I Had Some Sunshine in My Mailbox!

Cathy has been a very busy gal there in Minnesota!!! Here is my birthday gift this year. Oh my goodness.

(Sorry for the awful picture taking....)The stitching on the book says "A token of friendship and remembrance", when I opened it, well you can see from the pic, how lovely is that and Cathy personalized it with my intials "wjb", and then here are the patterns...cute little motifs. All of it beautifully stitched and beautifully put together. Very much a treasured gift from a treasured friend.

Cathy also sent a lovely stitchery necklace with my initial, "W", of course, that she got at The Attic when she was there. Love it! I will wear that out and about tomorrow, in fact!

Thanks so much Cathy. I love my birthday gifts very much.

Thanks everyone for stopping by. Please leave comments, I would love to hear from you.

Wendy Jo

Very little stitch…more reading and sewing!

My stitching has been hit or miss over the last several months. I tend to go in spurts. I have found reading or sewing to be holding my concentration more these days, with good reason.

I had my annual mammogram last fall and heard cancer. Luckily it was caught super early and I had a surgery to remove what was there and a 2nd surgery to make sure there wasn’t any more and now I am in radiation for 7 weeks (35 treatments). I started the radiation this week. I have good days and not so good days. Mostly I like to say I have “okay” days. I just take it one day at a time.

I was pretty down on Wednesday. A friend I worked with and knew from high school passed away from breast cancer and she was my age, 46. She had gone to Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Chicago and I knew that was pretty much the place a lot of people go for difficult or complexed cancer(s) and I was pretty scared for Donna and she just couldn’t beat it.

You really do make every day count and matter that is for sure.

So to stay occupied I have been reading and when that doesn’t work I have been making good use of all those fat quarters that I have! I have been sewing bookmarks! If anyone is inclined to buy one, let me know! They are $3.50 and that includes postage in the US. I will gladly ship internationally. Right now I have 2 different types, ones with buttons and ones with a loop. I have a lot more styles that I haven’t made yet, so if there is something you’d like (color, pattern, etc.) just let me know. The bookmarks are washable and just air dry and press with a warm iron. They have some interfacing in them so they are not very flimsy.

I will close for now. Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Wendy Jo

Friendship Exchanges

We had a friendship exchange on the Friends through Threads blog and here is what I sent and received recently.

I stitched for Melissa and decided on a design by Heartstring Samplery called Friendship Pin Pillow. I changed the colors a bit and matched up some fabric I had as well as some ric rac. I think it turned out pretty good and Melissa was delighted to receive it so that made me feel fabulous! It was fun to stitch it for her.



I received from Suzanne. Suzanne stitched me a design by Anne Les Petites Croix called Carre Fleuri and made it into a mattress pincushion. She added a loop so I could add a pair of scissors and use it as a scissor fob! It is absolutely lovely and its on display now. Thanks so much Suzanne.



This a super short post. I have stitch group here tomorrow and have quite a bit I want to get done before then.

I hope everyone is finding some time to put needle and thread to fabric and enjoying the Memorial Day.

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching
Wendy Jo

Spring Exchange with a Friend in Finland

Irmeli and I did a personal spring exchange and I received her gift right before Rex and I went out of town for a few days. I am so thrilled with the package! She stitched a lovely design called "Patchwork Spring" by Jardin Prive. Its so so pretty and I just love it. Irmeli included a easel to display as well. She put a cross stitch magazine, key fob, and of course we thought our packages needed to include some sweets! They sure were delicious and didn't last long! Irmeli included a couple of pieces of gorgeous fabrics! I even love the wrapping paper she wrapped things in...its cross stitched wrapping paper! How cool is that?!

Thanks so very much Irmeli...I love everything! For my exchange I stitched Irmeli Heart in Hand's Celebrate Spring, finished into a pillow. I changed the colors to coordinate with the fabric I chose. I also made Irmeli a pincushion, sent some scissors, needles, note pads and chocolate!

It was a fun exchange and I am sure Irmeli and I will be doing another again:) Thanks for stopping by and hope you are able to put needle and thread to fabric. Happy Stitching, Wendy Jo

Meeting Friends and Stitching Exchanges

I am SO tardy in posting a pic and report on my outing with Joan and Jill that it's a bit embarrassing! As Jill and Joan posted on their blogs we got together, a couple of weeks ago now, and had a really nice day. Osage, Iowa is about 3 hours from me and abit over 2 hours for them. We first went to The Stitchery Nook and I was a really good girl and only bought one chart HIHN's Curio Free and a scrap piece of fabric. We ventured to Debbie's Quilt Shop, where I didn't purchase anything...not even a fat quarter. It was a nice little shop too! I'm not on the "wagon" or anything I just didn't find anything I needed. Trust me...I certainly tried! LOL

For lunch we headed to Teluwut Grille House & Pub and had a really nice lunch and did lots of gabbing. We plan to get togethere again..hopefully (fingers crossed) soon. On the stitching front, I have been working on a friendship themed exchange on the Friends Through Threads blog. I am enjoying the piece alot. This is the first time I have stitched something by this designer and I have found a couple of errors with colors but its easy to fix so nothing major. I have finished my spring exchange that I am doing with Irmeli. I just have to add some "sweets" and we are each mailing on Monday. I am SO excited to mail. I have some things in her package that I think she'll really like. I can show a couple of fabrics I used in her package.

