More Swap Goodies!

Hi everyone!
I just received our Fall Mini Swap from Wendy from the Quiet Room, just the other day. I had originally told myself that I was NOT going to be involved in any more swaps before Christmas, but when she tempted me w/a handmade candle mat using wools, who could refuse??? LOL It's not that I don't enjoy being in a swap, quite the opposite, but I was afraid I'd run out of time getting other gifts made for fall b'days and Christmas.
Here is the whole lot of what she sent me, but I will break it up and show you closer pics of each item/items.

These stitchery pillows are some of the cutest I've seen for fall. I'm not sure who the designer is, but I'd love to find out. Wendy???? let us know, ok?
The fabric is really more overdyed in person.
I've had a 'thing' for owls this yr. for some reason, although I've never told her that. Isn't he cute? How did she know???
I love the moon on this one!
These little pumpkins are just darling w/their cinnamon stick stems and felt leaves. The plaid one is flannel.
Sorry for the blur, I got too close again. She sent me the candle, rosehips and little tin candle holder. It smells wonderful and the scent 'gathered' on all the pillows she made/sent me.
I absolutely LOVE this candle mat. Notice the overdyed WOOL on the pumpkins! Look at all that stitching!
And last but not least, some European chocolates, since she lives over in England ~ I must confess I've tried a few and they are delish!!! :)))
Thanks again Wendy ~ I love everything you sent me!!
Here's where I ended up placing her little pumpkins.
The whole view of the cabinet and shelf.
Here's a towel I totally enjoyed making the other day ~ I sat outside stitching this one, since we've had such wonderfully warm weather lately. The hardest part was trying to find just the right piece of wool for the center part. I cut out 3 different pieces of wool before finding just the right shade. I did a chain stitch down the middle of the leaf so it'd look more dimensional. What is it about the buttonhole stitch that I find soooooooo relaxing??
Here's where I hung it for now.
I stitched this piece a few yrs. ago, but never have figured out what to make it into. It turned out rather large, since I stitched it on 14ct. Floba, over 2(which is like 7ct.), so because of the size, I only have a few options. I really didn't want to make it into a pillow, cuz I have so many of them, so I was thinking of MAYBE sewing it onto a tote bag or something like that. Any other suggestions????
I used sparkly, fuzzy thread, (I forget the name of it) for the hair, and overdyed Pearl Cotton for the border and pumpkin. Regular DMC P.C. for the rest of it.
This is what our kitchen table looks like as of right now. I wanted to add a little fall decor to it too. The napkin holder I found at the $$ store. It is ceramic and multi-colored. I did not make the table runner this time. It was on sale at A.C. Moore.
I haven't heard back from Wendy yet to see if she received my box, but when she does, I'll be back to post what all I sent/made her, plus a couple of other things I've been working on.

So have a great week everyone! We are getting high winds today and I felt like I was going to be blown away when I stepped outside.

Keep stitching and thanks for stopping by!

Tanya

I've Been Tagged & Other Fall Goodies

Hi there folks! Just wanted to thank Miss Christine, from Preferably Prim and
Karen from The Barely There Primitive Bear, who both treated me w/a blogger award! You are supposed to choose 15 more bloggers to pass it to and then link back w/them, but I am going to forego that part as several of them have chosen many of the same gals, so I didn't want anyone to feel bad if I left someone out. I think you all are wonderful bloggers w/so much talent and inspiration, so I'm just choosing ALL of YOU and I hope that the 'award police' don't come after me ~ LOL.

The other part of the award is where you tell 7 things about yourself that most of you don't know already. So here goes:
1. I am a bit claustrophobic.
2. I love Spanish guitar music.
3. I do NOT drink tea OR coffee. I can't stand the SMELL of coffee brewing either, but I do drink a LOT of water, however.
4. I have lived in 4 states ~ Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Florida. (my kids could not name all 4, they guessed 3 right, but the 4th one(Missouri) they guessed Texas, W. Virginia and Iowa)!!! LOLOLOL
5. I once taught a famous country singer's daughter in a Chr. School in Jupiter, Fla. Her name was Georgette Jones, daughter of the famous couple ~ George Jones and Tammy Wynette, the couple's ONLY daugher they had together.
6. I wanted to be a missionary while in College and move to some Spanish speaking country, but instead ended up teaching Spanish and Home Ec in two different Chr. schools ~ (Fla. and Ky).
7. In the 5th grade, I wrote, acted in and directed a mystery~type play in front of my whole elementary school.


Anyone who wants to do this part, please join in. It was a lot of fun, but sort of a challenge trying to think of things to tell about yourself.


