Stitching Delights

I recently participated in one of the Stitched With Love Exchanges.  The theme of this exchange was My Favorite Things.  The mailing date was June 8th.  I received my theme package a few days before that & couldn't have been more pleased!  We had to keep ourselves secret until everyone had received their packages so I had no idea who sent to me but today was the unveiling & now I know ... it was Greta in Indiana!

Greta really outdid herself!  As stated, the theme was My Favorite Things & we all know what my favorite things are, right? Winter/snow related stuff   : )   Greta sent me 2 pattern charts ... a Cherry Wood Design Studios chart called Snowman Kisses & a LHN chart called Sleigh Bells Ring.  Hard to imagine but I had neither of these!  Not only did she send me these charts but for Snowman Kisses she sent me the suggested Babbling Brook linen & most of the Crescent Colours the designer calls for!  The stitched item she sent truly took my breath away!  It is beautifully stitched & finished.  Look how she made it into a little stand-up!  It is absolutely gorgeous!  And as if all this wasn't enough, in the next day or two I received another package which had a Q-Snap cover of Greta's own making with a frog print fabric.  It's supposed to help keep away the frogs   : )   There was also the cutest pair of butterfly scissors as well as a thread pull-in thingie! Note how I use the correct terminology for all the tools of the trade here ... lol! Honestly, I just can't remember the name of this thing but I've been wanting one for a long time now but I never took the time to search for one myself ... probably because typing "thread pull-in thingie" in Google would've gotten me some strange results   : ) Anyway, I am forever finding myself with barely enough thread left on my needle to hide a tail so this little thingie is going to be a real godsend for me   : )   Thank you again Greta!

I was assigned to send a package to Carol at Stitching 'n Stashing.  Carol indicated on her questionnaire that among her favorite things were smalls & samplers & one of her favorite designers is BBD ... so I stitched this small cupboard tuck for Carol from a BBD design & along with it I sent a few other things ... a Stacy Nash pattern which has a garden/flower theme (gardening is one of Carol's likes), some platinum needles, 2 packages of chenille trim (we share a love for this), some hand dyed floss, & a piece of Tobacco Cashel linen.  I received an email from Carol today & she is very pleased with all she received & so I am very happy about that   : )  

Of course my posts as of late would not be complete without a few photos of daylilies thrown in.  Doug Bee must've spread the rumor that Hollywood is slinking around with a camera because I caught 2 more insects posing in the photos today!  I didn't even see them until I downloaded the photos, sneaky buggers   : )   I know the name of the first daylily pictured ... Eye-Yi-Yi ... but the name of the second is a mystery for now.  

Yesterday was eerily productive!  I did a load of laundry, washed the dishes, straightened up the house, roasted a turkey, got all but one of the medical insurance headaches off my back (for now), did my nightly 1-2 hours of watering the gardens, & stitched a small!  This morning I went outside to deadhead the daylilies.  Although the predicted temperature for the day was miserably hot with a 100% chance of even more misery, there was a somewhat nice morning breeze & I thought I'd just stay out & zap the weeds with weed killer.  I figured I might have to touch up my hair when I came in but it would be worth the effort.  I had the foresight to go inside & put on gardening clothes first just in case some weed killer splattered on me.  Well, about an hour later I not only finished spraying the weeds but I looked finished myself!  I looked as though someone had pushed me into a pool but without the refreshing look about me that would accompany something like that.  The somewhat nice morning breeze decided to disappear completely shortly after I got outside but I told myself I'd be fine.  I'm surprised John didn't need to call for an ambulance.  My bum leg & back were killing me from the constant bending & kneeling & dragging around of the 5-gallon container of weed killer.  I was huffing & puffing like an old steam engine.  I tried my best not to inhale the weed killer as I sprayed it around but at some points it couldn't be helped & I'm sure this added to the gasping for air effect.  I knocked at the back door when I was finished because I wanted John to come out to see 2 new little tomatoes that had suddenly appeared on our tomato plant. You can get an idea of just how bad I looked as he opened the door & the first words out of his mouth were "What happened to you?!?!?"  Thankfully I recovered.  Hopefully the weeds will not.