An Exchange to Share

Lainey has posted the photos for the Stitched With Love Fall into Halloween exchange so I am now free to show you what I stitched & what I received   : )

Remember me talking about working on an exchange piece & that the chart photo of the finished piece was taken at rather a distance & how surprised/dismayed I was to find areas of the chart requiring specialty stitches?  Well, this is it ... Bent Creek's The Pumpkin Flower Sampler.

The person I needed to send to was Greta (no blog) & this is the entire package of goodies I mailed to her.

I ordered the little notions pouch from Faye at Carolina Stitcher.  She did a great job making it to my specifications   : )

This is the package I received from Pam.  I'm sorry ... right now I don't know Pam's last name or even if she has a blog.

Edit:

Pam was watching & posted that she does have a last name (Bowman) & a blog as well ... Confessions of a Southern Stitcher   : )   Thanks Pam!   

This is going to be one of the last group exchanges I do.  Next year I plan to do a few one-on-one exchanges with blogging friends (let me know if you'd be interested in doing something like this with me) & some RAKs.  Over the past week or so I've been thinking of my stitching plans for next year.  I have stitched a lot of Christmas smalls this year & I plan on continuing to do that next year.  However, I also want to stitch some of the special items in my stash that I love-love-love ... a Miriam Dowd sampler, some large BBD pieces, & there are 3 My Big Toe samplers that are very meaningful to me.  I keep shoving these things aside to do other things & sure enough I'm going to wake up one day 20 years from now & realize none of these things have been stitched   : (   I am also going to cut way, way down on the stash buying this coming year.  As just mentioned, I have too many wonderful things I already want to stitch & I want to be sure to stitch them!  I'm certain that I'll find an ornament or a small or two of interest now & then (Lord help me, I just got interested in some French designers!) but otherwise I will only be buying linen for the projects I already have ... & maybe some silk threads if they are called for.   

My main plan for this past weekend was to get outside & clean up the gardens for winter.  The weather was perfect for it. Unfortunately I realized after only 2 or 3 hours that this gardening part of my life cannot continue.  Today I am still hobbling around the house with pain & stiffness in joints & muscles I didn't even know I had!  I did not accomplish a lot either.  I trimmed down all the daylilies & dug out these weird ground cover type weeds from a small area in the foundation bed off the back porch. That's it.  Still so much to do but colder temps are coming & I'm guessing I will just have to leave what's remaining, which is a lot, until the spring.  I told John I cannot continue to take care of all these flower beds.  I just can't.  So next year, if we must remain in the devil's playground, I foresee digging up the current flower beds, putting grass in their place, & having someone come here to lay weed preventing cloth over the foundation beds & put down mulch to keep them looking tidy.  And no more buying of plants!!!  None!  Nada!  Although some nut trees would be nice   : )

A warm welcome to all my new followers!  It's always nice to have people visit & then decide to stay   : )   And welcome to my true blue followers as well!  Hugs to you all   : )