Stitching My Life Away

Stitching again

2012-01-23T11:23:00.004-05:00

I haven't been stitching much lately but finally took needle in hand and wanted to show my efforts here on my poor neglected blog.

DH and I had a rare opportunity to go away by ourselves this weekend. We stayed at a lovely B&B in the country. On Saturday we woke up to snow, so I spent the afternoon working on Miss Valentine, which I started sometime last year. Please excuse the wrinkles!

Stars & Angels update

2011-11-27T15:44:00.002-05:00

I just have to say a big thank you to whoever invented long weekends. The last few days have been filled with family, food and stitching. I'm making such good progress on Stars & Angels I make actually have time to stitch another ornament before Christmas. I think my stitching mojo is back!

We finally bought a long overdue new tv this weekend too, so now people no longer look like Smurfs. I can't believe we waited so long. Now I'm looking forward to watching shows and actually being able to see what is going on without the screen going dark.

Hope everyone is enjoying this fabulous weekend!

TUSAL 2012

2011-11-24T14:17:00.003-05:00

It's that time again--time to sign up for the next Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long hosted by Sharon over at Daffycat.

To sign up, leave a comment on this post:

http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2011/11/totally-useless-stitch-long.html

Ornament stitching

2011-11-21T15:56:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick snap of Stars and Angels from the JCS ornament issue. I love the sparkly blue fabric. The thread is Dinky Dyes Jacob's Ladder.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and Happy Thanksgiving!

Where does the time go?

2011-11-18T12:05:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving and I have not posted anything on this blog in nearly 3 months. Work, school and life in general has been hectic lately. When I do squeeze in some stitching time it is rather short, but I am working on Stars and Angels from the JCS ornament issue and will get a pic up next week. It's been my travelling project for the last few weeks and may be the only ornament I finish this year. Oh well, life is good, kids are healthy and that's all that really matters!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope to post more often in the near future. :)

Where has she been?

2011-08-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

Well, that's a good question. The last few months have been a bit crazy with some personal and family issues. But basically I just wasn't stitching much and didn't feel like posting about nothing. :)

Last weekend I picked up some stitching for the first time in months and I'm happy to say it felt good. For now, I'm back working on Christmas at HRH. I'm on block 2 and will post a progress pic in a few days.

We are going on vacation next week and I'm looking forward to getting in some stitching time. I guess it's good to take a break from things now and again so when you come back to it you can appreciate what it means to you. When DH saw me stitching the other night he said, "You're back!" I just had to laugh at that. Then he said he didn't want to say anything but was wondering why I didn't stitch anymore. I think he was secretly hoping I would let him clear out the upstairs closet and toss out all my stash. Sorry big fella, not happening!

During this hiatus I wasn't keeping up with the blogs either and in the last few days I've been getting reaquainted with all your wonderful projects and progress. It's good to be back!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by my blog.

It's Edgar's blogoversary!!

2011-04-27T13:43:00.002-04:00

Hop over to Edgar's for a great giveaway for his 4th anniversary in blogland. I read his blog religiously and always enjoy it! Just a note though, I have been trying to get the hag claw to pull my name from the BoD for a long time so if you win, I will probably be mad at you. :P

Easter stitching and TUSAL report

2011-04-04T10:57:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since I updated my blog. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and haven't felt like posting. To be honest, I've been reading more than stitching lately and haven't had much progress to show anyway. Over the weekend, though, I felt like starting something new and decided on Hare's Easter by Plum Street Samplers. The linen color isn't showing properly in the photo but it is a brilliant lime green and I've been wanting to do something with it for ages. I changed the colors around and used some yellow Fuzzy Stuff for the mother's dress. I've had that Fuzzy Stuff for about 10 years ever since I bought a box of it from a shop that was closing. So glad to have a use for it. And here's my TUSAL for this month. The white and green are from CaHRH, which I worked on for about a week last month.

Still waiting for signs of Spring here in NJ. It's been a long winter and we need some nice warm weather. DD's t-ball league starts this Saturday. I'm looking forward to sitting outside in the coming weeks and watching some games.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Slow stitcher update + TUSAL

2011-03-10T11:59:00.003-05:00

I know I'm not the slowest stitcher in the world, but sometimes I feel like it when I see all the fantastic finishes others have on their blogs. Oh well, I'm nothing if not consistent!

Last weekend I picked up CaHRH, which I haven't worked on in a very long time. Block 2 is coming along nicely. I've been listening to a fantastic audiobook, "The Janus Stone," which is the second Ruth Galloway book by Elly Griffiths. I just love it, as I did the first book, so listening and stitching has been especially fun lately.

Here is my TUSAL for this month:

Lost of blues and greens from my 2 HAEDs as well as the gorgeous turquoise from CaHRH.

That's it from me. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Birthday giveaway

2011-02-17T11:05:00.005-05:00

I came across a great giveaway and had to share. Head over to Peg's blog and wish her a happy birthday.

This is the piece I mentioned in my comment on her blog. It's huge and it's in a very sunny room so it was hard to get a good snap.

World Peace Angel, Lavender and Lace.

Back from vacation

2011-01-25T11:19:00.004-05:00

DD and I returned Sunday from a week visiting my parents in SW Florida. It was a bit cool and we had some rain, but we also had some nice sunny weather perfect for swimming in the heated pool and taking long walks outside. I always relax when I go there and this time was no exception. I took along the two HAEDs that I'm currently working on and make some pretty good progress. First up is SK Dea:

This is really coming along and continues to be alot of fun to stitch.

The second HAED is the newer one that I started just prior to my trip. This is QS Mother and Daughter. The little girl reminds me of my own daughter. My picture is fairly crummy but hopefully you can see all the detail in the background.

Although I'm glad to be home, I think my head is still on vacation time. Yesterday and today I could barely get myself up in the morning and yesterday at work I just could not focus. So far today seems a little better.

Hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

January TUSAL

2011-01-06T09:47:00.004-05:00

I was so glad to hear that Sharon has taken over the hosting of the TUSAL project. I did this last year and enjoyed looking at everyone's progress, although I often forgot to post my own. I'm 2 days late, but here is my January TUSAL. I am simply adding to my orts from last year because I like the way it looks. Most of the top layer is from my HAED SK Dea. My container is my great grandmother's carnival glass candy dish.

First post of 2011

2011-01-03T10:52:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year to all my blog friends! Hope your holidays were as enjoyable as mine. We had some rough moments in our family last year but somehow the holidays always seem to bring people together and some awkward things were smoothed over, some were not. But it's a new year and I'm looking forward to new challenges and a new me. The day after Christmas I met my first 10-pound weight loss goal. One day short of my target, but I made it and I'm very proud of that. So, onward to the next 10. I am determined to get the remaining 25 pounds of "baby weight" off before my 6-year old gets any older. Enough already!

As for my stitching, I haven't done much lately but yesterday I did manage to make some progress on my HAED. The little puffball on the top left is really taking shape and I'm loving the colors.

I also went through my stash and picked out some other things to start and will post about them soon. DD and I are going to Florida to visit my parents in two weeks so I am hoping to get in some quality stitching time on their balcony overlooking the Gulf. What could be better than that?

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Santa finish

2010-12-22T14:28:00.004-05:00

The stomach virus has hit our house, specifically my DD. She's been out of school all week and still isn't feeling too great. I didn't expect to be home much this week but since I had to be, I managed to finish two ornaments. The first is the HiH Wee Santa 2010.

I enjoyed working on this little guy and think he came out pretty cute. I didn't have the round buttons called for on the chart so I improvised from my own stash and I'm happy with the result.

The other ornament is one I made for Shane, my newest nephew. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of it before I gave it to my sister, but I used one of those pre-made mini stockings and stitched the little bird from the Full Circle Designs' JCS ornament on one side and his name and 2010 on the other side.

I will probably work on a few more ornaments this week and next week before giving the Christmas stitching a rest. I have some great new starts planned for 2011 that I'm pretty excited about.

That's all my exciting news for now. Happy holidays to you and yours and thanks for stopping by my blog!

What I'm working on Wednesday

2010-11-24T11:37:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since I popped in on my little blog. I'm working on Wee Santa 2010 at the moment. This was one of the things I purchased on my Williamsburg trip. I just love these little santas. I changed the colors a bit to use up some festive-looking threads I had been saving all year. I'm sure I will get much more progress done tomorrow while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. You would think with 3 kids at least one would be willing to watch it with me, but no, they go running for the hills as soon as it comes on. Not that I really mind...

Happy Thanksgiving to all and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Pocahontas and some stash enhancement

2010-11-09T14:11:00.002-05:00

Here in NJ the kids had off last Thursday and Friday for the statewide teacher's convention so we took advantage of the long weekend and headed to Williamsburg, Va.

On Friday the weather was beautiful and we decided to go to the Jamestown Settlement to see the ships and the fort. DD was thrilled to see the artifacts related to Pocahontas and I think it finally dawned on her that she was a real woman and not just a Disney cartoon! We also discovered that DD loves to grind corn. We had to pull her away from it to give others a turn.

