Blackbird Designs - A Celebration!!!

A week ago Saturday, the stitching Guild that I belong to (Kindred Spirits) hosted a special event to celebrate all that we love about Blackbird Designs. Everyone brought their finished pieces - from framing, to needlebooks to quilts. I thought you might like to see some of the beautiful things that were there.

This is Tina and some of her gorgeous quilts. All of the quilts in the picture were stitched by her. WoW!!! These were so beyond gorgeous - I've never seen a BBD quilt up close and personal and Julie and I were just in awe! Deb was in awe too but she'll go home and make one. Not me. Only way I'll ever get something like this is to buy it and who would want to part with such a beauty?

All pics are clickable so you can super-size and really get a good look!





This is Pat and her lovely work! I love how this is framed in that fabulous tray - gorgeous, isn't it? I really admire Pat's work - she does beautiful stitching and finishing and she's just as sweet and funny as can be.




The finishes on this table are by Edwina and Pat - fabulous, aren't they?



Julie and I brought some of our finishes, too. Julie stitched the piece in the gold frame and the pincushion and biscournu scissor fob. I did the other two.



More of our work:




These quilts were made by the mother of one of our members and they were so beautiful!



This quilt was made by Judy and isn't it a beauty? Reminds me of something you'd have seen on a rope bed in the civil war. It's gorgeous!


As you can see, these quilts are no small project!





These beauties were made by Sue - some of you may know her as "needlworkerSue" on some of the cross stitch boards. Sue was feeling shy that day and preferred to have a pic only of her fabulous work!





These were made by various members and each and every one is exquisite!


Check out the little red stitch in the upper left hand corner - that one is done over one thread sitting right next to one just like it, done over two threads. Same count fabric. Just a great shot to show the difference over one stitching can make on a piece. Of course, too much of that and you want to poke your eyes out with the needle!


Our guild president, Sharon designed these sweet needlebooks to commemorate our gathering together. Aren't they cute? They'll be so pretty tucked into our sewing baskets!




Barb and Alma were kind enough to donate several items for a raffle draw but dang it, I forgot to take a picture. I also forgot to take a picture of the food that was there as well. Talk about eye candy! Maaaan! There was some good eats there. As I've said, these are a great bunch of women - all super talented, nice as can be and so much fun to be around.

I am making progress on my Ann (A&E) sampler but those eyelets are really starting to bore me so I've moved on to Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler. I also finished the November block on my Prairie Schooler Year but will not post that again till it's all done in December. I have to say though that I love it and doing it one block at a time is the way to go with over one!

Thanks for all the sweet comments about my dad in my last post. He's a great guy and I'm really proud of him and his service. Thanks for all the stories you shared with me about your favorite veteran! Where might we be if we didn't have these men and women?

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this post about all things BBD! Thanks Barb and Alma for all you do to give us such wonderful things to create. Our stitching and quilting world would not be the same were you not here! You can visit their blog for some really gorgeous and inspiring photos: Blackbird Designs Blog

Peace,
Terri

Have You Thanked a Veteran Today?

Today is Veteran's Day in the U.S. It's a day we celebrate, thank and remember all the men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces. My dad of course, is my favorite veteran! He served more than 20 years in the Army and had a wonderful career. He was commissioned into the Army as a Lieutenant in 1958. He had some tough tours of duty - the worst being Viet Nam. He did more than one tour there and although we don't really talk about it a whole lot, I'm sure it was life changing for him and every other man and woman that served. My family was lucky, my dad came home to us and is living the good life. He's an awesome man,courageous, kind and in as good or better shape now than he was when he joined the Army in 1958. I have some great pics of my dad in uniform but I can't figure out how to scan them. But trust me, he was one good looking officer and gentleman! Thanks Dad! You are my favorite veteran!

My dad reads my blog. He thinks it quite amusing that we all have our crafting space ~ be it a room, a corner of a room or whatever. I think he's been feeling a little jealous lately because he decided if I had a craft room and my mom has a craft room, he needs a craft room, too. Before I share his special space with you I must first tell you - my dad is a man of simple means. It doesn't take a lot to make him happy. A warm summer day, a book and a quiet place to talk to God make him about as happy as anything I know. But, I do believe his new craft room may run a close second! The shell of his craft room is the garage to my parent's home. My dad has never believed a car actually had to be parked in the garage. No Sir! Far better uses for a garage than that. Mostly, the garage is used by my dad for watching the world go by. If he had a very comfortable (not) folding lawn chair (which has now been updgraded), a fridge full of beer and he would count himself a lucky and happy man! Now though, since my mom and I both have craft rooms, that is no longer good enough. Here's his story - remember, we are Southerners by birth so we (and by that I mean, He) are allowed to use the term redneck!

