I just thought I was finished. I am in a Dotee doll swap over at Stitchin Fingers,and here are the ones that I have made already. One will be swapped and I will keep the other one.

I just remembered something, next week on the 4th I will be celebrating my blogs first year anniversary. In celebration of that I will be doing a drawing for all those who come by and leave a comment on this particular post to be in the drawing. I will be pulling three different names of those who will receive a gift from me. I am so excited about this! I already know what one gift will be. Hmmmm......should I post a pic or let it be a surprise of what I am giving away? I tell you what, I will post only one item and let the other two be a surprise, how does that sound? That decided here is a pic of one of the items I will be giving away to a lucky winner.

Is this a tempting sneak peak or what. This book has 169 pages of transfers! This is a stitchers dream book if you ask me. I have looked over all the pages and it is a really great book. It was produced by Daisy Kingdom for those who like to stitch on fabric as well as paint on fabric.

Here is how it will work come by and have a look around and then leave a comment on this particular post and I will put all the names in a hat and draw three lucky winners. One of which will receive this book of transfers. I will have to decide what the other two prizes will be. Let the fun begin.

Happy Stitching, Wendy

Hello everyone I hope your weekend is going good for you and you are resting and having a wonderful time. Mine has been going well. We celebrated my middle daughters 18th birthday with a big family dinner to honor her. We all had a good time and she had a wonderful time with everyone. My how the last 18yrs. have flown by.

Now to finish updating this blog, that is if I can get the pics to upload. I tried three different times to post pics last night and it just would not do it. So I will try this again today.

I had bought a needle tatting book about a year ago and have really not had the time to learn this craft until now. I have decided to break it out and try my hand at it as I have tons of thread that I can use. I hope I can learn this as I have tried to shuttle tat and just cannot grasp it for some reason. Has anyone else tried this book and had any success? The instructions seem to be pretty clear and easy to follow, I just need to put thread to needle and go with it.

I also found these knitting needles on clearance and thought they would make good needles for tatting also once I learn how. Then again they may not work like I am thinking they will, so we shall see.I also decided to show some of the hearts that I have traded for. Hope you enjoy the eye candy, I just love looking at them. I am trying to decide what I am going to do with them. Just pondering the ideas right now, maybe a wall hanging for my sewing room since I do not have many as of yet.
And a few more, enjoy!
ok that is all of the hearts for now. Are they not all just gorgeous!

Whew! Has things been hectic here. This post will be long and I will finish it on tomorrow when I have time. It has been a while since I last posted anything, but we finally moved into a house of our own. I have literally been up to my neck in boxes. Last count on today was 296. I still have two rooms to go and 30 something tubs as well as about 6o or more boxes that need to be unpacked! That is just the stuff we had in storage since last August when we moved to be with my mom and dad for her surgery. She is now well enough for us to move out of their house. The original house that we were wanting to buy did not work out for us so we decided to rent for a while and buy later if we decide to stay in this area. It is a hundred and eight year old Victorian house with fireplace's in each room, fourteen ft. high ceilings and big rooms. An unfinished attic space which my 16yr. old son declared as his room! It covers the whole entire house and is huge, so he will have plenty of room up there. So now you can see why I have not been updating in a while. So I will do that now, while I am taking this much needed break.

First here is a pic of the front of the house.

Hmmmmm..........where to start? I know, by saying a big happy birthday to my middle daughter who just turned eighteen on today! Happy Birthday Bliss!!!!!!!! I love you and am so proud of you. You have blessed my life these past 18yrs, and I am looking forward to watching you grow into the wonderful woman that God has made you to be. May all your days be blessed, and may God continue to smile upon your life. I love you very much!!!! Wishing you many more great birthdays. Isn't she beautiful!!!!!!

Miss Winter Bliss 18yrs

Now on to the crafty things that I have been up to late at night when I can no longer stand to open a box and put the contents away!!!!!lol. Thank goodness for fabric and swaps! Anyhow, I am in a Sampler RR on Crazy Quilting International and we are taking different stitches each month and doing the seam treatments or patches with them. Some I know how to do and others for whatever reason I have not tried before this. So for me this is a learning experience as well as fun. This month the stitch combo is herringbone and spiderweb rose. I have not done either of these before so I decided to do them both. I combined them and used them to create a motif on Sandy's block. I had a really fun time doing both of these, and I like how they turned out. The herringbone was one of those stitches that I shied away from thinking it would be hard to master. Well hello there, how wrong could I be! It was easier than I thought. The spiderweb rose was easy as well, I just have not done a lot of ribbon embroidery. I have a very limited amount of ribbon on hand so I just used what I did have. And it actually picked up the colors in the butterfly fabric in the center of her block. I really enjoyed working on Sandy's block. I hope she likes what I have done for her. Now it is packed up and waiting to go out on the first of the month to the next person who will then work her own magic on Sandy's block. I am looking forward to getting the next block as well. Here is the pic of Sandy's block for you to see, enjoy

