August Turtle Trot

I did do stitching on 3 of my Turtle Trot pieces. No finishes, but one will be finished either tomorrow or Tuesday morning at latest. Two of them I don't have the previous pictures on my new computer. Now to see if I do it right this time! Mickey Mouse as of July.

Mickey Mouse as of today


Here is Strengthen Me being done in memory of my dad.


And the last one His Eye Is On the Sparrow.


So there are my TT pieces that I made progress on. We'll see how well I do in the next month as I do have two more quilt squares to do and when Mickey Mouse is finished I will be doing them.

Thanks for looking. Until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Back to Mickey Mouse

Good Morning. It looks like we will have rain later today. We need the rain.

I decided to get Mickey Mouse back out and finish it off as it is due Oct. 1 and I have 2 other quilt squares due, one Sept. 15 (a smaller piece to be stitched on 7x7 fabric within 5x5 for an emergency quilt at Quilts for Older children and adults. I'm doing a sundial as theme is by the sea. The other piece is a turtle for a surprise quilt at one of the groups I'm in. Anyway I've made quite a bit of progress on Mickey since I last posted it. I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the week.

Yesterday we went out to the campground where my sister, and her family was camping. Also several other family members joined us as we celebrated my brother Tim's birthday. It was fun. Since today is going to bring rain I had suggested to my sister and nieces they take the kids to the Mall. Anyway when talking to my niece Michelle, I suggested it and since 4 year old Nick was right there I spelled out the word train. As they do give train rides at the mall. Nick's face lit up. Michelle and I looked at each other and Michelle says"I think he knows what you spelled, he can read." I said "I figured that by way his face lit up." So Michelle asked Nick if he knew what I spelled and he said "Yes, Train," the little smarty! He'll be five next month and is starting kindergarten. I told my sister later and she said Michelle and Scott read to the boys a lot and Scott and Nick get up earlier then Michelle and Chase and they spend time together reading. Here I thought it was amazing that Addie who just turned 6 and entering 1st grade could read. But then she has been keeping a journal for a year now and you can tell she doesn't get help because most of her words are spelled right but some you can tell she spelled the way it sounded. I have smart great nieces and nephews. Although I don't think their your brothers are quite as smart as Addie and Nick. But they are only 3, barely 3. I mostly wrote this post to brag about Nick.

Thanks for reading my blog and leaving comments, I really appreciate them. Until next time Happy Stitching!

What a Week last week was, It was great.

And this week will be another busy but fun week.

Last week we had VBS at our church. It started out really low but each day we had more kids and the last night we had more than we had in years. We also were excited about the outcome and the positive responses we received this year. To top it off we had our Annual Community Wide Pig Out on Saturday. There again we had more from the community come then we ever had and had very positive responses from them. This year too the people from church reached out more to the community then what they had in past. Both were preceded by much prayer by our church members preceding Bible School and the Pig Out and we attribute the success to the prayers of the people. We really needed that encouragement as our church has had a very rough year. Loosing 3 pastors, having several active members die, others leaving the church and a robbery, plus someone stealing money from the church and from the elderly. We needed something good to happen to turn us around. Several from the Pig Out and VBS were in church Sunday. We thank God for that. We hope to see them again!

This week my sister and brother-law and their 2 daughters and families are camping near here so we'll get to see them off and on. The one daughter is just here with her 2 little boys as her husband had to get ready for his students. Classes start middle of Aug. But Michelle and the boys are here. he weather would be warmer for them. As the 4 little ones are all going to want to go down to the lake and swim. Well they can at least play in the sand. Lake Michigan's waters are 20 degrees cooler then normal this year they say. That's pretty cold.

Now about stitching. I stitched a little on Mickey Mouse, then went to His Eye is On the Sparrow, and now I'm stitching more on Strengthen Me. I'd like to have it done by Sept. 22 as it's in memory of my dad, and that will be 1st anniversary of his moving to heaven. Phil. 4:13 was his favorite verse. By the way, the word hens, is actually end of strengthens, I just haven't stitched the first few letters yet.

Thank you for reading my blog and leaving comments. I really appreciate them. Until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Hmmmm Not sure what happened yesterday

Good afternoon. I think I'm going to delete yesterday's post. I had posted this picture of progress on His Eye is On the Sparrow and a link about a drawing and neither one of them worked so I'll try again today.

