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TO CAMP OR NOT TO CAMP.....I realized that this template does not show post dates so I have to use the date as a title. Oh well...We are on vacation this week...yeah! My hubby has wanted to go camping for some time and we have been going back and forth as to whether or not I would go with him. We finally decided "no"...I am really not a camper, unless it it in a nice warm cabin. Anyway, he left this morning with the 2 dogs for a few days roughing it down in Culver. After looking at how packed the car was I don't think there would have been room for me anyway!
Turns out it will be a good thing though because I will have my grandson with me most of tomorrow and can't wait! And also, I hope to get some stitching done as well.
Yesterday, I worked a little bit on La D Da's "Zippity Do Da"...we are doing this piece as a SAL with one of my yahoo groups. I am using Carrie's Threads - Soapstone as the main thread color. I really like the variations in the color. I also stitched on "Three Things" this weekend. This is a really pleasurable piece to stitch. I love the colors she uses. The last time I stitched on this piece was in March!
Thanks so much to Rachel and Felicity for steering me in the direction of other blogger templates. After playing around some I think I have this almost the way I want it!
My hubby has changed his work schedule and isn't home in the evenings now...so I should have lots more stitching time, right? Well, not the last two nights. Life just keeps getting in the way. I did make a tiny start on La D Da's "Zippity Do Da", but not enough to post a picture yet. I was able to work on "Quaker Christmas" though, so here is an update on that one. Hopefully I'll get my act together and get some more stitching done in the evenings.
I did pretty well with my goals for August. The only piece I never took out was "Happy Home Sampler". I don't know why because I really like this piece. I did miss some stitching days because of being in the hospital with my daughter and the baby. And I wasn't feeling too well part of the month either...just a general lousy feeling, nothing specific. Anyway, I'm posting my goals for September here because my sidebar is getting kind of crowded (3 columns please blogger??????). I have lots planned, but I also have a week's vacation this month so I'm hoping to get some things accomplished!
- monthly finishing challenge
- JCS ornie SAL
- STO monthly block exchange
- F & S round 9 squares
- "Three Things" - stitch another 1/4
- "Quaker Christmas" - finish next 2 pages
- La D Da SAL - "Zippity Do Da"
- Sampler Girl SAL - "Mansfield Park"
- Put some stitches in "Joyful Summer"
- Put some stitches in "Celtic Autumn"
- Put some stitches in "Happy Home Sampler"
- San-Man HalloFall exchange
This is so cool! I was awarded this blog award by both Sherry and Connie this week. Thank you both so much! I would like to share this with all the fabulous bloggers out there. I so enjoy reading all your blogs. Here are the rules for this award, and links to some new-to-me blogs that I really like alot.
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you nominated.
Paula
Tracey
Staci
Carla
Rob
Amy
Laurie
I hope you'll visit these blogs! And thanks again to all who read my blog and leave comments. I really do appreciate it.
It's been a week since I've posted and sad to say...not much stitching has gotten done.
I've been spending lots of time just sitting and holding my grandson...I could just gaze at him for hours...and do!...but it's hard to stitch at the same time!
I've been working on a small Santa exchange with the Prairie Schooler yahoo group and should have it finished and ready to mail for tomorrow. I received my exchange from Debbie in yesterday's mail and I just love it. I can't wait to hang it on our tree this year.
I also updated my cyberstitcher's gallery....finally! I added a few WIP photos as well. I really wish blogger would offer some 3 column templates. I'd love to be able to add more stuff here. I'm sure there's a way but I am not that computer savvy!
It's been so hot these last few days...100 degrees....which is not normal for this area. Temps are supposed to cool off next week ...it will probably feel like winter after all this heat! I wanted to stitch last night but my stitching light was giving off even more heat so I just gave up! Hopefully I'll get some stitches in today.
I wanted to share this adorable block that I received from Monique in our STO monthly block exchange. The theme for July was Mermaids. I'm not sure how I'll finish this yet, but it's so cute.
It's funny...when I went to the hospital with my daughter last week I brought all kinds of stitching to do, thinking I would have lots of sitting around time. Well, I did have lots of time, but somehow only managed to put a few stitches in anything! I guess we were just concentrating on other things!
Anyway, I finished this little square yesterday. It's for the monthly block exchange with the STO group. The theme for August is trees, and I stitched this Quaker Tree freebie from the Workbasket. Also started a small Prairie School Santa for another exchange, but no pictures of that one yet.
Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to read this blog, and for the wonderful comments. And thanks for the good wishes for Asher...he is truly a joy and a blessing.
