I'd Rather Be Stitching

WIPocalypse - First Update

2012-01-27T09:48:00.000-05:00

Since I started late my update is not on the full moon this month. I worked on two projects since joining the WIPocalypse, The Gorse Fairy by Lanarte and If Cats Could Talk by Designs by Lisa.

I spent the majority of my time on The Gorse Fairy. It's a huge chart that I have broken down into working copy pages. I have almost completed the 5th page.

I hope to have If Cats Could Talk finished by the next update on February 7th. It is an easy and quick stitch. I'm using the suggested GAST floss and Queen Anne's Lace fabric. It's dark and rainy today so the photo didn't turn out so great.

TUSAL - January 23rd update

2012-01-23T16:14:00.000-05:00

My little bear has quite a lot of thread for this first update. Most of this is left over floss from the hare kit I finished this month. I doubt there will be this much again any time soon. The few bits of yellow and green on top are from my current stitching on the Gorse Fairy.

Sick

2012-01-18T18:05:00.000-05:00

I got sick after working in the cold drafts from the front doors to our workplace on Sunday. It was only 8 degrees and there were constantly people going in and out. The heating system could not keep up. Then on Monday it snowed and I had to go out in it twice and clear the car to get home from work and then later to get my husband. I finally have a couple of days off but its cold and really windy. I've been spending a lot of time wrapped in my electric quilt and stitching with the humidifier going. These two, Koko and Bella, have been keeping me company.

Nature Collection Hare

2012-01-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

I am very happy to have finished this hare. I bought the kit at a Janlynn tent sale several years ago. Then I took the chart to my DH's office to enlarge it and lost the original with the color key. Some nice stitchers from the 123 board helped me find the key a couple of years ago so I could stitch it from my working copy. I got about 1/3 of it stitched and then got sidetracked until now.

WIPocalypse

2012-01-12T16:27:00.001-05:00

I found this WIPocalypse Stitch-A-Long last night and it looks like a lot of fun. Luckily signups don't end until the 15th so I made it just in time.

You are supposed to make a list of everything you want to stitch in 2012 and post updates on each full moon. The list can be edited throughout the year. I know I will have more but for now here's my list. I will be happy if I can finish one of the first four and at least do a section on the other three.

My 2012 WIPocalypse List

Frederick the Literate by Wysocki
The Gorse Fairy by Lanarte
The Kiss by Vermillion Stitchery
Castle Sampler by Teresa Wentzler
Cat Rules by Lizzie Kate
If Cats Could Talk by Designs by Lisa
Good Tidings by Little House Needleworks
Christmas Kisses by Margaret Sherry
Chessie's House (3 through 6) by Chessie and Me
Dragon's Treasure by Cherry Tree Designs

2012-01-11T13:20:00.000-05:00

A WINTER STORM WILL BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW & SOME ICE TO
THE INTERIOR LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY.

Yippee. We are going to have a storm and I had to go grocery shopping and it is Wednesday. Wednesday morning is the time they take all the seniors shopping from the various homes around here. But if you wait until evening the shelves are bare from everyone who ran to get things after work before the snow. It never fails that I really need to go shopping just as we are getting snow. But we are home now and I can relax and stitch through any storm.

Speaking of stitching I finished my UFO hare this morning! I think I am going to wait to post a picture after I frame him.

2012-01-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I was sick and couldn't sleep so I sat up and finished stitching the hare. All that's left is the big cabbage he is eating and all the backstitching. i was excited that I was getting close to a finish until I sat down to work on that cabbage today. It's bigger than the hare's head and has lots of color changes with similar shades of green. I started feeling stressed and discouraged. I told myself it was the sinus infection making me moody and just to keep stitching and not stress. I have to stop stitching and head out to work which I am not looking forward to. I feel awful.

Sunset

2012-01-07T11:48:00.000-05:00

We had this awesome sunset last night.

New WIP

2012-01-06T12:18:00.000-05:00

I ended up choosing If Cats Could Talk as my new WIP. I already had it kitted up and ready to go. I'm also still working on my UFO hare.

If Cats Could Talk

First Finish of 2012

2012-01-04T10:17:00.001-05:00

In addition to working on my hare yesterday I was able to finish this blackwork dragon yesterday. It was a kit by Cherry Tree that I started right after Christmas.

Now I have the fun of choosing something new to start. I have several ideas but I'm not sure which one to choose yet.

Good Hare Day

2012-01-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was cold and achy so I went upstairs and sat in my rocker with the heating pad. I pulled out a UFO to get my mind off my aches. It's a picture of a hare eating lettuce from Leisure Arts. I actually made some good progress on him. I worked on him a little more this morning as well. I may actually finish it this month. I'm too lazy to take it off the hoop and shoot a progress photo.

Work was bad last night. We were completely understaffed either by accident or the rumor that someone trimmed the schedule. Whatever the reason it made things difficult. I have one more shift tonight and then two days off in a row. I really want to take the Christmas decorations down and start cleaning the house from top to bottom. I've been trying to keep it neat while working extra hours but it really needs a good dusting and vacuuming. I bet I could knit a cat with the hair floating around.

New Year Soup

2012-01-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share the instructions for this wonderful Korean soup we had yesterday. If you don't have an Asian market nearby the ingredients can be ordered online from Hmart.

A Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long

2012-01-01T22:49:00.001-05:00

I joined A Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long this year. Last year I didn't hear about it until it was too late to join but I saved my orts in a container anyway.

I used this football for 2011. It's a plastic container from Fremont Street in Las Vegas that was originally full of beer. I thought using it for orts would be better than it just sitting there collecting dust. It turned out not to be such a great idea. It's unsteady and was always tipping over and spilling the threads all over the carpet.

This year I am going to use this bear. He originally was full of little cookies from Thailand. Hopefully he will be full of threads from finished projects by this time next year.

Book Review: Sisters of the Quilt by Cindy Woodsmall

2011-12-30T10:22:00.001-05:00

Sisters of the Quilt is a compilation of three novels by Cindy Woodsmall. When the Heart Cries begins the story of Old Order Amish teen Hannah Lapp. She has fallen in love with Mennonite Paul Waddell who has proposed to her. However she has kept their relationship a secret knowing that their relationship will not be accepted by her family and community. One night Hannah is attacked by a stranger and her life changes forever.
In When the Morning Comes Hannah’s story continues as she flees to Ohio in search of her shunned Aunt Zabeth. She meets Dr. Lehman and begins her life in the Englischer world studying to be a nurse. She also meets Martin Palmer and they become close friends.

When the Soul Mends is the final book in the series. Hannah’s sister Sarah calls and begs her to return to Owl’s Perch. Hannah must work with Paul Waddell to help Sarah’s mental health. She also has to deal with the events and people that led her to leave her home and flee to Ohio. In the end she must choose between Paul and Martin which also means choosing between Plain life and English life.

I have never been particularly interested in Amish stories. Something about this series made me curious to read it and I am glad I did. The characters and the story were captivating and I could not put it down. The story is not only about Hannah but her family and friends in Pennsylvania and Ohio and how their lives interconnect. I will be looking for more books by this author.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Stitching Musings

2011-12-09T09:39:00.000-05:00

Right after finishing all my Halloween stitching I decided to abandon work on Frederick the Literate for a while and work on a Christmas project. I chose the mouse in the ornament box that seems to be popular on the 123 Stitch board every year.

At first this was fun. I stitched two ornaments along with the box around them and all the details. That seemed to go very slowly. Then I decided to only stitch the outline of each section of the box and work on each ornament, leaving the box walls and details for later. I finally finished them by the end of November and started on the walls of the ornament box. What should have been easy with only two colors and no need to refer to the chart started to drag. I started to feel like I would never finish and fought the temptation to stop and start something new. I finally finished the last 2 walls last night.

This morning I stitched the area behind the ornaments, the back stitching and started the border around the entire box. I finished the first one before time to get ready for work. I feel like I have turned a corner and things are moving at a better pace now. I may just have this done by the end of next week.

2011-10-18T10:01:00.000-04:00

About a month and 1/2 ago I went from working 6 to 7 days a week to working 2 or 3 days a week. A sudden change like that left me not knowing what to do with myself for a while. There were so many things I wanted to do and never had time that I didn't know where to start. I started stitching for a while and finished several Halloween projects. I need to do the finishing on them today while the table is clear. I've been doing puzzles on the table so I couldn't bring out the sewing machine. I also started the SanMan Sunday SAL Halloween design.

I've also been reading. I went to the library on Sunday and floundered through the stacks looking for books. I can never think of my favorite authors or series when I'm at the library or bookstore and presented with so many choices. This led to the decision to update my goodreads account and put everything on shelves. This has turned into a major project. I never realized how many mysteries I have read in just the past few years. I haven't even added all the Agatha Christie's and I know I have read them all over the years. I think I will add them as I re-read them.

Book Review: Forever Faithful the Complete Trilogy by Karen Kingsbury

2011-10-01T21:09:00.000-04:00

All three books of this series are included in one book. It was great because I could keep reading but the downside was the book was very big and heavy. It will make a wonderful e-reader edition though.

Waiting for Morning is the story of Hannah Ryan who looses faith after her husband and daughter are killed by a drunk driver. She becomes angry and bitter while focused on sending Brian Wesley, the drunk driver to jail. She neglects her surviving daughter Jenny who is hurting too. DA Matt Bronzan and Carol Cummings from MADD are believers who try to help Hannah. Meanwhile Brian is trying to deal with what he has done and how it has affected his life.

A Moment of Weakness tells the story of Jade and Tanner. They begin as childhood friends who are separated when one family moves. Later they reunite as adults for a summer but a bad decision tears them apart again. Years later when Jade is going through divorce and a custody battle for her son she finds help from Tanner who now has a law practice with Matt Bronzan from the first book.