Rex and I are off to see our nieces' play soccer this weekend so I probably won't get any stitching in until late Sunday. I do hope you are able to find some time to stitch! Thanks so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate it. Wendy Jo

Birthday Gifts to Post About

Two friends had birthdays recently and I have pics to share. First up is Julie. I stitched her a fob and stitched a small band on a spool that she could stick her scissors in. The fob is a bonus pattern in one of the LK inspiration boxers. I also sent her a "new to me" lip balm that was kinda fun and springy plus in her fav color of pink. She was thrilled with the package so I was one happy camper!

Next up was Joan. I stitched her a fob and stitched a small band on a spool as well that she could park her scissors in. The fob was a bonus pattern in one of the LK inspiration boxers. I know Joan is a scissor collector and thought she needed one more pair :)

As Joan said her latest post, we are meeting up tomorrow! I am so excited! It'll be good to see her and it'll be one fun day. I have been doing a bit of stitching but nothing as I had originally planned (remember the 15 project plan). So here are a couple of pics of what I have been working on: Both are Lizzie Kate designs: Faith boxer and Land that I Love. I am also working on a personal exchange I am doing with Irmeli with a mailing date later in April.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are able to some time to put some needle and thread to fabric! Wendy Jo

Packages Received

Rex was working in the Denver office the last two weeks so I tagged along and enjoyed the snow and some girlfriend time with Staci. We did the usual girlfriend things - shopped, ate, and gabbed! Lots of fun! I picked up the held mail this a.m. and had a belated birthday gift from Joan and my red exchange from Becky waiting for me! Our Friends through Threads exchange group did a red exchange and I sent to Joan. I stitched her a design by Istitch Designs called Sew Sapphire but instead of stitching it in blue, I did it in WDW garnet and finished it into a pillow. Joan loves it and I am a happy camper :)

I received from Becky. Becky stitched me French Square by Scissor Tail designs. Becky used 36 ct. opalescent fabric and Threadwork 1089 to stitch with. It is absolutely lovely! The backing fabric is just perfect for it and I love the little red bead in the center. Thanks so much Becky. Its proudly displayed with my other stitching treasures!

Joan sent me a pretty stitching portfolio! {{ABSOUTELY LOVE IT!!!}} What a treasure! Thanks so much Joan :)

Well, I have a list of 15 projects to tackle but spending two weeks in Denver didn't encourage me to do much in the way of stitching. I just wanted to be out and about way too much! See my sidebar at the right for the list. I'll post pics of some of my starts soon, the lighting tonight is terrible! I think I'll close for now. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have some time to put some needle and thread to fabric! Wendy Jo

A Couple of Birthday Gifts to Share

The mailman made me a very happy girl yesterday! LOL I received 2 birthday gifts from 2 dear friends. The first one was from my friend Lynne (no blog) in California. Remember when Leisure Arts had a pen pal section in their magazines? Well, that is how Lynne and I started our friendship and its still going on today, 20 years later! I haven't seen her in about 12 years but hope to get out that way in the next few years. Thank heaven's for e-mail though! Lynne sent some wonderful goodies. She's a stamping consultant and makes the best cards! I really treasure the cards and always display them, they make great decorations! She made a cute little box that had Hershey's chocolate and caramel in them. What a cute little pouch and talk about delish! She also made a cute cover for a small note book and sent some fat quarters which I will definitely put to great use. Thanks so much Lynne.

Cathy sent me a package that I also got yesterday! When I read her note and she said her mom is feeling better and that she has been tatting I just knew that I was going to be getting something tatted by her mom! I have a couple of tatted pieces from Cathy's mom and they are just gorgeous! The tatted piece was mounted on a ball jar lid! I love it! Cathy also included a cute little note pad from my purse. Thank you so much Cathy :)

On the stitching front, I am done with my red exchange so while I am still thinking of how to finish it, I have been talking a bit with my friend Irmeli in Finland. I was talking to her about all the stitching I want to do this year and that I have tried a rotation and it just didn't work for me. As I think why it may not have worked for me, I think it may have been because I might have chosen too many large projects or not "mixing" it up a bit. For example, maybe I should have added more smaller projects that could give me that instant gratification feeling. Irmeli said she use to be a "project at a time" stitcher like me but decided to give the crazy January challenge after participating in the challenge last year. So I have decided before Feb. 1st I will put 15 patterns, threads and fabric together for those 15 projects so when Feb. 1st rolls around I will be ready to go! Wish me luck! Well, I think that is all I have to share for now. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have some time to put some needle and thread to fabric! Happy Stitching Wendy Jo

Belated Christmas Gift Delivered

Believe it or not I had one Christmas gift to get out the door! My friend, Carol (no blog), in my Tuesday stitch group, had knitted me up some dishcloths so I wanted to stitch her up a little something. I planned to give it to her at stitch group but between the weather and schedules, we haven't met up! So I drove over the other day and delivered it to her. She likes it and its stitched in purple so I could go no wrong! Its a freebie from The Sampler Girl. Its a simple yet makes a lovely little gift. This is just like the "I love knitting" one I stitched for Staci, only "I love stitching". Even though Carol knits, I know she wants to put down her knitting needles and put up that cross stitch needle and start stitching! So maybe this will motivate her a bit!

