Kit Exchange & Mansfield Progress

Giant smile on my face! I received a wonderful package from my exchange partner Mary on Saturday. The exchange was for the ILCS group and was called "Kit in a Container". Mary was ever so lovely and generous and sent me two gorgeous projects to work on: a BEAUTIFUL Mill Hill Autumn Wreath kit and lovely JBW kit as well. Also in the package were some wonderful goodies: A cute pumpkin basket and some Autumn potpourri, a piece of linen, some needles (Petites! I've been dying to try these-I know someone who uses these exclusively), a prefinished bag with an Aida insert to stitch on, and a Star De-Tailor. She must have been reading my mind with that one! I have been wanting one of these forever but every time I order stash I always forget ;) So I absolutely love everything and will definitely get to stitching at least one of these ASAP. So Thank you Mary, it was lovely being your partner!

Also I have been making some progress on the Mansfield Park Sampler and I also found a great frame for it at a bargain store. Only problem is that the frame already has a kind of generic kitchen print and I take it one is not really supposed to take it out. In other words the backing is kind of bracketed in. Oh, and I broke the glass on the way home but I had planned on taking it out anyway so no biggie. Worst case scenario, the thing cost me maybe seven dollars.

I am gonna get all ambitious and say I will finish this week but I have been helping my husband put up some of his baseball cards to sell on ebay so that is making me extra busy these days. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Ornament Exchange & Mansfield SAL

So we did a Christmas ornament exchange on the ILCS group. I was proud of myself-I did not completely procrastinate and started in on a lovely Mill Hill Santa kit. A couple of days in, I realized I had made a small yet crucial counting error. I literally threw the thing across the room. It would have required the most extensive frogging to date for me and I was sad and mad!!! I gave up, oh well, I guess I don't have to do every exchange. Meh, a couple of days later I set to work on another ornament. When I finished I rushed to the post office, sent it priority just to be safe but YAY postal service took forever to deliver it. So I missed the cut off date to have the ornaments in by. Lucky for me there was another ornament inching its way to its destination. So I was able to participate in the exchange after all! Above is the ornament I received, stitched by Leslie from the ILCS board. I do not have a picture of the ornament I stitched, gah and I just realized I packed up the box with the stuff for another exchange without taking a picture. And wouldn't you know, I come from a family with a notorious penchant for putting way too much tape on packages and gifts. Ah well.

Here is my progress on Mansfield Park. Three weeks in, I did not get as much done as I would have liked this week. I am still really enjoying this stitch although I am debating ripping out a couple of the letters at the top where the floss blends in too much with the fabric. It is not as bad in person so I don't know, maybe I'll just leave it.

Also, last week I started reading a "sequel" to Mansfield Park, "Edmund Bertram's Diary" by Amanda Grange. Really though, it is not a sequel but an homage or a retelling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park from the point of view of Edmund Bertram. A fairly light read, a few of the scenes are lifted somewhat verbatim from the original. And included in its entirety is the text featured on this sampler: " To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment". So far I like this homage better than the last Jane Austen "sequel" that I read, "Mr. Darcy's Daughters" (forgive me I don't have the author's name handy). Actually I enjoyed that book but at the end of the day I thought the author modernized too much by including too much "saucy talk". I am sooooo not a prude but I hardly think Jane Austen would ever discuss an aristocratic gentleman running off to Italy with one of his footmen.

Goodbye Shea Stadium! We will miss your amazingly bad views but awesome atmosphere.