Stitching Along

Wow!  The weather was amazing here today!  All the trees are in bloom and it is just gorgeous out.  DH had today off to make up for his very short weekend, so we had time to see each other.  We went for a walk in the neighborhood - he wore short and I sandals - can you believe that it snowed here just 2 weeks ago!?  I love this time of the year!
After we checked out the neighborhood, we took a stroll around our garden.  Well, I had no real plans for the weekend before we took a peak at the mess surrounding our house; now I know what to do - weeding, pruning, digging, cleaning - this weekend will fly by!  DH is already whining about mowing the yard...  (the part I don't like about this time of the year!).

Yesterday my stitching-buddy Pink came by to say hi and to get some stitching time in.  We wandered down to Starbucks and sat there for a couple of hours.  She was working on our SAL, the Bent Creek Snapperville.  She is on the next to last square, which means that I'll have to get down to business so that I can keep up with her.
I did get a couple (almost) more half medallions stitched up on the Quaker pocket.  I really do enjoy stitching  this design and the last couple of medallions, or wreaths, are very pretty so they will be really fun to work on.  After that, I just have to sew up the back (the back panel is left open to give space to stitch on the front) and it is done!  I am enjoying it so much that I'm not even too worried about stitching it one more time.

I have finally figured out what letters to use instead of the charted ones.  I am going to stitch my mothers "maiden initials" on one the right side and mine on the left side.  That will give it a special meaning, I hope.
Especially with my mom's mother passing away just a few weeks ago - I thought that something to tie her and me to our past may be nice.

Other news on the stitch front; I joined a new board this week.  See, I am slowly coming out of my shell and joining other groups.  Fun!  The board in question is the Carriage House Samplings, Goode Huswife & Barrick Samplers gallery.  I have enjoyed looking at all the beautiful projects that other stitchers have submitted in the past, so I thought that it was probably my turn to contribute.  I have two more projects to share there, but my photos were terrible so I'll have to take some new shots before posting anything.
I really miss all three companies, but I was lucky enough to have moved to the US before they retired, so I did get a chance to buy some of their designs before prices rocketed.
Since I love blog pictures, I'll throw one of the ones that I posted in here.  This is Hester van Dorn by Goode Huswife.  I changed the initials and the linen & silk colors (for more background info, have a look at the board-with-the-name-too-long-to-spell-out):

Other stuff; I was absolutely thrilled earlier today when I discovered a new-to-me on-line needlework shop that carries some very hard-to-find French designers.  I have  been trying to find this one designer in particular, Zaza Picque, here in the US and finally got lucky today.  You can have a peak at the wonderful designs, materials, and photos on the Zaza Picque blog or go to the US retailer, The Thread Basket.  (I am not recommending this store yet - I'll let you know how it pans out.)  I am excited!!!  This is the chart that I have been searching for high and low on the Internet; En Catimini:

How cute is that!?  (Birds, what else...?  Note the cages - yep, let me tall you, cages do come in quite handy!).  I did get an assortment of extra stuff that I am looking forward to drool over in person.  One of the other charts I got is the Tea Travel Bag:

Cute, practical, probably a quick stitch - great to give to friends!  I have at least two recipients in mind (other then myself)...

Hmm, what else?  Well, I have been thinking about posting about one of my favorite sites on the net for a long time now.  This is not stitching related in any way, but I find it hilarious enough to write about!  It is called Awkward Family Photos and I just love it.  Some days, when work is just too depressing and I need to reset my brain, this is the site I go to.  I look through the newest photos for 5-10 minutes, get happier pretty much instantly, and get back to work in a much more positive state.  There are a lot of jazz-hands, "artistic" photo manipulation, big hair, "funny" family situations, and veeeery strange costumes.  Love it!
One of the best memories from my last Sweden trip was when Herr Slusk and I were lying in bed looking at awkward family photos together.  We were laughing until we were crying (at least I was, maybe she doesn't have the same weird sense of humor that I do?).

Well, I think that I have talked your ears of for now.  It still feels like something is missing.  Oh, now I remember!
I did get a really nice response back from Maureen Appleton in regards to the Sampler Bits Sewing Clamp comments I sent her.

• First off, she e-mailed me back not many hours after I contacted her, which I really like - great customer service!  
• The "missing" border chart should be found on page 12 (my bad - I have yet to look it up too - way to be on the ball, Jenny...).  
• This is the part that really impressed; Maureen offered to send me a whole new piece of linen and the floss to go with it, since I commented that the tent stitch would have probably have been the better way to go. I did decline her kind offer, since I do believe that I have enough linen to stitch the top part one more time - I should be all set.  Still, it is really good to get such a nice and generous response back.
• She did also thank me for the feedback, which I appreciated very much.  I think that sometimes business owners don't really get that if a customer takes the time to give feedback, many times it is because the customer is satisfied and just wants to help make the product/service even better.  If I am not happy with the product, I seldom say anything, but I sure don't come back again. 
• What do you guys think?

And finally, DH came back home less than a minute after he drove off to work today.  When I asked him what he was doing back so early, he told me that he forgot his wallet (he is rooting through the pockets of a pair of jeans while sharing this info with me).  Well he finds it, we kiss each other good bye (again), and as he leaves through the door I hear him mumble to himself "let's see, I've got my pants on...".  That man cracks me up!

Well, off to bed with me!  Have to get into work tomorrow so that I can make money for bird-seed and cross-stitch (not necessarily in that order...)
Good Night and Sweet Stitching Dreams to All!