Welcome to Cranberry Samplings

Saturday, August 28, 2010

A wonderful gift and a little more fall stitching

Today, when Sammi and I went to the mail box we found these lovely gifts from Cathey (Pumpkin). I was the lucky winner of her giveaway. Everything was beautifully wrapped with the cutest kitty and dog stickers.
This is what was in all those packages. Wonderful Mary Englebright fabric and magnet, a number of Nova Scotia cards and magnet, floss, needles, a wonderful pink skein of silk floss, Mill Hill treasures, a pink courage ribbon and a beautifully stitched pinkeep! The pinkeep is very special. It's design is by PS for breast cancer. It will have a special place in my home.

Gorgeous, isn't it?

I have left Halloween and have moved onto Thanksgiving, which is truly my favorite holiday. This design is by Blue Ribbon Designs. The fabric is 32 ct Exampler by LSL using Belle Soie silks. I have added afew colors to the design. I will post about that later. I apologize for the poor picture. It's late and lighting could be better.

I want to first thank Cathey again for the wonderful gifts and I also want to thank everyone for the great comments. They mean alot. Have good few days and Happy Stitching.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A few small finishes and a taste of fall

This will be a pinkeep, I think. It's a free design from Sandra at Homespun Elegance. You can find it at her blog plain and fancy. It's done on 32 ct. tarnished silver using black floss.
Sorry about this being on it's side, but you get the idea. I will finish this one just like it is finished in Just Cross Stitch. The fabric is 32 ct clay pot using sweet potato and black floss.
This one is from last years just Cross Stitch magazine. I used 28 ct ivory evenweave. The floss is what was called for. I think another pinkeep.

This little guy was done on 25 ct natural over one. Sorry, I cut off his legs when I took the picture. I will finish him like a regular ornament. I am working on 2 more ornies. When I am done with the stitching, I will take a day to do all the finishing. I will post them after the finishing. Then I am on to Thanksgiving. I have one small project and one large sampler I want to do.

The last 3 days it has rained heavily with strong winds. My yard and gardens really needed the rain. Yesterday I roasted a chicken and today I made soup! The biscuits are also handmade using a Barefoot Contessa recipe. Doesn't this meal just scream fall? The cool weather isn't going to last long but I have enjoyed it while it lasted. Oh, I didn't eat all those biscuits by myself. I had help. LOL

As always, I want to thank you for all your kind comments and Happy Stitching!


Sunday, August 22, 2010

A finish, a start and a great day!

I finished October by PS. It's done om 32 ct Lambswool evenweave using DMC floss. It's really nicer in person.
I was going to start some Halloween ornies but....

I ran across this little beauty. It's an old BC kit that included 25 ct natural linen and an assortment of different floss. If I had done it over 2 it would have been about 4x4.5 ". I thought that was to big for my Halloween tree so I used the 25 ct fabric doing the design over 1. I like it alot. The little sheep is wearing a mask! Too cute. When I finish this one I will then move on to the Just Cross Stitch ornies.

My birthday week is officially over. I had a great week with my friends. Thursday, Cheryl and I went to Heritage Gardens in Sandwich, MA. It's a great place on many acres. The windmill is one of the gardens. We walked around this place for about 3 hours. It was fabulous. I took many more pictures but I am only going to post afew. ( as not to bore you )

This is the administration building. Lovely gardens all around the building. In the back is a wonderful herb garden. Below is one of the hundreds of hydrangea.
After we left the gardens, we needed lunch. Cheryl had never been to a tea house, so we went here.
This is room we ate in. They had afew differently decorated rooms. I liked this one because of the fact that it was open to the outside. Very pretty.

We went for the full afternoon tea. Sandwiches, scones with cream and jam and alot of little pastries. They also have a full lunch menu, which looked pretty good. It was a great day with my best friend. I also went out to dinner twice with other friends. It was a busy week.


Sammi and I want to thank everyone for their lovely comments. They are truly appreciated. Enjoy the next few days and as always Happy Stitching.





Wednesday, August 18, 2010

2 Finishes, WIP and a Bath

Today at my Wednesday stitching group, I finished the two latest LHN monthly designs. They will be ironed and stretched and then I will pop them in and out of the frame I am using.
I really love October. I changed the orange to a much darker color (colonial copper ) more pumpkin like.

I've gone back to October by PS. Made alittle progress in the yard. I see by the picture that I didn't finish stitching the word pleasant. I must remember to do that.

Over the weekend, Sammi got a bath. As you can see, she wasn't happy. Used a lovely citrus smelling shampoo. She didn't like it. I did.

She prefers to dry herself. She is very independent. That big blob of stuff on the side of the tub is her hair. She is a shedder.

Is this not the cutest 16 year old you've ever seen? She was just glad that it was over.

Thank you every one for your lovely comments. They mean alot. Enjoy the next few days and happy stitching.



Monday, August 16, 2010

Laugh till you tinkle in your panties.

I found this while I was in Mystic. It just cracked me up. I had to have it.
And it has a really good function. The top has everyday of the week for appts. and a pen and post-its. I would have bought it anyway this just justifies the purchase.

I put down October so that I could do the LHN monthly designs. I am using lt. sand 32ct. fabric. I also changed afew of the colors. I used a darker orange and green and a more gold color. Below is October by PS. I 've made some good progress on it. I will go back to it when I finish the LHN designs.






