Remember me....and Jamie

This week has been a bit slow at work so I went to the Stitching Bits and Bobs site and clicked on every designer on the chart page. Wow, did I see a lot of charts I want to stitch. And I bought a few things too. Well, there was a sale and it would have been rude to visit their site for so long and not purchase anything. Besides, I needed Olde Willow threads for the WOTM (women of the mayflower) and since they were on sale... I also got a really cool Wizard from Peter Underhill and one of his rolly, polly cats that looks a lot like Maggie. I am moving right along with When This You See (remember me) from Blackbird Designs. I love the way it is turning out. I am also so happy my friends are blogging too. Sue set up a wonderful site called Home Sweet Stitching a few weeks ago and has a great pic of her progress on My Home Town. Joyce just set up a terrific blog called M&M's and Ice Water and has a great pic of her latest The Drawn Thread piece.


I took a quilting class last week with my Mom. We made schlep bags and they sew up mighty quick. We had each of ours made in 3 hours. My Mom's looks great and is in vegetable fabrics of bright colors. Of course, I did mine in cat fabric. I just got some more fat quarters to make another bag but my sewing machine is being serviced at the moment. There is quite an annoying squeak coming from it. I can't wait to pick it up this weekend.

I got some bad news on Monday. My cousin Christoper's wife, Jamie died after a long battle with breast cancer. She was diagnosed with it while she was pregnant with their son Jason, 2 1/2 years ago. They couldn't do anything for her at that time because they didn't want to hurt the baby but as soon as she had him, she started treatment. The cancer was really bad for a while and then it seemed to go away and she was doing really well. They went to Disney World a few months ago and had a wonderful time. However, after they returned from their trip, the cancer came back and moved into her liver. She died at her home with her family this past Sunday morning. She just turned 30 a month ago. I feel so bad for Chris and Jason. At 2 1/2, he can't possibly begin to comprehend what is going on or where his mommy is. Jamie was a beautiful, intelligent, caring woman and I hope her family is able to heal from their loss at some point in their lives.

I'm melting...........

Have I mentioned I don't function well when it's hot? Well, I don't function well when it's hot. :) Air conditioners next week. yeah! And, they already put the a/c units in at work so that is good. Although I think it is suppose to drop about 20 degrees for tomorrow. I just had dinner with my next door neighbors, John and Sarah. We had tasty burgers and dogs for Memorial Day and I watched a little baseball, something I don't normally do.

Carol, I would love to do the Women of the Mayflower SAL. As soon as I get it and get some good fabric I will start. You know what that means....a trip to Bedford this weekend. Woohoo! And she is getting designs from Examplar's from the Heart. I can't wait to see them, I like everything they have done. I have been working on the Little Angel Sampler from SBF and it is so sweet. Less than 2 weeks until the baby! Well, that's it for tonight.

Time for air conditioning.

It feels like a jungle in my house. Yes, it's only 78 degrees but that is 4 degrees past my limit. I must have air conditioning. I need to wait until next week though b/c the one I have for my living room is a million pounds and my Dad is going to help me with it. However, there is nothing keeping me from installing the little one in my bedroom. I don't do well when I am too hot. Maggie doesn't either. This is her "it's too hot" pose.
I am not ignoring the other 2 cats but Maggie has the funniest poses that I must share them. I did get a great picture of Bella though. I adopted her from the SPCA last August. She used to be a street kitty so she's a little tough but has calmed down a bit thanks to Chester.

Now, onto stitching. Since I finished House Samplings I had to start something new. :) Plus, my friends are having a baby boy in a few weeks (I am on call to watch their daughter in case the baby comes in the middle of the night) so I had to start the baby piece I am doing. My friend Patti did this design a few years ago and I thought it was the sweetest thing. I think it was one of the first things I framed for her. It is Little Angel Birth Sampler by Sisters and Best Friends. I love it. I am stitching it on 28ct "Mercedes" by PTP and it looks great. I am so digging these hand dyed fabrics. I just found the coolest site called Cross Stitch Patterns and Fabric; it's your choice. You pick the design and then chose from tons of hand dyed fabrics to see which one goes best. It's really cool.

