Memories!

 It's been an interesting life since our Daughter-in-Law joined the family.  She is such a good Momma to our Granddaughter and it's always a joy to spend time together.  I honestly believe she creates more Memories for our family than we did while our son was growing up!  We did do a lot of things, maybe our son was too little to remember a lot of them...still it's great making new memories with our newest members of the family!  That said, I've been stitching ornaments which I give to family at Thanksgiving.  

I just finished two new ones by The Victoria Sampler.  I love her designs, but especially her Christmas designs...I just love the look of them.  These were in a leaflet called Christmas Memories.  I stitched both of them on 40 count Vintage Country Mocha over two.  Now to figure out a way to finish them off!  (I'm not so good at the square ones...lol).  

Now as for memories, we made some new ones last night!  I wish I could share the videos, for some reason I can't get them to load into blogger...but here are a few shots from last night's Orioles game against the Colorado Rockies.  It was a sold out stadium, and we won!  The Orioles have been having a great season, it's been fun watching them!  Fingers crossed they make it to the playoffs.  Let's just say, Little Miss A loves watching the games, at home and at the stadium.  She had a great time last night, especially entertaining the folks sitting behind us.  For reference, check out the guy photobombing our group picture...what a hoot!  He was especially impressed that Miss A could give a good fist bump!  She even got excited about doing the wave!  (Unfortunately the only shots I have of the wave were videos) but you can see the look of concentration on her face as she watched the game, and even stayed awake through the whole game (we left the stadium 3 hours after her bedtime!!).  

I've come to a little lull in my stitching.  I guess I've lost my mojo.  Someone suggested I find something new to stitch that I'm really interested in...so I'm thinking about it.  In the meanwhile I think I'll stitch a few more ornaments because having a finish is fuel for my mojo....so I'll be back soon with some more ornaments.  Till then...Happy Stitching!

IHSW Again!

It was an interesting weekend!  I thought I would be all prepared for the International  Hermit and Stitch Weekend.  I had all my projects lined up and ready to go...First up I wanted to finish Violets by Riolis.  I had started it the Thursday before and worked all day Friday into Saturday morning when I finished it!  The kit came with 14 count white Aida but I really don't like working with Aida anymore.  So I went for a deep dive into my stash and found 36 count Maritime White which I decided to use.  I didn't like the coverage of one strand over 14 count...and wanted to use only one strand of the wool/acrylic blend fibers they included.  The coverage was better on 36 count over two.  Anyone who really knows me, knows that I love violets.  This was a gift from Marina, from the gift of summer exchange.  She sent some lovely things, and I'll be working on a few other things that she sent soon!  I just love how this turned out!  Thank you Marina!  

Saturday afternoon I picked up another kit...with again, 14 count white Aida.  The kit is from Janlynn and is called Collecting Shells.  This time I substituted 40 count white which I'm not too sure was a good choice but I'm going to go with it.  When I saw the kit it reminded me of my Granddaughter so I couldn't resist.  I was hoping to finish it for a Christmas gift, but realized it's more involved than I thought...so...maybe by her third birthday?  Fingers crossed!  LOL  There was a lot of counting just to get it started...and I finished one line and a little bit more and thought...ugh...I will have to be a little less tired.  It's nearly complete coverage and it's been a while since I've worked on something this involved so...

I decided to start something a little smaller.  I then picked up Christmas Memories by The Victoria Sampler.  I love her designs!!  BUT...I needed to substitute every fiber she had in the list.  I have no idea where you can by Kreinik Mori but did find a conversion chart so I found all the DMC I needed in my stash.  I'm stitching this on 40 count Vintage Country Mocha.  I will be stitching both designs, but started with the truck first.  What a joy this is to stitch!  I had hoped to post this on Monday, but DH was having a medical procedure and needed a designated driver...and the truck was a perfect size to stitch on while sitting in the waiting room for over two hours!  So...I'm a little late posting BUT it extended my weekend by a day and I have a little more stitching to show.  