On the way back to our hotel I was able to talk DH into stopping for lunch at a little place that just happened to be next to a cross stitch shop (yeah, I planned it that way). I spent a lovely 20 minutes or so shopping in Haus Tirol. Here is a snap of a few things I picked up:

Lets see: JBW Snow Globe, a Just Nan Needle Tweets, the 2010 Wee Santa from Heart in Hand, a LHN ornament (Red House in Winter), 2 of the Hinzeit reindeers (Rudolph and Dancer) plus the sled with the tree, Homespun Elegance's 2010 snowman ornament, a Heart's Content kit "Margaritaville," and a few pieces of linen. This is the biggest stash haul I've had in a while. Now to decide what to start first.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Turkey finish

2010-10-27T12:44:00.002-04:00

I finished up my JBW French Country Turkey last weekend. Please excuse the wrinkles, I haven't had time to iron it yet. I think I will go back to working on my Mill Hill Gingerbread House this week and then start some ornaments from JCS over the weekend.

Our Fall fundraiser for the school turned out great. The kids had alot of fun at the game booth. I was mighty exhausted afterwards but it was worth it to see the kids having such a fun time.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Another giveaway

2010-10-20T10:28:00.002-04:00

Blogger is acting up today and not letting me put links in my text or post pictures, but I just wanted to say that Terri is having an awesome giveaway for Halloween that cannot be missed.

Head over to:
www.dixiesamplardesigns.com

Time for an update

2010-10-13T10:02:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy month but I have managed to get in at least enough stitching for an update. Last weekend I started this little JBW Designs French Country Turkey. I love all the hidden elements within the picture. Our weather is finally turning cooler so I'm in the mood for some Fall decorating.

I'm also still working on HAED SK Dea and still enjoying it. Here's a bit of a crappity snappity of my progress.

This weekend is the big Fall fundraiser for my daughter's school and I am in charge of one of the game tables, so I will be pretty busy the rest of the week and probably won't have much time to stitch.

Hope your week is going well and thanks for stopping by my blog!

It's starting!

2010-10-01T10:41:00.001-04:00

Today is the day, people. Head over to Annette's for Day 1 of the 31 Days of Halloween. Read the rules and then enter for a chance to win some great goodies.

Back to the blog

2010-09-30T15:58:00.004-04:00

My, how time flies. Back-to-school stuff and work-related travel has kept me from updating my blog for nearly a month now. I haven't had much time for stitching, but the few moments I have had were spent on HAED DEA storykeep. Here's how it's looking so far:

This is my first HAED and I am really enjoying it. I can't believe I was so intimidated to start it. I actually started a wish list for myself on the HAED site so I guess I have developed the same addiction that others have for these great designs.

Hopefully the month of October will be less hectic and stressful than September was and I can find more time for stitching and my other love, reading. Haven't done much of that lately either.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Back from vacation

2010-09-09T13:38:00.004-04:00

Not much stitching going on around here lately. We went to Hershey last week for DD's 6th birthday and that was lots of fun. It was very hot though and I didn't do much stitching then or since. Here's a pic of us making our own candy bars. Apparently this is a new feature at Chocolate World and we thought it was fun even though I had to wear a beard guard to cover my necklace(!) Please try to refrain from telling me how gorgeous I look in my hair net.

School started yesterday and all went well with 1st grade. The teacher is very nice and there were lots of hugs and catching up with old friends from Kindergarten. I really do love when she comes running out of school in a good mood.

Now that we are getting back to a normal schedule I am planning on pulling out HAED story keep and getting back to work on that in the evenings. If anyone knows how I can get on a HAED SAL or BB, please let me know? I have some HAED-related questions and would appreciate any tips, tricks, etc.

Lee posted the September SBQ, so let's get to it:

Is there anything that you do while you are stitching that is kind of weird or unusual? A quirky habit maybe? Or anything that you do that makes you think, Hey..I wonder if anyone else does this?

I'm a multitasker in the extreme so I do tons of crap while I stitch. Mostly though I text my sister, I play online games on my iphone, I check my work email, braid my daughter's hair and throw a stuffed frog at the cat, which she usually retrieves and brings back for me to throw again. I also sometimes stitch in the kitchen while making dinner or supervising homework.

That's my update for now. I can't believe it, but I am nearing 100 posts. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Stitching the stress away

2010-08-23T10:49:00.004-04:00

I guess the title says it all. The last few weeks have been very stressful for DH and me. His two teenage sons have been getting into alot of trouble this summer and it all came to a head recently. His ex-wife has a long history of substance abuse and sometimes (okay, alot of times) we don't believe her when she tells us things. This time she was telling the truth and we were forced to confront some things that we had no idea were going on. The good news is we are now aware of everything that is happening and we are committed to helping her get things under control with both of them. Last night was the first time in a while that I felt we all had turned a corner and I think things are getting back on track. At least I hope so.

With all of this craziness going on, I decided I needed something really different to work on so I pulled out the HAED story keep Dea that I bought awhile ago and was too intimidated to ever start. I gridded my fabric and have managed to get 3 full blocks done. My pictures aren't showing up (maybe because the stitches are so small), but this is what it will eventually look like:

I've never really done any fantasy-type stitching but I've been wanting to try my hand at a HAED for a long time. I'm really enjoying doing something totally different for a change.

I'm also working on a Mill Hill birthday magnet for DD. Her 6th bday is next week.

That's all for this post. Until next time, thanks for stopping by my blog!

On the mend

2010-08-04T13:17:00.005-04:00

Today I'm finally feeling a bit better after almost a week of dealing with a nasty summer cold. I lost my voice for several days, which is something that always seems to happen to me. So, I spent the weekend listening to an audiobook (Kraken, by China Mieville) and stitching on this:

It's Mill Hill's Gingerbread House. I had wanted to work on Frederika but when I picked it up the holes just looked too small for me to deal with in my coughing, hacking state. So, perforated paper seemed like an ideal solution. This has alot of beading, which is something I need to be in the right frame of mind in order to do.

I can't believe it's August. DD only has 3 more weeks of summer camp. Then we will be taking a family vacation to Hershey, PA for her 6th birthday, which is September 1. If any readers live in PA or are familiar with Hershey I would love to know if there are any LNS in the area that might be worth a stop.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Wacky sheep Wednesday

2010-07-28T12:51:00.004-04:00

I know, it's actually Winter Sheep, but I don't do french knots so I did some beads and he ended up being a bit of a wacky, googly-eyed sheep. I think he's cute though. This is my first Christmas ornament finish for the year.

This weekend we went to the county fair. I usually enjoy it, especially the pig races, but it was 102 degrees on Saturday and I just about made it through without wilting. My budding sculptress got the opportunity, thanks to a nice local artisan, to try out the pottery wheel. She was really excited about this and it made the whole sweaty day worth it for me. A warm gyro with tons of tsatsiki sauce was my personal reward for getting through the afternoon.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Sampler pic

2010-07-23T14:40:00.004-04:00

Thanks for the kind words about my new nephew. He is such a cutie patootie. Yesterday DH finally had a chance after work to go see him so we went over to my sister's and there was Shane just smiling away. He is a happy baby and he's also very calm, which is important since he has a 4-year old brother who tends to be on the loud side.

I wanted to post a picture of the Snips N Snails baby sampler I finished for Shane. I can't tell you how many times I attempted to take this picture only to end up with a cat head (Mabel!) directly in my shot. Somehow she always knows when pictures are being taken and has to get right in the thick of things. I changed some of the colors to match my sister's nursery and I also did his name and date of birth a bit askew to match the wording on the top. I'm not thrilled with my framing job but it actually looks better in person than it does in this crappy snap.

I only had to work half a day today so I'm off to take the baby sampler to my sister. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Baby Shane is here!

2010-07-19T10:28:00.004-04:00

Well, the baby we have called 'Big Head' since he made his debut on the ultrasound a few months ago is finally here. On July 14, my sister gave birth to my beautiful new nephew. Meet Shane, all 8 pounds 14 ounces of him:

He's being held by my DD, his very proud older cousin.

Things have been kind of a blur lately, but I did manage to finish his birth sampler before he was born. I will post a picture of that later in the week.

We are in the midst of another (!) heat wave here in NJ. I am so sick of this sticky weather. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Snip snailin' along

2010-07-08T10:46:00.007-04:00

Wow, thanks for all the kind comments about my blog. I appreciate them all. Stitchers really are some of the nicest people around.

I'm stitching away on Snips n Snails in anticipation of my nephew's imminent arrival. Only 6 days to go! I am planning to go to Michael's this weekend and pick out mats and frames to do this myself since, as usual, I'm running out of time. My sister is one of those people who likes to stick to schedules and she's been texting me nightly to ask if I'm working on it.

I changed the linen to white because I didn't like the dark blue listed on the chart but now I'm afraid the word 'snips' is not showing up well. What do you all think? The light is lousy here today because it's cloudy and overcast so I'm going to see how it looks in brighter light, but I'm still having misgivings.

