Being with a friend.

"Friends are most important ingredient

in the recipe of life."

Author Unknown

 

Friends are so wonderful to have and what a blessing it was to get off the plane after a long flight and be greeted by a wonderful friend. Not to mention a stitching friend, they are just the best. After Pam picked me up the first place she took me was to my favorite "Cracker Barrel".  Yum, was that ever good. When we arrived at her house she made me one of my favorite pies, pecan.

 

 

Sorry I didn't get a picture of it before I got a hold of it. Pam is a wonderful cook and it was delicious.

 

When I went up to my room you can not believe the greeting basket she had for me.

 

 

It was filled with so many goodies from a southern cookbook, some wonderful teas, stitching needles and lots more. She also made me this cute pillow.

 

 

One of the items I brought Pam was this beaded and stitched piece. It was a piece she saw last year and said this could be the two of us sitting at the lake house.

 

 

Pam took me to the lake house and here is the beautiful view from the deck.

 

 

After a couple of days playing around in her cute town we headed off on Tuesday morning for the retreat. What really should have been about a 6 hour trip took us 2 days. We really took our time and visited about 4 stitch shops, a couple of quilt stores, a tea house and not to mention a antique/flea market.

 

Here are  just a few of our stops.

 

 

Erma Bombeck said "the odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one". Well the only thing on my list was a couple of thread colors and believe me I didn't come out of those shops with only my thread. I will have to get pictures of my stash another day.

 

We finally arrived at our retreat destination and have been having a wonderful time meeting new stitchers. And yes we have been getting some stitching done.

 

Just in case we didn't have enough stash one of the girls took us to her local shop. Yes we added even more to our stash. I can't believe how each store has something new I have never seen before.

 



 

 

Well it time to get ready and head over to the stitch room. I will try and get some pictures of my new stash and what we are stitching. The most important part is we are having a very much needed relaxing time away from our everyday lives.

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa



 





 

 









Off on a adventure!

"Travel brings power and love back into your life."

Runi

 

 

Being in the company of those who accept you as you are, and who believes in you even in times when you can’t believe in yourself anymore. Laughing, dancing, chatting away the night in your pajamas while eating potato chips and homemade cookies. Now that’s heaven! (author unknown)

 

Well I am about to be in the company of a friend just like that and I can't wait. My bags are packed not only with clothes and stitching but with great anticipation of a wonderful, fun and relaxing time with my friend Pam, Confessions of a Southern Stitcher. I first met Pam at my first stitching retreat back in October of 2010. About 6 months later a list of everyone who attended email address was sent out and the first thing I did was email Pam to see how she was doing. I knew at the retreat we could have a great friendship but unfortunately she had to leave the retreat a day early due to an illness in the family so we didn't exchange too much information. Well that email was the true beginning of a wonderful friendship. I don't even want to admit just how many emails go back and forth on a daily basis. We are now about to journey on our fourth stitching retreat. I am so excited, I fly out tomorrow morning for Birmingham, AL. I will stay at Pam's for a couple of days and she will show me around town and on Tuesday morning we head out on a 500 mile journey. Who knows just what we will find along the way.

 

When we were at a retreat in New Hampshire, 2011 we did a project that I wanted some old wooden spools to use with it. On our way home we visited a couple of thrift stores. I found some spools but you had to buy the whole basket. It was five bucks so I said why not. It was a nice basket that I always thought I would love to redo. When I started to get my stuff ready for this trip I thought I could put my stuff in a little basket to take to and from class. Well that's when the old thrift store basket came back out.

 

This is what the basket looked like. A bit faded old 80's fabric but the a great basket. Now the inside was another story. Old off white satin with stretched out elastic.

Well first thing I did was see if I could even get the old stuff out.

Well that was easier than I thought. So I found a cute pattern and started stitching away. Took my stitched piece to the local Hobby Lobby and found some matching material. After it was all done I was quite pleased with myself.

