LHN "Pumpkins" Arrives to Gillie

I participated in the Harvest Time exchange on the Stitching Exchange blog and Gillie was the recipient and she was very happy with it. I painted the pins with some copper paint I got at Hobby Lobby and made it into a pinkeep. I also included some autumn colored threads.

Here are some pics:





I am so glad you like the exchange Gillie..it was a fun stitch!

I am mailing out my Lizzie Kate exchange tomorrow so hopefully will have pics to put up shortly for that.

I am awaiting the arrival of Carol's rr and have until the new year to work on and to mail. In the meantime, I will continue working on Christmas exchanges and start working on Christmas gifts. I can't believe Christmas will be here very shortly.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs and happy stitching,
Wendy Jo

Exchanges Sent Out Are Received

Alison sent me an e-mail that she received the fall ornament that I sent her for the All Seasons Ornament Exchange. I designed to stitch her JBW's Autumn Pumpkin. Here is a pic:



I am glad you like it Alison..I enjoyed stitching it for you.

The next exchange I sent was to Lynn B. for the Hooked on Exchanging Halloween Exchange. Lynn e-mailed me to let me know it arrived and she likes it! I stitched Lynn Waxing Moon's The Spooks Are Out. I also sent a LHN pattern that she didn't have and a fat quarter. Here are some pics:




I also completed my section of the Emblem of Love rr I am participating in. I stitched on Margaret's piece and she used some lovely red thread! Very pretty. Now it will be on its way to Edgar tomorrow!

Here is a pic:


Now I will be contining working on my Christmas exchanges and some other gifts and hopefully working in a few things for myself too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs and happy stitching.
Wendy Jo

My HoE Halloween Exchange Arrives!

I received from Leigh my halloween exchange yesterday and she sent a really cute design pin pillow, floss tag, notte pad, buttons and floss.

I had this pattern on my "to do" list and now I can take it off!

Here are some pics:



Thanks Leigh for a wonderful exchange!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. I am going to work on Margaret's rr and hopefully get started on some Christmas stitching.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,
Wendy

PS. Thanks for all the lovely comments about my roadtrip. It was really wonderful!

What A Great Trip With An Unexpected Surprise!

After planning and saving for 14 months September 30th finally arrived and we were beyond excited! Our trip was fabulous and as always is the case when you are having a great time; it always goes by way too quickly. Much was purchased, alot of laughs and ALOT of miles covered from September 30th until October 3rd. But alot of wonderful memories created and will be treasured.

So…grab your favorite beverage and let me tell you all about it.

When I was at a craft fair last year, I noticed some ladies had some copy paper boxes with their names on the box so they wouldn’t get their packages mixed up so I thought that would be a great idea for us to do for this trip. But since this was a cross stitch road trip I decided to put who our favorite designer was or who or what we love to stitch a lot of. So, Carol loves Blackbird Designs so her box said “Blackbird Babe”, Jo Barb loves Prairie Schooler so her box was “Prairie Schooler Princess”, Angie loves snowmen so her box was “snowman hottie”, I love Lizzie Kate and I had a really hard time coming up with something “jazzy” so mine was “Lizzie Kate Fan”. (here is a pic of my box..I forgot to get a pic of everyones).


Wed. Sept. 30th
Angie arrived to pick me up at 7:30 a.m. with her van and off we went to pick up Carol and then Jo Barb so all were picked up as planned by 8:00 a.m. with snacks, stitching bags, suitcases, boxes and the shopping lists!

We decided since we were driving to Tulsa first, (11 hours from here where we are)that to break up the drive that a stop at a LNS in Missouri would be a great idea. So we stopped at CC & Company in Blue Springs, MO. A great little shop, everyone found some goodies and was able to get some things crossed off their lists and I think added a thing or two as well!


After that it was a stop for a quick bite to eat and a fill up of gas and back on the road to Tulsa (a little over 4 hours to go).

