Challenge for a Finish - March

Yes, I know it's now April 1st (Happy All Fools Day to all!) but I did squeeze this finish in before the deadline, completing the finishing last night, I just couldn't take a pic until today. So here it is, my first ever scissor keep:

Design: Quaker Tree I, internet freebie

Designer: Mary Olson & Candy Scott of The Workbasket

Fabric: Count On Me, Lily of the Valley

Thread: Carrie's Creation, Clover

Finish: Scissor Keep

Told you those Quaker designs were addicitive! LOL Here's how I finished the back of the piece:

This is another fat eighth from the Leafy Glade Spring Collection pack I bought a while ago from The Cotton Patch. It was a good buy as the fabrics have been extremely useful just lately! :0)

As I cut it so embarrassingly close to the deadline with this finish it's made me get a wiggle on with this month's piece: a flower design finished as any needlework accessory. The trawl of the internet on Monday brought up quite a few interesting charts, many of which were saved for later use, whilst the one I chose was printed out straightaway. After tea I gathered the threads and chose the fabric and actually made a start. I'll confess to choosing a quick and relatively easy design with a finish I'm pretty happy about tackling but there won't be any pics for a while as this one will be going off to a new home when it's completed.

Fess up time now: because I'd left the scissor keep finishing to the last minute and was doing that last night I didn't actually do any stitching on NW for UFO Night. Please don't send Mr Stick round though, Julie - I shall be making up for that today and will post an update later in the week.

I must admit that the nice weather we had yesterday tempted me out into the garden for a potter around. It was so warm I was quite happy out there in a short-sleeved t-shirt (no cardigan!) and sandals (no socks!). The birdies were happy, as it meant I did a long overdue refill of the seed feeders and put some more fat seed balls out - I was repaid big time by all the singing they did when they realised there was a foodfest once again. The plants were glad of a little care too: most of the pots had started to get really dry and the flowers and plants were starting to suffer as a consequence. They all sucked up the water I doused them with like sponges. The daffodila and narcissi are starting to get into full swing now, so the bluebells and tulips, which are budding, won't be too far behind. Once the frosts are finally past there'll be a weekend trip to a garden centre on the cards for a couple of plants to replace ones that died off in winter. Roll on some warmer weather so we can actually start sitting out there again. :0)

2009-03-11 10:11

I had a good bit of news last night when Aureen, my Reiki practitioner, phoned. The Development Circle is going ahead and the first meet-up will be on the 14th April, out in one of the nearby villages. Initially there will be just 3 or 4 of us, all women, then when we have caught up we'll be integrated with another small group to continue on together. All told there'll be around 6 or 7 of us then. The first couple of sessions will be for an hour and a half, later they'll be of two hour duration. Not sure what to expect at this point but am looking forward to it, although a little nervous - I never am any good at meeting new folks or going to new places at first. Will let you know how it goes- probably be over at my other blog.

This morning a RABCK (Random Act of Book Crossing Kindness) arrived in the post from fellow UK Book Crosser Millycat. This is the book she sent:

I've only been a member on the Book Crossing site since last July and I must admit to being fairly ignorant as to how most other things work on the BC site, as I mainly use it just to register books that I've either controlled or wild released or have available. It's only recently that I realised there was a Wish List facility and added a couple of books to it that caught my eye as I was nosing around, as you do - though they were mainly on there as a reminder to me to keep an eye open for them in the library or at the Hospice Book Shop. Millycat contacted me out of the blue last week to say she'd seen this book on my WL and very kindly offered it to me. How cool is that? BTW, I'll be looking for someone to pass this on to when I've read it (after I've finished the Dan Brown book) who will also be willing to journal on it then pass it on to another willing journaller. Watch out for more details on The Reading Corner blog some time next month. :0)

Thank you for taking time out of your day to drop by for a visit and for all those who leave a comment an extra thank you. :0)

A Surprise

I have had a wonderful surprise gift sent to me by Barb (no blog). On opening the Jiffy bag a lovely smell of roses wafted out, then I pulled out a very pretty drawstring bag and a card...... intrigued by the bag I opened it up to find a beautiful scissor keeper, matching fob and a lovely set of scissors, along with a friendship magnet inside. Just had to share some pics with everyone.

So wish I could take better pics, as these just don't show how those beads sparkle.

Here are some close-up pics - hope they show just how beautifully these are stitched and finished.......

........ and how pretty the colours of the fabric and thread are.

Aren't they gorgeous? I keep looking at them and still can't believe they are for me. The friendship magnet has a lovely sentiment and is now displayed on the freezer door with my small collection of other magnets - all of which have a special memory attached to them.

Thank you again for my wonderful surprise Barb (((((hugs))))) - I am so thrilled with everything. You made more than just the day for me. :0)

Today I had some great news but I shall keep that for my other blog. I will also share update pics and other stitchy things another time too.

Thank you for visiting and the kind comments - they are very much appreciated. Hope you all have a very enjoyable weekend. :0)