Here's some scenery from around our neck of the woods I thot I'd share w/ya. This tree is across the street from us. This is what it looked like today. The ironic thing about it is that the bark was set on fire yrs. ago from a bunch of wild kids who used to live there. The bark is completely BLACK, but yet it still blooms so pretty!
Here's that same tree from a few days ago. So you can see how much it's color has deepened in just a few days.
Here's some more wool pillows that I finished the other day. They were a lot of fun to stitch and rather quick too.

This one has a rusty star hanging from it.

This one has much more varigated overdyed wool than what shows here. That flash is at it again! LOL

I loved the wool fabric on the kitty.

Just a couple of very simple wreaths I made a few yrs. back.

This is my Tweety flag. I've always liked Tweety Bird for some reason. I used to have a Tweety Bird license plate on my car. LOL
Here's what the bottom reads:

On Sun. afternoon, my hubby and I took a little afternoon drive about 40 mins. from here to the Pumpkin Festival. I totally forgot to take my camera, but I did manage to buy this little mesh pumpkin tray, which I stood up on its side. Remember on the last post when I said I needed something taller on the fireplace to balance it out better? Well, this is what I put there.

Here's what it looks like all together.

Here's the whole fireplace top and bottom, w/all the fall goodies on it. (on the wall is my moosey decor that goes in our 'lodge'-themed family room). I usually change out the decor on top seasonally.

Thanks to everyone who stops by and esp. to those who leave such sweet and generous comments. I sure enjoy your visits!

See ya next time!

Tanya

Some finished stitchy projects

Hi everyone! I hope this finds everyone enjoying this gorgeous cooler fall weather! A super nice change from the HEAT and HUMIDITY we had around here for so long. You can really see God's 'paintbrush' on all of nature this time of yr. and it is so beautiful. I hope that wherever you live, you can always see His hand on each season in your life.


First I want to show you one of my most prized cross stitched pieces I've ever made. It is an all~time favorite of mine. I made it several yrs. ago, but it has held up well over the yrs. It is from a Dutch Treat Designs pattern and is stitched on afghan fabric squares(all one piece, but you stitch the squares individually), using regular and overdyed Pearl Cotton.
Here is where I ended up placing it this yr. ~ underneath most of Sheila's swap items(from last post), except for the 'faith family friends' candle and the leaf garland, which I added to our corner fireplace. I thought it looked right at home under those darling prim items she sent me. (I know I need to balance it out better on the left side, but that's what it looks like for now).

This next pillow is from an old Bent Creek kit that I had finally finished stitching late last yr. but had never made it into anything until recently. He turned out to be quite a bit bigger than I realized, but I loved the material, using all the colors(and then some) in the stitched piece.

I am bad for finishing the stitched part and then it lays around for weeks or months until I figure out what to make it into. Does anyone else have that problem?? :))

I wanted you to notice the cute little buttons I added extra. The little sign says 'pumpkin' patch and is actually two buttons, along w/the pumpkin, and the little scarecrow(keeps turning crooked on me) ~ I thot was fitting, then there's the pumpkin under the crow's feet.

A little close-up for ya....

This one I had stitched yrs. ago too. It is a Lizzie Kate design and I finally made it into a bellpull just the other day. It is stitched on 26ct. white birch Heatherfield fabric and has little flecks of color in it. Now I just need to find a dowel rod so I can hang it.

Finally found a gold metallic tassel at Wal~Mart to match.

Was hoping you could see the lime green metallic braid I used and the gold beads for the eyes of the bats and the cat's eyes, plus all around the cat.

I thot these treat bags turned out just too cute for words! They are made out of Halloween fabric that I found recently. The handles are made from ribbon. It was a freebie pattern but I changed it just a little. I thot they'd also look darling w/Christmas fabric or for Valentine's Day, just by changing out the fabric on them. Really any occasion, even b'days, would be a cute idea.

They might look bigger in the pic, but are really tiny, only about 4in. by 4in.

I'm still working on some other stitchy things, but am slow at getting them finished, so I'll leave ya w/a sneak peek at what I'll show on a future post. This is a rusty tin-punched lamp that my hubby found for me at a wallpaper store a few months ago. It's in my little prim computer room that I recently switched the furniture around in there just a bit. The little whitewash dropleaf table used to be in our living room before we remodeled. I'll show more of it later.

Notice the alphabet which goes all around the rim.

Close-up of the base. You know how much I love my little sheepies, ha.

I still need to finish one more wall, plus the closet in there, so might wait till I finish the room when it's completely done, OR I just might go ahead and show you the rest of the room as it looks now. Who knows?? You will just have to wait and see, tee hee...........so stay tuned. :))

Have a great wkend. everyone!

Tanya