So that's all I have to show for this IHSW Weekend...let's hope I do better next time!  Thanks for checking in....Happy Stitching!

August Gifted Gorgeousness

Welcome to my Gifted Gorgeousness post for August.  If you don't know what GG is all about, please visit Jo's blog Serendipitous Stitching (click here) and click on the Gifted Gorgeousness sign up page to see the rules (or you can even sign up, you can join in any time!).  Basically we post things we are stitching that were gifted to us (including fibers, fabric and patterns) or that we are gifting others.  If you go to Jo's blog on the 15th you will see everyone who links in and you can see what others are stitching for GG too!  Are you ready?  Here we go...  

I have been working on Sarah Elliot's Sewing Chest which was a gift from a friend.  There are 3 more patterns to stitch but I set it aside this month to get started on some Christmas ornaments.  I have put all the ones I've stitched into one picture but if you want to look at them close up, you can click on the picture and make it larger.  I am excited to be working on this as it's been sitting in my closet for ages.  Wish me luck on the rest of the pieces!  

As I said before I rummaged through my stash to pick out some ornaments to stitch for Christmas.  All of these will be gifts.  First up is Flamingo Christmas by Stoney Creek.  It's stitched on 32 count Summer Skies by Sparklies, the fabric was a gift from Mouse in England.  This is for my Granddaughter as she loves flamingos right now.  

Next is 2009 Santa by Prairie Schooler.  Santa has a hockey stick, and I thought it would be perfect for my hockey loving son!  It's stitched on 36 count khaki over one.  

Next is Baking Spirits Bright from the 2022 JCS Ornament Issue.  I consider anything thing stitched from a JCS magazine a gift as my husband has gifted all the issues that have been printed.    I have someone in mind for this ornament too, as she usually makes fudge for us every year and I think it's perfect for her!  

Next is Traveling With Santa from the 2013 JCS Ornament Issue stitched on 32 count white opalescent over one.  I swore I wouldn't stitch on opalescent again, but in a moment of temporary insanity I thought it would be the perfect fabric.  I said a few choice words like...DARN, RATS, WHAT WAS I THINKING, while stitching on this...but I finished it...and really like the outcome.  I have a small piece left, just in case I have another bout of insanity...but this time it may be a long while before I tackle it again...haha.  This is for one of the kiddies on my list to give ornaments to.  

Last is an ornament I finished yesterday.  This is called Sheep Ornament by Durene Jones.  It's stitched on 28 count lambswool over two.  I didn't have the specialty fibers for this one, nor could I find them at my LNS so I fudged and substituted a few of them.  I think it will be relatively easy to finish, I just have to figure out how to attach a wool piece to cover the holes left from the hardanger work.  It was my first time doing the corner weaving needlework, and it's not perfect, but I learned a lot in the process.  I hope the recipient likes it...we will see.  

I guess that's all I have for this round of GG.  With a little luck I'll have the rest of Sarah Elliot's Sewing Chest done next month.  Finishing that has me shaking in my boots, but I'm going to give it the old college try!  I have a few more ornaments lined up...and several things in the wings to get some finishing done.  If I could stay home one weekend and get my act together...but that's another story entirely!  Ok, I'm off to get more stitching done.  I hope you are safe, healthy, and happily stitching!  Take care!  

Anniversary Adventures

It's been a while since we took a trip with no definite plans made.  Usually we plan a trip and do a little research and have some idea of what we want to do.  This year, all we knew is that we wanted to get away from "stuff".  Nothing in particular, just get away from all the busyness.  So...we made reservations at a little place in Cumberland, Maryland.  We knew there were a lot of places of interest, historical interest, in Western Maryland, but who knew there was so much?  We learned about the C&O canal, the B&O railway, some battles of the Civil War and the French and Indian War.  Now we didn't spend a lot of time learning about these things...so we will probably make another trip out that way maybe this fall...to visit some of the other Civil War battlefields, but after I do a little more research so I know what I'm looking at.  Here are some of the things we did see...  