A REDNECK’S CRAFT ROOM by Jimmy E.

A few years ago my daughter, Terri, designed and had built a wonderful craft room in their newly remodeled basement. It is beautiful and cleverly designed. When Thada saw it she immediately decided that she wanted one also. She developed a beautiful craft room of her own in one of our bedrooms. She and Terri do wonderful crafts in their craft rooms. So…needless to say old Jimmy decided he would like to have one too. Thada and I decided that since I am pretty much a redneck, and keep my beer in the garage, that perhaps the garage could be slightly modified as my craft room. I immediately went to work on/in it. It is still a work of love in progress but I want to share its evolvement with you.

One nice spring day a light rain was falling and I was sitting in the garage reading. I went to my garage refrigerator and got myself a Bud Lime to enjoy as I read. Much to my consternation I realized that I had no place to sit my Bud after a soothing sip…so I went to the back of the garage and found this lovely end table just sitting there gathering dust. I pulled it out and placed it beside my comfortable garage chair and voila, my Redneck Craft Room had its Genesis. Also in the garage, I found the cute seashell photograph of me and several of my family enjoying a day at Virginia Beach. I placed it on the table to give my room the proper atmosphere. To further enhance the “beach atmosphere I added a can of bug spray.
In the rear corner of my craft room I set up this cleverly designed home improvement area, complete with an early American cobbler’s bench with vise. Peg board to the rear is replete with various crafting implements that can be used in home repairs…I think! I'm not really sure as I've never been a home repair kind of guy. No matter ~ those shelves behind me contain various items including a variety of paints and stains (just in case I ever really want to paint something). As you can see, I am busily attempting to drive a nail into a small part of a boat I am building.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of my Redneck craft room. It's my special space and like Terri and Thada, I'm sure I'll be creating all kinds of crafty things.... right after I finish my book and my beer!

Thanks for sending me the story about your craft room, Dad! It's a fabulous space and you should be quite proud. Really, you should!

For all my friends reading this post - I have some awesome pics to show you about our Guild Gathering last Saturday to celebrate our love of Blackbird designs. But, you'll have to wait. Today is about my favorite veteran! Tell me about your favorite veteran!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,
Terri

On Time for a Change!

We are having a major blustery, day here in SE Michigan. The neighbors leaves are falling in our yard - drats - which means more raking for the boys. Last weekend was beautiful and Matt raked leaves and Ty gave the lawn one last mowing. These pics were taken pretty close together time wise - check out the different apparel. You'd think it was a warm day by Matt's clothes and Ty looks like it's winter!


Two kids, same family, so different!

With the blustery weather, I hope it doesn't get too cool for the trick or treaters tonight. I'm ready for them with all kinds of candy I don't like! Yep, that helps eliminate the temptation. I can eat, no kidding, probably 20 of those little almond joy bars thru the course of the night. Mmmmmmmmmmm chocolate AND coconut! Delicious!

I have been stitching a little bit. I took everyone's advice and frogged what I had stitched so far on Ann and started over. She is now being stitched with one thread over two on 35 count fabric and I like it a lot better. I also decided to switch the DMC to silks because I had so much in my stash and am not sure what I'm saving them for. I did an eyeball conversion but the threads are very close to the DMC that came in the kit. I have to say - I'm not crazy about the colors; they're kind of funky but, I think when I'm done I'll dunk the whole thing in a vat of tea and see what happens.


Now, I'm all for specialty stitches in a piece; they give lots of character, but really! Look at all those algerian eyelets! I quit counting at around 350 and there are more (lots more) to go! UGH! I'M SICK OF THEM! And, as if stitching all of those weren't
enough, I've spent a lot of time frogging this piece in addition to the initial frogging I had to do to start over. As many of my friends will tell you, I am not a mathematician. Not even close. So, it may come as no surprise to all of you that as I was suffering, er, I mean stitching, all those numbered eyelets, I went from 8 to 10, skipped 9 altogether. I thought long and hard about leaving it and blaming it on Ann but in the end, I decided to take the high road and not blame a girl that stitched this at age 10 and is now dead (and hopefully stitching away happily in the ever after!). Of course, Ann apparently wasn't a math genius either since she stitched two 11's in a row. I wonder if she did the same thing I did and just thought, "Oh golly, I've made an error." I doubt seriously that a young girl in the 1700's used the same explicative's I did when I discovered my error! More likely, it was intended to be that way but I like my story better. There have been other errors too - I stitched a section of that wavy band in the wrong color and had to frog that and those first two letters -- they're in the wrong color too. Haven't decided if I'll change those or not.

