It’s Been A Quilting Week
12 Feb 2011 14 Comments
in Quilt Blocks, Quilting Tags: Quilting, Quilts, Work in Progress
My quilt quild does a new quilt every two years to put up for raffle. Members are asked to make a block…fabric and instructions are included except for the tone on tone pink fabrics which we provided. This next quilt will be the Carolina Lily. It was the block from HELL. I think the instructions were “antique” as well as the design. I absolutely love the block and think the finished quilt will be exquisite, but the pieces did not fit together properly and I had to cut, recut, sew, resew!!! I am happy it is finished. We were asked NOT to square it up in the end…I imagine that everyone’s will have slightly different measurements. Mine actually measures the 14-1/2″ it was supposed to be. Hallelujah!!!! Here are the photos of my block. And here is a sneak peak at another project that I have been working on for a while. I LOVE SCRAP QUILTS. The actual piecing was done a year or so ago, but took only about two weeks. It was put away while I was working full-time because I couldn’t be bothered with the appliqued border. The applique sure took a long time to prepare and even longer now to applique it. I am using just a blanket stitch simply because it will be laundered quite a bit. My plans are to use it as a table cloth (as it is about 60″ square). Half of the appliqued border is now finished. I really like the way it looks. What do you think? When one does needlework and quilting and gardening and reading, etc. etc. etc., it is hard to decide what project to work on at any given time. I guess I am just a jack-of-all-trades….master of NONE!!!! And last but not least….I thought I would wish EVERYONE a Happy Valentine’s Day! Hugs and Much Love to All of You.
Amities, Averyclaire
Digging Out
05 Feb 2011 8 Comments
Yes photos are worth a thousand words. We have finally dug ourselves out of the Blizzard here in Chicago.
We had been away in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos, New Mexico enjoying 55 degree F. and sunny weather….only to cut our vacation short and hurry home so that we were not stuck in some hotel somewhere. Lots of the highways all across the USA were closed because of the snow storm or ice storms. Crazy. While it has been a lot of snow….nothing can compare to the flooding devastation in Australia and the horrible huge amounts of snow received on the East Coast of USA. I cannot complain.
My entire body aches from all the shoveling snow. But this was probably really good for me….great exercise!!! SMILE….
Amities, Averyclaire
Another Birthday Gift
20 Jan 2011 11 Comments
in Gifts Tags: Cross-Stitch, Gifts
My friend, Maggy, is having a birthday on January 20th. Here is a little gift I made for her.
The pocket calendar pattern is from Drawn Thread and done on 32ct natural raw linen.
Happy Birthday, Maggy! May you be blessed in this New Year with Laughter and Joy.
Amities, Averyclaire
A Framed Finish
13 Jan 2011 10 Comments
in Cross-Stitch Tags: Cross-Stitch
I finished this needlework back in June 2010, but I finally have finished framing it. Closeups of the stitching can be found on my June 12th post.
My framing was a bit of a “cheat”, but I love the way it turned out. Wish all of my pieces could look as nice! It is impossible to find a ready made square frame. The fnished needlework is 6 inches by 6 inches. One day I happened upon a sale at the store with framed art pieces for half off. I managed to find this frame for $10. The insides were quite glued together, but I carefully did away with the “ready made photo” and redid it to use for my Sophia’s Sampler. Just great….don’t you think? Will have to look for more finds like this!
Amities, Averyclaire
A Gift for Judy
07 Jan 2011 10 Comments
My sister-in-law, Judy, has ALWAYS been more like a sister to me. I don’t get to see her as much as I like, because she lives in Iowa. But when we are together we sure have such fun and NEVER run out of things to say. Her birthday was December 17th and I just finished this little gift for her. It finally found its way into the mail last week, nearly a month late! Sorry, Judy…but, better late than never. She just received it and LOVES it. I’m so happy. I LOVE to surprise people. She actually used an alias name and tried to win my give away a while back. She didn’t win, but little did she know that I already had something similar in process for her!?!
The pattern is from the 2010 December Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue, done on Misty Blue, 32 ct. linen.
Happy Birthday Judy! May your days be filled with laughter and may you have MANY more birthdays!
AND HERE’S A GIFT I MADE FOR MYSELF………
I have a wonderful collection of scissors, now I guess I must make myself some fobs. This is the first cross-stitched one I have! Isn’t this Santa cute?
Amicalement, Averyclaire
A Gift Received
07 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
In December Hillery from North Country Samplings had a give away and I won her first prize! [She actually has a new blog now called This and That.] Please stop in and visit her.
Some lovely threads, a cross-stitched santa book, a very interesting motif cross-stitch book, four pretty pieces of 28 ct. linen and not shown in the photo, a lovely card I can use for a small cross-stitch. Thank you so much Hillery.
