Some News: Awards, HOE and Finishing

I have been rather busy lately. July is not my most productive month in stitching but I have something to show to you today.

Firstly, another "Oscar"!!!

I have been nominated 3 times for this award by Nina, Mimimira, Hohla. I feel so honored, thank you so much ladies.

The rules for this award:

1. Put the logo on your blog;

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you;

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs;

4. Add links to those blogs on yours;

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Now to the next, pleasant but very hard, part of the award - there are so many interesting blogs but the rules are the rules.... I pass this award to :

1. Carol S,

2. Gazette94 ,

3. Gill ,

4. Jennifer ,

5. Hazel ,

6. Nancy ,

7. Stitchhappy .

* * *

Yesterday I got a message from Cathy B. , my HOE Summer Quaker Exchange partner, that she received my parcel so I can show what I stitched for her.

As I am not so good at Quaker designs and sometimes I can't tell which is Quaker and which is not, I chose the design which has the word'Quaker" in its name, just to be on the safe side. I stitched a motif of "A Quaker Seasonal - Summer" and made a sewing set. Here are some pictures:

I also stitched a little motif from the motif (lol) and made a fob:

Then I made a thread counter and a couple of bobbins for ribbons or threads. There is enough space to keep everything inside the box.

Maybe one day I will make the same sewing set for myself, I think it looks not so bad.

There is another small finish to show to you. While chick-sitting, if you remember I have some chicks, who are already 2 months young, I stitched a little biscornu. It is "Sakura" by Alchemy Stitchcraft. I like the design, it is simple, does not require much attention but it is so delicate:

I have also been working on several new designs from "My Rose Garden"and I will show them to you when I finish stitching them.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments.

Happy stitching to everybody!

Another "My Rose Garden Biscornu" and Summer Quaker Exchange Received

On the weekend I got an e-mail from another Olga, a wonderful cross stitcher from Great Britain. She finished stitching my romantic biscornu and sent me some pictures of it so I can share them with you. In her e-mail Olga said she enjoyed stiching the biscornu , the pattern is not so simple and it took her two days to finish it. She made biscornus before and they all were given away as gift to friends. Olga is impressed by this biscornu and is going to keep it for herself. I am happy to hear that! :-) Look at the pictures she sent me. She made some changes, used more metallics and her biscornu looks brighter.

It's a pity Olga does not have a blog and you can't see her other works, which are amazing. But she is thinking of starting a blog in future.

And another piece of good news...

Today I received a parcel from Jill, my HOE Summer Quaker exchange partner. Wowww!!! I absolutely love everything! She stitched "Seasonal Accents Sampler - Summer" by The Needle and I, and finished it as a tin topper. Her over one stitching is so delicate and the finishing is superb! I did not have a tin before, this is my first one. You know, before I thought tin is so cold and noisy, that is something more for men :-)). Jill put some felt on the bottom and I like her idea. Now I might also want to finish a tin.

Jill also made a nice Marking Pin /Thread Counter for me. And she sure read my blog... now I have one chick more! It is a chicken pin cushion! But I will never stick pins into it :-)). Jill also included a pretty pair of scissors( I have not seen such scissors before), some fabric, mini cards with my initial ( where did she manage to find something with my initial!?) and needles and .... I feel very spoiled ....and very happy to get to know another talented stitcher.

Jill, thank you so much for everything, you've made my day! Hugssss to you

and Happy stitching to everybody! Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments, they are always appreciated.

Another Pleasant Surprise

Well ...a pleasant surprise today! Jennifer sent this award to me ( my first ever cross stitch award) and I must pass it on with the following rules:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to the blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

For this wonderful award I'd like first to thank Jennifer and all other talented stitchers whose blogs I visit for ideas and inspiration. I do not know who thought of these rules! I have a far longer list of blogs I love to visit and it is so hard to narrow the list. But rules are rules... I tried to choose creative stitchers from different parts of the world representing different countries and even different continents. Here is my list of winners ( in alphabetical order):

1.Carla- her stitching and finishing are always so pretty,

2. Faby - visit her blog and you will see how talented and creative she is in her stitching and designing,

3. Nataliya - her very pretty blog is in Russian but looking at her pictures you can easily understand how hard she works to create her masterpieces,

4.Margaret- her Hardanger pieces are unique,

5.Susimac- her finishing is always stunning, a great source of inspiration.

Congratulations to the winners and Happy stitching to everybody.

LHN Exchange from Gaby

Today I got a wonderful package from Gaby with LHN design exchange! Wow!!!

Gaby stitched neccessities sampler on a piece of nice linen and made it into a working bag. She did an amazing job: very pretty stitching and perfect finishing. Inside the bag there are so many pockets where I can keep my small c/s treasures. But most of the pockets have already been filled by Gaby with pieces of linen which she dyed herself, with rose pins also made by her, with overdyed floss and very beautiful ribbons. The bag also has some pages for needles and rings for keeping floss. On the bag you can also see my initials and the year of the exchange. I like my working bag so much, it is pretty and very convenient, it will greatly help me organize my c/s neccessities.
And that is not all! Gaby also included a c/s kit by a German designer - it will be very interesting for me to try to stitch the pattern : a new designer and new floss for me .
I feel terribly spoiled.













You can see how creative Gaby was and how much of an effort and herself she put into this gorgeous exchange. I want to thank Gaby from the bottom of my heart for what she has done for me.
Hugs to Gaby across the miles.

A Pleasant Surprise

Yesterday night I got an e-mail from Cheri (unfortunately she doesn't have a blog) with a picture of "Rose Garden" biscornu which she stitched using my chart. She did a great job on stitching and assembling the biscornu. In the message Cheri said that she changed the colors of the beads because she used some that she had on hand.


I was pleased to learn that she enjoyed working on the biscornu and liked the way it turned out.

Thank you Cheri so much for your work and sending me the picture: I am delighted to see one of the results of my design .

Now I am working on two more items which will continue my "Rose Garden" theme. Stay tuned for further updates.

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" Parts 5 - 6

I have not been stitching much lately but I finished Parts 5 and 6 of Papillon Creations sampler "How Does Your Garden Grow?" If you remember I wanted to wait a little till Part 6 of the sampler is published. I needed a bigger piece of the sampler done , Part 6 is almost half of the sampler, to decide on the beads.






In these pictures you can see that I experimented a little with the beads and put some in Parts 4-6. I think they look all right and will probably be my final choice.



I like how "my garden grows" and is happy that almost half of it has already been done.

I have had a few kits by Needle & Frame for a rather long time and I either could not find time for them or when I had time I thought they are boring and put them aside - there is not a single cross there but.... there are a lot of beads there! So I decided to try one kit. It is called "Moon Light" Beaded Ribbon Scissor Case Necklace ans Pincushion Scissor Fob. What a name!

Ok, when you finish the kit you will get two pieces: a scissor case and a fob. Of course, I read the instructions very attentively and did everything my way. As a result I got a little piece of the ribbon left which I used to make a pincushion and it turned out so cute. I only had to look for two big beads to finish the pincushion the same way as two other pieces.

Now I know for sure that Needle & Frame kits are rather fun to work on for those who like beads. In their instructions it is shown how to make 'bead lace edging' which is really a great finishing technique. I enjoyed working on this project and will certainly make another one.

Happy holidays to American stitchers!

Happy stitching to everybody!