Thank you Carol for letting me know where I could find Women of the Mayflower. As soon as I read your post I went to that site and bought it. Off to read.

The houses are done!

I can't believe I finished them. It really went fast at the end. Hillside Samplings, House Samplings is finished and now I just have to figure out which frame to make for it. Actually, I like the one they did in the picture. The birds and letters are suppose to be 1 over 1 continental stitch but I did a full x and man is it small. They look great though. Not so bad to stitch but I suggest having a good light....and maybe a magnifier.

More time.....

I have determined there either needs to be another day in the week, I need a clone, or I must find a way to function without sleep. There are so many books i want to read and things I want to stitch. Work is really getting in the way. :) I just went to the movies to the the Davinci Code with my friends John and Sarah. It was great. I loved the book, actually I love all Dan Brown's book. He is very, very good. I hope he publishes another one soon. My other favorite writer, Terry Goodkind, has his 10th (or 11th) book in the Sword of Truth series coming out this July...I feel like I have been waiting for that one for years. Oh, wait a minute, I have been.


Anyway, onto the wonderful of world of stitching and my weekend. My Dad turned 60 on Thursday and my Mom graduated from college with her Associate's degree on Saturday so Saturday night they had a party at their house with friends and family. It was a lot of fun. I played with my beautiful nephews, which was the highlight of my week. They are so awesome. I did a punchneedle piece for my mom.... Lizzie*Kate's summer and did a Ham Radio piece for my Dad called Calling CQ by At River's End. Of course, in keeping with tradition, I forgot to take pictures of both pieces. The next time I am at their house I will do my best to remember so I can post them and show you. They turned out really terrific. I am bound and determined to finish the pieces in my bag and only then can I start new patterns. I have added my Current Projects on the right hand side of the page, with pictures and links. Some of them are UFOs but I thought it a good idea to put them there as a reminder to me that I need to finish them. The one from Long Dog Samplers is truly amazing. It's on white 28ct Jobelan with one color DMC, 777, which is a dark deep pink red. I will put a picture of it up here soon. The picture they use doesn't do it justice.


I did finish another punch needle piece today from Pine Mountain Designs called Ohio Star. In honor of quilting. And, I have been working on Hillside Samplings House Samplings. I took out the fat robin which was over 1 and not easy to take out at all. I redid it and finished the 1st house then moved onto the 2nd and final house in the piece. I have done about 1/2 of it and it looks wonderful. I can't wait to finish it. Happy Stitching, reading, sewing, etc....

One busy week...of cross stitching

Well, it's been one busy week of stitching here at the homestead. I finished the mother's day gift for my mom of the Heart in Hand Mother's Wisdom patterns. I took all 8 of them and put them on one piece of linen (2 rows of 4). It is so cute. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it so I need to have my mom take one and email it to me.

Next, I am almost done with my Dad's birthday gift for this weekend. He is a ham radio operator and has been his whole life so I am doing a ham radio design by River's Edge or At River's Edge, I can't remember the name and I am feeling too lazy to go find it. :) Anyway, I am almost done with it and will take a picture before I give it to him. The funny thing is that Thursday night I am going to our shop to frame and he is going to help me make the frame for his gift....of course, he won't know it. Sneaky, sneaky.

I also finished this design by Needle's Content called Sampler Pillow Cover. It was fun to do because it was 2 skeins of Caron Watercolors Rose Blush and the varigation is very strong. I finished it Saturday night. It was one of the 6 projects in my bag that I have been working on for months. I just said, I have to finish these and started working on it.


I also went to the store in Bedford on saturday and bought some great hand dyed fabrics. And, I got 2 of the Rosewood Manor patterns I mentioned in a separate post. Grapes in the Round and Strawberries in the Round. They are so cute. Well, that's it for tonight. I am going to read my new book, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See. I love stories of Chinese history and life. Hopefully tomorrow night I will post the Ham Radio design....finished. :)

Maggie the cat and When this you see....

