More Progress

I'm 3/4 of the way done on this piece now. I hope to have it done July 3. Just a date to shoot for. We'll see. It may be more like the 5th before it's done. But I'm anxious to get it done.

Does anyone have plans for 4th of July? I'm not sure if I'm doing anything or not, my guess is no. Which is fine with me. I can stitch more. Besides right now they are saying it's going to rain Tues. and Wed. We'll see. I may just stay inside and stitch or if it's nice go to some friends with a pool and join others there. They have a get together every 4th of July.

Anyone else have an older cat? I'm noticing Whiskers is starting to show his age more (14 1/2). He's still pretty vibrant but he doesn't jump like he use to. Today was the first time in a few days I saw him on his favorite shelf in the closet.
He had justlooked up there and walked by, went to the bedroom.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Lake Michigan

My sister was in town for a couple of days and we went to Lake Michigan Tues. and Wed. evenings. It was beautiful. The first night were no waves and was calm and peaceful. Last night it was wavy and I have a picture. You can't see Kay or Andrew but they are in the water. I might have a picture of the sailboats too. We'll see the good picture of them hasn't really cooperated in uploading but I'll try. Afterwards we stopped for Ice Cream where my niece, Christina works. I don't like ice cream at all but it was so warm I got a kiddie Hot Fudge Sundae. It did hit the spot. So the third picture is Christina at work. The last picture was taken over a year ago. My niece, Michelle, and her husband Scott, were with us from OR. We are at the channel but it doesn't look like any boats were coming through at the time.

I signed up for DSL my kit is coming next week. I can't wait. Maybe then I won't get so frustrating waiting for things to come up on computer etc.

I'm plugging away on Navajo Land. I expect to finish it next week and will show an update on that in a day or two. I am so pleased at how well it's going. And for being so detailed it's taking a short amount of time. But I will have no finishes in June! That is the first time in a long time I haven't had one finish during the month. I probably will have 3 maybe 4 in July.

Well-until next time Happy Stitching!

Look! I'm twice as far in 3 days

I really have been flying on this piece. I can't believe it's twice as far in 3 days. It's cruising along and I really am enjoying this piece. Thank you for looking and thank you for the comments so far.

Navajo Land Update

I have gotten quite a bit of progress on this over the last few days. It is an interesting piece and once I get further into it will enjoy it more.

We just ended Bible School today. I worked with the 4 and 5 year olds and that is not my favorite age group at all! But I did like the kids. They were so cute. Some of the innocent things that come out of their mouths. Yet they have minds of their own. They controlled us very well. Although Thursday and Friday they were really good to be honest, especially for having so many of them.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Another new start

Okay I'm turning into a habitual starter and not a finisher. But this piece will be finished at rate I'm going sometime next week. I thought this was going to be an emergency so I laid down the Hide N Seek to do this. For being by Stoney Creek it is a fairly easy and fast moving piece. This is what I have done today. Sadly, I'm not sure when I'll get back to Wild Menagerie, I'm hoping August but no guarantees.

This is Navajo Land Monument Valley by Stoney Creek, at least what I've stitched today. It's going to be fun to see this come to life.

It is so hot today and there was an O Zone warning so I didn't go to Bible School, but tomorrow and rest of week I'll go. Tomorrow will be a busy day anyway as we'll go to Bible School then go to lunch and Bible Study at another lady's house. So I won't be stitching tomorrow.

There isn't much else happening right now. I'm just hiding in my air conditioned apartment with Whiskers, who is keeping me company. He likes to either get on my lap or sit on arm of my chair when I stitch. He's such a sweet heart.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Well a little more progress

This past few days. I was hoping to get the Tiger all finished before laying it down again. I don't know if it will make it. The Tiger seems endless. It is almost half the piece taking up over 4 of 9 pages.

Last night I went to a Southern Gospel Sing. They had 8 different groups, none were well known names. The only ones I recognized was Northern Edge. All the groups were from the Great Lakes Region. It was really good. There wasn't a big turn out last night, but I'm sure today and tonight there will be a lot more.

Monday starts a week of Bible School at our church. It just runs for 2 1/2 hours in the morning. I'm working in it. Not sure I will make it on Monday as it is suppose to be really hot and we have no air conditioning. I have breathing problems so heat and I don't go well together.

I really need to lay this piece down and finish up Hannah's piece plus do a Lighthouse, but this piece is going so well I just can't lay it down. Ever have a piece like that.

