Christmas in July but Thanksgiving???

Hello Everyone! Warning another long post - so please grab something to drink and enjoy.
Amazing what all that can happen in 1 week since my last post. All good stuff! First of all I bet your all familiar with Christmas in July - but have any of you celebrated Thanksgiving in July? We did. That was a first for us this year. More on that later down in my post.

Congratulations to Linda of Stitching With My Furbabies Blog

Winner of Birthday Bunny Chart/kit. 

Please send me your address Linda so I can mail your kit.

On to stitching progress for the last week. I finished my project from last year - Gingerbread Street. And I framed it myself, so we are talking of a complete finish.

 This was the last gingerbread house completed in a row of 4 houses.

Since this a BIG finish for me, I am sharing lots of photos with you.

 On the very bottom I stitched my name, date and city & state. This will not be seen framed. 

But its there. I have learned from other stitcher's it's nice to include this.

 I did add a layer of batting between the sampler and foam board.

 This frame I had bought at a Thrift store for $8.00, I had brought a list of measurements with me to the store and was lucky to find this frame with a mat already cut.

 At the time I purchased the frame, I had no idea if the mat would fit over the houses but I think it looks good. Close call though. Of course the fabric shifted on me even though I had tons of little straight pins all around the foam board and yes I did lace the backside too. I was in a hurry to get this framed so I just grabbed a table cloth for the background and didn't iron it (sorry for the wrinkles).

 All done and framed. This time I left the glass on the frame to protect the sampler.

"Gingerbread Street" - Sue Hillis Designs

28ct Pink/Silver Sparkle Evenweave Fabric   by Fabric Flair

I am pleased with the end result. In person you can see all the sparkle of the stitching 

but not so in the photos. So this was my Christmas in July finish:)

I was the lucky recipient of Anne's (Dolls Musings blog) of her giveaway -

"Life's a Stitch" chart and added goodies. Thank you Anne! I will be stitching this very soon:) 

Thanksgiving in July? Yes! Our son has a friend Christine and her boyfriend is visiting from Scotland. We had had them over for dinner. It was the first time Graeme (Christine's boyfriend) had ever had corn bread. He loved it. So I got to thinking the day after that I would put on a Thanksgiving dinner. Last Saturday I prepared: Roasted Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing with chopped celery & apples, cranberry sauce, salad, sweet corn cake (it's really good) and for dessert (since it's still summer) Angel Food cake with Watermelon Sorbet! What a great meal we had. I pulled out the china and our son Nicholas had found the decorated pumpkin at Micheal's. Yes Micheal's already has Fall decor for sale - crazy but its true! And each plate had wrapped presents awaiting for each guest. I had set the table the night before. Too much to be done cooking on the day of our dinner. Graeme was so happy and touched. Christine had been in France the year before during the holidays for school (that's when she met Graeme). She said that this dinner meant alot to her because she felt she had missed out last year. We even each took a turn saying what we were grateful for, just like we do on Thanksgiving day. I have to tell you that I could listen to Graeme speak all day long - love his accent:) Oh - I told everyone to come dressed casually - it was 97 degrees that day.

Dinner was a success.

My husband wasn't present (had to work) so I had Nicholas invite another friend. From left to right is: Nicole (my sister), Nicholas (our son), Red (Nicholas's friend), Al (Christine's dad), Christine (Nicholas's friend) and really our guest of Honor from Scotland - Graeme (Christine's boy friend). I'm taking the photo:) The gifts were already opened, but Al was holding some of his up. Graeme had gotten lots of school supplies including a really nice zippered binder. We loved getting to meet him and hope he'll get to come back to USA to visit again. See all the food? What a Great time we all had.

 And my progress for this weeks Monday SAL Bothy Threads, Fairy Hill complete with a Tinkerbell:)

I forgot last week to include one of her. Thank you Debbie for the reminder - lol.

I am now on page 3 of 12. Added the bee hive and some more grass, the shower head, 

and some pink background.

Whew...What a long post. Thank you so very much for your visit. Hope you are enjoying the summer.

With my Love and Appreciation - Annette

Christmas in July

Greetings everyone. I have loved seeing photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their new baby boy. I was checking the internet constantly for updates after it was announced that the Duchess went to the hospital. Such an exciting time. When the birth of their son was announced, I was (and still am) soo happy for the royal couple. Our weather here has been in the 90's and really its been humid and muggy the last few days. I'm still not used to it, but I have been stitching:)

I received from Grace (Needles Pins and Dragonflies blog) this beautiful little bunny chart. As soon as I got it. I pulled my supplies and stitched it. All done. The gold frame was one of my finds from a thrift shop before they closed. I love it. Thank you Grace. I have the package of the chart that Grace sent to me & its still kitted. I didn't use any of the threads, 14ct aida piece of fabric or the card. IF you would like to stitch this next, leave a comment here on this post. If more than one of you are interested, I will draw a name.

