ornament.  Thank you Linda!

With that done, I’m off to start my next exchange – HoE summer 2013 Exchange.  It should be fun stitch again. Along with that I will be doing my Christmas ornaments and hopefully some finishing to show off.

Bye for now and happy stitching!!

Sandrajay

Some Good News!

Someday day this week, can't remember which day exactly, I got word that I was the 1000th poster over on the Freebie Gallery and for this I will be receiving a surprise from Carol! How good is that??!!! I am so looking forward to receiving the surprise! This was really great news to receive now that my vacation is at an end. Not that I don't want to return to work because there are so many persons out there without jobs during these tough times and I am grateful for this job that I have but you know how it is after a long break from work, you have to get back into the thick of things. So its off to work I go, the bills have to be paid, lol.

Some more good news! 'My By the Sea exchange' on the HoE board has been received by my partner, Stacy in the USA! She got it in just a matter of days of me posting it off to her and to think I was a few days late. Great job by the post office! I chose to stitch a pincushion using the freebie 'Sommer' from Mausimom freebies. Most of the colours used reminded me of colours you will find on the beaches here in Barbados on any sunny day. I thought I would add a sea shell from the beach close to my home to embellish the pincushion. I also enclosed some small sea shells as a little souvenir from Barbados. I do hope Stacy will enjoy her exchange as I enjoyed stitching it for her.

Design: Sommer

Designer: Mausimom's
Fabric: 32 count white linen,
flora fabric for backing
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pincushion

So, I off now to prepare for work on Monday. Thanks for paying me a visit and have a great weekend!

Vacation time is here!

It's vacation time for me - one whole month of it and it is going fast! I started my vacation on August 4 and so far it has been a little more hectic than I planned. No beach time as yet but I may take in relaxing on the beach on Friday since it is my daughter's 16th birthday and she want to spend the day at the beach with her friends. So we are preparing for the beach party. Sounds like fun but I hope the rain doesn't spoil it as it has been raining for the past couple of days. I do hope she has a sunny day to frolic in the sun and do whatever kids her age do.

Although it has been hectic I still got some stitching and finishing done. I am also in the middle of stitching my exchange with the HoE board so that will be shown some time later. So here's what I have been up to. This freebie is from Cathy Roy's blog, Le Chalet des Perelles.

Design: Rose

Designer: Cathy Roy
Fabric: 32 count cream linen
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pillow

My next stitched piece is also a pillow which was made in memory of my Godmother who died recently died in Florida. I lived with her until I was age 10 when she left her homeland, Barbados, to live in the US. She first lived in New York then moved to Florida. She taught me how to sew and I am eternally grateful to her for teaching me not only how to sew but about life in general. I thought this pillow was a perfect way of remembering her and what she love to do. She was 93 years old.

Design:Black Needles
Designer: Ravenelle
Fabric: 32 count white linen
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pillow

I have a dear friend who attends my church and who loves needlework - as a matter of fact we became friends because of needlework. She told me that she gets all excited over a machine but now that she can't see so well to sew at night she has to do all her work in the day before it gets dark. She has about three embroidery machines and she did some lovely embroidered table cloths for the church. I recently stitched a pincushion, designed by Perlin Tezer, for her as a gift for her 74th birthday and I will present it to her this Sunday. I do hope that she likes it.

Design: Romantique Roses
Designer: Perlin Tezer
Fabric: 28 count cream evenweave
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pincushion

I am not a very big fan of pinkeeps but I still like to stitch one or two every now and then. I decided to stitch this quaker style freebie by Gencat and make it into a pinkeep mainly because of its shape. Never attempted to try this shape before so it was a bit difficult to draw out a template on card (I was a little off with the measurements) so don't look too carefully, lol but I like how it turned out. I also had difficulty in finding the exact blue trim but nevertheless I am satisfied that I did an alright job with this particular pinkeep, eventually.

Design: Quaker Time
Designer: Gencat
Fabric: 28 count cream evenweave, floral backing fabric
Threads: DMC

Finish: Pinkeep

Here's another pinkeep freebie by La-D-Da. This was a simple pattern but still presented a little challenge to me to stitch even because it was recommended that the rose be stitched in a circle rather than side by side or up and down which meant I had to plan my stitching a little more carefully than usual, lol.

Design: Rose
Designer: La-D-Da
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, floral rose fabric
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pinkeep

Another Favourite Thing

As promised, I have another "favourite thing to stitch" to show today. It's a pin cushion from one of my favourite French designers, Danybrod. Although I don't speak a word of french, her blog is one of many which has been a source of inspiration to me. I like her designs and her selection of colours for these designs not to mention the way she finishes them. She is a very creative lady to my mind and hopefully I will be able to stitch most of her designs some day. So, here is my attempt at stitching and finishing one of her designs.

Design: Pins Needles Creation
Designer: Danybrod
Fabric: 32 count white linen, eyelet trim, flora cotton
Threads: DMC
Finish: Pincushion

That's it for tonight. There's work in the morning and its way pass my bedtime. Thanks for stopping by.