Jane - one of our dear 'Stitching Sisters' friends loves to collect snowmen.  And as Jane would put it she has “Well over 500 dear little frosty friends in our Henley Landing.”

So when her grandchild was on the way, she of course decided a snowman blanket would be necessary for the many winter cuddles they would enjoy together.  To make the blanket even more special, Jane decided to have the 'Stitching Sisters' and the 'Four from Forest' each stitch a square.  We all had a time frame in which to complete our square and pass the blanket on to the next person.  Nothing like a good timeline to force you to sit down and stitch !!

Jane had no idea what pattern anyone chose to stitch, so when the blanket finally made it's way back to her - she would be completely surprised.  Any empty squares were completed by Jane herself.  When she told us of her plan to include everyone in the making of this blanket, we were thrilled and honoured that we would be part of such a special keepsake.  Let's take a look.... 

Jane - showing off the blanket at Brentwood.

Wow !

Jane surprised us with the names of all the
people who stitched a square.

In memory of our dear Stitching Sister
Patti who loved to knit!

A is for Alexis
(it's also for Angel)

Unto us a child is born, and that definitely means
There's Snow Place Like Home

As much as we love you Jane - I really hope
there isn't as much snow as last year !!!

Hey wait a minute... 

this blanket was done for LAST WINTER.  

So all that snow was your fault !!!

 

Awwww... that's OK  "Jayne with a Y" - we love you anyway, but don't let that happen again! 

Many many many  precious hours of blanket cuddling. 

And to end things off, how appropriate to have a picture of Alexis on her first birthday with one of her frosty friends. 

Happy Birthday Alexis !!!

 

Bonnie

Brentwood 2014 Part 3 - Projects

The one thing I love about going to Brentwood every year is to see all the different projects that everyone is working on.  It's always so interesting to see everyone's taste and colour selections of projects;  some people use various types of hoops and some prefer to use the sewing method. Almost all of these projects are a work in progress, so of course they have wrinkles, hoop prints and no frames.  Let's take a look ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to share this story because it made me laugh right out loud when it happened. This particular project is one that Trish has been working on for a few years so we were so excited to see it finished, framed and hung on the wall for us all to see.  I was standing there looking at all the intricate work when I noticed there were red squiggly lines underneath some of the locations within the map.  So I said, "What are the red squiggly lines?"  Smartass Jayne just happened to be walking by just at that moment and she very casually answered, "Spellcheck"  !!

After we finished laughing, Trish explained that the lines were all places she has visited.

Another project that Trish brought to share with us as a little apron she made out of all her children's faded jeans.  How Sweet is This ?? !! 

I love this !

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed all these projects.  Just makes you want to sit and stitch all day doesn't it? 

Bonnie

Brentwood 2014 Part 2 - Trinkets Galore

Each year we, The Four from Forest, like to make some little trinket for The Stitching Sisters as a token of our friendship and a memorable keepsake of Brentwood; and we are always pleasantly surprised with something in return.  This year we decided to create tile coasters of some cross stitch patterns with some rubber stamps that Anita found in her travels and Tracey found the tiles at a local ‘Re-Store’ which sales go to the local Habitat for Humanity housing.  I was quite surprised at just how easy this craft was to make.   

First we cleaned the tiles ... and ate some candy ....

...then we ate some candy ...and cleaned more tiles.

The stamps were inked and carefully placed over the tile.

A sprinkle of "magic dust" covers the entire inked area.

Excess dust is carefully shaken off.

Bake in the oven and when finished and cooled, the ink will puff up.

When we added the finishing touches we attached a little poem that we had a contest to see who could rhyme it off after a few glasses or two of wine.

Treasures for everyone !!

One of our trinkets was made by Jayne.
She loves snowmen and when you take off his little hat, he becomes an Ort Jar.

Here's hoping this little poem adds to the warmth of this coming winter and it's bitter cold forecast.

This pretty little scissor case, done in our traditional Brentwood colours were created by Freida and Kerry.  Thanks so much ladies !!

The other side of the scissor case was in tribute in memory of Patti, one of The Stitching Sisters.

This ADORABLE picture is Patti when she was little. 
A few years ago we played a photo game at Brentwood and everyone submitted a picture of when they were little and we had to guess who each other was.

Even though we only knew her for a few years, Patti is dearly missed by everyone and will remain in our memory forever. 

Bonnie