I have heard ...

... from Cathy B that my floss tag for the Tiny Treasures Exchange arrived safe and sound. The first one I stitched was finishing so badly (and I mean Bad with a capital B) I couldn't send it out and so stitched another which came as a kit from Niky's Creations which are designs that I just love. All of Niky's charts are hand drawn but so easy to understand and luckily enough for me it had just arrived and I could stitch it straight away.






Please do not forget to enter into my giveaway which ends at 8pm (my time which is GMT). You don't have to have a blog to enter. If you do not have a blog would you please just leave me your email address or email it to me at patreeshal@gmail.com if I don't already know it. If you do have a blog and you leave a link from your blog to mine you will be entered more than once automatically. Just click on the photo below and you will (I hope) be taken to the comments for that blog entry straight away.



My dispute with Paypal and eBay has not finished yet. The police have been in touch again to say that eBay have answered their questions but not PayPal (oh what a surprise NOT), but eBay have given them enough information that they will be able to trace the thief by his ISP YES YES YES!!! So he will get his comuppance. In the meantime I have joined Which (just Google it and you can find it) which is a consumer magazine and Website here in the U.K. and they have this legal service that you can join for a year. Mine will be up and running on the 6th of July and then watch out PayPal and eBay because you will have some heavy stuff coming after you. I can't wait.

I remembered very quickly why I loved my Mac so much and dislike the PC at equal proportions! Although this Samsung NC10 is very little and light it is still a PC with all it's foibles. Like freezing! Viruses! Having to Defragment the darn hard drives every 5 minutes! amongst other things.

I WANT ANOTHER MAC! There I have said it. I thought I would be satisifed with this little gem of a computer but I'm not. I'm just not a happy bunny is all - only with the computer and Larry (DH) moans that I was yelling at an inanimate object before must have lost his memory about how much I shouted at the PC! Because he sure remembers now.

Well that's all from me for now ...

... so until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

July 1 PIF Giveaway + May 1 PIF +

For once I am totally on time which is amazing. Not I am not usually late at places because Mr. Early (DH) keeps me on my toes.

Here is my next PIF giveaway. All you have to do to be entered into this giveaway which will end on July 1, 2009 at 8.00 pm my time which is -5 if you live on the East Coast, -8 if you live on the West Coast and that's all I know except for it's the same time if you are here in UK and +1 (I think) if you are in the EEU, is leave a comment on this post and if you want to be entered into it 3 times all you have to do then is leave your comment and tell me that you have copied one of the photos below, the first one is on the backing fabric and the second one is on white linen linking back to my blog. Good luck everyone that enters into it.



Here is a photo of my last PIF and I decided to make that one a RAK because the person that received it had been so kind to me and I needed to do something nice for her too. It was for Helen and I got a real Thank You card from her in the mail this morning that was really lovely and her handwriting is as beautiful as she is, whereas my handwriting really sucks. The pinkeep photo has been taken on the backing fabric I used and Helen says she loves it.


Next is a Blackbird Designs kit I finished ages ago and it's going to my finisher Deb to be finished because I certainly can't, ok don't want to, do it. I will show you it again when it returns from it's journey to the States.



Last, but by no means least, is the Blackbird Designs Exchange 1 I received from Peg. It is really lovely and thank you so much.


So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

Thank you so much Missy, Deb, Gwen & Mare

Ok firslty thank you Missy because you saved the Bookmark. First I left it in the freezer all day and got it out around 7.30 this evening and tried with a needle and Mr. Tweezerman tweezers and that didn't work very successfully. So then I asked dh if I could have one of his hankies please and he gave it to me and lo and behold I did exactly what you said and it all came off as you can see below

The bookmark is pictured on it's backing so Gwen you will be getting this in the very near future as it has been fixed thanks to Missy. Included with it shall be some goodies as well.

Now Gwen stitched and finished for me this Quaker Exchange from Legacy BB and it is QQE 18. Thank you so very much Gwen it really is lovely.

Mare stitched and finished this great floss tag as part of another exchange and would you believe it is the first floss tag she has ever made? It is really lovely. She put these little rose pins on the back of it but I transferred them to the front because I was worried they would get broken at the back and they are just so lovely I didn't want that to happen.

