A Mid-Winter Walk

It is so hard to believe that 2013 will be over tonight!  We are not big celebrators of New Year's Eve so we are having dinner with good friends and will be home by 10.  Now fireworks are a big thing here so it might be a bit hard to sleep around mid-night but I will be trying.
I tried to get my Word Play for Jan finished but I think it will be tomorrow not today.  I am going to show my  start for the new year tomorrow.  Today, I'm taking you for a walk around our yard.  Our average temps this time of year are in the 40's. I hope you enjoy this short walk.

 This is one of two planters by the garage.  It looked very sad after our very cold snap in Dec. but it has come back nicely.

 A red twig dogwood at the front entrance.

We use this little front porch a lot.  It is covered and we often sit out there and read or have our coffee even in the winter.

This bush is called Garrya Elliptica.

We planted it because of this winter interest.  Some call them flowers.

I love the dogwood, mid-winter fire. It is spectacular when it snows!

 I hope the front door says welcome.

 Helleboras niger,"Winter Rose" is blooming right now!

These Hellebors are on their way!

The little Anna's hummingbird we fed through the cold spell each morning very early as they feed around sunrise.  ( I do have a very sweet DH, he did those early morning feedings).

Look who finally arrived !The pileated wood pecker.

Have a great New Year's Eve and a most Happy  and healthy New Year to you all!!!!!!

A Gift and Some Cross Stitch

This post is full of thank-yous!  First, to all of you who read my blog. Second,a special thanks to those who comment.  A huge third to Veronica at the blog,"An Arizona Stitcher" I won her give-away.  I was very lucky. She is a great stitcher so if you haven't seen her blog, I suggest you head over there for a look.  In addition to the wonderful things in the photo, she included a gift certificate for $30 to 123 Stitch.  I use them all the time!! I already have planned what I will order. I'll show you that later.  For now, here are my goodies:

 The little buttons are a Christmas tree and a cute little snowman plus a needle slide, a cute little clip  and a magnet.

 Here is the beautiful sachet. She included this partly because I knew the pattern and chart.  The minute I saw it on Veronica's blog I recognized the chart.  Last winter I stitched "The Christmas Garden"  by BBD.  As I was stitching it , I thought that several of the motifs would make great little designs.  Here is one of the trees.  I love it.  Plus, the sachet has a wonderful holiday smell!

Here is the very pretty back with a wool tree. Thanks so much Veronica!!

My current project-  when I finish this , I'll have all the Word Play's finished except, December (I was waiting for this fabric), June, and Oct. I love all of Brenda's designs!

I'm sort of doing a 12 days of Christmas idea this year so all my decorations will be up for a while.  We are having friends for dinner tomorrow and my DD and I had a wonderful day in the city(Seattle) yesterday! I hope you all have a very good week-end and I had better say, GO HAWKS!!!!!

The Day After

First, a big thanks to all of you who wished me and my family a Merry Christmas.  We did have a nice day.  We were invited, along with our DD and SIL, to his parents home for Christmas dinner.  We had a very delicious dinner and thoroughly enjoyed the company. Normally, I would not show gifts but this year, the gifts came from the hearts of our children.

  Isn't this the best Santa ever?!! Our DD made him for us.  I just love him!

 This picture was taken by our SIL in Tofino BC.  He titled it "The laughing Eagle. "

Our son sent photos of our wonderful grand children. This is lovely Hannah.

 And her handsome brother, Caleb.

 Our beautiful DIL and Hannah.

Here she is with Caleb. We loved those pictures that she sent to us!!

The ending of a wonderful day.  Albert our sweet grand-dog!

Merry Christmas

My wish is that you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday!

A Little Finish, A Friend, and A Beautiful bird!

I really enjoyed the comments on my last post.  The ornaments that my DD made are at least 25 years old!  I also appreciated the advice you gave me on my last finish.  I did find the perfect frame so it will be framed.  It is not big so I do like the idea of putting it on a table. As many of you know, I am a bit of a finishing coward so framing was fine with me! I was waiting for some linen to arrive to begin my January Word Play, so I stitched this little Santa.  The design is from the JCS Ornament Magazine 2011.  It is a Sue Hillis Design called Lantern Santa.  I did it pretty much as charted but skipped the back stitching.  For some reason my stitches were crowded and I didn't think it would work to try to back stitch much of the design. I used some left over fabric from Caleb's Halloween design.

 Last week I spent a delightful afternoon with my good friend Joan.  She stamps the way many of us cross stitch.  She has a wonderful collection of stamps and paper which she generously shares with me.  She usually invites me for an afternoon of stamping before most holidays. We always have a great afternoon!

 Pictures of her vast collection of stamps!

 See the hearts! We have made Valentines for several years.  My family loves them!

Here are some of the beautiful cards she made for Christmas.

 

My good friend Joan helping me with the stamping.

