Gifts

Snow Garden

February 5, 2011 by Michelle 35 Comments

My neck of the woods was hit by an ice/snow storm earlier in the week. I woke up Tuesday morning to this. Luckily, I was able to work from home and stay toasty in my house. Wednesday morning was a very different story. The roads were still iced over, so no going into work, but I woke up to rolling blackouts. Fun! We had power for about 10-15 minutes at a time and then it would be out for 45 minutes to an hour. Good times. And it made for an interesting work day, making project calls on my cell phone and taking notes with pen & paper.

The evening of that first snow day though, I settled in under a quilt and finished up Snow Garden. I wanted to have this one finished by the end of January too, but I missed it by a day. I guess I just needed the right weather conditions to facilitate a finish!

Throughout the time I stitched on this, I kept thinking about how I wanted to personalize it. What would represent snowy January to me? I decided to dedicate this block to new beginnings. I love January for its calmness and its quiet. The world looks fresh and new after all the excitement of Christmas. And when I think of the “anniversaries of the heart” that I want to celebrate with this piece, it all comes down to one beginning – when my life started over in 2002. So, I dedicated this block to the beginning of my new life, and put Hamlet, Romeo and Othello’s initials in there as well as my initials (my maiden name).

Back at the beginning I bought myself a charm bracelet and one charm to put on it – a compass – to celebrate the new direction my life was taking and the new adventure I was embarking upon. Look how far that charm bracelet has come now! It primarily holds charms from my travels with Eric, but there are a few others from the heart.

So, this block is for me and my January…for starting over with three boys.

Snow Garden (Anniversaries of the Heart #1)
Blackbird Designs
Weeks and GAST on 40 count Vintage Examplar
Finished 2/1/11

I’m really pleased with how my Snow Garden turned out – just a touch of color. I did have to stitch my year over one, because try as I might I couldn’t get it to fit over two. I just added an extra snowflake though and called it good! I’m looking forward to starting Valentine Garden (I’m stitching this all on one piece of fabric). It will be fun to stitch all those reds after the pale colors of Snow Garden. I’ve enlisted the help of Eric and my dad (my genealogy experts) to help me with the February personalization. So far I have a couple of ideas.

And, I thought I’d share another lovely gift I received over the holidays. Gloria stitched BBD’s Waiting for the Harvest for me. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love that rich chocolatey thread she used.

Look at that pretty trim too.

February is going to be full of more fun WIPs I’ll be stitching on, so I’ll be sure to update you soon on those. Until then, stay warm!

I am grateful for new beginnings.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

October 26, 2010 by Michelle 28 Comments

Wicked
The Primitive Needle
Belle Soie over one on 30ct Antique Cotton by R&R
Finished in a Twisted Threads Rectangle Tin Necklace

My friend, Kim, had a birthday on Friday and I wanted to make something special for her. She’s a Halloween girl, like me, so I decided that a little “Wicked”-ness was in order. I really enjoyed stitching this and the colors were so fun. I had to special order the little tin necklace frame from my LNS, and luckily (even though it was on backorder for awhile), it came in the nick of time. I’ve got enough of the supplies left over to treat myself to this trick, so I think I’ll be wearing a matching pendant sometime soon. I do hope that she likes it.

And since we’re keeping in the Halloween spirit, I thought I’d share my silks for Black’d Skie. You can see how lovely they will be on the fabric. I’m really excited to try out these Pure Palette silks. They were a birthday gift and I’m absolutely thrilled to have them.

And finally, since finishing Kim’s gift I have returned to the Garden of Eerie for a bit. The center tree is coming along. In fact, I’m getting down almost to the snake. Can’t wait for that!

I’m starting to think about my goals for the end of the year and what I’d like to finish. I’m also starting to think toward 2011 too. Mostly, I’d just like to cut down on the amount of WIPs I have going. I think a focus on finishing is in order. But in the meantime, I’m just enjoying spending time with my wicked things.

I am grateful for a smile on Eric’s face.

Feeling Like Fall

September 21, 2010 by Michelle 19 Comments

For my birthday, my friend Julia sent this beautiful table runner she made. It makes my table look perfectly dressed for Fall. Don’t you love the colors?

And look at the hand-embroidered detail she added. It will look really pretty with my amber glass turkeys for Thanksgiving too. Love it!

And even though the weather isn’t cooperating to make me feel like Fall has come to stay, it is almost October. And so, with that in mind I needed a new start after finishing Where My Heart Blooms. I decided to start Garden of Eerie by Plum Street Samplers – a perfect Halloween choice. It was between Garden of Eerie and Primitive Needle’s Black’d Skie, but my threads haven’t arrived yet for that.

I’ve had more than the normal amount of woes with starting this project, but I think I’ve got it settled now. And so on Saturday, when we’d planned a guild stitch-in, I decided to take this project with me. Here’s what it looked like before…

And here’s the after…

I’ve since finished filling in the left hand cloud and am halfway done with filling in the right. I was afraid I’d mis-measured and was going to run out of fabric, which is why I was working in outlines across the top. Now that my fears have been laid to rest, I can get on with it.

And since Fall makes me feel like curling up with a good book (especially with all the rain we’ve had lately), I’ve done a book review over at the other blog if you’re interested.

I’m grateful for being reminded to take some down time.

