A Very Special Christmas Gift

04 Jan 2011 9 Comments

by averyclaire in Family Tags:

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

by averyclaire in Uncategorized

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.

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

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, http://www.averyclaire.org, canvaswork, and old fashioned ornaments.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Happy Halloween October 2009
8 comments

2

Wedding Quilt Completed August 2010
13 comments

3

About August 2008
5 comments

4

100th Post Giveaway November 2010
17 comments

5

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

by averyclaire in Christmas, Retirement Tags: ,

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

by averyclaire in Give Away, Uncategorized Tags:

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

100th Post Giveaway

09 Nov 2010 17 Comments

by averyclaire in Give Away Tags:

Read to the end to find out about the giveaway.

Some time ago I entered a give-away and won the most wonderful 2 disc set DVD on Quilting with Feathers (Vol. 4) from the Quilting Gallery website. The CD is from www.patsythompsondesigns.com. I think this is the first time I have actually won something where there were a LOT of entries. I was thrilled. I love quilted feathers and this is just the thing to give me some more confidence.

Shortly after I returned from my last trip to Florida, I met my friend Marjorie from Moonsilk Stitches for dinner. We ALWAYS have such a delightful time together and manage to spend an entire evening without a lack of conversation! She surprised me with this lovely acorn pendant. The top of the pendant is a REAL acorn top and the bottom is needle felted. It is a lovely piece of jewelry for the autumn weather!

Then Halloween was upon us and one of my granddaughters came to help me bake cookies for her parents’ Halloween party. We made Jack O’Lanterns and Autumn Leaves.


After Halloween was just a memory, I had a birthday. My dear SIL sent me this lovely handmade “snowman mug mat” with some special “Catherine McAuley” tea bags. I just LOVE it!!! Thanks Judy!

And last, but not least, last weekend my quilt group had their FABULOUS “Boutique” weekend. Our members create handmade gift items and we have a lovely sale on Friday evening and all day on Saturday. It has been going on for years and is a TREMENDOUS success in spite of today’s economy! It’s also the best way ever to spend two days conversing with all the women in the quilt group and all the shoppers who come to buy. They sold ALL of the baby blankets I made and I have orders for more!

Still working two days and waiting for them to decide to move the offices….and in the evenings, weekends, and spare time, I have been diligently working on my three quilting projects. Haven’t touched any other type of needlework lately….HAVE to finish those quilts!

Yes, this is my 100th post. Not a lot considering I have been blogging now for two years. I always feel I don’t have a lot to say, or I haven’t taken any good photos, or I haven’t any needle arts to show. In this case, I am supposing that 100 posts is a big accomplishment for me. SO, I have decided to have a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY to one of you who leaves a comment on this 100th post. No rules, no regulations, no joining anything, just a leave a comment. In 14 days, on Tuesday, November 23rd, at 6 PM, I will draw a name from the list of friends who comment. The give away is secret, but I hope you will trust it is something nice.

Happy Autumn…..Averyclaire

Photos of “in progress projects”

09 Oct 2010 9 Comments

by averyclaire in Uncategorized

Autumn is here and the weather is lovely in Chicago. I did thoroughly enjoy our summer, but it was quite hot. I am happy for the cool weather and happy to be home again. We put over ten thousand miles on our car and I guess I am tired now. I’ve been playing catch-up for all things that were left undone and projects to be attended to.

First I created some 20 baby blankets for my quilt group. They sell them to earn money to pay for speakers during the year. These blankets are quite large….about 40 inches by 40 inches…made with a double layer of flannel…and each has a stuffed animal to match. You should be able to click on the photos to see closeups.

Then I have been working on another quilt project….three embroiderered panels for a winter quilt called “Over the River and Through the Woods” … two panels are completed (hand-stitched with two ply dark brown floss) on a panel about 40 inches wide…

One panel is still unfinished …

Then, of course, I had to spend some time collecting just the right fabrics for the pieced quilt that will hold these three embroidered panels…

I did a tiny bit of needlework, making some tops for future pin cushions. These get filled with sand, embroidered with the recipient’s name and trimmed with some ruched silk ribbon and beads. They are rather small (approximately 2.5 inches by 6 inches). I made four of these so far (two have already been given away). These two are still in progress …

I have also been preparing some things to do a demonstration of big stitch quilting for my quilt group. It is nothing special, but did require preparing some pieces. I am also going to demonstrate on a japanese bento box quilt which I am hand quilting with a “big stitch” sashiko stitch. The quilt is completed, but it is only about 1/2 quilted in the sashing…the border is complete.

So, you see, even when I think I have not been doing anything, and have been silent and away from my computer, I guess I have a LOT of IN PROGRESS pieces to show.

There is surely a lot more to tell, but “pictures are worth a thousand words”…so I took my crummy photos and posted them with as few words as possible.