Halfway to Forever completes the stories of Hannah, Matt, Jade and Tanner. Hannah and Matt are trying to adopt a child. Jade is pregnant but facing a battle with cancer which causes her to make some tough choices. I had one problem with this book. The chemo drugs are repeatedly described as horrible poisons. Those drugs saved the life of a person very dear to me and it bothered me to have them described in such a negative manner.

I enjoy Karen's books very much. I find myself caught up in the lives of her characters and not wanting to put the book down until I finish and find out what happens. The inspirational message that God loves us and has a plan for our lives is central to each of the three books.

This E-book was sent to me free from Water Brook/Multnomah for my review.

Book Review: Waiting For Morning by Karen Kingsbury

2011-09-12T18:40:00.002-04:00

Tom Ryan and his two daughters Alicia and Jenny are on their way home from a camping trip when they are in a horrible accident caused by drunk driver Brian Wesley. Tom and Alicia die in the crash. Jenny survives with injuries but her life will never be the same. She becomes very depressed and feels neglected by her mother. Hannah Ryan is so angry about losing her husband and daughter that she loses her faith and focuses only on seeing Brian Wesley behind bars. DA Matt Bronzan and Carol Cummings from MADD are believers who try to help Hannah. Meanwhile Brian is trying to deal with what he has done and how it has affected his life.

Karen Kingsbury is blessed with being able to write wonderful stories and create the best characters. I have read a number of her books and there is always a character that I relate to very strongly and this book was no exception. I have seen this book in the past and never picked it up because I thought it would be too sad. It does have sad parts but there is also hope and the unfailing love of our Heavenly Father

This E-book was sent to me free from Water Brook/Multnomah for my review.

Book Review Sierra Jensen Collection Volume 1

2011-08-30T16:24:00.002-04:00

I wish I had the Sierra Jensen and Christy Miller books when I was growing up. Robin Jones Gunn has a wonderful way of creating characters that every girl can relate to. Sierra deals with moving to a new home, going to a new school and making new friends, boys, dating, her aging grandmother, responsibilities, working, and her faith. She is not a perfect Christian and does not always have the answers or do the right thing. Girls in Junior High and High School will enjoy these books and relate to the fun and challenges of being a Christian teen. This E-book edition contains the first three books in the series which were quick, enjoyable reads.

This E-book was sent to me free from Water Brook/Multnomah for my review.

Book Review - The Dragons of Chiril by Donita K. Paul

2011-08-23T12:37:00.002-04:00

I chose this book because I enjoyed Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by the same author so much. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much. From the beginning I felt lost. I did not have a clear picture of the different characters both human and animal and the world they lived in. A little more description about the different characters and the world they live in would have helped a lot. For example I am still not sure what a emerlindian or a tumanhofer are even after reading the glossary.

Basically the story is that Tipper has been living with her mother after her father, an artist, disappears. They have been selling his artwork to survive. They have little dragons and a giant parrot Beccaroon. Her father reappears with a wizard and his librarian and we learn he is caught in a gateway. They need to find three statues he carved to fix the gateway and save her father and the world. Of course these three statues are ones that have been sold. Tipper, the little dragons and the parrot set out with her father, the wizard the librarian and an artist to recover these statues. Later Jayrus joins them on the journey with his large dragons.

The sculptures are in the hands of evil people who have to be defeated. One is a slave trader and the other wants to use them to rule the world. There is mention of a creator named Wuldor but most of the emphasis is on the wizard's magic. The story was difficult to get into and then once it got interesting near the end it finished too quickly. After reading the Dragons of Chiril I am not interested in continuing with other books in the series.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

2011-07-20T16:47:00.001-04:00

Sculpture

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Monopoly & Birds

2011-05-17T10:37:00.000-04:00

I finished the first page of Monopoly this morning. I don't have any time limit for this one I just don't want it to get stuck at the bottom of a UFO pile.

Speaking of my UFO I made this picture to mark off progress on 5th Day. In addition to what is crossed out I have finished the border and most of the middle verse. It seems like I have finished a lot more when looking at it this way. I have a goal to finish this one by Labor Day.

Book Review - The One-Day Way by Chantel Hobbs

2011-05-03T18:26:00.000-04:00

The One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs is not radically different from many other diet books. The diet is a 1600 calorie a day diet along with exercise. There are sample menus and a good section of exercises with photos that anyone can do at home with a medicine ball and resistance band. She also suggests fasting as part of the diet which is something I don't agree with.

The main difference in her approach is to change the way you think. Instead of setting out to diet for a certain amount of time or until you loose a certain amount which can feel overwhelming she breaks it down to one day at a time. You focus on each day individually and if you blow it there is always tomorrow. I liked this part of her plan. Don't dwell on the past just try to do your best each day and only focus on that day. Don't beat yourself up over a failure just move on to the next day and keep going.

While her advice is good I found it difficult to get inspired. The first few chapters keep telling the reader what she is going to explain in detail later on over and over. It also seemed like I was expected to have read her previous book and be familiar with her story. I found myself getting bored at the beginning and skipping through to see the diet and exercises.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

5th Day UFO

2011-05-02T15:23:00.000-04:00

I have decided to see if I can finish 5th Day by Crossed Wing this summer. When I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago I was stuck in the middle of a robin's egg blue egg stitched over one on the bottom border. It was so difficult to see where I had stitched with blue floss on blue fabric. I managed to finish it and go on to the next egg in the row. Then it rained or was cloudy for days and too dark to stitch over one.

It's the over one that keeps me from finishing this project. I can do it but it is not my favorite. I also have found mistakes. I've decided to leave the mistakes if possible and just forge ahead. I decided last night to go ahead and finish the border and leave spaces for the items that touch it. In some spaces where that is a large area I am putting in a grid to help know where the items go. Once I finish the border I might put in a grid to place the remaining birds I need to stitch. I think if I can pick it up and choose whether to stitch an easy bird or spend some time doing over one stitching I will actually want to work on this more.

Book Review - Departures by Robin Jones Gunn

2011-04-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

This book contains two novellas featuring Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen written by one of my favorite authors Robin Jones Gunn. In Now Boarding at Gate 10 Christy and her famliy travel to Wisconsin to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of her grandparents. Christy has broken up with her boyfriend Todd and her heart is still sad over the decision. In Wisconsin she reconnects with Matthew, a friend she grew up with and had a crush on. Christy reflects on relationships through watching her parents, grandparentsand what she has learned about God.

In the Event of a Water Landing tells the story of Sierra Jensen who takes a trip to Montana with her friend Jana and her brother Gregg and Gregg's friend Tim. They are going to stay at Jana and Gregg's parent's cabin on the lake. Jana interests have turned to boys and getting a boyfriend but Sierra isn't sure she is ready for that yet. Sierra spends her vacation thinking about dating, how her friendship with Jana is changing and making the right choices with God's help.

I enjoyed both stories very much even though I am not a teen and have not read the other books in each series. Both were fun reads that discussed important life issues in a positive way.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission, please note that Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Finishes

2011-04-18T23:48:00.000-04:00

I finished a number of things recently to share with you. Not just cross stitch finishes either.

First I finished reading The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party By Alexander McCall Smith. My friend Mike and I went to see him speak at Mt. Holyoke College last month and got an autographed copy of the book. I'm sending it to mom for mother's day. She loves the No. 1 Ladies Detective agency as much as I do and has sent me several of the books. He said there are going to be two more movies made from the series and I am looking forward to them.

I have finished two Easter ornaments and have hung them on a little tree I found at Target. The first is Dew Drop by Just Nan stitched with DMC on a Silkweaver Solo Lugana. The second is Bunny Egg Mini by Waxing Moon stitched with "Friendship" Dragon Floss over one on 25 count white lugana.

I also finished Berry Patch Rabbit by Cedar Hill stitched on one of Sassy's hand painted fabrics (I've lost the bag with the color name.) using Victoria Clayton hand dyed silk.

My other finishes were not so photo worthy. We made the last payment on our car. I hemmed two new pairs of pants for work which I had been putting off. I also finished what is hopefully my last double shift at work.

In the upcoming weeks and months I hope to finish two more major projects. One is cleaning and organizing the basement which is still a mess after flooding. The other is to finish one of my UFOs, 5th Day by Crossed Wing. At this point both projects seem never ending. Hopefully a few weeks from now I will be able to look back and see some progress.

Book Review - Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn

2011-02-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

When Summer gets a call telling her that she has had an abnormal mammogram she decides to go into denial and put off dealing with it for a little while. She books a flight to the Netherlands to visit her pen pal Noelle. The two women have been writing since they were little girls. They have never met face to face or even spoken on the phone. Her husband is surprised but supports her decision.

Summer and Noelle spend the week sightseeing and getting to know each other in person. They visit the tulips, windmills and canals as well as a special farmhouse
for women and the hiding place of Corrie ten Boom. Each place allows them to think and learn more about themselves and their relationship with God. Summer is pushed outside of her comfort zone but manages to get through each event and become a stronger person and have stronger faith. This is the best part about Robin Jones Gunn's books and why I love them so much. In the middle of a fantastic fun vacation the characters learn lessons of faith and personal growth through their own thoughts and the love and support of their friends.

At first I didn't warm up to the character of Noelle especially since she was born in the USA but seemed not to understand Summer's personality. Noelle and the other Dutch people were frequently described as reserved and less emotional than Americans. Mentioning it so often made them seem cold and uncaring. I have visited the Netherlands and found the people I met to be very polite, kind and friendly not cold and distant. Other than that I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it and the rest of the Sisterchicks series to anyone who enjoys travel, friends and uplifting stories of faith. I have read the entire series now and loved them all.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission, please note that Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Vacation Over

2011-01-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

Since I am getting dressed for work tonight I suppose I have to admit that my vacation is now officially over. :(

I was supposed to spend 10 days in Vegas but that got canceled and I ended up in Tucson for a week. It was nice but not the vacation I had planned for almost a year. Tucson was sunny and warm but still recovering from the shock of the tragic shooting event. It was still on the news constantly and there was live coverage of Gabrielle being taken to the plane that would fly her to Houston.