This is the little guy that Cheryl made me for my birthday. I saw this free pattern on spool sewing.com and fell in love. I like everything fall, so she chose fall type fabrics. I stuck afew gold pins in the top to give him a headdress.

Saturday Cheryl and I went to our LNS. not really that local but we had all afternoon ) This is what I came away with. Of course, I told Cheryl that I only needed afew overdyes. You can see how well I stuck to that. I bought a Thanksgiving sampler from BRD, that I have never seen. A very old CEC scissor holder design, SB summer pillow design, scissor fob kit from SB that I have had my eye on and a oval box kit. Oh yea, I also remembered the floss.

I want to remind everyone that Belinda at Blue Ribbon Girl is having a great giveaway. Check it out.

I want to thank everyone for the comments. They mean alot. Til next time--Happy Stitching.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Who's afraid of Friday the 13th

I love Friday the 13th. Why, you ask? It was my birthday! I spent the day in beautiful Mystic Connecticut. Mystic is on the ocean with wonderful views. The shopping was great. Alot of speciality shops. Had a great lunch. Wonderful day. Of course I got some great gifts. Many of them paper. Yeh, for gift certificates! I love them. I also received a charm for my Pandora bracelet and books.
Actually, my birthday started on Thursday. Cheryl took me to lunch and made me the cutest bird pincushion. I will show that in another post. Birthdays are great!


I got alittle stash. I love the new fall series by CCN. Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching.


Thursday, August 12, 2010

I won Cathey's giveaway!

Just a quick post to let you know that I won Cathey's (pumpkin patch and co.) giveaway!! She stitched the design called Stitch to Win by PS. It was made into a lovely pinkeep. I can't wait to receive it. The design was for breast cancer. I haven't had breast cancer but 2 of my friends have come out on the winning side of this disease. I can't thank Cathey enough. If I were a better blogger I would know how to take her picture and put it on my blog but I am not. Sorry, you will have to wait until it arrives at my house. Until next time--happy stitching.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Wednesday Stitching Group

I picked up Midnight Watch today. I Am very pleased with the results.
Here is closeup of the molding. The frame is black with a vine design with a little color of orange in it. I love this frame. Every Wednesday from 10 am to about 2pm a wonderful group of women meet to stitch, chat and eat. We meet at a wonderful coffee house.
Here are afew of the pieces that the girls are working on. Phyllis is working on 1800 Elizabeth Hobson Sampler. It is a magazine called Sampler and Antique Needlework. I believe she is also using 40 ct. fabric.


Liz just started this today. It's LKs ABC's of Autumn.



Dottie is our Halloween girl. Anything Halloween she loves. This is Witch's Hollow by Primitive Needle. She is using 40 ct. Navy Bean. She almost always uses 40 ct with no magnification. Iam jealous.

This is Nancy's work. She is working on Noah's Ark by Graphworks International. . This a monster piece. She has put in many hours of work and has many more to go. She is the type of woman that will stick with this piece until she is finished. It will probably take a year or so. (her words) Her work is truly beautiful.

This is Ellen's work on Valentine House byy BBD Ann. Series. She is working on 32 ct lt. flax. Very pretty.

Last but not least is my progress on October by PS. It's coming along slowly.

Thanks for the wonderful comments. I love them. Have a good couple of days and happy stitching




Monday, August 9, 2010

October and Lobsters

Did alot of stuff this past weekend. Nothing all that fun. Yard work, cleaning and the laundry. I did start October by PS. I love PS designs and plan on doing all her monthly designs.
I am using 32 ct. lambswool Jobelan and DMC fibers. It's working up quickly.
I live in a very small town near the ocean in MA. We don't have great outdoor markets for veggies and flowers. They are around but you must really travel to find them . What we do have are great fish markets where the seafood couldn't be fresher. I don't get lobster very often but the price was good this past weekend so Joanne and I enjoyed a wonderful feast.

YUMMY!!

I would like to mention another great frog giveaway. Jennifer over on Confessions of a Serial Starter has a wonderful frog she is giving away. Check it out!

Have a great few days and happy stitching.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Myra's Giveaway Arrived!

This the best thing that arrived in my mailbox this week! I won Myra's (gr8dame's place)giveaway. The package was lovely. Of course, I tore right in.
And this is what I won! A lovely card and note, a wonderful project bag, a great Santa millhill kit, Christmas floss, an evenweave towel to stitch on. I didn't even know that these were even available. The item that I loved the most is the pincushion. Myra made it and it is beautifully made. I can't thank her enough.
Afew more things that I received in the mail. My friend, Nataly turned me on to these awesome scissors. I really needed to have them (it's an illness) so here they are. Aren't they cute? Of course, I couldn't just order the scissors ,so I also ordered a new needleminder that I've had my eye on. The two kits are from Kelmscott Designs.


I finished the latest Ann. House from BBD called Happy Birthday. I used my initials and my BFF Cheryl's. The fabric is 28 ct. cream linen using the suggest fibers. I'll have it stretched and I have a frame that I pop in and out off.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments. Have a great weekend and happy stitching.

Don't forget that there are three great giveaways in the works. Julie at I'll cross that leg when I get there, Magee at stitching devotee and Fiona at peaceful threads. Check them out.