Poor DD has a pretty bad ear infection. She had tubes put in 19 months ago. I thought they had fallen out by now--because the doctor said they would--but apparently they haven't and I let her swim without her earplugs all last week. The pediatrician didn't say "bad mommy" but I sure felt like one. When we got home I made an appointment with the ENT to check the tubes as soon as the infection is cleared up.

So, that's the fun and excitement in this neck of sweaty Jersey. I hope wherever you are, it's cooler than here. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

***Deb is having a giveway for a gorgeous scissor frog on her blog. Go check it out, but please don't win because I want it. LOL!

It's official: I'm a doofus, and some baby stuff

2010-07-01T09:29:00.005-04:00

So, I was sitting at my desk this morning pondering for about the 20th time how I lost my camera. I haven't been posting to the blog because pretty much nobody reads it anyway and I figured without any pictures I would be an even less popular stitchy blogger than I already am. Then I see my husband's vacation schedule from work on the corner of my desk and think, how long has that been there? So I lift it up and there is my little pink camera. I'm still trying to decide if it's his fault for putting crap on my already crap-strewn desk or my fault for not looking over there on the far corner of the desk. Let's just say it's his fault and call it a day.

Since I will be an aunt again in just a few short weeks I have been working on the cutest little baby boy sampler. It's from Brooke's Books and it's called Snips n Snails. I changed the bead color and the linen color but I'm using the recommended DMC. I'm hoping to get alot more progress in on this over the holiday weekend. My sister is due July 14.

I also started one of the LHN christmas ornaments. I love sheep so this one was calling my name.

I love stitching wintery stuff in the summer. We've been having some really high temperatures here this week. Today isn't bad but on DD's first day of camp on Monday it was 101. The poor thing looked like a wet mop when I picked her up. Fortunately she loves camp so much she didn't seem to care and even asked me why I showed up early for pickup. Sometimes I just can't win with that kid.

Well, have a safe and happy Fourth of July and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Stitching away on block 2

2010-06-05T14:02:00.003-04:00

Whew! I've had two of the busiest work weeks ever recently and have barely had time to take a breath. I'm still working on block 2 of CaHRH. The gate is coming along nicely. I would like to start on the roof of the house, but the NPI silks I ordered weeks ago still haven't come. I won't name the online store but I will say this: why do so many online shops not tell you when you order that something is out of stock? My order is being held up for some out-of-stock fabric that I would not have ordered if I'd known this was the case. This is the second time this has happened with this same online store. I won't be ordering from them again.

My 5-year old daughter told me the other day she wants to be a sculptor when she grows up. I said, "That's great, honey," and figured that was the end of it. Well, today she presented me with this, which she calls "Coil Basket 1":

Not only did she design this herself, she also made the color by using markers on white clay and then working it together until she got a color she liked. It also has a bottom, which I forgot to photograph. I'm going to use it on my desk for pencils and such. Guess I need to start saving for art school!

It's dance recital weekend and that means one show tonight and another tomorrow afternoon. So, I'm off to stitch a bit before it's time to get my little dancer into her costume.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Weekend stitching and framing

2010-05-24T10:21:00.005-04:00

In between t-ball games and straightening up the back yard I managed to accomplish something this weekend that I've wanted to do for a long time. I finally framed Joyful Summer! I finished this sometime last year and put it in a drawer with some other finishes. I even had the frame and the supplies but I never seemed to have the time. My crappy snap doesn't do justice to how pretty this looks framed up. I need to get a little hanger for the back and then it will go up on the wall in our family room.

I also made some progress on block 2 of CaHRH. The disembodied peacock head and single chimney aside, this looks like a fun block that I think may go faster than block 1 since there are more solid areas of stitching and fewer tiny elements.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This week will be a little hectic for me so I probably won't post again. My boss is away for two weeks so I have lots of little "extras" to get done and I'm taking off Thursday to chaperone my DD's kindergarten class trip to the zoo. Right now it looks like it might rain but I'm trying to think positive thoughts. Her class trip to the pumpkin farm was rained out in October and the kids were so bummed. Keep your fingers crossed for us ;)

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Block 1 is done!

2010-05-21T11:38:00.004-04:00

Nearly 5 months later, I finally finished block 1 of CaHRH. Am I the slowest stitcher on the planet or what? At this rate it will take me over 4 years to finish all 12 blocks. That's okay though because I love the colors and I'm really looking forward now to moving on to block 2.

I just realized this week though that I need to get my butt in gear and start the baby sampler for my sister's baby due in July. I chose Snips & Snails

by Brooke's Books and plan to start on it probably over Memorial Day weekend. This month has just flow by for me. I didn't even post my TUSAL this month--one of many things that got lost in the shuffle.

I don't know about you all, but I am glad it's Friday! This week has been crazy and I am ready for some down time.

Happy weekend to everybody and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Almost there

2010-05-13T10:41:00.003-04:00

How sad is it that I can't finish block 1 of CaHRH? Why the heck is it taking so long? Everytime I look at it I find something else I missed. I'm really going to try to finish it this week and move on to block 2. This is getting ridiculous.

I worked a little more on Miss Valentine this weekend but don't really have enough progress to show. One problem that I have with it is that there are way too many pinks and they all sort of run together. On Mother's Day I spent an hour or so doing her arms and then decided I don't like the pink color at all. I think I am going to change it to something a bit more flesh-like.

Speaking of Mother's Day, my DH gave me the most gorgeous beachy necklace. It has a tiny silver starfish, seahorse and sand dollar with some little beads mixed in. Very summery and pretty. I wanted to take a pic but my camera batteries are dead (of course). I will take one and post it next time if anyone want to see. DD gave me a bracelet that she made herself from plastic beads using all my favorite colors. That night we had dinner at my parents' house and the guys did all the work--grilling chicken and burgers, pouring drinks and serving up a chocolate cake with pink icing. All in all, a great day!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Fairy progress and the SBQ

2010-05-07T12:25:00.004-04:00

I think I have Spring Fever. Lately I can't seem to concentrate on anything, including stitching. In an effort to temp myself back into a stitching mode, I went through my basket of projects and pulled out Miss Valentine fairy. Please excuse the hoopy marks. I think I will work on this for a while and then hopefully go back to Frederika. I am also very far behind on CaHRH, but I'm not going to stress about it.

Many people have been answering the SBQ posted by Lee at Lake Stitcher, so I thought I would give it a go, too.

The Question:

"Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life."

Okay, well I am definitely in the process stitching camp. I stitch for relaxation and always have. Although I admire all the stitchers who can stick with one project and finish it, I just can't seem to do that myself. If I don't jump around from project to project I find myself getting easily bored. My job actually is very similar in many respects. I'm a medical writer and I have to work on multiple projects every day, measuring the time spent on this one and then moving on to the next one so nothing ever falls behind. Although I like completing things, I think I get more satisfaction from working on something than I do from finishing it. And that is something I've never even thought about before, so thank you Lee for the great question. I hope you will post more.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms. I hope your day is relaxing and includes some stitching time. My DH always brings me breakfast in bed on my special day. I love it but I have to admit that nothing will ever top my very first Mother's Day. My daughter was 8 months old and crawling like a maniac. DH bought a beautiful balloon that said Happy Mother's Day and attached it with a pin to her diaper. Then he opened the bedroom door and she crawled in. From the bed all I could see was this big balloon roaming all over the room. It was just fantastic!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Monday musings

2010-04-26T10:12:00.004-04:00

Well, it's Monday once again. I really did not feel like working today at all. It's raining and kind of cold and it's supposed to stay that way for the next few days.

Last week I ordered a small lapframe and it arrived on Saturday. I already have a regular size K's Creations frame but I wanted a smaller one so I bought the baby Z. I've been using it for two days and I really love it. Right now I have Frederika on there and I managed to get a good chunk of her wing done last night. I think I will probably work on her for the rest of the week and then switch back over to CaHRH on Saturday.

I've noticed quite a few other bloggers are working on Frederika so I will have to check on their progress this week. I have to say, she is one fun bird to work on.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Late TUSAL and a UFO

2010-04-16T11:06:00.005-04:00

It's ironic that I missed posting my TUSAL this month since DD's school project was to watch for the new moon and draw a picture of it. I've been in kind of a stitching slump and haven't done much this month. Most of my new bits are from Frederika.

Somewhere along the way I used the threads for Earth Sampler for another project so I decided to reorder the threads I needed and make a fresh start on this. Here is a little progress from last night.

I'm hoping to work on this some more this weekend. DD has her Little League parade tomorrow morning and then her first game in the afternoon. We don't have anything going on Sunday as far as I know, so hopefully I will get in some stitching and reading time.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Frederika and her friend

2010-04-12T11:10:00.003-04:00

We had some gorgeous weather here yesterday and I got the chance to get outside and stitch a bit on Frederika. I stopped working on her tail to put in her little friend, the squirrel. They are an odd couple but I suspect they get along pretty good.