I did more shopping than stitching. I managed to finish 1/4 of Frederick the Literate which had become a UFO in my pile. I also did a little work on the border of Raccoon's Visit. I had planned to start Needle and Thread by LHN but never got around to it.

At night when the light wasn't good for stitching I worked on a crochet hat which I finished. Mine is dark grey and does not have a flower. I'm going to wear it when I walk home tonight.

I managed to finish 3 books during my vacation. I read Divine Appointments for Blogging For Books. I also finished my two selections for the January challenge at the cozy mystery group at Goodreads. I'm still plugging through Half Price Homicide by Elaine Viets on my Nook but I'm not enjoying it despite loving the series.

Book Review - Divine Appointments

2011-01-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

Divine Appointments
by Charlene Ann Baumbich

This is the story of a 40 something business consultant named Josie who is going through menopause and starting to re-think her loner lifestyle. Josie is not the only main character. Several other people who work at the company Josie is helping to streamline during the hard economic times in 2009 are also featured prominently. Lyle is a Vice President who has left a career in non-profit
work to work at Diamond Mutual, Barb is a department manager of 20 years and nearing retirement, and Marsha is one of Barb's department workers who is getting over a divorce by focusing her anger into writing a science fiction novel.

I was disappointed at how little mention of anything Christian there was in the book. Barb is a Christian and prays for her co-workers who are loosing their jobs. She starts Encouragement Meetings for them to help them deal with being laid off and find new jobs. I would have loved to read more about these meetings and how she might have helped others find faith. Instead prayer is only mentioned briefly and too much space is taken up with selections from Marsha's bad
science fiction book. I tried to read a few of these and ended up skimming or skipping them. Josie is always thirsty and has a magic snow globe that comes to life whenever she has done something in her life to quench her thirst for friends and family. This was just odd to have a fantasy taking place in one person's life while there is such a clear division between another character's real life and the fantasy she writes in her novel.

The book starts out very slow with a lot of description about what people are doing and what they are thinking about. It picked up once the layoffs started and the Encouragement group was founded. Josie's life changes very quickly after this, almost too quickly. I never did warm to her character and enjoyed the stories of how the other Diamond Mutual workers dealt with being laid off more.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission, please note that Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Vacation

2011-01-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

I am on vacation visiting my mom this week in sunny Arizona while my poor husband is stuck shoveling snow in Massachusetts. It is not the vacation in Vegas that I planned but it has been nice.

Twice we have gone shopping at her local needlework shop. I have a bag full of charts, fabric, specialty floss and JABC buttons that I am looking forward to bringing home and working with. I also have a big bag of books from the used bookstore.

I am not looking forward to going home this Sunday to a deep freeze in the Northeast. It's going to be such a shock to go from the upper 70's to minus 0
temperatures. I'm getting so spoiled here!

Book Review - Two Tickets to the Chrismas Ball by Donita K. Paul

2011-01-05T16:28:00.001-05:00

Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball was a sweet romantic story that I enjoyed very much. Donita K. Paul combines romance, magic, Christmas, family and Christianity into a quick read that is perfect for the holidays.

Cora is a young Christian woman who is estranged from her family and lives alone with her cat. She works at the same company as Simon who is a single Christian man who lives with his family and is very committed to them. They meet unexpectedly while looking for Christmas presents at the Warner, Werner and Wizbotterdad's bookshop on mysterious Sage Street. They both end up buying the same book, each with a ticket to the Wizard's Christmas Ball tucked inside.

Cora and Simon find themselves spending more and more time together. Will they be able to become friends despite their different personalities and the fact that they are manager and subordinate at work? Will they find romance even though they are not looking for it? I generally don't read many romances because I find them predictable. This one was lighthearted and the magical element kept it from being so predictable. The characters were real and likable. I would love to read a sequel that continues Simon and Cora's story.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission, please note that Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Brains......

2010-12-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

Today I feel like a Zombie.

Will got off work at 2AM and I had to pick him up. I stayed awake by baking cookies and watching Survivor from the DVR. I'm sad Jane is gone. I liked her because she was feisty. The cookies I made were the Peanut Butter Blossoms from the Hershey's Kisses bag. They turned out good even though I used a combination of Jif and store brand peanut butter instead of Reese's.

People at work are starting to talk about possible snow over the weekend. I need to run to the store for the classic storm supplies (milk, bread and toilet paper) before they run out. I actually need the milk and bread along with a couple of things to make Hopi Corn Stew.

Well I had better get off to work. When I get back tonight seems like a good night to eat cookies and watch Love Actually, one of my favorite holiday movies.

Stitching From My Day Off

2010-12-15T12:23:00.001-05:00

Last year I stitched Joyful Christmas by Shepherd's Bush and found this Christmas fabric to make a pillow. It has sat in a drawer all year. I finally got around to stitching it up and filling it yesterday. Although our new kitty Bella has been very good this year around the tree I don't quite trust her so it's going to sit on a shelf this year.

I love these designs from JBW. They stitch up quick and are so cute. I finished the tree yesterday and as you can see I have not even ironed them yet. They are on a long skinny piece of linen I found in my stash but I will probably finish them separately. I'm not sure what I want to do with them. My tree is getting crowded but I have every wall covered with stitching too.

After I finished the tree I started the kitty in a stocking by Pam Kellogg you can find for free at the Kreinik site. I usually don't like stitching with metalics but I'm using Thread Heaven and it's going fairly quickly. I wish I could stay home another day and stitch. It's 16 degrees out and I am not looking forward to driving to work in the cold. We were out earlier and the drivers are all crazy today. I'm glad all my shopping is done so I can relax.

4 Ornaments

2010-12-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

Here are four ornaments I've managed to finish and get on the tree this month. The top two are from Little House Needleworks. Bottom left is a Leisure Arts redwork kit and bottom right is a cover kit from a UK Magazine.

I have two more I hope to finish this week. The reindeer is stitched and waiting to be made into an ornament and I am working on stitching the French Country tree.

A Lovely Day and a Rotten Day

2010-12-09T11:09:00.000-05:00

Tuesday I had a rotten day at work. It can be summed up by simply saying that a manager and a supervisor told me that one of our other managers was "in one of her moods again". I was able to avoid her but that makes for a long shift.

Yesterday was my day off and it was lovely. I watched the fist Mrs. Miracle movie and worked on my crochet jacket. Then later I watched Korean dramas with Mike and worked on turning two LHN designs into ornaments. I played games, started reading the second Mrs. Miracle book on my nook and stitched a little. It was a perfect lazy day.

I've finished the penguin ornament all except for the silk ribbon bow on his Christmas gift. I lost the ribbon I had so I've re-ordered it but it won't be in until after the first of the year. I'm just happy he's done.

Well I had better be off to work. I hope she's not in a mood today.

I'm Back

2010-11-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

After almost a year hiatus I am back. So much has changed in the past year. I am now a "one at a time" stitcher and only working on things for myself. I'm no longer doing exchanges or any stitch along that involves starting something new. Lately I'm in the mood to finish UFO's that became UFO's because I got involved with other projects. I've started doing more than just stitching in my free time. I've been teaching myself to crochet more than just granny squares. I've joined a reading group. I've been doing puzzles and playing games including online, Wii and board games. I'm working a new shift so I have been able to spend some time in the mornings with my husband which is nice.

Right now I am working on a penguin ornament by Mosey and Me from one of the JCS issues that has been sitting around partially stitched in a bag for a couple of years now. It's really cute but I don't enjoy stitching it. There is a big white area stitched on pale blue gingham checked linen and it's just boring to work on.

I'm working on a crocheted jacket but it's going slow. I'm using the big chunky Lion wool/acrylic blend yarn in sky blue. This is the first project I have attempted that wasn't a hat, scarf or granny square afghan.

DH and I are having a heated battle trying to get more bells run than the other in Harvest Moon Animal Parade on the Wii.

Tomorrow is the 1st and I want to get the sewing machine out and do the finishing on some ornaments and a pillow I stitched. Then since I have the day off it's the perfect day to put up the tree. And at some point DH and I want to go see Harry Potter. But for now it's time to get ready for work. It's one of those nights that it's cold and I would rather stay home and watch tv but that doesn't pay the bills or buy stash.

Happy 2010

2010-01-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

Over the past months I have come to the realization that I no longer have a passion to blog about my stitching. I no longer participate in exchanges and I seem to have less and less time to stitch or read blogs. I prefer to spend the time I have for stitching and I never feel like taking the time to take and post progress photos. For now I have decided to close this blog indefinately. I've joined a couple of SAL groups on Facebook which I enjoy that don't take the time commitments that exchanges and blogging do so maybe I will see some of you there. I wish everyone who has read this blog in the past a Happy New Year and hope things are good for you in the next 12 months.

2009-10-31T20:43:00.002-04:00

Finishes

2009-07-11T19:41:00.006-04:00

Greyhound by Brenda Franklin Designs
stitched on 28ct Guacamole Lugana by Silkweaver using DMC

This looks like my Millie who crossed Rainbow Bridge several years ago.

Bee Blossoms a Just Nan Class Project
stitched on 28 CT Zweigart Mulberry Cashel

I haven't decided how to finish this one. It was a challenge to stitch. I had lost the stitch diagrams and had to look up stitches on the internet and stitch them at my computer.

Joyful Summer by Country Cottage Needleworks
stitched on 28ct white Monaco with Crescent Colors & DMC

I stitched this one on white instead of the recomended blue because the blue Crescent Colors floss I received was so pale. That's one thing I don't like about having to place orders online instead of looking at things at a shop where you could possibly get a darker shade of the same hand dyed floss. Then I got allergy medicine on it and had to wash it. Guess what? Crescent Really Teally runs! I almost cried! Instead I soaked it in cold water for a few days and rescued it. I did the finishing this week for the SMO board challenge.

