Recent Finishes

I'm proud to say I've had some finishes, somehow snuck in around exchange stitching.  The biggest is my 2012 BAP Challenge piece, Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden.

Mom, Dad and my initials are stitched in red.  The friends that always spend Christmas with us are done in gold.  Mary Lou and Jim are family to me.  Katrina was kind enough to share details with me about stitching the alphabet at the bottom instead of the charted Christmas Garden phrase.  The colors are still Christmasy, but this at least gives it the option of being displayed year-round.  I decided after taking the pictures I needed to add one more set of initials.  I'm going to put a green SB up in the top right empty spot for Shepherd's Bush.  This project was a gift from them to me last Christmas, and all of them signed the inside of my chart.  Lots of things I could say, but I'll just keep it simple and say they're all special to me.

All of my other finishes are small compared to this.  First up was the tote bag which was one of the projects from the retreat.  I it in Arizona while we were motorhome camping.  Perfect project for imperfect stitching conditions.  Each of the designers at the retreat supplied a motif (or 2).  The stitchers could pick and chose which motifs to put on their bags.

Shepherd's Bush 2012 Retreat welcome project

Next up is a piece designed by Nancy from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  It was originally started for an exchange, but then I decided it was too Christmas-y, then I fell in love with it paired with the red velvet.

Victorian Motto Christmas Reindeer, stitched on 38 ct linen
with Hand Dyed Fibers silk in Garnet

Another project that was started for an exchange, but didn't make the final cut was this Homespun Elegance piece.  I decided there wasn't enough actual stitching and didn't want the recipient to feel like they got the short end of the stick.

Homespun Elegance Christmas Won't Be Christmas, stitched on
30 count R&R linen with various overdyed cottons

Next up is a Shepherd's Bush design from a few years ago.  I've had this mostly stitched for a while, it just needed the last few stitches put in and the finishing done.  Carol recently did a tutorial on hemstitching, so this was my first attempt.  I'll definitely be doing more hemstitching in my future.  Its a bit tedious and time consuming, but you get into a rhythm and it looks fabulous.  I'd love to finish a sampler with hemstitching.

Shepherd's Bush Merry pin cushion.

Last, but not least, a pair of Primitive Hare finishes.  The larger one was kitted up at the SB retreat and is stitched on 30 count linen, the smaller I changed to read Merry White Christmas, and is stitched on 40 count linen.

Primitive Hare freebie

Olympic Stitching Recap

I wasn't as self-disciplined as I wanted to be, but I wasn't bad either.  Christmas Garden saw quite a bit of progress, and I managed to stick with it for about the first 10 days of the Games.  I'm actually so close to a finish, but I've managed to obligate myself for a fair amount of stitching over the next few months.

Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden stitched on 35 ct
R&R Sheep's Straw with Shepherd's Bush silk conversion

Remember that Funky sneak peak a couple of posts ago?  Well, the stitched portion of the giveaway is no longer a mystery (don't worry, there will still be surprises).  I'm pleased to present Barbara Ann's Frogscornu.

Barbara Ann Designs Frogscornu biscorn, stitched on
28 ct Silkweaver linen (limited edition color) with
DMC floss and DMC Color Variations

I'm not sure what drew me to this design, since its about as opposite to my normal style as you can get.  Maybe its my Dad's nickname for me growing up - The Toad.  Maybe its that I'm still looking for my prince. Maybe its just that as a stitcher I like the idea of poking pins and needles in those dratted frogs.  I have a feeling I'll be stitching this again for myself, I have just enough of the blue Silkweaver fabric leftover.

For all you Vintage loving gals - don't worry, that project has already been started.  For anyone that hasn't signed up for the giveaway, you can head over to this post and leave a comment.

I want to give a quick apology to everyone that's left comments on my blog and I haven't gotten back to you yet.  Somehow my spam filter in email got turned off, so I got swarmed and overwhelmed.  Everything is sorted out now (and spam filter turned back on), but I still have to play catch up.

Christmas in July

Christmas Garden that is, as in Blackbird Design's Christmas Garden, my very neglected BAP SAL piece.  I started feeling guilty so brought it out to play after I did some stitching for an exchange piece.