I have been trying to keep up with my PS piece after I got so far behind and I finished October last night. I love how this is turning out and can't wait to finish! I'll start November tomorrow. I am ON TIME for a change! Yeah!!!

This is being stitched over one on 32 count fabric with DMC floss.

Thanks to EDGAR'S BLOG, I found an East Tennessee sampler that I really like! It's called the Swan Pond Sampler and was stitched in Knoxville, Tennessee which is not far from where I was born. I am so excited to get going on this pretty sampler. We are going to be seeing some family from East Tennessee that I haven't seen in more years than I can count at Thanksgiving and in honor of that, I'll start this sampler during that visit. The picture on the chart is not very well done. It was taken in a landscape fashion rather than a portrait setting so you can't even see the entire sampler in the photograph but I think it'll be gorgeous!



I got this chart from the Dixie Darlin' Cross Stitch Shop in Pigeon Forge, TN and spent about 45 minutes on the phone with the owner. She was as sweet as could be and was very happy that so many people were now interested in this beautiful sampler.

Remember, today is the last day of Missy's 13 Days of Halloween giveaway. She has given some awesome prizes and I've enjoyed playing along even though I haven't won. Maybe this spooktacular night will be my lucky night! Click here if you think you have a chance. I'm thinking you probably don't, so I wouldn't even bother, if I were you!

Have a great Halloween and a happy rest of the weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks even more for taking the time to leave me a note when you have the time.

Peace,
Terri

Whatcha think?

Good evening, friends!

I want to show you what I found in the thrift stores recently. Now here's the thing - I never used to be a thrift store shopper. I liked "antique" shops. That is until I started all this blog reading that I've become so addicted to. Yes, all you other thrifters out there are pretty much responsible for this new treasure hunt quest I like to go on. The first find I'm going to show you was something I found last weekend. I was out and about in the early morning and decided to check the local thrift store. This little piece was still kind of oily from where it had been wiped down so I assume it had just been put out on the floor. It didn't stay there long! I looked at the tag and it was all of $19! Whoo Hooo! Isn't it a really pretty, little piece? I just love it. I went in the same store today on the way home from work and there was nothing worthwhile but.... there was a sign that said seniors (and uh, I guess I now qualify - UGH!!!) got 50% off. I wonder if I could have gotten that last week? I'll have to try to remember that I'm old and that I now qualify for these kinds of discounts. I think I can now get a "senior" coffee at McDonalds!




On Saturday night we were at a party for Julie's DH's mother's 90th birthday party. Jane is an amazing woman and looks fabulous and is as sharp as can be - you'd never guess she was 90 years young. Anyway, we left around 7:30 and we drove past what looked like a giant Salvation Army store. Rob said that as I seemed to be on a roll with the good finds and that maybe we should go in! You think? Look at what I found:




She is in perfect condition other than a small stain on her outer petticoat. The lace is perfect, not a thread missing or ripped or anything. Now - she was pricey. The SA was asking $60 for her and I said to the gal, in my sweetest, yet somewhat incredulous voice "$60 for a pincushion? Seriously?" And she said that it was 33% off to which I replied that that was still a lot for a "pincushion". So, after a little haggling, she let me "have" it for half off ~ $30. Not exactly cheap but did I say that she's perfect? She is now happily living in my curio cabinet. I just love her - I wonder whom she might have belonged to and I think they must have loved her too because she is in such great shape. Have you ever seen a prettier one?

The last thing I have to share with you today are these little floss tag holders I've made. I love all the stitchy floss holders everyone's making but they really don't do "it" for me. I made a couple but if my rings of floss get seperated from my project, I am not always sure which project said threads belong to and a stitched tag doesn't help me. This eliminates that problem. I made a small copy of the pattern I was working on, made a back piece that has the name of the pattern, the kind of fabric used, the kind of floss used and the start date. Everything right there together at my finger tips and easy to see which project the threads belong to. Laminated, they should last as long as I need them to.