Thank you for all the comments so far.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Some Progress

I hope you can tell I've made progress on Wild Menagerie. I'm still plugging away on it. At least now you can tell the Tiger is going to be a Tiger. I really am enjoying this piece for now. I hope to have the Tiger completely in and the Lion almost done if not done by time I lay it down. A couple of people said it only took them a month to do this piece. They must stitch faster then me or spent more time on it then me, because I've worked on it over 130 hours and not even half done. Each their own I guess. I'm not sure I may have to take out some but I'm waiting until I know for sure.

Today I did some shopping for our Food Pantry at church. I had fun getting stuff that we normally don't carry but thought we should. I went to Sam's Club so we could by bulk on stuff we really needed, like canned meat, fruit, and soup. I got some other stuff kids like. Things like Speghetti O's and Raviolli, Apple sauce. We were stating to get low and it just wasn't coming in so I used some of what we had in our account. Hey if I don't use it, we don't get money next year!
Next week we have Bible School so it will be a busy week. I'll work with the kids. I don't know what age yet.

Well until next time Happy Stitching.

Wild Menagerie

Remember this from last fall when I said I wanted to work on it and didn't? My name was drawn at Cross Stitch Pals to be UFO tasker of the month. Since I accepted the challenge I had to stitch on the piece the manager chose for 10 hours throughout the month of June. Wild Menagerie was the choice and since I had planned on stitching on it this summer sometime, I accepted the challenge. It is going slow, I have done some frogging but I have stitched on it 12 additional hours. Bringing total to 116 hours through the 4 years I've been working on it off and on. I hope to work on it the first week of the month through Sept. and see what happens from there. I also am trying something out so we'll see if this picture turns out. I shrunk it down hoping that would help with uploading we'll see.

Christina's Graduation

My youngest niece, Christina graduated Friday. She was one of 17 kids to graduate. She went to a small private Christian school. It was a nice graduation, for personal for the kids. Christina presented the school with the gift the class chose to leave the school (An Eagles Costume). Everyone thought that was funny and the principal thought that was typical for this class. They sound like they were a really fun class to have had through their school years. Eagle is the school's nickname. I am going to try to post a couple of pictures of Christina and one of Johnny. He's almost 6 months old now. We'll see if I'm successful.

Saturday was her Openhouse and it was a nice beautiful day for it. Quite a few people showed up for it.

On the stitching front I am plugging away on Hide N Seek. The kitten is starting to come in now. Also my name was chosen to be the UFO project stitcher as Cross Stitch Pals. That means I have to stitch 10 hours on the piece they have picked out throughout the month of June. I think I can get 10 hours stitching in on it. I wanted to do work on it this summer I had just hoped to wait until July but oh well.... So I have dug it back out and I'll go back and forth between the two.

New Scanner

I got my new scanner hooked up yesterday and really like it. Only it is a little strange in that you have to unplug it instead of just being able to turn it off. So it's a little bit of a pain to unplug and plug back in whenever I want to use it. But oh well.....It seems to work good. A little slow when posting but that's okay.

I'm a little ticked off. I called the office here this morning and told them I had a leak under my sink and cleaned up the flood. The receptionist couldn't hang up fast enough. Fine, except maitenance still has not come in. If they don't come by noon tomorrow I'll recall and make sure Kelly got the message right. I just am not using the sink much and when I do I do wipe the water up, but basically I am using the bathroom sink. For dishes I just filled a big bowl with water washed and rinsed them in that and dumped water out in bathroom sink. A real pain. Since you have to make 2 trips one for wash and one for rinse. I'm not letting the dishes accumulate. But I'm not one to anyway.

Tomorrow night my youngest niece, Christina graduates from High School. It's a small graduating class maybe about 22 kids. They have nice graduations. Saturday is her Open House. Can't believe all but one of my nieces and nephews have graduated now. Andrew is in 6th grade he's a lot younger than the others. The kids grew up so fast!

This particular piece is only after 10 hours of stitching. It's Hide N Seek by Bob Harrison. The kitten will come in probably Sunday before I reach it.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Sea Otters are finished

How was everyone's Memorial Day Weekend? Mine was very quiet. Friday night we had a get together at my brother's for Na-Jong who was their exchange student this school year. She will be returning home to Korea for the summer then live with another family next year. Kevin's youngest child, Christina graduates Friday night so Na Jong will be living with a family that will still have children at the school. They will be doing things with her next year though.

