Giveaway Love!

I found a lovely Valentine Giveaway at Nataly Needle Creations. The stitching giveaway ends Feb. 7th so hurry if you want to enter!

More Info on Rose Garden pattern

Blissxstitches, asked about the pattern, Rose Garden. It appeared in the Sept/Oct. 1989 issue of Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine. This magazine is out of print, but you may can find it on Ebay. The pattern was also reprinted in 1991 by Better Homes & Gardens. One place I found it available is Craft Stop online.

Rose Garden in Paradise

I am very excited to know that Trish, Just Another Stitch in Paradise, is stitching the companion piece to Gathering Honey. It's called Rose Garden and it's from Cross Stitch and Country Craft Magazine. I plan to cross stitch it after I complete Gathering Honey. Her stitching is gorgeous! Take a look!

In Memory of Laura

I was shocked and saddened to learn that a fellow stitching blogger, Laura, A Night Owl Who Blogs, passed away suddenly on Friday. I read her blog regularly. My heart goes out to her husband, Neil, and the family. She was so excited about her new home being built. Though I never met her, I will miss her....

Frogging Defined

Since creating this blog, I've had several non-stitchers asked me why I named my blog: Frogging Out. Candice's blog explains it perfectly.

Excerpts of Candice's Blog defining frogging....

"If you are reading this and you are not a cross stitcher, you may not know the significance of the frog. To us, the term "frog" means not only a tailless amphibian with webbed feet, but also the sound "ribbit ribbit," meaning that your stitching must be ripped out and restitched. To the cross stitcher, the frog can connote hours of painful picking away at floss, trying to get it free from delicate fabric without tearing anything."

"We cross stitchers regularly accuse each other of sicking a frog on us, of someone letting their frog out to invade every other cross stitcher's life, or the frog coming for a visit. Nobody wants that kind of frog. The tailless amphibian, however, is beloved."

"To the cross stitcher, frog is a noun and a verb. "To frog" is to remove stitches, and when one does that, one is "frogging." We all hate frogging."

Duct Tape Dress Form

After reading Belinda's blog, "View From an Alternate Dementia", I remembered a great duct tape idea I found online. It is how to make a dress form out of duct tape. It's much cheaper than buying a commerical dress form, and the finished result is a body double of yourself. What a cool idea. If you sew clothing for yourself or someone else, it's a great way to cut down on the fittings. I hope to make one (when I start sewing clothing again). Here's another site that has a lot of information and photos and tips, too.

Golf Towel - Oldie but Goodie

Golf Towel

I cross stitched this golf towel for my DH in 1989. It's from the magazine, Cross Quick (Aug./Sept. 89 issue). After examining how another golf towel was made, I adapted this one by folding down a corner and adding a grommet. The "hook" is a metal shower curtain ring which hooks onto the golf bag.

Lately, I have come across a few quilting blogs that are interesting:

Hip to Piece Squares: A modern gal's view on quilting and fabric.

Anlabyhouse: A crazy quilter in Australia

Chloe's Place: The musings of a crazy patchworker, as she contemplates (and sometimes even approaches a pile of UFOs.

I have made a little more progress on Fish Medley, but not enough to post a pic yet.