Category Archives: Stitch-together

WIP Wednesday

Still spending a lot of time watching the Olympics. So happy we’re in the Track & Field portion. I love to watch the slow motion shots of their bodies moving. The muscle movements fascinate me. Of course, I also love watching the diving and swimming for the same reason.

Last night we went to a baseball game. We have season tickets for all Tuesday and Friday home games and I have been trying to upgrade all of our Tuesday games. Last night we had really good seats. Just 3 rows back from out dugout.

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We live over an hour away from the stadium. I love my team, but I’ll admit there are many times this season (we’ve been losing so much!) that I have trouble staying focused on the game and keep thinking I could be home stitching and watching on TV. We’ve decided not to renew our tickets next season and just buy individual games.

Between the Olympics, Baseball, and daily adulting, here’s my latest progress on Sugar Skull. Mister was looking over my shoulder a couple of days ago and said he really liked how it was turning out. I’m looking forward to getting it finished, as I’ve never really been much of a one-at-a-timer and I’m feeling the itch to move on.

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It’s a little tilted and off-focus to show the beading better.

I’d love to have my piece finished by Saturday, but don’t know if that’s going to happen.  I have to take my car in tomorrow to have the rear end aligned, (one of the things I didn’t mention in my earlier post was that Mister and I were rear-ended on the freeway in March and this will hopefully the end of that saga), and I have some friends coming for a stitch-together on Saturday and am going to start to get ready for that.

Discoveries

Had a hair cut this morning.  For the first time in my adult life I have tons of layers.  My stylist blew it out straight and choppy.  It’s kind of funky and I haven’t decided if I totally like it or not.  I am, however, in love with the color.  I’ll play with it some tomorrow with the straight iron.  Mister says it’s very 60s looking.  At least he did not say it made me look 60.

Worked on entering my half-sized charts today.  I seem to really like Little House Needleworks and I have a teenie The Sweetheart Tree obsession!  Of the 161 charts that I entered today, 26 were LHN, and this doesn’t count the ones I’ve already stitched.  23 were The Sweetheart Tree.  Who knew!  Well obviously I would have if I had done this a long time ago.  The great thing about this is it’s showing me just how many possible ‘smalls’ I have to work on in 2013.  By the way, am I the last person to know that The Sweetheart Tree is in Arizona?

Harley is getting better.  The swelling has reduced, her eye is completely open again, and she has even been sassy with Jasper and running circles in the backyard.  She still has a huge knot on the side of her head that’s very painful and Friday can’t get here fast enough.

Mister just left for his class tonight and I’ve finished inputting for the day so I’m dragging Haiku back downstairs and catching up on my DVR.

Tomorrow is Bag Ladies at Attic Needlework.  I can’t wait to see all the beautiful items that have been donated for this year’s breast cancer fund-raiser auction.  If you get a chance check out the newsletter at the link above.  You will be amazed at the generosity.

May’s report, June’s goals

Before I get started I need to give a huge public “thank you” to Melissa. Right after the first of the month my blog decided to take a nosedive. It was a PITA in the beginning.  By mid-month I could no longer post any photos and as the month wore on it turned into a catastrophe. I couldn’t even log in. This past week I threw myself at her feet and begged her to help me. She was kind enough to get it straightened out for me. It was not an easy fix, and I think I owe her my blogging life.

A lot went on in May for me, but because I couldn’t access my blog in the past couple of weeks, I’m sure I’ve forgotten more than I remembered.  I settled the lawsuit I brought against the woman who hit me last year; we’ve been having record heat here and M and I have been thoroughly enjoying our pool; I got Hannah Beeby framed and she’s hanging all by her lonesome in the middle of my family room wall (I haven’t unpacked my other large pieces yet); I have finally settled into the perfect routine for me and because of it am getting a ton of guilt-free quilting and stitching accomplished; I started walking consistently.  That’s all I can remember right now!