Sunday we had a tribute to our past and present vets. They had a color guard show how they fold the flag and the meaning of each fold. We sang mostly patriotic songs. They also had a slide presentation of those who served from our church past and and present. It was a nice service.

Yesterday I did get a scanner, just have to hook it up yet. Hopefully this one will be easy to figure out.

The Sea Otters are finished. I loved doing this piece and seeing it come to life! It will go to Samantha at Love Quilts who chose Sea Life as theme of her quilt. Thank you for all your comments of the past to this piece I appreciated them.

Well until next time. Happy Stitching!

Problem solved for now

I have solved the problem with my camera for now. I changed the settings and found one that it would let me take pictures the screen wasn't black. I also do think I need a new memory card. But I'm not deleting the pictures from my camera for now as the same spots were used continually, if you know what I mean. My brother is having problems with his computer again which is frustrating him so I couldn't go there today if I wanted to.

Tomorrow night we are having a family get together to send Na-Jong off. She'll be with my brother and sister-in-law through next week, then she returns home and will be back in the fall living with another family. Because Christina is graduating next Friday, and she is the youngest of their children, Kevin and Beth really didn't want to have a child next year. Another family was found for Na-Jong to live with. We are so happy as she really wanted to return her Sr. Year to graduate with her USA friends. She also plans to go to college here in the states, which one I don't know. Christina will miss her a lot but they'll keep contact and see each other off and on next year I'm sure. Actually the whole family will miss her she fit in real well. But the only boy her age in our family, well we don't see them getting together.

I am almost done with the sea otters. I think I'll have it finished Saturday. I really have enjoyed doing this piece.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching.

HELP! I think I killed my Camera!

I was trying to take a picture of a piece and the screen was all black! I think the lense opened up that was first thing I looked at. My brother says it could be I need a new memory card. I hope it's that simple! He has a scanner, I'm going to his house tomorrow to try to learn how to use it and when I do I will be bugging him to take me to buy a new scanner. Courtesy of the credit card, the card I vowed not to use! Oh well.....sometimes these emergencies happen. Any suggestions on what brand to get. I loved the one I had, it worked great almost 5 years then quit working. But they don't sell that brand around here anymore! Well until next time. Which may take awhile. Happy Stitching.

31 Years ago Today

I graduated from Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music. Man it doesn't seem possilbe! I remember it like yesterday. There were 5 of us in our house that were graduating and our families were all coming in the campus was filled with activity and we Seniors were getting ready for our big night. Man the great memories of those years. I still have contact with a few of my friends from those days but a very few.
I really have a problem getting clear pictures with this camera I'm going to have to have my brother work with me or get a scanner. Try to figure out his scanner and then get the same brand myself I guess. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the shadows. I even tried going outside to take pictures and that was a disaster!

This is my progress of my Sea Otters as of this afternoon I really am excited about this piece and enjoy doing it. Thank you for all your comments so far.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

What a difference a Day Makes

Usually I don't show progress pictures 2 days in a row but I just couldn't leave the baby otter without a face and was pleased with the progress I made on it today. I really am enjoying this piece a lot. This is by Stoney Creek. Typical of Stoney Creek has a lot of backstitching but the backstitching really makes it come alive I think. While I am no fan of Marilyn, owner of Stoney Creek, she has some good designers work for her and I do my share of pieces by Stoney Creek. Do you have a designer you seem to do a lot of their patterns? What designer?

Until next time Happy Stitching!

Start to Sea Otters

I love doing this piece and it's moving along very well. This will go to Samantha at Love Quilts who chose Sea Life as here theme. I love doing sea scenes. I thought these two sea otters were cute. The baby will come in a little more later, actually I'm working on the baby now.

It is a nice sunny day outside. Good day to go out an enjoy it.

Not much is happening around here. Our Care Group started up again. (It's a Women's Bible Study that meets May-Nov. A lot of the women are older and do not like to drive in the winter which I don't blame them.

The house is now in the new owners hands. They take possession as of today and I'm sure they are getting ready to move in this weekend. This is a young couple with no kids yet. I'd like to see the house 5 years from now, I'm sure they'll have renovated it.

