all I got

I know it is a small finish but it is still a finish! I was able to finish up this 2012 SB fob last week. I picked the kit up when I went to the shop a in 2012. The ribbon is a bit of a battle bit it is on there. 

I managed to loose the bead back that came with so I substituted a button from my tiny stash. I was just lucky that I had one that matched the style of the piece. 

And just how cute are these boys? They are so handsome standing looking out on the lake. Both of them have had a surgery this year to remove mysterious growths. The small one had a fatty tissue under his front arm and the larger one had a tumor removed from his front leg. They are 2 years apart and the bigger one is actually the baby of the pair. 

What to stitch next? Suggestions?

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving state side. We are going to have the traditional beef brisket. I have never cooked one so we shall see. My peeps don't love turkey so we are always trying something a bit different for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam 

Small Ta-Da

I know it isn't a big finish but they all count! Right? This past weekend was so lovely at the lake I was able to get this small finish complete. I only modified it a tiny bit to calm it down a bit. It was just such a fun stitch to me with the patterns. Who knew I could be so amazed by blocks of color. I am not sure if I am going to finish it into a needle book as I originally thought or do a framed piece for my son. You know teenage boys are not really into moms needlework but I think he would like this piece.

Look at these lovely thread I ordered from Nancy. The ladies at the Pals retreat we sat next to really seemed to love them. I ask her to send me 10 and I love all of the colors she pulled for me. Can't wait to work them into a chart or two. I have a small SB fob I am trying to finish this week and then maybe I can pull a chart that will work with these yummy colors.

The wind was so strong today driving home I about blew off the road. It is going to drop into the  20's tonight. This weekend it was in the 70's. Gotta love the weather in the South.

Saying prayers for the people and now rescue workers in the Philippines. How difficult their lives are after the storm that blew through. The pictures are almost too much to believe.It brought back memories of when my husband and I were stuck in hurricane Wilma a few years back in Cancun. It was like a military zone with all the destruction and the marshal law.We were able to return to normal after a few  days trying to figure out how to get home. I held it together until we got on the plane and took off. I started crying when we were in the air. I remember my husband asking why I was crying when we were on our way home. I told him I could not break down while we were in the middle of it all, only when we were on safe on our way home. How difficult to face that as life for the next few years... Pray for them to have strength that only God can provide in that type of crisis.

thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Fabulous Fall

This photo does not do the amazing fall colors now showing off on my back deck justice. I am sure I will blink and they will be in dire need of raking, but for now they are just lovely. I looked and there was yellow, red and orange all showing. Couple that with the crisp air and oh so pleasant temperature and you have a very nice fall season. There was just a slight amount of wind today when I walked for lunch. Such a welcome change from the thick, hot, humid air of late August and September which respiratory distress syndrome when you exit the air conditioned comfort of home. Just walking outside leaves you with a total body sweat wave. 

 This is my progress on Soil and Sand. I am working it in Sampler Thread Midnight rather than black. It is really a fun stitch. I am loving the positive and negative space effect from the pattern. Beth Ann really came up with a nice idea in this piece. I can so see stitching it in a nice red or tropical ocean colors. My son has been really into drawing lately so I may make it into a gift for him.I think he would appreciate the patterns in the piece.

While at the Pals Retreat I sat next to Anne from Iowa. She has just started her blog so hop on over and give her a nice welcome into blogland. She promises to be an interesting read and really does some lovely stitching.Click on link for Anne's blog .

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Bad to Good

Every seem to be having one of those days? You know the one where you should have stayed in the safety of your home, possibly the safety of your bed and had a gown day. I had one of those days Monday. It was not pretty. I spend most of my day in my office with the door shut and fighting back tears. Then I came home and found the most wonderful stitching pick me up. It as from April who loves fall and Halloween. I had been planning to stitch her a little something Halloween but due to the departure of stitching mojo in May I had not gotten my act together enough to do so.After feeling even more guilty for not getting it done, I opened my prize of squirrel pin cushion, floss tags and pumpkin card. Stitchers make the sweetest friends. Really.

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.... STASH! There were several vendors at the retreat. I got 3 charts from Hands on Design. Cathy was fun to meet and had some get models to enjoy.

Beth Anne with Summer House stitche workes was so very nice and I enjoyed her historic/primitive pieces. 

