Monday, September 03, 2012

Cathy's Birthday




August was Cathy's big 5-0 birthday!  Her sister Nancy planned a surprise party at the shop on our regular Sunday stitching afternoon.  Above is a beautiful cake for the party and below is the moment of surprise!  And yes, Cathy was actually surprised.  She had no idea! 




Here are Cathy and her sister, Nancy, party planner extraordinaire!  It was a lovely party with lots of friends, presents, food and treats.  Oh, and then, of course we stitched!!!
Trudy stitched this very very gorgeous name tag for Cathy to use when she is at trade shows and retreats!  Simply stunning!

Here are some of the show and tell items.  Above, Barb finished one of her 12 WIPS that she picked out at the beginning of the year.  She is the only one of us that is still on task on this one.  This is a very cool Chessie & Me chart. 
Nancy was working on this Christmas mantlepiece by Bent Creek.  It is now finished!
Nancy also stitched this shop model of a LHN ornament.  Cathy has it kitted up with silks at the shop. 
Here is another finish by Barb.  This is a really pretty Shepard's Bush patriotic piece.  Love it!
Here is stitcher Cathy with her fabulous finish!!!  This is 99 by Ink Circles.  I can't believe she already finished it and it is framed!  So cool!


Here is Vintage Stars by Jeanette Douglas.  This was stitched by Barb and is being readied for framing.  I love this piece and bought the chart myself after seeing it stitched by Barb with the called for silks on Strawflower linen.   More on that later...


Here is a stunning piece that I must stitch someday!!!  It is stitched by Debbie and the design is by The Sweetheart Tree.  I have loved this for years....better get going on it.
Okay, remember the Vintage Stars.....Barb did it on 36 or 40f count.  I plan on using 32 count and will buy the thread pack from Cathy, but was afraid I might not have enough since I am doing it on a bigger count.  Barb gave me her leftover silks and she had the chart symbols labeled and threads attached accordingly on this piece of cardboard.  I was just thrilled with that!!!! 
I was stitching on America by Threadwork Primitives.  Jayne said that she liked the way I had arranged my Q-snaps with Mary Englebreit fabric to give it more tension and my little doggie pin keep.  As we all know, it is the whole process that we get so excited about.  It all matters, right?
Sorry about this last picture.  It does not do the piece justice, but I wanted you to see the frame my Mom and I chose for the needlepoint piece discussed in the previous post.  I did not want to take it out of the wrapping as she had to transport it to her house.  I will get a picture of it hanging at my Mom's house soon and post that.  

I have been stitching like a true obsessive later.  Plan to take some pics today and will post again soon.  Hope everyone has a chance to labor over their stitching today on Labor Day!!!!

21 comments:

Cathy said...

What a great birthday celebration that must have been! Loved seeing everyone's work. Wonderful post!
Cathy

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving us a peak into Cathy's surprise party! It looked like it was a fun time. Thanks for sharing pictures of the stitching going on! Love the frame selected for your Mom's piece!

Robin in Virginia

Laurie in Iowa said...

Loved seeing the photos of Cathy's Surprise Party. I always love looking at all the stitching that your group is doing. Beautiful!

Riet said...

What a pleasure to see all those beautiful works!

Vickie said...

Oh what fun! And such beautiful work. Thank you for sharing. =)

Cathy B said...

What a wonderful surprise you all planned for Cathy! It's always fun to see what projects the group is working on too!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Barb said...

What a wonderful day. I enjoyed seeing all the ladies work! Much inspiration!

Giovanna said...

What a great show again - a couple of those projects (99 and Christmas mantlepiece) are very close to my heart :-) Many happy belated returns to Cathy, what a great party you gave her.

Relyn Lawson said...

You do know how to be a great girlfriend, Laura. I miss you.

Margaret said...

Happy belated birthday to Cathy! She's such a sweetheart -- talked to her via email about an order and she was such a doll! Love seeing the pics of the celebration -- and all the lovely stitching too!!!

Southpaw Stitcher said...

What a great party! Happy belated to Cathy! I'm going to have to call her and see if she's got the 99 piece by Ink Circles. And that cute Shepherd's Bush piece is inspiring me to start my Take Joy piece--and that's a good thing because it would be an easy finish.

BrendaS said...

Great post Laura! Thanks for sharing all the pictures from the B-Day party and everyone's stitching.

LOVE your Mom's framed piece!

Hope to see you soon:))

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

The surprise party looks so much fun, I love the name badge.

The stitching pics are great as always, it's so nice to see what everyone is working on.

Karin said...

Ahum....Barb isn't the only on track for the 12....I have finished 5:-)

Love your mom's piece!!

Lois said...

What a fun party! Lovely to see all the different stitching pics too!

Carol said...

I always love seeing everyones finishes, Laura--and what a great party for Cathy :) Can you give me any more information on that blue and white finish by Debbie--just love it!!

Ranae said...

Cathy is lucky to have such a thoughtful bunch of Stitchery
It looks like a fun time
Pretty stitches

Karoline said...

Looks like you all had a great time.

You all are working on some lovely things

woolwoman said...

Just catching up on blogs after vacation - loved seeing the wonderful party for Cathy (happy belated cathy!) Always a pleasure to see the wonderful things your stitching friends are working on - very "inspiring" indeed! Melody

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Just catching up since I was away last week. I always enjoy your stitch night posts. Happy belated birthday to Cathy!

Landranka said...

Hello,
I'm sorry to intrude on your blog, but I am new to the Columbus area, and have been searching the internet for cross stitch shops for a while now when I happened across your blog. I found the Cross My Heart shop, and loved it, but I am looking for a shop with more stitch groups, or stitch groups in general. Would you be able (and willing) to point me in the right direction?

Katie