Now DEB! What can I say. She sent me the most wonderful parcel for my birthday and it incorporated all the things below. Thank you so very much Mini Me I just don't know what else to say. Oh yeah I almost forgot. I phoned dh this morning because I was out and asked him if any mail had arrived and he replied 'yes one from Naples.' So I said oh good I was expecting that I bet it's from Deb. He then said 'odd name for an Italian girl.' So I said 'Sorry I don't know what you mean'. He then said 'Well the parcel is from Naples so how is her English'. I then said 'It's just fine. She comes from Naples FLORIDA'. What an idiot he felt - at least I hope he did but I wasn't here to see his face and I forgot to bring it up when I got home again. But it was funny.

But most of all thank you so much Deb for the wonderful parcel you mailed to me that arrived this morning when I was out. Here are photos of everything this wonderful person send to me for my birthday. Now what can I get her for her birthday? Hmm I wonder but I think I know what she's going to have but I'm afraid my friend you shall have to wait a bit for it but it shall be with you as soon as humanly possible.


First there is a magazine with a Dreidl on the front of it and the chart is inside. A Dreidl is what Jewish children use at Chanukah. It is usually made of wood or plastic and they spin it to like a top and where it lands is usually a Hebrew letter like Alef which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. You can also see the wonderful card that Deb send to me full of wonderful words. She is just so special. It must be something about the name Deb because ever one I know (apart from my first cousin's ex-wife who is a cow) has been wonderful.


Now you can see Just Nan's chart Enchanted Swans along with the bead pack and charm that goes with it and you can see some Au Ver A Soie silks on top of the chart. Just in the kinds of colors I love. All muted and serene (which I most definitely am not) kinds of colors. Maybe she hopes this will calm me down a bit and put an end to my MS attack. I hope so cause it is now getting boring and I am sick to death of walking like a duck. When I walk like a duck dh calls me Jemima after 'Jemima Puddleduck' which is a character in Beatrix Potter books. It amuses me when he calls me that cause I quite like the name Jemima anyway.




Then there is one little chart from most of my favorite designers and I love them all and one of them is going to be put to very good use asap (that's as soon as possible) so keep a look out for what happens to one of them.


Then there is a little kit which is to make a needlecase and it was actually made in England - how about that?!? We have this saying in England and it is about 'sending coals to Newcastle'. A very long time ago Coal was mainly mined in Newcastle so if you send something back from whence it has come then 'you are sending coals Newcastle' but I do love this little kit and will make, even though it is Aida which I don't much like, but to be honest I could probably do with something easy to do right now and this really hits the mark spot on. So thank you once again Mini Me and I love you to bits and most of all thank you for being my friend.

Oh yeah I just have to share that apart from biscornu's and Pinkeeps I am never finishing another thing. I shall have them finished for me by my other Deb because I am so bad at it, that it just isn't true. It isn't through lack of trying ... I am just really CRAP at finishing. I once tried to put in a zipper and couldn't so I have never ever tried again and I have no intentions of trying. My stitching is just okay but my finishing is so bad it just isn't true. So no more - it stresses me out to much and then I find I have to redo things because it's so bad. Now I am going to have to write a huge apology letter to the person who was supposed to be getting the floss tag from me because it is truly bad.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who left messages for my friend whose grandson passed away. The Shiva is now finished and I didn't go or phone there today but I will tomorrow and pass all your messages on.

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

I can't believe what I did

Hmmmm as all of you know my Bookmark exchange is doing a world tour, at least it hasn't arrived at Gwen's house. So I decided it was time to stitch another for her as a replacement.

Anyway my stress levels have been at an all time high causing an MS attack. My friend's grandson passed away aged 15 months almost two weeks ago for absolutely no reason. They performed an autopsy and the results are inconclusive. I really didn't realise that this would have such a severe effect on me. I know she's my friend but we actually hadn't spoken for exactly three years when I was told about the tragedy and I of course went there straight away. We hugged and cried and said how stupid we had been. My friend's son, who was the baby's father, had been out for the evening with his wife because it was his birthday. He got a phone call just before they were about to come home having left both children with a babysitter for the first time in a very long time and got to the hospital in record time to find the baby dead. So they couldn't bury him the next day, which is our custom, but had to wait for a special autopsy which wasn't carried out until the following Tuesday at the behest of their doctor and so they couldn't bury the baby until last Thursday.

So I stitched the replacement bookmark and was just ironing on some two way sticky stuff to finish it off when I went to peel off the paper and saw immediately that I had ironed it on the carefully stitched side and not the wrong side. I have written to Gwen explaining and enclosing photos of this horrid mess which my DH said he will try and remove it all tomorrow. I wish him luck.

