Needle and Thread, a finish.

Its been a hot few days and I do NOT do well with the heat. After a month of rain, this heat brings on the humidity. Most people take advantage of the nice weather to get outside. I use this heat as an excuse to stay inside. (Okay, so I went out and played softball with my Granddaughter on Sunday then hurried back inside.)

I think I mentioned on my last post that I was in the process of working on Little House Needlework's Needle and Thread, and that the fob stitching was finished. It's all done, and I'm now looking for a box to top with the main stitched piece. The fob has been finished into a scissor fob. I did not stitch this fob on the fabric Diane chose for it. I used the 32 count fabric, color unknown, that I used for the main piece. I think it made a very acceptable size. I filled the fob with plastic pellets for weight.

Last weekend I pulled all the DMC for Little House Neighborhood and got started on that. It's coming along nicely. I have two houses nearly finished. I'm stitching it on 32 count R & R Cotton and doing it as a SAL with a friend in Scotland.

Thank you for all the encouraging comments you left on my last post. It was a very difficult time for me, and you all helped more than you know. I have heard from that person since then. Isn't it crazy how close you can feel to someone you have never met? I think blogging does that for us. Allows us to meet and get to know so many different kinds of people. And we are all as varied as the designs we like to stitch. Thank you, all of you, for being my friend, for visiting my blog and leaving comments. YOU ALL ROCK!!!

Moonlit Garden Framed, finally!

Well, I finally got the frame made for this piece and everything put together the other day. Since its been so long since last I posted, I had another finish so went ahead and framed that one also. So, here is my rendition of Moonlit Garden by Blackbird Designs, and Rose Hill Plantation by Little House Needleworks:

Whatcha think? I decided to go with a 'carved' look for the Moonlit Garden frame but wasn't at all happy with the quality of the molding. (I'll just never buy it again.) I had the suggestion, from Patti, I think, about the color it should be--oaky--and chose English Oak stain. Several coats of clear and it was finished. By the time the frame was completed and dry enough to put the stitched piece into, I had Rose Hill finished. Went ahead and made that frame, used my old stand by molding and Rosewood stain, and framed them both on the same day. I'm definitely going to have to learn to cut mats for my pieces--they just look so plain compared to what all of you guys are putting on your walls.

Forgot to mention that I changed up the fabric color--used Vintage Examplar light, and changed all the colors to Crescent color cottons, except for one DMC she used. That was one color I couldn't find a substitute for since I don't have all the CC colors. I enjoy the look of the overdyes. Don't those 'roses' look like the 60's hippy flowers?

While waiting for the frame for Rose Hill to be ready, I started stitching the LHN piece that previewed at Nashville Market, Needle and Thread. The scissor fob is stitched and tonight should see the finish for the larger piece. I did not buy the mattress that went with this piece--I'm thinking more along the lines of a box top, if I can find one the right size. Maybe use beads to make little bun feet, and then put the scissor and fob inside. Just a thought.

The weather has been crazy here but not as crazy as it's been in other parts with all the tornadoes running amok. We get hot weather, then cold weather. Sun and then rain. Last night brought tornado warnings, (a blast from the warning horn) thunderstorms and high winds. Had several storms blow through here last night. Seems like we've had some kind of rain every other day this week and most of last week, too. Positively creepy, though I must admit to liking the nights when we had frost warnings. I am NOT looking forward to the hot summer.

I've had something on my mind for several months, and it's really been bothering me. Have you ever lost a friend and not known why? No argument, no disagreement, just silence where once were phone calls, letters and emails exchanged on nearly a daily basis? No explanation, just . . . . nothing. I had a wonderful friendship with this lovely person. We talked on the phone almost every day, sometimes more than once a day. We exchanged emails, notes, letters, packages often. Then, for some reason, I became 'persona non grata'. Phone calls were not answered, or returned. Emails not returned. Letters not answered. I did get a Christmas card with just her signature on it. I feel like I must have committed some heinous crime but for the life of me, don't know what it was. I never gossiped about her. Never shared any secrets she shared with me. If it wasn't for her continuing to add pictures to her album, I would have thought she died. I really hate to give up on her but it's now been something like 6 months, and nothing. Last time I wrote her, I requested that she return something she'd been working on for me, and that hasn't been done either. (It was a Lorrie Birmingham kit, a needle book in a heart shape, for my daughter-in-law. I didn't think I could do the hardanger.) My heart hurts over the loss of this person and I don't know what to do anymore. In doing this in this way, it did bring home to me something that I did to someone else. I had an email buddy that I stopped writing to, for no particular reason. I have since re-established that friendship and apologized for the hurt I caused her. Nothing like having it done to you, eh?

So, there you have it. I've got it off my chest. It's why I've been so slow in posting, having so much on my mind. In other news, my eldest son just shared with us that his wife is pregnant, about a month along. It will be his first child and he's grinning like a baboon! They already have names picked out, can you believe that? I was still picking and choosing at the hospital after he'd been born. And here is what else I've done in these last few weeks. He picked up this water color at a yard sale last year. I did some cleaning on it, fixed it up a bit and framed it for his new apartment.

Not sure what will be next for me. Maybe I'll just go back and finish the Shepherd's Bush halloween piece I was working on before I got sidetracked. I have been saving my pennies to pick up LHN's Virtues chart--I really like that one.

Stitch on, my friends! Thank you for all the comments you leave, the encouragement you give! It is all much appreciated.