MIA

No pictures today.  I just wanted you to know I'm still around and still stitching but making slow progress.  What's been going on?

DS has had a lot of extra activities.  I think this has been our busiest Thanksgiving/Christmas.  I'm not complaining because a lot of the activities are things he is helping with in a volunteer capacity and I really love that.  Just busy!

Then both DS and I have been sick.  I think I missed about a week of work.  I had two doctor visits and DS had one.  Both of us are feeling better. DS is totally recovered.  I wish I could recover as quickly!!!

To top everything off....several years ago my Dad had a stroke - it was pretty bad.  Right after the stroke he couldn't talk or walk.  But he has gotten much better.  You can still tell he's had a stroke - he can talk but sometimes it's hard to understand him.  And he can walk with a cane.  He still can't write at all.  But he's been doing so well and made such wonderful progress.  We recently received the news that Dad has cancer.  He's scheduled for surgery on Monday.  It's kind of scary since he is already weak from the stroke.  He's a fighter, but I'm still really worried about him.

So that's what I have my hands full with.  I'll be back when I can.  Keep stitching!

Progress

I have made some progress on the stitching front.  Not enough.  Is it ever enough?

I thought I better set aside my Christmas SAL to finish my Thanksgiving turkey.  Didn't take long to finish that up.  Here's a picture.

And then I went back to work on the SAL.  I have to say I love this piece.  I loved the cute snowman and bird in the first section.  And I love the warm looking fireplace with the stockings in the second section.  But I have to say, I had to frog and frog and frog again in that second part.  That's why I didn't make more progress.  Gaynor, don't look to close because it's still not exactly right!  I just refused to frog any more.  I don't know what was up with me.  I just couldn't count.  Still so far behind! And I'm not done with this section either.  Still a little more to do. Part 4 came out Sunday.  Oh well, maybe during the Thanksgiving holidays I can catch up.  I have several days off work then. Thank you so much, Gaynor, for making this available to us free of charge.  I'm having so much fun with this (except for the frogs)!

Sorry for the wrinkles and the quality of the pictures. 

Parental Initiation?

I guess I have been initiated into the land of high school for parents.  This morning my son's high school was put on lock down.  It's so crazy and stressful.  I really don't understand all the violence and threats of violence.  The biggest thing I remember from school was just someone pulling the fire alarms.  Harmless compared to today's world. 

Why?

Why do teens think the world revolves around them?

Why are sons so much like their dads causing them to always be butting heads?

Why does each one - father and son - swear I take the other's side?

How did I become the enemy?

I really don't expect an answer...I just needed to get it out.  But if you do have some insights I'd love to hear them.

Absolutely no stitching to report.  At least it's the weekend. 

Victorian Christmas SAL

I'm a bit behind but I'm loving this SAL. 

Part Two came out Sunday so I need to get my needle flying.  Thank you so much Gaynor for this SAL.  It's not to late to join in the fun!!!

Unwelcome Visitor and a SAL

The weekend was super busy for us.  The fair started last week and continues this week.  DS is in 4-H so we helped with a display.  The display took second place.  Then Homecoming was also this weekend at the school DS attends.  He marched in the parade on Friday and then went to the dance on Saturday.  Yes, DS went on his first group date.  They had a great time and all went well. 

Since it was so busy, I really didn't have time to stitch until Sunday evening.  As soon as I started I realized I had made a mistake in the turkey and had to frog.  So I'm back to where I was.  No real progress. 

I'm super excited about a SAL.  It just started and will run for 9 weeks.  And it's a Christmas SAL!  Christmas is my very favorite time of year!  You can find details about the SAL here.  Well I'm off to get everything together and hopefully start stitching soon.  This is the first time I've done a SAL and I'm really excited.  Please join us!!!

I'm here

I know you've probably been wondering where I was.  Maybe even given up hope that I would post again.  All I can say is that life tried to take a bite out of me, but I survived!  I still have some loose ends to tie up, but I'm trying to get back to normal - whatever that is.

