Hello Friends!!!

I was doing a bit of laundry today, and my paper area was calling my name! I made these angel tags for some gifts and also made a small journal. Doing paper art is instant gratification, a nice change from needlework. I am making a memory box, but it needs more work and drying time in between additions.

Happy Holidays~
Kim

Journal and Angel Tags!

Annual Christmas Party at JoAnn's House!

Hello Friends~

This past Wed was our annual Christmas Party and gift exchange! It is by far my favorite party of the season. The food was so good, and we look forward to some foods we get to have only once a year made by each other, like JoAnn's spinach casserole, Joyce's meatballs! The gift exchange is always exciting, finding out who picked your name and what they decided to make for you. The friendship we have with each other, so dear to to all of us!!

Also a big "Thank You" to Karen who has been hosting the "Stitch Inn" for the last 16 years. For opening her heart and home to us every month. I am grateful to be in such a group of talented women who all love needle work like I do! It is a real Blessing!

Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday!!

Best Wishes Always~
Kim

And here is the group gift to Karen, who hosts the monthly Stitch Inn for the last 16yrs or more.
It is the Liberty Hill Halloween House and the pumpkin woman was handmade by Carla! It is amazing! If you love the pumpkin lady, Carla does take orders!

Karen made the wool stocking all done in satin ribbon flowers and lace, Maureen stitched up the pincushion and also made the primitive needle case, such sweet gifts!

The little stockings were stitched by Lori, and Joan made the candy cane pillow.! Sheila stitched the small medal slide that held the needlework, along with a needle minder and she made the gift box as well!!! Awesome work!

Kris stitched up the Blackbird Design and JoAnn did the box, beautifully done!

The pincushion inside the mason jar lid was made by Barb, the picture "Caroline by Goode Huswife" was stitched by Joyce, and Rebecca did the SB needle roll, but made it into a little pocket, with a sweet little strawberry included, all so pretty!

Here is a close up the strawberry pincushion I stitched. It is a reproduction of antique pin cushion by Threads of Gold. It was done on 40ct with weeks threads, the initals JK were stitched over one. I used black vintage rayon seam binding for the rouching, and then put a silver shade 4mm swarovski onto black head pins. It had just a bit of sparkle, made with love for Joyce!

Now for the gift exchange goodies! I stitched the strawberry pincushion, Carla did the needlepunch and Linda made the pillow! Linda had my name so I am the lucky owner of this sweet litlle pillow, I love it!!

We all brought a covered dish to share, everything was so delish!!

More gifts and furry friends!

Under the tree lots of gifts and JoAnn's collection of Lori Baker Bears and Rabitts!

JoAnn's Christmas Tree-a beautiful Douglas Fir~

Hello Friends~

Wishing you all a Blessed Thanksgiving! I am grateful for you~

With Kind Regards,

Kim

Road Trip to Walnut Creek, OH.

Here are my girlfriends, Betty (left) JoAnn (middle) and me. We are visiting one of our favorite shops in Berlin. It was so busy everywhere, many shops were having their Christmas open house. We had such a good time, I don't get to see Betty very often, she lives in Millersburg so it was extra special! The three of us talked about and agreed to start a SAL in January 2011. The Sampler we are going to stitch is "Isabella Johnstone". We are hoping this will bring us together more often, not only to see each progress, but to share in each others lives.

Sweet Friendships! What a Gift!!!

Have a great week, my friends~

Kim

This horse and buggy was parked outside of Rebecca's Resturant in Walnut Creek,OH. It was such a beautiful day yesterday! Indian Summer at it's very best! My two girlfriends and I had the most delicious lunch at Rebecca's, it's our favorite place to have lunch at when we go to Amish Country.

Fall Already?

Hello Friends~

It has been such a long time since my last post! Hope all is well with you and yours! I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away. The colors of fall have been so beautiful this year, lots of leaf raking at our house. It was such a warm, sunny day.

I have taken pictures of some of my fall pillow, pin cushion collection, and also a photo of a little journal I made today for a friend. Thought she might enjoy keeping her Holiday list of things to do in it!

Hope you enjoy~

Kim

~Mom~

May 25, 1929 ~ June 20, 2009

I MISS YOU TODAY

It has been a year since I lost you
But it seems like a lot longer today
I miss your sweet smile and
Your kind and loving ways
I miss the love of your presence
And the ways you always cared
I miss your encouragement and faith
Your belief in me you shared
I thank God for giving me such a
Sweet and wonderful Mother!
I knew through the years
There could have been no other!
I listen for your footsteps in the hall
And look up to see you in the room
I want to hear your greeting and
To smell the fragrance of your perfume
There will be never another
Who loves me like you do
So until we meet in heaven
I’ll have to live my days without you~

Your Loving Daughter~
Kim

Slipper Needlecase from A Friend~

Hello Friends~

Just wanted to share with you a picture of this amazing slipper needlecase made by my Dear Friend, JoAnn. It was for my 50th Birthday.

The florentine stitch is so very beautiful, done in silks. The sampler on the bottom of the shoe is done on 40ct, the inside of the shoe is finished in a dupioni silk fabric. It is also tufted on top, and trimmed with a handmade silk cording. JoAnn did an excellent job stitching and finishing! This is a very intense finish!!!!

The pattern is by Tricia Nguyen of Thistle Threads. She has 4 different slipper needlecase designs.