I have two projects I'm currently working on now that these are finished. Two years ago mom bought a big box of cross stitch items that went unsold at a church rummage sale. She had bought a few of the items earlier in the day and went back and made an offer on everything that didn't sell. They wanted to give her the box for $5 but she insisted on a donation of $25 dollars which she had to insist they accept. The fabric alone was worth much more than that. Included in that box was a bunch of JABC buttons , Mill Hill treasures and a little bag of Honeybee Creations buttons with the original $70 price tag for Stoney Creek's In Every Season which I had admired in the past. I tracked down an original pattern on Ebay (the newer one is for JABC buttons and a little different.) and have started stitching it. I've also started Love One Another by Little House Needleworks. The little lion and lamb are so sweet.

A Couple of Linen Flowers Finishes

2009-06-09T10:41:00.004-04:00

Linen Flowers Tin Topper Freebie
stitched on 32 count white Jobelin
Carrie's Creations floss

I stitched this little tin topper for Lisa from the SanMan boards for our friendship train. Lisa had sent me the floss earlier in a floss exchange. I just love the bright colors.

Linen Flowers bookmark freebie
stitched on a premade aida bookmark
using DMC floss

I have had this bookmark in my UFO pile for ages. It was the first Linen Flowers design I saw and fell in love with. The bookmark I used was longer than the design so I have added two extra paw prints and left off the words.

Sea To Shining Sea

2009-04-17T14:05:00.002-04:00

Sea to Shining Sea by Little House Needleworks/Crescent Colors
stitched on 32ct Silkweaver Enchantment Lugana

Stitchathon Finishes

2009-04-06T14:27:00.005-04:00

Margaret Sherry Purrfect Partners freebie from the January 2008 UK Cross Stitcher finished for the 4/3 SAT at Let's Stitch.

Charming Cat a Daydreams Kit finished for the 3/27 SAT.

3/27 SAT at Let's Stitch

2009-04-02T11:12:00.001-04:00

This is my progress on Charming Cat, a Daydreams kit. When I started stitching on Friday night I had only completed the tail.

I have since finished her and will post an update photo soon.

3/13 SAL

2009-03-15T09:33:00.003-04:00

Progress from the 3/13 SAL at Let's Stitch.

Rainbow

2009-02-02T17:52:00.001-05:00

Your rainbow is strongly shaded white and violet.

What is says about you: You are a contemplative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. People depend on you to make them feel secure. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Two More Finishes

2009-01-28T13:02:00.004-05:00

Noah's Rainbow by Just Nan
stitched on white Jobelin with DMC

Strawberries by Little House Needleworks
stitched on bone Jazlyn with Crescent Colors floss

Stupid Pet Tricks

2009-01-28T12:56:00.003-05:00

1 lazy cat + 1 plastic cup + 1 silly husband = this!

Woof!

2009-01-19T14:24:00.003-05:00

Woof Block
by Lizzie Kate
unknown linen fabric
Weeks and Sampler Threads floss

Another Finish

2009-01-17T21:46:00.003-05:00

Meow Block By Lizzie Kate
Unknown 28ct linen
Weeks and Sampler Threads

(There's a charm I still need to add but I'm waiting until I frame it.)

First Finish of 2009

2009-01-11T09:15:00.002-05:00

Blue Mountain Bunny
by The Sweetheart Tree
Honeysuckle Pink Jobelin
Dinky Dyes Silk #77 Blue Moutain

Trees

2009-01-10T09:39:00.007-05:00

On the SanMan board I was telling everyone how all the maple trees in our neighborhood are being cut down due to the infestation of Asian Longhorn beetles. For the past two days crews have been at our house and our immediate neighbors. Here are some photos. The quality is not so good because I used my phone and the windows are dirty from the snowstorms.

Our house photo from Google Maps taken in the summer of 2007. You can see that the tree at street level is dying from the beetles.

This used to be all the trees on the left side of the Google Maps photo. You can see the crane removing trees from the neighbor's yards.

This is where the 3 large trees on the right side of the Google Maps photo used to be. Hundreds of birds roosted there every night in the spring and summer. There were also trees in front of and behind the fence in the background. You can't really tell how big these stumps are from the photo. Each one is at least 3 feet wide.

A view down the street. The trucks are parked directly in front of our house. We were heading out to the sale at Thistle Needleworks in CT to get away from the noise and depressing sight of the trees being cut.

The view out my front window at my neighbor's bare yard. They will be back for the rest of her trees Monday. That is not a dirt road in front of our house. That is ice packed and mixed with wood chips.

A New Year

2009-01-04T08:53:00.006-05:00

I decided not to set any stitching goals this year other than to enjoy myself when I stitch. Last year I tried a rotation and tweaked it a couple of times but it never seemed to work out. As we begin 2009 there are so many stressful things on my mind that I want something I don't have to worry about or try and get done by a certain time and that is my stitching.

At Christmas I worked on Make a Wish but the pictures I took were blurry. I'll have to take some new ones when I pull it back out again.

On New Year's Eve I started Blue Mountain Bunny and finished him early in the morning on January 2nd. As soon as I get the embellishments attached I'll take a picture. I've put that off because I stabbed my thumb with a needle and it's very sore and I'm finding it hard to thread a needle or do anything more than basic x's. It's amazing how much we rely on our thumbs. So many little tasks are so difficult if your thumb hurts or even just because you have a bandaid on it.

I stitched more on Sea to Shining Sea for the first SAT of 2009 for Let's Stitch. I finished the second house, the Southwestern one, and more of the border.

On Saturday I started something for the Lizzie Kate exchange at Hooked on Exchanging.

I need to find something new to read at work during lunch. I tried starting Sour Puss by Rita Mae Brown and it's terrible. I love the Mrs. Murphy series but this one reads like a wine growing textbook. I'll probably finish it at home but I need something I enjoy more for work. Reading at lunch is my way to unwind and forget about the rude customers. As the economy has gotten worse I hear more and more complaints about how terrible my workplace is because our prices have risen along with every other place in town. Some comments get very personal which is just plain mean. What I sell and my company sells is purely entertainment along with booze and junk food which are not necessities of life like medicine, electricity, gasoline or even groceries. But people speak to us as if they are entitled to have entertainment at discount prices that would put my workplace out of business. It's the attitude of entitlement that gets to me. While I hope things get better in 2009 I am not going to be surprised if it doesn't get worse before things start to improve. A lot of people are going to be needlessly miserable if they don't get rid of this sense of entitlement and start counting the blessings they already have.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T08:38:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Birds Are Finally Finished!

2008-12-19T08:49:00.003-05:00

I never would have finished this without the encouragement from BeckySC's Let's Stitch blog and the Friday night Stitch-A-Thons.

Once the birds were finished I celebrated by stitching this cute mouse by Casey Buonaugurio from the December Just Cross Stitch.

The day our power was out I sat by the window and stitched this cutie from San Man.

Ice Storm

2008-12-13T15:36:00.011-05:00

Thursday night around 10:25pm our electricity went out as the freezing rainstorm got heavy. We lit candles and settled in to wait it out. Sometime around 2:30 - 3:00AM the trees in front of our neighbors house lost branches just in front of and behind our car, missing it by inches. Someone was trying to drive down the street and he an my husband pushed the branches aside. We moved the car to my workplace at the end of the street. We spent the remaining hours until daylight listening to the awful sounds of breaking trees and falling branches.

Will heads to the end of the street to get the car and find someplace open with hot food and drinks. We were still without power and the temperature inside the house had dropped to 56 degrees. Our car had been parked directly behind the large branches he is walking past. Radio reports said 100,000 in our area alone were without power.

Large ice covered branches fell in the back yard and hung on the dog walk line.

The side yard was full of fallen branches. You can just make out the police blocking access to the southern part of the street where trees fell and broke all the windows out of one house. Power and phone lines were broken and laying in the street as well.

The neighbor's tool shed still stands but a large branch covers the door. An entire tree is laying behind the shed and barely missed crushing it.

While Will was out getting food a large tractor trailer truck drove down the street and knocked more branches into the street. Neighbors came out and moved them with their hands and a truck equipped with a snow plow.

What a difference it made when the sun came out. Ice melted and was falling like hail. This is the same view with and without ice.

Will had to work on Friday and Mike and I stayed at the house layered in clothes waiting for the power to come back on. Rain continued to fall and the basement started to flood. Radio reports estimated no power until Monday and urged people to go to shelters if they got too cold. We didn't want to leave our animals and we were also afraid our house would be broken into so we decided to stick it out as long as we could. By afternoon we had phone service which was good because the batteries on our cell phones were running low. I sat by our big front window and stitched until we lost the light. We saw power company and city trucks driving up and down our street which made us feel like they were trying to do something. It was frustrating because the houses to the south of us and the factory across the street still had power but we did not. The temperature dropped to about 50 degrees in the house and we put out blankets for the animals to hide under. Will had made arrangements for us to come to his work once his shift was over at 10pm to eat and get warm for a while. Around 9:30 we were surprised and happy when the power came back on. We had to use space heaters until the water cleared from the basement but at least we had something to warm the house back up.

This morning we went out to get groceries and saw more damage. The store we shop at was still out of power and running on generators so we had to go someplace else for perishables. We have been busy today trying to clear up some of the branches and take care of things we couldn't do yesterday so I don't know how many are left without power but I am afraid it is a lot.

