Last Finish of Year

Hello! Well I can't believe this year only has one day left! It is true what they say, the older you get the faster time goes! And I can't believe I am as old as I am either! I finished this piece earlier this morning. It' the first of a few projects I will do for the Stoney Hook Project. I'm just letting my squares for most part where ever the leaders decide to put them. I'm not singing up for all the individuals like some people did. I'd never get the pieces done! Yesterday we had our Family Christmas, (well those that could be there.) We bought individual gifts for the children but the adults had a white elephant exchange. Next year we are doing a "Ugly Mug exchange" You just fill a mug with whatever you think will fit in it. Most of us were not crazy about doing the white elephant exchange. I finally am trying out a new recipe from the cook book my brother got me for Christmas. There are several I want to try. The one I'm trying today is Pizza Pork Chops which I had never heard of before. Only problem I added water to the crock pot and the recipe didn't call for it but I thought everything cooked in crockpot has to be done with some water in it. Anyway it may come out a little runnier than I would like, I'll know better next time. Well....until next time Happy New Year. I hope you all have a great year ahead. And until next year....Happy Stitching!

Boy and Butterfly

Hello again! How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was nice. I went to my parents house and my brother and sister in law had dinner with us too. We'll have our family Christmas this Saturday. We usually do it after Christmas it's more convienient for those that can go. I'm protesting to it being White Elephant gifts I'm tempted too look for a calendar around here from 1990's just in protest! My sister suggested I bring a CD I have here so maybe I'll do that. I started this piece a couple of days ago. I thought this would be appropirate for one of the Sandy Hook quilts. There is a girl one that goes with this I'll do when I get some more floss. I ran out of one of the floss numbers that is key in the girl one. In the meantime I have several other pieces I have picked for these quilts. None of them are hard. This piece will probably be done Friday or Saturday. I may do a variety of pieces but I seem to do a lot of Stoney Creek pieces. I like them I guess. I only have about 12 or 13 more pieces to do and then I'll have reached the 50 challenge goal. My next goal will be smaller. I want to do from 15 books I haven't done from yet and whatever I buy after I get 50 will count towards the 15 books. I'm tempted to do 12 or 13 real small pieces to get to the goal quicker. Well....until next time Happy Stitching.

Merry Christmas and Lighthouse Finish

Hello! First I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. I hope you have a nice time with your families. I'm going to my parents and one of my brothers and his wife will be there, not sure about the other one. They might drop in briefly usually Wendy does holiday dinners with her daughters and brother. Our family celebration will be Saturday. This piece was a fun stitch, I really enjoyed it a lot. It will go to a boy at Love Quilts who chose religious as theme of his quilt. It looks like we will have a White Christmas, not a lot of snow, but enough to make it white. We are suppose to get hit by a couple of storms or on the edge of them so we'll see. Well....until next time Happy Stitching and Merry Christmas!

A new start

Hello again! I started this earlier today and is almost half done. I love lighthouses. I am doing this for a young boy at Love Quilts who chose Religious as theme of his quilt. I know the white doesn't show up too well. I'm thinking of redoing it later this year on light color aida cloth for the Sandy Hook project. Today I went through my books and found about 20 of them I could use so far. We'll see how many I actually do for it as I don't want to forget about my commitment to Love Quilts. But I am excited about the Sandy Hook project. I think I am going to finish up my Christmas shopping on Friday. For some reason I cannot get in the mood for Christmas this year and I don't know why. A snow storm is to come in tonight or tomorrow night so maybe that will help. I didn't even buy Christmas cards this year. Oh well.... We are having our Family Christmas the 29th so being around the kids will help. I love the excitement of children at christmas time and I love the christmas music. Well....until next time....Happy Stitching

Tartan Joy

Good afternoon! I started this piece several days ago. The letter J took forever it seemed. Unfortunately I will not be finishing this piece as I am running out of 991 and I can't see making a special trip all the way out to Jo Anns just for that number so I'll finish it next year I guess. I'll start another Christmas project tomorrow. I hope to finish up my Christmas shopping this afternoon. A friend said she would take me to the final two places after she got out of work today. Not sure what time she gets out of work. Like so many others I am in shock and horror over the killings in CT. My heart goes out to those families. All I could think is our little Johnny is 6 and in that age group. One little boy had his 7th birthday just last Tuesday, same day Johnny turned 6. I saw Johnny and his cousin Jake so full of excitement and playing being noisy so happy and excited at seeing us at his birthday celebration and I thought that little boy probably was the same that day, and the family enjoying him little did they realize two days later he'd be gone. A group on line is doing quilts for the families of all the victims and I am excited to be doing at least 2 squares for them more if I can. They are planning on a quilt for each family plus some sibblings like a twin sister, of one victim, another's two little sisters ages 3 and 4 and a neighbor who took in and comforted 6 of of the children plus the uncle of the shooter who was his mother's brother. A big undertaking but they seem to be getting the stitchers. I just hope it doesn't take too much away from Coles Quilts, Love Quilts, or others as they still have the need too. My next piece after Christmas will be for a little boy at Love Quilts who chose religious as theme of his quilt. Well, until next time Happy Stitching.

