I've been awarded the Liebster Award !!!

I am really delighted to have received the 'Liebster Award'

Thank you so very much to Linda Lee at Cross 'N My Stitches for my award.

What is the Liebster Award?

Liebster is German for 'dearest', and the award is given to an up-and-coming blogger with less than 200 followers who deserves recognition and support to keep them blogging.

Many, many thanks Linda for the award.  I am so delighted that you chose me :-)

I have awarded the Liebster Award to:

Peg at Lightning Fingers............Not!

Cathryn at Cathryn's Place

Rita at Stitch Days

Kelly at Sweet Needle of Mine

Molly at The Patch

Here are the rules, if you choose to accept.

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2.  Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3.  Copy and paste the award to your blog.

4.  Nominate 5 blogs that you enjoy to receive the award, and who have less than 200 followers.

5.  Inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let's keep on supporting the needle arts and blogging about it! 

Wednesday's WIP Report

Lately, I have been airing out my stash, and came across an adorable mitten design and its matching frame.  It seemed like the season to tackle it, and I have found it to be a really easy stitch, once you do the math for the proper layout. I'm not always good at that, but I checked myself more than twice.  Barb Hils at Keepsakes found me sound yummy 28 ct fabric which has a wintery feel to it, and I'm off!

The other piece in progress is L & L's Angel of the Sea. Having grown up on the ocean, in Maine, the sea has always had a special place in my heart, and I kitted this one up over ten years ago. The key to efficiently stitching this piece is sorting out your colors and keeping them close at hand. The blending of the waves' hues is mesmerizing, so I was glad to get in that adorable little conch shell for contrast.

"Over the River" and Not a Minute Too Soon

This afternoon I devoted my entire time to finishing this Christmas piece.  It was a Limited Edition Kit, designed by Pat Thode, for HeartStrings in 2004.  As you can see, I finished the cross-stitching last year, then put it away before tackling the specialty stitches and the adorable embellishments. What makes us abandon a project when we are so close to the finish ?!!

Anyway, here is "Over the River," in all her finished glory, stitched on 32 ct. Polished Brass Reflections by Silkweavers, to which these pictures do not do justice.

I love the way the beard is accentuated by the long stitches in white. And, yes, there were a lot of metallics in this design!

The embellishments were adorable, especially Santa's candy cane

 ice skates!

And then this magnificent sleigh!

Happy Take-Offs and Landings, Witches !!

from
Lizzie Kate

Happy Pumpkin Hunting !!

Pumpkin Hunt
Part of Autumn Snapperland
Bent Creek

Happy Fall!

One of the four free seasonal samplers available from

The Stitcherhood

of Athens, Ohio

You can see the other two seasonal samplers that I have stitched up from The Stitcherhood at the following posts: Summer and Spring.

 Winter is next!

Political Toys ~ Part 2

American Primitive
Prairie Schooler #8

Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey symbol. His opponents during the election of 1828 tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist beliefs and slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson was entertained by the notion and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters.

But cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party. It first appeared in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly in 1870, and was supposed to represent an anti-Civil War faction. But the public was immediately taken by it and by 1880 it had already become the unofficial symbol of the party.

Political Toys ~ Part 1

American Primitive
Prairie Schooler #8

Political cartoonist Thomas Nast invented this famous symbol—the Republican elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

Jameson's Birth Sampler - Here Comes the Giraffe!

Here is my progress on my great nephew's birth sampler. He was born in Portland, Maine, on February 10th, so he's 6 months old already. I'd better get moving!!

Savannah Birth Sampler
Dimensions Kit

Jameson Torry Queen

Have A Glorious 4th !!

Happy First Day of SUMMER!

One of the four free seasonal samplers available from

The Stitcherhood

of Athens, Ohio

Happy Mom's Day !!

Child Proof

an out-of-print design

from

Sherry Senicar

HOUSE #6 DONE !!

As anyone who has stitched this piece knows, getting past House #6, with all that BLACK, is a major challenge. 