Here is my progress so far on this piece. I am stitching in a SAL, but have been very neglectful of it for the past few months. So far, I have finished 2 pages, so I am about one-third finished. I have somehow misplaced my red thread, so I ordered more from Carrie this morning. When it arrives I will be able to fill in the "Merry Christmas" portion. This is a very relaxing piece to stitch and I really do enjoy it when I am stitching on it. I am hopeful to have it completed for the holiday season!
I did pretty well on my July goals. The only piece I didn't touch that I wanted to was "Three Things". But I did get some done on Quaker Christmas which has been seriously neglected these past few months. I completed my first round in the Fair and Square exchange which was lots of fun. Jill was a great partner. This year's round robin is also finished. I haven't received my piece back yet but should be soon. This is the 3rd (or 4th????) year we have done these as a group with Ally and all of the robins have been wonderful. It is a great group of very talented stitchers.
My daughter is flying in from Boston tonight. She will be staying until Friday so I'm not sure how much stitching will get done. It's hard having her live clear across the country. We just don't get to see her often enough.
August goals will be posted in the sidebar.
I finished the scissor case for the monthly challenge a little while ago. I stitched the design on 25 ct. evenweave and it was too big for a small scissor case, so I decided to make a larger one for my 8" shears. I have lots of fobs for my little scissors anyway! I used one of Vikki Clayton's silks...Caribbean Reef...for the stitching. The colors went really well with a piece of fabric that I wanted to use for the backing. I also added some pins around the edging. The design is a complimentary one from Glory Bee.
We had a busy weekend! On Friday night we went to the Washington County Fair. It's a small fair, but fun. There were a few cross-stitched pieces in the exhibits...not too many, but a couple were outstanding. Someone submitted Lavender & Lace's "Angel of Love"...it was beautiful with all the gold beading. And another stitcher submitted a cross-stitched "photo" of a couple (Herself and DH perhaps?). I have never actually seen one of these photos transferred to cross-stitch before and this piece was amazing. For one thing it was HUGE! And it was so realistic. My hubby said..oh you should do one of those!...yeah..maybe sometime when I have lots and lots of time and patience! Every inch of that fabric was stitched. I was wondering...do any of you exhibit at your state or county fairs? The owner of my LNS (Acorns & Threads) is always encouraging her stitchers to do that...maybe next year...it is certainly a way to make people aware of cross-stitch and how beautiful it can be.
On Saturday we went down to the Waterfront. They were having a MAritime Heritage festival and the last remaining PT boat was on display. It has been restored and was pretty amazing. There were also many boats on display from the 30's, 40's and on that were wonderfully restored and really gorgeous. The woods used are just beautiful and it was fun trying to imagine people in those days enjoying a leisurely ride out on the river.
I did manage to get some stitching done this weekend as well. I finally finished "Always & Forever" by Little House Needleworks. I started this one as part of a SAL with the LHN yahoo group back in May (I think it was May!) and it was going quickly until I ran out of thread! So I finally got around to getting some more and finished it up this weekend. I stitched it on a 28ct. cashel opalescent called "Glistening Heather" (from Silkweavers) with Victorian Mauve silk (from Vikki Clayton) You can see that the mauve in the second dye lot was a bit darker, but I had the border all finished so it still looks ok. This was a fun piece to stitch.
I also finally started on my Monopoly gameboard. This is a SAL with another yahoo group. I didn't get too far but at least I made a start! I am stitching it on an antique white jobelan with DMC threads.
I also started stitching on my scissor case for this month's challenge and should finish the stitching tonight. I've never done one of these before, so hopefully I will be able to put it together before the end of the month!
I have been nominated by two wonderful stitching friends for this award this week! Both Marianne and Jill nominated me and I thank them both. I'm usually wondering if anyone is even reading my blog, so this was a nice surprise!
Here are the rules for this award:
...the winner may post the logo on her blog
...put a link to the person you got the award from
...nominate 5 blogs
...put links to the blogs on your blog
...leave a message for your nominees
There are so many wonderful blogs out there that I really enjoy reading, and I'm sure many of you have already been nominated for this award, but I randomly chose five anyway that I enjoy and think you will too! The blogs I have nominated are written by CJ, Amy, Becky, Brigitte, and Maureen.
Thanks again to Jill and Mar, and I hope you enjoy reading these blogs as well.
I signed up for this on CJ's blog at the beginning of the month and then totally spaced on posting it!
What is a PIF? It stands for "pass (or pay) it forward" and is just a way to pass forward a little bit of kindness to someone else to help make the world a better place.
