Oh Christmas Tree . . .

How brightly your candles

GLOW!

This is my new start and it is so much fun to do.

I started the tree and got bored so moved on to the Christmas tree.

Then came the candle and part of that pesky squirrel's tail!

I love Bent Creek patterns, sorta country and have stitched them for years.

I also am working on the other Bent Creek Branch. Someday soon I will have them both done.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!

May each and everyone have a wonderful,

safe, happy

and productive year in 2010!

Keep on stitching!!!

Lenna

Exchange ~ Reindeer Games

This is the exchange I did for Faye R

and she got it today.

I have enjoyed doing this exchange

so much

and look forward to doing the next

one!!!

This is an Ink Circles chart and you

get it as a kit. Fabric is included

and you can buy extra counts if

you would like.

Also included is 8 different

colors of silk, one for each reindeer.

I think it is the cutest ornament I

have ever seen and I have done

5 to date. I am going to make one

for each of my kids and finish it in this

red fabric with the red reindeers on it.

Won't it be cute?

Thanks for stopping by and looking!

God Bless ~

Lenna

A Cute Cat and a start ~

This one my sister, Debbie stitched for a friend.

I have to put a star on top of the

Christmas tree and then

I can finish framing it.

The acid free board showed

underneath the fabric so

I put gold lame and now it sparkles.

It is from the JCS ornament book and it is done on

a red fabric from Crossed Wing Collection.

Her friend loves cat so she will love it.

I started Holy Night. I first did the A on

32ct. Lambswool but it was too hard

to see cause the skinny threads

that are in linen sometimes

are very skinny.

I changed to 28 ct. and had it stitched

in no time cause I could see it.

This is for the 2010 Christmas SAL

and we all hope to have a Christmas

piece done by next Christmas.

I am also going to begin the Nativity

cross stitch and get it done by Christmas.

I chose a dark fabric from Enchanted Lair

and I just hope it isn't too dark to see.

It should finally be here this week.

Fingers crossed!

That is all for now thanks for coming by.

Your comments are greatly appreciated

to help keep me motivated to keep

on stitching!

God Bless ~

Lenna

Reindeer Games

came in the mail Saturday. YEA!!!

This by far is the cutest ornament

I have ever seen.

I have been waiting for this to get here

so I can begin stitching them!

The pattern is so easy to follow

and the threads are just

luscious.

Thank you Tracy it is brilliant!!!

I now have three finished.

Tomorrow is the annual EGA

Christmas party and ornament exchange!

I am finishing my ornament tonight.

We all go out to dinner and then we get down

to business.

We choose / fight over the ornaments and

after one has been chosen three times

the person holding it gets to keep it.

This is the one I am taking.

It is backed

in the reindeer fabric.

It has white reindeer, black Christmas trees

and it is on a red background!

Rudolph has a red nose which is a seed bead.

When you find him you can find

the rest of the reindeer heads.

It is so cute and I love it.

I will put a red

ribbon around the outside

and it will have a red hanger.

I will post a final picture tomorrow.

I am looking forward to the dinner and fellowship with my stitching

friends so . . .

Let the games begin . . .

Thanks for coming by and looking I appreciate it so much!

God Bless ~

Lenna

The Nativity or Holy Night???

which one should I choose?

I have joined the Christmas SAL that Yoyo

is doing and these are my two choices.

My little sister did this one

and although it looks like a

photo it is stitched.

She did it on a purple Joblean 28ct.

fabric

which when I stretched it

I could not figure out how

she did it.

The holes are almost

nonexistent.

It has blending filament in the

scarf, baby blanket, halos and

angel wings.

Stunning ~ yes?

She worked on it for a year and it

is, to say the least,

breath taking ~

with a capitol B!!!

I framed it with a dark green suede

mat and put it in a frame

that matched Joseph's rusty brown throw.

It is truly gorgeous!

I have wanted to do it since I saw it finished.

I have the threads which I matched to DMC's

and I ordered the fabric from Enchanted Laird.

However, I don't know when they will get it here.

She just got back into the shop today.

I also have this pattern which I may do also.

It is a Sheperd's Bush and it takes

CC and DMC threads.

I will get the button package when

I am close to having it done.

I have all the supplies so I will start on this one first

until my fabric gets here.