The ladies from Praiseworthy Stiches were also there. 3 more charts to collect! I will not insult any of you fine readers by implying they will ever be stitched by me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Pampered with Progress

My trip to Myrtle Beach for the pals retreat began with pampering.I drove 2 hours east to Atlanta to pick up Teresa. After driving another 2 hours and stopping to eat at Cracker Barrel we stopped for the night. On my bed I found to belated birthday gifts with my favorite fall them. Squirrels and acorns. How cute are these little goodies. A mug rug and cup wrap, pin cushion and pattern or recipe holder, dish towel and clings for the window. My vacation had began with spoiling.The next morning we got up and after breakfast headed out. We only found one shop to pit stop at along the way and it didn't have needlework. It was an Antique/junk store.It was at least very interesting.  

This place was huge and had it all.There were 2 parrots squawking when you pull into the parking lot that alert the shop owner of fresh targets arriving. I don't think I have seen such a wide variety of stuff in a shop in a very long time. From a disco ball to a bear skin rug, every decade of glassware and dishes to collect. There was a stack of golf balls 3 layers high in egg trays and furniture from really bad thrift to great pieces. It was a fun little stop to stretch the legs the on the 4 hour frive from Augusta to Myrtle Beach. 

More pampering awaited as we got to the retreat Teresa made this cute beach themed table set complete with mermaid needle minder and By the Bay stitch and inch scissor fob. How nice is that? Drink holder for hot or cold beverage and snack plate to offer chocolates for visitors who stop by our stitching nest. Notice none of the chocolates made it to the picture:) 

This is my one lone finish from the weekend and it was already started. How sad is that? It is a freebie from the City Stitcher from 1997. I stitched it for an exchange a while back. Hope you are still liking it Catherine... and had to have it too.

Good progress was made on the Fred's I added some color and a bit of the filling in has begun. The boarder may break me but hopefully I can fill in as I add color.

This is a silk gauze piece I finally started. Gail introduced me to silk gauze a couple of years ago at the New England Stitchers Retreat and I have collected a few charts but failed to start them. I am really enjoying it and glad I finally built up my courage to start on them.I fear this post is so long I may have lost some of you. Next post promises to be filled with .....stash! You didn't think I would be that good as to not buy on this retreat! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Pumpkins, Sand-pails and Blog Meetings

What is in the pumpkin? Inside was hidden the exchange from me to an unknown stitcher. This was a dirty santa style exchange at the pals retreat last week  but so much more than a basic dirty santa. It went on for hours -really- I could hardly hold my head up at the end of the night to open the piece I finally ended up with after 7 or 8 trips around the exchange table. Everyone turned a bag in with a hidden package inside. This was placed on a table by a couple of judges and non participants. You were given a raffle ticket and the drawing for picking order was started. No opening of exchanges until everyone had a package. Mystery packages could be taken as many times by anyone with as their turn came up.

This is what was hidden inside. I found a pumpkin with a hole in the bottom and stuffed it with the goodies above. Fat quarters, fall pearl cottons, scissors, fall colored linen and some candy. 

And this is the fun sand bucket I got in the exchange. Ocean colors of threads, candles with a beach theme, scissors, sandcastle fabric and a cute crochet octopus. a sparkle cup and some candle from Iowa where the sand bucket originated. The strangest thing was that of the 100'ish exchange packages. Lorna and I got each others exchange. How funny is that? 

 It was such fun to meet fellow bloggers. Above is Teresa and Faye. And we also meet Karen

It was such a blast to stitch with these southern belles. We laughed so hard I was worried the tears would run down my legs.... They are a fun as they seem in their blogs and it was just a blast. There was also a fun group of stitchers who were said to be in the stitcher protection program. They were from the same group but had to travel under guise of different events so know one knew they were there. I can't tell you what a fun group they were. Hopefully they will not get in too much trouble if I share their pic. 

Sadly I did not get a pic of all the other fun ladies meet at the retreat. Anne was kind enough to sit beside me and enjoy all of my off the wall thoughts through the weekend. She was new to the group as well and misbehaved in the newbie corner. Evidence of Anne is the jacket on stitching supplies on the chair next to mine. I think Teresa actually got a pic of her for her blog so hop over and meet Anne who is working on a blog. Fun title is already created I believe....

I did manage to finish one small piece and start some silk gauze which I will show picture of in my next post. Along with the many ways I was spoiled by my sweet roommate for the week. 

Thanks for stopping by

I'm still here

Isn't this a lovely sunset? This is the view we had from our condo this past week. We rode our bikes down to Panama City Beach for Thunder on the Beach last week. It was a great week. Tropical Storm Karen threatened us the whole time but we managed to side step her and have a great few days riding the coast with 3 other couples. 