You see Paulette's pattern tag sitting there in the middle? Well.... that was going to be my next project - I love it. I got the fabric on rods, started stitching and realized something just didn't look right. My fabric was about 1/2 as wide as I needed it to be! DUH!!!! I have no Idea what I was thinking when I put it on rods. Now I have to order some new fabric so it'll have to wait to start that beauty.

I needed something to stitch so I pulled out this sampler that I picked up the last time Rob and I were in Virginia visiting Williamsburg. It's being stitched on a 35 count linen with DMC. I started it with two threads but I think I'm going to frog it and start over with one thread over two. It just looks a little heavy to me and I think antique samplers always look a little more thin. What do you think?


Have a great evening everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,
Terri

Melissa's Giveaway starts today!

Even though I've posted her icon since she first announced this fun giveaway (see sidebar on the right), it actually starts today.

Check it out HERE!

Peace,
Terri

Fun, Friends and Framing!

I hope that you all are experiencing the same kind of fall day that we are here in SE Michigan! The air is crisp and cool but not cold, the leaves are falling and the colors are spectacular. I love watching leaves float to the ground - it's hypnotic.

I have a few fun things to share with you all. First, I know you know JOLENE! If you don't, go visit her blog - she's a lot of fun, very generous and talented to boot! A week or so ago she was heading to an appointment and spotted this sign and thought of me. She whipped the car around and got a picture - can you believe it? They definitely have the right idea, don't you think? Truth is, I could eat chocolate in a house, I could eat chocolate with a mouse, I could eat it here or there, I could eat it anywhere! Yeah, I know, blatant plagiarism - I hope old Doc Seuss won't mind!


Hmmmmm.... maybe they read my blog?!

I got a couple of framing pieces back the other day. I am still mourning the loss of my other frame shop; they had so much to offer in the way of mouldings. However, that being said, I did find a couple of frames that worked well with what I took in so I won't complain too much.

First up: Sail Away by Shepherd's Bush:

The frame has a kind of a driftwood look to it that I thought was appropriate.

Next up is the Birds of a Feather Friendship Sampler:

The frame kind of looks black but it's really a deep blue with a lighter blue swirl pattern. I've used this same frame in red for my CHS Noah's Stocking. Anyway, I love how it turned out.

And last, because I intentionally saved the best for last. Look at the beautiful bag I got in the mail from LORAINE!! Isn't it wonderful? As you know, she and I (truly, it was mostly her - and I'm not just being modest), led a stitch-a-long for the SB Sail Away piece I just showed you. To start the SAL I made scissor fobs and to end the SAL she made needle books for everyone. But, for me, as a birthday present, she also made a darling bag to go with it! I LOVE it! Check out the lining fabric - the sampler print it so pretty and the outer print couldn't be cuter or more appropriate. It all feels so tropical and perfect. The bag has several pockets inside and check out the darling button! Didn't she do a great job? She also included a little card that showed all our sailers and where they live. I have attached this to the back of my sampler and love the memory it will trigger whenever I see it. Loraine, all of this was so NOT necessary but I absolutely love it ~ thank you so much!! Maybe, and that's a big maybe, we'll do another SAL one of these days. Maybe!




I have a couple of really awesome GW finds to show you but they'll have to wait for another day. I was so excited to find these two things I could hardly believe my luck! Stay tuned.

I'm also getting a new project on rods tonight - I can't wait to start working on this piece and know it will be a really fun stitch. I'll show some pics on my next update.

Have a great week, friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and for leaving a comment , or email, which I so enjoy getting!

Peace,
Terri

A surprising Weekend!

DEB and I met to go to a bead show on Sunday and then to our monthly guild meeting. After the bead extravaganza, we decided to head out to lunch before heading over to guild. Now, truth be told, I can not fight my way out of a paper bag with a map and as hard as it may be to believe, even using a Garmin (navigation system), I managed to get us "lost". At one point we pulled into a parking lot and I told Deb that the Garmin (in a wonderful Australian accent) told me to "Turn around you idiot! You missed your turn!" Deb said "Really" and we both laughed like we WERE a couple of idiots. Of course, the Garmin can't tell you things like that but don't you sometimes wish it did? It would sure make the drive more interesting. "I said left you dumb ass, LEFT!" With smart ass comments, even if I were lost, I'd be laughing. Of course, it might get less and less funny each time it happened (which for me could be daily). While we were stopped I told Deb that I had planned on ordering a somewhat healthy salad but after all this, I was going for the asiago roast beef sandwich. YUMMM. Anwyay, we finally pulled into the Panera parking lot and Deb said to wait a minute. From the back of her van she pulled out this:



