Friendship Exchange

Once again the HoE blog has been having an exchange!  This time it was the Friendship Exchange.  My partner for this one was Rosa C.  I choose the Cosmic Handmade design, Friends, as it was a quick stitch and was fun to finish.  As you might have noticed in my previous post, I also choose the  same design because I thought it was very appropriate for both Beverly and Rosa. I made a hanging pillow for Rosa which I hope she liked.

I also received my exchange from Mylene.  She stitched me a very cute and pretty pinkeep.  She chose a design from Lizzie Kate called Friendship grows.  I love the lace of pastel colours she used for the trim around the pinkeep. It matched the colours used to stitch perfectly.

Starting all over, again.........

And I hope it wouldn’t be rough..........

 

It's been more than a year now since I haven't added anything to my blog and I must say that I'm not so  very proud of myself.  Honestly, I became disinterested in blogging, but  have decided after all this time to make a fresh start at blogging, again.  Although I was away from my blog, I had not put away my stitching but rather, I have been doing some stitching whenever the time permitted.  I have a whole host of "finishings" to complete along with lots of stitching projects to start.  I just have to get myself organized during my vacation in August.  Then I hope to accomplish lots of stitching,  finishing and keeping my blog updated.  Hopefully, I can get all this done while keeping my fingers crossed.

Here are a few pieces and an exchange I did for fall on the HOE for 2011 while I was away.

 Design: Pique aiguilles (Freebie)

Fabric: Jobelan 28 Count Linen

Thread: No name orange variegated thread
Trim: Orange Ribbon

Finished as: Pin Cushion 

Designer: Found here 

This cushion finished up much bigger than I expected but nevertheless it was a joy to stitch and the flower in the center was very easy to make. I just love the colours surrounding the cushion.

My next finish is another pin cushion called 'Love'.  This is the first of its kind for me.  I love the leaf stitch and the satin stitch in the word love.  I love how this turned out.  Thanks to Carol from Just Carol's Place who substituted with DMC colours.

 

Design: Love (Freebie)

Fabric: Jobelan 28 Count Ivory Linen

Thread: DMC Nos. 315,523, 3046, 3727 and 3740

Finished as: Pin Cushion 

Designer: Betsy Foster of Elizabeth Designs

Next, I tried my hand at stitching a mattress pin cushion.  I was a bit disappointed with the finish as it turned out a little crooked. I guess practice makes perfect so I will stitch another one when I find a pattern I like for a mattress pin cushion.  The pattern I chose is the Rabbit motif from the Prairie Schooler book In the Wood.

Design: Rabbit (In the Woods)

Fabric: Jobelan 28 Count Beige Linen

Thread: DMC recommended

Finished as: Mattress Pin Cushion

Designer: Prairie Schooler

I did a pinkeep as well.  I wanted to stitch this pattern from the first time I saw but only now got the opportunity to do so.  It is a freebie from Aion Designs designed by Christine-Ann Martin.  Unfortunately, it is no longer available and I believe their website no longer exist.

Design: Sampler Motif (Freebie)

Fabric: Jobelan 28 Count Cream Linen

Thread: DMC recommended
Trims: Pins, violet blue ribbon and backing fabric,
 violet glass beads

Finished as: Pinkeep

Designer: Christine-Ann Martin

Well, that's it for now.  I will share the others at some other time.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Prairie Schooler finish

The runaway pancake is back! Yes, that's right I'm back and have something to show for my long absence! As usual, life got in the way of blogging along with the fact that I am having some issues with my laptop. I need more memory and I am getting a hard time finding out what type of memory I need. I took it to the technician and he should come to my rescue hopefully by tomorrow. When my DH bought the computer he didn't think I will needed more than 512 mb but with my cross stitching patterns, photos etc I surely do need more memory. So as a result the laptop is very slow and sometimes unresponsive which is making me very, very frustrated.

Anyhow without much further ado, here is what I stitched in my long absence away from my blog. I love Prairie Schooler designs and hopefully I should be stitching more in the coming months. This design was taken from the Designer Series - Forget-Me-Nots.

A pinkeep was not my first choice for a finish but I couldn't seem to find the right fabric to match the design to make a pillow so I decided to use what I had in my stash at the time and make a pinkeep.

Design: Parrot in Cage
Designer: Prairie Schooler
(From Designer Series: Forget-Me-Nots)
Threads: DMC recommended
Fabric: Creame Evenweave
Trims: Matching ribbon, cording and backing fabric
Finish: Pinkeep

So until the pancake comes by again, here's wishing you happy stitching and thank you for stopping by.

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

In between the exchanges.....