What fun to win something so nice just in time for the holidays!
Amities, Averyclaire
A Very Special Christmas Gift
04 Jan 2011 9 Comments
I received the most exciting gift this Christmas. My son handed me a very small green gift bag when all the family was gathered together on Christmas Eve. It contained a photo. The tiny photo was an ultrasound of my new grandchild to be born in mid-July. I was thrilled, quite overwhelmed, and cried a lot of tears of happiness, right along with everyone else. Mike and Michelle live in Boulder, Colorado and I already have at least two trips planned this year since receiving this amazing news. It’s a long way from Chicago, but since I’m now “retired” we will be able to travel without encumbrances. It will be a truly blessed year. We are ALL SO EXCITED about this new life. He/she is SO welcome to our family.
Now it’s time for a trip to the specialty shops and find some wonderful, unique, special, amazing, tiny, perfect gifts to put in the mail for this baby. Mike and Michelle are beaming and I am going to have some really fun months ahead of me.
ALL of the Grandchildren!!
Thanks for always coming back to be a part of my world. Amities, Averyclaire
2010 in review
03 Jan 2011 4 Comments
This post was sent to me by WordPress and I was SO fascinated that I thought I would share it with everyone.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
I always wondered how things looked from the other side.
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,200 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 28 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 102 posts. There were 208 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 154mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was January 5th with 251 views. The most popular post that day was Happy Halloween .
That’s the strangest thing EVER?….on January 5th???
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were bigblogofstitchingblogs.blogspot.com, simplepleasuresrg2.blogspot.com, stitchinfingers.ning.com, gatherings100.blogspot.com, and susimac.blogspot.com.
Thank you VERY much!! It is much appreciated!
Some visitors came searching, mostly for averyclaire, avery claire, www.averyclaire.org, canvaswork, and old fashioned ornaments.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Happy Halloween October 2009
8 comments
Wedding Quilt Completed August 2010
13 comments
About August 2008
5 comments
100th Post Giveaway November 2010
17 comments
Sophia’s Sampler June 2010
10 comments
I can see that I have a LOT of work to do to make my blog better and more interesting this year. So…..guess I’d better get busy writing real quick!!!
Wishing ALL of you a blessed and wonderful New Year. I hope your lives are filled with love and laughter and that you have lots of time for quilting and stitching and knitting and reading and whatever else strikes your fancy.
Amities, Averyclaire
Christmas and Retirement
08 Dec 2010 10 Comments
in Christmas, Retirement Tags: Christmas, Retirement
For weeks now I have tetter-tottered back and forth regarding my employment and finally made the decision to retire. The monastery in which I have worked for 18 years is closing and moving their offices. It was a good time to make the change. My plans are to spend more time with my DH who has been retired for ten years already (and of course find more time for stitching and quilting). The decision was not an easy one in our difficult economy. We will just be a little more frugal. Having committed to my choice, I have been working every day long hours to clean out closets, files, drawers, shred papers, recycle and “when in doubt…throw it out.” I will miss most of my working companions (some perhaps not so much–smile) and the routine. But thinking about sleeping in and being occasionally lazy sure sounds wonderful to me at this point.
I must now get busy and decorate my home for the holidays and finish my Christmas shopping. With the changes in my life regarding working, I’ve had a bit of a difficult time in getting into the Christmas “spirit”….but I LOVE the holidays and know it will be wonderful. My son and DIL will be coming in from Boulder, Colorado, and all the family will be together.
So……Merry Christmas to all…may the Holiday Spirit fill you with joy and peace for always. Joyeux Noel, Averyclaire
And the Winner IS…………
23 Nov 2010 8 Comments
in Give Away, Uncategorized Tags: Giveaway
YES….this is now my 101st post. The winner of my secret prize in honor of my “100th post” is………
Congratulations Jackie!!! Please stop in to see her lovely work at ….. Jackie’s Stitches.
And the prize is………….
It is a combination Pincushion/Scissor Holder/Scissor Fob, approximately 3″ x 3″…..and yes, the beautiful scissors are part of the prize. It is done on 32 count French Lace linen, with DMC threads and Mill Hill Beads. The pattern is from the Christmas Ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.
The wool back of the pincushion has a small pocket to hold the scissors. The cording was made by yours truly with DMC metallics and floss and holds the lovely tiny pair of scissors. This particular pair is one of my favorite’s and is only 2.5″. They can be found at Anita’s Little Stitches. Her scissors have become one of my growing addictions. I have quite a collection. So I hope that this adds to your collection, Jackie!
Thank you to all who read my blog and continue to return faithfully even though my posts are far and few between at times.
During the holiday this week, we at our house have MUCH to be thankful for. May ALL of you have a Happy and truly Blessed Thanksgiving.
Amities, Averyclaire