Christmas Meme

2008-12-04T18:54:00.003-05:00

Found this on Mel's Blog and it looked like fun.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
My wrapped packages don't look so great so I use bags if it's not for family.
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial but I love how real ones smell.
3. When do you put up the tree?
I try to put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down?
After January 6th.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes! Yum!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Cassette recorder.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
My sister - she has everything!
8. Easiest person to buy for?
Mike
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. I collect them.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
I don't send cards any more. Everyone on our list stopped sending cards so we did too.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Most of the worst ones have been from "Secret Santa" gift exchanges at work. I think these are a waste of money and time unless you are very close to your co-workers. I don't care much for Santa Claus and I don't decorate with Santa themed items. We got a lot of Santa themed stuff every year when we were kids and I have just never really liked it. One year for a work gift exchange my partner let her kids pick the gift and they chose plush Santa dolls. They weren't even cute! My DH recognized what store they came from because he used to work there and he exchanged them for a new shirt he liked. I still wonder what possessed this person to let their kids pick a gift for their co-worker.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Love Actually
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I usually start when they put all the summer stuff on clearance for back to school. Our family birthdays are all between November and January so I start early.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Yes. The one that comes to mind is a gift basket of goodies that I got. I liked it but DH needed a last minute gift for someone in his office so we used the basket of goodies which was still wrapped. The recipient loved it.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Christmas cookies.
16. Lights on the tree?
Clear/white lights that came on the pre-lit tree. I prefer colors.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Work :( Which is why we celebrate on Christmas Eve.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
No! I tried this on a quiz recently and couldn't do it.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
We had an angel but it broke and I am looking for a star this year.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
The Christmas music in the stores and at work that is not traditional.
I hate some of the new odd versions of songs.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
Woodland animals and birds.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Lamb
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Stash of course!
And Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility and Animal Crossing City Folk.

Birds and Vampires Again

2008-12-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

Here is the photo of the birds just before starting the backstitching. It's pink due to the lights in my house but the fabric is actually white.

I finally saw the end of Twilight on Monday. I'm glad I went ahead and read the book though because although I really enjoyed the movie I liked the book better. I'm having a "teen" week I suppose since I've rented Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and plan to watch both it and the first one while stitching this afternoon.

Birds, Work, Christmas Decorations and Vampires

2008-11-30T23:35:00.004-05:00

I have finished all the main stitching and the birds are hanging in my bathroom drying! Usually I wouldn't wash something at this point but it was so dirty that I decided it would be best to wash it before adding the beads. Tonight I can begin all the backstitching and beading. I set a goal of finishing this by next weekend and I'm right on target at this point. I'll take a picture and post it before I start.

Thanksgiving was nice and the calm before the storm at work. We pulled out all the Christmas stuff and I've started decorating but I haven't done much. I've wrapped most of the gifts, put up lights and assembled the tree. I have been so tired from work so I'm taking things slow. I won't talk about my work specifically but think of it this way. It is normally not too busy. The regular customers are usually older, well spoken, well read and educated. While a few can be snobs they generally know how to act in public. Now the holidays come and you have a lot of customers who don't care how they behave. They are loud (screaming), rude, shoplift, messy and bring children to places where it is not appropriate or the kids are just bored. Not only am I tired from the extra customers I am tired of cleaning up after them, keeping things from getting stolen and asking people to behave that should know better. I don't work in retail and I can only imagine how much worse it is for someone who does. It doesn't help that we are worried about what will happen to our jobs after the holidays. Last night I came home too exhausted to decorate the tree. Maybe tonight I can get started.

I finished reading Twilight and enjoyed it. I had avoided reading it because the description someone gave me sounded incredibly boring. I was happy that the book didn't seem anything like their description. I want New Moon for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T11:48:00.003-05:00

Since I have to work tomorrow we are celebrating today while we are all at home together.

The turkey was just put in the oven and now I am going to curl up on the couch and read Twilight. I broke down and bought a copy at Sam's Club this morning when we went to get a pie for dinner because something has jinxed my being able to see the movie.

I'm not kidding I am jinxed! First I was supposed to see it on Thursday before it was officially released thanks to my projectionist friend. They put the movies together and run them off early to check them. Problem was the films got to his theater on Wednesday, his day off, and someone else took care of them. I wasn't upset because I can still see it with everyone else.

DH and I could have gone to see it on Saturday but we were tired and changed our minds. Lucky thing we did because the movie theater we would have gone to had a fire alarm and they had to evacuate the building.

Last night I finally went by myself after work. Right as Bella is bleeding and dying and Edward and his father are trying to save her someone in the audience had a seizure and stopped breathing so they had to stop the movie which was really scary. Even though the person responded to first aid and seemed ok they still had to wait for an ambulance and fill out reports so it was going to be a while before they could start the movie again. I was dead tired so I decided to come home and catch the ending another time. I felt bad for the person because they were upset and embarrassed about ruining the movie to everyone. In the meantime I have decided to read the book on the recommendation of a co-worker who likes the book better than the movie.

Friday Stitch-a-thon and a Nativity Sampler

2008-11-22T08:40:00.004-05:00

Last night I finished the blue bird and half of the greenery he's sitting on. Now there's just one bird and more greenery left. I'm starting to get excited about finishing this one. I tried to find out how long it's been a UFO but the oldest mention of it I have from blogging is a UFO list from December 2004.

Yesterday I bought a copy of the UK Cross Stitcher Issue 206 and it has this beautiful nativity sampler in it by Gail Bussi. It's going on my "to be stitched someday" list.

Birds Again

2008-11-21T08:48:00.005-05:00

I've finally made a little progress on the birds. I had great plans to stitch all day Wednesday but I had a killer sinus headache that ruined that idea. I finally stitched for a little bit Wednesday night. Last night I skipped my usual stitching on Castle Sampler during Survivor and stuck with the birds. Speaking of Survivor it was one of the best Tribal Councils ever. Crystal yelling her vote "Forget you go home!" to the camera so everyone could hear was a riot.

Ugh...

2008-11-18T10:17:00.006-05:00

Last night I had plans to stitch diligently on my birds but it didn't happen. Mike's cat Nikki was feeling sick after getting his shots. He was shivering, favoring the areas where they injected him, and cried when we picked him up. I felt sorry for him so I brought him to my bed and turned on the heated mattress pad. I sat down to stitch and after 30 minutes had done only about 20 stitches when I decided to crawl into bed myself. My knees and ankle were hurting from the cold, arthritis and standing on my feet at work. I woke up around 11pm and both Nikki and I felt a lot better. In fact Nikki was back to his old self. He can't fool me into babying him more either. The ladies (Abby Tabby, Callie and Mama Gus) tolerate him being in my room when he's sick but this morning they were back to growling at him. The only male allowed in this bedroom is my DH according to the ladies LOL!

This morning the second house for From Sea To Shining Sea was in my mailbox. It's the southwestern house and it's so cute! I want to stitch it now! But I made a commitment to finish those birds so the house will have to be a reward incentive.

Silliness

2008-11-17T22:59:00.003-05:00

Houses and Birds

2008-11-17T10:11:00.006-05:00

Saturday and Sunday I worked on Sea to Shining Sea by LHN. Before I started I was a little worried by talk on the internet that there might not be enough floss in the chartpacks to stitch with two strands on my 32 count Lugana. When I finished this first house I had a lot left over. I could have probably even used 28 count fabric. Since the rows were not long I did not stitch each X individually which takes more floss and the variegation still looks nice.

The current challenge at Let's Stitch is working on Christmas projects. That fits in great with my plans. I'm going to set other stitching aside and try like crazy to finish these birds in the next 2 or 3 weeks. There are two more birds with greenery left to go and then lots of backstitching.

Weekend Stitching and a Finish

2008-11-15T19:59:00.003-05:00

Friday morning I went downstairs and had one of those moments when I wish I had a camera but didn't. Our yahoo neighbors have stacked a lot of junk on their back deck including one of those tall, expensive cat trees which is getting ruined by the rain. This morning when I looked out there were squirrels on it looking so cute.

I'm cooking again tonight because we are all bored with the same old things. Lately I've been trying new and different recipes which has been fun. I get so frustrated at our local grocery store when I try to find ingredients though. Tonight's chicken pot pie uses Campbell's condensed potato soup. Our store had what seemed like a dozen different versions of chicken noodle, each with a different character shaped noodle but not basic potato by Campbell's or any other brand. It's that way with a number of foods. The variety isn't the flavor of the food but what character it is. I finally found the soup at a store I don't care for but they had the red Whitman's tins I wanted so it was worth the trip.

For the Friday night SAT at Let's Stitch I worked on Woolly Tyme again. I completed all the stitching last night and did the finishing this morning. I don't have very many of his blankets left to stitch and then I'll have something different to display every month.

Today I worked on Sea to Shining Sea. The house and water are finished and I have all but a tiny bit of the greenery/vines done. All that's left is the palm tree, sun and the flowers on the vines. I got a bill from the ONS for the next part today so I'll be watching for it in my mailbox soon.

SAL Update Photos

2008-11-11T09:49:00.004-05:00

Here is my progress from the Nov 7 stitchathon at Let's Stitch Too. It's Woolly Tyme's November blanket by Homespun Elegance.

There really are some stitches on this fabric but they're hard to see. This is my Mosey & Me ornament as it looked when I pulled it out of the UFO pile for the weekly challenge on Let's Stitch Too.

This is my progress on Passione Ricamo's Make A Wish for the San Man board SAL.

Floss Tag From Lillie

2008-11-11T09:45:00.005-05:00

Lillie stitched Spring by Just Nan and it's gorgeous. I love the colors she used and Just Nan is one of my favorite designers. I love it!

Very Happy With Election Results Tonight!

2008-11-05T01:31:00.003-05:00

Massachusetts voters have approved a ban on greyhound racing in the state. The state's two greyhound tracks must end dog racing by Jan. 1, 2010.

This issue was one we felt very strongly about. We've rescued two greyhounds Millie who has since crossed Rainbow Bridge and AJ (pictured above).

