Just Two Days...

Until the ship sails for Bermuda. :) That's the good news. The bad news is, I'm sick with some sort of allergy/upper respiratory crud. :( I'm taking some meds for it, in the hope that I'll be feeling better by the time we leave on Sunday morning. In the meantime, I'm trying to get some rest today.

I was able to upload a few pics from the country. The fall leaves are especially lovely this year. Of course, all those pretty leaves make quite a mess of my yard and gutters out there. BF cleaned the gutters this week and managed to snap these photos from the rooftop.





Persian Iris Garden and Spanish Geometrical Sampler are both on hold while I work on various exchange projects. Today I need to assemble my Fall exchange so that it can be mailed tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous about the finishing on it. I think I've got a pretty good idea, but getting things to turn out the same way as I picture it in my head is sometimes tricky. The finishing is actually pretty simple, but I always get nervous when I am working with a stitched piece... afraid I'll screw it up somehow. It's one thing when it's just fabric, but it's much more worrying when it comes to a piece of needlework.

My current stitching project is for a Thanksgiving exchange. I really like the way it looks so far. I think this will be another exchange that is hard to part with. Isn't that always the case? LOL

I'm signed up for a TON of exchanges in the next couple of months, so I think it will be a while before PIG gets much attention. Three of the exchanges are for Christmas ornaments. I just couldn't pass them up. ;)

Needlework Smalls Exchange Update

I don't have camera software loaded on the computer in the country, so I'm a little behind on posting these pics. Here's the wonderful pinkeep that I received from Judith. Isn't it pretty? She told me it was the first pinkeep that she has made. It's really beautifully finished and looks so pretty in the basket where I keep assorted smalls.



I designed and stitched a needlebook for Nicki in this exchange. I had a slightly backward approach to this project. I started with the lining fabric that the needlebook is pictured on. From there, I chose floss colors (Waterlilies "Harvest" and some coordinating DMC colors) and then I designed the pattern.

Home alone... sort of

I guess it depends on what "home" is. At the moment, I'm still at my place in the country. BF had to return home (northern VA) to tend to his business, but I decided to stay behind. There's nothing that I need to do up there, and we were going to return to the country this weekend anyway. So I've been on my own for a few days.

It has been a pleasant week so far. The weather has been realitively cooperative, except for a cool & rainy Tuesday. Yesterday and today have been around 70 degrees, but the leaves are turning and it is getting cooler. One of my aunts came over yesterday and brought me a red velvet cake. YUM!!! It's really a shame to be alone in a house with a red velvet cake. LOL

Today I did a bit of shopping at the local Wal-Mart. There really isn't much else in the way of shopping options here. There's Food Lion if you want groceries, and Cato if you need some other-than-Wal-Mart clothes, but the nearest shopping mall is about 30 miles away. I can rack up quite a bill at Wal-Mart if I am left unattended. Today's outing resulted in some wonderful fall decorations, as well as some new Christmas goodies that I couldn't resist. Some other goodies hopped into my cart, and it was overflowing before I knew it. Did I mention that I only went there to buy some soda and frozen peas? :)

Of course, I have been doing plenty of stitching (in between chasing dust bunnies and other assorted house-related tasks). I deliberately left PIG at home, so that I could focus on other things. Mostly, I've worked on Spanish Geometrical Sampler. I'm getting very close to a finish on that one! I'd share a pic, but I don't have any camera software installed on this PC. :(

More Dancing

We drove out to the country yesterday, and I had a happy dance on the way. This time, I finished JBW Designs "French Country IV - Pumpkin". This is another of my (many) Hershey purchases. I also bought the pillow that goes with it, which will make for easy finishing. I was anxious to stitch this one, so that we could enjoy it during the fall season.

I've also completed the stitching on a little Sweetheart Tree kit that I picked up at CATS. Unfortunately, I forgot the bead packet at home, so that Happy Dance will be delayed until the end of the week.

I'm getting behind in my blog reading again. The internet connection out here is S-L-O-W and I lose patience with it pretty quickly. At the moment, I'm busy trying to catch up with the PILES of email that have rolled in the last couple of days. Hope everyone out there in BlogLand is doing well!

Halloween Happy Dance!

