TGIF Everyone ...

I have to say it's been a long time since I've looked soooo forward to a Friday. Not because we're doing anything special this weekend .. I'm just really glad this stupid week is over. Not to go into lots of gory details, let's just say I'm a 54 year old woman still going through the change .. working on day 10 of a pretty horrible cycle. Tuesday night I had a new experience that scared DH and I, had my dr on the phone off and on for a couple of hours and consumed lots of ibuprofen. Thank goodness for my dr ... I just love that woman :) I did go into her office Wednesday to get checked out further .. doesn't seem to be anything serious other than menopause, but I get to have a pelvic ultrasound next week just to rule out anything else. Ah the joys of being a woman! lol

Wednesday, after my dr. appt, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself so I stopped by our local Barnes and Noble .. needing a little pick me up, I was hoping I could find the Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs that Staci and Becky have been talking about on their blogs. Of course I was very interested in the cute red bird! B&N had the book and I must stay it's a lovely book .. filled with all kinds of wonderful designs .. here's a few examples ... lots of variety ...












Look at what else jumped out at me while I was wandering around B&N .. I just love the colors and I couldn't pass up this coffee cup ... it's perfect! and who doesn't need another little storage bag ... or 4 or 5 ...


lol ... I just couldn't resist .. they are red after all *smile*


I did get some stitching done this week. I finished LHN's Schoolgirl Lessons. What a lovely pattern this is. I stitched it with the recommended Rose Of Sharon Soie Belle Silk. Gosh I love this silk .. it feels sooo great stitching with it. I don't know what kind of fabric I used, it was just a piece that looked good with the silk. I'm not sure how I want this finished, but Vonna and I were talking about this design mounted on a blackboard .. she really does have some awesome ideas!


I'm participating in a SAL that the LHN Yahoo group is having. I'm stitching Sunflower Sampler. I love the fabric called for on this design ... it's 28 count Little Boy Blue Linen. What a delightful fabric to stitch on.


Not much going on this weekend for us ... which is just the kind of weekend I need. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I'm grateful for a supportive family ...

Sunday ...

Hope everyone had a great weekend .. mine was pretty quiet but nice. Friday night DH and I rented Beautiful Ohio .. has anyone seen it? It was on OnDemand .. a IFC movie with Rita Wilson William Hurt. Very good, but off the wall movie. And I learned something new about Ohio during the movie .. you have a very pretty state song :) While we watched the movie I put the finishing touches on Good Morning (needed the charms) and finished up Rosy too .. they both were very fun to stitch.






I joined a new blog a couple weeks ago ... Monthly Finishes Challenge. Making a pinkeep was the challenge for March. This is the 2nd pinkeep I've made. This one went together much better than the first, but I still have lots of practicing to do before I would ever give one away :) I stitched this last October .. I thought it was perfect for a pinkeep ... and I added the needle that I stitched it with in the heart. I thought it was a cute touch.

I had picked out a couple of different fabrics/ribbons for this piece ... I asked Robert what he thought ... this was the fabric and ribbon he liked the most ... I love the flowers and the dots on the ribbon .. busy, but I think it works with the simple stitched piece.


and dammmm I really did iron this! lol


Sunday I worked on the L*K double flip-its .. hopefully I'll have a picture to share soon.

Thanks for all the comments about my colorful red laptop and the Tree of Me box ... I really do enjoy hearing from all of you :) Barbara I do think you should cross stitch yourself a new cover *smile*

I'm grateful for nice weekends ...

Red ...

I have a new toy and I'm having lots of fun with it. Look, it's a RED Dell!! lol .. I'm just a little addicted to the color red *grin* A laptop won't take the place of my desktop PC but it is nice to have the portability of a laptop. I can sit in the family room, watch tv and surf around. It will also be nice to take on retreats with me. I've been spending time getting used to the Vista operating system .. I really like how pictures can be organized using Vista .. so far it's not a bad operating system.



yep it's a red mouse too! lol



I have been stitching when I'm not playing with my new toy ... I finished Bent Creek's Good Morning. I still need to put the charms on .. but I think it turned out really cute.


And here's Rosy ... not done yet, but she does have a head now! lol .. and funny legs on her back .. I'm going to work on her again tonight, heck with my rotation! lol ... I should be able to get her done while watching Lost and Celebrity Apprentice .. GOOOOOO TRACE!



Last year I finished a retreat piece from a class with Bent Creek called Tree of Me. The tree shows things that are all part of me, like coffee, red, animals, racing, reindeer, music, flowers and of course stitching. It's been sitting because I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted it finished .. did I want a pillow, or frame it, maybe sewed into a nice banner .. nothing was really jumping out at me so Tree of Me just sat in my finished stitching bag. That was until Vonna started her finishing service. I was so excited reading about Vonna's new venture and well it just jumped out at me that Tree of Me would be awesome on a box .. a couple of emails with Vonna and off to the mail went Tree of Me .. the box is home with me now and I have to tell you I am soooo happy with the finished project! The box is now in my stitching room being the home for my scissors. It's just perfect! I stole these pictures from Vonna ...






I hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm grateful for new toys ...