My daughter loved the basket so much and said she wanted one. I have an old sewing basket that was her great grandma's that I recently found. I am going to attempt to see if I can redo that basket also. Maybe on this trip I will find a pattern that will be perfect to stitch for the top of it.

My little basket is all packed full with all my stitching needs and ready to take the journey to visit a good friend. I look forward to posting about our journey. Stayed tuned because who knows where the journey will take us.

"Nothing but Heaven itself is better than a friend

who is really a friend."

Titus Maccius Plautus

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa

 

Happy Easter

"A man who was completely innocent,

offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others,

including his enemies,

and became the ransom of the world.

It was a perfect act."

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Happy Easter! I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful season. I can't say I have been doing much Easter stitching. Not that I don't have several Easter themed patterns that I did have hopes of stitching. Well maybe next year.

 

I have been working on three pillows for my stitching room couch. I now have them all stitched up and even bought some fabric to use. Now just need to decide how I want them sewed and then find the time to do it.

 

They were all stitched in the same four colors and the material behind the first one will be used to assemble the pillows, some day.

Are you a sucker like me and love a pattern that is exclusively for a shop and can't be found any where else? Well that is pretty much me. I am also the type of person that is a sucker for anything new in a trial size. I just love the small size. Oh back to exclusively, Just Nan had a pattern just for the Silver Needle in Tulsa Oklahoma. It is Lady Scarlet's Scissor Roll. It has the journey of Lady Scarlet (ladybug) through the garden in spring, late spring, summer, fall and winter. Well of course and it also being a scissor holder just had to have it.



 

When it is unrolled it is a needle/pin holder. Sorry the picture came out sideways. It was a fun piece to stitch. Being a Just Nan fan I also had to do her little bunny. Of course I had to change the purple ribbon to pink.

I have been working on some other projects to take on a get away. Pam (Confessions of a Southern Stitcher) and I are running away from home. I leave next Saturday to fly to her home in Alabama. She is going to take me around her area and show me some stitch shops there and has also promised me some good bar-b-que. We leave her house on Tuesday and then head over to a retreat in Heber Springs, AR in the Ozark Mountains. It is almost a 500 mile drive and we are looking forward to the drive as much as the retreat. Pam has mapped out several cross stitch shops along the way including some quilt and thrift stores. I am also looking forward to eating (and shopping) in a Cracker Barrel. We both signed up for the "Play with clay" class. The teacher just got back from a class offered by Just Another Button Company and will be teaching us how to make some new fun buttons.
It is a much needed time away for the both of us.

"The resurrection gave my life meaning and direction

and he opportunity to start over no matter

what the circumstances."

Robert Flatt

 

Happy Easter. Always keep love in your stitches.

Teresa

 

 

Another wonderful exchange!

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it

 

is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

William Arthur Ward

 

I participated in the stitch with love winter exchange. Once I again I was spoiled with lovely gifts. Mindi at "Joie de Vivre" sent me a wonderful package. She lives in California just like me and said it was hard putting a winter package together. I thought the same thing.

 

 

Here is the wonderful package full of goodies I received. I got a beautiful box with a matching fob, some lovely threads ( one is my most favorite shades of pink. I use it a lot and gladly welcome some more.) fun snowflake charms, dyed blue rick rack, my favorite needles and a nice needle minder.

 

 

Here is a close of the beautiful top of the box. I love the way she also added beads.

 

 

I have never finished a fob like this in the back and I can't wait to try it.

 

 

I sent my package to Kathy "Kathy's sit and stitch".

 

 

                                 

 

She mentioned that she liked biscornu's so I decided to make her one. I used the them when the cold wind blows, stay inside and stitch. Not that in California I know this.

 

I have been a bit stressed lately with not only my niece that lives with us but my FIL. He has been in a home and really not doing well. We have been expecting his passing but when it happens it still does not make it easier. On Thursday the 27th he went home to be with the Lord. It really was a blessing and now we will have wonderful memories of him. Pam "Confessions of a southern stitcher" knew about my stress and on Friday the cutest little package arrived. She had ordered it before she knew about my FIL and it arrived at the most perfect moment.  She said how could this little face not cheer you up. Inside this cute cookie jar it was filled with individual wrapped frosted cookies. Some even looked like the little chick popping out of the egg. Thank you so much Pam for brightening up my day.