This is Mutt, one of the last mules to pull a canal boat along the C&O.  George Washington was in favor of building canals to ship goods farther west and encouraging people to move that way once we were free from British rule.  Mutt's statue can be found outside the C&O Museum.  There's not a lot of information in this museum...and after we left we discovered it's part of the National Park Service...but it did give a little insight into canal life.  I hope to go back and explore the tow path a little more.    It was just too beastly hot to spend much time outdoors while we were there.  

The museum is in the lower part of the railway station.  You can still buy tickets to ride the railroad and they have special events like the fall Murder Mystery trip (which is already sold out for this year) and the Polar Express Christmas trip in December.    We picked up this hitch hiker at the giftshop there.  My collection of duckies is getting bigger by leaps and bounds!  LOL!!   

Here are a few shots from inside the Allegheny Museum.  I loved learning about the Conestoga Wagons and the horses that were bred specifically to haul those big heavy wagons.  While Cumberland is one of the places where people stopped on their way to Ohio, it is not the famous Cumberland Gap I thought it was.  Still it seemed to be an important town back in the day.  It was a stop on the B&O Railway, and once that was established, the canal system became obsolete as the train was more efficient and economical back then.  The First National Road went through Cumberland, and they showed the progression of the roads, from course rocks to more refined rocks to accommodate first the wagon wheels, then the motor cars, invented by a man named McAdam.  The china was from railway dining cars.   

We did learn a little about George Washington, and the skirmish that was attributed to the beginning of the French and Indian War.  The French say the forces led by Washington fired the first shot, Washington insists they were defending themselves against the French.  Either way, he was present for the first battle that started the war.  I think Washington's reputation must have improved greatly after the Revolutionary War since he was nominated to be the first President to govern our country.  They did have a little mockup of his headquarters that had been moved from it's original site.  

We also learned about Emmanuel Episcopal Church which is reported to have been the last stop before reaching freedom on the Underground Railroad.  We tried to make reservations to visit the church, but were unable make them on such short notice.  We hope to go back and see it again sometime.  It's a beautiful church!  

On our way home we stopped at Antietam National Battlefield.  We picked up a book about the battle there, and after I read it, I hope to revisit.  The film we saw there gave an interesting back story about the plans of General Lee being found wrapped around two cigars by Union Infantrymen.  This has been debated by historians, but it explains the change of plans by the Union forces and may have contributed to the final victory over the Confederates.  

The purpose for us having this vacation at this time was to celebrate our 39th Wedding Anniversary.  It's hard to believe that it's been that long...sometimes it seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye....other times has seemed longer...LOL!!  Either way it was a fun celebration.  

We also took time to see a movie!  We saw Mission Impossible.  And even though it was a 3 hour movie, it went by in the blink of an eye.  I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing a few times...haha.  Lots of folks were at the theater, but they were there to see the Barbie movie, so DH took a minute to show his love for the camera...LOL!!  What a ham!!

This has probably been a bit boring for those who aren't interested in history, but my blog is for more than just stitching.  It's sort of a journal of my life in a way.  Having said that, I did stitch each day while we were there...and I finished an ornament for my Granddaughter!  This is Flamingo Christmas by Stoney Creek.  It was stitched on 32 count Summer Skies by Sparklies which was a gift from Ms. Mouse!  

I also started an ornament for my son, this is 2009 Santa by Prairie Schooler.  This is being stitched on 36 count Khaki over one.  

And now I'm off to climb mount laundry...Vacations are always fun, but there's always work involved....hahaha.  I hope you are all safe from the terrifying storms that passed through the country the past few days.  We were lucky to have dodged the fiercest weather, though some in our state are still without power.  Take care, and Happy Stitching!!