I had really lost all of my stitching mojo.  In fact, I stopped for awhile.  I started back a couple of weeks ago.  But I really needed something simple so for now I've put my HAED to the side.  Never fear, I will go back to stitching on it.

I just finished this simple little Halloween freebie.  Sorry for the wrinkles.  I plan to frame it and put it in my office.  Of course, I need to get on this or it will be too late!

Then I started another freebie for Thanksgiving.  My plan is to stitch something for each month and rotate them in my office.  Again sorry for the wrinkles....

That's all for now.  I'll try not to be gone for so long again.  It's good to be back.

World of Charity Stitching

I've read about World of Charity Stitching before on blogs.  While I was interested, I was also nervous about it.  Would my stitching be acceptable?  Could I meet the deadline? 

I don't really have a bucket list, but if I did certainly you'd find learning to quilt on my list.  Right now, I don't have a sewing machine and my hands are kind of full so it remains a dream.

What's the next best thing?  Of course, it's contributing a square to be placed in a quilt.  So that's my exciting project.  I had hoped to share a picture of my completed square, but the frogs came to visit me!  It was so bad I had to start my square over!!  But I had promised a post today so I wanted to at least let you in on my exciting project.  I'll post a picture soon.  I really am excited about it.

I have been stitching....

even if I haven't been blogging!  Need proof?  OK.  I can do that. 

Sorry for the poor quality of pictures - my DH took them with his cell phone.  But at least I do have some proof....

First up is my HAED Kites. 

Before:

After:

Do you see a change?  Neither do I....but I know I put some stitches in there!  I promise there really are other pretty colors in this pattern.  Eventually I'll get to them!  This was my first HAED and I've learned so much from it (what not to do!!!! - but I'm still plugging away at it).

Next up is the HEAD Twins.

Before:

After:

YEAH!  Page 1 finished!  Still loving the colors in this one.  And I just can't bring myself to put it done once I start working on it.  Love Love Love it!!!!!!

Next up is the Santa Nutcracker.

Before:

After:

My DH said - "but he's headless".  Maybe I'll work on that next time.

And last up is the Nativity.

Before:

After:

Yes!  A finish! 

DS is busy enjoying his summer.  Fishing, horseback riding, fun and games.  Next week is camp.  He's really looking forward to that.

Come back on Monday, I have something new to show you.  I'm pretty excited about it.

Again, sorry for the terrible pictures.

Hope everyone has a great weekend full of stitching time.

So Close....To A Finish

I'm here and have been working away.  Just not so good at keeping you updated.  I'm sorry.

Week before last I went back to my rotation plan and worked on the Santa Nutcracker.  Here's a before picture:

And an after picture:

Then last week I worked on the Nativity.  Here's a before picture:

And the after picture:

I was so close to a finish!  Just the roof to complete.  I was tempted to stay up late...who needs sleep, right?  Actually, I do.  If I stay up without sleep, it usually triggers a migraine.  Oh well, at least next time I know I'll have a finish.  But I'm still a little disappointed.

This week I'm back at work on the HAED Kites.  Here is where I left off last time.

Not sure how much time I'll have to stitch this week, but we'll see.....

There was also a question about my son's school plan next year.  I remember way back when I was in high school we had some "electives" we could choose from.  Most of the girls did home economics.  I remember also choosing typing and accounting.  We still had to take the usual Math, Science, English and History but we had some added classes we could choose.  They still do that same thing but they have made some changes to the process.  They ask the students if they know what they want to do (yeah, right!) and try to choose a plan for them that will be of benefit to them.  Since my son is very interested in the military he will take his usual classes Math, Science, English and History but also pick up the ROTC classes.  He'll learn more about the military, learn some drills, compete with other schools and hopefully decide if this really is what he wants to do after he graduates from high school.  I'm a little nervous about the whole thing but trying to be supportive of him also. 

Happy Stitching!

