a finish here a finish there

A little finish everywhere.....
Not much been going on here - I study a lot! We have to memorize so much stuff - the human body is amazing and full of bits and pieces. I have an 88 right now and it is killing me! I need to get up to an A because it's easier to maintain an A than try to work up to one - grrr.I have managed to get some finishes - even though I don't get to stitch much. Here is one that I got the color and bead idea from Stitchville USA

 The pattern is Alessandra Adelaide Needlework - Maple Leaf. Stitched on Lakeside Linen Vintage 36 count light exemplar 2 threads over 2 threads. Thread is Florimell red clay - 114, 2 skeins. All the french knots are done with Mill Hill petite 42033 autumn flame beads.  I love it - so pretty!! It would have taken me longer but Scott got sick so we spent a Saturday watching movies! He is having hernia surgery soon so I will get some done then too - of course I have to study first. Next finish is

Prairie Grove Peddler - three pumpkins. They turned out cute. I couldn't bring myself to make the biggest one - I don't know why but I just wanted these done. I have the fabric to make the third one so I might eventually make it.... I don't know why I had such a hard time working on these. The pattern says to stuff them lightly but I made one and then took it apart to add more stuffing - pumpkins are not soft I wish I had even put more stuffing in them but I didn't want to take it apart again! Barb from Wicked Stitcher was a gem and let me use her pattern!! I got this nifty tin from my mom's house and Scott said it would be cute to put some stitching in the opening - I made this cute squirrel.

 It's Prairie Schooler mini card - I did it on 40 ct stitched with WDW Rum Raisin, I put it on fabric - wasn't going to but I cut it too small on accident soooo.....

One more finish and it's a small one...  Time for Halloween by With Thy Needle and Thread.

the pumpkin has a spider charm on it you cant see clearly on the picture - and it opens

I am currently working on Blackbird Inn by Little House Needleworks - I have the border partially done and the words Blackbird Inn - not bad!

PICTURE FROM THE INTERNET

When we moved from Longmont I asked my friend Jessica to make Scott's t-shirts into quilt tops. He had a lot of t-shirt, she finished one pretty quick but then she had a bunch of stuff going on and didn't get to the second one until just recently. I just have to finish it into a quilt. Jessica does a fantastic job on these!! It's so cool to have these quilts - the extra shirts I made into pillows!

quilt top two

quilt 1

t-shirt pillows

A few posts ago I mentioned the Polish Pottery outlet - when I went looking for the url to make a link on my blog I saw that they were having a pattern clearance - we bought a few more plates. The ones on clearance were sets!! There is a Santa cookie jar that I would love - but it is pretty expensive!! Here is a picture of my pretty plates!!

each set came with three sizes. I love Polish pottery!!

This frog was on my window during one of our torrential rain days -  Scott says it's frogs on the windows humid here.... It was really neat to have this frog on the window because you could see him up close and he didn't try to get away.The red-headed woodpeckers are really pretty - brilliant red!

red headed woodpecker

For Father's Day I took this wonderful man to breakfast. I also got him a card. I have a terrible father  - we call him the sperm donor because he was just that involved in my life. It kind of lets him off the hook for all the crappy things he managed to do before he disappeared but the point is when you have a great dad you should take a minute to acknowledge that he is a good man. Scott you are a great dad and I am glad that you are in my life. I love you with all my heart.
Hope you are having a good summer - thanks for stopping by!

The book

As I mentioned in a previous post my Uncle Joel accidentally left his library book - with only two pages to go (who does that?) - at my Mom's house. He lives about 4 hours from my mom. Uncle Joel and his wife Aunt Carol came to see us while we were in Colorado

So, the book went on a little vacation with us... hee hee. Scott even wrote a little poem.

Joel's Book
Joel was a man with a book
Which, along on a road trip, he took
When he packed to go home,
Got his wife and his comb,
But then left it behind like a schnook

So he called up his sister Diana
(Who's a palmist in search of Nirvana)
And said "Sister of mine,
So I don't pay a fine,
Please forward it posta urbana"
But the tome was in good mental fitness
And the USPS scared it shitless
So it thought "I'll just skip
On this truck for a trip!"
And the pictures that follow bear witness......

visiting Ryder in New Mexico

New Mexico

letterboxing in New Mexico

Back in Colorado

Vietnamese Cafe in Thornton Colorado

Anji, Lindsey and Taylor at the Vietnamese Cafe

Anji, Taylor and Lindsey

Leaving again

Missouri

Indianapolis City Center - moments before a downpour

Illinois

Wisconsin

The Comet Cafe Milwaukee WI

Preston Minnesota

Psycho Suzi's Minneapolis MN

Duluth Minnesota

Duluth Minnesota

back home in Indiana

Going home

Stuffed with stuff

and all the souvenirs it took home with it

 Scott would send the pictures as he took them - to my uncle. What a well-traveled little book! It was only a few days overdue.

projects and projects!!