This piece will be laid down as I made a mistake, and I don't have the floss to continue on the lettering. Hopefully it will come tomorrow. Getting more of the lettering in will help me find the mistake I hope plus make sure the borders are even with each other. One thing I am noticing, because it's been a few years since I started the piece, I think the floss dye changed a little bit as I notice a different shade on the right side, then what is used on the left and I know I used the right colors. So I'm blaming it on DMC changing their dyes, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a nice drawing for her birthday, (which is same day as mine). She'll have 10 winners. I am going to try to retry the link. It didn't work yesterday when I tried it. So I'm retrying today. Okay it's not working so I guess just go to her blog.
Well until next time....Happy Stitching!

Dug Out an old UFO Piece

I got tired of working on the Mickey-Minnie Mouse piece so dug this out of my UFO drawer. It is one of my original Turtle Trot pieces so thought I would finally work on it. I started this years ago and if it wasn't for joining TT I probably wouldn't have thought of it again. Anyway I've been wanting to get this out for a couple of months now. The Walt Disney piece isn't due until Oct. so I can work on some TT pieces for now.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Now we're moving along

Good Afternoon.
How is everyone doing today?

After having to frog two days of work over the weekend, I have restitched Minnie's head. And believe me I pouted for a little while when I had discovered the mistake and how much would have to be ripped out. But it was the kind of mistake I couldn't let go or even think about improvising. I knew I'd be happy I ripped it out in the long run, and I was right. Now I'm sailing along on the piece.
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Next week we are having Bible School at our church. I'm helping out with crafts. I'm not very good at crafts, other than cross stitching and that may be a matter of opinion. Anyway, I was reassured that the crafts were easy. I told them I had the ability of a 4 or 5 year old in crafts, they told me I'd fit right in with the kids then. (LOL)

Our Bible Study group has been meeting ever other Sunday and the study we are doing now on Prayer is great. It really has challenged us and convicted us to take Prayer more seriously and to start the day off reading the Bible and praying. It really makes a difference. I have enjoyed this study, and learned so much more than I did from some of our other studies. In fact Saturday we are handing out brochures about Bible School and our Pig Out in two weeks, and this time I'm going to help. Usually I don't but this time I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. Also in the next two weeks they are having prayer for our church as right now we are really hurting and going through one of the rougher patches I have seen it go through in all the years I went there. (Since I was 4 or 5, but I was in GR for 25 years, but came off and on then.) Anyway I committed myself to two times, both on Wednesday, tomorrow and a week from tomorrow. We expect to see answers to our prayers and for Bible School and the Pig Out to be successes. Hopefully we'll have a new pastor this fall but we'll see. We've been without one for over a year now.

Oh I have a question for you dog people out there. My brother has a Llapo who is almost 11 and loved by our whole family. Anyway lately she's been wetting on the floor and leaving messes, even if we walk her, we'll get her back home and she messes sometime later, especially when my mom, brother, or nephew leave the house. Someone said this is typical of a llapso when they get older. Is this true, or is she just loosing control (which is what we think). If that is the case they may have to put her down. Which that is a decision my mom and brother will have to make.

Oh yesterday, I finally decided I was going to have to downsize my cable because man it was just getting too expensive and I couldn't affford that every month. So I called them, and well long story short. I get to keep HGTV after all plus they added a few channels and knocked over $60.00 off my bill a month for a year anyway. I'm very happy about that.

Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Progress on both Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Ex. 20:15

Good Morning! It's finally starting to feel like summer again after a cool spell.

I have made some progress on Exodus 20!15 and progress on Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I'm waiting for some floss to come in to go further on Ex. 20!15. It's on it's way to me. I ordered it Monday and sometimes I'll get my order 2 days after they mailed it and other times it may be a week. I'm hoping to get it today. They mailed it out on Monday.

We went to my niece's house on Tuesday and had a great time. Of course Addie and Nolan and their dog Cheerio were the center of attention. Addie just turned 6 and will be entering 1st grade. She showed us a journal she is keeping. For being so young, she is good at reading and spelling things. She misspelled a few words but that's her age too. We told her to keep the journal through the years. She started it a year ago. We know 10 years from now she will not show us her journal. She just needs to work on getting her printing neater is all. She also showed us her gymnastic skills. She's taking swimming lessons and gymnastics this summer. Nolan just turned 3 and showed us his room, and his cars and trucks. Love those two kids. It should be illegal to be as cute as they are.

Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Another new start and another win

Good morning!
I got anxious to start Ex. 2:20 piece by My Big Toe Designs. It was the one I won at 123 stitch. It's going well. I sort of wish I would have changed the colors but that's okay. This piece will be added to Turtle Trot.

I entered 3 drawings this past couple of months (first ones I had entered in years) 2 of them at 123 stitch. This is the one I won there. It'll be fun to do for a Patriotic Love Quilt Square. Isn't it cute?

I will probably do Miss Liberty for Love Quilts and possibly a portion of the Teddy Bear one. Then Mary Ann (Just Stitching) had a drawing on her site and I won that. I look forward to seeing it. Only problem, Mary Ann, I don't have your e mail address so if you don't see my reply here is my e mail address....Barb k 28 at yahoo dot com. I'll send you my address when I get your e mail. I look forward to getting it and will do it this summer. I love Patriotic pieces and summer is when I do them. So now I'm trying to decide if I want to keep entering drawings, or just lay low again. My mom won a lot last Friday at Life Circles, then over the weekend her winning streak continued she won my sister and I all but one time on Push Rummy and Mexican Dominoes. Our two favorite games to play when we're together.

My sister came to town on Friday and will return Wed. She was going to go back yesterday but because of a family emergency (I won't go into here) she's staying until tomorrow. She came because some lifelong friends were speaking at our church on Sunday. They are missionaries to Mexico and on furlough for 6 weeks. Anyway when we got to church Sunday it was a surprise! We not only saw Jann and Paul but we saw Paul's brothers and sister, plus 2 other couples and another friend all who had been friends of ours most of our lives. We had a reunion, I was so excited I was so hyper. It was great to see them all again. Most of them went out to eat afterwards but my sister and I chose not to go, as we felt it was more for the family but we didn't realize the others were going too, oh well. At least we had a good time seeing them and some pictures were taken of some of our old youth group at church.

Last night I got a call from my mom at about 9:30 pm asking me to see if a certain little 4 legged llapso was at my door. My brother's dog just loves me and she thought maybe she snuck out when my sister took me home. Kay drove around twice looking for Autumn. About 10 I called back and said, "Kay why don't you come get me, I'm sure she's in the apartment somewhere, if she is, she will come when she hears my voice." So Kay came got me, and sure enough I went into the bedroom talked to my mom and called Autumn and she came out from under the bed! We all laughed so hard, so of course my sister and I took her for a walk together since it was dark I wouldn't do it alone. So my sister took me home and called back later and said "After worrying about Autumn and searching for her, and even walking for her, what does she do leave a mess for Kay while she was taking me home. Kay goes, "That's the thanks I get." Autumn is an older dog and to be honest we are questioning how much longer she'll be with us as she is constantly wetting on the carpet and leaving messes. Of course if my brother and nephew would take her out more when she wants she wouldn't do that. You can believe my brother is going to hear about last night and he'll laugh too. She wouldn't respond to Kay or mom but boy did she respond to me. Kay says, "We should have thought about this 3 hours ago instead of all that worrying we did and the driving around I did. Next time Autumn disappears, they'll come get me.

Later today we're going to my niece's house. She recently moved to a house they had built for them. We'll get to see Addie and Nolan too.. Can't wait.

Well...until next time Happy Stitching. Thank you for reading my blog and for the comments you leave. I appreciate them.
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July Turtle Trot

Hello! My computer crashed last month so I couldn't show my Turtle Trot. And to be honest I only worked on one Turtle Trot piece since July 10,and I can't show the before because it's on the computer that crashed. Here is progress on Friends are Flowers in the garden of Life

I finished Sterns and Great Blue Heron pieces for Love Quilts but they weren't added to my Turtle Trot anyway. Mickey Mouse giving Minnie Flowers is added and here is progress from the other day. This piece is really moving fast and I am enjoying it.

Sorry I don't have more to show but I really needed to get these Love Quilts pieces done. Mickey and Minnie isn't due until Oct. so I will definitely get some more progress on other pieces in Aug. I'm sure...I hope.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Sneak Peak at WIP

Can you guess what it will be? I think it's obvious. Anyway this is after 6 hours of stitching.
I just wanted to give you a sneak piece and see if anyone can guess. Until next time Happy Stitching!

