Birthday Gifts and Stash

Fair warning, this is going to be a long post. If you need to grab a cup of tea or coffee, or a diet pepsi, go on, I'll wait. . . . . are you ready now? Well, here goes.

My last long post concerned having a tooth extracted and the aftermath. I weathered that ordeal fairly well, and then. . . . wait for it. . . . promptly got sick with a horrid sinus infection. The last time I had something like this was three years ago and it nearly landed me in the hospital. I just can't eat, which is not good when one is diabetic. So, there I was, just days from my birthday and so sick I couldn't even eat, let alone stitch, or read, or make merry with my family. My eldest son tried very hard to help me, before he went off to work and when he got home at night--he works second shift. Hubby finally came home to get the truck in for some repairs and stayed until I was able to do for myself. During that time, I had three days of feeling pretty good and his gift to me for my birthday was a trip to House of Stitches, in LaPorte, Indiana. We made the most of that day, let me tell you.

I've uploaded many pictures so you can see some of the things my family gave me for my birthday. They were all thoughtful gifts. First up, the ones from my eldest son. He knows that I collect Boyd's Bears Treasure boxes and resin figurines, so that's what he got me. The little hats below are Treasure boxes and the figurine is the new Halloween piece.

There is the Snowman Hat, Witches Hat and Santa Hat. The hats all have tiny mice figures inside. My favorite was the Snowman hat because the little mouse figure has a snowman.
See the close up of the snowman. Isn't he cute? He also gave me a pair of lovely earrings, and a book I've been wanting to read. But, the biggest gift he gave me was the care he showed during this difficult time.

Next up were the gifts from my youngest son and his family. They got me three pairs of earrings, a cute pair of capri pants and two really cute, dressy tee shirts. And I have the promise of a cook out this coming weekend with a cheese cake to celebrate.

The next picture was a surprise gift from my dear friend, Nicole. This package arrived the first day I felt human and knew I was going to live. LOL.

Nicole sent me five cuts of linen, all of them specialty linens. Aren't they gorgeous? And look at that ton of Crescent colours. She also sent the JABC buttons for LHN "All Dolled Up" Strawberry House. But what really topped everything is the beaded scissor fob she sent. Isn't it gorgeous? All in shades of blue, my absolute favorite colors. I put it right away on my scissors and have been using it ever since. Thanks Nicole.

As I said before, my birthday gift from my hubby was a trip to House of Stitches. We decided to take the entire day to ourselves. We enjoyed the trip up, all 2 1/2 hours worth, with a stop for lunch at KFC. We talked like we haven't been able to talk in months. Sadly, music went by the wayside because we were jammering so much. The weather was clear, bright and really warm.

I was thankful that we went on a Thursday because the shop wasn't crowded, as it always is on the weekends. Hubby decided he'd do best to take a nap in the car while I shopped and visited, and shopped some more. So, here is what I walked out of the store with:
Just Nan's Gilded Dragonfly and silk thread pack, the Halloween ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch and the Autumn issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework.
A large bag of Best Way floss bobbins, a package of thread drops, a pair of scissors with handles shaped like the Eiffel Tower, a pin cube kit and Crescent colours for 4 new projects.
Four cuts of specialty linen, a skein of Belle Soie in Empress, and a few Kelmscott pieces in the mother of Pearl: ruler, thread rings, and a winder that looks like a butterfly.
Twisted Threads Tin Pin Flag and a Just Nan frame accessory of a bat, for a project I'm making my son. If anyone has made the Tin Pin Flag, please let me know. I have a few questions for you, LOL.

It was a wonderful day. I had a lovely visit with Linda and her daughter Sarah. With hubby napping, I could take as long as I wanted to, browsing the store, chatting, looking at everything. I think Linda got a chuckle --there is so much you can't see when you browse online, as opposed to being in the store proper. Linda is not just a great shop owner, she's a lovely hostess. I enjoyed my time there immensely.

Hubby got a really nice nap, nearly two hours, so we opted to take the long way home. We took the back roads all the way, and most of it was through Amish country. We passed lakes and lovely hilly land. Saw a sunset fit for royalty and enjoyed each other's company. We ended the day with dinner at Ponderosa.

It took a few more days for me to feel fit and healthy but I'm doing better now. Thanks to all who emailed to see how I was feeling. And thank you, all of you who stayed to the very end of this very long post. I wish I was better at describing things.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Small Finish and New Stash

First, a small finish. This is Thread Gathering, by Little House Needleworks. It was a limited edition kit, that came with the threads, Crescent Colors Cotton overdyes and a lovely Kelmscott thread keep, made from Mother of Pearl. I stitched it on the recommended fabric, 32 count Natural Raw Linen. The border seemed to take forever to stitch--but then I figured out how many stitches were in it, over a thousand, and that made perfect sense. It was a real joy to watch the colors change, especially the Old Blue Jeans color. I really love the simplicity of the piece and it will be framed and hung over my guest room/stash room/sewing room door. Quite fitting, don't you think?