Until next time…..hopefully not so long!!!!! Amities, Averyclaire

Wedding Quilt Completed

10 Aug 2010 13 Comments

by averyclaire in Family, Quilts Tags:

Much time was spent the last few months completing this quilt for my son and daughter-in-law.   It is a belated wedding gift.   Mike is a mountain climbing, fly fising, outdoors man.   Michelle is very much an outdoors woman.   Her hobby is photographing wildflowers.   They both love Colorado.  So in the quilt I included a little bit of everything for each of them.   The pattern is a McKenna Ryan pattern (At Home in the Woods), but I took liberties and changed a couple of the blocks and made other modifications to suit me.   In the lower center of the quilt I used photo images on fabric and included Mike and Michelle hiking, giving Michelle a sunflower in her hand, then added Mike’s precious dog, Birdy, and Mike with his Land Rover.

Three years ago at their wedding, I asked all of the guests to write a short note on 10 inch square batik pieces of fabric. I saved them and configured them into sixteen squares, bordered with another printed batik and used it for the back of the quilt. I didn’t get a really good picture of the back, but if you look closely you can see there is writing on it. Mike and Michelle were thrilled.

Actually used a teeny tiny real fishing fly for the large mountain/fly fisherman block.

There are mountains, fly fishing, streams with fish, deer, elk, moose, mountain flowers and an Aspen tree….all the things that Mike and Michelle love about Colorado.

Free motion quilted (top stitched) every single tiny little piece on this quilt. It took hours and hours and hours. But Mike and Michelle really love it. They have already hung it in their office at home and intend to decorate the room around the quilt. I guess it was worth all the agonizing and loving hours that went into it.

Til next time…hopefully not two months…..Amities, Averyclaire

Back Again

09 Aug 2010 2 Comments

by averyclaire in Family

I was away a lot this summer.   Shortly after I wrote my last post in June,  we made an emergency trip to Florida to see my sister who was in intensive care.   She is doing better now, but it will be a long recuperation and it is one of those scary touch and go things. Please keep her in your prayers.
You can see that the Gulf crews have been really working hard to keep the BP oil off the beaches. They are really white and pristine. However, the water is quite murky and leaves an invisible residue on your skin. Hopefully it won’t take eons to return to normal.

When we returned, it was back to work, catching up, and working frantically to finish “THE” quilt.

Then we were away again to the Black Hills of South Dakota, and then on to Colorado to spend time with my son.   My DD, her DH, and her DS and DD came along as well.   It was a bit of a family gathering.   Only missing was my son and his family back home here in Chicago.

Tomorrow I will post photos of the quilt I made and delivered to my son in Colorado.    Thanks to all of you who made inquiries as to my disappearance.    I had no access to internet service while away. It’s good to be back. Can’t wait to have some time to surf all of your blogs as well…..I know I have missed a LOT.

Amities, Averyclaire

Sophia’s Sampler

12 Jun 2010 12 Comments

by averyclaire in Cross-Stitch, Needlework Tags: ,

It’s been a busy couple of weeks….but in the evenings I managed to get this sampler completed. It’s called Sophia’s Sampler by Cedar Hill.   (I had to have it because my granddaughter’s name is Sophia.)    I chose 32 ct. Lamb’s Wool Linen and modified the sampler by leaving out a design area I did not want in order to make it a perfect square.    I love the colors of the flowers at the top.

Now I am sewing daily on an art quilt.   It’s taking ALL of my free time.      I would love to tell you that it will be finished by my next post, but I doubt it!!!     Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Father’s Day here.    Both of our father’s have long since passed, but I have a son and son-in-law nearby who are fathers….as well as my DH…..so I will do the cooking and celebrate with all of them.

Amities…….Averyclaire

Canvas Work

27 May 2010 15 Comments

by averyclaire in Canvas Work, Needlework Tags: ,

We’ve been away in our RV for a little rest and relaxation, but here’s another one to add to the “need to be finished” list. It is a canvas work piece that I did last month with my new needlework group. It is meant to be placed in the lid of a wooden box. I do not have the box yet, nor do I have a frame for it….so it will have to wait. One could continue on with more designs around the edges, but I stopped at this point because this is what will fit into the box I am hoping to purchase.

It has been many years since I have done any type of canvas work. And now I have decided that I did not enjoy the canvas work because the “see thru” canvas distorts my vision. I found this to be hard on my eyes and very tiring. I think I like cross-stitch and other types of embroidery much better.

After requesting advice on finishing in my last post, it appears that most people are in the same position as me….”procrastinators.” I think I enjoy too many things. I love my needlework. Really enjoy working in my garden now that the weather is lovely. I am in the middle of a HUGE quilt that is already two years late for my son’s wedding gift. I have upholstery fabric to make armchair covers, antimacassars and a footstool cover for my two wing back chairs. I have upholstery fabric to make pillows and two chair covers for our RV. I have upholstery fabric to cover my husband’s footstool to match the Morris Chair he made (which I upholstered)…..the list goes on and on and on!!!!! Not to mention I have committed to make some things for my quilt group’s boutique sale which will take place on the first weekend in November. Ahhhhh….to have my “projects” completed and be free to do what I wish. One day this will happen. Do you all have projects like this as well???? I guess I don’t want to think that I am the only idiot who bites off more than she can chew at any given time!!!! I would love to be secretly involved in making surprise gifts for all my friends.

Amities, Averyclaire

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