BBD Christmas Garden, stitched on 35 count Sheep's Straw linen
with silk conversion done by Shepherd's Bush

This piece actually stitches up remarkably fast.  I had toyed around with the idea of joining in with the other blogging stitchers doing the Olympics challenge, but decided I have enough projects already started, I need to focus on them.  Maybe I'll just make this my Olympic challenge and see if I can finish it by the end.

What's everyone's preferred method of watching the games?  In this house we're selectively recording stuff on the DVR and then watching that way.  Always a day or so behind, but easy to fast forward through stuff. The recordings are focused on gymnastics, equestrian events, tennis, and some swimming/diving thrown in for variety.  When it comes down to it, I enjoy watching just about all of it, but there's so much I need to pick and choose.

Procrastination...

...will kill me every time.  I'm the Queen of procrastination, and it really bit me in the ass this time.  About a week ago I received a fantastic surprise in the mail from Myra.  I was the very lucky recipient of one of her sewn project bags.  She picked out totally adorable Halloween fabric, making it perfect for the Halloween rules project we're doing as a SAL together (and no, I haven't stitched on it for a month).

The procrastination bit comes in that I didn't do the right thing and immediately get my tush up to the computer and send her an e-mail thank you that night.  The next morning my internet woes started.  To make matters worse, I never even thought to send her a hand-written thank you through snail mail until the day I got internet back.  How quickly I forget some of the rules of politeness my mother raised me with.  Now imagine the guilt I felt when I finally did get internet back, and before I could even send that e-mail thank you out, there's a very concerned email from Myra wondering if I was ok, since I had dropped out of blog-land for a while.

Anyway, she's forgiven me (I think), life is getting better, just hectic, and I'm trying to solve my time-management problems (I probably never will).  Lots of updating to do in this post.

WIPocalypse is due today (thank you so much to Measi for the lovely e-mail reminder, I'd totally spaced out on the moon date).  I don't have too much to show on that.  No real progress on Halloween Rules since you last saw it for Theme-a-licious.  My primary focus has been on Christmas Garden (my BAP challenge piece).  Crappy picture, both for the colors and the wrinkles, but I'm lazy and don't iron my pieces just for pictures.

My January wrap-up for Theme-a-licious was due a week ago (eep!), and I'm just going to say, look at the picture above!  The theme was gardens and flowers, and I think Christmas Garden fits perfectly.  I also got a finish in of Poinsettia House, but no picture.  Right now its so dreary and overcast, it would be useless to try and take one.  I promise I'll post one once I actually get it finish-finished.  Oh, and then there was the partially stitched sunflower on Halloween Rules.

The theme for this month is Fangirl February - stitch on designs from your favorite designer.  I'm going to make it a BBD month, and tie it in with WIPocalypse and try to get some done on Anniversaries of the Heart, and more of Christmas Garden.

If I haven't been stitching, or surfing the web reading blogs, what the heck have I been up to?  I started classes for my MBA on Feb 1 (just in time for the internet to go wacky), and that's all online.  No spending hundreds of dollars on books, but I need an internet connection to read them online, they can't be downloaded.  I swear the first tuition check I get from the VA is getting spent on a tablet of some sort so I'm not tied to my damn computer.

I  joined a gym in January, and I've been getting into the routine of exercising.  Monday and Wednesday mornings I have a session with a personal trainer at 6 am (gasp!).  Mon, Wed, and Fri I do gentle Hatha yoga at 1 pm.  Tue and Thur is water aerobics (mom joins me for this), and scattered in there I do some extra cardio work.  I've been hitting the gym at least once a day, 6 days a week (I feel like I almost live there).  Despite all of this, and religiously logging what I eat and staying below my goal calorie count for the day, I seemed to have hit a plateau already.  In fact, I actually gained weight.  I'm trying to be optimistic and telling myself I'm getting muscle mass back (which weighs more than fat), but its hard.  Maybe I should just ignore the scale and just use the old stand-by of "how do the jeans fit."