On to the next item, which would be the tag swap on CQI which is being hosted by Sharon. I originally signed up for three tags, then had to reduce it to two by giving one as a hostess gift. Now, I will not be sending in any. First I thought I had until the 30th, not!! Which was my own fault, but with moving and unpacking I did not re-read the post which I had printed out or I would have known that. Anyhow, I was ok and had let my hostess know that I would be mailing out late, which was fine. Until.........I realized I had not put the hanger onto my two tags. Ok no problem, I will just put the grommet on and wala, it will be done in two shakes right? Wrong! The first one did fine, although I did have a problem getting the hole punched into the fabric. But I finally did and place ribbon to hang, and oh how pretty the tag looks. Then I start on the next tag. This one is a little bit thicker fabric, so I thought well I need to hit the grommet a little harder this time to make sure it goes through and attaches properly right. NOPE! Wrong! STOP!!!!! I hammered and it did not go through, so I kept on until finally it took hold. Boy did it ever, I now have a beautiful tag with this blue thing on the back that will not come off no matter how hard I try to pry it off. Hubby is not home to help, and I have tried to pry it off to no avail. The tag is ruined!!!!! So now I had to let the hostess know not to wait on my tags because they will not be coming in the mail.(tears of frustration by this time) I don't know how to get that thing off, it is on there tight and shows no signs of turning loose. Below is a pic of my tags, and of the disaster that has happened.

Now on to the next item, which is a pic of an oil painting on canvas that I bought about two months ago at a thrift store of a peacock. The only thing wrong with it is that it needs to be re stretched and re framed. And that is what I am going to do with it. I could not pass this up for the price. Besides everyone knows how I just love these gorgeous birds. Anyhow, here is my find I hope you like it.

I have more but since this post has been so long I will finish off another time. We are having family over for Bliss's birthday dinner on tomorrow so it may be first of next week before I can finish updating. We would be celebrating tonight but her and her older sister are going with her family to the go kart races. My oldest daughter and her husband sponsor several of the guys and Bliss enjoys going with them to the races. So, I must go now and finish getting ready for tomorrow. I have to go shopping for the food as well, she has requested homemade lasagna and cherry crunch for her special dinner. I usually fix their favorites and we have a big dinner for them. This year family will be here as well, so she will have lots of fun with her cousin who is six months older than her. Happy Stitching everyone and hope you have a good weekend.

Wendy

Now here is the block I have been working on for the color purple color study rr in my CQN group, we are the groovy grapes. I have been working on Peggy's block and this is the work that I have done on the block. Her block is now on its way to Lindy in the great down under. This is my first attempt at beading a whole motif and I hope she likes it. I also did the buttonhole stitch and the beaded featherstitch under her medallion. Now all I have to do is wait on the next block to arrive. This rr has really been a good idea for me as it has allowed me to stretch my creative side a little more. Enjoy the pics.

Wendy

Hi everyone hope your week is going good. Mine has been turbulent to say the least, but at the same time all is well at the end of the day. Had some issues that had to be addressed this week and my niece also graduated which was great. Here are some photos of projects that I have been working on. I realized that I had not posted a pic of the finished blue heart!lol. I guess that is why it has not been swapped as of yet and I also still have a pink silk ribbon heart left if anyone is interested. They are both posted on my group Chain of Hearts, but if you email me privately I will swap with you if you like since they have not swapped out within the group as of yet. Hope you enjoy the photo.

Wendy

Hi everyone, here are a few pics of my mom, dad, my niece and myself at a gathering at my sisters house over the weekend.

I wrote sometime ago about doing a dragon in an egg for my sister who had some health issues and I wanted to cheer her up. Here is the photos finally of the little dragon that we dubbed Lucius! I enjoyed stitching him for her and I know that she fell instantly in love with him. He is inside his egg which is cracking so he can make his appearance. I then put him in a frame and put a wonderful feather boa around the outside frame. I think he turned out wonderful.
Wendy

Ruby and Her Bliss

Last post for now, I think. This one is for Ruby our mini dachshund she is so sweet and loving but is put out somewhat with the new puppy as he took one of her toys. Which is a big nono in the way she thinks about things. Truthfully this little dog does not know she is a dog. My dearest daughter Bliss has treated her like a baby since she got her four years ago. I don't know what will happen when B goes to college in the fall. Ruby will be beside herself. As a member of this family she is so in tune to B that it is uncanny at times. Of course this breed is the most stubborn and to me one of the smartest I have ever had the joy to come in contact with. They love with a fierceness about them and will protect what is theirs at all costs. She has kept Bliss and myself from being snake bit when we lived in TX by stepping in between us and the unsightly snake. For us Ruby is a blue ribbon winner. And we all love her dearly. Just had to add a pic of Ruby's mommy Bliss, where you see one the other is nearby.