Yesterday I finished Be Witchy, by Just Nan. This was a show exclusive that I picked up at CATS. It's tiny-- only 27 x 27 stitches. I started it on Monday and had it completed and framed by Tuesday afternoon. :)



I also had a second happy dance on Tuesday. I can't show it though, it's for the Needlework Smalls exchange on the SBEBB. ;) I'll post pics once it arrives at it's new home.

A Perfect Day

It certainly didn't start out that way-- I woke up this morning with an earache/sore throat/stuffy head combo that is quite unpleasant. And did I mention that it's gray and rainy? Even so, the day has shaped up quite nicely... the kind of day that we stitcher's often wish for, but rarely get.

The case of the nasties that I woke up with this morning is nothing serious, just my yearly "change of seasons" nonsense. Afer popping a couple of cold/allergy pills this morning, I propped my feet up and stitched. And stitched. And STITCHED.

It's a work day for BF, so he has been in and out, and generally looking after me. He did the grocery shopping, built a nice fire for me (okay, so it was one of those "fake" logs, but still nice), and even brought home some sort of yummy coffee drink from the local coffee shop. I never had to leave the house. Or my jammies. LOL

I worked on a pretty little thing this morning, but I can't share. It's for the SBEBB Needlework Smalls exchange. I'll have pics once it is received. It's an original design and I'm very happy with the way it is turning out. :) All of the stitching is just about finished. I should have it done and in the mail several days in advance of the October 15 mailing date.

I got a little tired of the exchange project, so I switched to PIG for the afternoon. Part 6 came out on October 1, and I'm still not finished with parts 4 & 5. I'm not too far behind, but I still feel as though I may never catch up. Part 4 has been a giant pain, thanks to some charting errors... and additional errors in the "corrections" that were supplied. Part 5 hasn't been too bad, but it's 100% beads, and I can only stand to do that for so long before I need to stop. My new daylight lamp has made a HUGE difference in the beading on PIG, but I have to sit at a desk while I bead, which is generally uncomfortable.

Here's the last progress pic of the little (big?) PIGgie, taken before I left for Hershey.



At this point, I have most of part 5 done-- only 1/2 of one beaded corner to complete in part 5. Nearly all of the stitching is complete in part 4 as well, but I do need to do a bit more of the specialty stitching. I didn't touch any of that today though. Instead, I cheated and started on part 6. It's just regular stitching, with a bit of backstitch, done in vibrant shades of blue. I couldn't resist, especially with the weather being so gray outside today.

Exchange updates

Look at the lovely Halloween exchange that I received from Shelleen. I just love the design and the cube-it finish suits it perfectly.



And here is what I sent to Marie. It was my very first attempt at a tote bag, and I think it turned out quite nicely. I figured that if I can sew clothes, I can certainly manage the straight lines required for a tote. LOL



I forgot (I think) to post pics of the fob that I stitched for Jo in last month's Specific Finish exchange.

Back from CATS

Actually, I've been back since Sunday. I tried to post about it yesterday, but Blogger ate it. :(

This was my first trip to CATS, and I had a fantastic time. I arrived early Wednesday afternoon, even though the show didn't officially start until Thursday evening. I drove up early to meet some of the folks from an online group that I've been part of for many years. Our group was so large (15 or so) that it was difficult to get everyone in the same place at the same time. That really didn't happen very often. Most of the time, we were off in smaller groups. It was great to put faces and voices to names after so many years.

On Thursday afternoon, most of our group went to an LNS in Palmyra. I believe it was called Cross Stitch Corner, but I'm not 100% sure. I did a bit of damage there, buying several kits as well as the new JCS ornament issue, along with the "preview" issue.

I couldn't believe the crowd that was assembled waiting for the doors of CATS to open on Thursday. I think most of the crowd, including me, went straight for the Silver Needle booth to check out the show exclusive from Just Nan. I got the design, as well as the accompanying Whimzi frame, plus the Halloween ort box that was a SN exclusive. I did a bit more shopping that evening before retiring to the stitchers' lounge.

More shopping followed on Friday and Saturday. I hadn't intended to shop quite so much, but I kept seeing things that I "needed." I guess it didn't help that some of the stitchers in our little group are professional-quality enablers. LOL

In addition to meeting some of the members of my email group, I also had the pleasure of meeting some fellow bloggers. They were a fantastic group of ladies and it was terrific to be able to see some of their stitching up close. In between all of the shopping and socializing, I actually did a bit of stitching myself. I even managed to finish a little project-- Drawn Thread's "Little Blackwork".