This summer, DAWN had posted this old tool box on her blog. I had commented that I was heading up there the next day and if it was still there, it might have to come home with me. I got up there and guess what? It was gone! Yep, Deb had beat me to it. I was shocked. I couldn't believe that she had seen it and loved it too and had run up and gotten it before me. Well - turns out she had gotten it but she got it for me! I was so surprised and delighted. Dawn had displayed it in her shop turned sideways and I thought it would look great just the same way on top of my hutch with a few baskets on it. Yep, that's where it's going just as soon as I get rid of all the fall lights, leaves and stuff I put up there. As if this weren't enough, she also gave me a bead for my Troll bracelet - this bead celebrates the fact that I have reached this surprising, fifty year milestone. Isn't it pretty?

And, hard to believe, but there's more! Look at these darling scissors!

I don't recall telling her I was the black sheep of the family but maybe I did! I love each and every gift, Deb! You really surprised me! I swear, when she pulled that red tool box out of her van, I almost fell over ~ what a wonderful and unexpected surprise.
Debbie's DD, Catie is exactly the kind of kid that I think I probably was - except she's talented, oh so cute and smart. Yep, other than those things, she's just exactly like me! Really, if I had had a daughter, I think she could have been like Catie - she is one spunky gal who is a delight to chat with and is just full of fun. When Deb was shopping for something for me, Catie asked how old I was going to be. When Deb told her, Catie said, "Isn't that when you start wearing those red hats?" Yep, 50's it. So, to celebrate, look what Catie gave me:



Wasn't that sweet of her? Thank you so much, Catie - I'm going to laugh at myself, and my age, every time I have a glass of wine with a red hat attached and I can't wait to share them with each and every gal pal that comes over for a glass of wine that meets the red hat requirement, too! The other little red hat is a cell phone charm which I'm trying to figure out how to attach!
Thank you, Deb and Catie - you really helped to make my birthday celebration last a bit longer and in such a fun and surprising way, too! Thank you!

Now that the real exciting stuff is shared, I'll show you a couple of other things and then I'll quit babbling! While Deb and I were at the bead show yesterday, I bought these two beads that I'll turn into fun necklaces - I love the moon bead and isn't the goddess bead fun? Not sure yet exactly what I'll do with them but I'll show you when I do!

I also bought these cute little Halloween beads to add to the jingly, jangly bracelet I made a couple of years ago. I love this little bracelet and wear it for most of the month of October.



Today is Columbus Day in the U.S and Rob and I both had the day off so we took the opportunity to run around a little bit, have lunch and just spend the day together. I got a few things while we were out and here are two of my favorites ~ Sophie (white) and Gracie (black) in their new little jackets:


On the way home we drove by an upscale resale shop and Rob was sweet enough to let me go in. I have wanted an old childs/doll chair for the longest time and today I found it! This little beauty is put together with wooden pegs, no nails and it looks to me like it's in it's original finish. The splats on the chair all look hand carved and the caning looks like it is the original. The lady in the shop said she'd guess it was 75 years old. I LOVE it! The best part was - it was only $25!!! I couldn't believe it when I spotted the price tag. This is, for me, a great find and why I love the thrill of the hunt!
My new, old Chair:

Finally - I promise! At our guild meeting, Sharon, our president, showed us this cute little pin cushion wrap we'll be making next month at our Blackbird Designs get together. It's a special event to show and share all things BBD and we'll be making this cute little pincushion to commemorate our day. Sharon, you may recall, is the designer behind that cute clam shell pinkeep I posted a while back (Sheila - yours is on it's way - got mailed this past Wednesday)! Everyone that attends will be brining their BBD finishes - stitching, quilting, whatever! It should be a fun day and I can't wait to see all the finishes. Barb and Alma even donated a book to be given away in a drawing! If you're in the Novi, Michigan area and would like to attend, shoot me an email!


Our guild is full of fun and talented women so I can't wait to see what everyone brings. I have four, framed pieces I'll be taking but I"m most anxious to see what everyone else brings. Wouldn't you like to come, too?

Have a great week everyone! Thanks for stopping by and if you made it to the end of this post - I thank you!

Peace!
Terri