Grandma.  In some ways she's doing better, in others a lot worse.  Last week when I showed up at her place to take her for the weekly hair appointment, I saw she'd forgotten to take not only her morning pills, but also the evening ones from the day before.  Mom and I decided to bring her home, so she's been with us for the last week.  Daily trips to her place and phone calls to remind her to take her pills and eat weren't enough.  There aren't any obvious signs of distress, she's not on oxygen, she's not incontinent, she doesn't wander off and get lost.  She's just tired all of the time, has absolutely no short-term memory, and has become an extremely picky eater - meaning she's not really eating anything and trying to survive on Vanilla Ensure drinks.  Grandma is having a tough time deciding who's bossier - me or my mother.  At least I sneak her small amounts of chocolate as rewards for various thing.  Yeah, I know, not the best for a diabetic, especially when that's one of the meds she had to quit taking due to kidney problems.  Its time for us to re-evaluate where she's living, the care she needs, and come up with a long-term solution.

Sorry I wrote a novel about so much personal stuff in what is supposed to be a stitching-focused blog.  There just seemed to be a lot to catch up on and explain why I dropped off the face of the earth.  I've got a little surprise planned, and some other great things to post about, once I get some more stitching finished.

TUSAL and BAP Challenge

My first ever official TUSAL post, and I'm a day late!  Oh well, better than never.  First for the official details - TUSAL is hosted by Daffycat, and stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.  My day-to-day ort holder is a sweet little hobnail sugar dish (yes, it also has a matching cream pitcher).  After each post, I'll dump the month's worth of orts in the blue Ball jar you can see in the picture.  Hopefully we'll be able to see the orts through the blue glass.  Wonderful vintage glassware like this is one of the benefits of moving back home.

There's a combination of silk in there from Christmas Garden, Poinsettia House and the 12 Days of Christmas ornaments, and then cotton floss from Halloween Rules.

Speaking of Christmas Garden, I've had a bit of progress on it.  Its really moving along for me.  Usually I absolutely despise stitching borders, but I got in a really relaxing rhythm with this one.  Since I took this picture, I finished up that top right quadrant and moved over to the left side and have part of the border in.

Christmas Garden is my chosen project for Becky's BAP SAL.  For once, I don't think I'm going to have any problems meeting the deadline for this.  Now I'm sort of wishing I'd challenged myself a bit more and chosen Plum Street Sampler's Paradise Lost.

This is truly a quick post, since I really want a nap.  Workouts are kicking my butt, and I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's 6 am session, I'm still feeling Monday's.  Oh well, its totally worth it, I'm down over 5 pounds since Jan 1.  So far its been a combination of Hatha yoga, water aerobics, and some group strength sessions as part of the Kroc Fit Challenge I signed up for.  My body is responding well to the yoga sessions, and I'm no longer feeling so stiff that I'll crack if I move.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts for Grandma and Dad.  As an update, Grandma is hanging in there, no real change, and no real update.  She's being treated for fluid retention and being given oxygen so she can breathe.  We're still waiting on testing for her kidneys and to see if she'll need dialysis or not.

It seems Dad didn't have food poisoning.  About 6 months ago he was poorly, and got yelled at by his Doctor for not getting treatment sooner.  His kidneys had started to shutdown due to some medication he was on.  Monday morning he was saying he felt the same way, so I insisted on us going to the emergency room.  Mom got hospital duty with Grandma, I got ER duty with Dad.  She got the better deal.  Dad and I were there from 9:45 am to 4 pm.  Good news - it wasn't kidneys, just a viral bug.  Bad news - I was handling all his stuff, so I'll probably come down with it.  At least he was a good sport and let me take his picture and said I could post it.

Needless to say, Monday evening I felt like I deserved a treat, and didn't feel like doing over 1 stitching, so I started something.

BBD Christmas Garden stitched on 35 ct Weeks Sheep's Straw
linen with Shepherd's Bush silk conversion

Recognize it?  Christmas Garden by BBD, with the Shepherd's Bush conversion to silk they did for me.  A few people have asked me what this conversion is, and I'm sorry, I might be going overboard, but it isn't mine to give out.  Please give Shepherd's Bush a call if you're interested.  They're really nice, and will more than likely tell you what it is over the phone.  I know its only 4 colors, but its the same principle as if it were 30 colors.  I'm trying to respect the intellectual property of designers and LNS's.