Christmas Dove Finish

Hello again! I need to delete my previous post as this is actually the finished picture. (I'm not sure I like this new way blogger has. For some reason I can't get the paragrapghs in it all rambles together, yet when I type I do the different paragraphs. I can't edit as easily, etc. But oh well.... We went to Christmas on the Lakeshore yesterday. It was pretty good. All those in the play did really well. I would have prefered more music myself, but I'd go again if nights were better for me. We were celebrating Johnny's birthday today but Melissa and John are sick so it got post poned until later in the week. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

Starting Over

The first attempt on linen was turning into a disaster so I ended up restarting it on aida cloth. It's going much better this time around so I think I'll be done with it early Monday if not before. It's a big weekend coming up. Well.....until next time....Happy Stitching!

New Christmas start

Hello fellow bloggers. I decided to get some Christmas stitching in. I found this material and thought this would be an easy piece to do on evenweave. I don't know if it's Lugana or not. Anyway it's going pretty well. I use to love stitching on evenweave and linen when I was younger. Maybe I'll get back into it. This piece is from a very old Stoney Creek book. Book #3, so it's from about 28 years ago. I think it was published in 1984. I have done several pieces from this book through the years, and this may be the 2nd time I've done this one. I think I did it for a round robin years ago when I use to do round robins. My sister in law took me Christmas shopping yesterday and we went out for lunch. We had a good time. I didn't get everything done but did get some Christmas and birthday presents. This Sunday we are getting together for Johnny's 6th birthday. Some of you may remember when he was born. He is going to be six already and is in kindergarten. Being home schooled by his mother. And he has a little sister who is going to be 3 in Mar. She adores him and he adores her. Today is a pretty good day. I even am walking a little better today and not as lightheaded. So maybe PT is working on me after all. So I'll keep at the excercises. Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Laying down the Calf to start Christmas Stitching

I had hoped to have this one done by now, but I've had to do a lot of frogging and I think I have to do more frogging. He isn't due until May 1 so I am laying him down to do some Christmas stitching which I'm getting anxious to do, and a couple of other quilt squares due before May. Tomorrow I am planning to do some Christmas Shopping with my sister in law, plus get 3 or 4 birthday gifts. I hope I can handle it, my vertigo continues to be a major problem. I have received lots of advice and am taking it. Trying hard to cut down on salt and soda which so far I'm doing okay on and start eating more vegetables. I'm going to take a cane with me and that should give support too. Between Dec. 11 and 18 we have 5 or 6 birthdays, 1 anniversary plus an anniversary on the 20th, a birthday on the 24th, and another birthday on the 31st. Plus Jan. 5, 10, and 18 we have birthdays. So it's a busy time. Our family does not combine birthday and christams at all. My mom had a sister born Dec. 19 and they always combined her birthday and christmas and my mom didn't like that. So when my brother Kenn, was born on the 18th, we didn't even have a Christmas tree in our house until the 19th. Oh the Christmas trees do come in earlier but we still refuse to celebrate their birthday and Christmas together. And since our fmaily is scattered throughout USA we really don't have that many parties, we just mail the birthday and christmas presents on separate days to those in other states. Yesterday I went to a Christmas Tea by CEF which was pretty good. Had a good time with some friends. I also saw some friends from BSF there. One of them didn't join this year so it was good to see her again. This weekend we are having Christmas on The Lake Shore at our church. We've had it every year for the last 4 or 5 years and each year gets better and we get more people. This year one of my friends wrote a play to tie in with it. We're going Saturday so I'm looking forward to it. Well.....I'm going to go kit up my Christmas projects. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Another cute piece from SC's Barn Yard Babies

Good afternoon. Well....we have our first snowfall of the season. They said it was coming and it came. Only I was hoping see how Saturn would react to seeing it but he was in bedroom under bed sleeping. So maybe when he comes out he'll see it. Last year he was at the Humane Society so I doubt he saw much snow falling out any windows. I started another of the cute Barnyard Babies by Stoney Creek. This is my 4th one . They are so cute. I tend to leave the sound they make off and I probably will on this one too. I love doing these baby animals. This will go for a quilt featuring farm life at Quilts for Older Children. How was everyone's Thanksgiving? Mine was great. We went to my niece's and really enjoyed it. Of course I ate too much. And I got to take home some Sweet Potato Pie and ate the remainder of it today. It was good. Tomorrow my parents, another brother and sister-in-law will have another Thanksgiving dinner. Way to gain weight. Not big on turkey, but I love everything else. My niece lives on a lake and in the later afternoon we saw at least one ducks all lining up across the lake gathering together to fly south for the winter we figured. It was a site to behold and a once in a life time scene I'm sure. The Holiday Season has officially begun. Has anyone ventured out for Black Friday? Not me,.,.I'm not going near a store! Some friends did it last night and they posted on face book today, never again! Well.....until next time Happy Stitching!