This is how it works: If you would like to receive something stitched by me within the next 365 days, please leave a comment on this post to say that you are interested. I will take names until July 31 and choose three names on August 1.
The only thing you must do in return is to offer to do the same for others.
Thanks for signing up! I am looking forward to stitching something for everyone.
It's been hotter than normal here, so we have mostly been trying to stay cool this past week!
My daughter's friends held a baby shower for her on Sunday. It was fun and she received some really nice gifts...many were handmade and very original, and lots of stuff she can use. The baby will be here before we know it and everyone is very excited.
Sunday was also the annual picnic for my husband's company. They raffle off lots of stuff, and he won a Magellan navigator for the car. It is really cool! We've named her Susie.
I have a couple of finishes to share from this week. I finally finished my piece for the last round of our latest round robin. It is Diane Graebner's "Catch A Tail" from the cats & quilts series. There are supposed to be little tassles on the quilts but I thought they looked a little weird so I left them off. Two of the six people in this robin chose the same designs so I got to stitch 2 of this series.
I also finished my July ornament for the JCS ornie SAL . It is "The Santa in the Moon" from Twisted Oaks Designs. I can't remember which issue it was in...maybe last year's? I'll have to check. Anyway, I finished it as a pinkeep that can also hang on the tree.
Thanks to everyone who has come to read my blog. I especially am grateful to all of you who take the time to write comments. Thanks so much!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. We had a very relaxing weekend, and really enjoyed having the extra day off. We spent part of the 4th at the annual Waterfront Blues Festival. This is the main fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank and it is always well-attended. This year was no exception and with the nice weather the crowds were huge. It runs for 4 days so I'm sure they made lots of money and collected lots of food this year. We heard Canned Heat play... a real blast from the past, among lots of other great musicians. We also hit the Empty Bowls booth...they sell pottery...both perfect and not-so-perfect pieces and we always manage to do some damage there. This year was no exception...we came home with six new pieces!
Yesterday we spent most of the morning at the Farmers Market which is always great for fresh produce, flowers, crafts and lunch, as well as some good music. Another beautiful weather day and another great crowd.
Today we drove out to Sauvie Island and wandered around a bit. The doggies got to play in the water a bit too.
I did manage to get a little bit of stitching done as well. I finished a biscornu for an exchange with the STO group. I think it looks ok but I am not entirely pleased with the finishing. I might be the only person stitching who isn't in love with this type of finish. Maybe I just need to try another one...maybe! I also stitched a bit on a round robin that I am already late on, and I started my July ornie for the JCS ornament SAL. My main goal for the week is to finish this round robin so that I can get back to some of my other WIPs.
Here is a photo of the biscornu. The design is a freebie that I got online but I can't remember the source. I stitched it with one of the new DMC variegated threads.
I was very excited when I finally picked up my mail to have 3 wonderful surprises...one was the "Americana Sampler" pattern from Little House Needleworks which was a prize for completing a SAL on the STO group. I also received my Christmas in July ornament from Julie L...she also included lots of adorable Mary Engelbreit goodies which I love. The last package was a beautiful pinkeep stitched by Mylene for an exchange with the Prairie Schooler yahoo group.
This whole month has gone by in a blur...we got back from the East coast a week ago. It was a nice, but busy trip. We flew in to Portland, Maine, then drove to Boothbay for a family reunion. it was great to see everyone, and I finally got to meet my niece's 2 children...they are 4 & 6 and both adorable. We stayed there 2 nights,t hen drove to Ellsworth, Maine where we stayed another 2 nights. While there, we took the ferry over to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The boat ride was fun but we only had a very short time in Yarmouth...just about enough to get some lunch...which was delicious! From there we drove to Foxwoods in Connecticut...this is a huge casino...we got there a bit late so they upgraded us to a suite at no extra charge which was really wonderful. We were only there one night and then drove to New Jersey for my nephew's wedding. It was a very nice affair and we got to see people we hadn't seen in over 15 years. We drove to New York the last night to stay with an old friend of ours and then headed to the airport where....our flight was cancelled! This started the hellish portion of the trip. We were flying Jet Blue and they were less than helpful. They offered to get us on the next flight...3 days later. We had our daughter with us, who is 7 months pregnant and we all had to get back home for work and to pick up our puppies. Like I said, they were no help at all and we barely made another flight out at the last minute. They actually had to hold the plane to get our bags on board. To say it was stressful is an understatement...not to mention the extra cost to get home which was no small amount. I'm still not through with Jet Blue...everyone is going to hear from me this time! They cancelled the flight due to "weather', yet somehow all the other airlines were
able to get planes out at the same time...hmmm. Anyway, at least we got home safely...and my daughter even got to ride in business class...at least she could put her feet up!