I am finishing up my red exchange on the Friends Through Threads blog. I had quite a variety of reds to choose from and I went with garnet from WDW. The garnet I have has ALOT of variegation which I just love and the reason I chose it :) I am thinking about the finishing, should it be made into a pinkeep? pillow? small frame? Might have to run it by my Tuesday stitch group. I am hoping the weather will be good to us this week so we can have stitch group on Tuesday. We haven't met in a while so I'm anxious to see what everyone is stitching on. We all have very similar tastes in designers and what we stitch like snowman, primitive, houses, etc. but yet, we all have our "favs" designers. Sometimes a couple of us may be stitching the same design but using different fabric or threads, I love seeing how the design comes out. I am sure Jo Barb will be stitching something snowman or something Prairie Schooler (which is her fav) (she has practically all the PS charts!), Beth (no real favorite designer) is working on Rosewood Manor Quakers & Quilts, which is looking absolutely stunning! Carol is wanting to start the 2012 ornament series from Littlehouse so she might start that or a BBD's loose feathers (which is Carol's fav designer), not sure what Jo K. is stitching on and I am not sure if Jo K. really has a favorite designer and me I'll work on LK Snowman '10 if I am done with the red exchange piece. LK is my favorite designer. Angie is back to teaching part time and right now she has a teaching "gig" until spring break. Angie loves so many different designers that I am not sure if she has a favorite one or not. I'll have to take pics sometime and show them off. They really stitch some beautiful things and none of them have a blog, I have tried talking them into it but they prefer lurking! :) Speaking of stitching, I think I'll close for now and get back to mine! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and hope you put some needle and thread to some fabric! Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stitching Wendy Jo PS I apologize that the entire posting runs together, I have tried to put paragraph breaks in, but it seems to not be working :(

Birthday Gifts

I have some wonderful gifts to share with you. Staci sent this earlier this week. Super cute socks (with a mesh bag to wash them in) and the chocolates "were" (notice the word were in quotes, the chocolate didn't last long) yummy! The tin is a collector's tin and I know I'll put it to great use. The socks are so comfy! I love the edging Staci put on them. Makes them extra "cutesy" :) Thanks Staci!

Today I received a present from Julie. Another sweet friend who knows me so well! She sent an adorable floss tag, awesome candle called "Hometown Days", it smells AWESOME!. Julie also sent this fabulous Liberty box, some fabric and a pretty 2012 "American" calendar which I needed! Julie, thank you so very much. All of my faves!

Then I had a package from Becky. Becky and I are birthday buddies on the Friends Through Friends blog. Becky spoiled me. She stitched a lovely pinkeep of a LHN design called Stars & Stripes, which happens to be a pattern I have in my stash to stitch this year. Not any longer! So so pretty! Becky also sent a beautiful needle threader. It is just so delicate and pretty! Becky also got me a gift certificate to spend at Little Stitches. I believe market is next month so I will use it then. Thank you so much Becky for a wonderful birthday package. You certainly made it very special.

For my birthday, we ordered a pizza and had some cake and I'm stitching while Rex went out to shovel. We may go out this weekend for a nice dinner and see "The Iron Lady" with Merle Streep. It looks really good. Generally I like drama and romantic comedies. Once in a while something will grab me like "The Iron Lady" and I love Merle Streep. She was on Ellen today and she told Ellen that she was paid $1 million dollars and donated it to American Women's History Museum. I thought that was really wonderful to hear! Tomorrow I'm getting together with my cousin, Jane, and we are going shopping and seeing an afternoon movie called The Descendants with George Clooney. Anyone seen it? My cousin, Jane, is a real movie buff, LOVES movies! All kinds. Yesterday the temp was in the 50's and today it was in the 20s and it SNOWED! We got around 5 inches. More snow is on the way over the next few days but just trace amounts. Now, it feels like winter! I am loving it now, but I am sure come the first of March, I'll be ready for spring and the warmer temps! On the stitching front, I have Carol's (no blog) Christmas gift stitched and will hopefully see her at stitch group on Tuesday and then I can show pics! I put down my L*K Snowman '10 that I was working on, as I was anxious to start on my red exchange. I am enjoying the piece and I think my partner will really love it! (Fingers crossed!) I'll pick up the L*K Snowman when I'm done with the red exchange piece. Well, thanks so much for stopping by and hope you find some time to put needle and thread to some fabric. Happy stitching, Wendy Jo Becky....I have tried to send you a personal e-mail and it has bounced back a couple of times, the last time I sent it, I do believe it went through, if not, please e-mail me. Thanks!!!