Sorry the pictures are fuzzy it was not

easy to get this one.

Thanks for looking and Happy December to us all.

God Bless ~

Lenna

Sail Away . . .

is done ~ drum roll, please!!!

I had it all finished and just needed

to add my charms!

Luckily, I kept track of them

throughout this long process!!!

Sorry for the blurry picture.

When I get it framed up in a few weeks,

we are sorta busy at HL

right now with Christmas,

I can get a better, clearer photo!

Say a prayer!

I used the silks that were sent with the kit.

I did use a couple of silks I already

had for some of the motifs.

I didn't have room for the band lines

cause I changed the alphabet and it

took up extra space so I had

to make adjustments.

I also put an "L" in the center of the motif

for my first name that will never change.

I also signed my first name and

put the date under

the little lady.

I used blending filament, yellow,

for the sun

and used glow-in-the-dark

filament

for the top middle window, upstairs,

which represents the candle burning

for the

safe return of her loved one.

It was so much fun to stitch

and a part of me will miss

the experience, just a small part!!!

Not, those frogs, however!!!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and

looking ~ I appreciate you all so much.

Take care and God Bless your stitching fingers!

Lenna

Totally Useless SAL

Here it is past time again for my TUSAL!!!

So sorry I seem to get it on the quarter moon!

It has lots of orts of the different ones I have finished.

Sail Away ~ silks, Boo Sheep ~ silks, LHN cottons,

shiny ones and silk ones

and dull ones and tags from

different shops,

and tags from floss and

one broken needle and lots of used up ones.

Thanks for taking a look I appreciate it so much as always!!!

God Bless your stitching fingers ~

Lenna

Five words in a story . . .

I used to wear a ring on my index finger

on my right hand.

It seems to get tangled up in my threads

while I am so deeply engrossed in my stitching

zone so I have to quit wearing it.

I often will sit and stitch while munching on

some dried pineapple which is a very

good source of energy. My thoughts drift to the

gorgeous finished piece that Gabi did.

It is called "Coming to Water" and the focal

point is a large elephant stepping out

of the framed picture to get a drink of water

with the other animals.

It is quit stunning and very beautiful.

Then sadly, my mind turns to all the cleaning

I must do starting with getting rid of the dust

bunnies that seems to be everywhere.

Where do they come from?

So . . . I put down my stitching and pick up that

dust rag and get busy!

God Bless your stitching fingers ~

Lenna

Garden . . .

When my mom was a mere girl of 12

she was coached by her oldest sister

to do this stamped cross stitch.

My aunt was a hard task master

and made her take it out

if it was wrong.

It was wrong ~ she was only 12 and this

was her first attempt at cross stitching.

Sadly it was also her last.

When we moved to Waco I unearthed this

lovely piece in a frame.

I took it to work and removed it from that

frame.

It was old then and I stretched it.

As you can see it is crooked but I was afraid to

pull it too tight.

I was afraid it would tear.

As you can see the frame has a light

place at the bottom.

I must fix that!

I digress, so I cut the mat and framed it.

I think it is gorgeous,

not because my Mom did it,

but because she stuck with it and

made it perfect.

Well, it was also cause she did it.

It is one of my favorite

pieces.

The very best part is that today

is her birthday!!!

Today she is 93, and though she doesn't stitch

she made my sister, Debbie, and I

some beautiful dresses as

we were growing up.

I cherish the memories of

wearing those dresses as a child

and still remember

what they looked like.

She also taught me to sew when I was just

eight

and I have sewn for years.

My daughter, Heather,

wore some of the cutest clothes around.

My dolls

had some pretty cool things too.

So what started out as a hard stamped cross stitch

by a strict task master

turned into

some awesome clothes. It also taught me

the great

love for what you can paint with a needle and thread.

Thank you Mom!

Happy Birthday ~

I love you very much

and I hope you have many more to come.

God Bless you for coming by and looking.

Lenna

T. H. E. Cat and Pumpkin

This is the cat I saw on someone's blog

and decided I needed it.

I found out where it came from,

ordered the book, and

made it into a name tag!

Isn't she the cutest?

I never drank coffee for 20 years until

my husband divorced me.

Then I had some heart problems and had to stop.