Happy First Day of Spring

Well, technically it happened around 10:24 last night .. how silly is that ... so happy first full day of Spring! Hope all your daffodils are blooming and making you smile.

Please say Hi to Rosy .. she's a design by Bent Creek and is a lot of fun to stitch .. hopefully she'll have a head soon! lol


Here's my progress on Good Morning .. I really love this design .. can't believe it took me sooo long to start it!

Here's a little Easter fun to share with you .. this has to be one of my all time favorite designs. The designer is Ewe, Eye and Friends and it's called Long Legged Chick. He made me smile when I first saw the chart, made me smile as I was stitching him, and keeps making me smile every year I display him. I stitched him in 2004.

Is everyone ready for Easter and the Easter Bunny? I remember growing up and going with mom to find that perfect Easter outfit .. all the frills and lace and springy colors. I still love going and getting something new for Easter, even though our holidays have gotten more informal every year .. it's still nice to have that perfect Easter blouse.

I'm grateful for spring colors

Happy St. Patrick's Day ..

Hope everyone has a very green day :) The kids are coming over for dinner tonight .. corned beef, little red potatoes, brussel sprouts and corn .. yep my family likes brussel sprouts instead of cabbage! lol Here's a picture of my mantel in the family room .. nope I'm not Irish, but I love this holiday! ok ok .. I love all the holidays *grin* But in all fairness, my FIL's mom was Irish, so we do have some reason to wear green today .. other than not getting pinched!


Hope everyone had a great weekend .. mine was pretty quiet. Friday night we watched August Rush. Has anyone seen it yet? Very cute movie .. I was lost in the music! Saturday DH and I cleaned house .. yea, he's pretty good at helping, especially with floors and bathrooms .. really! Saturday night I stitched on Good Morning and we watched Stand By Me. Robert (youngest DD) had never seen the movie .. and it was still great after all these years :) Sunday was more stitching on Good Morning and watching the nascar race. And there was grocery shopping and laundry to do after the race .. and I started Rosy Life .. I'll post pictures soon :)

Thanks for all the comments .. nice to see some new readers .. thanks for stopping by and saying hi *smile*

I'm grateful for quiet productive weekends ...

Fair and Square, Wips and general checking in ...

Kim in NY and I were paired up for Round 5 of the Fair and Square exchange. I received the squares a couple of days ago, but the stupid camera battery was dead .. here's a picture of what Kim sent .. she spoiled me! Besides the squares she stitched .. she also sent me a Christmas patter, some needles, a lovely fat quarter of fabric and a magnet from her home state of New York. She also sent me a post card that shows one of her favorite views of New York. Isn't this a nice exchange :)



Here's a picture of the actual squares .. sorry the picture is fuzzy .. didn't realize it until I got it loaded. The design is one of the new Baubles by SamSarah Design. I just love it! The hearts are so fun and she also sent me the buttons that go in the middle of each heart. Kim, your stitching is lovely! The signature square is really unique .. she stitched a heart and then in gold stitched her name and city .. it's really hard to see at first, but when you realize it .. it's just such a cute idea! Thanks again Kim for the lovely exchange.


Since I've been missing in action here on my blog I have gotten some stitching done .. this is Schoolgirl Lesson by Little House Needleworks .. but most of you already know who's it by .. I've seen quite a few bloggers who are working on this piece .. and even a couple that have finished it! It really is a relaxing piece to work on .. I could get really use to monochromatic designs :)


There's a SAL in one of my yahoo groups .. it's a Bent Creek/Heart in Hand/Trilogy group. This SAL was to stitch something BC or Trilogy .. I realized I haven't stitched anything by these two designers in ages so I thought cool, I'll do this SAL. It was really fun looking through my stash and re-discovering what I have *smile* .. I decided on this sweet design .. mostly because it's a kit and I didn't have to work at kitting it up! lol .. sometimes the last thing I want to do in the evening is look for fabric and floss. I'm really enjoying this stitch.


DH and I started the next phase of our remodeling. We're having the kitchen cabinets refaced and the formica and tile replaced. I really like my kitchen cabinet layout and they are still in great shape so we didn't want to do a total replacement. Refacing is cheaper and will still give us what we want .. a kitchen that isn't stuck in 1986 .. lol

Even though I haven't updated my blog in a while .. I have been enjoying reading all our blogs .. everyone is doing such lovely stitching :) And thanks for all your comments .. I enjoy reading them a lot.

I'm grateful for blogging friends ...

I'm back ....

Thank you all for your comments about my great aunt's passing. The trip to California was a tough one but also a good one. It was the first time in I don't know how long that my brother and I spent 4 days together .. just the 2 of us. We laughed, we cried, we dealt the the funeral home and packing up her things at the nursing home together .. supporting each other through some tough things .. but we also go to drive up the coast and spend some time at Morrow Bay and Pismo Beach .. talking about family .. remembering family trips and stories. Thank you Auntie Dee for giving Mike and I time together .. time I won't forget.

