Yippieee! Skippy!

Hang on to your girdles Myrtles....

I have some framing eye candy to share. I was so excited when Polly, my framer, emailed last night to say that I could stop by this weekend to pick up my stash.  As I mentioned in a previous post I always have a good time choosing frames with Polly.

The day started out misty and peaceful, a great calming morning. The sultry air is back and thick. I got some decent overcast light to take some nice pictures. But y'all know how the camera plays with the color..a good example today is the blue matting on my owls. It really is not that BLUE; it is a more of a heather blue.

On with the show...

Johnny Appleseed

Looks like gnarly apple trees

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For Baby Emma

I really like the natural look of this one. I think Emma's momma will to.

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For Baby Ryder





LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! The way this turned out.

It took us the longest to get this one right. Almost hate to part with this one.

Quaint Owl Sampler

I really enjoyed stitching this little piece and the whole package puts a smile on my face...

 Happy little owls in happy little trees. :)

Thanks for letting me show-n-tell.

Keep on stitching.

P.J.

P.S. Cricket-Bug I did not forget  you... The Owl Sampler was in the BH&G Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine Nov/Dec 1994 designed by Patricia Andrle

QT...

Quality Time with my girlfriend; junking and shopping and stitching and hooking and talking and stitching some more. Karri spent the weekend at my place for a good S-n-B weekend. We both took Friday off to make it even longer. We headed over to The Keeping Room in Hampden for some wool shopping. Tony, the proprietor, has the sweetest shop which matches her sweet disposition. Her shop has smatterings of antiques or old stuff among her wool, rug patterns and penny rug patterns. The walls are covered with beautiful rugs she has designed and hooked. She was most helpful in guiding us with color choices; Karri was looking for something to add some pop to her stair tread she is working and we both wanted to pick up some wool for the BIG MOOSE rug. We both came out of there with a nice little haul. Here is my stash...

 

 



Off to lunch and on to School House Antiques. We always have a good time junkin'/antiquing. We both picked up a few things. I really like the Aunt Jemima iron bank I found. She will be a door stop for my stitching room once I put some felt on her feet.

 



We got to some stitching Friday night; I worked a little bit on Girlfriends.



I failed again to take a picture of Karri's piece...she is going to town on her Autumn at HRH. Inspired by her progress and Casa Pearl at Stitching in Lobster Land who is stitching Christmas at HRH, I pulled out my Christmas at HRH on Saturday. I do enjoy working on it, but just going slow. I am pleased with what I got done.



That evening we pulled out the wool cutter to cut some strips for Karri's stair tread (again no pic) and I worked on my snowman.

 

 



I need to finish him up before we meet again at Karri's for her Harvest Moon Hook-In she is hosting at her place. Just a small group of us spending a Saturday hooking. I am hoping to get some finishing tips from the experienced hookers. Yes, yes I will remember pics of all the projects. :)

And finally....I started this post Monday morning...the piece de resistance. My GF has this amazing gift in gift giving, she finds the most interesting things and sometimes the simplest of things. For my birthday gift she really did it with something unique, but so US. It almost did not make it to the gift bag, hahaha, so I hear. She also loves to build the suspense; all day Friday " I can't wait for you to open your birthday gift". I am beyond tickled with this gift and it will be proudly displayed in my stitching room.

Thank you best GF!!

A sewing wall pin cushion from Bulgaria...

Isn't it just the neatest and sweetest thing; if only it could tell us it's story.

Hope everyone is in a good stitching groove. The sultry weather has crept back into Maine which makes things a bit sluggish, I am ready for Autumn temps (I can hear the boos & hisses from some of you). A big Welcome and How-Do-You-Do to my newest followers; hope you enjoy your visits.

Keep on Stitching.

P.J.

The Kennebec - KOWABUNGA!