Today I seemed to spend hours on the phone with the school I'm trying to enroll in for my MBA, and I'm getting pretty frustrated with them.  Hopefully it gets better once I'm actually enrolled.  I also managed to get to the gym - the first time since I joined a week ago.  Maybe tomorrow I'll actually get a chance make the time to respond to the comments and emails sitting in my inbox giving me a guilt complex.  Right now I'm going to treat myself and work some more on Christmas Garden, and ignore the screaming Poinsettia House.

Amazing mail day!

This morning was supposed to be hair day.  I haven't had my hair highlighted or cut in over 6 months, so it was way past due.  Well, when you decide to save money and go to a student for a full head of highlights, the morning turned into over 5 hours.  I can home tired, hungry, and just slightly cranky.  All of that went away when I saw the pile of bounty waiting at the front door.  Not to be totally greedy, 2 of the 4 packages were for mom, since its her birthday today.  I'll even let her open them when they get home from the camping trip!

First up was a box from Terri.  Back before Christmas I won a giveaway from her, and the prize was going to be a surprise.  I was definitely surprised.  And amazed.  And wowed, shocked, and almost cried.

For everyone that's having true winter weather, please don't hate me for opening the mail on the back patio, in the sunshine.  I'd actually enjoy a bit of winter and gladly trade places - for about a week!

I started in on the pile-o-pressies by opening the big daddy with the adorable twine.  Jackpot!

An amazing hinged box with a stitched top.  And look at the inside, incredible!

Sorry for the fob being upside down, but its stitched with an M on both sides, and filled with what feels like crushed walnut shells to give it some heft.

Lots and lots of extras were included.  Two different kinds of stitching fabric, two kinds of quilting fabric, some red ribbons for trim, needles, Godiva chocolate, monogrammed tissues!  And OMG, the charts!  Terri had asked me what I liked to stitch, and my response was I had eclectic tastes.  That's exactly what she sent me!  Two different reproduction samplers, an adorable Heart in Hand chart called Red Letter Day (she knew my favorite color is red), and a fantastic Ewe & Eye & Friends chart.  I have a few of the Primitive series by them, but never managed to find Primitive Star!  Totally amazing, she couldn't have picked out better stuff for me.

Next up was a box from Shepherd's Bush.  Hrmm, a box?  I thought all I was getting was an envelope with January Word Play, part 3 of Margaret Cottam, my Eggshell floss for 6 Fat Men, and my Christmas Garden chart.  Well, my friends at the Bush and my EGA chapter surprised me with some gifts.  It was like Christmas all over again, opening up the guild Christmas present and other surprises.

I cried when I opened up the BBD chart and saw a lot of the women had left me a message inside.  I really miss them.  Moving around so much I didn't make a lot of friends, but I made enough in Utah to make up for the lack in previous states.  I really miss the ladies, and its been hard adjusting to not being able to pop over to the Bush whenever I feel like chatting.  Not to mention those spur of the moment Wednesday evening calls inviting me out to dinner, or a place to take all my baked goods whenever I felt the urge to bake.

I've gotten a bit of stitching done this week.  Not as much as I'd hope, since this is supposed to be finished by Sunday.  Not sure if I'll make it.

LHN Poinsttia House, stitched over 1 on 28 ct evenweave,
my conversion to silk floss

Last January my mom had picked this chart out of my stash and put in her "wish list" pile.  Its chart I've always loved, and I came up with the bright idea of stitching it for her this week while she's gone as a birthday gift.  Unfortunately, between hair appointments (mine and grandma's), looking for a gym to join, finalizing my enrollment into my MBA program, Annie, household chores, and a plethora of other stuff, I haven't had as much stitching time as I thought.

Ok, enough time at the computer, Annie is complaining that its late, and we both should have eaten dinner an hour ago.  Thank you for stopping by!