 

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa



I think I have lost it!

"If you think anyone is sane

you just don't know enough about them."

Christopher Moore

 

Well what have I lost you ask, my sanity. I think I had it once just not sure where it is now. The only thing that keeps even a small bit of my sanity is stitching. I do find it relaxing. Sorry I have not posted in awhile. I have been doing some blog reading and trying to keep up. Life around here just keeps getting in the way. I do miss the boring life I use to have. Our 11 year old "house guest" has decided she does not like our rules and isn't going to live by them. She wants to go back to her old life where she didn't have any rules or responsibilities. So that is the main reason my sanity has up and left the place.

 

I have been busy doing some stitching just not much finishing work. I did finish the scissors holder but was not very happy with it. It is suppose to have a ribbon that ties around it and I just couldn't find a color ribbon that matched. In my frustration I just put it aside. I finally decided to add a pink heart button I had and add a cord to wrap it closed. Not the perfect solution but at least I can say it is done.

 

 

 

 

Also in the meantime I had computer problems and had to get a new one. I hesitated for about 2 weeks to take it out of the box and hook it all up. I am not a tech person and don't like new things. I prefer the old ones that I know and don't really want to learn something new. It took me forever to figure out how to download these photos.

 

I did go through some old patterns. I found this pattern that I had also bought the pendant. I spent the money on it months ago and figured it was time for me to actually stitch it.

 



It was done on 40 ct and is only about a inch wide in stitching. I was very happy with the way it turned out. It is a Little House pattern.

I purchased two new Mill Hill kits. Like I really needed to purchase any thing. I have enough stash already to stitch. I do like the kits with some bead work.

This one I made with the beaded string to hang it from. The next one I have not done that because I am still deciding if I want to hang it or attach it to something.

Well that's about all that's going on here. I participated in the "Stitched with love" exchange. I received my wonderful package but can't reveal yet. I am working on three patterns I want to turn into pillows for my stitching room. I have the third one almost done and will show you them next time.

This is what I feel like at this point in my life:

"When you get to the end of your rope.

Tie a knot and hang on."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Thank you for hanging in there with me. I will try my best to post more often. Especially now since I figured out the picture thing.

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa



I can't believe it's all stitched.

"Winter must be cold for those with no memories."

Author Unknown

 

I can say I have some wonderful memories but I have still been cold. I apologize now for all you who live where it really does get cold but for a California girl it has been freezing.  I think it is our coldest winter ever. For many days we never got higher than in the 50's and nights have been in the 30's. That's OK if you have the clothes for it but we really only have sweaters and very light jackets. Yesterday we got in the 60's and today 70's are back. I have a feeling this spring I will be busy replacing all my frost bit plants. 

 

I can't believe I finally got all the stitching done on my scissor keep. I started it October of 2011 for about 2 weeks and stopped. Not just stopped but put away until New Years Day. I pulled it out to have something to stitch while I watched the Rose Parade. I am so happy to have it done and am ready to sew it all up. Maybe this afternoon I will get it done.

 

Across the top in the pink is the word "scissor" in 6 different languages. Of course I have a pretty pink material all ready to line it.

I must show you one of my Christmas gifts. My brother and his family last year gave me a gift certificate to Silver Needles for the upcoming retreat. This year he asked if I wanted another gift certificate to a stitch shop. I thought about it for about a half a second and said you are the perfect brother. This year I choose Shepherd's Bush. I have to show what they sent along with it.

They sent this cute little reindeer made out of a pair of gloves. Attached was this saying " When the winter winds blows, chilling fingers and toes, keep your hands snug and warm, so you can stitch up a storm. Merry Christmas from Shepherd's Bush.". Isn't that just the cutest thing to come with my wonderful gift certificate. I plan on ordering soon so stay posted to see what goodies I add to my stash.