This is the view where we rode Thursday to The Blue Parrot. I just love to ride over and eat crab claws for lunch there. It is only about 60 miles from PCB but it manages to take us almost and entire day with the stops along the way at Mexico Beach, Apalachicola  and Indian Pass Raw Bar slap in the middle of no where. It is marketed as the Forgotten Coast of Florida and remains peaceful and slow paced like a vacation should be.I wish I could say their was stitching in my free time but no such luck. I think my stitching bug is taking a vacation. Life is just taking up all the focus I have for stitching these days. I have started 3 pieces trying to get it back and still it is evading me. Never fear, I have a stitching retreat in view and I am sure it will return when the distractions of life are moved out of my field of vision. This is a really bright move on my part. I don't follow the pals boards or communicate with them but plan to attend the retreat next week at Myrtle Beach.It was priced right and there are always good times when groups of stitchers gather. Hopefully there will be some fellow bloggers there and Teresa and I will not be total strangers. Of course holding up in a condo stitching for a days will make me just as pleased as punch.I am certain I'll bring no less than 20 kits to work on while I am there. Very realistic for someone who hasn't had time to stitch in months don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by and spending time in my land without stitches,
Pam 

It is hard to stitch when...

you can't see. I have been struggling with an eye infection for over a month. My right eye has got a virus and the cornea was very slow healing. It is finally better and I have been able to work on the With Thy Needle and Thread Birds of a Feather piece some. I changed the linen to a 32CT Vintage smokey pearl. It really brightens up the piece a bit. I recall when the chart came out originally several people struggling with the chart. I am now aware that it because you simply can see the symbols. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING when she picked those dark colors on those symbols??? Okay I've said it and now I will move on. It is going to be a lovely piece now that I can see to work on it again.

I also began Dorthy Walpole in the middle of the eye infection. Progress is not so forth coming on the 35ct fabric. At lease she is started... all 20 stitches I have in her. Maybe I will trade out the BOF piece when I get the first chart finished on it and pick up Dorthy again.

This morning my son left for running camp in North Carolina with his team mates. Tomorrow he turns 17 and for some reason I cried all the way home. I have missed his last 3 birthday with school or church events. All good causes but somehow I feel robbed of his time. I am sure the next year will have many struggles as he is in the senior year and then come college.

We have enjoyed some wonderful times on the water this summer so far. Something about looking out one the lake that just relaxes and lifts your spirit. I'm not sure if you can see the skinny waterfall we went swimming under last weekend. It is a little cave section you can swim under and the views around you are amazing. The water was very cold as well where it was running into the lake.

This was a sunset off the dock a couple of weeks ago. It had been a rainy day and the sun came out at the end of the day and gave us an amazing sunset.

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Funky Finish

This is my funky finish! It has been finished a while (since the retreat) but I found a minute to iron it this morning so I thought I would post it. I believe it will fit in a 8X10 frame after measuring it this morning so it may get framed a bit faster than most. My plan is for my bedroom at the lake. The wall are painted a bright golden yellow and calling for more fun colors. I keep saying this is the last weekend to work but I really mean it this time. We need to pull the upstairs bathroom together and then I am plan to take a break up there, enjoy the water and relax, until fall when the grueling  labor begins again. 

Also completed is the small daffodil wall pocket. Hopefully I can finish it completely in the next couple of weeks and give that ever so tardy Mother's day gift. Dorthy Walpole has been started but I must get a few more stitches in before posting her. The 40 ct feels fantastic to stitch on but is a real challenge for these old eyes. 

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. I plan to spend mine in relaxing a bit on the water after putting the hardware up in the bathroom and settling a bit more of the valued treasures of life(junktiques) at the lake. This is the really bad picture I took last weekend from the new deck we had pt in. There was a nice grass patch by the water and then a mud pile between it and the house so we have a nice deck put in for visitors to hang out on. Better pictures to follow. My DH just got me a tablet to use at the lake house and I will see if I can do better about photos between his new phone and it. Yes the water is really that wonderfully blue and clear. The heat landed this week and cooling off in the water will be in order. We had such a nice cool May I am sad to see it go. June is promising to be muggy and hot if today is a for telling. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam 

Ta-no Da

This is my gift to my mom for Mother's Day. As you can see it isn't finished, hence Ta -no Da. I am down to the back stitching on this one and I think it will be lovely. I got some lovely beads at the needlework hideaway retreat to finish it as a wall pocket for her glasses. It was in the JCS a couple of months back and she saw it and fell in love with the daffodils.She has always planted them in her yard and loves all varieties of them. There were some unusual ones blooming at the post office where she takes her mail now and she kept saying she was going to thin them a bit for the post office. That translates dig them up and replant them at her place! She is becoming more of a mess as she ages. I guess we all do. 