 As you know, I had been the lucky Grand Prize winner of Terri's (Dixie Samplar blog) - 4 year Blogaversary giveaway, a $50 gift certificate. What a fantastic treat! I wanted to share with you what I ordered. 

                       "Bee Happy" by Homespun Elegance                                 "Old Nantucket" by LHN
                               32ct Smokey Pearl Belfast Linen                                 35ct Cocoa Linen size 17x26
       recommended 3 specialty threads & I have the DMC threads

 I had seen "Bee Happy" on Beth's Blog & loved it. She stitched this and I knew I wanted to stitch this. "Old Nantucket" is another design that I had been wishing to stitching. And thanks to Terri my wish came true. 

I also got some needed threads and a packet of beads for a chart I already have: "Pumpkin Blossom Needle Case" by BBD. I have been wanting these threads for so long for this project. I have a wish list on 123stitch.com.  That really helps me keep tract of what I need and want:) I received my order on the 4th business day. 123stitch.com  is located in Utah and I'm in California. I love their service.

 Also I ordered: 32ct Sea Storm linen for my chart "Mermaids of the Sea" by With my Needle.  32ct Light Exemplar linen is for another project (can't recall which one at the moment). What a TREAT! For me this was Christmas in July. Thank you sooo much again Terri.

 A little bit of progress on "Fairy Hill" Bothy Threads Cut Thru Monday SAL. I did the top left - green and the yellows for the wind chime. Too many interruptions last evening while I was stitching.
But I did work on it some this morning and completed another page. So thats 2 pages of 12 done:)

   "Candy Shoppe Ornament" kit by Dimensions

14ct adia I had in my stash.

This is a wip from beginning of last year. I had started it but put it aside till last week. I am doing well on getting some old wips done. So this one goes in the pile of "to be finished". Sorry I don't know why some of the spacing is so far spread apart. I tried to fix it but it won't co-operate:)

 "Gingerbread Street" by Sue Hillis Designs

As soon as I finished "Candy Cane", I pulled my next wip - "Gingerbread Street". I'm almost done stitching it. Then I have to go back and add the sparkly filament thread and of course do all the backstitching for this house. I can't wait to get this done, I'm so close. This is a series of 4 houses and this is my last one. I have the perfect frame just waiting for this project to be done.

 Here is the little kit and chart of the bunny I stitched from Grace. If you would like to stitch this next, just leave a commit on this post. Again if more than one of you would like "Birthday Bunny" next, I will draw a name. Hope you enjoy are enjoying the Summer.
With much Love and Appreciation - Annette

A 100th Birthday Party - July 4th

I thought I'd share with you my Grandmother's 100th Birthday Party on July 4th. It was also my sister's birthday on July 4th also. By the way before I forget - I did read your well wishes to both Nannie and my sister. Nannie told me to tell you "Tell everyone Thank you very much". She was smiling the whole time she was talking to me. And my sister says to tell you Thank you too:) I knew reading to them your well  wishes would brighten their day.
Welcome to my Nannie's home:

 Every year we have always decorated red, white and blue for Nannie and my sister's birthday. But for this year my Aunt thought about what was Nannie's favorite place and foods. That was a no brainer. It's Hawaii! She loves Hawaii and has been there twice. So  - Hawaiian theme it was. My aunt ordered for Nannie some Anthurium flowers and an orchid lay. Do you see the big red flowers?  those are Anthurium's. And Nannie is wearing her orchid lay.

 100yrs old and beautiful

My aunt also had huge posters made up that were not paper but a thin and strong light weight fabric.
The photo of the poster was taken when Nannie was 91 yrs old. She was in Hawaii in 2004. In the photo below - some of her many birthday cards were taped to the door. She truly enjoyed seeing family and friends. Everyone had a great time.

 Her beautiful orchid lay flown in from Hawaii.

 Cake #1

 Cake #2

 I've never seen 100years on birthday plates before. Have you? I ask some people if they had ever been to a 100th birthday party before - no one had...This was everyone's first:)

 Nannie's favorite food is pizza. So that's was served at her party.

 My aunt cut a basket out of a watermelon. The fruit was nice and cold and delicious.

 Someone made & brought cake pops to the party. The pink ones were a spice cake and the white ones were red velvet cake. I  had a pink one and it was very good:)

A  story to share with you that I listened to Nannie talking:  My cousin Oliver had asked Nannie "During your whole lifetime - what one invention impressed you the most?" Nannie answered - "When I was 5 or 6 years old, we lived in Arizona. I remember being outside and seeing a great huge airplane fly over us. It was the first time I had ever seen an airplane. It was terrifying and exciting.
Do you remember when you first saw a rocket take off? That's how I felt."  The airplane is one of our greatest inventions to Nannie. Isn't that something? It was my honor to get to celebrate with Nannie for her 100th birthday.

