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!!!

Saying Good Bye to 2011

I don’t know about you, but this year has just gone by so fast. It has probably been one of my least productive stitching years to date. Life has certainly gotten in the way and I am hoping that 2012 is much more productive. I plan to make a big dent in my stash that I have, especially after looking for a piece of fabric the other day, I came across some stash I had bought earlier this year, that I totally forgotten I had bought! It was like bliss all over again! I am sure others can relate??? I think I may sit down with my stash and make a list of patterns/kits I would like to REALLY do and just tackle them one right after another, most likely by season, like right now anything to do with snowmen/winter until about mid-January and then I'll move onto Valentines, etc.. I am one of those stitchers that can only stitch one project at a time. I tried doing a rotation a couple of times and it didn't work for me. If someone has an idea for me, please let me know. I am looking forward to getting back into exchanges a bit. I am participating in Friends Through Friends again and I want to participate in some personal exchanges as well. I did some Christmas gift exchanging so..here is what I sent. I really enjoy stitching and shopping for my stitching friends. I can easily say I don’t have to think “gee…what shall I buy this person or what shall I buy that person” or what to stitch them, I know they will love whatever I send because it comes from my heart. It makes the whole gift giving so much fun! I am so tickled with the gifts I received too. Its everything I love…quoting a popular saying “its right up my alley!” I sent to Staci this: (the jars are lavender and pomergranate hand scrubs I made)

And received this:

Staci also had a birthday and I sent her this:

I sent this to Julie:

And received this:

I also sent to my friend Lynne (no blog) in California. Lynne and I have been friends for years and every year I stitch her something from Lizzie Kate as that is her favorite designer. I think this may be the 12th year? I have lost track! In addition to stitching her something, I sent her some lavender hand scrub and other goodies.

And she sent this (I have a “small” mmm {{maybe}} large obsession?? for kitchen towels!)

My friend Carol, no blog, in my stitch group gave me 4 of her lovely dish cloths. She is quite a knitter and has been doing an amazing amount of knitting lately and knows how much I admire her knitting so I was tickled that she gave this to me:

Her gift is in progress so will show a pic soon. We still don’t have any snow here in Eastern Iowa! I can’t believe I am saying that on the 30th of December! I don’t believe we have any in the forecast either. Christmas seemed alittle off because there was no snow:( I am afraid we may be in for a doosey of a snowstorm come January?? I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Stitching, Wendy Jo

Its Been Awhile

Where has the time gone? I really don't have much on the stitching front. Life has just gotten in the way and I had seem to have lost my stitching, e-mailing and blogging mojo there for a while. Its coming back, thank heavens because it sure feels good to stitch again and e-mailing and of course, get back to blogging. I have been doing some reading, though. I love Jodi Picoult so I have read a few of her books; Salem Falls, The Tenth Circle, Mercy, Change of Heart and then a book by Jacquelyn Mitchard called A Theory of Relativity. I have also gotten a new sewing machine that has more gadgets on it than my older one so I have been doing some more sewing. Rex and I took a trip out to Colorado in September and I got to see Staci a couple of time which was so much fun. I took her a lovely gift and here is a pic. Her anniversary was recently and I sent her a bracelet I made. They are so much fun to do and its "so Staci" and she really love it. (I failed to get a pic but she has one up on her blog). Cathy had a birthday recently and I was late in getting her package in the mail but she has received it and loves it so here's a pic of what I sent. I was also thinking about my friend Joan and thought I'd pop alittle something in the mail to her "just 'cuz" and I also made one for my dear friend Paula (no blog). Both loved them too! I am busy working on some Christmas gifts this week so I can get them shipped by weeks end. I hope everyone is finding some time for stitching as we close in on Christmas. I haven't gotten as much stitching done this year so I have decided I am going to rummage through my charts and make a challenge to myself that I want to get a certain number done by the end of next yea...not sure what the number will be yet, I am still deciding. But I really want to make an effort to stick with it. I have so many wonderful patterns that I really want to stitch. Well, I think I'll close for now. Thanks for stopping by. I so appreciate it very much. Happy Stitching. Wendy Jo

Just A "Few" Finishes

I hope all my American friends had a nice 4th of July. I spent the majority of it sorting through my fat quarters and having fun matching it up with my stitched pieces looking for just that right backing fabric and then going to my trim basket and searching for just that perfect piece of trim for the final touch. Here is what I accomplished over the weekend. For trim, I used ric rack, chenille that I rit dyed and on the last one "America" I used jute and I stuff all my pillows with walnut litter. I am really happy with the way everything turned out. But I must say...I am rather burned out from finishing for now anyway!










I am now back to stitching Americana things as I have so many I am still wanting to work on and it is still July so I am still in that "mode".

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my package to Staci. I really appreciate your visits and comments.

Happy stitching.
Wendy Jo

I'm Seeing Red, White & Blue!

