Complimentary Exchange from Mary

This is the awesome exchange piece I received from Mary in the complimentary exchange. It's Sunflower Welcome by The Sunflower Seed. I absolutely LOVE it 'cuz I'm a lover of sunflowers!! Perfect choice, Mary!

Complimentary Exchange Piece Received

Hosted on Fotki


Sally received her complimentary exchange piece, so I can finally post a picture of it for all the world to see! This is Stitchy Kitty's "Winter Blues" stitched on a piece of 32 ct. Little Boy Blue linen using Crescent Colours fibers. I just love this little guy and think he's so cute! Sally told me she wasn't sending him back to me, so I might just have to stitch him for myself one day!!

I'm currently working on another complimentary design for a heart exchange. I'm LOVING the piece I'm stitching on and can't wait until it's received so I can show you this pretty little thing!!

Baked Some Brownies!

Since I am housebound today, I whipped up a batch of homemade brownies. These are my absolute, all-time, made from scratch favorites! They are so easy to make, too! This was originally an "in the jar" recipe, so you could layer the dry ingredients in a small Mason jar, and attach the recipe to the lid and give as a gift.

Sand Art Brownies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup Holiday M&Ms (red & green, or any baking chip of your choice"
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/8 cup flour
½ cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts, coarsely chopped)
½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Mix dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl and add vanilla, oil, and eggs. Stir until well blended. Pour into a greased 9 X 9 pan and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350º. (I usually cook mine for 27-29 mins.)

City Snowfall

Snow!! I woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning. You have to understand, this is quite unusual for Texas, even north Texas! We just don't have weather like this too frequently. Many businesses and schools are closed. Eventhough it's my day off, I tried calling up to work and there's been no answer, so I guess the store's closed! Eveything is so quiet and peaceful. It's one of the good things about snow that even I can appreciate.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Here's the backyard. Look at all the green grass! LOL



Here's the front of the house.



Lastly, this is Mango, our neighbor's kitty seeking shelter from the rain in the tire well of my truck! (He went inside when they went back in after playing in the snow.)



I was going to run errands today, but it looks like I'm housebound, so after I balance the checkbook, I'll work on finishing a little gift for a friend, put my initials on an exchange piece and get that ready to mail, then sit & stitch while watching a DVD or 2. I'm also going to whip up a batch of brownies today!! Yummy!

Final Stitches of 2006

wldfire7

Here she is in all of her glory!! Olivia's Garden Quilt is a wrap! I put the final stitches in her during the last week of 2006, and I must say she is much prettier in person! I'm so glad to have her finished! Now, I just need to find the time and money to take her to be framed.


wldfire7

Quaker Christmas Holly was my last ornie for 2006. I finished it just before midnight on New Year's Eve! LOL I added beads instead of doing the French Knots. It's stitched on 32 ct. Exemplar linen from Lakeside Linens using Crescent Colours.

Happy New Year!

Eventho it's already the middle of the month, Happy New Year! Last year ended with a sick husband, a sick cat, and a sick me! Not the best way to end the year or start a new one, but we're all better now and life is pretty good. Well, as good as it can be when it's cold outside!

Ice has hit North Texas and we've been housebound today. I ventured out late this afternoon and took a few pictures around the yard.

Here's the view out the window over my sink. I giggle everytime I see that pumpkin on top of the compost pile! Now it's covered in ice!


wldfire7

Frozen Savannah Holly limb on the east side of our house and our honeysuckle bush.


wldfire7


wldfire7

Since it was a stay inside kind of day, I made a big pot of beef stew and a batch of cornbread for dinner. Made the house smell yummy all afternoon!! It was so delish and warming!

~Stephanie

We're Home!

We had such a great time in Tennessee visiting family. It rained for 2 of the days we were there, so we had to stay home and nap. (Shucks! LOL) We did manage to get some pictures of the fall foliage on some of the other days that weren't rained out.

My DH's mom lives in a small town in western TN and these are some of the roads we drove on around her home.