Oh on Love Quilts, they are really in need of more stitchers and if you have time to stitch for a great cause, please come over and join us. They need more stitchers for Samantha's and Nevaeh's quilts, due July 1, then for the Aug. children they can use more. For some reason this has been a slow year in getting people to sign up for the quilts, so they are not taking as many children next year. Here is link to their site just click on 2007 children: . If you want to see previous quilts done click on previous children. Thank you.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Another quick Finish

This is the last of the quick finishes for a while. My next few projects are larger and more detailed. I thought this was a cute angel so did it for Nevaeh R at Love Quilts. She chose Angels in pink for theme of her quilt. This was from an older book called "Angles on Angels" by Sabra Publishing.

How was everyone's Mother's Day. We did it yesterday as my sister left early this morning. Plus when we went shopping for the gifts I got too excited about my brother's gift and wanted her to have it last night. It was a Lounge Chair and thought it was the perfect one for her. My sister and I got her gift certificates to a restaurant she likes.

Now everything is done I can go back to life as normal. Things won't be quite so hectic now. I can get more stitching time in.

This afternoon I watched Carousel and State Fair. I have the Rogers and Hammerstein series and figured I would watch a couple of them this afternoon. State Fair was good, Carousel not as good but alright I guess. I won't watch that again anytime soon. I ran into the store to get The Sound of Music before they sold it out and just got the whole series instead and Muic and Lyrics which is a brand new movie out staring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. I'll watch that one tomorrow. Thanks to the charge card, naughty me, I had not wanted to use it for a while. I was doing so good on getting it down!

I have my next project all kitted up and am anxious to get it started tomorrow. It's Sea Otters by Stoney Creek. Do you plan ahead what projects you are going to do. I have the next few planned. Well until next time Happy Stitching!

VT Heart

This was such a fun, easy stitch. I was looking for a Floral Heart to do for the Virginia Tech Quilt and someone designed this for me to do. I love the colors and it was quick piece only taking about 10 hours altogether.

Thank you for your comments to Gather at the River. I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy it except it just didn't click with me, and I kept thinking of all the other pieces I had to do. Plus I'm not sure it's going to go on the quilt so I felt like I was wasting my time. There is another piece I want to do and sent that along with this piece.

Well we survived the last couple of weeks. The move is done, the moving sale is over. What didn't sale is going to the Teens for their yard sale. My dad and Pastor Nate are going through it today. What doesn't go there will probably just get thrown out. Dad rented a dumpster for a week. We should have charged for the stuff we put in the dumpster, people were always going through that and finding things they wanted, especially metal. Oh well. I was dreading the yard sell but it really turned out to be a lot of fun and our parents made out better than I expected. My mom got me The Prince and Me DVD for working at it, even though she didn't have to. I had part 2 and was looking for the first movie, she found it. I really enjoyed it. I never got into videos but I'm sure getting into DVD's.

Someone told us about Suduko site being on line. I love doing those puzzles, so I've spent a few hours on that site yesterday and this morning. Now my poor cat will never get any attention, no one will ever get through to me when they call, and I won't get any stitching or housework done. I'll be at that site! Just what I needed another site to go to!

Well, speaking of stitching and housework, think I'll go do some. Until next time. Happy Stitching!

VT Heart half done, and Successful Moving Sale

I haven't had a lot of time to stitch on this piece but it's about half done. It'll probably be done Monday or Tuesday. This piece was designed for the VT Quilt project. It will go there for sure. This piece is so delicate and pretty I love doing it.

Thank you for your comments to Gather at the River. I'm not sure what my problem was on that piece except it just didn't click with me.

We survived the last 4 days. Once we got through Wed. the rest of the time was a lot of fun. The setting up and marking of everything was hard. We were all exhausted that day. But then Thursday came, the yard sale was a lot of fun. My parents sold a lot of things which should help. Actually a lot more sold then I thought would. I didn't think the CD's and Video's would sell well but they really did. Most of the CD's were Southern Gospel of the different groups with Bill Gaither. We were surprised by how well they sold.

As much fun as the last few days were I don't think any of us will do this anytime soon. We are all tirred and relieved to have this over with. Now next week is just cleaning the house and closing it off, and unpacking everything in the apartment and putting them in place. Neither one of those will be bad at all. Oh I need to spring clean here too as we have an inspection next week.

Now the hectic weeks are behind I can start reading and making comments to other blogs more. Sorry I haven't done much of that lately.

Well until next time Happy Stitching.

Gather at the River is Finished

I was happy to have it done. Although small it irritated me and I was anxious to get it done.

We spent most of today pricing everything for the yard sell. Thre is a lot of stuff to price there. Hopefully the sale will do well. The weather is suppose to be great for us so that will help.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!