Is it really July 1st? and is July 4th really Monday? WOW! This summer is just going by way too fast!

Well, I chatted with a dear gal pal in the Rocky Mountain region this a.m. and she received a package I was actually working on when she sent me this beautiful scarf! OMW...I am sure I need not mention what beautiful work Staci does but...boy oh boy...she REALLY DOES do beautiful work...a very talented lady! Plus its red!!!!!!!!!!!!!


When I was on my Kansas trip I came upon a Stacy Nash pattern "Liberty Sewing Pouch" and I knew I would love to stitch that for Staci. It is just too cute. So I did and I took some chenille trim and rit dyed it, which I learned you really don't need much dye when you are dying chenille. I am really happy with the way the trim turned out. I did stuff the pillow with poly fil as I thought the walnut litter might be a bit too heavy.

I have been having a very loving relationship with my sewing machine the last few days so I decided to give making pincushions a try so...I pulled out some of my Moda charm packs and put this one together for Staci as well. I used walnut litter to fill. I think it turned out pretty good so I am now going to make one for myself.




I have been playing in my fat quarters and am going to be doing some sewing over the next few days and get some things finished. I have some wonderful trim, buttons and of course chenille that I want to get out and play and experiment with so that is my game plan for the holiday weekend.

I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend and also find time to put needle to thread.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Happy stitching,
Wendy Jo

Long time...no posting! It is catch up time now! So grab a cup of coffee, soda or tea and I'll share what I've been doing.

Julie had a birthday back in March and I sent a present her way and this is what I sent. The design is one of my favorite from Pine Mountain Designs called "Friendship is the Sweetest Flower".


Last month I went on a roadtrip to visit some quilt shops and cross stitch shops and some of the places I stopped at were Crossroads Quiting in Cameron, Mo.; Old Mill Stitchery in Liberty, MO; CC & Co. in Blue Springs, MO; ; Praire Point Quilting in Shawnee, KS; Stitch On Needlework Shop in Lawrence, KS; Stitching Traditions in Topeka, KS; The Sunflower Seed in Topeka, KS; Hen Feathers in Wichita, K; Material Girls in Wichita, and Heart's Desire in Wichita, KS where I {finally} had the opportunity to meet Julie in person! If you read my post from late last year, we had tried to meet up in Sioux City, IA in December but I got caught up in white out conditions and spent the night at the high school in Sloane, Iowa. We then talked about meeting up in Kansas City in February but the hockey tournament was cancelled so I was happy when we were finally able to make this time work. We met up at Heart’s Desire and then headed off to 4 quilt shops (2 listed above), lunch, and then to a newly opened Joann’s. What a wonderful day.

Julie and I did exchange gifts. I stitched her a pattern from Heart in Hand and I changed the colors to match the fabric. I stuffed it with walnut litter.



Julie stitched and made me a wonderful tin, including a marker and some wonderful needles that I used today and just love! (Julie said this was the first one she ever made….she did a fantastic job!) Thanks so much Julie.


Here is a pic of some of the things I purchased. While I was mostly looking for fabric, I went “alittle” crazy with the fat quarters…surprise…surprise! LOLOL



A nice day but very windy, we managed to get a pic in.


Then last week, Rex and I spent a few days up in Minneapolis and I was able to spend a day with Cathy! I was able to also meet her SIL, Janice, as she spent the day with us as well and she is just as sweet as Cathy. What an absolutely fun day we had! We, of course, met up at Stitchville, where Rex dropped me off and then after that, we had lunch and then off we went to some quilt shops.
Cathy and I also exchanged gifts. I stitched her up the same gift I did for Julie and I also stitched one for Joan who was unable to spend the day with us.



Joan sent with Cathy my birthday gift which is absolutely darling!


Cathy’s gift is such a treasure. Its made by Cathy’s 79 year old mom. Boy oh boy does she ever do some wonderful tatting! I feel very blessed to now have 3 pieces from her now. Cathy also gaveme a lovely needlebook that used Blackbird Designs fabric and some Bohn needles too :)




Here is what I picked up. Some great treasurers. Again, I was after some hand dyed fabrics but also came across some wonderful trim, some antique spools, a few fat quarters and some small milk jugs that I am not sure what I’ll do with yet but I am thinking I’ll fill them with flowers or buttons or a bit of both.



Thanks Cathy for a wonderful day! I enjoyed every minute of it! When Cathy dropped me back off at the hotel, Rex played photographer and snapped a pic of Cathy and I.



I have done some stitching for myself and its in my pile of “finishing” now. So here they are: LK Peep; Easter freebie from Istitchaholic; The Trilogy’s Happy Easter; Primitive Betty’s Simplify (I changed the colors to match the fabric I will use as backing), and Blackbird Designs “Bluebird”. Please excuse the wrinkles, I didn’t iron prior to taking pics.











I hope you have had an opportunity to put needle and thread to your fabric and thanks so much for visiting.

Happy stitching.
Wendy Jo