OWOH 2011 - Welcome

Welcome to my little corner of OWOH 2011 (#381). Rest your wings, sit a spell and chat.
First things first .... Thanks to Lisa at http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/ for being the heart behind this event. This is the fifth and final event and I for one appreciate all her hard work bringing her vision to reality.
If you are new to my blog it's all about hand stitching. I love to cross-stitch, embroider and hand quilt. I'm learning to design my own patterns and will often take an existing one and add my own twist to it (just for fun). For those of you who visited my blogs last year during OWOH2010 ....... welcome back.
My "growing up" part of the world is a long ways away from this hilly, scenic, region of middle Tennessee. I was born and raised in Scotland and winged my way to the USA, with a few suitcases in tow, in 1987. The hubster, kidlets and I have lived in Ohio, Michigan and now Tennessee. All great states with unique charms of their own.
Before you take flight again I have a door prize but it's not being revealed all at once. It's all ready for the winner but let's have some fun with it. I'll change out the photo every so often and reveal a new item each time.

1. 5" mini cushion. (I found the freebie pattern at http://pics.livejournal.com/own_two_hands/ in the biscornu section, page 2)
2.  4" 'Birds in Tree' door hanger. (I found the freebie pattern at http://cargaudlabrico.canalblog.com/)
3. Bits & Pieces By Joan - a vest pattern, with wooden star buttons included, entitled "I Love Snowmen"
4. It's going to remain a mystery ... all I'm saying is .... it's in keeping with the theme ;)
5. Depending upon how many people leave comments I might do two packages.

(You do not want to know what early hour of the morning it is here BUT all of a sudden I was woken out of a deep sleep by excited twittering from my birdie transportation. Well now what do we have here ..........now I am excited ........ enough visitors for the second package....... woohoo !!!)

Package #2 (reveal photo #2)
1. a 51/2" mini cushion/pincushion made from one of my "orphan" blocks.
2. Beginners quilt pattern - couch throw size
3. 41/2" "Birds in Tree" ornament. (I found the freebie pattern at http://cargaudlabrico.canalblog.com/
4. It's going to remain a mystery .... all I'm saying is ....... it's in keeping with the theme ;)
5. What's that you say birdie ...... mmmmm I'll have to think on that idea.

Just remember to leave a comment with a way to contact you. If you are set to no-reply (with no contact info) you will NOT be entered into the drawing. OWOH finishes on 17th Feb. and my winners will be announced on February 18th.
So thank you for taking some time to visit BUT it's time I sent you on your way. Fly carefully and I hope you enjoy your trip round the world.
(My birdie transportation this year is somewhat elderly. We will show up but it might take a while since we plan on taking many opportunities to rest up, refresh ourselves, and be impressed by all the art work out there. OWOH hugs to all of you.)

Up-date Thursday 17th - It's now the last day of this fabulous event. Thanks to everyone that has visited. You can continue to leave comments till 2.00 p.m. this afternoon. I'll then do some drawings, contact the winners and post the results TOMORROW. My daughter is participating in a school event this evening and we need to do some prep time beforehand.)

Postcard Pizzazz - cross-stitch heart

I like making fabric postcards. They typically are 4"x6" and I think they are a great way to learn different techniques. Having said that, last year I took a long, unintended break.
Here's my first one for this year which I sent to Pam C.

The heart is called "A-MAZE-ING HEART"by The Sweetheart Tree. 55wx51h stitch count.
The little card pattern cost me a whopping 40c from one of my favorite cross-stitch stores in Ohio that has closed down :(

Valentines Swap - Exchange Heaven

I got a package from Sue D. last night and in it was this gorgeous creation :) Looooove it :)
Thanks Sue.
My package is in the mail and should show up at the other end sometime within the next few days.

We woke up to snow early this morning and now almost all Tennessee school districts are out on another  "snow day". I'm finishing up the dress I have been making for my daughter.

Christmas Ornament - Hope - part 1&2

Part 1 - I could have stopped here since this was the original pattern "O Christmas Tree" by Angel Stitchin in JCS 2005. I saw the design at http://shelleensmusing.blogspot.com/2010/12/o-christmas-tree-is-finished.html and worked out how to stitch it since I don't have the magazine. (Hopefully that does not break any copyright laws.)
Part 2 - But ...... I am expanding it to make into a small banner. I still have more stitching to do on the border and beside the word (which I let my daughter pick out from my list.) I'm contemplating using words on all my Christmas ornaments this year.

We had a fun filled week-end. Daughter #3 "Princess" turned 18 and was so excited. Big sister "Song Bird" took her out clothes shopping on Friday (snow day) and bought her an outfit. She had her party on Saturday. The girls made jewelry, decorated cupcakes and did Dance 2. She gave a talk in church yesterday about "How her family helped her learn about God." (She has a speech and comprehension delay and worked really hard on her presentation so that everyone could understand her.) Some of her friends "heart attacked" our van for her which she loved. Tonight we will be taking her out to dinner AND this tardy mom will finish the hems on the semi-formal dress I've been showing her how to make.

OWOH 2011 - 5th and final year

Lisa at http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/ is once again sponsoring One World One Heart. This year will be the last one. Up front - thanks to Lisa for doing this for us all - a huge time and organizational commitment from her.
I followed along on the 3rd event, participated last year from my genealogy blog, and will be participating from here this time round. Starts on the 30th January and runs till Feb. 12th. I have my giveaway package almost ready.
If you are interested in participating follow the link in my sidebar.

"JOY" Christmas tree ornament

I designed the ornament just before Christmas but did not get it finished in time to put on our tree. Now it's done :)

Outdoor Wednesday - Tracks

School has been out since Monday because of this. We got about 3 inches and have had flurries since then. We have used up our snow days allotment already.
For more outdoor fun hop, slither or slide, on over to http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/
For those of you up north in the middle of raging snow storms I hope you all stay safe out of harms way.

Mosaic Heart - part 1

I am stitching "Mosaic Heart" by DMC. The "grout lines" are done. Next step - the flowers.
I'm using 22ct. cream Hardanger, which I love and will probably stick with for a while.
2 strands of linen floss over 1.
I'm still not loving the floss because it can shred quite easily. If you miscount and try to unpick it's not a pretty sight :)

Outdoor Wednesday - Inside Looking Out

I love the center window oval in our front door. The various cuts of glass make fun distortions, shapes and designs when you look through it.

Revisiting an old favorite .....

For Paula's Sewing Challenge.

With Christmas, visiting family, New Year, and having my girls home for a while I'm just getting round to posting my piece for Paula's current challenge - you're favorite quilt or wall hanging.
"County Hearts" started life as a class I taught a few years ago on how to do blanket stitch applique. I gave the participants two different patterns in the same colors for them to "have at it." It was a lot of fun and once everyone got in the swing of things it was a fairly simple method to learn.
I made this wall hanging well after the event with some of the left over blocks. Then it sat ..... and sat ... and sat ..... till the day finally came when I found (borrowed from another quilter) a fleur-de-lis quilt design I really liked to hand stitch on the cream blocks. I finished it near the end of 2008 and now that we have some wall re-painting done it will finally get hung up.
(I had enough of the heart blocks to do the class, wall hanging, large cushion, fancy door hanger for my sister-in-law, and blocks to a friend to make her own cushion.)
So this is one of my absolute favorite wall hangings. It makes me smile every time I look at it and the cushion and brings back many fond memories.
Paula's link - http://sewingchallenges.blogspot.com

First project of 2011 - Valentine Hearts

I'm participating in a Valentines Day cross-stitch swap and I decided to stitch it up as my travel project over Christmas. This is all you get to see till it shows up at the other end, then I'll do the full reveal :)

I took a single heart design from http://dany88.canalblog.com/ and turned it into a flower (of sorts). It's stitched on 14 ct. Aida and I used DMC 3832 & 3833 two strands. Swing on over to Dany's site. She has some lovely designs.
We are about to make some rearrangements here at the "homestead". Our oldest daughter is moving back in for a while. She and DD #2 have been here for the past two weeks and now that the latter has headed home we will be doing some room re-arranging and de-junking. Hopefully most of that can be accomplished over the next week or two.
My sewing machine has seen some usage. Daughter #2 sewed up a tie skirt and a dress (I forgot to take photos and she does not like to pose). A friend borrowed it to make Christmas stockings and I am about done making a semi-formal dress for DD #3.