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