July and August Smalls and Stitching Friends

I really don't know how I managed to miss my July posting other than the fact that I've been on the go so much this summer. I was only home for about 10 days during the month of August as well so it's amazing to me that I got done any stitching at all! All of the following pillow finishes were completed in July.

Both of my granddaughters had requested a small stitched finish. You may recall from a post last year that I stitched a hamster for Oceanne at her request. Due to unfortunate cirmcumstances that pillow finish was lost and so I restitched the hamster and a sweet hedgehog for her sister, Summer. 

Here are the girls showing off their pillows along with Oceanne's real hamster.

After I finished stitching these and sending them off I realized that I had two remaining birthday stitches to be completed before I left for a visit to Sudbury with my stitching friends. I only had 2 weeks remaining to get both stitched and finished before I left! I don't know how I managed to do it with everything else that I had going on but when I left for Sudbury they were packed and in my suitcase. These two stitches are from the 2017 Fragments in Time series by Summer House Stitche Workes.

I like how these turned out so much that I've just finished purchasing a few more from this series and the 2018 Fragments in Time series so that I can do a few for myself and some other gifts.

As I mentioned, I spent part of my holidays in Sudbury, Ontario gathered together with my stitching buddies from Canada and the US. We were hosted by Cathy Tonelli and family and we had the most amazing time! It was a first visit to Canada for several of the ladies but it certainly won't be the last. During the day we went on several road trips throughout Sudbury and to Manitoulin Island. In the evenings we spent our time stitching and gabbing. On one of the afternoons our friend Theresa or Tee as we call her, gave us a tutorial on how to use our stitching to cover tape measures. Tee is a very talented stitcher and finisher and is the designer behind Dulaney Woods Treasures. We each chose a design to stitch which she provided and with her excellent guidance we took our finishes and wrapped and sewed them onto tape measures. 

I ended up finishing mine at home because as it turned out, the fabric I had chosen for the edging of my tape measure just wouldn't stick. We figured that there had to be too much sizing in the fabric. So I took it home, washed and dried it and tried it again. This time it worked like a charm! So my finish is not in the group photo but this is my small finish for August.

Here are a few more pictures from our trip. As I mentioned in the previous post, Cathy and her husband are also bee keepers and showed us their hives.

Cathy's hubby Wayne, with Nan and JoAnn

Cathy's sister-in-law Donna also joined us on several days. Donna cross stitches but much prefers punch needle. She does excellent work as evidenced in the next pic of her recent finish.

I was very fortunate to purchase one of Donna's finishes from her. She finished this on an antique brass candlestick holder.

He is just so cool and I love him!!

When we first arrived at Cathy's we presented the American girls with some Canadian visors to designate them as honourary Canadians for the week.

My friends Nan and Tee

Bev, Jo and Jenn

No trip is complete without a visit to Tim Horton's or Timmies as we refer to it.

Bev, Tee and yours truly

We also paid a visit to a lovely shop which sold soaps, candles, linens and lavender. I stocked up on the lavender which I use when stuffing my pillow finishes.

Pam, Donna, Cathy and Jenn

All in all it was a fabulous trip, one which we hope to repeat next summer. There's nothing better than spending time with good friends, unless it's family of course. Next post I'll have a few pics from my trip to Lake Muskoka and home for my mother's birthday celebration. 

So all in all, lots of small finishes over the last two months. Now I'm on the hunt for some smalls for the upcoming fall season. 

My March Small

I'm running a little late with my post which seems to be the norm for me anymore. I had one small finish in mind which had to be completed by month's end.
When my granddaughter was here at Christmas she told me that she wanted me to stitch a hamster for her birthday in April. She had even Googled hamster patterns and found the one she wanted. Of course the one she wanted was only a picture of the chart and I had no idea if it was an illegal copy or not. I was able though to see the designer's name on the pic. 
After searching online I found out that the design was from a 1990 Just CrossStitch issue. I managed to snag a copy of the magazine on Ebay. Wouldn't you know it! The design was full of everything I dislike...... half stitches, quarter stitches, backstitching and the use of blended threads. I tackled it with gusto and managed to complete it in a little over a week's time. 
It's amazing what you will do for you kids and grandkids, lol! 
 Here is Hamster, designed by Cathy Livingston.

 

The original design also contained some long stitches which were meant to be blades of grass. I started to put them it and found they just detracted from the main design so I pulled them all out and left things as is. I'm going to get out the sewing machine next week and stitch this up as a doorknob pillow with a sweet little hanger.

I hope she likes it!!