Digging Deep into the Past

 Lord help me,  I am still working on the birthday piece I am trying to finish by the end of the month.  I am starting to get a little bit panicky about it since I still have quite a bit to do and the time is getting shorter and shorter. I can not, of course post a picture of my progress on this piece but I thought I might show you what I have stitched for her in the past instead.
  I first meet Tommye in the early '90s  when I moved to the Atlanta area and she was my local shop owner. We got to know each other during our weekly stitch group meetings which were held in her shop.  There was a group of about 8 of us that came to stitch together consistently and I believe it was Tommye's BIG birthday of that time that got us stitching for each others' birthdays.  Over the years, some of us have moved away and others have moved on to other things but a few of us still stitch for each other for our birthdays each year.
  I am an organization freak and list maker from way back.  I make a list at the end of each year of the stitching goals I want to achieve for the coming year.  It is always so much fun to sit with my list and go through my stash making plans for my friends' upcoming birthdays.  Tommye and I tend to have the same taste in stitching projects so I find her very easy to stitch for and I tend to choose something with a bit more than cross-stitch in it since we both like that so much.

  As you know, I started this blog in part to keep track of my stitching since I have been terrible about photographing my pieces for posterity.  I was only able to find a few things on my computer, and a couple of these pictures where taken by her and sent to me later since I didn't take a picture myself,  but this will give you an idea of the kinds of things we stitch for each other.

Darlene O' Steen/Needle's Prayse
don't remember the name
This is the one I use for my profile picture.

Eileen Bennett/Sampler house
Bands of Pearl
Stitched for 2012

Diane Jourdan/Sampler Cove
Sampler 101

I wasn't sure about the colors on this one but she says she loves it!

  Well, that's about all for now.  I really need to get back to work on this year's sampler.  Hopefully, I will have it finished by the end of next week so I can a) get it to her on time,  b) be able to post a picture of it, and c) have something else to post about so you don't get bored and quit visiting me!! 

  Hope to see you back here soon,  Laura