Great Blue Heron is finished

I finished this piece this afternoon. I really enjoyed doing him. Now I only have two more quilt squares to do I'm committed to. Then I can work more on some of the projects I have started and laid down. I also am anxious to start the piece I won. Oh and I won another drawing at 123 stitch for a Patriotic piece. I'm anxious to get that pattern too and start it this summer. I rarely enter drawings or contests, but the two that I entered I won. Maybe I should enter more. But I don't enter if I don't think I'll do the piece.

Anyway I have my next piece all kitted up and ready to start tomorrow afternoon. Not saying what it is except it's cute, I'm anxious to do it and is for a very young boy. Oh and from an old, old book.

Not much is happening right now so until next time....Happy Stitching!

A reminder of days gone by

The last two places I worked at in Grand Rapids had ponds. The one Assistant Care Center had ducks the Nursing Home had Ducks and Swans. There was on Great Blue Heron who visited both places. I use to love seeing him fly in his wing span was so awesome and I thought he was beautiful. I found this pattern and it made me think of him so I decided to have it be my contribution to another Sea Life piece. I love doing sea life pieces, but I'm almost running out of patterns for them. Time to buy some more?

Well....maybe next year or the following year. I have to pay my credit card down after having to charge the computer, printer and everything else that went with it. There went the gain I had been making on the credit card, set me back over a year!

Can't believe this is already July 1. Boy this year is going by fast. I guess it's true the older you get, the faster time goes.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Finished Walk into the Sunshine

Hello again!
Boy I'm blogging a lot this month. Anyway I finished this piece today. The backstitching drove me nuts and I did it as I went along. But it made the piece so worth it. Now I have started Great Blue Heron for a Seaside quilt.

I have a complaint. This one phone number calls me 3 or 4 times a day saying this is last chance to lower my credit card interest rate. I finally started answering the phone to tell them to take me off the list. The first time they said no problem we'll do. But they called back two days later several times that day, so I told them again take me off your list. They hung up on me before I got the words out, and they have done that 3 days in a row now. I've had it with them. Oh I called the number back to see what would happen and I get "you have reached a nonworking number" but these people just called me from that phone! Monday I think I'm calling my bank. What can I do? I want off their list, I'm sick of their calls I've tried everything to get them to stop!
Well I'm of my soap box.

Until next time....Happy Stitching!

See what I Won!

Good Afternoon!
Earlier this week I received an e mail from Debbie at MBT Designs that I won her contest at 123 stitch. She had us guess a number between 1 and 500 I chose 448 and came closest. I was delighted. I could choose any chart or accessory I wanted. That was hard as she has so many nice ones. So I chose this one. I plan to do it for a future girl at Love Quilts. I am so anxious to start it in a couple of months.

Question--How do I get my cat to quit trying to chew on cords to my back up system on the computer? Especially when I print something out. I think that's what gets him interested. He tries to greet the paper as it comes out and the back up system box is right near there....just so tempting. I just moved it to the side of the computer desk instead of in front of it so we'll see.

Well....I'll probaby have a post tomorrow night or Saturday of the finished Walk into the Sunshine. So until then....Happy Stitching

Backstitching is a Necessary Evil

Good afternoon!
It's a cloudy day here. We've had so much rain lately but we need the rain.

I have come to the conclusion that backstitching is a necessary evil! It's a pain at times but it sure makes the piece look a lot better. Anyway, this piece is moving right along. It should be done Friday morning. I like doing it but oh so much backstitching. Sorry the scan isn't very good. When it's finished I try from a different angle and maybe the whole piece will get on it.

Saturn has discovered paper comes out of the printer! This morning I was trying to scan this piece and was having problems, so decided to print something out. He was right there ready to catch the paper. Then he decided to proceed and rub himself against it and the cords to my backup system, then he tried chewing on them! What is with him and chewing! Do all cats do that. I don't remember Whiskers doing it, but I remember having a problem with Buffy on that, she was so bad at that I had to unplug everything whenever I left the house. That was before I had a computer.

Has anyone seen, "Letters to God"? I saw it with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law the other day. I really liked it and it made me realize what our kids at Love Quilts and their families go through. Made it more real to me.

Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Walk In the Sunshine start

Hello! I started this piece earlier this week for a young boy at Love Quilts who's parents chose Religious as the theme. I thought this would be appropriate for him, at least I hope. I really am enjoying this piece. Only I think his face looks a little funny.

Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law had our mom and I over for lunch and then we watched the movie "Letters to God". It was really good. It made me think of the kids at Love Quilts and their families go through.

I just got a nice surprise in the mail. I just found out for the next year my rent drops $6.00. I was sure it would go up a lot. It goes by income and medical expenses. Last year I had a lot of expenses and it went up $20. This year I didn't think I had as many but the rent went down. I'm not complaining. Maybe they discovered they raised it too much last year. I'm still waiting for an apartment to open up on the first floor.

I am liking Windows 8 more and more. I really like the new Word Program and am still learning the ins and outs of that. I should buy a book! I also played with Excel a little bit too. Need to buy a book for that too, but hopefully I'll figure everything out in time.

Well there isn't much happening so until next time Happy Stitching!

Back to Friends are Flowers....

Good Afternoon!
After finishing the Sterns piece I went back to stitching on Friends are Flowers in the Garden of Life piece to get a little further on that. But I do need to kit up my next quilt piece and start that so probably will do that this afternoon and start it tomorrow. I knew I wouldn't get much stitching in over the weekend and I didn't so didn't start a new piece. My sister was in town and was busy the whole weekend.

I finally got Word 2013 loaded into my computer. My brother tried Saturday and couldn't do it so I had a friend come over. (Next time I get a computer I'm buy Word at that time and having them put it in.) Man what a process. It was not the easy 3 steps someone said it was. It kept rejecting the key they gave me. Finally I asked my friend, Debbie if she'd do it. It took her over an hour and she went to Geek Squad, they couldn't help her so they told her to call Microsoft Word and they finally just took over the computer and did it. It took over an hour! I'm happy with it and I think I will have fun with it.

My brother finally went to Dr. today and found out he had a collapsed lung and that's why he's been so tired. I thought they had to surgically correct that, but right now they don't seem to be doing anything. Maybe once the Dr. reads the x-ray I don't know.

Tomorrow my niece is coming to town with her two little ones and taking my mom and I out to lunch. That will be fun.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Sorry I posted wrong picture of Stearns

I didn't realize I had scanned the back side. (The scanner is brand new too so I'm getting use to it.

Sterns is Finally Finished!

Happy Dance! I finally finished this piece! And the pattern is now officially retired! However the book is not. I have done other pieces from the book that were much easier.

I am getting use to this computer and Windows 8 and really I like Windows 8 now that I'm getting to know it. I just have to find someone who can help me download Microsoft Office. I am not confidant and nervous about doing it on my own so I want someone with me. Hopefully my brother can otherwise I'll just have the Geek Squad do it.

Because this is going to be a busy weekend I won't start a fresh new piece until Monday so I got out one of my Turtle Trot pieces to work on when I can. It's easy and can be laid down off and on.

Well....my cat wants me off the computer and ready to jump on my shoulder so until next time. Happy Stitching!

Testing really.

My computer crashed and I got a new one. Problem is I had to get Windows 8 and I'm not happy at all. But maybe in time I'll figure it all out. I've figured out the internet and I think I know how to scan, we'll see on that. Now to be able to do documents etc.
I am almost done with this sternes piece finally. Hopefully tomorrow it'll be done.
Then I'll kit up my new piece. I hope I can scan. I think I figured it out. I got a new printer too, since my printer quit working a couple of years ago.

My sister is coming back in to town Friday for the weekend. My mom has an appointment with the Pace Program at Tanglewood and I am hoping to volunteer out there. It really is great for Sr. Citizens and my mom is all excited about it. They will pick her up and bring her home. They have all kinds of activities, therapy, etc. She'll go twice a week. I plan to volunteer one day a week, not on a day my mom is there. It'll be better for her not to have family members there when she's there. Anyway we're all excited for her. It really may give her a new lease on life, she's had a hard time since dad died.

I missed Turtle Trot because of my computer crashing but outside of the finishes I had showed earlier I made no progress on the other projects. I'm mostly trying to make sure I get these quilt squares done. I have 3 more to go.

Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

Start on Sternes

Good Morning. It's so nice out today. Later my sister will be coming in to town. Tomorrow we are going to take our mom out to Tanglewood to look at their PACE program. It's where they pick up the person and bring them out there for a day, for activities, gives the caregiver a break and will get her out with people. She's looking forward to looking at it and possibly joining.