Weekend Update

2008-11-03T09:27:00.003-05:00

We had a nice Halloween. No trick or treaters showed up and we didn't even see any out on the street. We watched some zombie stuff Mike had and I worked on the incredibly boring border for Sea to Shining Sea. By incredibly boring border I mean the white/cream boxes around the areas for the houses. It's not exactly something everyone is excited to see a photo of so I will wait until I get some of the house done.

I've decided I want to finish this old UFO for Christmas this year. It's a Bucilla kit I bought years ago when I was just starting to do a lot of cross stitch. It was one of the first designs I saw that had beads and charms back when only a few designers were using them. I've been stitching on it for the past 4 or 5 Sunday nights but I feel like I'm not getting very far. I thought taking photos might help inspire me.

DH and I are doing our on personal NANOWRIMO writing project this month. We aren't joining the official one, just doing something ourselves. I've had an idea for a story kicking around in my head for a couple of years now and I want to see if I can actually get something down on paper. I got two pages written last night that are pretty awful but at least it's a start.

Finally I am so happy this election campaign is almost over. It has been so long and ugly and I am sick of it. I will say one thing that has been good was whether you like them or not it was great to see more women and and an African American in the race. We've come a long way in my short lifetime.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T02:31:00.008-04:00

It's Halloween and I have the day off to stitch, bake and do things around the house. This morning I used the kitty kit mom sent me to make our pumpkin. It's really cute and I didn't have to scoop out any seeds you just poke the pieces into the pumpkin. I just finished baking apple crisp and the house smells wonderful. Later tonight we are going to have a Dark Shadows marathon and eat pizza. We decided not to give out candy this year. The only kids in our neighborhood don't deserve treats after all the trouble and vandalism they have caused this year.

I am happy to hear that the two exchanges I mailed have made it to their destinations. The pumpkins were for Karen, my partner in the SBEBB Pumpkin Patch exchange and the floss tag was for Margaret at Hooked on Exchanging.

I woke up aroune 3AM this morning after having the oddest dream that involved stitching. I can't remember ever dreaming about stitching before. In the dream a co-worker found a pattern we both wanted but there was only one copy. It had several designs for towels in it all on separate loose sheets of paper. She said she was going to give me one of them if I let her buy it but didn't so I was upset with her. The funny thing is that this co-worker doesn't stitch or do anything crafty in real life. In my dream she was making several different towels.

I can't decide what I want to work on today. The things in my basket are calling me to start something new today. We'll see...

I forgot I wanted to post this funny picture of Callie. The frame was in the dollar stuff at Target. The more I tried to get a cute picture of her the more she made this snotty face. DH loves it, she's his spoiled baby girl.

Hot off the Hoop - Bats!

2008-10-27T09:49:00.005-04:00

For the past week I have been stitching on these bats and feeling like I was making hardly any progress. I lost count several times and did more frogging on this project than I have in a long time. Last night I thought I could seen the light at the end of the tunnel with only two wings left to go so I skipped working on the Christmas project I usually pull out on Sunday nights and continued working on the bats. This morning I got up early and put in the final stitches. The bats are from the My Aunt's Attic blog and the fabric is Pumpkin Mousse from Sassy's Fabrics.

Finally Finished

2008-10-25T12:48:00.004-04:00

I've been finishing things all week and mailed out two exchanges. This afternoon I plan to finish my witch so I can display her before Halloween.

Cthulu with his very on Ia! Ia! biscornu.

Halloween ornaments!

Will's birthday present arrived and I went ahead and gave it to him now while he has a week off from work to play with it. It's one of the Mars Mission sets from Lego that was an incredible bargain on the Lego site. Proof you never outgrow Lego.

Blogoversary

2008-10-24T08:07:00.005-04:00

Today is my 3 year blogoversary for this blog however I have been blogging longer than this. I switched to blogger when we dropped our old internet account and I lost my blog hosted there.

So many things have changed in the past 3 years. I see photos of cats on a sofa we no longer have and a cat and a rat that have crossed Rainbow Bridge. There's a photo of the car we bought and a post about redecorating our bedroom. My friend Mike has had 3 cancer surgeries, 2 rounds of chemo and most recently a hernia surgery and is now in remission. My husband has gone through some major changes at his job and so have I.

As I write we are facing more changes. Soon we are going to loose some of our huge maple trees due to the infestation of Asian Longhorn beetles. I am sick over this. One thing we loved about this house when we bought it was the trees. I hope we don't loose all of them.

Three years ago I had just started participating in exchanges. At one point most of my stitching was exchanges. I cut back this year and I am going to cut back even more for 2009 and continue to participate in only one exchange group, Hooked on Exchanging. I won't be participating in the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Exchange group this year and The Pumpkin Patch exchange will be my last one for the SBEBB. I have enjoyed being part of both groups and have met some wonderful stitchers there. I'll still look forward to seeing what everyone is exchanging on your blogs. The cost of exchanges is one thing I'm taking into consideration but the time involved is the biggest reason. I want to spend some time stitching for myself, participating in a couple of SALs I pretty much abandoned this year, and doing more sewing and other projects I never get around to working on. I also found myself not having as much time to spend with my book group as I would like.

Hopefully this next year of blogging will be a good one and I will have a lot of photos and good stories to share.

I've Been Tagged

2008-10-21T21:50:00.004-04:00

I've been tagged by Deb

Here are the rules of the game.
• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself.
• Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
• Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

Here are my six random things:

1. I love to watch soaps while I stitch.
2. I have a weird sense of humor that I got from my family. Have you ever seen Mystery Science Theater 3000 where Joel and the robots make comments to the movies? My sister and I wrote comments like that in an entire set of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books.
3. I hate to cook.
4. I'm a compulsive list maker.
5. I love bats. I'm stitching bats and I decorated my home and workplace with bats for Halloween. Once I rescued a live bat that got caught in a building.
6. I drink too much Diet Coke.

Anyone who wants to play along please consider yourself tagged.

Pumpkin Patch Exchange From Michelle

2008-10-18T18:06:00.007-04:00

I received the most wonderful exchange box from Michelle with not one but two stitched items and loads of other goodies. I feel very spoiled. Thank you so much Michelle I love everything.

Here is a photo of everything. The little gold bag holds some cording and tassels which I didn't unpack yet to keep the kitties away from them. It also held a package of fall leaf buttons. The JBW Designs pattern is one I have been tempted to buy for myself and stitch so I was thrilled to get it.

The design Michelle stitched is November Harvest Pumpkin from the Rainbow Gallery website. She finished it as a box and did a beautiful job with it. She even put buttons and cording inside the box that you can see below.

The tiny tin held two magnets that Michelle made herself. She and her mother made the fabric pumpkin. Thank you again Michelle everything is just beautiful.

My pumpkin exchange is stitched and about halfway through finishing. Yesterday I tore the house apart in a panic when I couldn't find the embellishment I bought for it but I finally found it and breathed a sigh of relief. I hope to get it in the mail Monday if all goes well.

Rail Trail Walk

2008-10-16T09:26:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I had great ambitions to do some finishing and present you with photos of finished Halloween ornies but it didn't happen. Maybe after work today I'll get started. I ironed them this morning along with two exchange pieces I need to finish and mail soon.

On Tuesday after a somewhat stressful day at work I let our dog out and found the neighbor's dog running loose without supervision yet again. These are the same neighbors whose cat was just killed. Mike and I coaxed him back to his own yard and hoped he would stay out of the street. Later that night the neighborhood skunk was in our parking space on the street eating trash or other neighbors left out. I had just called DH who was about to start home from work to give him a heads up when I hear a car speed up intentionally and hit the skunk.

By Wednesday morning I was in a mood to get away from home and the neighborhood (which includes my workplace) for a while. Mike had mentioned that he felt good walking home from my workplace the day before so I decided we both needed to get outside and so some more walking. After dropping my DH off at work yesterday afternoon we headed to the nearby bike and walking trail.

All these pine trees smell heavenly!

There were lots of chipmonks chirping at us. This one has a nest near the path and kept darting out to see us.

A view from the bridge of the water and fall leaves.

Sunlight reflecting off the water through the trees.

We visited a geocache in the area and exchanged some movie pins for this lobster. Mike had evil plans for it after looking through the Halloween costume circular we got in the mail from Target.

Nikki, Mama Gus and Gwynny subjected to the humiliation of wearing the lobster hat.

A day walking in the woods was just what we needed. I definitely believe in the studies that say lack of sunlight leads to mild depression. Mike has been spending a lot of time in the house and I work all day in a dimly lit place. We've made plans for more visits to the area to explore more trails and find a couple more geocaches while the weather is still nice.

2008-10-09T19:21:00.004-04:00

Back in August I wrote about the neighbors sweet cat who sat at my mailbox every day. We had nicknamed him Tank because he was so big and we didn't know his real name. I'd ask him if anything good came in the mail and he would meow and beg to have his ears scratched. When I got home from work tonight and let the dog out I saw him laying in my tulip bed and he didn't look right. I could tell before I got to him that he had died and we had to go tell his owners. Turns out his name was Cosmo. I think he had been hit by a car because his fur was dirty. I wish the people around here wouldn't let their cats outside because there is just too much traffic and too many kitties get hit. I'm going to miss seeing him at the mailbox every morning.

I finished my SBEBB Pumpkin Patch exchange this week. I actually stitched it twice because I had been planning to stitch the design for myself as well and decided to go ahead and do it. Tonight maybe I'll pull out Castle Sampler. I'm not sure I feel like stitching.

James the Curious

2008-10-01T15:36:00.003-04:00

It's been crazy here since I last posted. My hand is still swollen, painful and ugly but it's a little better and starting respond to a prescription cream.