On the way home, we stopped at Big Hill Pond State Park. It's located between Ramer and Memphis. I'll post pictures from that on my next post!

Olivia's Garden Quilt & Other Projects

I'm so close to finishing Olivia's Garden Quilt!! This has been a 2 year WIP and I'll be glad to have it finished. It's so beautiful, especially the middle flower arrangement. The picture really doesn't do it justice.



I made my first flat fold ever! It was really a lot of fun and very easy. I even made the cording for it. That wasn't too horrifying either! LOL The design is a Lizzie*Kate Pocketbook kit, Beware of Cat.

Here's a side view of the flat fold so you can sorta see the fabric I used on the back.



Lastly, the back of the piece.



Now I'm in a finishing frenzy and trying to get stuff finished!!

We're heading to TN to visit my DH's family, so hopefully we'll get to see some pretty autumn sights. Living in north Texas, autumn arrives sometime around Thanksgiving, but I'm ready for a little bit of autumn now!

It's Been Awhile

I've been trying to do more stitching and spend less time on the computer, which means that I've not been updating my blog as much. However, I really miss it, so I'm going to try to remember to update the blog as often as possible. Definitely won't be everyday, but at least once a week or so.

Now then, here are the updates of my current projects!

First up is my Lizzie*Kate Flip-It Block piece. I'm stitching these all on one piece of fabric, 28 count Barley Harvest from Woven Workes. I just finished the August block yesterday morning. I plan on putting a border around them all when finished.

I finished this Little House Needlework complimentary design, Small House Sampler, last weekend. It's stitched on 32 ct. Autumn Blush linen. I stitched it entirely in Crescent Colours fibers. I really like the way it turned out!

My next finish was for a fall exchange on one of the message boards I frequent. It's SanMan Originals' "Sharing Letters". It's stitched on 32 ct. Toasted Pumpkin fabric from R&R Reproductions and uses mainly Crescent Colours, but there are a couple of WDW threads thrown in the mix.



I'm still continuing to stitch one ornie a month. Last month, I stitched Brown House Studio's "Folk Art Topiary" from the 2004 JCS ornie edition. It's stitched on 32 ct. Sprouted Wheat linen from Woven Workes and stitched with Crescent Colours fibers.



That's enough pics for this time! I'll post more in a few days!

Stitching Progress Pics

This is the latest progress pic on this beauty. I'm finished with all the flowers now and just have the borders to go. My plan is to stitch on this one week a month until it's finished, which shouldn't be too much longer. (There's really not a line across the bottom of the fabric like the picture shows. That's just where my imaging program spliced the 2 pics together.)




I've also been stitching on Blessed Are Those by Blue Ribbon Designs. I'm doing this as part of a SAL on a bulletin board I belong to. It's stiched entirely in Crescent Colours on a piece of hand-dyed Sweet Wheat linen from Woven Workes.

SJF

It's August in Texas!

And it's HOT!! It's been so long since I've posted; I'm blaming it on the heat! We've now had 42 days of +100º temps here in Texas, and 18 days straight. That's just downright too many for this native Texan! I'm ready for winter, or to go live in a walk-in refrigerator! The little fan under my desk at work is a favorite hang out spot for my coworkers, since it's just about the coolest place in the building. LOL!

Not much going on in the garden right now. My plants are continuing to grow like weeds, which many could be classified as. I spent a little bit of time out weeding one day last week. Things are just blooming like crazy!



This is my esperanza. It's been blooming like crazy all year. The bright yellow flowers are so cheerful. Even my husband said he likes this plant becuase it's so happy looking! :)

My mystery plant finally bloomed. I need to take a picture of it because it's got white, lavender, and blue blooms on it! It's very pretty and if I knew what it was, I'd get more to plant in the fall.

SJF

Snapperville

I actually started this in January, but put it away for several months. I pulled it out last month and thoroughly enjoyed stitching on it. I might have to pull it out more often!

Quaker Style Friendship Sampler

This is my first quaker type piece and I'm really liking it! I feel like I have a small little finish everytime I finish one of the medallions.