Now that those problems have been fixed

I have

to have my cup of coffee in the morning!

Isn't it good for you this week?

I wore my name tag to the last EGA

meeting for Halloween. She was a big

HIT!!!

Halloween not so much this year but

I have talked to other people and they said

it was slow here in Waco, Tx.

Here is a picture of my pumpkin

I carved

for that one smallish kid I scared to death

with my witch face.

Could word have gotten

out so fast and that is why no more small ones appeared?

Surely not!!!

God Bless your stitching fingers ~

Lenna

Prairie Moon Sampler and Halloween

Got word today we could start our

Prairie Moon Sampler.

So I did!!!

I had already stitched the outline for it

when I first got my pattern and threads.

I got what turned out to be a yellowish fabric

so I stitch some of the outline on it.

Didn't like it one bit ~ not a fan of yellow!

I had a piece of Glenshee linen so I decided I

would use it.

I will take a picture tomorrow.

I have the outline done, some of the tree

and Under The Prairie Moon done.

Waiting for next week to get here so I can do part 2!

Well, another Halloween is gone.

Sadly, we only had (1) one Trick or Treat er

this year.

I did give a Butterfinger, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers

to the cable guy.

He rang the bell in the dead

of night to see if he could go in the backyard.

I couldn't let him leave empty handed, could I?

I was so excited this year and I even carved

a Jack-O-Lantern face

on my pumpkin.

I had some pre cancers burned off my face

Monday last so I looked like a scary

witch.

When I opened the front door and there

was only one smallish child standing there

I gave him a fright let me tell you!

Last year we had three come to the door so

I guess someone is trying to tell me something.

Next year Mom and I will go do something else

and the Halloween kids can find another

place to get their treats!

Thanks for stopping by ~ appreciate it!

God Bless your stitching fingers ~

Lenna

Witches Stitch, Too!!! Prairie Moon Sampler ~

Got this sampler in the mail today with

all the threads and fabric.

The fabric is

a little too yellow for my taste so I

think I will change that before I

start stitching in earnest.

I already started the outline just to see

if it would show up on the fabric.

I joined the Prairie Moon Sampler and I have a link

on my blog if you are interested in joining.

It is Little House Needleworks' pattern

and should be a blast to stitch!

So . . . come along and join us.

I started this last night!!!

I got it at my LNS just before I left.

I have the witch done

except for her eye and mouth.

I did the moon and I used glow-in-the-dark

thread.

Too, cool!

I have half of the cat done.

I have half of the top left corner done.

I have half of her chair done.

I have all of the table and stitch

piece done.

Will I finish by Halloween?

I may get it stitched but it won't be framed.

It has been fun to stitch so far.

I changed the threads, of course,

used some silks, some over dyed and

I didn't use some of the colors they called for

because I didn't have them.

Thanks for looking!

God Bless ~

Lenna

TUSAL . . .

Here I am again with my TUSAL!

On the left is the Sail Away sampler where I

got most of my threads this month.

I had to frog out the second part of the poem 6

different times before I finally

got it RIGHT!!!

DUH!!!

I also have some red dragon threads in the jar.

It's a finish!

I also did some Halloween motifs. HOWL and one

I have had around since I first started

stitching in 1982. I had looked at it every

month for years and decided

this would be the year I finally

stitched it up.

Curly Q Ewe

was one I did some frogging on ~ the Ewe's head

came out three times before

I got the color right.

I did a name tag that reads ~ No magic until

I've had my coffee. It is on the bright

green fabric and the cat has on a witch hat.

It turned out so cute.

I also stitched three ornaments for

Breast Cancer Awareness.

One for my aunt,

Maribel,

my cousin, Jean Ann

who both

died from breast cancer.

Both because

they did not go back to the doctor

like they were supposed to.

The third was for my good friend Bob,

who did

survive breast cancer. I am sure glad he

did, too, he is a great friend.

I also have tags, from the tissue paper

that my goodies were wrapped

in that I got from The Silver Needle.

Old broken needles, threads from some

fabrics, silks, cottons, over dyes and sparkly

ones, too.

Oh, and that spooky glow-in-the-dark thread that I used

on some of the Halloween ones.

So that is all that I have done this month.

Thanks for coming by ~

Appreciate it so much.

God Bless ~

Lenna