Wonderful Mail Day!!!

Look what came in the mail!!! 

You may remember I won a Katy's Giveaway for the chart for He's A Flake.  I'm so excited to receive it!!!  Not only is he a perfect addition for the Christmas display I'm working on for this Christmas, this is also the first Little House Needleworks pattern for me.  I know so many of you are big fans of them and I can't wait to fall in love too.  Katy, thank you so much.  You will never know how much this has blessed me!  I have to purchase some materials, but soon you will see me working on this.

Rotation Thrown Out the Window

I know you've probably been wondering where I am.  I'm here.  I just don't have a lot to report.  DS has signed up for high school for next year.  He's decided to go the JR ROTC route.  He's very excited about that.  Then last week we had Spring Break.  Only a little over 30 actual school days left for this year.  That makes him VERY VERY happy!

As you can tell by the title of this post, I haven't been doing my rotation.  I LOVE this new HAED!  I just don't want to put it down.  But I probably will switch out after this week.  I need to see some real progress.  Not that I'm not making progress, but I'm not going to be finished with this any time soon and because of all the color changes it's a little slow going.  I love all the colors.  The first 10 X 10 square had over 30 different colors!  Here's a picture for you.

Rainy Days and Mondays.....

Yesterday was both a rainy day and a Monday!  Not a good combination.  But I had two exciting things happen that turned my frown upside down!!!!

First I got an email from Kate over at The Flying Needle.  I won her giveaway of He's A Flake chart!!! I couldn't believe it.  Of course, when you enter a giveaway you do cross your fingers and hope but I've never won a giveaway so it was a wonderful surprise!

I can't wait to stitch this up and add it to my growing pile of ornaments to finish.  You may remember that I really want to do a display kind of like Carol over at Stitching Dreams.  I think I mentioned it before but didn't post the link.  Here it is.  I just love the ornament arrangement down the stairway.  Of course, I know mine will not look as fabulous as Carol's.  I'm just in awe of her staircase.  (And many of her other projects as well.)  But I hope to make a stab at it this year.  So I'm busy stitching some ornaments to finish for this project.  He's A Flake will be joining the line up.  WHOOO HOOO!

The second thing is that our hot water heater is fixed!!!  Trust me, I know it seems like it took forever.  We have a warranty that covers our hot water heater. So when we came home from work and discovered the leak, of course, we called right away.  We were told to call back in the morning to schedule a plumber.  So we did.  He came out.  Confirmed that we needed to replace the hot water heater.  He called it in with a quote that had to be approved.  Finally approved.  Oh, but wait.  He can't just go to the local box store and pick one up.  They have to order one for us and have it shipped to the plumber.  So he brings it out yesterday and opens up the package.  Guess what.  It's too big to fit in the space.  That's right - they had asked how many gallons of water did it hold but not how big is the unit.  Thankfully they allowed him to re-box it and ship it back but in the meantime allowed him to go to the local box store and pick one up for us.  YEAH!!!!  Hot water!  (Without having to boil it on the stove first!)

So you know I haven't had much stitching time at all the last week.  In fact, most of my stitching is done on the weekends since I work full time and then have to help my son with homework in the evenings along with other household chores.  Some times I manage to get in a few stitches on my lunch break or after work but the bulk of it is on the weekends.  I didn't even pick up a needle this past weekend.  So I have decided that I will have a two week rotation on my new start.  I have stitched some, but really I haven't made a lot of progress and I don't want to put it down.  I'm just checking in to let you know I'm going to continue stitching on this project for another week.  I'll be back next week with an update for you.

Kites Update

I have a small amount of progress to show on Kites:

Not sure if you can see the progress or not....but I now have 7% done.  Still a LONG way to go.

This week I've started my new HAED.  You knew I wouldn't be able to resist for long!  This is the pattern my husband got me for Valentines Day.  He predicts I'll be done by 2033!  HA HA.

Here's a reminder of what it looks like finished....