My goals for May were fairly simple and I accomplished more than I thought I would:

  • Get the rest of my fibers put away (DONE)
  • Get started sorting my fabric (DONE)
  • Get back to rotating on:
    1. Petite Mexican Sampler (finish it?) (FINISHED IT)
    2. Fairy Moon (YES!)
    3. Haiku (DIDN’T TOUCH IT*)
  • Continue with Rose Quaker and Mary Wigham on their respective stitching days (YES*)
  • Piece 4 more quilt squares (YES)
  • Finish quilted stitching bag (my Theme-a-licious project for May (NO)

*I forgot when I set my monthly goals that Memorial Day was coming up.  Last year Jean published in the Attic Needlework May 2011 newsletter that she stitched on patriotic pieces from Memorial Day until September 11th.  I have a lot of designs that contain the American flag, or are otherwise patriotic, and I thought this was a wonderful idea.  Last year I chose 2 medium sized designs and it took me until about the 2nd week of October to finish the 2nd one.  This year on Memorial Day I started Carriage House Samplings’ “Americana.”  I’m very close to finishing it…perhaps just a couple more days of stitching.  I have a second design pulled and will probably have no problem getting it finished before September 11, and then I’ll decide what to do next…continue with patriotic stitching or get back to my rotation.  For now, though, I have stopped working on my rotation and I skipped yesterday’s stitching on Rose Quaker.  I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to work on Mary Wigham today/tonight at Thursday stitchin.

While I had my stitching bag down for my Theme-a-licious project for may, I did work on my other quilt class projects.  I keep forgetting to bring my stitching bag upstairs to make those few stitches!  It sits by my chair holding my project bags and waiting to be loaded with my other odds and ins I take to stitchins.  It’s happy where it is!  LOL

I do have WIPacolypse progress to share but that will have to wait for another day as I have places to go and things to do today 😀

What do I want to do in June?

  1. Finish sorting my stitching fabrics.
  2. Get started sorting my quilting fabrics.
  3. Continue with my patriotic stitching.
  4. Piece 4 quilt squares
  5. Work on Haiku for June’s Theme-a-licious.
  6. Paint my bedroom.
  7. Buy new bed.

My quilt class ends in June.  I have enjoyed it so much and have gained confidence in reading patterns, choosing color, and piecing.  I’ve purchased fabric for a small table top size quilt and am looking forward to starting it after I catch up with the rest of my quilting.

M finally heard back from the Veterans’ office at the university and has started his registration process.

The puppies are still providing great entertainment and love and are staying relatively healthy.

I have a long weekend getaway planned with Karen and am really looking forward to it.

 

Another week gone

It’s amazing to me how little I’ve gotten done since my last post!  😆  I still have 20 boxes to unpack, although I only have 2 that have not been opened.

I made it to Attic Needlework for their Thursday evening stitch-in.   Didn’t spend a dime either!

Son and Girlfriend arrived early Saturday morning.  We spent a whole lot of time doing nothing while they were here.  Son has been working 60+ hour weeks and he napped quite a bit while he was here.  No problem to me, it was nice just to have them here.  I feel like Girlfriend is more of a DIL each time we’re around her.  She’s so good about texting and emailing me and I’ve given up on trying to not like her!  😆  They’ve been a couple for 5+ years and I still get an “eek” moment when I think about that, since that made her still 16 when Son met her.  He had just turned 22!   There was one thing I noticed while they were here.  They are always laughing!  I think she has had to be the adult in her family for a long time and I think Son is as good for her as she is for him, since she straightened him out 😉

Their visit was way too short, and they left late Monday night since Son had to be to work on Tuesday.

M and I headed out shopping on Tuesday and came home with our Christmas presents.  (We always wait until after to get good deals).  He bought me a chandelier for the laundry room.  I absolutely love it!

We got him a WiFi BD/DVD player for our living room and we’ve been streaming Netflix and Amazon since he got it hooked up.  The puppies are enjoying it as well since they love sitting on top of us while we’re watching movies in the dark.  Right now we’re watching Firefly.

Annette came to visit this past Wednesday and we opened my stitching fabric boxes to find a perfect piece for my January 1 start, Petite Mexican Sampler by The Samplar Works.  It’s stitched with Au Ver a Soie “Soie d’Paris” silk, on 48 count “Napery Light Examplar” Lakeside linen but I (we) decided on 40ct Lakeside linen Palomino.

Since she’s left, that box has been screaming at me to come back and play! 😉  I purposefully left the fabric boxes to last because I knew I’d want to dive into them.  So far I’ve been strong and left them alone, but I feel myself weakening.

I’m still tweaking my WIPocalypse list for 2012.  Not so much the WIPs, although I did add in Hannah Beeby, but the new starts.  (In addition to the Petite sampler above, I’m thinking of adding in Queen of Hearts by Twisted Threads.)  I went through my two “retirement” boxes and pulled out the WIPs so I could list them (again, thanks to Annette).  I ended up with 34.  That seems like such a low number to me.  I just knew when it was all said and done I’d have 50!