We got into Tulsa around 6-6:30 pm and checked into the hotel and ate that night at Cracker Barrel. I did something I had never done before…I ordered breakfast for supper! My DH, Rex, was very proud of me! I guess I only look at breakfast food to be eaten at breakfast time!

Anyway, we went back to the hotel and Angie and I headed over to Jo Barb and Carol’s room and had some show & tell and talked about our lists for the next day.

Thurs. Oct. 1st.

Angie and I have been to the Silver Needle before and told Carol and Jo Barb that when you walk in, it can be a bit overwhelming with everything they have so be prepared. We planned for 2 hours in the shop and I believe we were in there for almost 2 hours. In this stash pic I purchased the new SB box and can’t wait to start stitching it. We all got some great goodies there. Alot was crossed off our lists and I believe some might have been added.

We then peeked around the corner at a quilt shop but only stayed a few minutes as none of us found anything we had to have.

So it was time to move onto Derby, KS to Sunflower Quilts. Sunflower Quilts has a great selection of fabric to choose from and all of us found some goodies to bring back.


We then made a stop at the Goodwill store that was in the shopping center across from Sunflower Quilts because Jo Barb has found quite a few frames at Goodwill for a little bit of nothing so we thought we’d see what they had. Angie ended up finding some frames and Jo Barb found a sweater!

It was still early enough in the day that we arrived in Wichita around 5:00 pm (they were open until 6:00 pm) so we decided to go to Heart’s Desire, to shop and then go back in the morning. I had some LK things waiting for me and I wanted to pick them up. When I ordered the LK items I talked with Joyce who works there and when I placed my order I was telling her about my stitch group’s road trip and I knew she wasn’t going to be working on Friday so that was another reason I wanted to stop, was so I could meet her. She is as delightful in person as she is on the phone. Debbie, the owner of Heart’s Desire was also there so we had a chance to visit with her and what a wonderful lady she is. So I purchased what I had on hold and the other gals put their items on hold until the next day and we were off to check into the hotel and to find a place for dinner.

We ended up at Chili’s that evening and since the day was a long one…we chatted a bit, looked at my stash and called it an early night.

Fri., Oct. 2nd

The hotel we stayed at didn’t have breakfast so Carol suggested Denny’s so that is what we did! After that we headed over to Hen Feathers, a cute little quilt shop that the girls found some fabrics at but I left empty handed. By that time it was 9:30 and I remembered there was a cute little crafty store called Country Bumpkins just up the street from Heart’s Desire so we stopped to look around. I managed to purchase a cute little spider and some chicken poop! Yep, you read right..its for your lips! (contains no poop). I love lip balm and just had to have this! If for nothing else because of the name! When I called DH that night he really didn’t know quite what to say.

Here is the website if anyone is interested: ilovechickenpoop.com

Then it was 10:00 a.m. and off to Heart’s Desire. I managed to pick up some overdyed fabric (café kona, lucky penny, old mill java, and 18th century brown) and also Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel. Carol had gotten this at another LNS and I had been thinking about getting it so I just decided to just do it and am so glad I did.



Debbie greeted us and the other ladies as well and we seemed to keep them very busy cutting fabric! Everyone at the shop was so helpful and friendly. So the place was very busy since she was having a market party with all the new stuff she came back with from market. It’s a great shop and if you are in the Wichita area stop by you won’t be disappointed..

Debbie then approached me and asked how long we were going to be at the shop and I told her probably another 45 minutes or so and she said she was going to give Linda Ebright a call and see if she could come down to the shop. Well Linda was busy but…Linda told Debbie to give us directions on how to get to her studio and come by. Angie and I were beaming! We didn’t expect that at all! Angie and I decided to keep Jo Barb and Carol in the dark and make it a surprise. Boy was it a surprise. I don’t think they knew what to say when we drove up Linda’s driveway and parked the van and got out!

Linda showed us her storage/warehouse area of her studio (entry level of her studio) where she keeps all her patterns/kits and showed us how she attaches the buttons/embellishments to the patterns/kits. She has only one lady that helps out 3 mornings a week otherwise it’s just her and Alan that do all the work of putting the patterns/kits together. She has someone do the graphic design and a professional photographer as well.

