Tea with the Queen

I had my yearly gyn checkup this week.  Thankfully all is well from that end (pun intended), BUT my BP and cholesterol still need to be medicated, and surprise, surprise, I weigh more than ever – in my life.  One of these days I will get back on the wagon, but he didn’t care for that attitude.  He’s right, but we all know your head AND your heart have to be in it before success will be achieved.   On to more fun things…

I noticed today that the Bride’s Tree Ornament SAL blog is asking someone to take over as administrator.  It is a fun project to do, so if you have the time and interest, hop over and volunteer.

You’ve listened to my chatter about the stitching getaway weekend my LNS, The Stitch and Frame Shop, sponsored with a project by Clara Blalock from The Stitching Parlor.  She was inspired by the lovely china tea set.  It is such a beautiful project, even more so in person.  The velvet bag is scrumptious on its own!   Clara is a delightful lady, excellent designer and teacher, and her project is superb!   If you ever have an opportunity to have a class with her, GO!

The getaway started on Friday afternoon with friends gathering and greeting, some we don’t see very often, others I’d never met, and one on-line friend I got to meet!   Angel was there, and I hadn’t seen her since Camp Stitchaway,  and  Carolyn was able to work out the details of life to be able to come to the retreat!  It was such a treat getting to meet her in person! 

She is such a kind and funny GirlFriend.  Can’t wait until we get together again.    

After some time chatting and such, we all went out for dinner for more fun and chatter.  When we got back, we reviewed the project, fondled, ohhed and ahhed the velvet and satin, and started our outline backstitches.  We got to take a trip over to the Shop for a private purchase evening!  Since I live in the town, I decided to sleep at home, but I’m sure I missed a lot of late night fun! 

Saturday, we stitched more, had lunch, stitched more, had Tea, stitched more…  You get the point – the purpose was stitching, and we did!!  We had dinner on our own, so some went shopping, Peggy opened the shop again, and I went to care for Pixie.  After that break there was more stitching, THEN Show and Tell.  What wonderful work these ladies do!    Of the 50-some pictures I took, here are a few…

 

Sunday was the final day – a bit of stitching, packing up, with fond farewells and hope to see you soons!  In the afternoon, I did more stitching and got my name graphed ‘over one’ and stitched, between naps. 

 

Thanks to Peggy, for such a great getaway!  I know a lot of planning and work goes into making this a success, and in my book this one was Excellent.  S&F also sponsors a fall retreat at Myrtle Beach in November, but I do believe I heard that it is full.  If you want to check it out, I imagine it will be posted on their site before long.

PS:

I meant to show you what I've been stitching.  The Three Amigos finished the inside of the needle book roll at the retreat, and I've been working on the outside...

Getting Ready!

Sing along with me, won’t you?

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go,

I’m standing here outside the door,

I hate to wake you up to say goodbye….

No, I’m not leaving on a jet plane, but I’m headed to the Weekend Getaway, Tea with the Queen. Lucky, lucky, me, it’s in my home town, so I don’t have far to go – could you tell that by the bags? At least there’s no clothing luggage!  But just wait, there will be something I don't have with me...

I’ve only been to one ‘cross stitching’ retreat, but I truly had a great time and it was a good learning experience for me! Love that linen!! A great thing about this one is I know I’m getting to meet an online friend, Carolyn, and possibly others, too. Sometimes we know each other by ‘screen’ names but not necessarily by birth names.

A bit of a stitching update. I stitched and completed this last year for Halloween, but was never happy with the way the words across the top, Let’s all Do the Monster March, blended in with the fabric. I took it apart and stitched with some shiny Kreinik around the black part of the lettering, and it looks SO much better. I probably should have taken photos before framing, but we’ll see if I can get a reasonable shot.

Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!

Spiders, Webs and Needles, Oh MY!

This photo is from 2007 and the web was from the corner of the house to the car.

I am quoting below from the Nordic Needle Newsletter, and hope you will follow the link to learn more from this excellent article!

"Spiders and their webs have been a popular motif for crazy quilts. But I wanted to know why we would dedicate time and materials to adding a creature that makes us shudder. Turns out there is a lot of folklore surrounding the spider. They are thought to bring good luck to weavers and spinners. Housewives often took great care to move a spider outside rather than kill it. If they killed it superstition said their house would never be clean. Spiders are thought to bring wealth to a family, perhaps thinking good fortune would become entangled in the web. Spider-Woman is a major goddess of the Pueblo Indians while Arachne existed in Greco-roman myth. She was a beautiful woman who wove flawless fabric over which there was a confrontation with the Goddess Athene. A religious legend is that a small spider spun a web over the cave entrance where baby Jesus was hiding to keep him from Herod's troops. Even postcards from the Victorian era reflected the theme of spiders bringing good luck."

