The Freds are finished -- framed piece -- a present -- and etc

Finally got Fred done to go with his girlfriend.  Here he is in all his glory.

 He's Frederick, of course, by Carriage House Samplings.  Here's his mate, Fredrika.

Both are stitched on 40ct vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens with the called for NPI silks.  I love them!  Aren't they perfect for fall?

I also got my Fruit of the Spirit (Plum Street Samplers) back from my LNS.   I'm really happy with how it came out.  The owner's husband Don does the framing and he's always so helpful with picking out the perfect frame.

Here's a closeup of the frame.  Isn't it perfect?   I love it!

As you may know, I've been participating in the Sail Away SAL which is being lead by Loraine and Terri.   Terri sent all of us SALers a wonderful fob to get us all on our way.  Now that the SAL is ending, Loraine has sent a nice present, a stitching wallet.  I got mine in the mail today -- and I'm so tickled!  Here it is, along with Terri's fob that she made for us.

And here's the other side of the wallet.

She included a wonderful sheet with all of our names on it that also has a space for us to record when we started our stitching journey and when we finished.  Isn't it wonderful?   Thank you, Loraine!  And thank you to both you and Terri for such a great SAL!  

In other news, it seems to be homecoming weekend around the country, including here.  The boy child is in seventh heaven.  Two of his friends who left for college this fall are home for the weekend, so he's off having fun with all his friends.   I know I won't be seeing much of him till Monday night. 

The Father type had to go to a function last weekend up north a bit.  Turns out it had great views of the Hudson River.  Just look at it!

Pretty nice, huh?  They were apparently way up high on some mountain or other.  You can see the Hudson in the distance down there.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Fruit of the Spirit finished

Well, what with it being summer with the kids home, with Wimbledon to watch up through Sunday (yay Federer, but boy did I feel badly for Roddick!), and with a flat tire at the groceries yesterday which totally messed up that day, this finish didn't come as quickly as I would have liked. But here is Fruit of the Spirit finally!


Fruit of the Spirit by Plum Street Samplers
45 ct Vintage Sand Dune
NPI and Threadgatherer silks



I like how it came out! But the 45ct -- well it's fun and doable, but 40ct is still my comfort zone! Especially when it comes to the over one!



In other news, you may have already heard about this contest, but Violarium is having a drawing for this great book.



It's actually rather a coincidence, since I saw this book on someone's blog and thought what a great book it would be to have. And now this contest! So wander on over and enter! Click on Violarium, or here.

There's also a thing going on about what your first quilt was and your latest quilt, but I don't know if I have the strength to figure out what either my first quilt was or my last one! lol! It'll be fun to watch though.

Well, summer days are here, although you wouldn't be able to tell from the weather. The boy child has discovered the beauty of the lake in the early mornings, but tends to stay up all night in order to enjoy it. Not good -- then he sleeps all day! The girl child is happily ensconced with the boy friend and that's about it for her! Has anyone else with high school or college kids noticed that it's really hard to find summer jobs this summer? Ah well. The girl child being in Spain didn't help of course -- a whole month gone with that. But all her friends are in the same predicament.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog!

A finish, a WIP, and my baby girl is home!

So this is the project I picked up for a quick finish -- The Tulip Garden by Goode Huswife. I used Belle Soie and DMC on 40ct light examplar.




I was going to take more pictures of it, but I couldn't get any clear ones so I gave up.

Then I had problems. I picked up Sailor's Wife by the Sampler Company, but I wasn't happy with the conversion I was using so I put it aside for now. Next I picked up Fruit of the Spirit by Plum Street Samplers (told you, Paulette!). And I love it. :D


The colors aren't coming out correctly at all. It's on 45ct vintage Sand Dune. Sure looks like it, doesn't it! lol! I'm using the called for NPI and Threadgatherer silks.



I'd picked up the 45ct vintage Sand Dune so I could copy Tanya from The Scarlett House on Sarah Hartley, but I gave up on that idea when Tanya mentioned all the over one on that piece. Of course, this has a bit of over one as well, but not half as much as Sarah Hartley! Thank goodness! See those little birds by the bird house? They're over one. And there's more to come. I'm using tent over one for the over one part. The 45ct is fun to use, but I think I like 40ct better. Sarah Hartley will definitely be on 40ct!




In other news, my girl child is finally home from Spain!!! Yay!!!! We went to pick her up Saturday evening from JFK, and I was cursing all the way there -- there was tons of traffic. I decided that it was because of a baseball game at the new Citifield stadium, and I was right! Thank goodness we left for the airport when we did or we would have been late! As it was, we got there after the plane landed, but way before the plane "docked." We had to wait a good long while till the girl child finally walked out of customs, but then finally, there she was, looking so grownup and lovely. And of course with that huge smile!



It was so good to see her, to hug her, to have her around us again! And it still is!



(Yes, I cut myself out of the picture. That's my arm. Hee hee! Thanks for the pictures, father type!)

So we're all home now -- except that the boy child is next door sleeping over and the father type is at work. You know what I mean though. No more Spain! It's great!

Now for the looooooooong summer. lol! Already life is more interesting with two teenagers plus a boyfriend to worry about. And stitching time? I never have as much during the summer. Ah well, it's worth it! :D

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week -- and a new month! And for those of you watching Wimbledon -- go Federer! Go Murray! I'm for a Federer- Murray final myself. :D