She then showed us the upstairs of her studio where she works at her computer. It’s so bright and cheery with yellow walls, lots of windows and very cozy place. I could definitely see myself stitching up there! She showed us some things she is working on for future release and they are adorable.

She is just a lovely person and it was very kind of her to take some time out of her busy day to share it with us. Below is a pic of us….left to right: me, Angie, Linda, Jo Barb and Carol


So after leaving Linda’s it was onto Topeka to a quilt shop called Stitching Traditions (sorry forgot to take a pic). Carol was able to find a pair of Dovos at an awesome price! She asked what I thought of their scissor selection and prices and I said buy a pair if you want Dovos. Carol knows that Dovos are my favorite scissors ever. So she took the plunge and purchased a pair and was one happy camper because we went to another quilt shop and she found the exact same pair and they were double in price there! I didn’t get any fabric and I think maybe Jo Barb and Angie were the only other ones to purchase anything.

It was still early enough in the day that we could go to The Sunflower Seed as they were open until 5:30 pm and it was only around 4:15 pm. Anita has a really cute little shop and she also designs under “The Sunflower Seed. I picked up some patters and some are in the pics below, I did pick up some patterns that aren’t shown as they are for exchanges and gifts. I did manage to find an adorable sunflower needle case to match my sunflower ort jar I got in a past visit.



I also picked up some small cuts of overdyed fabric for the Blackbird Designs stockings and some small 40 ct. pieces for future projects.

Then it was dinner time so we chose The Texas Roadhouse. I just LOVE their dinner rolls. YUM!

We checked into our hotel and Angie and I went over to Jo Barb and Carol’s room for show and tell and to stitch since we hadn’t done that at all on this trip and tomorrow we were headed back home.

Sat. Oct. 3rd

Our final stop was a quilt shop in Lee’s Summit called Quilter’s Station. Tons and tons of fabric in several rooms. They also have some home décor items, primitive things.

I purchased the Amy Butler Frenchy Bag pattern that was on my list and some home decor things and fabric (fabric is in the fabric pic). I think everyone purchased some goodies.


We then stopped for a fill up of gas and drinks and got back on the road to head home.

On our drive home we decided that a stop in Urbandale at Cold Stone Creamery was a must – a “sweet” way to end a great trip, with great girlfriends!

Sorry for some missed pics, but I did add the web links if there was one, at some shops but hope you enjoyed reading about my road trip.

Happy stitching

Hugs,
Wendy Jo

A Roadtrip Begins Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow morning my stitch group finally leaves on our cross stitch roadtrip that we have been planning and saving for..for 14 months. We have been planning it for so long and..WOW its finally here. We have stitch group today so I can only imagine what we will be gabbing about!

We are headed to The Silver Needle, Hearts Desire and The Sunflower Seed plus some quilt shops in between!

I will give a full report with pictures when I return on Monday.

Happy stitching to everyone.

Hugs,
Wendy Jo

Autumn Exchange to England Arrives

Sue e-mailed me and let me know she received her autumn exchange and loves it. This is an exchange from the Exchange Heaven blog. I stitched a freebie design from Erica Michaels and finished it into a pinkeep. I also sent a pretty fat quarter that I think Sue will enjoy as well.


I have gotten all my stitching exchanges complete and am now just waiting for the mailing dates to get alittle closer so I can mail them to their destinations so in the meantime I am working on Margaret's round robin that has arrived and I have some birthday presents that I am also working on.

Our stitch group is getting really excited about our three day roadtrip. We leave next Wednesday. We are going to The Silver Needle, Heart's Desire and The Sunflower Seed, plus 3 quilt shops (I need more fabric! LOLOL). I will be sure to take my camera and give a full report when I return. We have all been looking forward to this trip and been planning and saving for it for over a year!!

Well, thanks for stopping by and happy stitching to you!

Hugs,
Wendy Jo

An Autumn Exchange Received

My autumn exchange from the Exchange Heaven arrived yesterday and I got the cutest bag from Jane! The design Jane chose she did in blackwork and her work is absolultely fabulous!

