Finished a RAK!!!!!

Stitching Friends

design by Debbie Draper Designs

freebie  pattern I have had in my "freebie pattern drawer" for a very long time!

Sending this out as a RAK this week.

I was gifted myself with the linen from amongst MANY linens from Ma Teakettle and I can't remember the name of it  or can find the label (sorry) but I think it's 32 count antique ivory

I used almost entire skein of Crescent Colors Belle Soie silk in Blue Lagoon which was ALSO gifted awhile back from Jennifer at Confessions of a Serial Starter so I put these gifts to me together to send out this week as a RAK. Gifts that keep giving!  ;)

I wish I could stitch many many of them to all. It's a very cute design and I need to go through my freebie folder more often!

I plan to put buttons on the top corners with ribbon to hang which will not take long.

The backing fabbie I had from a fat quarter in my fabric cabinet.

Well, better get busy on finishing Pepsi's sampler and then picking out which ones to take on my trip next week. Oh yeah, and laundry.......I completely forgot about that today. LOL

It's about to storm big here as I hear thunder and see lightening in a distance getting closer. Abbie is absolutely having a panic attack by me right now so

till later,

Jennifer

Saturday stitching

Miss Abigail today

She is a bit tired after a night of strong storms through our area.

She is about to go to sleep warming the chair for Body Guard while he is fixing my sewing machine which is now in the OR. Something is just not right with it and hopefully he will fix it because I finished the Stitching Friends sampler and I had it pinned to sew into a pillowkeep and it made a grinding sound loudly and bunched a lot of thread together.

Don't let those eyes fool ya. She just finished eating some Chicken Pasta Alfredo, including broccoli and is very content to watch the excitement of a  happy dance of a sampler finish to me holding my breath the sewing machine gets fixed.......please, please, please.......

and as we speak, the machine is fixed by hubbie. YEAH!!!!

Pics will follow later.

I'll be back soon.

A big THANK YOU and the stork

I SOOOO thank you all who commented on the last post, I will print this out and navigate through the map to see where we will be going through. Thank you again so much!!!!!

Last week at the quilt shop in Dahlonega Georgia, I saw these black and cream stork scissors and got 2 pair. Yep, 2 pair. I will probably save one for a giveaway in a few weeks. I think they are cute.

yep, they found a home in one of my stitching boxes.

I have no idea what the brand is as I eagerly took it off and they are sharp little things too.

Tonight we had a great dinner at the Chinese restaurant and got these fortunes.

Body guards:

And mine is here:

Oh how I laughed thinking of all the goodie stash builders that I'm planning to "invest" in...LOL

Interesting indeed for this week coming up!  We both had a good laugh.

Progress on this one tonight. A Debbie Draper freebie design I had in my stash for awhile.

Using CC Belle Soie silk

and 32 ct luscious linen (of which I didn't have labeled) but is a creamy color.

The fabric in the corner will back this piece.

And Pepsi, Abbie's cousin that passed away, his piece is almost done and will be made into a pillowkeep.

Much to get done this weekend, for sure.

Till later,

Jennifer

Planning a trip from North Ga. to DC

Just posting some thoughts on lunch break here about stitching stores between North Ga and Washington, D. C. I so appreciate the recommended ones in your comments!!!!  I went to In Stitches on another trip and hope to drop by there for sure for some threads and they have a blog as well for the shop and have some really pretty unusual samplers. Check it out!

So no pictures here but just a spot for you all to post your favorite needlework sights between here and there so I can add to our trip portfolio !! Getting real excited about 2 weeks off. Part of this week will be in conferences for work but we plan to do some sight seeing on the way back through Williamsburg. Will be driving this time so frequent stopping points welcome! 

Later this evening I will show you what the stork brought me this week. HA!

Jennifer

Thursday Thoughts

I'm just taking a breather from this week and it's already Thursday!

 There is definitely a busy period before going on a road trip which Body Guard and I will be doing soon. Even on my days off this week I've had so many things to do and I'm glad I did get it accomplished. Body Guard is the planner. I'm the dreamer. We like roadtrips, although, we don't take alot as we get older. He has alot of patience with me as we stop quite frequently for any store related to:

Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor....
oh and ummm.....
Hobby Lobby
Michaels'
Joannes
any cross stitch store
any quilt store.......
and shoe stores.

So you can see that our trip to the big DC next week will be a long undertaking but I plan to take some stitching with me as he drives to keep me distracted from saying..."pull over here.....now....please. hurray" and then he sighs and goes across 3 lanes of traffic and mumbles something but waits patiently while I have happy dances in exploring. I am blessed by his patience in this area.