When I got home from CA there was a box waiting for me from my friend Karen in Arizona. She sent me the most wonderful belated birthday box of goodies. In the box was a bag of yummy Hershey kisses, a roll of very pretty red ribbon (I know I'll be using this soon!), a very funny birthday card, coffee cup for Arizona, a reindeer pattern that I've never seen before! lol .. a cute note pad with Glinda and and and a stitched piece that she finished into a cube for me! Karen, I just love everything :)

Here's a close up of the stitched cube .. didn't see do a lovely job finishing this! and how perfect is this design for me *smile*

I'm a bit behind, but here's my Lizzie Kate Double Flip its so far .. I'm stitching this on a long piece of banding .. I just love these flip its.

Before I left for CA I had ordered a thread holder from Monique .. I just love it! I also ordered one of her zipper pulls, in red of course, I love it too .. forgot to take a picture of it :( I think I'll be ordering more of these .. great little gifts.

We are all excited about the race tomorrow .. 50th run of the race at Daytona .. gooooo Matt!

I'm grateful to be home ...

Life ...

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. Saturday the kids, DH and I went to visit my fil and his new puppy. This picture isn't the greatest, but what a cute puppy! He's a lhasa apsa and is about 8 weeks old. We are all really happy Al got the puppy .. he's been needing something/someone to take care of since my mil passed away .. I think he and "Little Friend" will be happy for years to come :)

Last night I finished my PMP, Spots of Love .. I do enjoy these pillows .. cute and quick finishes and something I can do when I'm not feeling great ...


On a sad note .. my great aunt passed away this evening. She was the last of my mom's side of the family. My brother and I are leaving tomorrow for California to take care the the arrangements. We were hoping to get there before she passed .. Auntie Dee was 93 years old .. she'll be missed.

So I won't be around for a few days, keep busy and hope to see lots of finishes when I return :) And that's for all the compliments about my finishes . and a Hi to new commenters .. thanks for stopping by .. see you in a couple of days ...

I'm grateful for my brother ...

Happy Friday :)

Anyone else as glad it's Friday as I am? I ended up staying home from work today .. my cold has settled in my sinuses and I've had a headache now for three days. I did start my antibotics on Wednesday .. sure hope something starts working soon .. this is getting really old! lol I watched The Jane Austin Book Club on DVD today .. has anyone else seen this movie? I really enjoyed it. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I enjoyed the story line .. the characters and their interactions. The ending was a bit too "nice" .. but all in all I would really recommend this movie.

I have been stitching a bit here and there .. I started Lizzie Kate's Double Flip-it's .. I'm stitching them a a pretty piece of banding. I'm almost done with Spot of Love .. I'll post some pictures over the weekend.

The bright day of my week was Thursday .. when this wonderful stitcher's bource arrived in my mailbox. Sally stitched this as a PIF for me. I've never seen one up close and personal .. didn't she do a lovely job!

and look at the stitching inside! I just love the colors and the alphabet, and the adorable flowers in the middle ... opps, I forgot to take a picture of the colorful threads that were hiding inside the bource when I opened it ...


Sally, thank you so very much .. your stitching and finishing are beautiful. Thank you for stitching this for me ...


I'm grateful for stitching gifts ...

Happy Groundhog Day ...

although by the time most of you read this blog it'll be the next day! lol I heard the "official" groundhog did see his shadow .. so looks like 6 more weeks of winter .. and I for one am ready for some warmer weather. I got hit again with this stupid cold/flu crud. It's been a long time since I've felt quite this bad .. my head is sooo plugged up and all I seem to do is cough and pee .. tmi?? lol I did go to my dr on friday. She heard a little rattling in my left lung, but said I don't have bronchitis or pneumonia .. haven't been running a fever at all. So she wanted to start me on an inhaler 4 times a day and a 20 min steam .. it's only been 24 hours since I started this .. but I'm not sure it'll help. I do have some antibotics but she didn't want me to take them until I try the other stuff .. I haven't been stitching much .. too afraid of making mistakes when I feel this bad .. but I did start a pine mountain pillow this morning .. Spot of Love .. really hard to mess up on aida lol


I did finish one more wip before Janauary was over .. This is Christmas Drawers by Shepherd's Bush. Sure feels good to get this one done. I started it years ago when it was first released. It was one of the first times I was using linen and silks. There were also some speciality stitches, which were new to me but I didn't think I'd have an problems .. see, that's what I get for thinking lol. I believe this little design caused me more problems than any of done todate. The biggest problem was that I don't follow written directions well. I learn better when someone shows me how .. reading directions just gets me all turned around. Since I don't have any friends that stitch, I would take CD to stitching retreats with me .. some retreats I would actually remember I had it along with me .. I'd find someone that could help with a speciality stitch and off I'd go .. of course I'd run into a wall with the next speciality stitch and then would have to wait again to be around stitchers .. long story but I'm really glad to have it done .. finally!



I feel really good about the wips I got finished in January .. I still have a few more, but I'll get them in some kind of rotation and get them done soon too .. I hope :) Now I'm looking forward to starting a few new pieces .. just have to lay them out and figure out which ones to start .. that's soo much fun to do!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend .. enjoy the Superbowl! And thanks for the comments about our snow, which didn't last long at all, and on my wips .. I really enjoy hearing from all of you.

I'm grateful for being done with CD ...