Thanks so much Jane I love my exchange very much and will use the bag ALOT!


Lately I have been finishing up my exchanges and now in the process of doing the "finishing" work on them.

Today is stitch group so I plan to work on a birthday gift. So no "info" on that just yet.

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching to you.

Wendy Jo

A "Home" Exchange

I participated in a "home" exchange on the Exchange Heaven blog and my partner received her exchange and I have received mine on Saturday afternoon.

I stitched for Maddy and decided to stitch her Heart in Hand's Good to be Home. I had stitched this for the All Seasons Exchange and loved it so much and thought it was perfect for this exchange. I made it into a pincushion and stuff with plastic pellets. I am so glad you like the exchange Maddy...I enjoyed stitching it for you!

Here is a pic:


I received my exchange from Sue in the U.K. and she stitched a lovely design by I think Barbara Ana and made it into a door hanger there is even a cute pocket in back. She also sent me a cute pincusion and some wonderful ribbon which will be great for some Christmas finishing. I see a theme of red here in the exchange...not sure but I am wondering if Sue did this because red is my favorite color..mmmm? I wonder.....LOLOL

Thanks so much Sue..I love the whole exchange very much!!

A birthday and a start of my RR!

I hear from Rita that my birthday present to her arrived and she is very happy! Rita loves anything autumn so I stitched her an autumn leave scissor fob by Heart in Hand and sent some other goodies as well. Here are some pics:



I joined my first RR recently and I finished up my section of it and wanted to share it. It's called "An Emblem of Love" by Ellen Chester. I decided to stitch it on 36 ct. White Edinborough, over 2, and use WDW Wavy Navy. I think it turned out well. Margaret's piece will be on the way to me shortly so I am excited to stitch on her piece as she is doing hers in red!

Now mine will will travel to Edgar's house next month for him to stitch a section. Then once he is finished he will send it on to the next person for them to stitch a section, etc. I am really excited to see this progress through the months and look forward to it returning at the end of May.

I just think the whole idea of a round robin is so neat, having others from all around the world stitch on your piece and you stitch on theirs and knowing when it comes back home to you that its been all over the world in different homes, its just really neat! I am going to ask each of the RR members to put their initials somewhere on the section they stitched. Carol R. is having us do that on her's and I thought that was a great idea so I am doing as is Margaret too.

I also noticed while stitching my initials over 1, that my diopeter lens (1.75) on my daylight is not strong enough for over 1 on 36 ct anymore so I plan to purchase a stronger lens next month when I hit the road with my stitch group for our roadtrip. Not sure what strength I will get but I just know I need a stronger one!

This weekend I am going to work on a birthday gift and start work on another exchange so I have my weekend stitching plans all set!

I do hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate it.

Take care and happy stitching,
Wendy Jo

A Birthday and Exchanges

I have sent a birthday exchange to Ina and it has been received and opened and she is one happy birthday girl! So I can now show a picture of what I sent her.

I stitched her a scissor fob from Drawn Thread called Pumpkin Keeper and included a JCS magazine, some tea (she loves tea) and some other goodies as well.



Happy birthday Ina!!

I participated in the Summer House exchange on the HoE blog and Chris H. in the U.K. finally received my exchange. I was getting really worried as the package decided to take the long about route to her house..but it arrived and she is very happy :)

I used the freebie design from LHN "Summer House" but used threads from LHN "Daisy" and added some dragonflys to the design as well. Here is a pic:


I also participated in the ASOE's Stitcher's Choice exchange and stitched for Jayne P.

I decided to stitch her Heart in Hand's "Good to be Home". I thought it was something she could display all year long if she chose to. Here is a pic:



I have been busy the past week working on exchanges and this past weekend I worked on my first RR, called "An Emblem of Love". I am really enjoying this. I will be able to post a pic of my section I stitched very soon.

Thanks everyone for stopping by..I do appreciate the comments.

Happy stitching.

Wendy Jo