The lovely weather was a big change from Saturday when it was so cold here that they cancelled DD's T-ball practice and we even put the electric fireplace on for a while. As my father-in-law likes to say, "They don't make Spring like they used to."

Edgar is having a 3-year blogoversary giveaway and you know it will be something good, so don't forget to pop over and put your name in the wondrous "Bowl of Destiny."

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Ta-da Tuesday

2010-03-30T12:34:00.002-04:00

Last night I finished up Checkerboard Bunny. I love how this worked up. If I can find my big ol' bag of fiberfill I'm going to make it into a little pillow.

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. My stepsons are staying with us for a few days leading up to Easter and we have lots of activities planned for them and for DD. Our town does a big egg hunt for the younger kids, so I will take DD to that on Saturday. Then we are all going to my sister's house to dye a bunch of eggs for her brunch on Sunday. So, it will be a busy few days and then I am taking a few days off next week to hang out with DD over her school break. We will visit some friends and probably go to the aquarium. We are expecting really nice weather for the weekend, which is sorely needed given how rainy and horrible it's been. Right now the rain is beating down on my office windows and it's drafty and cold.

Happy Easter and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Easter stitching

2010-03-26T16:16:00.005-04:00

I took a little break from other projects this week and started a freebie from Waxing Moon Designs. This is Checkerboard Bunny. I changed most of the colors to what I had in my stash. I'm using a combination of DMC and Dinky Dyes. I hope to finish it up this weekend.

I also finish-finished another Easter project recently. I stitched it last year but didn't finish in time for Easter. I'm not the world's best finisher, so I'm not going to show any close ups, but here's the front and the back.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

TUSAL and good mail day

2010-03-15T17:45:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog. I have been stitching a little on Frederika, but I found a mistake in her tail that I had to frog, so I will wait and show a progress pic of her another day.

Here is my TUSAL for this month. It was so overcast and dark here today I just couldn't get a good shot of it, but most of this month's additions are blues and pinks from CaHRH.

Today the scissors I ordered from Yuko arrived in the mail. I had seen these on other blogs and had to have a pair. Aren't they cool? She has a scissors blog if anyone wants to check and see what she has available: http://yuko-behappyscissors.blogspot.com/.

Well, time to get dinner ready. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Weather-beaten Wednesday

2010-03-03T10:13:00.004-05:00

Here on the East Coast we are having yet another day of rain, sleet and wind. When I took DD to school this morning it was snow-raining and I got soaked getting her out of the car. Then driving home it was sleet-raining and the little icy bits were pinging off my car. If anyone knows where Spring is, please ask it to come here quick!

Anyway, I've been making some progress on block 1 of CaHRH this week, so I will show that one first. I noticed a tiny mistake last night but it's not really affecting anything so I'm going to leave it in and pretend not to notice it. I'm stitching on this all week with Yoyo's Christmas SAL.

Next is my girl Frederika. She has her whole body now. I worked on her on Sunday while we watched the U.S. vs. Canada hockey game. I can't wait to pick her up again this weekend.

I've been looking around at all the new things from Nashville Market. Although I'm tempted, I think I will resist for now and try to actually finish something before I buy anything new. Of course I say this all the time and always cave anyway. I especially love Bent Creek's Are You My Mother because that is my daughter's favorite story. The bird in the story is pretty freaky looking but BC's is super cute and I can barely resist it. I almost wish they would do one of their big zipper projects based on the story so you could see the bird going around to all the animals and objects asking if they are his mother.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by my blog!

A wee bit of progress

2010-02-23T15:10:00.008-05:00

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't been stitching much, but here is an updated shot of Frederika. She has one leg now and a very pretty reddish brown head. She's just a happy bird to stitch.

My DH went back on double shifts a few weeks ago so I'm basically a single parent at night and by the time I sit down I'm just too tired to stitch. I have been watching the Olympics though and I got my Zune fixed so now I can listen to my audiobooks again. I just started a new-to-me series called the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I'm half-way through Storm Front, which is book 1, and I'm really enjoying it.

I can't believe February is almost over. Next week will be March already and time to get back to work on the Christmas ornament SAL with Yoyo. So, I will be pulling out CaHRH and finishing up block 1. I can't believe I seriously thought I could do a block a month. What was I thinking?!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

TUSAL and Miss Valentine progress

2010-02-12T14:24:00.004-05:00

This is my first TUSAL pic of the year since I was on vacation during the posting time last month. I couldn't settle on a nice enough clear jar so I've been using my NeeNee's carnival glass candy dish and I think I'm going to keep it. I've been throwing all my silk wrappers in there too, so it's kind of a mess.

This week I have been trying to make a little more progress on Miss Valentine Fairy. She's looking pretty good but I definitely won't get her done in time for V-day. I also had great plans of stitching a valentine for DH but between the snow, DD being home on winter break and work craziness, it just didn't happen. The good news is we do have a babysitter lined up for Saturday night, so we hope to have a nice dinner out by ourselves for a change.

Happy Valentines day to all of you and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Now this is progress

2010-02-07T14:41:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the snowy weather yesterday I stayed inside and stitched all day on CaHRH. This is my progress as of this morning. I am loving the colors on block 1.

DH is out plowing all day today, so DD and I made him some cookies to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl tonight. I'm not a football fan but I do like the half-time show.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Time to update

2010-02-04T10:00:00.005-05:00

Well, cold and flu season has arrived at my little corner of the world. DD was out of school two days last week and was thoughtful enough to pass her germs on to me. I've been sick since Tuesday and actually fell asleep at work yesterday. Fortunately, I work from home but someone was waiting for me to finish my editing so when I woke up I discovered 4 emails from that person asking what was going on!

I haven't done much stitching lately but I am plugging along on CaHRH with Yoyo's Christmas SAL this week. Here is my progress as of last night. This is block 1:

I'm finally getting used to the 36 count and it isn't as tedious as I thought it would be. The Ott light helps alot and so does working on the smaller Q snaps. I originally had this on my big frame with my lap stand and it was just too cumbersome. When I get to some of the blocks further down I think it will be more comfortable to work with the lap stand.

This is the first weekend since we returned from vacation that DD doesn't have a birthday party to go to. We are supposed to get a big snowstorm Saturday, so that is just as well. Hopefully I will just stay inside and get some stitching done.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Back to the blog

2010-01-21T12:14:00.005-05:00

We got home from our vacation on Sunday, but things have been so hectic since then I haven't had time for my poor blog. Although the weather was downright frigid when we first got to Florida, it warmed up each day we were there and DD got some time in the pool at my parent's condo. We went to the beach too, although it was a little chilly. Fortunately, the pool is heated, so DD floated around and had a great time tossing her Barbie into the pool and then "saving" her. LOL!

One benefit of the cool weather was that I got alot of stitching done. I started Miss Valentine the day before we left and here is my progress so far:

I also did quite a bit of work on Frederika. Here's how she looks as of now:

Since we've been home I put both of these away for a little while and am focusing on CaHRH. I have the border and the wording done on the first block but will wait to post a progress pic until I have a little more finished.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Cute new freebie

2010-01-07T11:33:00.002-05:00

In my blog wanderings this morning I noticed that Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books has a cute new freebie. It's a New Year fairy and you can find the link to it on her blog, here.

New starts for 2010

2010-01-06T13:55:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years holiday. I actually got to spend all of New Years day stitching and it was great.

My first new start is Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. The linen is 36 count and to be honest, I didn't realize how bad my eyes are until I started working on it. Obviously, I didn't get much done. I will have to use my Ott lite for this one. This is my project for YoYo's Christmas Design Stitch-A-Long, which you can head over and join if you have a Christmas project you want to work on this year.

Fortunately, my other new start is coming along great. This is Frederika, also by Carriage House Samplings (see a pattern here?). I've wanted to do this one for a long time. The colors are so striking and she just seems like a cool bird. I'm still deciding if I want to do Frederick as her companion. Somehow she doesn't seem like she needs a man.

I'll be taking Frederika and Miss Valentine Fairy with me to Florida next week. DH is driving DD and me to the airport on Sunday and we will spend a week with my parents at their condo in southwest Florida. My mom says it's been cool there, but considering that we've been in the teens here for the last week I think I can handle it!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Post-Christmas post

2009-12-28T13:30:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Christmas is over. It always goes by so fast and now here I am back at work. It was a great couple of days though and we were fortunate to be surrounded by our kids and lots of family members. We went to my mom's on Christmas Eve and had a great time and then Christmas morning I had a brunch for about 12 relatives and made my breakfast casserole that everyone seems to really like alot. It's alot of work ahead of time, but in the morning all I have to do is heat and eat.

DD was truly spoiled this year between us, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, older cousins and her brothers and their mom and stepdad. She got loads of Webkinz, the Moxie girl doll she reaaally wanted and plenty of art supplies to keep her going for a while.