And we're not even going to discuss how long this piece has been in my to-finish pile.

I am stitching with Vikki Clayton silks, using what is known as the "second conversion" of colors, on 36 ct. Pearled Barley from Lakeside Linens.

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

by

Carriage House Samplings

A Bottle of Red, a Bottle of White

Wine A Bit

by 

Sue Hillis

Luxury and Loss -- Titanic at 100

Titanic Souvenir 1912

a Limited Time Freebie

from

The Sampler Girl

Titanic

by

Sue Ryder

(Heritage Stitchcraft Kit)

One of my proudest stitches

(Sorry, chart sold long ago)

A Sweet Bunny for Easter

Sweet Bunny

by

Jennifer Dalenberg

blogging at

Feathers In the Nest

where you can get the chart

You can pick whatever colors you want.

I picked these:

light green = 911

very light brown = 435

light brown = 434

gray = 928

light pink = 605

medium pink = 603

black = 310

white = B5200

CHICAGO is now at the McNamara's home !!

My dear friend Linda McNamara, whom I worked with at Borders, came to visit for the weekend and what a treat it was! 

Lots of good eating and good wine, and lots and lots of talking....whoa, 2 am one night....4 am the next....

It gave me a chance to give her the Oberlin sampler of CHICAGO which I had finished a while back. She and her husband Paul are from Chicago, and lived in the greater Chicago area before moving to Ohio. Now Paul's job has taken them to the Philly area, and boy, do I miss them!

She seems pleased, right?

Happy First Day of Spring !!

 

One of the four free seasonal samplers available from 

The Stitcherhood

of Athens, Ohio.

On St. Patrick's Day, we all become a little Irish

An Irish Blessing

by

Terrie Lee Steinmeyer

(Leisure Arts)

Irish Blessings Scissors

Irish Blessings Scissors

by

Meribel Abrams

Winter Is For The Birds!

This sure fits for the winter of 2011-12 !! I haven't even had to shovel, and have scraped my windshield maybe twice. I've missed it, frankly.  I loved this design, and used the recommended fabric, 25 ct. Bone Lugana, which is perfect! And, by the way, stitching plaids is really a blast, too.

Winter Is For the Birds

by 

Lynn Waters Busa

(Leisure Arts)

Valentine Chocolate !!

Chocolate

by

Hob-Nobb Designs

Valentine Tuck Pillows

My Valentine Tuck Pillows

Pine Mountain Designs

Recipe for Love

Recipe for Love

by

Fiddlestitch Cottage (2005)

Sweet Heart

"Sweet Heart"

by

Heart in Hand

Winter Is For the Birds !!

Ever found a design on the internet which just pops with color?! This was the case with "Winter Is For the Birds" for me.  I love the colors  and it has been a blast to stitch, so far.

Somehow, I managed to get the page from an older Leisure Arts mag from a fellow stitcher, and found the perfect fabby for it (25 ct. Bone Lugana). The description mentions Lynn, so it may be a Lynn Waters Busa design.

Stitching "Bug Light"

One of my favorite spots last summer was the relatively new Bug Light Park in South Portland. I could walk to it from the Betsy Ross House, where Mom now lives. And I did, during Hurricane Irene, which had been reduced to a tropical storm by the time it reached us. These pictures were taken that day. There are high-rise condos near there, looking out over Casco Bay. Maybe that's where I'll retire!

I resolved to stitch up this wonderful landmark. I already owned a kit, which didn't look too exciting. I've started on it and there's A LOT OF WHITE, naturally. I found another and purchased it this fall.

I plan to stitch both of these up and then frame my photographs and my stitching as a collage.

For both of them, I will not stitch the word "Breakwater," because, to me, it'll always be Bug Light.

First Snow !!

This morning, the 3rd morning of the long weekend, when I was able to SLEEP IN, I woke up to flurries outside my window here in Mason, Ohio.  It is NOW officially winter in my world.