I made one for another friend several years ago, called "The gift is Small", the finishing for this slipper is quite extensive. It was an exciting accomplishment, which gave me the confidence to try any kind of finishing!!!!

JoAnn has made many extraordinary gifts for me through out the many years of our friendship, I treasure each and everyone. She is a talented needleworker, and a sweet friend.

Blackbird Pincushion!

The BlackBird Gift I made for Mayte'!

Hello Friends~

I have heard today that Mayte' recieved her BlackBird gift exchange from me!! Thought I would post a couple photos of the pincushion. This pattern is a freebie from Blackbird designs. I stitched it on 30ct linen, over 1 thread with antique rose sampler thread. I used a civil war reproduction fabric on the back, very small rick-rack trim! The design, fabric and rick-rack were put into a coffee bath, and baked in the oven for about 15 minutes to give it an antique feel. It was then sewn together and stuffed with ground walnut shells, which I love to use for the nice weight they give to a pincushion. The finished size was 2.5 x 4, very small and sweet!! I also made her a gift tag, which you can see on blackbird-designs.blogspot.com

It was fun to stitch up, as I enjoy making smalls. Mayte' says she loves it!!!

Now I am going to finish up a needle roll up that I have designed myself that is very, very late getting to my dear friend JoAnn. She has been very patient. Love you Jo!

I am also starting to kit up the Ann Hicks Sampler, which I have picked for my next project, and in between, finishing WIP!!! One is very close to being done!!!

Best Wishes~
Kim

The gift is on its way!!!

The gift to my Blackbird exchange has been mailed from the post office today. It is going to California, so it may take a few days. The finishing turned out awesome, but of course it took longer than expected. That always seems to be the case in finishing! It sure did look good in my old wooden bowl full of smalls!! LOL Enjoy my friend!!!! It was stitched from the heart~

BlackBird Gift Exchange from Barbara!

Barbara from Mainly Stitching, stitched up this pincushion with my last intial on it, and put it inside a small porclin cup! Then another gift!!! A sweet little strawberry scissor fob, with poka-dot fabric for the leaf, and twisted thread. Both with very nice finishing! Thank You Barabara!

Birthday Presents for No.52~

Hello My Friends~

Sorry I have been away for so long! We have been working on some home projects here and they always take longer than we think! When DH and I go to Lowe's or Home Depot, we end up buying stuff for even more projects! I am looking forward to finishing and getting the house back in order (if there is such a thing).

Thought you might enjoy seeing a few of my vintage pincushion collection. They are in a nice display case that I found at TJ Maxx. They look so pretty.

I also had a Birthday on Feb 5th, and wanted to show you some sweet gifts from JoAnn and Carla. We also went out to dinner, along with Maureen and Rebecca to Bravo. We love to eat dinner there. I had the most wonderful eggplant parmesean ever and the creme brulee wasn't too bad either! LOL

Please! Leave comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Best Wishes Always~
Kim

Just a few of my Vintage Pin Cushion Collection

Collage Style File Folders from Carla

Sweet Pincushion from Carla!

Primitive Sewing Pouch from JoAnn

This is an older pattern from Sheepish design.
I love the rabbit!!!

This was stitched in 1996, while I was pregnant
with Noah!!! It seems centuries ago! lol The
pattern is by Ewe and Eye.

I love this sampler! I believe it is by Goode
Huswife (Garden series) called Sarah Salter.

I stitched this up for my son, Noah for his 1st
Birthday. Now he is 13!!!! This pattern is from
Little By Little, I love how primitive it is!!!!

I stitched this sampler for my Mother's 60th Birthday. It
is 20 years old now! Back then it was popular to not add
glass, but I am going to take it to the framer at our local
needlework shop "Inn Stitches" to have glass added. I
cant remember who the designer was on this piece.

Hello Dear Friends

It has been a while since my last post, hard to believe that January is almost gone. I hope all of you had a safe and Happy New Year!

What are your goals this year with stitching? My biggest goal is to stitch the sampler Lois Minshall, in memory of my Dear Beloved Mother, who passed away June 20, 2009. I have never done a big sampler before, so it seems very challenging due to the size. I have always made small samplers and small items for the stitching bag. I have wanted to do a larger sampler and this one is so beautiful and a wonderful way to honor my Mother, who I miss very deeply. Then one day I will pass it on to my son Noah, for him to enjoy in his home. He was the only Grandchild and my Mother adored him.

Of course, I have a long list of other samplers I want to do, Stacy Nash, Heartstring Primitives, The Primitive Needle, Black Bird Designs, and I want to finish a needlepunch that I have been working on for quite a while. I am guilty of starting alot of things, but never finish them. This year I want to finish some WIP's that I want to enjoy hanging on my walls! I will post them when I finish.

Today I am posting a couple of older samplers that I did, long ago, but still love. Hope you enjoy!

With Kind Regards~
Kim

Happy New Year!

Dear Friends~

I wish each and every one of you a "Blessed New Year" filled with lots of love, laughter and good times with family and friends. My biggest goal this year is to be more grateful, to reach out more to others who are hurting, and to shine for him! (God!) to read the word more, and to stitch some samplers this year to hang in my house!!

I have been so inspired by all the needlework blogs this past year and for all the amazing pictures of the Samplers you all have stitched. Truely, we are Kindred Spirits. The love and passion of needlework binds us together. For that, I am grateful!

With Kind Regards~
Kim