I’ve also started listing my kitted items.  They are taking a bit more sorting since some of them are lacking fabric.  I know I have the perfect piece in my stash (again, the box is calling).  There are a couple that are missing embellishments (I know they’re in my “bits and pieces” drawer.  While I’m listing all of them, I’m sorting them into separate piles based upon what they’re missing.  Once I get them all sorted, I guess I need to start back through the pile and decide if I’m still interested in stitching them.  I have always been pretty picky about what I kit before I stitch, so I’m suspecting there will be very little weeding out.  I do, however, refuse to cut any fabric until I’m actually going to stitch.

All of the above was my taking a break from putting things in their proper home in my stitching room.  I got to the point where I felt like chucking it all since I was so tired of organizing.  I’m over that now, and am back to spending time organizing after I get the rest of my “chores” done and before I sit down to stitch.  Keeps me from feeling guilty about not doing it while I sit there doing “nothing.”

I’m still working on Hannah Beeby.  I’ve completed all of the top “letter” rows and am more than half-way through the 3rd motif on the top row.

I’ve also decided to participate in some exchanges this year.  I’m hoping to get into the Fair and Square group since I think those will be perfect for working on my sewing machine making pillows, ornaments, and other smalls.

Same old, same old

Slowly but surely it’s getting there.  I am very tired of unpacking (have I said that already?) but we’re down to the nitty gritty.  Yesterday we got the extra linens unpacked and sorted, the 2 final wardrobe boxes unpacked (I need to sort through for the giveaway box), my quilts put up and some more shelves arranged.

Vietnam Vets picked up several boxes this morning so our garage is less cluttered, I feel good about not throwing perfectly good “stuff” away that I no longer wanted or needed, and now I have room to declutter more!  I think they come through the neighborhood once a month.  I do know they mail out notices with collection bags about 2 weeks before they pick up.

I hung the first things on my office walls yesterday.  My new 2012 Anne Taintor calendar (which is already marked for 2 needlework related getaways), 1 stitched piece, and 2 prints I was given as a going away present from the paralegal job I had in South Carolina 20+ years ago.  I also finally got my desk cleaned off (I was starting to pile everything on it that didn’t have a place to go), filed for unemployment, and just continued the organization march all around.

I have not finished Christmas decorations!  😕  I feel like I’ve been going in 3 different directions at the same time during my day.  I need M’s help but I hate bothering him when he’s working on a different part of the house.  Tomorrow is the deadline for me though since Son and Girlfriend are coming early Saturday morning.  Besides, who wants to be decorating on Christmas Eve?  Next year 🙄 I’ll have more time, and know where my decorations are.

Today I start my goodie baking.  I’m making Pecan Pie Muffins to take to the stitch-together at the Attic tonight.  Besides the fact that I think they’re delicious, this will be my first time at the stitch-together and I’m hoping if I bring them they’ll like me 😉  In addition to the muffins I’ll also be baking chocolate chip cookies, peppermint sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies.  I doubt I’ll get them all done today, but that’s probably a good thing so I won’t be tempted to eat them all today.  I’ve decided to just stick with cookies this year so I can tin them up and send a bunch home with Son and Girlfriend.

I’m still plugging away on HoHRH in the evenings, but I’m ready to put it down for awhile.  I’ve been trying to tell myself that each block is a different design but that’s no longer working for me.  I am just NOT a one-at-a-time stitcher.  Yesterday I found the watch I use to time my 10 hour rotations and just got plain old giddy!  Of course, I haven’t used it in so long the battery is dead, but that will be taken care of tomorrow 😀

Tonight, and probably for the rest of the year, I’m switching stitching projects.  I’m going to take my much neglected Hannah Beeby.  I started her March 2008.  I noticed this morning that she was never added to my WIPs list 😕  Might explain why she’s been neglected, and also is just one more proof that I have way too many WIPs.  Good thing I’m participating in the WIPocalypse (which, BTW, is up to 245 members!).

I’ve updated my Retirement countdown ticker.  M has more definite information on his orders so what you see over there —–> is when his retirement is official.  He’ll be headed to California on January 20th and returning home on January 31st or February 1st.  I’m so happy he’s taking some of his leave time to surf with his friends.  He probably won’t be going back to California until some time in June.  That’s a very long time for a surfer to be without his surf.  I know he’ll be filling in that time with more running tho.  He’s not planning on doing any triathlons in 2012 (he’s volunteering for the Phoenix Ironman)  but is planning on a marathon or 2.  He hasn’t put on his running shoes the whole time he’s been here and I can’t ever remember a time during our 30 years of marriage that he’s gone this long without running.  At least when he starts back his knees and ankles will be healthy!