Last night, I came home to find our hot water heater had sprung a leak.  So no stitching last night.  Hopefully by the end of the day everything will be back to normal and I can stitch tonight. 

Overdue Update

I'm so sorry, I had issues with the camera and could not post an update last week.  I think I have things solved.

Two week ago I started the Santa Nutcracker.  I didn't have a before picture since it was a new start.  Here is where I ended the week.  Not a lot of progress, but I think he's looking cute!

Last week I worked on the Nativity Silhouette.  Here is where I started the week:

And here is where I ended the week.

This week it's back to my Heaven and Earth pattern.  I hope to make a lot of progress, but not sure how the week will end up.  Here's where I'm starting from....

I'm off to see what you guys are working on!

Rotation Update and a New Chart!

This past week was a much better week.  Everyone is feeling better.  Fingers crossed that it stays that way!

This week I started a new project Plaid Greetings by Ladybug Lane Designs from Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 2009.  I finished!!!!

Well all except the beads.  I thought I had them in my stash but I guess I already used them.  I'll have to get some more before I finish it into an ornament.  But I'm calling the stitching done!  And yes, it was supposed to have some fancy stitches but I just did cross stitches throughout. 

I know you are probably wondering why on earth I'm still doing so much Christmas stuff.  This past Christmas Carol over at Stitching Dreams posted a picture of her staircase display of ornaments.  Did you happen to see it?  I fell in love with it!  I'm really hoping to have something like this for myself this coming Christmas. Even though I've made some ornaments in the past, I've always given them away as gifts so I don't have any.  I'm really hoping to make enough to do a decent display and then continue adding on in the future. 

So what's up this week?  It's the Santa Nutcracker from the Nutcracker Quartet in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine November/December 2012 issue.  We started a collection of Nutcrackers for our son when he was little so each year he gets a new one that we display in our living room.  I'll have to get a picture this Christmas of his collection.  He'll still get a new one this year, but I thought he might enjoy some ornaments as well.  Here is a picture from the magazine....

Yes, it's another new start so no before picture. 

I wanted to thank you guys for helping me add the "follower" tab to my blog.  Hopefully it will work correctly, if not please let me know.  I'm still learning how to do this.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  Look what my hubby got me...



Yes, another HAED!!!!  We had a Westie for almost 15 years and he died about two years ago.  He was the best dog ever!  I can't wait to start this one - but not this week.  It'll be in my rotation soon.

The Week That Wouldn't End!

Last Friday I had a stomach virus.  Honestly I wasn't able to do much all weekend.  Then after a couple of 12 hour work days, I was really dragging.  A parent/teacher meeting that did not go well at all.  Several 8th grade projects that would require my help.  Another phone call from the school.  What two in one week?  What's that about?  Thursday night I began to have chest pains.  I can't begin to tell you how happy I am for a new week to start.

Of course, with all that going on, you must realize I didn't stitch very much.  In fact, I'm embarrassed to show you my little progress - less than 400 stitches in one week!  And on a HAED at that.  But here it is.....

For a short period of time, I considered just working on this another week.  But I really needed some cheering up. So I went ahead as planned with my new start.  This is a horrible picture of the project I just started.  I'm so sorry.  I really don't know what went wrong.  Plaid Greetings by Ladybug Lane Designs from Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 2009. 

I have to tell you after a week of almost no stitching, it felt wonderful to sit down for a little while last night and stitch! 

We still have some of the 8th grade work to catch up on.  And, of course, I still have to work every day but hopefully I will have more stitching time this week and a lot less stress!

Rotation 2

I think I had a pretty good week.  Here is the progress on "Nativity Silhouette". 

On to Rotation 2.  My HAED UFO!  Here is where it stands right now....

Hopefully I will make some progress this week. 

A Finish and Rotation Week 1

Caroline is finished!

