LIGHTHOUSE HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!

Here is my lighthouse Round Robin  finished, washed and ironed. Isn't it stunning. It was started June 14, 2007 and finished March 27, 2011.

A huge thank you to all my lighthouse keepers. There were many grumbles, complaints and even some cursing as each lighthouse was stitched. They are Stoney Creek designs and some lighthouses had over 50 colors and many, many color changes. It was indeed a labor of love. I will be taking it home to Canada to have it framed.

Oh what a time I have had!!!

The past ten days have been something else. I have had an exciting time.

First, my friend Dani came from Canada for a short vacation. I love having her visit and we stitch like crazy when she is here. She was on the hunt for the new Ipad 2 while she was here but had no luck.
We went to Maricopa to visit another stitching friend  (Judie - no blog) from Canada overnight and we got to spend the day by her pool. We talked and stitched for hours.

The next day we drove to Mesa and met three other stitchers - Angie (no blog) from home, Annette and Bette. How exciting it was to have 3 of my Canadian friends together and then to meet 2 special stitchers from Arizona.

                                                               Annette, me and Bette.

If you ever get the chance to meet Annette and Bette, do. They were both very warm and welcoming. We talked and talked for the longest time. I hope we get to meet up in the future. We don't live that far apart.

                                                           Annette, Bette, Judie, Angie
                                                                         Dani, me

We met at "The Attic"  needlework shop in Mesa. OMG - what a store!! They are not open on Mondays. A phone call from Dani and a request and they agreed to open for us. How wonderful is that.
We were there for 1 1/2 hours and barely scratched the surface. We could have been lost there for days!! Here is a photo of my new stash. Dani bought me "Quaker Love Letters" after I put it back on the counter as I had already blown my budget.  "Wild Eyed"  is for my BFF Beatrice.

I was able to buy two new skeins of CC Pixie Dust and now can go back to my Mirabilia Valentine Fairy.
Before Dani and I headed back to Yuma, we had car trouble. We were leaking anitifreeze from the radiator reservoir. I am so happy that Dani was with me. I know nothing about vehicles and she was able to show me how to keep the reservoir filled. We made it back to Yuma a few hours late and very warm. We had no airconditioning and the temperature was 90F.

Dani and I went to Mexico for part of a day and she did some fun shopping. She also did some mall shopping for some new clothes. She came with a half empty suitcase and I can guarantee that was not the case when she left.
Believe it or not, we did put in some serious stitching time. Here is my lighthouse RR now.

 The Point Loma lighthouse is finished. I have 8 more boats to stitch and the whole thing will be done. I was going to stitch some smaller things in the blank spaces. I stitched a lantern in the bottom right hand corner. I did not like how it looked and pulled it all out. I think I will leave it just the way it is. The entire piece is in for a good long soak when it is done.
Watch for a BIG Happy Dance when this one is complete!!!

I also picked up my Snowman Serenade for my SAL with Cheryl. I seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. The frogs visit far too often. Here is my progress now. Hopefully, next week it will go smoother.

That's it for this week everyone. I hope to have that major Happy Dance soon. I will be going through my WIP's to see what I can finish up next.
I am expecting a Mirabilia RR in my mailbox soon and will be working on that.

Until then - keep those needles smokin'

P.S. Dani has sent me the two photos of us stitchers and has updated her blog about her trip here. Check it out!

Flying By

Wow, this week has just flown by. I don't know where it went. I know I spent a lot of time in front of my sewing machine and a few short hours on the sofa stitching.
This is what I've been up to this week.

The first picture comes with a bit of a story.
My parents will be married 60 years Sept 12th and so I wanted to do something special for them. I designed them a quilt. This is the top finished and now it has gone to the quilters.
The top row - a little hard  to see - has their dates Sept 12, 1951-2011 embroidered by a good friend of mine.
The rest are the family handprints. My young niece in Texas got my parents handprints "for a school project". Clever girl. My parents are at the top, myself, my sisters and their families fill the rest of the quilt. I can easily recognize my father's hands. They are short but very thick. My mother's hands are starting to cripple with arthritis and you can see the twist in her fingers. My youngest sister cut the tendon in one finger when she was young and you can see the finger has healed crooked. Myself and two of my nieces are lefties and so you can see our left hands. My little grandson's hands are easy to recognize. Already this quilt has a story. The quilt should be back from the quilters by mid April. Then I will sew on the binding and make some shams when I get back to Canada. I hope they like their surprise gift.

I received two wonderful gifts this week. I won a giveaway on Karin's blog - she creates her own glass beads. The lovely scissor fob has her incredible beads too. Isn't this a stunning collection! I'm trying to think what I will make with this.

Last night I went to a welcome home party for some friends of ours who had spent 3 months touring and visiting family in Australia. Look what she brought me. Now, she nows nothing about cross stitch. I think she made some wonderful choices don't you. I will have to stitch her a little something from one of these.

This week has been focused on my lighthouse. This is Point Loma in California.

For those of you who have not seen this before this is my lighthouse RR. It was started many years ago and I am finally hoping to finish it up and have it framed. Isn't it beautiful!

My friend Dani arrives tonight from Ottawa. I am very excited to see her. She and I are off to Phoenix for a couple of days. We should have stories and photos when we return. I hope to settle my CC thread issues while there.

Till then - keep those stitches crossed.

Angels, Fairies, Snowmen, Lighthouses, Frogs and TUSAL

Can you tell by the title it has been a busy few days? I have skipped from one stitching project to another and each one has a story.

First, here is the first RR from the newest Mirabilia RR that I am participating in. This is one of the sweet little angels from "Angel Proclamation" I love this design. It was a gift from a friend and one day I hope to stitch it all. When I got to the wings, I needed Wisper White and I had forgotten mine at home. I only needed a few strands. Thanks to Melissa - she popped some in the mail and I had it in a couple of days. Stitchy friends are the best.

Then I stitched on Valentine Fairy. This was a giveaway last year that I won. In case you think I'm a wicked fast stitcher - all the rose in her dress was already stitched. I stitched the darker rose color, the pale pink legs, the Kreinik and the mauve in her wings. And then I got out the Pixie Dust to stitch more on her wings. And that's when things came to a grinding halt. The two skeins are from different dye lots and are not the same color. Not good. Will have to try and order another and hope I get a match. But, it will have to wait - I'm not ordering just one skein of thread. Back into the basket it goes until I resolve the thread issue.

I am doing a SAL with Cheryl on CCN "Snowflake Serenade". And that's when the frogs came to visit. This is my sad progress for one entire day. I restitched the left side and the top twice and I have to restitch them again. Maybe next week (sigh).

And so, now what do I pick up. I know -  my Lighthouse RR that I vowed to complete. And here is my tiny little bit of progress on this one. A few stitches of green grass. I'm liking this one right now so I think it will be a focus for a while.

It is TUSAL time - and here is my martini glass.  It is overflowing with the threads from my Santa Stocking, the Mirabilia RR, Valentine Fairy, Snowflake Serenade and the lighthouses. There are some wrappers from new thread skeins and even some sewing threads from my quilting. I will glad to empty this and start fresh.

Edited to add: To Staci and other readers - there is no martini in the glass since the orts drank it all. That's why they are hanging all over the sides of the glass.

Well, that's it for this week friends. Have a great week and keep those needles slipping through the threads.