In the wee hours of Monday morning I was fast asleep, DH was watching Torchwood on the computer with his headphones and housemate Mike was upstairs in his room playing Urban Dead. Mike heard a noise and thought someone was using the washing machine in the basement. A little later he went downstairs and realized something was wrong in the basement and alerted DH. Our hot water heater had split open along the seam and water was spraying everywhere. Thank goodness he heard it and we were able to turn the gas off right away. The unit was less than 3 years old and covered by warranty but we had to go without water until 7pm Monday night while it was replaced. It sprayed a box of books so I have them drying on every surface and the house smells like wet books. I've located used copies of some of the ruined ones on Amazon which is good news but DH lost an entire box of Spiderman comics. Luckily they were not worth a lot.

Yesterday Mike went in the hospital to have his hernia repaired. Last night I had the house to myself until DH came home after midnight. I watched Ballet Shoes and started the Britty Kitty Halloween ornament on the fabric left over from my spooks. The main reason I watched Ballet Shoes was I know I read the book as a child but could not remember what it was about. It was sweet and I enjoyed it. Once in surgery they found that Mike had more than one hernia and a lot of adhesions from his cancer surgery so he won't be coming home today but he is doing very well. I'm going to find more girlie things to watch tonight and continue working on the ornament.

This morning we bought a dehumidifier for the basement which leads to the topic of this post. DH was unpacking it when I noticed my rat James watching him intently. He was fascinated with what was going on and climbed up on the side of the cage to look in the box and watch everything. Sirius, his brother, could have cared less and continued to nap. It's the first time one of them has paid attention to us other than to beg for treats. Any time we eat toast or banana they beg and look pitiful as if they are starving. While on the topic of begging DH's cat was funny last night. She loves milk and will beg for it. We bought some gallon jugs of drinking water while our water was off and she thinks they are milk. DH was pouring glasses of water for our dinner last night and she started to cry, purr and beg underfoot. He let her see it was water and she made the funniest "What the heck?" face and ran off disgusted. Of course I never have the camera around when they are funny.

Thank you!

2008-09-28T19:06:00.003-04:00

Thank you for all the kind comments on my spooks. I have a health issue with my left hand right now so I haven't been able to do the finishing and it's uncomfortable to type. At least I can still hold a hoop and stitch. I pulled out Castle Sampler during the Survivor premier Thursday and I've got a Christmas UFO out to work on tonight.

Spooks Finished

2008-09-22T10:02:00.001-04:00

I decided not to stitch the border and put a pumpkin below the ghost. After work tonight I'm going to do a round ornament finish on this one. I really like how it turned out.

Lazy Saturday

2008-09-21T09:12:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we had a lazy day. It began when I decided to sit in my rocker and stitch while listening to audio books. DH decided to grab his Nintendo DS and join me. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by cats on our bed. We ended up listening to the last half of Plum Lovin and all of Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich which took about 4 hours.

When the mail arrived I found a package from Nicola with this cute pinkeep. It's a sunflower from A Prairie Garden. She also included all these coordinating goodies which make me want to start something new with them.

I wasn't in the mood to work on the bats so I started a Waxing Moon freebie called Spooks Are Out. I got the middle part completed and only need to stitch the border which has a jack-o-lantern at each corner and a line design between them. The more I look at it the more I like the way it looks in the hoop as it is. If I left off the border I could finish it as a round ornament. I'll think about it more today and finish it tonight after work.

Harvest Hunt

2008-09-19T12:57:00.005-04:00

I completed Harvest Hunt this week and even managed to finish it into a small wall hanging with the lovely fabric Carol sent me. I read somewhere that Survivor started on the 18th so I had Castle Sampler out and ready to work on it but the date I had was wrong and it won't start for another week. Instead of working on Castle Sampler I started a bat design I found on My Aunt's Attic that has been in my to stitch pile for about a year. I've set the bats aside for the weekend to put in this month's hours on the Gorse Fairy.

You can just make out a little bit of a tree behind Harvest Hunt in the photo. It's the tree on the sidewalk in front of our house and it is dying from Asian beetles. The government is now in our neighborhood checking trees for the beetles. We are most likely going to loose a lot of trees in the neighborhood because the only way to get rid of them is to cut down the trees they have infested. A beautiful maple near us was the first to go. It's a shame because that tree was gorgeous in the fall with leaves so red it looked like it was on fire.

We finished Lean Mean Thirteen this morning. Now I'm listening to The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan for a while. It's also the book I carry to work to read at lunch.

This and That

2008-09-15T09:02:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday wasn't busy at work at all which was a surprise for a rainy Sunday and it was extremely boring. There is only one problem working at a bar during the afternoon. Everyone who isn't planning to buy anything feels the need to come by and ask if people really buy alcohol from us. After hearing this about 2 dozen times my snarky, wise-ass side came out and I was ready to tell them no it's just here for the employee's enjoyment. Of course if I ever did that it would turn out to be a corporate manager or the liquor board inspector that I was talking to!

Harvest Hunt is moving along nicely. I've now finished the cat, the big pumpkin, the two big green leaves and started the small pumpkin. I should get close to a finish tonight. I'm debating whether to start the Brittercup Halloween ornament from JCS next or one of the other Halloween designs I have in my to-stitch basket. Maybe I'll kit them all up before work this morning.

We're almost finished listening to Lean Mean 13. I put number 14 on hold at the library but I'm 32nd in line for the audio book. It's going to be a while before I see that one.

Books and Stitching

2008-09-14T09:14:00.003-04:00

It's raining today...again. While I am grateful that we were not in the path of Ike I am tired of rain, and cranky customers at work who are tired of the rain. I'm not looking forward to heading out to work soon.

This past week I have been stitching a little. I found a freebie called Irish Coffee at The Sampler Girl's page which I thought was so funny. I decided I had to have that phrase stitched on a huck towel for my kitchen. The entire thing wouldn't fit but I stitched the words and the coffee pot and a few shamrocks. While I stitched on the towel I finished listening to an audio book The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith. I started reading this book about a year ago at my mother's house. We were talking on the phone recently about the newest release in this series and remembered that neither one of us had finished it so we both dug it out.

I was still in the mood to listen to audio books yesterday so I started Lean Mean 13 by Janet Evanovich and pulled out Brittercup's Harvest Hunt to work on. DH loves this series too so he sat with me and played Pokeman on the DS while I stitched. I remember reading some bad reviews about book 13 when it came out but we are both enjoying it. It's always a riot when Stephanie does something evil to Joyce and this book's stunt tops bringing Bob to do his business in her front yard.

Tonight I have to put the finishing touches on my Prairie Schooler exchange and get it mailed in the morning.

A Sewing Finish

2008-09-06T18:29:00.005-04:00

I finished the bag I started on Wednesday today. I found this cute fabric of cats and handbags at Joann's several months ago. I decided the obvious choice was to make a bag with it. It wasn't easy. The fabric is thin so I used with a heavy interfacing which was difficult to work with. I also had some trouble figuring out the directions. I had to set it aside several times and then go back and play with the pieces until I figured it out. Since this is going to be a large tote that I use to bring a smaller purse, my lunch and book to work I didn't add several of the decorative details. Overall I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

A Gift and a Cranky Cat

2008-09-03T09:16:00.006-04:00

Right now I am stitching an exchange so I have no stitching photos. I did post a progress photo of The Gorse Fairy which you can see by clicking on the Flower Fairies link below my blog title. I set up a special blog for this one since it's so big and going to take so long. I might be done within the next 5 years LOL! I realized last night that it's almost time to pull out another big project Castle Sampler. It's a UFO that I don't like to work on for long periods of time so I started stitching on it every week during Survivor. The new season starts this month and I've had a nice break from this piece so I'm looking forward to working on it again. My friend Mike and I have a Thursday night tradition of watching Survivor together.

Last year when we went to Las Vegas I brought one of my co-workers a small gift. I never expected anything in return but this week he surprised me with this great monkey from his trip to New York.

Look at this cranky cat! I found her sleeping in the clean laundry and she did not appreciate being disturbed. You can see I tried turning the baskets upside down to keep the cats out but it didn't stop her.

Today I don't have to work and I hope to do some sewing once Will leaves for work. I like to sew at the table behind his computer desk which is impossible while he is home.

Posy of Cats Needlebook

2008-08-30T13:59:00.003-04:00

Wendy left a comment asking about the needlebook in my stitching basket from my April 3rd post. It's a kit from Textile Heritage from their Posy of Cats collection called Daffodil and Crocus. I bought mine at Claire's an online shop I highly recommend.

Saturday

2008-08-23T16:39:00.005-04:00

The neighbor's cat has started sitting on our front stairs under the mailbox. I think he ordered something and had it shipped to our house so his owners won't find it.

We drove to Leominster this morning after I remembered they get Just Cross Stitch a couple of weeks earlier than our B&N does. It was a beautiful sunny day so after shopping we bought some food and stopped at this park for lunch.

We found a quiet bench away from the hot dog stand and all the other people.

But it wasn't long before our picnic was noticed and we had guests.

Desert Sunset Finish

2008-08-22T12:02:00.002-04:00

This is what I have been stitching while watching Olympic swimming events. Several years ago Silkweaver would send patterns with their fabric of the month packages. This design is named Desert Sunset. I like everything about it except the red band at the bottom. It's too dark for the other colors in the design. I haven't done the needleroll finishing yet because I'm debating picking out that last row and stitching it with a different color.

SBEBB Biscornu Exchange for Simone

2008-08-22T11:55:00.005-04:00

Freebie pattern #18 from Aurelle stitched on antique white jobelan with Caron Waterlilies and Belle Soie silk.

Pictures!

2008-08-16T18:12:00.008-04:00

A few of the movies have been guessed and I added a hint to the remaining quotes. I'll add more hints in a day or so if they still are not guessed.