 I don't believe I ever posted the stash from the last retreat. Fabrics that called my name. I actually managed to buy a piece of 40 count I needed to start Dorthy Walpole. I thought I had a large enough piece but they we always a bit small when I pulled them out. I have the thread already to go so now I can begin the lovely lady.

 One of the ladies at the retreat was working on the Blue Ribbon Design piece called Blue Jeans and Daisies. It didn't do much for me until I saw her progress! Then it was a must stitch! I fell in love with the fabric, fibers and design. Belinda is such a fun person and the happy memories of her class at New England Stitchers Retreat will make it a fun stitch.

 One of the 6 shops we ventured to had these great older charts. I have always loved BrightNeedle and they are getting harder to find so I grabbed them up. I also found some Ewe & Eye & Friends charts I have always loved. 

  I also found these 4 Prairie Schooler charts to add to my seasonal themes collection. This might be interpreted as hoarding charts by some but I prefer to think of it as collecting. I might even stitch them one day when I retire if I can still see by then! 

My last thought for today are with Moore, OK. My prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones and all their worldly treasures.My area of the country has been hit many times in the last few hears with the destruction of tornadoes. I spend way too much time in the basement in spring riding out tornadoes so here in Alabama we have a strange kindred spirit with OK right now. We are sending relief and workers to help the recovery.  Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God causes all things to work together to those who love God, to call that according to His purpose." It is difficult to see how this disaster in man's eyes could be a part of "all things" but I believe it can, anything that causes us to return to God becomes good.That may be sickness for some or difficulty in marriage or with children or one the job or natural disaster, whatever it is,  if makes you call out the the living God then it is good. So as I hear teacher talk about praying for God's protection though this storm and teaching children about that in the mist of it. I believe it can be used for His good. So I pray His Divine good will come from yet another disaster in our land.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Retreat Review

They days before Teresa arrive for our retreat I prayed for my Azaleas to be in bloom. I know it may seem silly but I wanted her to be able to enjoy the bright pink flowers while she was visiting from her bedroom window. We had the typical spring weather of 80 one day and 45 the next so I was a bit worried they had been damaged by the sudden weather changes. As you can see they bloomed in full glory. This is one section, there are just as many on either side of the center section. 

We began our journey in town with a visit to a tea shop and a bit of no stash shopping. The next morning we set out for day one of what could have been a 6 hour road trip.We went to 3 shops the first day. One was new to me, the other I had not seen in at least 10 years and the third I go to from time to time. We shared the wealth and bought a little at each place! I was able to pick up several charts I had wanted for a while and some yummy fabrics as well. We stopped at a tea shop for lunch before the third place and had a nice rest there. After the 3rd shop we drove a few hours to Memphis and spent the night. Just about an hour outside of Memphis we found a great quilt shop. I really could have spent some cash in that shop. The best quilt shop I have been to so far a wonderful selection and the nicest owner.  There was a shop  in Memphis we hit on the way out of town the next morning. It was a great place and nicest ladies running it. I could have shopped there for the day but we felt shops around Little Rock calling our name. After a bit more time one the road we navigated around Little Rock and found a great antique mall. Teresa was able to get some vintage clothes pieces for her daughter and I was on the look out for a creel basket and old fishing gear to decorate the lake house. Off we went to another stitch shop that had the nerve to be closed an hour before their scheduled time. What were they thinking? Oh well, I was able to spend more in a shop where they wanted it! We arrived at the Red Apple Inn. It was just perfect! nice but not stuffy and comfortable tables and chairs for a weekend of stitching. 

Gloria and Donna were our table mates! They made lovely progress on their pieces and were good company to stitch along beside.

This is Pat Dugan the host shop owner and Tracey Schultz who does some really amazing bead designs at the Make it/Take it table that they had set up. It is a great idea for beadwork and you can give yourself a break from stitching to work on some lovely pieces. 

 Additional shopping in the center of the room to paw over when your back or eyes needed a break.

Or you could enjoy the views from the lovely patio. 