One thing leads to another

My lazy weekend from the last post turned into two weeks of a lot to do. My house is a disaster. I’ve been pulling things out of cabinets, closets, and drawers, and tossing, recycling, and giving away. Of course that should lead to putting things back, but it hasn’t.

I’ve been spending 1 week in each room of my house making myself love it or get rid of it. My bedroom and craftroom/office are the worst!

In my office, I have a path from the door to my desk and there are things piled all over the desk, boxes all over the place that contain things to pack, things to kit (and take with me short term), things to sell, and thing to give away.

It’s a wonder my dresser isn’t groaning from all the things stacked on top. I’m trying to go through all the drawers and get rid of clothes I haven’t worn in awhile and won’t need in the hotter climates of Arizona. It gets easier each day since I’m tired of looking at the clutter and have started tossing more in the give away bag (which sits on the floor between the dresser and the closet that I have to trip over every time I do laundry! 😆

I’m constantly having to clean off my dining table as it’s turned into a staging area for stuff M and I need to talk about, and the list we’ve started keeping of things that need to happen before, or shortly after, we move.

Plants are coming down, pots are being emptied, and some are being thrown away or given away.

We still have a storage facility that M has been weeding out over the past many months – my piano is in there, too – but we really need to get all of it cleaned out over the next 3 weeks.

Cooking the smothered steak mentioned in the last post, led to craving needing wanting fried chicken.  Would you like my recipe?  Buttermilk is involved 🙂 and I’ll share how I make mashed potatoes, too 🙂  I’m having leftovers for lunch today.

Hiring the realtor in our last post has led to us now having 17 houses to look at, and an appointment with our bank this afternoon to sign our pre-approval.

Looking at those 17 homes (online), and talking about maybe having to live in a furnished apartment short-time if we can’t find a home on our trip, led to my dreaming all night long about living in a 1 bedroom apartment with the puppies and crating them while I left for laundry or grocery duty.  It was like watching a TV show!  The puppies probably wouldn’t like it much. 

My work getting really busy has led to my possibly working every Saturday (except this coming Saturday) until my last week.  I worked this past Saturday and, other than being an idiot and forgetting to mail everything I did, it was wonderful to walk in this morning and know exactly everything I needed to get done today.  Of course, that was before I saw the note, from #1 attorney, stating I needed to create a bazillion subpoenaes and go to Kinkos to get posters done for exhibits, and oh, yeah, make sure all of our depo transcripts are summarized.  See….Saturdays.

Working this past Saturday, led to my not getting to go to my monthly stitchin, but M “nagged” me into stitching that evening and that led to a happy dance, which led to a new start.

Finished Red, White & Blue by Cricket Collection.  Stitched with recommended silks, but substituted silver instead of gold, on Lambswool.  I will be taking it, and another small design, in for framing this week.

Started A Wife’s Prayer by Erica Michaels.  Using recommended fibers and 40ct Maritime White by Lakeside Linens.

The photos above were from my phone. Still camera shopping, passively, but shopping.

So, there should be more stitching tonight, and leftover chicken, and probably some laundry since I don’t want anything on my mind this coming Friday – Sunday except thinking about what a good time I’m having with Melissa and Darla while we are stitching at the beach!

As of today, I am 46 days away from MY retirement.  That counter over there >>>>>>> is for M’s retirement.

’til next time!

P.S.  Am I the only one who’s ready for football stitching???

TUSAL and a pretty good weekend!

I was very busy at work on Friday and it spilled over into Friday evening so I didn’t have a chance to post my March 4 TUSAL.  I was gone almost all day yesterday, so I’m posting today.

I had a very nice time at my monthly stitch-in yesterday.  Our teacher gave a lesson on creating cording (she made it look so easy!) and I finished the stitching part of Summer Queen.  As soon as I got home I brought all my beading supplies into the living area.

The bad part of the weekend….my iron died.  I pulled it out to get some fabric prepped for a sampler designed by above mentioned teacher to do some prep work for me and it wouldn’t come on.  I’ve had it for almost 10 years (if not more) and I really loved the features.  I asked in class yesterday for recommendations and am going iron hunting this afternoon or tomorrow after work.

We’re grilling steaks and baking potatoes for supper tonight.  Can.not.wait!  M excells on the grill.

He’s currently stretched out in the bedroom after a 40-50 mile training ride.  He has 4 weeks to his half Ironman.  I thought I was going to have to pass on next month’s stitch-in but it was changed to the 2nd Saturday.

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