Rotation Week 1 is off to a good start.  I don't have a "before" picture to show because this is a brand new start.  But here is the picture from the magazine.  Sorry for the glare.  The name of the pattern is "Nativity Silhouette" and the designer is Sharon Pope.  It's from Just Cross Stitch November/December 2012 magazine. 

Progress, A New Start and A Plan!

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately.  Let me catch you up. 

DS had strep throat when I last posted.  Just when I thought he was well, he relapsed!  He's doing better now and almost back to normal.

A family member needed help on a project that has kept us busy the last two weekends. 

Recently I had a doctor's appointment and he suggested a "lifestyle" change.  My bad cholesterol was just a little high and my good cholesterol was just a little low.  He suggested some changes in diet and exercise to see if this would help.  Of  course, that has meant juggling my time and change is not easy for me.  I go back in March for a retest.  Hopefully the changes I've made will be enough.  If not, I may have to look at medication.  It's not that bad yet, but he really wants to address the issue now.

All that to say, there really hasn't been a lot of stitching time for me.  I do have some progress to show on the Santa Bellpull.

Progress?  Really?  I don't see any progress you may be saying.....

O.K.  I hear you.  There isn't a lot.  The bottom of the robe and up the middle of the robe is a mixture of white and off white stitches.  They are really hard to see.  That's the progress.  Why did I stop?  I ran out of the off white!  A trip to Hobby Lobby just hasn't happened yet.  But it's in the plan for this weekend.

There was a question about the size of the bellpull and I thought you might like to see a picture of the finished piece from the magazine.  The magazine says the finished piece is 3 1/2 X 11 1/2 inches.  Here's the picture:

Really, I don't have a lot more to do.  The beard, face, hat and then the backstitching.  Shouldn't take long to finish up once I have the thread.

Monday was a holiday for me.  Of course, I went into my meager stash to see if I could find something else to work on.  I turned to the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments Magazine from 2009 and started "Caroline" by Miss Crescent's Crowne.  Here's the start:

Really I should be able to finish this today or tomorrow. 

I want to thank all of you for being such an inspiration and encouragement to me.  Although I haven't posted, I have been reading your blogs.  I love all the work you are doing.  It really encourages me to keep going. 

This week I discovered a new (to me) blog.  Katy at Just a Little Stitchin'.  You may know her already but she's a new friend for me.  She has several pieces she's working on that are beautiful.  And her recent finish of Tribal Penguin is awesome!  He's on my to do list.  Katy has a rotation plan that she follows.  She starts a piece on Sunday and stitches on it until Saturday.  Then she moves on to the next project.  I want to give this a try.  Honestly, I don't know how many pieces are in her plan, but for me I'm thinking about 4 projects.  Why 4?  You see there are 3 pieces I'm anxious to start and 1 UFO I need to make progress on.  At least there is a method to my madness! 

Sunday I will start the rotation so come back to see more about the plan.  I need that trip to Hobby Lobby to get some needed supplies before I can start.  I should finish "Caroline" before then.  And the Santa Bellpull will probably be my lunch time stitch.  Don't worry, I'll finish them too!

I'm off to see what you all are working on.  Happy Stitching!!!

Santa Bellpull

Here's what I've been working on a Santa Bellpull.

The pattern is from a Better Homes and Garden Magazine Cross Stitch Christmas 1997.

It's going slower than I thought it would, but he's looking cute. 

My DS has strep throat so hopefully we will have a quite weekend at home stitching.  Hope you have a great weekend!

A Finish

Finally things are back into a routine after the holidays.  I'm so very glad 2012 is over!

I know I've been gone for awhile.  I guess I should have waited to start blogging until now.

I do have a finish though!  Here it is....

This is a Brittercup Design called "Poinsettia".  It's found in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Magazine for 2007.  I've actually made it twice in the past, both times for friends.  This one is mine!  I actually just used what I had on hand for this piece.

I'm not finishing it into an ornament yet.  I hope to take a class in finishing in 2013.

I have another start that I'm working on, but I don't have a picture of it today.  I'll post one soon.