Next up is NEW stash. I received two packages in the mail yesterday. From House of Stitches in LaPorte, IN, some new fabrics. Pictured is the largest piece, a Lakeside Linen called Tundra, in 32 count, which is my favorite count to work on. What isn't pictured is a small piece of 28 count Linen in Clay, which I'm using for a piece in our Smalls RR and that I started last night. I'm doing a Drawn Thread Witch, from Holiday Halloween. Linda from House of Stitches is the greatest to order from. There have been times when I order one day and have it the next day. Of course, she's only two hours away so shipping time is short, but Linda and her gals are the greatest around. And their store is a stitchers dream. The rest of my order was from the Froggy Stitcher . I ordered a chart which was out of stock but on sale, Thread hoops from Kelmscott (really lovely) and three skeins of Crescent colors cotton overdyes in Black Bird, Blacksmith Blue and River Rocks. Those last are for an upcoming project I have planned. Karen was really great to deal with and got my order out right away.

So, there you have it. A finish and some new stash. I've not gotten a lot of stitching done the last few days because hubby is home again, working on the truck. I think I'm going to name this truck TROUBLE since its been causing problems all year. This time the radiator blew out, to the tune of $745. The new one was delivered this morning. Oh, and of course, with him needing to be outside working on the repairs, we have a thunder storm arriving any time.

Until next post, Happy Stitching and may your finishes be many.

Messes, and more

I had planned an update to the SAL that Nicole and I were doing. Yes, I have finished the stitching and most of the finishing for the Wool Needle book and Fob--still have to find a button, and put cording around the fob. Went back to work on LHN's Brave Hearts and I've finished the wording, and started work on the sheep--but pictures will have to wait for another day. Just too much needs doing right now.

The ladies of our Yahoo group have been comparing stash "messes". You know, when you walk into the room where you store your stash, and can't find anything because you pulled something out (many, many times) and didn't put it back in the right place, and all around you are piles of wonderful fibers and linens, charts and kits just begging to be worked on--and you feel you need a guide dog to lead you out of the room--that's the kind of mess I mean. Here is mine.

This picture was taken standing out in the hallway and that green cabinet is in the middle of the room. I had to move things around a bit to get my new hutch in here. But, you can see the general disorder of the place. Isn't it pathetic?

And this is the bed--or can't you see the bed under the pile of general "stuff"? Yes, there is a bed under all of that.

OH, my, there are the pillows, and a peek at my new hutch. And see, more "stuff" in bags on the floor. This is a very tiny room, not even a closet to hide anything in.

This is my sewing table. It's a library desk, very old, but sturdy enough to hold my sewing machine and serger, which you can't see because that nine drawer mini chest is in the way. And is that a "little Mermaid" purse of my granddaughter's? Yes, indeed, and she's now 7 and way too old for it. So, why is it still in this room?

This is the foot of the bed. I finally got the cabinet moved up against the wall so I can walk in the room. I'm thinking the best idea for me is to take everything that is piled up all over, out of the room, stack it on the dining room table and go from there. I did that last week, and did get a lot of things put away, and organized, but then the weekend came rolling in, we needed the table to eat at, so hence, the mess on the bed again. ARGGGG!

I did get a small start on making my room look a bit better, and that was the hutch hubby bought me for storage. We found it on clearance at K Marts last weekend, DS1 helped me put it together and we got it put in here. I just love it. I can use a bit of the area on top for "show and tell" and the rest for fabrics, yarns, finishing fabrics, and all sorts of things. It's 6 feet of lovely and usable storage. Want to see a picture of it?

I think its gorgeous. Those two little drawers are perfect for holding new items, thread drops, new overdyes, small things that haven't found their own space. The two bottom doors are hiding a ton of yarn, but there is still half the space waiting to be filled. Still some space on top. Those baskets are holding linens, and see on the top shelf? There is my Little Traveler for taking my stitching on the road, a few pretties that were made for me, and my hand finishing box of supplies. On the very top of the cabinet is a basket of SB kits, that didn't fit into the huge basket I have for them. Guess I need to get stitching. Up there is also my other stitching bag, it's one of those messenger type bags, and holds a lot of supplies.

So, there you have it. I'll be cleaning and taking update pictures so as to encourage myself and others to get your stash organized. After this is done, it's on to my stitching area in the living room. And next time, I will have pictures and updates from the SAL and my Brave Hearts. Until then, Happy Stitching!