This piece I'm working on is also going to be retired. The bird is awful to do! I finally just did the darker shades first. I'm anxious to get it done and it's over half done. I'm looking forward to doing my next three pieces also all for Love Quilts. The 3rd one is another sea bird but looks much easier. The other two are a boy with a banner enjoying the sunshine, and the other one is Mickey Mouse giving Minnie flowers.

Because of the quilt squares, my Turtle Trot projects have been neglected basically. But I'll get back to them after I do my next project.

Well...until next time...Happy Stitching!

Hope is finished

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you to all the Vets that have served to make our country free.

I finished Hope early this morning. I loved doing this piece. It is so pretty and so much fun to do I hated to see it end. This will go to Alexis at Love Quilts who chose Inspirational as theme of her quilt. I have kitted up my next piece and will start that as soon as I get some housework done.

My cat has had enough of me being on the computer and wants some attention so guess I better give him some. Poor thing he just never gets attention. Yea right. Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

More Progress on Hope

Good Morning! I was up bright and early this morning. I am going out for breakfast in about an hour but wanted to post this update to Hope. I love stitching on this piece it is so pretty! I'll work on it through the weekend and on Monday decide rather to finish it out or start a new piece. This quilt isn't due until Oct. But I have 3 other squares to start and finish due in Sept and Oct. so need to get the two due in Sept. going. Sept. will come up fast. (Unfortunately)

The weather is so nice right now I hate to think of fall and winter not being that far away, hopefully this winter won't be as bad as last I don't think that will happen two years in a row. Anyway we have a busy Aug. waiting for us. A niece coming in from CO another niece coming in from VA and brother coming in from MO. We sort of hope they are all at the same time and they can all see each other. Since our family is one of those scattered all over some of the kids hardly know each other as they've only seen each other a handful of times. But thanks to Facebook they stay connected. Love facebook for that reason. I know a lot of people don't like it and won't do it but believe me it helps you stay connected to the family and know them. I love seeing pictures of the great nieces and nephews, get to know them that way.

Well....until next time happy stitching!

Squirrel is Finished

Good morning! How is everyone out there in blog land? Everything is fine here except Saturn didn't like the maintenance men mowing the lawn so I closed the patio door for now. He's okay now. Something about noises just scare cats even though you reassure them that they are okay, they are inside and the noise makers are outside, they won't hurt them.
Anyway I finished this squirrel piece this morning. I loved doing it, it was so much fun. This piece will go to Quilts for Older Children and Adults, for a Baby Animal quilt they are doing. I love puppies and kittens but everyone wants to do them and I do like squirrels too, so I thought I'd do a squirrel.
My mom was in the hospital over the weekend as she was very SOB (short of breath). She had been complaining about it a few days, my brother called the doctor Thurs. and he just prescribed something over the phone. Friday she was so bad my brother called the ambulance. She's home now, on oxygen though.
I watched Dancing with the Stars last night and thought the dancing was great. I thought the judges were too low on Candace and Mark, I thought they did better than that, especially with Mark's injury. I wanted them to make it to the finals once they got so close. I like Meryl and Maks, my only problem is Meryl does have experience behind her which gives her an advantage, but I won't be sad if they win. I really don't care which of the final 3 wins I like them all equally which usually I have a favorite. Anyway I hate the fact it's ending as I really enjoyed it this time around. I also was happy with the outcome of Amazing Race. I wanted the father and son team to win and they did. Well....so much for Realistic TV.
I have decided to move. I applied to transfer to a ground level apartment as these steps are getting harder to do when I carry anything up or down. The apartments are smaller over there, but since I live here anyway I figured it was just easier to transfer to Hickory Village, I'm 62 so I qualify. Now I'm just waiting for an opening and am trying to get rid of some of my things. I've gotten rid of a lot of my CS patterns and books, and some other craft books. Now it's furniture and clothes to downsize some. I feel mixed but every time I climb those stairs I am happy I did put in for the transfer and can't wait to move. I just hope Saturn does okay, he likes running around here the space. (Things are more compact over there.) His cat tree will go and go near the patio door.)
Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate it and love reading the comments.
Well.....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Much progress on Squirrel