I got some pretty cool stuff, myself. DH gave me a gorgeous pair of white gold twisted hoop earrings that are very delicate and very "me" and he also placed a little order with 123stitch and got me this:

And a few other goodies:

DH also tells me there is a pair of scissors on the way that didn't make it in time for Christmas, so more presents for me!

Thanks for the compliments on my last TUSAL posting. I'm still looking for the perfect container for 2010. The Jif jar has got to go.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and Happy New Year to you all!

Final TUSAL of 2009

2009-12-18T11:41:00.006-05:00

Here's my last TUSAL posting for this year. It's been fun to share each month and check on other TUSAL members progress. I hope we continue it next year.

I haven't been stitching much at all lately because things have been so hectic with holiday activities. Last night was my daughter's holiday concert at school. Her class sang "Rudolph" wearing little antlers that lit up. It was very cute and the school chorus did a great job getting everyone into the holiday spirit.

This weekend I have to finish up a few last-minute things like stocking stuffers for my older boys and gift cards for my older nieces and nephews. Then next week I wrap and bake. I'm only working Monday and Tuesday next week. I do a big Christmas breakfast for my husband's family (we go to my mom's for Christmas Eve) so I have to shop for that and then make as much as possible ahead of time.

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog this year. I value all of you and am very glad to have met so many friendly and inspirational people this year through blogging. I wish you all the happiest of holidays and lots of quality stitching time!

A Giveaway

2009-12-14T10:15:00.004-05:00

Karen at The Bearly There Primitive Bear is having a lovely giveaway for Christmas. The contest ends soon, so hurry over and enter. That little santa is painted on a wooden egg. Isn't it adorable?

New start

2009-11-30T12:36:00.004-05:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving weekend with family. My brother came with his new baby, who will be 4 months old tomorrow. All the kids loved meeting their new cousin. They all sang to him and even put on an impromptu acoustic session with my nephew on the guitar.

My new start is from the JCS ornament issue. Sorry for the crappy snap. It's rainy and kind of dark here today. I think it's called Festive Quaker Tree, but I'll have to check on that. I got a good amount done on it and also spent some time working on my letter "C" needlepoint ornament for DD. It's hard to see from this picture but the border is about 50% done.

It's kind of amazing that I got any stitching done since we spent the past two days repainting the living room and tearing up carpet. It needed to be done and I really wanted to do it before Christmas so DH obliged. He and his oldest son did most of the grunt work so I think by this weekend we will have a nice new living room to decorate. Mabel did manage to sneak in and leave some pawprints on the freshly painted wall, but fortunately for her they will be hidden by the couch.

Well, I'm off to check out some Cyber Monday deals before my lunch break is over. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Ornament finish

2009-11-19T19:31:00.004-05:00

I finally finished my Mill Hill Noel ornament that I started a few months ago. I don't know why it took so long to finish but I'm glad to be done with all that beading.

I'm late again this month with my TUSAL post but here it is anyway. The bright colors on top are my daughter's orts from her needlepoint butterfly. She had stopped working on it for a while because she was bored with it but she picked it up again and wants to finish it by Christmas. All she will say is, "It's for someone who likes butterflies and it might be you."

She had me take some of it out so she could start over. It's amazing to see how more focused she is now than when she first started it. I told her we are going to have a little stitch-in over Thanksgiving and we will try to finish it then.

I'm still working on Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy and will post a picture of that later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Some stitching progress

2009-11-11T12:50:00.008-05:00

I've been reading more than stitching in the evenings lately but I have made some decent progress on Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy. She has feet and part of one wing now. I think something is a little funky with the thread for her body though because I noticed last night that her arm color doesn't match her neck even remotely. No idea what is going on there but I will have to check out the skein in better lighting tonight.

The other day I finished up a little piece I had started last year and found some cute fabric for it. I may try to make this into a little pillow roll. I'm not the best finisher in the world and I don't really like doing it that much but maybe I will troll the net for some directions tonight after work. I think this had a silver charm of some sort but I lost it somewhere along the way.

I'm itching for some Christmas stitching so I have kitted up a few ornaments from the JCS ornament issue and will probably start at least one of them this weekend.

Congrats to all the bloggers who are doing NaBloPoMo. I was too chicken to try it because I didn't think I could keep up with it but I am enjoying reading alot of the blogs of stitchers who are committed to doing it this month.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Playing along

2009-10-28T12:50:00.003-04:00

Anna has a meme on her blog to show what's in our stitching bags at the moment, so I am taking the plunge. It's actually kind of scary to take everything out because it confirms DH's assertion that I am a pack rat.

Here it is in all it's crazy glory:

There are several WIPs including Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy, Halloween Night, Dutch Strawberries, Curly Q Ewe, Mill Hill Noel ornament, needlepoint letter "C" and Chilly's Gift. I also have two charts in there that I'm kitting up to start in January: Frederika and Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow.

Then we have bags and bags of thread that hopefully go with these projects, a couple freebies, a hoop, a little tin with unidentified beads, more unidentified beads in a bag, gold beads for Noel, 2 Clover cutters (I did NOT know I had 2--that is weird), invisible thread, pink highlighter tape, a chart holder, a strawberry emery thingy, a bag of floss bags, star buttons from a 4th of July project, orts that belong in my TUSAL jar, miscellaneous Q snap pieces, a Ghinger cover, a tuck pillow that used to hold my daughter's initials until she ripped it out and ruined it, an invoice from 123 Stitch from July and a small piece of orange cardboard that I think belongs to a game.

Go ahead, dump out your bag or basket and show us what you've got.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

TUSAL Tuesday

2009-10-20T12:50:00.004-04:00

Last month I was early with my TUSAL pic and this month I'm several days late. You can see alot of the purple threads from Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy accumulating on top.

Speaking of THF, here is a pretty lousy progress pic of her. I tried several times and just couldn't get a decent one this morning.

This weekend I finally picked up the JCS Ornament Issue. I'm not overwhelmed with choices, but there are a few things I will definitely stitch. Also, DH and I saw Zombieland. It was the first time in a looong time that we went to the movies together and it was great. It's goofy and kind of gross, but I really got swept up in it and was surprised when the lights came up and it was over.

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Great giveaway

2009-10-20T10:59:00.002-04:00

Missy is having a really fun Halloween giveaway on her blog that you just shouldn't miss. There is a prize each day for 13 days. Click on her button on the right-hand side of my blog to enter. Today is Day 2.

More Halloween stitches

2009-10-14T09:10:00.005-04:00

I'm still working on Halloween Night. I finished the dragon/dinosaur/crocodile costume (what is it??) and added the little black dog. This is going to be super cute when it's done but the dark background gets to me sometimes and I have to put it down for a while. I will be working on this some more tonight while watching "Eastwick."

DH decorated the outside of our house on Sunday. He starts out good but then he always has to go a little overboard. There are too many banners and things hanging from the roof for my taste, but he spent a long time out there and it was kind of cold, so I'm not going to complain. And he did put up some little purple lights that look cool at night.

I've been dealing with phone problems in my office for the last two days and I'm ready to scream if the stupid Verizon people can't get this right. They came to fix my internet on Monday, which they did, but they ended up disconnecting my office phone and I didn't realize it until the guy left. Then they came back yesterday, fixed my office phone, and ended up disconnecting my secondary line--and the guy left his coat in my office. Now I have to call them to come out a third time. I can barely even speak to them at this point. Calgon, take me away!

That's all for this post. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Halloween stitching

2009-10-09T12:27:00.004-04:00

I'm still working on Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy, but don't have enough progress to show since last time. So, instead I wanted to post my progress on this little Mill Hill Halloween Night. The big green blob is part of one of the trick-or-treaters' dragon or dinosaur costume. This is a really cute piece and I am enjoying it even though the perforated paper is really dark grey or blue.

I also finished about half of the border on my Christmas letter "C" but it's not showing up well in the photo so I will wait until another day to try to get a better snap.

It is so windy here today. It's howling in my office and the cat has been under my desk for hours. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. We have two birthday parties to go to, so it should be a fun couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Home again, jiggedy jig!

2009-10-01T10:51:00.004-04:00

Hello friends! I have to say I am just so damn happy to be home. It was a long week of intense work in San Francisco but it went great, bosses are happy and we got everything done that we wanted to accomplish. I came home Saturday night and DH and DD were waiting at the door with hugs and a homemade welcome home card. Since my birthday was Monday, we celebrated it Sunday with my family. Mom got me a fabulous carrot cake (my favorite!) and made delicious chicken and veggie pies. I took Monday off to recover from jet lag and spent my birthday catching up on some shows and stitching.

Here is my progress on THF:

The colors in this are gorgeous and I'm really enjoying working on her.

While in S.F., I picked up a canvas to make into a little ornament for my daughter.

I started a little of the inner border last night while watching "Eastwick." If you haven't checked this show out, I highly recommend giving it a try. Good storyline and some great actresses, including one of my faves, Cybil Shepherd, in a wonderfully quirky role.

That's all for now. I need to catch up with all of you and your blogs. Thanks for stopping by mine!