Oh boy, do I ever have a ton of finishes to show you. Not actually a ton but ... pretty close.

 I will start with the finishing of finished things. Scott framed Warm Winter Welcome - the lighting is off but it really is cute.

 I painted a paper mache book and put the Spirit of Holiday Baking by Brooke's Books on it.

I used Christmas paper to line the inside. Scott is going to write or paint something on the spine when he gets a chance - something like recipes or cookies, I haven't decided yet, he has better handwriting that I do!
Next is the pattern I bought in Orland IL at Country Cupboard - Threadwork Primitives - Beggar's Night I don't think I would have bought the pattern but the shop had one done on 18 count raw linen (15x18) and stitched with pearl cotton - loved it!! I changed the pattern a bit - took off the number 31, the word OCT and the upper border. There are two leaves that are a different shade of green but when I ordered the thread I ordered size 3 instead of 5 on that one skein (doh). It was too much shipping to order just one - I didn't want to drive an hour and a half round trip to go to my LNS so I just did them all one color - I don't think it matters!  I also added fabric and lace to my pillow

the original pattern - picture from the Threadwork blog

mine

I can't get the lighting right on this picture - I tried a few times. The back fabric matches the dark front fabric - not this strange color!

It was easy to stitch this in the car on our Colorado trip because of the fat fabric and the fat thread!! I had started Jardin Prive Dans Mon Jardin biscornu just before the trip but all the color changes made it hard to do in the car (and airplane) and it's so delicate that I had a hard time. I finished it when I got home

went from this....

to this

  The Jardin Prive site is awesome - not only are the prices reasonable, the patterns are cute and you can get them sent to you as a PDF so no waiting and no shipping!! Love it!!

Scott hung my flag quilt on the garden door - I love that door! The hand came from my mom's! It has a few magnets so you can change what it says

 I said I would post some pictures of the stuff I got in Colorado from my mom. Here is a sign I just love!!

Before

After

close up

I failed to mention that my friend Sharon gave me a fabulous hutch  - just before we left for the trip she had posted on facebook that she was giving away a hutch - I said I wanted it and she said you have to come get it, haha! So we picked it up while we were there!

Isn't it perfect! The wooden bowl hanging on the wall to the right came from my mom's house, as did the pitcher and bowl, the cow on top and the baskets!

The table, bowl and tray also came from my mom's house! That is just some of the things - more pictures as it gets placed!
Scott went on a business trip to Minnesota recently and he sent me a picture of a place there called Stitchville USA so I have to go visit soon! The place looks great! I called the shop and ordered a few things - she said it was good to call because the online catalog doesn't have everything but she has TONS of stuff! I used her color idea for an Alessandra Adelaide pattern (Maple leaf) and I can't wait to show it to you! Here is a picture of what I got....

Oh I'm so excited!! There are beads instead of french knots and Florimell instead of DMC - very pretty!!
One more thing I am excited about - I have been wanting to make my own yogurt but I was afraid to. I mentioned it to my mom and she said she had just bought a yogurt maker at a thrift store that had never been used - still had some wrapping paper on the box even! We were going to make some while I was there but we didn't get to it. Mom let me bring the maker home - yay!! I just made some today so I can't tell you how it went yet - next time!!

 This baby raccoon figured out that he could eat the bird seed from the top - it is so darn cute!!

Mo is on the dryer because he was looking out at the baby raccoon - what a pretty boy. When we went to Colorado he went to kitty camp but if you ask him it was kitty jail. He lost some weight and behaved a little weird when he first came home. He is back to his obnoxious, loud-mouth self now though. Last night I told Scott that maybe he (the cat, not the husband - although.....) needed to go back to jail to get his attitude straight - ha ha. 
I have to go do homework. I just started school today - it's an 8 week anatomy and physiology class. It is normally a 16 week class so they are going to cram my brain full of stuff - you may not see much of me for the next 8 weeks. Happy stitching and hope you stay clear of the tornadoes!!