Season to Season Swap

I received my Fall block back from Gerry, hostess for the Season to Season Swap. Helina did such a great job stitching it. There have been pictures of it on lists and other pages, but I just wanted to share one with you here on my blog. Thank you Helina for doing such beautiful stitching on my block! I am so embarrassed, Helina! I sent a little thank you through the group for Helina and Gerry, but when I opened the package, I was basking so much in the stitching that I didn't open out the lovely piece of silk Helina sent along with my block. Tonight while I was taking pictures of the block, I noticed that the silk felt a little stiff, so I unfolded it and out poured some other loveliness!! Two beautiful pieces of tatting, two pretty motifs, a silk print of a coordinated lady, all tied with a piece of sparkle fiber. You are so nice to send such a nice surprise, Helina. Thank you so much!



Gerry is such a great hostess -- as a matter of fact, she made each of the participants a scissor fob. It's usually the other way around...the participants do something for the hostess - though not required, it is just a small way of saying thank you for the headaches that MAY come along with keeping everyone on the same path to completing the swap. Isn't it really sweet? Thank you, Gerry! It has been so much fun so far, and I'm looking forward to completing the rest of the year! I'm waiting for Winter to speak to me ;-).

Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches

Practicing a few more of the Primary stitches from Carole Samples' Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches. These are 'E' and 'F',

and these are 'other alphabet stitches - non linked.

Happy Thanksgiving

I had my cookbooks out the other evening planning our Thanksgiving meal - same things using different recipes, perhaps. My DS asked, what are you doing? I said, looking for recipes... He said, I look for them online -- are we not having green bean casserole? Are we not having squash supreme?

So the menu will be our fairly standard fare: Roast Turkey, Dressing and Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Squash Supreme, Winter Veggies (potato, turnip, brussle sprouts (several stores didn't have parsnips), carrots, and garlic in olive oil), and rolls.

Something new I'm trying for dessert: Pumpkin Tassies. The recipe included a crust, but mine are 'semi-homemade', Sandra Lee style. I bought the little pie shells and baked them first. Mine must have been larger than the recipe because it said, makes 20-24, and mine made eight. Had to make two batches ;-). The filling has brown sugar, pumpkin, egg yolk, cream, spices and flavoring. The topping is very similar to what I use for sweet potato souffle - brown sugar, butter, and pecans. One of the crusts tore, so we HAD to eat that one - it was good! Oh, and my dinner rolls... they're rising in the freezer ;-)

So how about y'all ... trying anything different this year?

I am thankful for so many things: family, health, home, job, but also among the tops on my list are all the online friends I've 'met and befriended' over the past year or so. Thanks for being there, and for allowing me to share in your lives!

RAOK

In today's mail there was a very special package -- a totally unexpected RAOK (random act of kindness) from Carol Grace. We are members of the Stash for Pounds yahoo list (as well as others). Carol's note says she wants to share her treasures, and that they truly are, to inspire a new crazy quilt block for the long, cold winter! She says the encouragement, knowledge, and support of the group 'have helped each other get closer to our goals.'

Well, Carol, your generosity is certainly appreciated! The selection of beautiful fabrics you have sent to me are awesome! As I was taking them out of the package, I sorted them into colorways that struck my fancy, and there are several blocks worth. Can you believe all this was in one surprise package -- for moi!!

Thank you so much for your kindness and support over the last year, as well. I count it as a big part of why I have been able to get so close to my goal.

Comfort Doll Thanks

I received this pretty silver charm from Pat Winter as her Thank You for participating in the Comfort Doll project. Pat, you are the one who deserves all the thanks for allowing US to participate! What a sense of joy I received from having made those little dolls to comfort a woman whose life is in turmoil. During this time of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that there are women like you who have ideas to inspire us all to be a part of something so great!



If by reading this you are curious, this is an on-going project for which you will find a link in my sidebar, Comfort Dolls.

Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches

...Continued...

These are the next sets of stitching I've worked on:

Detached Holbein


Detached Arrowhead


These are more Secret Santa gifts. My SS is making me feel quite special!! Thank you!

This Week in Stitches

What have I been up to? Hard to believe it myself, but Cross Stitch! It has been YEARS since I did any, but it just called to me, so that's what I did. Several years ago I made Christmas ornaments for coworkers in the office, and thought I may do that again. This little 3x4 gingerbread man is the first of several in the plan. We'll see how that turns out!




I've decided to add Cross Stitch to my Needle in Hand blog in case you want to see what else I've been working on.

Share Our Heart

~~~~Updated 11/04/07~~~~

These are the Share Our Hearts that have been completed for the Newbies CQ Group. We signed up in December, and one person gets 11 hearts in their month made by the other members of the swap.


This is December's block, for Linda. November and December are yet to be mailed, but they will go this coming week.
November is for Lori.
October is for Peggy - but I forgot to take a photo of it completed. Peggy, if you will send me a photo I'd like to replace this one...
September is Jaki's - but again, I forgot to take a photo. If you'll send me one, I'd like to replace this one!

This is Karen's August 'pink and purple' heart.

I was the July recipient, and you can see the ones I received here.


This is Wilma's June heart.


This is JoAnn's heart for May.

This is Susan's April heart -- mailed 4/7/07


March was sent to Candi.



February's heart went to Gerry.



This was the January Heart that went to Rhonda D.

Season to Season Share - Winter

~~~~Updated 11/04/07~~~~~


I finished the Winter block I decided not to use for the swap. The butterfly was what made me decide it wasn't 'winter' enough.




I've got to package this up and ready to go to Gerry tomorrow so I'll quit stitching on it. Seems to be a trend ... don't know when to stop with my half.


Doesn't this look more like Winter than the next one?



I'm working on my half, and it's not looking very wintery. Could that be because I'm embroidering a butterfly on it? Hum... now I'm having second thoughts ... My idea had been to coordinate all the season blocks - but now thinking to just go purely seasonal. Yep - that's the new plan!






Our CQ for Newbies Season to Season Share block group hosted by Gerry continues. I have signed up for the Winter session, and here is my blank block.

New Goodies

I've been on another eBay spree! But have also been using a few of the things I've been collecting.

These vintage beads came from a woman's mother. They're more like stars, but she called them flowers. They also have a shell-like feel to them.


These are new beads, just different than I've bought before. I've seen Teardrop and Triangles that others use, and they look so pretty ...

This is a Christmas grouping I couldn't resist... Already used some, too!

And a group of motifs from the same seller. These are most of the different ones, but there were duplicates of a few.