I was able to stitch two blocks for the monthly block exchange at STO during my commutes last week. One was a stitcher's theme and the other is a mermaid. The stitcher's square is a Lizzie Kate block found in the book Celebration of Stitching, and the mermaid is a section of the Twisted Oaks Design, "Nautical Nuptials". I still want to stitch that one for an anniversary sampler for Jeff and I...one of these years!
We are off on a 10 day trip back East at the end of the week...a family reunion as well as a wedding. We will be flying into Portland, Maine for the reunion, taking a one-day excursion to Nova Scotia, driving through New England, stopping in Connecticut and then on to New Jersey for the wedding and down to Middletown (where we used to live) for a day before we come home. So...we had to find a place for our puppies. Originally, my daughter was going to take care of them, but then she decided that she really wanted to come along on the trip. So we had a friend's son who was going to help out, but then he got a new job and the hours wouldn't work. So we looked on-line and found "Club Mutt". This lady has turned her entire house into a doggie "Bed and Bone" as she calls it. They have a huge yard (actually 4 yards), a pool, their own room...it's amazing! She even has a "time-out" area! We took the doggies over last night for a sleepover and they both fit right in and did really well so I feel good about leaving them for the long trip. I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving them in kennels. They're just not used to cages and it would have broken my heart. The separation is bad enough!
Well, I am finished with the wedding gift! Yeah!!! I realized how totally consumed I have been with this piece...it's been in the back of my mind for months, even before I started the actual stitching...I always get like that when I have a gift to do for someone, don't really know why. Anyway, I put the last stitches in yesterday and found a perfect frame at JoAnns...it's the muted blue from the design and looks like it has sand woven through. The stitching itself was a bit of a challenge. I stitched it over one and so many of the floss colors were so similar...after awhile I felt like everything was one color. But the finished effect was worth it. Here is a picture...not a very good one, since the flash is beaming off the glass...but I am really pleased with the way it turned out.
I know I'm crazy to do this since I have so little time to stitch as it is, but I've joined 2 new stitch-a-longs.
Shelley has started a group to stitch the Monopoly gameboard. I've wanted to do this one ever since I saw Georgia's finished piece a few years ago. Everyone is getting their supplies together and I think we will start sometime in June. I still have to find the right fabric.
Becky (from BeckyBee's Stitching Hive) suggested the second SAL. I think there are 7 of us stitching the "Happy Home Sampler" from the latest issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine. We will be stitching on Thursdays and started today. I only had time to stitch this morning on my commute, so I didn't get too much done, but at least it's a start! I'm stitching this piece on 32 count Star Sapphire jobelan with DMC. Here's a photo of my tiny start!
A while back, Felicity offered a piece of fabric - with the design already started - on her blog. I totally forgot about it, so imagine my surprise when I found it in my mailbox yesterday! The design is called "Five Simple Rules" by Glendon Place. Felicity didn't like the fabric, but I think it goes well with the floss colors. Now I just have to order the pattern and I'll be able to work on it. She even gridded the fabric...I've never done that before, so it will be fun to see if it makes it easier to stitch.
Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that so much time has passed - where did it go? I feel so blessed to have found someone to share my life with - all the good and no-so-good times.
My DH surprised me at work yesterday with these beautiful long-stemmed roses. It took me a minute to figure out why I would be getting flowers! but I drove to work yesterday which I don't normally do and he knew that I'd be able to bring them home in the car. They smell so good too! Aren't they gorgeous?
I really hate that I always procrastinate, especially when I have something important to do. It's a real character flaw. Why do I always do this to myself?
My nephew is getting married next month. I decided a year ago to stitch them a wedding gift. I picked out the perfect design..."Seaside Sweethearts". They love the beach, even got engaged there...and the colors are perfect too.
I was determined to start on the first of the year. Well...that came and went, so I thought I'd start on his birthday in March...came and went again. Long story short, I finally started on Sunday...ACK!...what was I thinking? Now I will be stressing until I get it done.
I'm stitching over-one because I didn't want them to have a huge piece that they would have to find a place for.This will be very pretty when finished, but it is all done in very pale colors on antique white and I am seriously afraid that it may kill me in the end!
Here are 2 photos. The first is a scan of the pattern and the second is what I have done as of last night. Please send all the stitching fairies to help me!