No TGIF

2009-09-18T12:47:00.003-04:00

Well, it's Friday but my work week is not coming to an end anytime soon. This is my last post for a while because I leave tomorrow for a week-long conference and we'll be working straight through until next Saturday. Anyhoo, I thought I would catch you up on my new start, even thought it doesn't look like much yet. This is Mirabilia's Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy.

I will continue working on this in San Francisco and I'm hoping to hit Needlepoint Inc. while I'm there and pick up threads for a few other things.

Here is my TUSAL shot for this month:

And that's it for me. I'm off to pack and make more notes for DH. Last time I went away I left him a long note of things to remember, do, etc, and he promptly lost it. I found it on top of the refrigerator when I got back.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Strawberries and Stash

2009-09-14T12:56:00.005-04:00

I made some more progress on Dutch Strawberries this weekend. I was missing one of the colors and finally was able to get to Joann's to pick it up. Even though I can work around it, I always get slowed down or put things aside when I'm missing a color, even if I really like the project.

I also did a little stash enhancing (not at Joann's) and everything arrived this weekend. Woo-hoo! I got a Mill Hill kit called Halloween Night and the matching blue frame, an assortment of Crescent Colours and Sampler Threads, Mirabilia's Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy kit, a fat eighth of Crossed Wing Butternut linen, Frederika by Carriage House Samplings, the Pearled Barley linen for Frederika, and Home Sweet Home by the Goode Huswife.

I'll be taking the Mill Hill and the Mirabilia to San Francisco with me next week. I have a week-long clinical conference and I never sleep well in hotels. I also hate being away from home, especially with my daughter just starting school. I'm having some weepy moments the last few days and I know everything will be okay, but this is the part of my job I don't like. I will miss back-to-school night and first day of soccer, but DH will be there and so will my mom. The positive side is that this is my only scheduled travel for this year so things will be back to normal in no time.

I will be posting my TUSAL early this week due to my trip so look for it Thursday or Friday.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

First day

2009-09-10T11:03:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. I was so proud of her. She got up early and made a picture for her teacher. I took this just before she met the teacher for the first time.

My second reason for being a proud mama is that today is a very special anniversary. One year ago today we adopted Mabel.

DH was walking through PetSmart (I have no idea why since we had no pets at that time) and made eye contact with her and the rest, as they say, is history. Yes, you sit on my stuff and have a major diva attitude but I love you. Happy adoption day, Mabe!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Birthday pictures

2009-09-06T12:48:00.004-04:00

I haven't had a chance to post this week but I thought I would share some pictures from my daughter's 5th birthday. I made her this teapot cake kind of at the last minute from a template and instructions I found on the web.

Claire really liked it and so did her brothers and her daddy, who quickly gobbled it up. Yesterday we had her family party for our immediate family, which includes 24 people. It was a long, fun day but lots of work for me. This afternoon I plan to take it easy and pick up my poor neglected stitching for at least an hour or two.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Strawberries and TUSAL

2009-08-24T19:56:00.004-04:00

Happy Monday! I made some good progress this weekend on Dutch Strawberries. I'm using plain old DMC instead of the Needlepoint Silk. It's a fun piece and it's stitching up very quickly.

Here's my TUSAL for this month. Sorry it's so blurry. It's filling up with lots of holiday colors from my ornament stitching:

That's it for today, stitching friends. I'm getting ready for back-to-school and my daughter's 5th birthday, so things are hectic. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

A finish and new start

2009-08-19T09:15:00.008-04:00

I finished up Spot of Christmas the other night. I love the beads on this one. They really make it pop. It will be finished as a little pillow ornament when I get into one of my finishing moods.

Last night I was tired and just didn't feel like stitching, plus Mabel parked herself on my chest for a good hour while we were having a thunderstorm with winds that shook the house. The last time I tried to get up when she was holding onto me during a storm I ended up with scratches down both legs. Not attractive. This morning though I went through my stash and decided I really need to start this:

It's Dutch Strawberries by the Goode Huswife. I love the colors, plus it's small and will work up fast. I have an interesting piece of unidentified linen that I think will work nicely for this one.

I'm back at work this week and still feeling a little sore where my surgery scars are located if I sit or stand for too long. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to discuss my options for therapy to try to prevent the endometriosis from getting this bad again. I don't want to have surgery again anytime soon if I can avoid it.

Baby Dylan is doing great. I'm told he loved the cross stitch I made for him and it is hanging proudly over his crib. We're hoping to go back up to Connecticut in the next few weeks to see him again.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Back in the saddle

2009-08-17T14:19:00.003-04:00

I've been away from my blog for a while because I had surgery for endometriosis on August 7th. It went well, but I developed an infection last week so my recovery was longer than expected. But, on the bright side, the awful pain that I had been having for months is gone and the prognosis is good. Yay!

I haven't done a whole lot of stitching lately, but I did start this:

I think it's called Spot of Christmas by Milady's Needle. I'm hoping to finish it up tonight and then pull out Chilly and work on him some more.

Another thing I did while recovering was sit by the pool and watch my daughter enjoying her new snorkeling set. She can spend hours with this thing on just looking at the bottom of the pool!

One more thing to mention: Mel is having a great giveaway to celebrate 8 years (!!!!) of blogging.

Head on over and enter to win some great stitchity stuff.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Welcome Dylan!

2009-08-03T09:11:00.003-04:00

I have big news this Monday. My new nephew was born early Saturday morning! His name is Dylan and he is too cute. We had an exhausting weekend attending a wedding Saturday and then driving up to Conn. and back on Sunday to see him but it was worth it.

Not much stitching this weekend. I'm still working on Chilly. Tonight after work I hope to plop my tired self in my chair and get in some serious stitching time.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

It's Chilly!

2009-07-30T15:04:00.004-04:00

That's the penguin, not the weather. We are in the dogs days of summer here in New Jersey. Hazy, hot and humid with no relief in sight. I decided I needed a really "cool" project to battle this heat so I pulled out a freebie that I've been wanting to do for a long time. This is Chilly's Gift and you can find the freebie here. Mine doesn't look like much yet but he's going to be really cute and I have a little gold snowflake charm that I've been saving for his "gift."

We're still waiting for news about my new nephew. So far he still hasn't decided to come out so they are giving my sister-in-law until Tuesday and then they will induce her. Doesn't he realize how much we all want to see him??? The suspense is killing me, but I suppose I should complain since it's my poor sis-in-law whose a week late and feeling miserable.

That's all for now from sweaty NJ. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Weekend baby stitching

2009-07-27T10:41:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law is due any day with my new nephew so I decided to make him a little something this weekend. I already made a few onesies but this French Country Baby Carriage by JBW designs was calling to me. This is on 32ct natural linen with Tyler Boy Blue by Crescent Colors. If you are familiar with this design you are not seeing things -- I changed the "B" on the right side of the carriage to a "D." I bought a frame and mats at Michael's yesterday and I'm leaving space at the bottom of the design for his name and b-day.

I pulled out Earth Sampler but didn't really do much on it. This is how it looks at the moment. I had to frog part of it awhile back and I think that's why I haven't touched it much but I will try again on Friday to make some progress.

We had a great time at the fair on Saturday. It was a little hot but that didn't stop my cutie from having a good time. Here she is on the carousel. If you look closely you can see she's wearing the ribbon she got for participating in the Big Wheel races. She came in 2nd in her heat and was very proud of herself. I'm a bit of skee ball fanatic (betcha didn't know that!) and I won her a big red monkey before we went home, so all in all, it was a pretty great day!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Santa finish + TUSAL

2009-07-24T09:01:00.004-04:00

Ta-Da! Last night I cut out my little Avignon santa and put on his whiskers. Now he's ready to hang on the tree with his little Mill Hill friends. LOL!

I hope my fellow TUSAL members will forgive me for being late with my monthly posting. It doesn't look like much but I have added to it alot this month.

Ranae said I could join her in an Earth Sampler SAL, so tonight I'm going to pull it out and put some stitches in on it. I really do like it alot, it just seems to get pushed to the bottom of the pile lately. Maybe seeing someone else's progress will inspire me.

This week I indulged a bit and bought the Calico Crossroads Ribbon Candy Ornaments chart that I've been wanting for a while. I also bought some cream perforated paper, so I'm going to cut some strips and start a ribbon candy ornament ASAP. The instructions for the finishing look easier than I thought, so I'm hoping that despite being finish-challenged I will be able to make them look like cute little ribbon candies.

Tomorrow we are going to the county fair. It's always fun and I do love the pig races! Although I am not currently active in our EGA I usually pop in to their tent to see what everyone is up to. I miss it sometimes and especially miss the canvas work projects that we did. But I know that someday when I have the time I will get involved in it again.

Have a great weekend, friends. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Weekend Christmas stitching

2009-07-20T14:02:00.006-04:00

This weekend I continued my Christmas in July stitching and actually accomplished quite a bit! First, I finished Joy of Christmas:

Then I picked up a UFO from last Christmas. This is Peace Ornament from M Designs. Unfortunately, I realized on Saturday that this has a major counting mistake and now I have to frog the entire top.