I have been working on "When this you see..." again. It is such a fun pattern to work on and I love WDW Thistle which is the vine attaching the purple flowers. It varigates between pink and green and is so pretty. What did we ever do before overdyed floss? Maggie, one of my 3 cats fell asleep near me in the cutest pose so I had to take her picture.

It was my birthday on Sunday. My parents came up for dinner, cake, and presents. Love the present part. It was a great day.

My friend Sue and I are goint to start Celtic Autumn by L&L but Sue got a conversion chart so instead of the purples and yellows it is in reds, golds, and browns. It is gorgeous. We are also going to stitch it on Crystal Relic which is a hand dyed sparkly Belfast linen. I can't wait to get that fabric so we can start that. Ah,,,after I finish a few other present things. Well, there is nothing wrong with stitching many things at once, right? Right.

Okay, I know what I want my next new project to be!!! Isn't this beautiful? I love it so much. The colors are so rich; the reds and blues. It is just awesome. It is called Leslie's Peacock Garden by Examplar's from the Heart. I must have it. The other one I like from them is The Blessing but I can't deal with Fall and Halloween just yet. Although, it is my favorite season. And can I just add how bummed I am that Chris was kicked out of Idol last night. He was awesome, and quite cute. I hope he still makes a record. He has such a great voice and personality.

House Samplings

This is one of my ongoing projects; House Samplings by Hillside Sampler. I need to motivate myself to finish it. There is only one house left so you'd think that wouldn't be a problem but it is. This design is done with NPS (needle point silks) and they are wonderful to work with. I must say, I love the silks. They are a little pricey but really nice and soft. Hillside Sampler has a lot of patterns I like and a new one from them is fruit samplings and I love that one. I think I must get that for my stash. :) Back to this project....there are a lot of places to do over 1 which i like very much. The birds are over 1 and the letters and year are as well. Actually, I think they were suppose to be over 1 half stitches but I decided to complete the stitch. The only problem is that the robin on top of house #1 is way too fat. I think I am going to take it out. I somehow made it 2 - 3 stitches wider than the pattern said and it is one fat bird.

I went to the stich-in at Colonial Needleworks last Thursday with my friend Gail and it was fun as usual. I met some new stitchers and saw some old friends. I could stitch all day.

On the book side of life I am almost done with "A Clash of Kings" by George R. R. Martin, which is his second book of that series. It is so good but very long (over 900 pages) so I am anxious to start his next one and another new book. I do read multiple books at once; can't help it. I got a Borders gift certificate for my birthday (thanks Gail) and bought 2 new books today. Strategery by Bill Sammon and The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent.

Current Projects

My friend Sue introduced me to a blog called Garden of Stitches. Carol, the blogger, takes pictures each night of the progress she has made stitching and posts it. How cool is that? I love that idea so I am going to attempt to do it as well. I have a lot of WIPs (works in progress) so this could be interesting. My hope is that it will motivate me to finish them. There are a few that are sooooo close to completion and some that I have put away for now b/c I can't deal with them or b/c they are seasonal. Basically, I can't deal with anything Halloween or Christmas now. :)

So, the picture to the left is of "When this you see" by Blackbird Designs. They are my current favorite designer and this is the first of nine family history patterns they are putting out. I have changed the colors a bit (thanks for the help Sue) becasue there were so many browns and I thought it needed more green. Also, the house was suppose to be WDW pebble but it was too grey so I did GA Freedom instead. Love it.

Cow Weathervane by Prairie Moon

This is another one of my favorites. I think this was the first piece where I went out of the box with the fabric color.

Watermelon in my Garden by Fanci That

This is one my favorite finished designs. I made the frame too and it came out beautiful. I think this was the first piece I was serious about using overdyed threads too. Which I am now addicted to. :)

Rosewood Manor

I was going through the new items at Hoffmans and really like the new All Around patterns. There are Grapes All Around, Strawberries, Acorns, and Pears. They are neat. I think I have to get one (or all of them).