Good evening. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog. I really appreciate the comments I have received. That encourages me to keep stitching.
I saw a couple of questions on Shebafudge's blog that I found interesting. What designs or themes do you really wish you could find? What do you think is missing among stitching designs? I don't have an answer for the second question. But for the first question I would like to see my Landmark patterns in Cross Stitch, especially to stitch within 9x9 that meet Love Quilts requirements.
I have made a lot of progress on this baby squirrel. I really am enjoying this piece and it seems to be moving along fast.
I have committed myself to 5 more quilt squares so am stitching a lot these days. Only one has been started. Hope will be going to a quilt after all. I was hoping one would show up with Inspirational or Religious theme. This one is Inspirational but not religious so Hope is perfect for it. The girl is quite young but she'll like the square when she's older they don't stay young forever.
Oh, speaking of Love Quilts I added a blog to my blog roll, Ben Sauer. He's only 4 and has only a few days to live. His mother has been blogging his journey and I just learned about it today. It really touched my heart. His mother documents his journey and their faith in God. It's a great blog to read if you want.
Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

May Turtle Trot

Good Morning! And Happy Mother's Day a day early to the mothers out there. I'll be going to church in the morning then go see my mom in the afternoon so won't be at the computer tomorrow so the Mother's day greeting is a day early.

On Turtle Trot I do have two finishes 1)You Are My Sunshine by
Dimentions.

2) U.S.S. Arizona Memorial by Stoney Creek

Now for progress pictures 1) America before

America in May

2) Hope in April

Hope in May

3) Friends are the Garden of Life in April

And last but not least I did start a new project. It is Baby Squirrel by Stoney Creek

Well here you have my Turtle Trot for May. Hopefully it all went the way it was suppose to. I know this is picture heavy.
Thank you for reading my blog, I really appreciate it. Also thank you for the comments they really encourage me. Now to go read some blogs while Saturn is enjoying the fresh air. I have my deck door open so he's sitting by the screen looking out. I was gone all day to my mom's so he's enjoying the fresh air. Love the spring weather!
Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

U.S.S. Arizona FINISHED!

I was so glad to finish this piece. The clouds and water drove me nuts! I also had to do improvisions. I'm not real happy with outcome but I hope Love Quilts will still use it. Now I just need to kit up the squirrel for Quilts for Older Children and Adults.

Well...until next time....Happy Stitching.

One Last Update on USS Arizona Memorial

Good evening! I've stitched a lot on this piece this past week and am more then ready to have it finished! I'm getting tired of it and it's no fun to stitch anymore. Besides I'm getting anxious to start something new. I have six more quilt squares to do and 5 haven't even been started. Hopefully by the end of the week this will be finished and I'll start one of them.

Well....our Youth Pastor is leaving our church now. Not sure what to think. I really like the couple yet he made me so angry over the food pantry. He was in charge of the food pantry. I'm concerned about the youth though. Hopefully someone will step up to the plate. In the past year 3 of our 4 pastors resigned. The 4th one is getting up in age and his health isn't great so I'm concerned about him too. But we do have an Interim Pastor that just started yesterday. This year has been a rough year with our church. We've had so many people leave plus some key people died. Pastor Nate's timing isn't the best but God is in control.

Yesterday my mom, brother and I went to Holland, MI. It's Tulip festival time. We didn't get out of the car except at the Mall to see the art exhibit, my brother had two photography pieces in. But for the tulips, we just drove through. They are so pretty.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Progress on USS Arizona Memorial

Good Evening. After a busy week last week, it is good to get back to normal now. My cat is much happier to have me home with him too. So this morning I woke up and did my dishes and cleaned my bathroom then was able to stitch rest of day. Tomorrow I'll probably vaccuum and mop the floors and then stitch. I tend to do a little each day. I also may vaccuum the furniture now that I got a dirt devil. I want to keep this place clean and I enjoy cleaning it too when it isn't overwhelming.

I laid down Hope as I need to get going on these quilt squares. I have this one and 3 others and the other 3 aren't even started yet! So I plan to keep at this until it's finished. I really am not enjoying this piece too much and the pattern will be retired when done. The water and ground seem to be the most difficult part and that's over half done now.

Well....until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Hope Progress

Good afternoon! It's been a busy week a lot happened this past week. Some good some not so good.
I didn't have a whole lot of time to stitch this week but did get some progress on Hope and on USS Arizona Memorial. I have laid down Hope for the time being to get some of these quilt squares done. I'll show progress on USS Arizona Memorial sometime next week.