After that fiasco, I picked up Avignon Santa. I love these little Mill Hill santas and always do a few each year. This one only had the boots and outline of the coat done when I picked it up Saturday night. Now he's looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself! I think he may turn out to be one of my favorites of this series. I got alot done on him while DH and I watched "Knowing." I really like Nicholas Cage but this movie was a little far out for me (says the woman who reads vampire romances).

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Big ball of crazy

2009-07-15T10:09:00.004-04:00

Thank you all for the great comments about my daughter's stitching project. I told her about them and she was so excited that people knew she was a cross stitcher like me. One thing I didn't mention is that like a true stitcher she has given herself a deadline. This project is to be a gift to her summer camp counselor, so she needs to finish it by mid-August. The great thing about this kit is that it comes with a little pink frame so when she's done she can pop it in there and it's all ready for Miss Mary Ann. We bought this kit at Michael's. It's called Beginner Needlepoint and the manufacturer is Quincrafts. Also, it comes with a big plastic needle, so there is no need to worry about poking herself or about the needle being left lying around. This is a link to the cross stitch version. They only had the needlepoint one at our Michael's. Hope that answers some of your questions.

As far as my stitching, don't even ask! We have had so much craziness going on lately that when I sit down in my spot on the couch at night I just don't have the energy to stitch. In the last week we have sent one kid to lacrosse camp, took one kid to the ER because he fell off his bike (he's fine though), bought a new car and now (drum roll please): my washing machine broke last night. Sears can't send anyone out until Friday so it's going to be fun for a few days around here.

Oh well, I hope to be back at the end of the week with a finished picture of Joy of Christmas. Until next time, thanks for stopping by my blog!

The littlest frogger

2009-07-06T13:40:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I shared my 4-year old daughter's first attempts at stitching. Well, over the weekend she pulled out her project and I watched as she made a scrunchy face, turned it over and over and finally announced, "This looks terrible, Mommy. I'm starting over." I ended up doing the actual "frogging" (while she made rather loud frog sounds and hopped around the living room) but true to her word, she started over and I think she did a pretty good job. Take a look:

One thing I'm not too sure about is whether I'm showing her the correct way to stitch since I'm left handed and she's not. I started thinking about that yesterday and realize I may be confusing her.

We had a really lovely weekend here and managed to get to the beach twice and out to my brother's pool for a BBQ, where I managed to do a little more stitching on the Christmas ornament.

It's hard to photograph but it really is pretty and I'm enjoying working on it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Christmas in July stitching

2009-07-02T15:01:00.004-04:00

I put in some stitches last night on the first of several Christmas stitching projects I plan to do this month. This is a design by My Big Toe from the Just Cross Stitch July/August issue. I've had the thread in my stash for a long time and it is soo pretty. It's Eterna Silk and the color is Christmas Bouquet. It's showing up a little lighter than I would like but I still think it will be pretty when finished as a little ornament. There are some great ones in this issue. Love it!

I'm off from work tomorrow. Yay! Our town is having a big fair on Friday that ends with fireworks at dusk. Hopefully the rain will hold off so we can enjoy them.

Have a wonderful and safe weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog!

The home stretch

2009-06-30T09:39:00.003-04:00

Patriotic summer is almost finished. Tonight I will finish up the remainder of the flag and then it's on to Christmas stitching for next month. I've always liked the Christmas in July concept so I try to stitch a few ornaments and things every July. I have an ornament from the Just Cross Stitch July/August issue kitted up and ready to start. After that I will probably do a little Sweetheart Tree heart that I think is called Holly Heart. Have to check through my threads tonight to see if I have the specialty threads called for on that one.

One more pic to share with you all. On Saturday we had a torrential rainstorm in the afternoon but it stopped in time for us to eat dinner out on the patio. As we were doing so, we got a chance to see this beauty:

That's it, friends. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by my blog!

It's Thursday!

2009-06-25T19:44:00.007-04:00

Woo-Hoo! Kids and hubby are fed and I finally get a chance to update my lonely blog. Sorry I couldn't think of a more exciting title but it's been a long day. I've mostly been working on Patriotic Summer the last few days, but reading has occupied most of my time in the evenings. Something about laying on the couch and reading on warm summer nights really appeals to me.

Anyhoo, here's a progress pic on Patriotic:

And it's that time again when we post our monthly TUSAL pics. This is a fun thing and I look forward to seeing everyone else's each month. So, my fellow TUSAL's here is my June contribution:

Finally, Mabel wants us all to know that this is her porch chair dammit and you best not try to sit on it!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

A finish

2009-06-17T09:21:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since I actually finished something. Wee Celebrate is done. Happy dance!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Busy, busy

2009-06-16T13:06:00.003-04:00

Things have been pretty hectic around our house lately, so not much stitching is going on. Yesterday we had pre-school graduation. The kids were all so cute and did a great job with their songs and presentations for their parents. I can't believe my baby is moving on to Kindergarten!

We also have my stepson staying with us this week and last week while his mom is away, so that keeps things busy for all of us, since his school is in a different town and we have to work out dropoffs and pickups. His school has a policy that if you sign up for the bus at the beginning of the year, you must take it to and from school all the time. They will make exceptions here and there if a parent needs to pick up, but they will not let us pick him up after school for the entire 10-day period that his mom is away. So, he has to take the bus all the way to the other side of town where he lives and wait for one of us to come and pick him up there. I have to pass right by the school to go get him!

I have no pictures of my stitching updates but I finished Wee Celebrate and will post that in the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

A new recruit

2009-06-08T11:52:00.004-04:00

Well, the day had to come sometime and I'm sooo glad it did. Yesterday my daughter, who is 4, asked me to teach her how to do cross stitch. So, after seeing the new movie "Up" (didn't care for it), we headed to Michael's and found a cute little beginner's cross stitch kit. Actually, it's needlepoint but she's doing it as a cross stitch. On the way home she said, "Hurry up mom, I really want to get home and cross stitch." Ah, sweet music to my ears!

Here is a picture of her first attempts.

It really is a joy to watch her playing with her yarn and getting that proud look on her face when she completes an actual "x". As you can see, she's doing her own thing, kind of a modernist approach, but she's having fun and that's what matters, right?

As for me, this weekend I worked a bit on Patriotic Summer. It's a cute piece and I'm enjoying it. I've also been listening to a pretty good book on audiotape called "The Strain" by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Really good thriller once you get into it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Time for an update

2009-06-01T19:31:00.005-04:00

Wow, it's been almost a week since I've updated my blog. My daughter has all sorts of end-of-the-year school things going on and work has been a little crazy. May is also a big birthday month for our family, so we have had a party just about every weekend with more to come. DH's birthday is Thursday so I'll have a little something for him next weekend.

Meanwhile, I'm still plugging away on Curly Q Ewe. Here's an updated pic:

And here's where I am on Patriotic Summer:

Last but not least, I'm very late posting my TUSAL picture for May. So, here it is:

I want to say 'thank you' to everyone who follows my blog. When I first started it I was convinced I was talking to myself (which I tend to do anyway) but it's so nice to see friends on my followers list and know that you stop by to check in with me from time to time. I enjoy all your comments and I visit all of you on my blog rounds.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stitching under the influence

2009-05-26T09:54:00.007-04:00

Saturday night after I got home from the baby shower and the BBQ I decided to have a gin and tonic while stitching the bottom border on my Madonna of the Garden. I think we can all see what happened--I went 24 stitches to the left past my stopping point! Oh well, I had a good laugh about it in the morning and now I must pay for my imbibing by frogging the damn thing.

Yesterday we had a nice, relaxing day at home and I decided to start this:

It's Patriotic Summer by Midsummer Night Designs. I'm doing this on 32ct because the 40ct called for on the pattern is a bit too much for my eyes to handle. I just love the colors and of course, the three little sheep.

Well, it's back to work for me today. The weekend was lovely while it lasted. Hope you all enjoyed it and got in plenty of stitches.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Progress pic and another giveway

2009-05-22T13:07:00.003-04:00

Not much to report today, just a little more progress on Curly Q. We have shoes and some more grass.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I have a baby shower to go to on Saturday and a BBQ Saturday night and Monday. The weather looks good so far. Hope it is nice where you are, too.

Carol has a great giveaway on her blog for some gorgeous beaded scissor fobs. Go check it out and don't forget to post about it on your own blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

HAED sale!

2009-05-20T13:35:00.003-04:00

I'm always noticing bloggers talking about HAED so I when I got an email that they were having a Memorial Day sale I headed over to check it out. I can see how people get so addicted to them--some of them really are phenomenal. I was tempted by a few things but ended up having to purchase this little guy. Or maybe it's a girl--don't know but it sure is cute and it was my "must have" of the day! The 25% off sale runs from now through May 25.

A border and a skirt

2009-05-19T12:06:00.004-04:00

I've been stitching a little on Wee Celebrate and working on the skirt on Curly Q.

