A cross-stitching update

I managed to get in some more stitching on this piece of my Great-grandparents 1899 wedding photo. I still need to fix Grandpa Lou's ear but I will get to that eventually. My main goal was just to get back to some stitching. I rather enjoyed working on his suit. It was just the thing I needed to get me motivated to start cross-stitching again.

I also returned to another of my stitching projects that I started over the summer. I was feeling the need to work on something simpler that would stitch up more quickly. So this old Cricket Collection piece of the Lion and the Lamb was screaming at me to be worked on.



I am making rather good progress. Two days ago all I had was the frame border. I felt quite cleaver when it came to the lambs wool. I used to design and stitch needlepoint for a local shop and still have some Appleton's wool left over in my stash and found the perfect white and oyster colors which gave the lamb a fuzzy woolly effect. It is a shame that it just does not show up well in photograph. It is my hope to work more on this piece tonight after I cook dinner. I look forward to a nice relaxing evening of stitching.

Valentine's Exchange

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with doing swap exchanges through the mail so let me give you a little background. This is a popular activity among hobbiests in the online Yahoo Groups. A theme is chosen, people sign up and names are assigned and a deadline is announced. It really is a lot of fun when they work. I have been partaking in Group exchanges for about 5 or 6 years now and in all that time I have only been burned once when my exchange partner did not follow through. I recently joined in on my first exchange in the Krafter'sKorner group having not participated in one with them before. This was the first time I was in a cross-stitch type of exchange. I have mostly been involved with sewing and scrapbooking exchanges in my past. If you have heard of exchanges and never tried them, I encourage you to give it a try. They are a lot of fun. It is always nice getting a surprise in the mail. You never really know what your partner will send you. Sure you know the theme, but that actual package you get is another story. Well I received my first exchange packaged and I am posting a photo here on this blog. I got some nice goodies. I received a printed pattern for a Valentine's Elephant with the floss and fabric to make it (this will be made into a pillow) a bookmark fabric piece with a pattern on the back of it and I received a blank card with an oval cut from it for making a cross-stitch design card. All in all I was pleased with what I received. Thank you "Grandma Dee."