Quick......before it melts !!!

 Just had to share the view I woke up to this morning......now it finally feels like Christmas is near !!!

 Isn't it AMAZING how a little snow can change every thing?

Unfortunately, it seems to be melting as we speak...but at least we got some of the white stuff to put us in the mood.

Since it is the season ...I'm going to keep hoping it will last a little longer !! 

May you all find time during this holiday to stop and appreciate the loved ones around you and also find a little time to take a stitch or two !!

Peace and goodwill !

Linda, Chessa, & Brewster

Part 3 is out the door

 Just sent hubby John off to the Country Sampler with part 3 of Chessie's Club......Make Do Sampler.  Here's a peek!!
This project has been so much fun for me to design...hope you're all having as much fun working on it!!

Our house is finally "dressed for the season".......I love decorating with fresh greens and this year, John scored a HUGH fallen fir tree from across the road......so for several days I spent most of my time cutting branches from it and adding them to every surface throughout the house.
The cats wore out their little noses sniffing each and every pine bough that came through the door !!!  Believe me...a fun time was had by ALL!!!

This is an after Thanksgiving shot which mimiced what we all wanted to do after the feast....I know it's very last month, but they look so contented, I thought it was still worth sharing.

Happy Holidays to all!!

Sneak Peek at New Design

Forgive my mistakes........I'm multitasking......trying to blog and watch football and since this Greenbay/Buccaneer game is turning into a real nail biter, it's becoming kind of difficult.  Meanwhile the cats are happy cause usually when I'm watching football , I'm screaming or cheering...which tends to disturb their NAP TIME !!!

Here's the promised peek at my new design.  There are snowflakes on the backside of each cushion and would make a fun gift for a stitching friend.....they stitch up rather quickly and although may look difficult to assemble , are really very easy.  Trust me, if I can put them together......ANYONE can!!!!

Last week I attended the Country Christmas Open House at the Country Sampler in Spring Green.  It has definitely put me in the holiday spirit.  Check out her website www.sgcountrysampler.com , she's got some great pictures on her blog portion,and if you get a chance, visit in person, for an even better "view"!

That's it for this week........I've got to get down to business getting ready for Thanksgiving.  My brother and family come on Thursday (in time for the football game of course) and will stay thru Sat, so we'll have lots of time to spend together!!

I'll try to sneak in some stitching time....hope you can do the same!

Linda

Hunkering Down !!

Can you believe it??  It's been snowing the last 2 days.  It really caught us unaware......usually the first snow prediction is WAY over the top and no one pays that much attention to it.  However , this time they were right on , so John is scrambling to winterize everything while I'm fighting off a monster cold.

Last weekend I hosted our fall "Stitch & Bitch" group here and a wonderful time was had by all.  We ate, stitched, laughed and watched "chick flicks" the whole weekend.....I don't even think any one left the house !!!!  Brewster and Chessa stayed in the thick of things and thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention.

But now I must get some work done (cold or no cold).  May you all stay warm and dry  and find a minute to take a stitch or two !!

Next time I'll preview my little snowman pincushion set that will be released soon.

Arizona vsitor

 Just spent a week with my sister Mary.  She flew in from Arizon for an escape from their heat and to enjoy some of our wonderul fall weather !!!!  My brother Bill, drove her out from Milwaukee and the three of us got to spend a little time together as well.  It's the first time in too many years that we've  been together...... so of course we had to take a picture to prove it.

 The trees in our yard have reached "peak color" !!!!  Way too soon for my taste but we had some great color this year, however short the time was.

Mary and I did a little shopping (of course) but mainly spent time stitching and visiting.  I'm soooo lucky to have a sister who is a  wonderful stitcher .....it really is great to have that in common!!!  She is working on the "Christmas at Hawke's Runn Hollow" sampler .  She's about 1/2 done and it is absolutely beautiful!!!

I caught her up on my newest projects and even showed her a new design in the hand charted stage so she can say she saw it before it was even stitched .

I showed her a quilt I had done and 2 seconds after setting it down, Miss Chessa had to take a nap on it!!!!  She has this thing about being high.  If she's on the table and there's a piece of paper on one side , she will sit on that because she thinks she's higher!!  Go figure!!! Cat's certainly have their own individual personalities.

Well, enough rambling for me ......Chessa is sitting on top of the printer as we speak, giving me the "stop blogging and get to work" stare.

May you get time to stitch with someone you love in the near future!!!

Return From Liberty, Mo

Just got back from teaching for "Old Mill Stitchery" in Liberty,Mo and wanted to share some pictures of the ladies hard at work in class.

I love spending time with all of them and always come away from this annual event feeling renewed.

Mary and Barb have a new classroom space now and it's wonderful!!!!.  It's right next to the shop , has great light and  plenty of room .

  As usual, they did a marvelous job of providing for our every need and making sure a fun time was had by all.

For me , this weekend always feels like a homecoming of sorts, and I look forward to it every year!!

Spending time with "Stitching Sisters" is good for the soul!!!

When I looked out the window this morning, I discovered "Fall" had begun while I was away.  Welcome to my favorite time of year.  I've got to dig in my stitch basket and find a fall project to work on.......Happy Autumn Stitching!!!!!

Chessie's Club Part 2

Where has the summer gone???
It's time to kit Chessie's Club Make-do Sampler Part 2.

I'm having a problem gettings pictures to load, so all I'll show you today is this one shot.  I think my time will be better served getting these kits done and out to the Country Sampler www.spcountrysampler.com so they can get them out to the club members!!!

So far I've gotten great feedback on the first part...hope you like part 2 as well.

If anyone wants to share their progress, email me a picture and I'll be happy to try to post them for all to see!!

That's all for now.....it's time to get to work.

Find a moment to stitch and enjoy this lovely fall weather!!

Linda and Chessie





Another finished project!!

Hi Again,

Just had to take a break to show my finished project .  I joined the Birds of a feather mystery sampler  club and actually finished mine in a timely manner!!!!

My kit was from Attic Needlework using Lakeside Linen and silk threads.  I found if I stitched a little each night it was like a treat from my "work stitching" .  I know...it sounds a lot like procrastination.....but I really was working on Chessie & Me designs at the same time!!

I know you  can't see them in the picture, but there are lots of cat hairs stitched into the piece, since I had a constant lap companion while I was working.  It might have been a gentle reminder to get back to "Chessie bussiness".......this "fun stitching" doesn't pay the bills you know.

Next time, I'll have some more progress on Chessie's Club project to share.  I'm really enjoying putting this "puzzle" together.

Have a great week....try to take a stitch every day!

New Designs for Fall !!!!!

Hi Again,

I know it's been awhile since we've chatted, but as I'm sure with all of you, it's been a crazy summer!!!!!

I have been working on new designs and here are the 3 newest ones to be released as of Aug 1st.......check with your local shops......many of them should have them already!


The first is "The Breath of Autumn" and is a fun "sampler" of all my favorite fall motifs.

The next is "All Hallow's Eve" .  I'ts fairly small and a fun piece to stitch.

And last but not least, is a little fall pincushion and fob that's a quick stitch and will be ready to hold your pins and needles for  the rest of your fall projects or as a great gift for a friend!

It's finally starting to cool down in this area of the country......let's hope we all will get a break soon.......if not, find a cool air conditioned spot and stitch something "fallish".......maybe that will help!!!!! 

Till next time...may you all find time to take a stitch each day!!

Linda

Chessie's Club Sneak Peek !!

I'm in the middle of assembling the first part of Chessie's Club and thought I'd share a sneak peek of the project.

It's designed as a make-do sampler , using 3 different linens , beautiful hand dyed  silk threads and when all 4 parts are completed you will assemble them into one sampler.  It was really fun to design and even more fun to stitch !!

If anyone is interested.....it's available exculsively from Country Sampler in Spring Green WI.  There still are a few spots left (I think)....you can see all the details at www.spcounrysampler.com or call them...608-588-2510  

Well, it's back to work for me, Chessie is giving me the evil eye for slacking off ........hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!!

Just had to share !!!!!

Yeah, I've finally finished my Mary Wigham Sampler.  It's quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself !!!!

Weekend Getaway

About two weeks ago I got together with my stitching buddies up in La Crosse Wisconsin (our "Stitch & Bitch " spring gathering) and also got to venture a bit farther north  on Friday to a delightful Antique Show and wine and cheese party set in an apple orchard. What FUN!!!  We drank, ate, and shopped all surrounded by the beauty of the apple blossoms.

The rest of the weekend we did nothing but stitch, eat, and laugh.....very good for the soul!!!

Trip to the River

Took a quick trip to our "getaway house" on the Wisconsin River to check on spring's progress out there.  Much to my delight, I found Bluebells and Trillium in full bloom in the woods leading down to the river bank......however, I also discovered MOSQUITOES!!!!!  In full bloom as well!!  Not what I had hoped for at all !!!!  So I took a few quick pics and beat a hasty retreat up the hill to the house.Happily, the nasty little buggers stayed in the woods and I was able to enjoy a few stolen moments of stitching on the deck.  I'm am working on a new concept for this year's Chessie's Club ( available thru Country Sampler ...www.spcounrtysampler.com in Spring Green, WI) , but I couldn't resist pulling out my "Mary Wighams" quaker piece and adding a few more stitches.  I'm soooo close to finally finishing , I can almost see it framed!!

  Enjoy the day and try to fit in a little stitching time....it truely is soul soothing.

Willow continued

I returned home after a joyful 3 days of stitching, glueing, cutting, laughing, shopping and eating, feeling refreshed and renewed. Having spent time with this wonderful group of like minded women, I feel ready to go back to the drawing board and work on new designs!!!

My view into the garden, finally bursting with spring, also makes my creative juices flow.  Spring has been a long time coming this year...let's hope it's finally here!!! 

Willows & Blooms Weekend

Spent a wonderful weekend teaching and taking classes in Spring Green , WI  at the Country Sampler.  On Friday I taught my " Unfinished Sampler " and then on Saturday actually got to work on Maggie Bonanomi's projects!!  What fun !!  One of her projects was a paper geranium...which we completed in class(quite an accomplishment for a "stitcher").  Mine will reside under a lovely glass clouch...protected from the inquisitive paws of my furry friends!!  

Four New Designs/ Feb 2011

During the February 2011 show in Nashville, TN, I introduced 4 new designs.

Scarlet's Pincushion is a 3-1/2" x 5" pincushion design, stitched on 36 ct pearled barley linen from Lakeside Linen, using Gloriana Florimell silk.

With My Hand  includes 36ct vintage Pear linen from Lakeside Linen.  The model is stitched using Belle Soie and Gloriana silk.

Hillside Sheep Needlebook measures 9.5" x 6" and is stitched on 32ct vintage Sienna Night linen from Lakeside Linens using Belle Soie silk.

Birds of a Feather comes as a kit complete with linen and silk floss.  It can be either framed or made into a scissor fob. 

Welcome to Chessie & Me Designs!

New designs coming soon... I can't believe I am joining the 21st century.  I'm blogging with the dear help of my inspirational Chessie.  Hahahaha......Most of the time, her help consists of trying to walk on top of the keyboard and rubbing against the screen, which makes it hard to get anything posted, but that is what I get for making her the CEO!