 Fairy Hill by Bothy Threads Cut Thru

My progress for Bothy Threads Cut Thru Monday SAL with Debbie and Linda. I managed to get more back-stitching done and most of pink wall where a fairy is showering. There now a little window and a bottle (not labeled yet) of Moonshine. This Tinkerbell is one of my moms oldest pieces. I was with my mom when she bought her. It was in Disneyland - Castle Christmas shop in Fantasyland.
 You are most welcome to see everyone's progress in the SAL - HERE. Our weather has been in the high 80's and 90's. Still a relief from over 100 temps. Hope you enjoyed the party photos.
With Love and Appreciation - Annette

Happy Independance Day - 4th of July

 Hello Everyone! I want to welcome new friends that are now following my blog. Thank you!

Chris at "Always Smiling" blog is celebrating her 200th follower and is having a giveaway HERE. She made some beautiful gifts for her prizes. Please give her a visit. 

Congrats Chris!!

4th of July is a very special day for our family. My grandmother is turning 100 years old and there is going to be a huge party at her home tomorrow. It's also my sister's birthday too on July 4th. I'm looking forward to celebrating both birthdays tomorrow. The weather has been very hot here in the Bay Area in California. It's been over 100 degrees for the last 2 weeks - YUK! Some days are soo hot you hardly want to move or do anything. We have air but there have been days that it works soo hard that it can't keep up with the extreme heat. At times during the day its not very cool in the house.  But I have done my best to stitch some everyday.    Now take a look at the next picture.....

 

 

Do you think this is beautiful? I do -   swoon...

 Victoria Classics Magazine "Monograms"

When I saw this magazine at the grocery store, my heart raced and I couldn't believe what I found. The whole issue is dedicated to Monograms. It's not a regular issue of Victoria Magazine, it's a special issue (you can also tell by the price - lol). But this issue on Monograms, is Gorgeous. I wanted to share and inform you in case its something you want to look for and purchase. So far I had not seen this on anyone's blog. There are TONS of remarkable photos of different stunning examples of embroidered monograms. Here are a few photos from the magazine.You won't be disappointed.

 you can click on the photos:)

 The lace work speaks for itself.

 All photos are click-able.

 Victoria magazine really did a great job of taking close-ups of the details on the embroidered pieces. 

 Thought you would love to see some of these beauties:) Honestly this magazine is spectacular & full of different types of embroidered work - some by hand and by machine...
If you love examples of monogram embroidery take a look at this blog HERE. Her name is
Elisabetta and shes in Italy. You don't need to read Italian to appreciate her embroidery work.

 In the mail I  received a surprise. It was from Grace - Needles Pins and Dragonflies blog. I plan to stitch the little bunny & frame it and hang it next to another traveling bunny I have framed on a wall. Thank you so much Grace, I can't wait to start stitching this right after the 4th of July. Grace also sent to me "Purely Samplers" by Homespun Elegance chart - it's soo pretty. What a wonderful surprise! I am going to enjoy stitching these Grace - Thank you again.
.

 For EMS I participated in June's exchange called "Christmas in July". My partner was Bianca and shes in Germany. Look at all the goodies she sent me - some beautiful chocolate and pink linens, and some linen banding edged in lavender (so pretty) and a Damask Rose purse kit. I love everything you sent me Bianca - Thank you for making it Christmas in July for me.  And.........

 This wonderful tote bag which features her hometown in Germany. I got all teared up when I saw this - it's so nice of her to have sent me something from her hometown & all the way from Germany. I can not share what I sent to my partner for the exchange because she's not received hers yet. Which I've been concerned because its been since June 14th...but I know some packages going over seas take time.

 I worked on constructing the inside of Lady's Workebox by Ellen Chester. I'm still not completely done with the side panels. I wanted a proper home for the needlebook I completed in the class kit. I absolutely am loving this project. 

 Here is my completed needlebook. I have many other items yet to stitch but at least I'm well on my way getting thru the projects:)

Here is my update for "Fairy Hill"  - Bothy Threads SAL with Debbie and Linda. I worked on backstitching the last 2 Mondays.

 "Candy Shoppe Christmas Ornament kit" by Dimensions

I didn't use the adia fabric that came with the kit. I am using a soft yellow 14ct aida that I had 

in my stash. It was nice to pull a old wip waiting to get done.

I want to wish my USA friends - Happy Independence Day (it's celebrated here in the USA). And to everyone I wish you lots progress stitching and that no froggies visit you on your fabrics.

With Love and my Appreciation - Annette