 

 We woke up to a bit of snow on Friday morning and look what we saw at our feeder.  Beautiful!! According to our bird book it is a Varied Thrush.

My wish is that you are all having a wonderful week-end before Christmas and taking time to enjoy the wonders of this amazing time of year.

A Finish and Some Memories

We have managed to finish a lot of the rushing around things and I hope the same is true for many of you.  This is partly due to the fact that most of our family lives far away and we do need to get things in the mail. I love Amazon, they even wrap for you!! I just finished the project I decided would be my Christmas stitch this year.  I did want something I could use beyond the holidays. 

 Here you have, " Christmas Colors:MD's Sampler " by Shakespeare's Peddler.  The designer indicated this was most likely done by a young girl due to the fact that all things are not quite even.  The sampler is not dated or signed. I took the liberty of making some color changes.  A somewhat aqua was used in the original.  I substituted using golds and GA endive green.

 There is a lot of bright red and green in this sampler.  I used DMC 355 and 356 for the reds. I used the suggested greens except where I used the GA endive.

I love that little basket of fruit.  I can't decide what to do with it now that I have finished.  Should I just frame it or try to make a little wall hanging out of it?  Any  ideas?

 When my DD was little, 4th-5th grade, she did a lot of cross stitch.  These are Christmas gifts she made for us many years ago.  You have seen the Woolpets she now makes.  I am one lucky mother to have such a talented, sweet daughter!

Have a wonderful week!  I hope you are all able to slow down and enjoy the beauty of this season!

A Thank You and a Cross Stitch Update!

First, thanks to all of you who looked at my Christmas quilt , the bed, and the sampler.  As usual, bloggers are the nicest people and say such kind things.  To prove that, I received the cutest little bunny ornament from Jamie at the blog "Cricket-bug Corner." If you have not found her blog, then head on over.  Jamie's blog is full of interesting things.  She does great cross stitch, visits wonderful restaurants and sights, and is in the process of fixing up her new home in Indiana! Thanks so much for your kindness Jamie!

 Here is the cute little bunny on the tree!  She will also look great on my Spring feather tree!

 I love the bee charm.

 Here is my current WIP.  It is Christmas Colors:MD'S Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler.  I have changed a color.  There was a green that I didn't like with the other green colors in the sampler. It was almost aqua. I'm using golds and a soft green.

 Hannah's ornament is ready to mail.  I used Vonna's of the "Twisted Stitcher" tutorial for finishing a flat ornament. Her directions are wonderful!

Here is the back.  I am so glad it is finished.  Finishing is just not my favorite thing to do.  I guess that's why I frame almost everything.

I hope you all have a wonderful week , stay warm, it has been so cold here!!

The Sampler

Thanks so much for all the kind words about yesterday's post.  A few mentioned the sampler.  There is a bit of a story about it.  When we first moved to Washington, I could not find a LNS plus I was not used to ordering on-line(I have corrected that problem!!!) Anyway, we went up to beautiful Victoria BC and there was a wonderful shop.  So I bought the biggest sampler I could find so I would have months of stitching!!

 Here is the lovely  Rhoda Hastings 1863.

 I probably used the suggested threads and bought them that day.  Since my photo is a bit blurry, I will tell you that the pattern is by Samplers and Such , Rebecca Dorrie.

I especially like the verse.

This is my newest Ebay purchase.  I have loved this for quite a time.  I finally got it at an affordable price! Have a great day!!

A Christmas Quilt

I hope this post finds you all well and progressing with your holiday plans! Today I decided to share my Christmas quilt with you.  I took a class a few years ago at the local quilt shop.  The class was designed around the Thimbleberries patterns.  Before I became involved with cross stitching, I was a quilter.  My favorite part was the hand quilting.  I might have mentioned that I will never enter a contest with my stitching.  Part of the reason has to do with the quilting.  I allowed my perfectionist tendencies to get the best of me and I realized that I was not enjoying the quilting anymore.  I was so determined to get 10 stitches to the inch. Anyway, I am determined that my stitching will remain a joy not a chore!! I am showing this quilt not because of my work.  I did all the piecing on my machine.  However an amazing lady did the quilting with a long arm. That is worth sharing!!

I tried to give you a view of the quilt on the bed.  My dear father built this beautiful 4-poster colonial bed for us.

This is the border all around the quilt.  It represents a village, trees and all.

There is a big house right in the center.  She stitched the year, my name , and a wreath on the door.

 Notice the shades and the beautiful pine cone wreath.

 Shutters, shades, and stars!

A candle in the window of this house.

 All the inner borders had these stars.

Do you see the deer eating the grass at the bottom?

 Each package is stitched with it's own design. I think you will agree with me that this lady is a wonderful quilter and she quilts with love.

The other morning I was going downstairs and this is what I saw. I thought it was a great shadow!

Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope everyone is having a good week!