A month ago my cousin's husband came down with Bacterial Menengitus. After a month of ups and downs, they made the decision to take him off life support Wed. afternoon. He died early Thursday morning. Don was the rock of that family and we are concerned about Judy as she has bipolar and Don really was the stable one and kept her in line. She does have two grown sons, so hopefully they'll give Judy the support she needs.

My sister came to town Tuesday, and left just an hour ago, she has to work tonight. We got some shopping in. Of course, got floss and material at Jo Ann's and got a Dirt Devil from Kohls with a gift card I got. I want to keep this place clean and I can clean my sofa and chair with it since I don't have attachments to vaccuum cleaner.

My brother got into town last night from MO. So this morning we went up to the cematary in Hesperia to my dad's grave. We had our aunt and uncle meet us there, then we went to eat in Hesperia. Daniels was celebrating their 11th anniversary this week so had a special on some things. We got smelt for 11 cents a piece. We all got at least 10 pieces, ( the men got 20. Plus fries or onion rings to go with. Anyway for 7 people the whole meal only costed $27.00 and some odd cents. That's less then $4.00 a person. Can't beat that. It tasted so good. I had been hungry for a good fish meal! And I got it today.

Tomorrow is our mom's 81st birthday so we'll celebrate that tomorrow. (I need to find her card don't I). We're going to Hobo's for that. She might get a free meal or a good discount anyway.

We'll until next time....Happy Stitching!

A Small finish

Hello again. I finally finished this piece. It was a mall, but very detailed piece, and I made my share of mistakes on it. This is actually a Dimensions kit for waste canvas and to made into a wind chime. But I did it on aida cloth and it will be a quilt square for a little boy we are doing a quilt for at Caring Stitchers. It was fun but also irrirtating at times. Anyway I'm glad to have it done.

Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Progress on Hope

Good Afternoon! We woke up to snow on the ground this morning. I called it a belated April Fool's Joke. But the good news is the snow will not last, in fact a good portion of it is gone. The rest of week will be 50's! That is so much better than we had a couple of weeks ago.

I have been stitching on Hope by Ursulla Michael the last couple of weeks and probably will until sometime next week. I love working on this piece, and it really reminds me of Easter. It's so pretty.

I had noticed a brown spot in Saturn's eye, and his other eye was runny, so I thought maybe he might have a cold plus he had been sneezing off and on. So I took him to the Vet yesterday and he's fine. She said there was nothing to worry about. So I was relieved. It'll be two years tomorrow that I had to put Whiskers down and I went to Pet Smart and met Saturn. I brought him home two days later and I haven't regretted it. He's a near perfect cat.

We are getting an Interm Pastor at our church. We voted on him last Sunday. I guess it's a trial bases for May, and if it works out then he'll stay until we get a pastor. We needed to do something quick as man we've lost so many members that either left the church or died. Some of those that left, could have been the ones to see our church through but they chose to leave. Our CE Pastor is leaving end of May to work with our former Pastor. We will miss him, but he's doing what is best. Our church couldn't pay him but a very little, and he was working 2 jobs and it was getting hard on him. He worked hard for our church for only getting $100.00 a month. No pastor worked harder than him. Our former pastor and him were best friends since college, and he brought Dale to our church so we figured he'd be leaving eventually to join Shane. Pastor Shane offered him a full time position so he can quit his other job.

Next week my sister will be coming in from other side of state, and my brother is coming in from MO. So it will be a fun weekend. Kay will be here Tues.-Friday and Ken Thursday-Sunday. So they'll see each other a couple of days.

Anyone watching Dancing with the Stars. I love this year. Only thing is I feel the Ice Dancers have an unfair advantage over the others, but I do really like them. I expect them to compete against each other for the trophy. I loved Disney night last night.

Well...until next time....Happy Stitching!

Showing the remaining Turtle Trot pieces

Hello! Sorry for two posts at once but I thought I better show the remaining TT pieces since I just joined officially. And hope I do it right this time.1. America by Sue Hillis
2. Red Bird by Stoney Creek.
3.Swallow Tail by Stoney Creek
4. Red Bird by Stoney Creek
5. Friends are...Kit by Jannlynn
6. His Eye is on the Sparrow by Leisure Arts
7. You Are My Sunshine