I'm really looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend. We are giving a baby shower for my SIL on Saturday and then we have a BBQ to go to on Monday. I am going to push to get the onesie done in time for the shower but if not, I will just mail it to SIL when it's done. Lately, I just don't feel inclined to have deadlines on my stitching, although I think blogging definitely is helping me get more accomplished than I normally would.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Friday is finally here!

2009-05-15T13:48:00.003-04:00

Not much stitching going on this week. Here is the latest pic of Wee Celebrate. All those blocks on the star have to be filled in with Rhodes stitch. This is a quick, fun stitch and I've been picking it up here and there when I have a chance. Hopefully, this weekend I will get some more done on Curly Q. I also am going to start on some onesies for my brother's first child, who is due in July. I just bought some waste canvas and am going to do these cute little fish and octopus freebies from Brooke's Books. I just noticed she also has two cute new baby charts and I might have to do one of those as well.

Another monday

2009-05-11T09:16:00.004-04:00

It was a busy weekend here, but I did get in a little stitching on Saturday on Curly Q. My sheep has half his head now. I did his leash in white whisper thread to make it pop a little.

Saturday was my daughter's first soccer game. Here she is during the opening speeches. A few minutes after I took this she fell off the ball, but so did lots of other kids who were just as excited to get started playing!

I had a very relaxing Mother's Day thanks to DH who made me breakfast and then took the little one fishing for a while. I curled up on the couch and watched a cute movie called The Good Witch, starring Catherine Bell on the Hallmark channel and then played around with my new computer. Under the terms of my new work contract I needed to have a network and other do-dads installed on my computer and my laptop wasn't up to the job, so I bought this new Dell Studio 15. I got the plum purple color and I love it.

Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Back to Ewe

2009-05-08T14:40:00.003-04:00

Last night I put in a few more stitches on Curly Q Ewe. Here's how it's looking.

Tonight is Madonna of the Garden night and then I'll probably go back to Wee Celebrate for a bit. I'm hoping this weekend is nicer than the last few. We've had so much rain and bad weather. The kids all need a good airing out and so do I.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. DH usually attempts to make me breakfast on Mother's Day, which is really sweet of him, but last year it took him so long to get it going that I ended up needing a snack before he was through with his preparations. LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stitching on a star

2009-05-06T12:59:00.006-04:00

I'm in a bit of a stitching funk this week and haven't gotten much done. I did make some progress last night on Wee Celebrate. I'm really liking this on the blue lugana. Here's how it looks so far:

Also, Edgar has a blogaversary coming up and he promises a secret surprise for the winner, so head on over if you haven't already, and sign up for his drawing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy dance!

2009-05-04T10:33:00.005-04:00

Guess what? I finished Joyful Summer! I used some dark brown beads instead of doing french knots and now it is done. This weekend I will go shopping for a frame. This one is going in our new family room. I just love the bright, cheery colors.

We've had non-stop rain here for days so, since my daughter's soccer game was cancelled and we couldn't do much outside, I was able to start two new projects. The first is Curly Q Ewe. As you can see, Mabel is modeling it for you. I got the border done and started on some of the grass and the little blue heart. This is done with Crescent Colors and DMC.

My other start was Wee Celebrate by Heart in Hand. I just started it last night while we watched "Breaking Bad." I needed another small to throw into my rotation and I figured I might as well do something for the 4th of July. I can't believe it's May already! Summer will be here before we know it. I'm doing this on some light blue lugana that I've had in my stash for ages. I will post progress pics later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Two giveaways to mention

2009-04-29T16:16:00.003-04:00

If you love giveaways like I love giveaways, well, I have some to share with you. The first is a great fabric giveway on Daffy's blog. Head on over and choose from one of two pairs of hand-dyed fabric that will go to the lucky winners. The other one is on Maddy's blog. She's giving away a Brooke's Books chartpack every week for the next few weeks, so don't miss out!

TUSAL report

2009-04-28T14:25:00.003-04:00

Thank you for the nice compliments on the bookmark. My stepson said he really liked it and never even thought to use a bookmark. Boys!

Well, it's time for another TUSAL picture. My collection has grown nicely and now includes the gold threads from the bookmark and lots of lovely bright colors from Joyful Summer, which I hope to finish tonight. I haven't stitched much the last few days because of a nasty stomach virus. All I've been capable of is flopping on the couch and listening to audiobooks. Now to make the rounds and check out other TUSAL members' pics.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bookmark finished

2009-04-22T12:58:00.002-04:00

It's cloudy here so I didn't have great light for this picture but here is the finished bookmark. My stepson makes his Confirmation tonight. That's all for today. Will post again later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Busy weekend

2009-04-20T12:32:00.005-04:00

This weekend we had lots of stuff going on with the kids between a lacrosse game Saturday (gorgeous weather), Confirmation practice and a birthday party for a friend. My little girl also caught two big trout on Saturday morning when she went fishing at the lake with her dad. She caught them with her Barbie fishing rod and all the older men were coming over and congratulating her. It was so funny, everyone got such a kick out of her. She does a "happy fish dance" when she catches one!

Even though we were busy I somehow I managed to get plenty of stitching done. Friday night I worked on MoG and Saturday afternoon I spent some time on Joyful Summer. Here's how it looks. Look at my poor little half bird up there. I have to finish him up tonight.

I also started on a bookmark for my youngest stepson, who makes his Confirmation on Wednesday. It's a cute little design from Dunmani Designs. He reads alot so I think he will like it.

Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by my blog today!

A bit more progress

2009-04-16T16:29:00.003-04:00

Just a short post to show some more progress on Joyful Summer. I should finish this up this weekend. Tonight though, I will be working on Madonna of the Garden. I've been trying to get in some time on that on Thursdays.

This week has been crazy with the kids all out of school and me working from home. Can get a little out of hand but we are all surviving. Thankfully the weather has improved and everyone can go outside and do their thing. Yeah!!

Happy Monday

2009-04-13T12:01:00.010-04:00

I believe it was me, or some lady who looked like me who said she wasn't going to touch any other projects this weekend except Joyful Summer. Yeah, well. I changed my mind and started Earth Sampler yesterday afternoon after we got back from Easter brunch at my sister's house. Here is my progress so far. My eyes are lousy so I can only work on this in bright light but it's coming along nicely.

I also kept my promise and did more stitching on Joyful Summer.

I may finish it this week or maybe not, since it's spring break this week and all my lovelies are off from school. It's a full house when the boys are with us but they always pitch in and help out with chores and with their little sister.

Finally, here are some pictures from our holiday. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Our morning started like this (too early):

But it got better:

And better:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

More Joyful Summer

2009-04-09T14:55:00.003-04:00

I don't know about you all, but I can't wait for the weekend. It's been a long week and I'm ready to flop on the couch and stitch.

I have a little more progress to show on my Joyful Summer. I just love the colors on this one. I'm going to continue on it through the holiday weekend and see how much I can get done. Isn't it great to have a project you really love? I just love this so much I don't want to touch anything else for right now. Silly, I know, but I can't help myself.

Happy Easter and joyous Passover to all!

Joyful summer start

2009-04-06T11:02:00.002-04:00

This weekend I received my Silkweaver fabric order and was able to start on Joyful Summer. I'm doing it on 32 ct Lemon Zest with Crescent Colors, DMC and some Dinky Dyes. This is so springy and pretty. We are getting chilly rain here today so it will be nice to pull this out tonight and work on it some more. I also put in a little more time on MoG on Friday night, but won't take anymore progress pictures until I get more of the border done.

Happy Monday!

Totally useless SAL

2009-04-02T11:05:00.008-04:00

A few days ago I signed up for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long on Yoyo's blog. Here we have a pic of Miss Mabel with my meager ort accumulation. She looks so impressed.

And a close up of the orts.

That box that you see in the first picture is a gorgeous stitching box made for me by my 12-year old stepson. Yes, he is only 12! This was his final project for his shop class at school and he gave it to me. It is so perfectly made and a beautiful work of art in its own right. I hope he continues with wood working. He really likes it. Last night he even installed a new cat door on his own for our basement door. Mabel goes down there to sleep sometimes and the 4-year old accidentally shuts her in down there so now she had her own little entrance and exit just like her porch door. She is such a spoiled princess.

Not much stitching news today. I worked on MoG a little bit last night but so far this has been an unproductive week for my stitching.

Thank you Yoyo for letting me join the SAL and for encouraging people to visit my blog. I really appreciate all the comments and visits from stitching friends!

Progress and new stash

2009-03-31T10:58:00.006-04:00

This weekend I did indeed get some stitches into my Madonna of the Garden (MoG). I want to keep this in my rotation and try to make some good progress on it in April. Incidentally, my new camera is way better than my old one, so my pictures are actually clear and bright. What a novelty!

These are some pictures of my new stash that finally arrived. The first start from this group will be Joyful Summer. I know it's not a new design but it's new to me and I fell for it as soon as I saw it. It's kitted up and waiting on fabric. I can't wait to start it.