I am excited to get back into the "Stitched with Love Exchange". I have not participated in a few months and am so happy Lainy is keeping it going. The theme is Cozy Stitching and we are to stitch something about stitching and keeping cozy warm.  My question to you is what is a perfect cozy stitching time for you? To me sitting in my big chair with a warm cup of tea (vanilla flavor would be my first choice) and a frosted sugar cookie. A good movie like a love story and my stitching in hands.
That is a perfect day to me.

"Kindness is like snow,

it beautifies everything it covers."

Author Unknown

 

I think you for all your kind words and prayers you have given me, especially in these last few months. My family says I am getting my happy old self back and I told them I am back to blogging and it brings such joy in my life. I thank you all.

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa

 

New Year, New Beginnings

"Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad,

but it's the middle that counts.

You have to remember this when you find yourself

at the beginning."

Sandra Bullock

 

Well we are finding us at the beginning of another new year.  I myself probably like the middle of the year. The beginning is scary with all those resolutions you know you will never keep and the end you realize you didn't keep those resolutions. In the middle you don't even think about them. When you start a new project are you scared, at the end do you miss it a bit. I enjoy stitching a project when you are in the swing of it and just relaxing in the stitching. A perfect day to me. Speaking of in the swing, I have read blogs for 4 days in a row. I am so excited to get back into reading. I have done lots and lots of reading and catching up but little in the comment form. If I left a comment on each blog I would never get caught up. Just know that I am now out there and looking into a bit of your lives and enjoying it.

 

I received a lovely post in the mail. It was stamped Royal Mail and I thought maybe it was my save the date card for the upcoming royal baby shower. It was not but just as exciting it was a surprise from Mouse.

 

 

It was a wonderful letter and what I called a Ort Bag. Then I read her blog and she called them "Bourse" bags. Isn't that a more exciting name than Ort Bag.  Isn't it just the cutest thing. Are you like me, first thing I did was try and figure out how it was made. She told me it was a simple 12 inch square. I can see me making a few of these. Thank you so much Mouse for the delightful surprise.

 

I need to know has this ever happen to any of you. I showed in my last post a biscornu I have been working on for what seems like forever. It is a Faby Reilly Design. I got the first side all done and if you look hard you will see not all sides are the same size. They all have the same number of stitches but two of the sides are almost a inch shorter. Well this just won't work as a biscornu so it looks like the future of this piece will be a small pillow. I am not even going to bother stitching the back side but will find in my stash a cute material to back it. I still like it and it will be a cute pillow or pin cushion instead. Oh well life goes on.

 

 

I started "Scissors by any other name" by The Cat's Whiskers back in October of 2011. I got just enough done to be bored. Well I pulled it out after the new year and started it back up. I have got a lot more of it done but sadly boredom is kicking back it. Lots and lots of one color. I am trying hard to finish the piece because it is lovely when it is done. I saw it finished at the retreat in New Hampshire and fell in love with it. Pam won the pattern at the retreat so I knew it was meant to be stitched. I just need to stay focused and I will be on to the next color soon.

 

 

 

I have to admit I caved in to a New Years sale on a online shop. This is what I purchased. Since they are all Christmas themed you won't see them in the rotation any time soon but I just had to have them. You all know how that goes.

 



 

 

I thank you all for following my blog and being there. I am now getting our lives in some kind of order and look forward to blogging more regular. I do so enjoy reading your blogs and being a small part of your lives.

 

I wish I had a box,

the biggest I could find.,

I'd fill it right up to the brim

with everything that's kind.

A box without a lock, of course,

and never any key;

for everything inside that box

would then be offered free.

Grateful words for joys received

I'd freely give away.

Oh, let us open wide a box

of praise for every day.

 

Author Unknown

 

I think all our blogs are these boxes that we so freely open up for all to read.

 

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa