North Carolina visit with friends

I am a bit late getting this onto my blog, but it has been a bit busy around here - cleaning house, laundry, stitching, cooking all the good stuff!!!

Below is a picture of my van that was purchased in Florida and is now sitting with snow (I know very little snow)on it. It was very, very cold.While visiting with my friends we went shopping at the quilt shops and below is some Moda fabric I purchased.
This crazy panel which discribes my sewing/stitchingroom to a "T"

We also stopped at the yarn, weaving and cross stitch shop and in their 1/2 off basket were 7 Mary Garry charts - now you know that I snapped them up.

I also found 4 purse patterns at 1/2 price at one of the quilt shops
I also found 3 Prairie Schooler charts at 1/2 price.
Below is some fabric that I purchased to make pillow cases for my bed and a daybed - for decorative purposes only.
All in all I had a great time with my friends, good food, lots of stitching and some fun shopping.

Thanks for stopping by ------ Roberta

Ochids and "ORTS" twistie

Today I am heading out to visit some friends in Franklin, NC, and since they are stitching friends I wanted to make them a fun little something. Hence, the ORTS twistie. Below is what a twistie looks like in progress (pink); standing and ready for little bits of thread (blue); and a closed twisted ready for travel in your stitching bag (black).
Below is some pictures of my one and only orchid. When I lived in Florida, I had over 100 orchids of different varieties. So far this one has lasted and been in bloom since the middle of November.
I have the orchid sitting in my bathroom since the plant does like humidity, and I keep a little spray bottle to keep the roots misted.
Above is a shot of yet another bud.
Now look at how pretty the little face is!


Have a great day ----- Roberta

Pillows and such

Now that the Christmas decor is packed away, I am trying to get some of the home decor in order. My guest room is blue (not my favorite color), but it was already painted and since I had my daughters bed set and I do not feel like painting at this time, I decided to make the room look homey. I still need to paint the small set of stairs that is on the left painted red. On the bed I put a pillow inside the iris pillow cover that was given to me my Heidi for my birthday. The orange and yellow pillow I put together after finding the front stitched part at a church thrift shop. Found the Hydranger fabric in the scrap bin and bought the edging. The little grey dog was made for me by my Auntie Rose when I was a little girl.
Below is another little pink dog my Aunt made for me when I was little. The rabbit is a class I taught many years ago when I was teaching. They are sitting on a small folded pile of quilts and pillows that I made. On the wall are paintings I did when my children were babies. A gift from my husband - painting lessons one night a week to get me out of the house and he took care of the babies. Nice guy - right??
Below is a picture of my bed and some of the pillow that I made to go on the bed. The comforter and pillow shams came from Ikea, the puffed square pillow was on sale for $5, but I made the two striped and the Toile pillow. Now I just need to make curtains for the room!!

Miss Saddles is sleeping in her usual spot on our bed
Hope you all are having a good January - Thank you for stopping by ---- Roberta

January finishes

Well, as all good needleworkers do - their New Years Resolutions are to be more organized and to finish projects - I am no different!! Below is "Return to the Sea" by The Sampler Girl. This was a one month SAL. I finished it yesterday and may frame it, but was thinking this would work nice as a needleroll with little pockets on the other side in interesting material. What do you all think??Below is a little Halloween needlecase from Just Nan's Tin series (I haven't stitched the "BOO" tin yet) This is a tiny little thing but it is ever so cute!
Below is what the inside of the needlecase looks like.This is the back side of the needlecase.
Now here is my December ornament for the monthly stitchalong I belong to. The rules as I understand them for the monthly SAL is that the ornament must be stitched, but not necessarily finished. I am hoping to not only stitch an ornament a month (would like to do two!!??) but to finish them off also. We'll see.
Thank you for visiting - see you soon ------- Roberta

My stitching areas

Happy New Year friends, I thought I would show you where I stitch.

The three pictures below is my stitching area in the morning. This is my kitchen table and when I get up I get a cup of coffee and turn on the news and stitch. I have a basket behind my chair that I put everything in when I am not stitching at the table. There is a TV across from me under a cabinet. I also, have a laptop nearby so that I can do a quick e-mail check. Below is the area in my sewing room where I stitch. I have 2 good size windows in front of me, my computer is to my right and I have a TV to the left and a radio, CD/Tape player behind me. All in all I have a very comfortable environment. There is also a daybed at one end of the room just in case I need a nap ;o)).

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some stitching that I have finished and some pieces that I have finished stitching -- see you then --- thank you for stopping by. Roberta

Happy New Year

Well, it is hard to believe that 2008 is behind us and I am hoping for a much quieter and settled 2009.

Below are pictures of what the back yard looks like today with almost all of the leaves gone.

This year I am hoping to finish several of my UFO's, stitch an ornament a month (with a couple of gals from one of my groups) read my stitching friends blogs more often and make a comment.

I also want to clean out some of my stash and hope to have some stash giveaways!!

Next week I will be posting for a PIF event.

Well, off to bed, I am beat and it is only 10:45pm.

The best of the New Year to all of my stitching friends.

Roberta