Spoiled and Foiled

September 13, 2010 by Michelle 17 Comments

I have more goodies to share from my birthday and you’re going to think I’m really spoiled after you see this. Sylvia and I have been working along on trying to create our own A&E walls. I’ve got two finishes to add to my imaginary wall, and Sylvia has a few more I’m sure. (Did you see her pretty Evil Serpent finish??). Anyway, to jump start my new wall, Sylvia gifted me with this gorgeous plate from Eldreth Pottery. I had been coveting this when I saw a couple of fellow A&E lovers purchase a plate for themselves. But, even though I hadn’t said anything to dear Sylvia, she knows me too well. And when this arrived on my doorstep, I may have squealed and clapped a bit. In fact, so happy was I with my beautiful plate that when Sylvia said there was another package on the way, I felt the need to remind her that I already had a present. But that generous woman sent more…

You may have seen Le Chat on her blog. I love the colors in it and his sweet little face does remind me of my Romeo. He would sit very patiently and wait to be fed. He didn’t ask or beg, he just sat and waited for you to get the hint.

And since she knows me well, she included this skein of silk because of the name. I thought it went well with my web scissors!

I’m sure I can come up with something delightfully undead to stitch with that.

And if that wasn’t enough, she included this gorgeous German cookie. And while I never pass up an opportunity to eat a cookie, I thought this one was better served by saving it. I put it on a ribbon so that it can dry out.

And because it seemed like the perfect spot for it, I hung it in our bedroom. A nice addition, I think. Of course Eric being Eric came downstairs and said “why is there a stale cookie on the wall?” He does love to harass me.

So many pretty things! So you can see why I included the word “spoiled” in the title of this post. Now, you may be wondering where the “foiled” comes in. Well, I did start a new project – something Halloweenish. But, as I mentioned in my last post I had to rip out the first two hours worth of stitching I did on the “middle” because it wasn’t the middle. So, I restarted in the top left hand corner. Well, I miscounted and then had to rip that out. So while I’d intended to share a progress photo of my new start, my intentions went a bit awry. Foiled again!

That’s all that’s fit to print for today. Hopefully I’ll be sharing some progress on that new start rather soon. I think it’s finally coming along. And the guild is having a stitch in on Saturday, so I’m looking forward to doing a good bit of stitching then. (Of course the chatterbox in me may have other plans).

I am grateful for an unexpected Sunday at home.

Where My Heart Blooms

September 8, 2010 by Michelle 20 Comments

Where My Heart Blooms (Loose Feathers No. 29)
Blackbird Designs
Belle Soie on 36ct Meadow Rue
Finished 9/5/10

I was determined to finish Where My Heart Blooms prior to the Guild’s September meeting, which was last night. I finished this piece on Sunday night. I’m so happy to finally have this one done. I love it and I am so happy that I used Joy’s conversion to Belle Soie for this. It looks really rich in person. This one is going in our bedroom as soon as it’s framed. I already have a spot picked out for it.

And I thought I’d show you another birthday gift. My sweet friend, Ava, stitched this for me. Isn’t it fabulous? I love the colors and I’m loving using it as a stitching bag too. Do you see the little gold heart charms? Just the sweetest thing, it really is.

I’m plugging away on my reading, but there’s no way it’s going to get finished by book club on Friday. But, hey, at least I’m reading. And I’ve started a new project – I know, shocker – but had some difficulty with it. I have a tendency to start my projects in the middle. Well, although this chart had the center marked, it wasn’t actually the center of the chart unfortunately. So, two hours of stitching had to be ripped out. I’ve restarted in the top left corner, which is probably where I should have started in the first place. Oh well. Lesson learned. Just because the chart says it’s the middle, doesn’t mean that it is.

That’s it for me today. It’s rainy rainy rainy here, which I love. Other than the fact that my umbrella turned itself inside out this morning and I came into work looking like a drowned rat. I would have loved to stay at home curled up with my book and the cat.

I am grateful for another finished project.

Dia de los Muertos

August 30, 2010 by Michelle 25 Comments

Meet Frida.

Frida is a Day of the Dead Zombie that my sister in weirdness and good friend, Kim, made for me for my birthday. I received some other beautiful handmade things for my birthday that I can’t wait to show you, but Frida demanded to be first. I thought Frida was not only a fun gift, but she also was rather timely. Isn’t it funny how sometimes in your life, you keep having the same theme pop up? Well, about a week before Frida entered my life, I received my copy of the JCS Halloween Issue.

Notice the cool sugar skull design from Monsterbubbles. Love it. I think I’ll definitely be stitching that one. And why did it catch my attention, you might ask? Well, I’ve been reading this book.

Ok, pay no attention to the fact that my sidebar still says I’m reading The Museum of Innocence. I abandoned that in favor of this book, given to me by a fellow book clubber, who said it was fantastic. It is. And within the first few pages was a beautiful description of Dia de los Muertos and sugar skulls and leaving offerings for one’s loved ones. Such a gorgeously written book. So, here I am reading this book, thinking about Mexico and sugar skulls and then I come across the Monsterbubbles ornament…coincidence? I think not.

But wait, just when it couldn’t get any more interesting…the next book for my bookclub?

Yeah. It ties in with the museum’s nest exhibit called “Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea”. It’s all working together in some kind of wild swirl of strangeness. Now, I know that there’s a thin line between some of the connections I’m making…but my head is making them nonetheless.

Which is why, dear friends, I just had to introduce you to Frida. That’s where my head’s at these days. Plus, it’s been a rough couple of weeks so zombies seemed relevant.

But, just in case you’re here for the stitching…I’m doing some non-zombie related stitching on Where My Heart Blooms. It’s coming along.

So, until next time…Frida will be keeping an eye on things.

I am grateful for zombie felties that bring a smile to my face.