I've been playing with my camera today. I wish I were as talented as on of my managers at work. We wanted to photograph a product to advertise it and she quickly pulled together a table, a plant from the hallway, a display box and the product and made something that looks better than our advertising department. I'd love to have that knack for arranging things to look so nice. Someone (Vonna maybe?) has been taking the most beautiful pictures of her stitching next to plants from her garden. I decided to try it and here are my results.

First is the beautiful biscornu Carol stitched for me and the goodies she sent along with it. The design is Quaker Season Biscornu by Brightneedle - Private Reserve Design stitched with GAST. The handles of the scissors are marbled in autumn colors that compliment the biscornu.

After I finished assembling the biscornu I stitched for my partner in the exchange I pulled out this one and finished it for myself. It's Just Nan's Daffodil Run stitched on a scrap of Silkweaver fabric I got in a grab bag. Isn't it pretty? You would never know I had to pick those rabbits out 3 times before I got them in the right place.

I also pulled this out and attached the treasures this afternoon while watching the Olympics. It a Sue Lentz design called Midnight Forrest from one of the JCS Ornament issues. I made several changes to the original design though. I did not use blending filament in the trees and used a cardinal treasure instead of one of the rabbits. I'm not going to finish it as an ornament because it's too large for our small tree. I plan to find some fabric that goes with it and make a small wall hanging.

The boys were interested in the camera. It's the first time I've tried to take pictures of them since the day we brought them home and they were too terrified to pay attention. As usual James is right up front looking for treats.

Sirius, who is usually the timid one, decided the camera strap was something he wanted!

Movie Quiz

2008-08-15T17:56:00.008-04:00

I was planning to post some photos of the beautiful biscornu Carol stitched for me but they came out funny so I'll have to try again in the morning. In the meantime I found this quiz on Sweet Pea's site and it looked like a lot of fun. The hard part was choosing only 15 movies.

The rules are as follows:
1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.
5. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.

How about a few hints? I'll start by telling if the speaker is male or female.

~~1. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. (male)~~Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire guessed by Terri

2. Let's never come here again because it will never be as much fun.

~~3. Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love.~~ Love Actually guessed by Jennifer.

~~4. It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.~~ Bridget Jones Diary guessed by Jennifer.

5. Why are you doing this to me, Joe? Every time I talk myself out of it, you come around and make it sound so easy. (female)

~~6. Of course, we're not going to go round parading ourselves in a room full of men. This isn't... France, for God's sake! (female)~~Calendar Girls guessed by Kathy

~~7. I dunno, really... Let's see, there's the, uh... The bump, the stomp, the bus stop... Me breakdancing days are probably over, but there's always the funky chicken. (male)~~The Full Monty guessed by WillZ

~~8. I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.~~Titanic guessed by Melody.

~~9. Wonderful girl. Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her.(male - I saw this movie on my first date! His kid brother was so mad that we didn't take him with us.)~~Star Wars guessed by WillZ

10. A long time ago, you took something from me... the only thing I'd ever truly wanted... Well, now you know how is feels.(female)

11. I'm 26, and I'm single, and a school teacher, and that's the bottom of the pit. And the only excitement I've known is here with me now. I'll go with you, and I won't whine, and I'll sew your socks, and I'll stitch you when you're wounded, and I'll do anything you ask of me except one thing. I won't watch you die. I'll miss that scene if you don't mind.(female - this was the first PG rated movie I was ever allowed to see when I was a kid which should give you a hint on the date since I'm in my 40's)Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid guessed by Terri

~~12. I'm not crazy, I've just been a very bad mood for the last 40 years!(female~~ Steel Magnolias guessed by Annette.

~~13. Don't you ever talk about my friends. You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends.~~The Breakfast Club guessed by Jennifer.

~~14. Second shelf is mine. That's where I keep my rootbeers and my double-thick Oreo cookies. Nobody touches the second shelf but me.~~The Lost Boys guessed by Jennifer.

~~15. My family is big and loud but they're my family. We fight and we laugh and yes, we roast lamb on a spit in the front yard. And where ever I go, what ever I do they will always be there.~~My Big Fat Greek Wedding guessed by Melody.

Days Off!

2008-08-11T22:29:00.004-04:00

I had 4 days off in a row last week! I was so happy to have time to catch up on housework, laundry and stitching. This picture isn't very good. Hopefully it will really be sunny on Wednesday as predicted and I can take a few pieces outside to photograph.

On Wednesday and Thursday I started and finished this LHN design Cherries. I have the perfect Mary Engelbreit fabric to use for finishing it, I just need to dig it out and decide what I want to do. I'm not sure if I want to make pinkeeps from the different LHN fruit designs or little pillows.

I had forgotten that Friday was the opening ceremonies of the Olympics so it was great to have the time off to enjoy it. I tidied up my project basket and found the fabric for Desert Sunset which I started while we watched. Mike and I have had the games on constantly since they started and Will has retreated to his office to have his own Dr. Who marathon.

SBQ August 7, 2008

2008-08-07T20:19:00.004-04:00

What do you do to your thread clippings? Do you just scrap them or do
you use them in something else?

I throw out all my thread clippings because this naughty boy Nikki likes to eat them. He is especially fond of silk floss and once ate most of an entire set of Victoria Clayton hand dyed silk I had for a sampler. Luckily he chewed it to tiny bits and we didn't have an emergency vet visit. I keep all my floss in boxes or zippered project bags and throw the clippings away where he can't get to them.

Thread Separator

2008-08-06T13:16:00.003-04:00

Recently someone on one of the groups I visit mentioned purchasing one of these thread separators from Puffin Company. They had one with kitties so I bought it thinking if it didn't work at least it was cute and I could hang it someplace as a decoration. I was thrilled to find out it works so well! I've used it on regular floss, metalic, pearl cotton, silk and overdyed floss with excellent results. This is now my new favorite stitching gadget.

Whomping Willow Attacked my Ford Anglia!

2008-08-01T10:07:00.004-04:00

Ok so it was a maple and it attacked my Chevy Malibu but since it happened on the same day my book group started reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I'm calling it the Whomping Willow. Thursday we had yet another thunderstorm that started unexpectedly. One minute it was sunny and the next water was pouring down in sheets. The wind and rain knocked a branch off the tree I was parked next to. We have a dent in the roof and all the money we planned to put in savings this week went toward a new windshield but at least we were able to fix it quickly and move on. For some reason this car seems to attract dents and scratches. I'm glad its just a "means to get from here to there car" and not a special sportscar or I would be crying.

Changes & Lazy Pets

2008-07-31T10:17:00.004-04:00

I've decided to change my blog (again) because I am bored with it. I originally started this blog with posts about stitching and anything else I felt like writing about. Then I read a bunch of stitcher's comments around the web who said they liked "stitching only" blogs. I decided to make this blog stitching only and put everything else in a separate blog. After a while I've realized I don't enjoy maintaining a stitching only blog. I find I rarely have anything to post any more. I can't show exchange stitching until the person receives it. I don't enjoy photographing what I am working on after each stitching session to post a picture with a small amount of progress. I have so many things I want to do and so little time that I'd rather spend the time I'd use taking update pictures to do those other things. I'm on the wagon so I don't have stash hauls to show. All this makes for a neglected blog. I've decided to go back to posting stitching along with everything else non-stitching and using labels for navigation.

My only recent finish is a biscornu for a SBEBB exchange so I have no photos yet. The animals have been cute lately and I did manage to take a couple of cute photos of them. Usually they move just as the shutter clicks!

It's been hot and muggy with lots of thunderstorms here. I walked in the bedroom after work the other day and found Callie laying on the bed like this. She looks like I feel after walking home from work in the heat and humidity.

I was at the computer a few days ago and looked down to see Gus and AJ looking cute by my feet. Luckily I had the camera and was able to snap a photo. AJ isn't especially fond of the other cats but these two have always been best friends.

June Stitching

2008-07-02T18:49:00.008-04:00

Early in June I decided to challenge myself to finish some of the many small and medium sized projects I have started but set aside for one reason or another. I managed to finish 4 of them so far. I'm planning a big finishing week at the end of August so for now they haven't even been ironed but I thought I would share pictures anyway.

This is the needlebook fob that goes with Just Nan's Hop tin.

And here is the top of the Hop tin.

Another Just Nan, this is Daffodil Run. I must have frogged those rabbits 6 times before I got them right. For some reason I kept making mistakes.

I just can't get a good photo of this. It's Bleu De Chine's Coeur Chat that I started about two years ago as part of a SAL. I've misplaced the labels from the fabric and floss but I know it was a Silkweaver fabric, either a solo or something with blueberry in the name. The varrigated floss was a Silk&Colors shade with Spring in the name. The greens and purples in the floss look terrible in this photo and make the piece look striped more than it actually looks in real life.

HoE Freebie Exchange

2008-06-08T18:54:00.005-04:00

Kate has posted that she received my package for the Hooked on Exchanging Freebie Exchange so I can finally post a photo. This is a portion of a Windy Willows free design finished as a thread holder. This was the most challenging finish I have tried since I started exchanging and I am so glad it turned out ok and Kate liked it.

Blossoms and Blackbirds Finishing

2008-06-03T22:00:00.003-04:00

While waiting for glue to dry on the exchange I made for the Hooked on Exchanging board Freebie Exchange I finally got around to doing the finishing for Blossoms and Blackbirds. I forgot to take a photo of the back but I found a pretty blue floral fabric in my stash that went perfectly with the colors in this design. Next time I have the camera out I'll have to take a snap of the back. I'm terrible about stitching things but never getting around to doing the finishing. I'm almost finished stitching Just Nan's Hop tin and scissor fob and I'm dreading the finishing. I hate making twisted cording, mine always looks sloppy.

Over the weekend I decided to organize my magazines and charts. The magazines are now arranged by title and date and the charts are in stacks waiting to be put into page protectors and then stored in binders. I'm glad I finally decided to tackle this job so I can find what I am looking for now.