Wednesday, December 30, 2009

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

Friday, December 18, 2009

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

Saturday, December 12, 2009

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

Monday, December 7, 2009

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

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

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

Saturday, November 28, 2009

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

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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

Friday, November 13, 2009

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

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

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


Monday, October 26, 2009

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

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

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