Here are close-ups of my disaster





So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

My Exchanges Arrived ....

... except for the missing bookmark which is still MIA. I just hope that whoever has it enjoys using it because I sure enjoyed stitching it. I shall be stitching and finishing a new one over the weekend to send to Gwen in the States so keep a lookout for your replacement next week - at the end of the week I would have thought, hopefully.

Anyway on to the good news here are the three that did arrive at their new homes:


This was my Prairie Schooler Exchange and it was sent to Kaye Dunlap in the States. I had so much fun stitching and, would you believe, finishing this is just wasn't true. I loved every stitch I put into this. The only reason I am showing you two photos, and will do so on the next set of photos for the same reason, is because the first is without pins on it's backing fabric and the second is with pins. I just couldn't believe the difference the pins make so I need to share this with you.



These next photos are of the Legacy Board Quaker Exchange 18. I just love these Quaker exchanges because I love stitching quakers but have yet to stitch a whole one. But I really loved stitching this one too and finishing it, yes you heard right. I am good at finishing pinkeeps but crap at everything else so from now on I shall just finish ordinary pinkeeps and leave the rest of the finishing to Deb in the States who is the best finisher in the whole world as far as I am concerned and her finishing is so worth waiting for. Once again the first photo is the pinkeep on it's backing fabric which I really love and the second one is with the pins in.





This last one is my Blackbird Designs exchange which was received by Jane here in the U.K. and if I had done this right I could have sent it to Deb to be finished but I didn't so even though the finishing looks okay, I tried to copy Su's finishing of this one, but really badly not at all to the same standard. And no I am not looking for unnecessary compliments trust me these pictures do more justice to this piece than it deserves, just ask Jane and she'll tell you. But I did try and as my dh would say 'Yes you are very trying'! I just won't try anything again that is beyond my capabilities because I am just not satisfied with sub-standard and this is definitely that. The stitching isn't sub-standard but but the finishing definitely was. So I learned a lesson but at Jane's expense. I am truly sorry Jane but I have apologised to you privately and you assured me you would use the needlebook. I just hope it doesn't come apart too soon and if it does please send it back to me and I'll send it to Deb to get it finished properly.

So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt

I have been stitching but ....

The first thing I want to do on this blog is to thank all of you out there that read and leave comments on my blog. I never in a zillion years thought so many people would read and leave messages which really honestly and truly warm and make my heart smile big time. Through all the sad stuff I have been through lately you are just amazing people and I thank you from the bottom of my smiling heart.

I thought instead of sharing my stitching with you today I would share some of my friend Francoise's stitching because it is so beautifully stitched and finished and all the things I have been stitching and finishing have been RAKs which haven't yet arrived, maybe because they are stitched but not finished, three exchanges two of which have not been received as of yet, okay so I'm having kittens here because I mailed them a week ago yesterday, and what with my bookmark exchange not having arrived at it's new home ...

The sad and lonely lost bookmark and goodies

...I am slightly worried to say the least. I will be stitching another bookmark this week to replace the one that either the British Postman or the American Mailman lost along with more goodies.

So without further ado here is just a taste of Francoise's stitching

This is, of course, a C.A. Wells Acorn piece which is gorgeous. So beautifully stitched and finished. Just gorgeous.

This is another C.A Well's needle book on top of a Merry Cox piece and I love them both and have the CA Wells kit in my stash. I know I'm really sad because I have yet to stitch it

And finally March's BlackBird Design's Loose Feathers piece which has been stitched and finished superbly.

These French girls have such a way with photography that I certainly do not possess that's for sure. They stitch and finish everything so beautifully and then display them to perfection and photograph them superbly. Am I jealous? You bet your cotton picking socks I am. And trust me I am not jealous of much in this world but their abilities just floor me. Thank you so much Francoise for sharing your wonderful stitching, finishing and photograpy with me so that I can share it with Blogland because Francoise does not have a blog. But she stitches like a dream and finishes like a professional then takes photos like a professional photographer. I just can't thank you enough for letting me share your wonderful stitching.

I hope you all have a really lovely week and I will post on here again as soon as my first three exchanges have been received. I have another two to mail out this week, one is a Floss Tag exchange and the other one, of course, is the replacement bookmore.
So until next time ...

Lots of Love

Patti xxx
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission - Eleanor Roosevelt