Wendy

Now for the Under the Sea block that I have been working on. This block is coming along nicely for me. I am stretching myself with the stitching on this one. I wanted to learn new stitches so what better way to practice them than on my own block. I will be using these in the future on blocks in rr's that I am in. I think they have turned out nicely and am pleased with the way they look. I am enjoying working on this block so much. This one will be framed and placed in a bathroom. I am thinking about getting more of the whale fabric to make a shower curtain and then a valance for the bathroom also. I just love these whales. I found a sea horse charm in a box of old jewelry that I am going to place on this block also. I had thought about putting some sea shells on but I don't really like the way they look against the block, or maybe I have not been inspired by them as of yet. Will have to wait and see I guess. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Happy Sewing Wendy

Ok here goes. I was recently in a baggie swap/contest on CQN group and these are the baggies that I recieved back. I sent in three so that is what I recieved back. Each baggie had lots of goodies inside and some great fabric. All I have to do now is decide which one to design a block for the contest part of this swap. I want to thank the three ladies whose swap bag I recieved in return for swapping in this particular swap. I don't know who recieved the baggies that I made up, but I hope they like them as much as I like the ones I recieved back. Thank you to Shannon G from North Carolina, Kate M from the UK and Cynthia L from West Virginia. I am so pleased with what you sent in for this swap. I cannot wait to use all the goodies for up coming pojects. Now here are the photos of the goodies I recieved.

Updates

Hi everyone today I have a lot of pics to post so as to update some of the things I have been working on and a few pics of ruby since we cannot have riddick outshining her as Bliss says. Anyhow, this week has been topsy turvy for me. It started out really good, then we found out the house we had bid on has been sold out from under us, so we must start the search for a house all over again. So sad, anyhow on Wed. coffee was spilled onto my laptop!!!!!!!!! Talk about frustrating. Well we dried it out and turned it upside down and put a fan on it until this morning, and thank the Lord above for divine intervention, the laptop is working just fine! God is so good to us. So today I am back up and running and posting some pics for updates. So I will post this and then get started on the pics. Hope your week has been going good for you. Happy Sewing,
Wendy

Riddick

One more item and then I will be finished for the night. My son has gotten himself a new puppy or I should say the puppy chose my son as his boy. His name is Riddick and he is a Dashund. I think he is gorgeous even though they are the most stubborn dogs I have ever owned. My daughter Bliss has a mini, and she is something else. Anyhow I thought I would share a pic of our new family member because he is just so cute! I am already in love with him.

OK now I need to post some pics of my season to season summer block. I have embellished my half and will be sending it to my partner for her to work on the other half. It was very hard to stop working on this block. I just kept adding things to it a few beads here then I added a dragon fly, then more beads, a few small dragon flies, some more beads.........I finally just had to put it down and say enough! Especially since I am used to working on larger blocks with more space, this did not take me long at all. Since I have finished my part on this one and will be putting it in the mail on tomorrow, I will start on the block for my rr on CQI sampler rr. It will be a 10" block and I will do a seam or two on it and be ready to send it out on June 1st. I am still waiting for my next block in the purple color study rr, it has not arrived as of yet. I also have my undersea block that I am going to finish myself plus the blocks I am doing for the quilt that I will be entering into the fair in October of this year. So, I have plenty to keep me busy. I am looking forward to finishing up some of my projects pretty soon. Anyhow, here are a few pics of the block.

Hi everyone I hope all the mothers had a great mothers day, I know I did. My children and my husband were very good to me. I received so many nice things. My kids gave me a gift certificate to Books a Million, so you know what I did, yep I have a new stitching book, a painting book and three audio books on cd. Then my husband gave me my own digital camera so I would not have to borrow my daughters when I wanted to make pics to post online. He is the greatest. My day was spent with family and was so nice as it has been eleven years since I have been able to spend a mothers day with my mom and be with my oldest daughter. Well we went to a mother daughter banquet at my moms church on Friday evening then on yesterday we spent the day together and had a big family dinner. It was a lot of fun. I hope all of you had a great day also.

Blanket Chest and Sewing Chest

Hi everyone, just thought I would post a couple of pics of my blanket chest and sewing chest that my mom/dad did for me. My dad takes old stereo's and tv sets and guts them out. Then he fixes them up and my mom paints them and turns them into blanket chest's and the smaller one she made into a sewing cabinet for me. I just love them both.

Wendy

Updates

Hi everyone I hope your week is going better than mine. It has been a stressful one to say the least. Not that anything bad has happened, but several small things I guess, not any of them related to sewing or crafting, but some things that we were working on about the house we are trying to purchase. Anyhow, on to other things with that being I found out that I am not in the Under the Sea rr or the Summer Garden rr due to my information not reaching the hostess for whatever reason. Since I have already made the blocks I will be embellishing them myself and will post pics of my progress here. I have already started on the Under Sea block, I have used a feather stitch and beads to make sea weed next to the whales in a pale blue. It looks really nice as the original is a dark green and to me looked like a dark spot. Now it has more definition and I think goes with the block. I just love the whales. Now, I need to plan out the seams and other patches since I will be doing these myself. I made a small scale draft of them last night, so now I just need to tweak them to suit me I guess. So, here are some update pics on the under sea block. Hope you enjoy them.

Happy Sewing Wendy