What an incredible day, yesterday!! The Husband and I made it through our first whitewater rafting adventure. We were invited by one of the guys who works with him; Scott who is an expert river guide, along with his brother Kevin, also an experienced river guide, took 15 of us for an awesome river adventure. On our way up to The Forks we saw a moose in a bog. The day was off to a great start. We were both excited and anxious as we headed up the long drive, up river, to the Harris Dam. As this was all new to us there were moments of serious butterflies before we hit the water. My husband shared one of those butterfly moments with me after we were back at the truck changing to dry clothes; it made me giggle and made him all the more endearing to me. It was sweet to know that someone so smart and confident can have such a silly moment. The river was running at 4800 cfs (cubic feet per second). I swallowed my butterflies once we were in the water; it was all business now!! I will not bore you with blow by blow accounts; let's just say there was a lot of paddling and a whole lot of water! LOTS OF WATER!! After the first rapid I gave the husband a big High Five; I am so proud of us for taking the plunge. We traversed through Class III and Class IV rapids before smoothing out to Class II and calmer flows. No one fell out during the rapids. Scott and Kevin were terrific guides! With the strong rains the past few days the water falls were putting on a full show. They pulled off a couple of times so we could get out and explore the falls. One of them had a deep pool that several of them plunged into from the ledges on either side. I choose to bask in the sun on a big rock and watch. As we meandered our way down the river we saw a Bald Eagle soaring above, probably on the hunt for lunch...we were getting hungry too. Kevin spied another one way up in the trees on one of the big bends. They also pointed out an Osprey nest; but no one was home. We all met up at The Marshall's, a quaint eatery and inn. We had certainly worked up an appetite! We headed home for a nap before making a return trip in the evening to Northern Outdoors lodge and brew pub to hear Scott (drummer) and his band Overdrive play. I danced my butt off and maybe a hip! It's been a awhile since we've gone out dancing. I love good live music in these types of venues. We hung out with the drummer's wife and their friends and family. Everybody had a great time. On the long drive back the Husband surprised me when he pulled off into a Christmas Tree farm road and turned the truck off. The sky was bedazzled with the stars. Being so far out we could see the Milky Way in all it's glory. We caught the tail end of the meteor shower; we got see several shooting stars. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. This one is going into the Jar O'Cheer! I am thrilled to have shared this fantastic and exciting adventure with my man. It puts butterflies in my heart. :) About all I may be able to do today is lift a needle. I am certainly feeling the adventure today. Off to make a big Sunday breakfast. Hoping you have a splendid weekend. Keep on stitching or paddling. P.J. P.S. Will post some pics once they are available.

Blue or not to be....

I had mention I had started another fun stitch...Girlfriends by Twisted Threads. Well she started off a bit slow and with frustration. I was drawn to this design, not only for what it represented, but the lovely warm colors. I am making one for my GF and one for me. This is US in a stitch!



My dilema...the called for Cornflower and Banker's Grey just were too BLUE!! And I have to be honest I don't see any BLUE in the model picture. And the model colors are what caught my eye.



So I picked through my Sampler Threads I had on hand and found Sable and Barn Grey to be a more suitable match for the tones in the model. (reference the shopping bag)



What do you think??

Keep on stitching,

 

P.J.

Across the miles

Having a writers cramp this morning...need more coffee.

 

I wanted to share with you something exciting that happened because of this simple blog....

 

From California to the New York Island a little town in Maine......

Several weeks ago, out of the blue, I received an email from Kathy in California. She had read my post from October 2012 ( House #9) about Judith Kirby's House #9, my favorite Halloween stitch, and how I was on the hunt for House #15. Both of these are out of print and the EBay/Etsy prices are outrageous.

Imagine my surprise and excitement when Kathy wrote that she had found two copies at Mari Pat's Needlework shop in Long Beach. And hang on to your hoops; for the ORIGINAL price of $3.50 each!! Which by the way is the price I paid for House #9 at Heart's Desire in Wichita, years ago. I was so giddy and over the moon! Isn't it funny how the simplest things can bring such joy. Silly I know, to get so excited over a pattern... But it was more than just the pattern. It was truly the thought behind it; that someone I had never met, but connected through this blog because of our needlework, was so thoughtful to share this find with me.

Kathy now has a copy of House #15 but not House #9; so in return for her thoughtfulness I provided House #9. :) I included a few other goodies as a thank you! Sorry I did not take any pictures. I included some cozy spa footies, a couple of PS freebies with floss, note pad and of course House #9.

This moment will always be connected to this project. When I get started on it I will be sure to share it on Porcupine Needle. First, I have a few other projects in the needle-works.

In the mean time here is a pic of the pattern.

THANK YOU Kathy!!

Happy Trick-or-Treating!

 

Keep on Stitching.

P.J.

Cooking with gas now....

I can hardly believe it myself. I have another finish!!! Just a quick pic and post.


Continue to....

 

I have put in some stitches on Spanish Mystery Sampler this past weekend and I am starting another small one...Gingham Girlfriends by Twisted Threads. When I have some decent progress I will post some pictures.

A big HELLO and welcome aboard to my newest follower Lianne. Already working on that goal Lianne. :)

Keep on Stitching.
P.J.