It wasn't all finishing of projects I must add. Yes, there were a couple of exchanges too as well. The Hooked on Exchanging (HoE) board had a Summer Quaker Design for August 1. My partner for this exchange was Wendy Jo. I chose to stitch a pattern from the Gift of Stitching called "A Quaker Seasonal - Summer" in her favourite colour, red. I finished it as a small pillow. The fabric I used was called crepe back satin. I used the crepe side of the fabric as I did not particularly like the satin side. The pattern was stitched on 28 ct ivory evenweave. I was happy with the way it turned out and from all reports Wendy Jo was pleased as well. Here is how it turned out:


I received my Summer Quaker exchange from CathyB. She stitched me a pinkeep from "Little by Little" called "Quaker Blackbird". She also included in her package some goodies which I am sure will come in handy. I already know what I am going to stitch to go along with the piece of farbic she sent! I must also try those Week Dye Works floss she sent me. It will be my first time using them. Here is what she stitched for me:


I have sent off an exchange and it should be on its way to its new home. This time I participated in the SBEBB Biscornu exchange. I have an HoE exchange pending for September, 20 - a design from Prairie Schooler.

The exchanges are coming fast and furious but I am trying to keep up. Admist all these exhanges, I also have some other projects I want to start. Oh dear, I am going to needs some prayers if I am going to get through all of these project! I recently increased my stash of patterns so I should be very busy until the end of the year.

I must say a big thank you to those of you who left a comment. It was nice reading them. do have a great weekend and enjoy your holiday all of you in the U.S.A!

Freebie Exchange from Marie

I received my freebie exchange from Marie yesterday! She stitched me a pattern from one of her favourite designers, Mary Garry. It's called Sew and Sew and she made it into a beautiful pinkeep! She also enclosed some extras from my wishlist for which I am grateful. I must mention that I love the cording which she made for the pinkeep. Very nice indeed. Sorry, but my camera did not do justice to the lovely items she sent me.

Ok, I tried to take a better picture of the pinkeep, the backing fabric and the cording made by Marie.

Time to blog....at last!

It has been a long time since I've written to my blog so I have a lot of catching up to do and at the same time showing you all what I have been up to for the past couple of months, stitchwise, that is!

Hooked on this stitching thing.....

During the past months I have been into some exchanges on the Hooked on Exchanging (HoE) board. I am really enjoying the exchanges and look forward to participating more in the future. I have receive some really nice things and I appreciate them all. The board gives me encouragement to stitch and to finish off my projects. I get a lot of satisfaction from being a part of the whole exchanging thing. So you can rightly say I am really hooked on this stitching and exchanging thing!

Biscornu Exchange

My biscornu exchange, held in late March, was for Rowyn from New Zealand. I never sent anything to New Zealand before so I was keeping my fingers crossed for it safe flight. It got there sooner than I could imagine and my partner seemed to like it! I stitched her a well known pattern by Indigo Rose, Four Little Hearts. I choose this one because of the speciality stitches which I had not tried before and the pastel colours which went together well. I though it came out pretty good and I was pleased with it.

I received this lovely biscornu from Veronica in the USA. She stitched me a free pattern from Papillon Creations on Belfast Linen. Lovely colours and beautifully stitched! I also love the goodies she enclosed. She got me a Needleroll kit from Shepherds Bush - Birdhouse needleroll from my wish list and some fabric - 32 count from Silkweaver. Here have a look!

Pinkeep Exchange

Next came the Pinkeep Exchange in April which was for Irmeli from Finland. I stitched a freebie pattern from Debbie Drapper called 'Love'. I had fun stitching this one. I thought it was a cute pattern and did it with DMC 115 to go with the theme of love.

My partner, Jacqueline from the US stitched me something from one of my favourite designers, Prairie Schooler. I called it the flying stitcher because it was a fairly sitting on a bird. This too was very nice. She sent me some goodies as well! One of my daughter ate all of the peeps and the other liked the pinkeep. Well, I love them all.

Feathered Friends Exchange - A SBEBB Exchange

This exchange finished up in May. My partner received her exchange so I can show what I stitched for her. We had to stitch a pattern with a bird in it. I choose part of a pattern from a French designer - A Mon Ami Pierre, Quaker Six Mains. It was easy to stitch and I added her initials from another cross stitch pattern.

My exchange came from Mylene of the Netherlands. She stitched me a lovely piece and a cute scissors fob! She also got me some things from my wish list - Halloween printed fabric and blue ribbons of different sizes and patterns. I will sure need these, they are so pretty! See what she sent.

This is what I have been doing for the exchanges. I have about three more exchanges to stitch and send out. So my hands are full. Still have a few favourites I want to stitch in the meantime. That's it for now. Thanks for visiting!