These nice ladies were table mates on the other side. We had such a nice group of stitchers present. They were very welcoming and great stash enablers! I'll have to post the stash another time. This post is so very long winded and picture laden. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam 

heartbreak

My heart is breaking this week. The people of Boston,Ma and the people of Waco, Tx have seen too much pain this week. So may people who have been effected by hardship in our great country. And yet we can have hope in a merciful, gracious, faithful and loving God. He allows hardship to draw a nation that is turning its back on Him to give us a chance at repentance. That is the message that resounds in my heart as I see the really big picture of His plan for all mankind.It is not a popular thought pattern and not one that will leave you warm and fuzzy but I believe it is truth. 

Matthew 24:1-8

Jesus came out of the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age.?"And Jesus answered them and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name saying, I am the Christ and mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place but that is not the end yet. For nation will rise up against nation, an kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But in all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

This section of scripture has been in my mind all week. We cannot and will not coexist,not in our country, and not in our world. There will always be conflict until Christ return. The children of Sarah(Isaac) will always be in conflict with the children of Hagar(Ishmael).All the conflict in the Middle East can be traced to their lines. Every event points to the return of Jesus the Messiah.I pray for the people of Israel to see that Christ satisfied every sign of prophecy, every piece of the temple is seen in Him, every feast a reflection of Him, it all points to Him. Just as God made a way for the Jewish people through sacrifices in the temple He made a way for the Gentile people with the blood of  Christ, the perfect Lamb, is all the sacrifice required and enough for all mankind that we might have relationship with Him. Not religion as man so commonly confuses God to bring but fellowship and relationship with a loving God. 

I cannot make sense of the events we are facing without the reference point of the word of God and the balance of what it teaches about the character and nature of the Holy Lamb of God. How do so many people survive without Him? Once again I am back to heartbreak and I am certain His heart is breaking for a mankind that will not turn to Him.

If you made it this far, thanks for spending time with me,
Pam

NINE

Nine is the number of flowers which should be showing in my garden now but as usual life has been a bit of a whirlwind and only 5 and a half are showing (missing leaves on the hydrangea). Nine is also the number of nights I have left before I have a stitching break from reality. Teresa and I are going to of all places Arkansas at the needle work hideaway. Hopefully this will be a much needed break for both of us. At the very least is will be tons of talking and stitching. We have 6 stitching shops mapped out on the way and plan to include quilts, thrift shops, antique shops and tea/coffee shops for refueling the body. Hopefully we will be blissfully worn out from all the finds along the way. 

The lake house remodel is still coming along and still taking much to much time out of life. I am sure it will be worth it in the end just hopefully not the end of me to get it there. If the weather is working with us this weekend I'll show some photos of the completed projects. We have new kitchen counter tops and back splash.Painted all the rooms but one. New bathroom for my mom. New electrical and plumbing as well - noting pretty too look at there but at least you can sleep well knowing it is up to code. Last but not least, the most important thing to me is a proper working AC for June through October in the less than blissful heat and humidity of the south. If you have never done 102 with 100% humidity you just don't know what you are missing. 

This is a cute little shop we stopped at a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon ride in the country. And look at this gem that was waiting inside....

Surely I am not the only one who sees a lake house scissor holder in this fish. It stated it was a candle holder but they really didn't know what they had. Any stitcher can clearly see this is a scissor holder. As wonderfully tacky  as the fine fish is I did leave it at the shop. It does just scream lake scissor holder though so we might have to swing by and pick it up-only 19.95 before the necessary haggling for a better price. The piece is so not me it is actually me- does that make since to anyone else? :)

Hope you have a wonderful Easter this weekend and enjoy family and friends. Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes.

Pam 

Another great exchange!

Isn't this a fantastic warm winter exchange. I received the snowman ornament, lovely piece of linen, 3 snowbelles charts, snowflake fabric, snowflake buttons, craft glue and some cute pokadot notecards. I loved it all!

The picture above is what I mailed to Melanie. The stitched piece was from a recent JCS issue and it is a Home Spun elegance chart. I stitched it in blue for myself. 

There has not been a huge amount of stitching time this week. I took a few days off to help my mom paint at the new lake house. We sold the smaller cabin and bought a larger place with more room for family and friends. It had been sorely neglected and needs a good bit of TLC. Hopefully we can finish up the remodel before summer so we can all enjoy our summer on the water. I was only able to stitch one night this week. The funky flowers piece is moving along and should be a nice addition to our bedroom at the lake. I knew I wanted to put it there from the first moment I looked at it. 

This morning when I woke up I could write my name on several surfaces in the house.Time to break down and clean. I will be good and get on it in the morning before I start stitching. Or at least that is my intention... Hope you all have a great weekend and manage to make a few X's.

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam