Welcome to Friendship Crossing!

Where strangers cross paths to become friends, sharing their love of PRIMITIVE/SEASONAL decorating, CROSS STITCH/ WOOL/SEWING/QUILTING/CRAFTING, recipes and home life.

**I have an Etsy shop filled w/the newest PATTERNS/SUPPLIES/KITS that are mostly PRIMITIVE, SEASONAL or WHIMSICAL in style. To take a peek, just click the button below on the sidebar .

***I LOVE reading your comments and thanks to all who take the time to write them. If you ever need to contact me, the best way is to just leave a comment on the most recent post and it will go directly to my email inbox first, w/out being published.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your visit!!

Tanya (pronounced like the color TAN) : ))


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Too Hot to Stitch??

Hey blogging buddies,
Is everyone staying nice and toasty?? tee hee
It is BEASTLY here in our neck of the woods and the humidity is really something the last few days! Wow! we can tell it's SUMMER! But I am thankful for all the beautiful sunshine He has sent our way, so I can't complain too much.
Did everyone have a nice 4th of July holiday? Ours went by fast and we did enjoy seeing the fireworks, except for a bunch of noisy teenagers that were standing a bit too close to us, while we were trying our best to watch, LOL.
I just finished up another cr. st. exchange that I was in, so decided it was time to jump ahead and stitch something more fallish, perhaps hoping to keep myself feeling cooler? Anyway, here is a sneak peek at what I'm working on right now.
Now I realize I have been telling you all how great it is to only work on one project at a time, but I couldn't help myself and started a second project, shhhhhh, don't tell anyone, ok?
It's stitched on 25ct. Floba. If you've never used this fabric, I highly recommend it! Love the look and feel of it.
This is a little better view of the floss I'm using ~ it's Valdani ~Golden Autumn, I just thought it spelled out 'Fall' to me. (The thread color, that is), ha.

This hanging pillow is what I received from a gal in my exchange group. She altered the LHN design just a bit for a more summery feel. I think she did a very nice job stitching it for me. Thanks again, Marjorie!
I apologize that the pic isn't more clear.

Here's my very first floss tag I made recently. I made a huge mistake at first by using FOAM board instead of MAT board, which is much thinner. It was really THICK the first time I tried it, but soon realized I'd used the wrong thing to mount it. So then I had to completely re-do it and liked the way it turned out, but not so sure I'll be making any more any time soon! :))
The fabric is much more yellow in person(I'm not the greatest photographer, for sure)!

I wanted to experiment w/tea~dying my own cr. st. fabric, so this is how my 32ct. cream Belfast linen turned out. This first pic I placed it in a pan w/tea and let it soak for several hrs. It is actually a bit darker than it shows here.


The second pic is a piece I sprayed on the tea from a bottle. A little more mottled look.


Here's some fabric I bought not too long ago to make some more pillows and whatever with. I thought they all looked like 'summer'.


Thought I'd share a new recipe I made recently for a family reunion. It's called, "Ale-8-One Pound Cake". Not sure if you can find Ale 8 in your neck of the woods, however, it tastes a lot like Ginger Ale, so I'm pretty sure you can substitute that or 7-Up.
For decades the Ale 8 drink was only sold in Winchester, Ky, where it was bottled, beginning in 1902, but today it is found all over the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Recipe down below.

W/out glaze......... had to sneak a piece just to try it out, lol.
W/glaze..........

Here's the recipe:
Ale-8-One pound cake
2 sticks butter
1/2 c. veg. shortening
3 c. sugar(I used half sugar substitute)
5 eggs
1 t. lemon extract
3 c. flour
7 ounces Ale-8-One
Cream butter, shortening and sugar in a bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon extract. Add the flour and Ale-8-One, alternately, beating after each addition. Pour the batter into a greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs. or until cake is done. Let cool in pan 10 mins. befor turning onto a cake plate.
Let me know if you try it or you can find Ale-8-One in your area.



One month from today is my b'day and we hope to be on our way to the beach, which we haven't had the pleasure of vacationing there in several yrs.
When I had my cr. st. shop we always stopped in Charlotte, N.C. for 'market', for a few days of non-stop shopping(mostly placing orders), seeing all the lastest cr. st. designs and meeting all the designers! They were like meeting/seeing celebrities in real life and they'd all have their booths decorated so cute!
Oh, how I miss going to market every summer, it was always so much fun! Then as soon as market was over, we'd head on down to the beach, which was a few hrs. further south.
So this yr. we're hoping to do the same, except the market part, which I'm really looking forward to.


Anyway, I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying your summer. It'll be over before ya know it. It always goes by way too fast for us!



I've also been enjoying reading Joyce Meyer's new book, "Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes". (Actually I just wanted an excuse to eat that cookie)!!! LOL
It talks about how God wants us to enjoy and celebrate different things in our lives. She asks, "Do you take time to celebrate when you finish a project, or do you merely begin the next one?" Good question! I think one of the ways we celebrate is by posting pics of our projects on our blogs to share w/others, or even better yet, if we can show it in person. It makes us feel so good when we share something we've accomplished, however large or small, and to know that it encourages others, is icing on the cake.



So take care and let me hear about what you're working on, or better yet, share a pic of it w/us so we can help you celebrate too.
Tanya

5 comments:

Birgit said...

Hi Tanya~
The colors in that floss speak fall to me too! I just love fall colors.
Have fun going on your trip to the beach. It sounds wonderful and it's always nice to get away for a bit. And Happy early birthday!!
The book by Joyce Meyers sounds great. I've never thought of it that way, that when we post pictures of our finished projects, that is in a way, celebrating a job well done and finished. Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration to keep going.
Hugs~ Birgit

Sheila said...

Wonderful post Tanya! It's a bit warmer here today so fall isn't on my mind like the past few days were with the cool temps. I love the warm rich colors of fall.
I have to agree with you and Joyce about celebrating our accomplishments. I really enjoy her and watch her show that comes on early in the am.
Thanks for sharing your projects with us. Hope you have sunshine filled day!
~Hugz,
Sheila

Linda said...

Hi,
Just found your blog. I love to cross stitch and will look forward to following your blog.
Have a great day!
Blessings.

Carol said...

Hi Tanya--So nice of you to visit my blog and leave such kind comments. I'm happy to have discovered yours, too--stitching and recipes--two of my favorite things! We don't have ALE 8 up here in PA--in fact, but that cake sure looks yummy...

I've enjoyed looking at all of your beautiful creations and will be back often :)

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

Hi Tanya,
I've never heard of Floba before but it looks like wonderful fabric to work with. I'll agree on the floss colors. Pretty and it does speak fall.

What a cute hanging pillow Marjorie made for you! I love the house and the flag, very cute.

I just love tea dyeing. I had a pot going last night. I like to soak mine because I like how it covers all the fabric more than just the mottled look. I know lots of girls prefer the mottled look though. It's all in what you like the best.

Your summer fabric is way cute and will make up some fun stuff! The cake looks delicious! I'm gonna have to try that. I love pound cake.

I like what Joyce says. I always take pictures of my finished project to post on my blog but I have never "celebrated" a finished project. Doesn't that sound like lots of fun?! I'm going to start doing that. =]