wimschouten23dingen

Wintertime!  "Wintertime" Threadwork Primitives 32 count WDW Parchment - Stained with Coffee after stitching DMC Floss   I finished this one as a door/cupboard hanger using vintage seam tape as the hanger.  I added a trio of rusty jinglers at the bottom and a rusty snowflake as an accent.  The snowflake started out rusted but was a very light orange rust color that I did not like.  So, I busted out the tin of Briwax and was able to achieve the deeper rust color that I prefer.   I added a little surprise to the back too!    Since Ziggy was otherwise occupied during my photo shoot I had to settle for this little assistant. I have been forgetting to mention my little pumpkin candle on my sidebar over there------>>>>> The night after I learned of Cathey's passing I lit this little pumpkin candle and went through my memories of her.  I took a picture of the candle and made this photo to place on my sidebar so I wouldn't forget the actua...

Chris and I met today for a little road trip, lunch, and to catch up.  It has been a couple of months since we have been able to get together so we were way past due for some girlfriend time.  :o)  Chris emailed me yesterday to say she had found something for us to do but she wasn't going to tell me what it was.  So we headed off together this morning to.....destination unknown. We drove for about an hour, laughed, talked, solved half of the world's problems and finally arrived here: http://colfaxpersimmonfest.com/   Well, we didn't exactly arrive at the festival.  Parking was 2 miles away and you had to catch a shuttle to the festival.  Our ride was on a covered wagon pulled by a Dodge truck.  LOL  This young man was our ride supervisor:   I told Chris I felt very safe.  Her response was "he's packin' too!"  LOL  I did overhear him telling some of the other passengers he was a retired US Marshall.   There ...

Hello!  I hope all of you are enjoying some beautiful fall weather.  It is just gorgeous here in NC.  (Except for all the leaves in my yard.) I recently won a giveaway from Shelly (An Arizona Stitcher) and boy was she generous! My package had a patriotic theme and you all know I love me some patriotic stuff.  :o) I was thrilled when the first thing I saw was this:   I have never seen these.  Isn't the packaging cute? But that wasn't all....there were multiple packages wrapped individually.   There are lots of trims and ribbon.  Red buttons.  And I just squealed when I saw the needle minder with my initial and the little red scissors.  She also included the floss to stitch the LK design (I didn't have any of those) and the Book of Days.  Thank you so much again Shelly for offering such a wonderful giveaway!   I also received a Halloween package from my dear friend Norma.  A fabulous Halloween Mug Rug!...

I'll start this post by saying I am not a linen or floss snob.  More often than not I'll stitch with DMC and use whatever linen I have that is large enough no matter the count or the manufacturer.   I tend to prefer stiffer linen and if it is a bit rough I don't care. When I was selecting the ornaments I wanted to stitch from this year's JCS ornament issue Plum Street Samplers Stocking really caught my eye.  I decided to order the Lakeside 36 count vintage cedar plank linen so mine would look just like the model.  Well, I had a tough time finding the 36 count but was able to get the 40 count in the same color.  In the past, the Lakeside linen has been floppy and soft to me so I starched it before I started stitching. I am in love with this linen.  It is the perfect vintagy, blue-grey with tan undertones.  I only bought a 9 x 13 cut and am wishing I had more.   Isn't it swell?!  The picture just doesn't do it justice.   And here is m...

Were you aware that when you celebrate your 50th birthday and it is near Halloween you are given an official witch name and begin to receive mail in that name????  Neither did I but it's true. Just look.........................   Almira....I like it!  Has a nice rhythm to it doncha think? So here I was, quite certain this envelope contained my official broom flying license.  I was already thinking of polishing up the old Nimbus 3000, grabbing Ziggy and going for a quick spin around the neighborhood.       So I opened the envelope and found this:       AARRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!     I'll get you AARP!

I attended the grand opening of a new quilt shop yesterday, The Quilting Coop.  It resides in a renovated barn beside the owner's house.  Such a lovely country setting, there were cows in the pasture behind the shop.  :o)  I thought her fall displays outside were very cute and there was a sitting area underneath a big shade tree.  I felt myself wishing I had some handwork in the car so I could just sit outside and stitch for a while. Marsha the owner was very warm and welcoming and had some delicious treats waiting for you when you walked inside.  I particularly liked these gummy chicken feet.  :o)   It is a small shop, not on the scale of what you would see in a larger city but I think it will suit my needs just fine.  There were lots of $1 and $2 bins, fat quarters for $2.75 and some of the fabrics were only $4.75 per yard.   Well worth a visit if you are in the area.  I am very excited to see another local business open that I ca...

Hello friends, I write this post with warm feelings and so blessed to "know" each and every one of you.  As I watched the Pumpkins for Cathey posts go up through the day yesterday from all around the world I laughed, I cried, I prayed, and was just overcome with emotion.  As I know there is a higher power that guides us through this life, I also know there is great power in friendship and kindness.  I was so happy and proud to be able to witness this wonderful blogging event. I want to share with you the kindness and generosity I experienced for my 50th birthday. Christina sent me this wonderful wool ornament.  It came in the prettiest sparkly box that refused to let me take a decent photo.  She said when she saw it she thought of me.  :o)   Thank you Christina.  It will make such a lovely addition to my tree this year.  (I hope you received my email.  :o)   A package arrived from Carol with this sweet Thanksgiving pillo...