Christmas Stitch Along

Someone on one of the Yahoo Lists I frequent posted a link to a french website where a Christmas SAL was being offered.  That site is Les Croixxx Et Moi.  Even though in french, you can click on your favorite 'translate' package if you need English.  It is such a pretty design, and there is lots of chatter by those already being finished with part 1.  There are two color selections, and I have chosen to use deeper shades of green and red.  Carole also has other designs available if you're interested.  Have fun.
 

Fallish?

Such lovely weather we've had in South Carolina recently!  It's beginning to feel a bit like fall.  This is my gauge - it's a red dogwood, and when its leaves begin to turn, I'm ready for fall! 

Today is the last day of sta-cation, and don't intend to do anything except this and stitch!  Would you believe yesterday was my first-ever participation in a yard sale?  A girlfriend was having one, and she lives WAY out of my area in another town, so I thought there wouldn't be much traffic.  Well, at the other 'end' of her road is a main artery, and there was LOTS of traffic.  I didn't do so much - think I cleared about $5.00 - but she and a couple of others made over $100s.  But back to fallish - it was very cool (jacket) in the morning, but by 2:00 when we were packing and cleaning, I had shed the jacket and was dripping!  That's fall in SC.  By mid-morning today, there's a nice breeze, the sky is beautiful, and the sun is bright! 

I finished another little project for Stitching Smalls with Friends.   It's a freebie, Little Miss Witch, from Krenick, designed by Pam Kellog.  Of course it is my version using DMC and a little 14ct dyed fabbie from Joan called Winter Evening.

Over at Leslie's blog the other day, she posted, Why Do We Blog?  Thought inspiring - Why do I blog?  It's really a means to share the things I love and enjoy with like-minded folks.  It's out there for anyone to find and see, but I don't always share the link with everyone.  There's not anything I would care for others to see, but just don't think they would be THAT interested.  I don't post a lot of political-type opinions...well I'm not that into politics.  Of course I have my ideas, but don't think they're that radical or different than anyone elses.  I have a Facebook, but don't do much there.  It was really created just so I could see what friends are saying and doing.  So, how about you?  Why do YOU blog, or Facebook, or any other social networking that you do?

OK - I'm off to finish up making my blog rounds, then to stitching!  Thank you for coming by today, and hope you'll come back soon!!

Remember 2001?

Witch Finish

Quite a long time ago, I won a fabbie pack with several hand-dyed pieces of aida from Sapphire Stitching when she was just beginning her venture.  I have used an 18ct piece of it called Morning Sunrise for this little Halloween Biscornu pattern by Barbara Ana Designs. 

Time off and Another Quickie

Happy Labor Day!

I did have grand plans for this time off work, but we all know how it is with grand plans; right?  Thursday was my hair appointment.  Did I mention letting the color grow off?  Well, that plan also went down the drain -- it's really red and shhhooooort.  It feels great!  So after that I went clothes trying and window shopping.  Friday was Pixie's day for the groomer, so while waiting for her I did a bit of thrifting.  Saturday I took Mom shopping.  She was taking some time off, and we rarely get to do things on the weekend.  She got a few things, and I went for those I'd tried on but now had added coupons!  Yesterday I changed the linens and curtains in my bedroom, but realized the new three piece quilt set didn't have the shams - so back to the store for an exchange.  When will I learn to check these things out before leaving the store? 

And here we are today, Labor Day.  We're grilling out this afternoon with Mom, Dad, and DS.  Yum...  

It's been fun stitching these small items for a while.  Yesterday I finished this little spider from Dimensions Trick or Treat by designer Fayette Terlouw using DMC on a scrap from stash.   

Enjoy your Labor Day with no toil or strain - Happy Stitching!

Winner, winner!!

Oh, boy!  Imagine my surprise when this morning I clicked on the sidebar list of Giveaways to JMD Designs and saw my name!!!  The first time I visited, I fell in love with the Tree of Life.  I can't wait to stitch this beautiful design.  Go over and take a look.  You'll find it difficult to make a choice, too, but it is fun trying to decide!

Thank you so much for your generosity, Janet. 

Small Finish

I've joined the blog group, Stitching Smalls with Friends, and have just finished the first Autumn piece.  It is 'a version' of the Blackbird Designs chart, Autumn Stars, from the Just Cross Stitch annual Halloween issue.  I made a floss keep from it, but won't be using it for a while.  It fits in perfectly with the fall display on my dining room hutch! 

Tea with the Queen

My LNS (local needlework shop), The Stitch and Frame Shop, is sponsoring a weekend getaway workshop called Tea with the Queen, Clara Blalock from The Stitching Parlor, Inc. September 18 - 20, 2009. Click over and take a look at the lovely project we will be stitching!

Are any of you North and South Carolina ladies already signed up? If possible, it sure would be great to meet some online friends there!!