Exchanges Keep Rolling In...

I am playing “catch up” so I have lots to share…

I participated in a Personal Exchange with Yuko and recently received a rather large box filled to the brim with some amazing items. There was so much in the box that it was difficult to photograph everything. When I opened the box this is what I saw…

I could barely believe my eyes and was not sure if there was a bottom to this box.  The items just poured out: hand dyed fabric, three fat quarters, two wonderful scissors, lace trim, covered buttons, jumbo clips, rose petal bath soap, two fantastic patterns, and so much more!

In amongst all of this treasure was this beautifully stitched exchange piece...

How pretty is that?  Yuko is an amazing stitcher/finisher, her work is absolutely perfect.  I have longed for a piece of her needlework and I am honored to display this in my new home.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart Yuko for this extra special exchange I shall treasure it.

The next exchange piece arrived from Jenn F. I must say that it is the perfect design to display in my Vermont house...

Now that winter is upon us I feel as if I should delve right in and finish this beauty.  Jenn and I were partnered in the Fair & Square round #27 exchange.  I have been collecting F&S blocks for quite some time but have yet to decide what to do with them.  Should I put them all in one Friendship quilt or should I finish each one separately? Hmm, still can’t decide.

Do you see the beautiful beaded scissor FOB? Jenn gifted me with that gorgeous gift as well, how lucky can one person get.  Thanks again Jenn you are a very special blogging friend.

Stitching for Jenn is relatively easy, she loves nautical designs.  Here is what I selected for her…

Designer: Of Generations Past

Design: Christmas Lighthouse

The third exchange piece rolled in just a few days ago.  This one is from the HOE Words of Christmas exchange and was stitched by Sadie…

Thank you Sadie, this ornament will look beautiful on my Christmas tree.

Here is what I stitched and sent to Gabi...

Designer: Birds of a Feather

Design: Peace Angel

The last project that I will share is the gift that I stitched for my cousin for Thanksgiving.  I love this design and hope to stitch it again for myself.  This probably will not happen until later next year since I have lots of stitching do before Christmas.

Designer: AuryTM

Design: A Gobble Couple

Well, the boys were here for Thanksgiving but have left.  One headed back to NYC and the other back to college.  It is so nice to be within driving distance of them…Texas was just too far away! As always we had a great Thanksgiving holiday with our relatives.  This year we had another reason to be truly thankful: On Monday my youngest son (who graduates May 2012) had a 2^nd interview for an Engineering position in a large company here in the Northeast, and the day before Thanksgiving the company extended an offer to him which he intends to accept.  I am so happy and proud of him, he returned to school to begin his final semester knowing that he will graduate with a job...that is certainly a reason to be thankful!

Thank you to VP, LR, KC, MK, CD, MC, RT, and Garrett :) for all of those PRs.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.



Another Move And Finally Settled

I have decided that I will not move again, it is too much work.  We finally returned to the Northeast where we purchased a home in Vermont, exactly where I have always wanted to be.  We had one month to get the interior painted before all of our belongings arrived on a truck from Texas.  The past three months were spent unpacking hundreds of boxes, a task that I have done a number of times before and one that I refuse to do again.  As the cold weather approached we rushed to get the exterior of the house painted and despite a number of obstacles our mission was accomplished.  I do love the new color of the house that we now call home:

I never get tired of looking out at this view...

This past weekend these mountains were snow-capped. Yes, it is hard to believe but the first snowfall of the season arrived prior to Halloween.

I longed for the day when I could wake up in a house free of workers, enter my new sewing room, sit at my Koala sewing center and quilt. In January this new table was delivered to my house in Texas but I left Texas (and my table) in mid April.

Koala Sewing Center - in Texas

Well, the workers are gone, my sewing room is somewhat in order, and when I sat at the sewing center I discovered it had been damaged during the move. YIKES! The electronic sewing machine lift is non operational, there are scratches and a few dings. I am stressing over how the insurance company will resolve this. The sewing center was in my Texas house for only 16 weeks before we left for Vermont.  It remained untouched until the movers arrived in August to pack/move our belongings.  By October I managed to find my way to the sewing room and unpack all of the boxes (yes, I avoided this room...way too many boxes). I was shocked when I used the remote to activate the lift and heard the horrendous noise while watching the lift struggle to move!  I just want the insurance people to take it away and get me a brand new one.  I did not purchase a "reconditioned" one thus I do not want them to attempt to fix it...we will see what happens.

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Moving was certainly one reason why I have been quiet in blog land but another reason is because my 5 year old Dell computer has become problematic.  What should take 15 minutes to do now takes hours; so very frustrating.  I started using my iPhone for EVERYTHING except blogging.  A week ago I purchased a MacBook Pro which I know nothing about, as a result I had to wait until my sons came for a visit to get me up and running.  I am still in the dark so today I purchased the book, "MacBook For Dummies" and if that doesn't enlighten me I will enroll in a class.

I wish that I had more stitching to share with you but the move kept me far from my stitching basket. I managed to complete "Angel of Hope".  I changed the hair color because I wanted the Angel to look more like the person I am giving it to

Designer: M Design

Design: Angel of Hope

My stitching basket is calling so I must end now.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by~

Until next time...