This week our black car turned yellow-green while I made a trip to south Ga. HOLY MOLY! The pollen down there is getting thick. And I know it's heading our way soon, in fact yesterday I could tell the pollen has started but it hasn't coated our back porch yet.

Speaking of quilt stores, I had the pleasure of cruising through one last Saturday and she had some totes that were very cool and I'm definitely a large tote girl, even though I'm a small person, I love big totes. This one is a plastic-sort-of -feel on the outside with a lovely paisley pattern but inside it's another pattern in cotton cloth.

I like this especially as I drink coffee on the way to work and I can protect my stitching and work  stuff.

I wish I could remember the product name but I've already taken off the tag.

My books, DVDs stitching work, lap top, Kindle can fit in here with ease.

a new journal book where I can write "the rest of the story" LOL

It's totally made from recycled banana peels! Cool!

My stitching bag that Carol made for me is treasured and carried in here too! Thank you again Carol!!!!  {{{{HUG}}}

Well, hey, Abbie!  Isn't she pretty this morning.......I miss her already. The little princess slept with me last night, close because we had a little rainey storm with alot of wind. She gets more afraid of them the older she gets.  Brings back memories of Ren where he would literally sit and pant fast before the storm would even get here.

Raven and Ruby (i.e Thelma and Louise) are covered this morning with water. They took a trip down to the lake I see and now sunbathing.

Abbie is now on the "Snack Mat" where she stays under the stitching chair while I write or stitch.

I have to bribe her with treats and she is trained pretty well if I say the word "busy", she plays by herself.

At the quilt store I got 3 yards of this rick rack which is the largest I've ever seen.

The camera makes it look bright yellow, but it's actually a rich old gold color and perfect for making tie backs for some panels upstairs.

I couldn't resist 2 fatquarters. This is one of them.

And another.

This one is my fave. I love these colors for Spring and Summer!

I also got 2 pretty spring wool felt for making a matching needle book for my new tote.

I love this teal color. It's my 2nd fave color.

And Pepsi's sampler is almost done. I haven't picked up the needle since Monday as I've been very distracted with other stuff. But, hopefully to work on it today while catching up on the news.

Spring in action here. This is the dogwood tree out of my kitchen window today.

And this pic taken of the same view just 4 days ago! Can you believe the growth?

I love to see progress in Spring.

And the iris's and the violets and forget-me-not's are thriving. I would get a close up view but this is out of my window right now.

Purple is the inspiration for this Spring.

Carried a bit of it Tuesday to put on Aaron's spot of the world 4 hours away. The ribbon and the flowers from Hobby Lobby.

I added a white Dove.

And a nest with eggs and plenty of Forget-Me-Nots, a few "bees" here and there, and Purple Iris.

Sat back and watched the biggest fleet of blackbirds land all around and a beautiful sunset.

Here's to hoping that your journey this week involves a special spot where you can find peace.

 Till later,

Jennifer

While the world is in turmoil........

I hook. I sew. I stitch. I design. I stress. I stare at the TV in awe.

Yep, I wouldn't call myself a professional hooker but I was determinedd to fix this chair cushion that Abbie tore up before it was paid for. LOL  I don't know if you have seen this in the past but now it's semi-fixed.
I don't have hooking supplies but I sat down and used a large needle and knitting needle to poke this back and through until I thought it was presentable enough as a headrest on my stitching chair! :p

 Yeppers, she doesn't want to talk about it, her separation anxiety when I'm at work or upstairs.

She tries to keep her place nicely.

 But obviously had a bad day a few months ago.

I think she wanted me to learn to be a hooker.

The pillow she dug in was not as bad, not at all, so a quick fix for it.

This is when I took up the practice of yoga for times like these.

I love yoga now and it's part of my daily activities.

 Now that Obama has dipped us in a 3rd war at the same time, I probably will be practicing 3 times a day.

I digress.......

But honestly, power yoga is not a good first one to start unless you have muscle relaxers handy at the house.

 I have gotten into this level now, still a little sore the next day but better.

Last night I started stitching another blue sampler. My brother-in-law, his wife, and my MIL lost their little Pepsi doggie a couple of weeks ago and I was inspired to make Sir Pepsi a pillow keep.

I started by putting a rainbow in the middle and this is the part I have left to stitch.

I stitched it on a piece of linen of which I didn't have labeled but it's a Smokey Blue color. 32 count. Any guesses?

Using CC Cornflower Blue, Chili Pepper, and Gold Leaf so far. Today I will put the Rainbow above this with year when he crossed Rainbow Bridge.

Abbie met Sir Pepsi last September on our trip to Chicago.

He will be missed.

I visualize one day both meeting again with us across Rainbow Bridge where there is lots of green grass and no more illnesses, just sunshine and peace.