Hello. I stitched on this a couple of hours a day. It's about all I could handle since my vertigo acted up again. It seems like I think it's leaving and all the sudden it's worse again. Getting very frustrating. Anyway I did a lot of frogging on this and still probably should have frogged again but I was ready to be done with this piece so just improvised. Now to kit up my next piece which will be a calf from Stoney Creeks Barnyard Babies. I've done about 3 other pieces from that book they are so much fun and cute. Does everyone have special holiday plans? We are going to my niece's house for Thanksgiving. We get to see Johnny and Kate. This time it'll just be Melissa, John, my brother and sister-in-law and my sister-in-law's mother. Should be a nice fairly quiet afternoon. Well-until next time Happy Stitching and Happy Thanksgiving.

My Cat's Favorite Place

Is actually my computer chair! Good morning everyone. I said my cat's favorite place is my computer chair because right now he is in back of me trying to kick me out of the chair so he can have it! But I thought this was so cute, and would be my cat if I had a basket full of cross sttiching supply within his site. He does like to play with the floss when I stitch. I found this piece and couldn't resist it. This is piece 34 towards the 50 challenge. I'm getting there! Next I want to try to stitch from 10 books I haven't stitched from before buying a pattern for myself. My sister got to town yesterday and will be here until Sunday. So this morning we'll do a little running and then maybe this afternoon do some running with our mom. It tires her out to do to much shopping and in the morning her caretaker is there so we like to be out of the way when she's there. Yesterday I had my first P.T. appointment. Parts went well other parts didn't go so well. I really need to work on my balance. I never had the best balance but with the vertigo it's way off. I'll go 1 day every other week and do most of the excercises at home. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

An easy, quick finish

This was another fun, easy piece to do. I did it as an Amish Stitch along in one of the groups I'm in but I don't remember which one. When stitching this I kept thinking of the song "The Wise Man Buit his house upon the Rock." We sang that song as kids. And one of the verses was the prayers go up and the blessing will come down. Our Harvest Dinner at church yesterday was very good. We had a lot of good food and as usual I ate too much. Right now we are having a food drive at church for our Food Pantry. This year so far doesn't look as good as last year but food is coming in. In January we are going to start something new hoping that will help. I think people forget about the food pantry and by promoting it once a month will help people to remember. I'm trying to figure out what I want to stitch next. I'll figure something out. Well....until next time....Happy Stitching.

Another new start

Hello again! Thanks for your comments to Great Is Thy Faithfulness. I love getting comments. This piece is moving very fast. So fast, I really think I will have it done late Monday afternoon. It is an Amish piece. One of the yahoo groups was having an Amish Stitch a long but I don't remember which one. This is from an old Stoney Creek Book called Gentle Unity. (Book #21 shows you how old it is!). This piece will help get to the 50 mark easier. I think this is piece #33 so slowly but surely I'm getting there. My youngest niece, Christina, and her husband are moving out east after the first of the year. So that's another state a family member is in. His job is taking him to North Carolina. So this Christmas we will be sending another one off. Last year her brother, Jeremy, moved to MO, now living in AZ. I told their older sister, Melissa the other night she better not plan to move, and she said she wasn't. They were staying. Good thing or like I said to her, her parents would hide the kids from her. She laughed and said she knew that. Well, not much is happening. Tomorrow we are having our annual Harvest Dinner at church. They are always good. Looking forward to that. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Another Finish

This piece went fairly fast. I loved doing it. It will probably go to one of our Pastor's next October. Last night I went to a Premiere Jewlery Party. I wasn't going to go but I let my friend talk me into going. Much to my surprise my niece, Melissa was the hostess so I got to see her and that was nice. I guess we are going to her house for Thanksgiving. Of course I ordered a necklace from her. My vertigo is doing a little better, now it comes and goes but night is the worst, I am scheduled for PT starting next Thurs., but, they called today and told me I have a $30 co pay with each visit. So I may go on Thurs. and hopefully get a list of excercises I can do on my own. Or maybe work out a payment plan. We'll see. Thirty dollars a visit can really add up! Well, not much to write about I mostly wanted to post this finish. Until next time....Happy Stitching.

This piece is moving fast

Hello everyone! How is everyone this Monday morning? I'm doing better and better with my vertigo. It's not completely gone but it's getting there. My big problem is when I try to do my excercises for it my cat thinks he has to help me! He's so funny and cute! I love him! I have made so much progress on this piece. It's moving much quicker than I anticipated. In fact I have my next few pieces picked out to stitch so I'm glad this is going fast. Besides it helps me get to the 50 challenge quicker. I think I have done 30 pieces toward it now so I'm getting there. I am wondering has anyone been to Cyber Stitchers or found their new site. I need to contact Anita again I think. She said they were moving the site and working out all the kinks that was over a month ago. I really miss seeing the new pieces everyone adds to their rooms and adding to my room. But I love going to the different blogs and seeing everyone's works. It's just there were certain people I followed their rooms there and while found some of the people haven't found everyone I would like to find. Well....until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Chelsea's blanket and a new start

Hi! Four posts from me in one week is a lot. That doesn't happen very often. I did Ariel the Mermaid earlier this year and my sister made it into a blanket for Chelsea. She received it Halloween night and this is a picture of her with it. She looks happy with it. Her parents say she loves it. I also started Great is Thy Faithfulness this week. It will go to one of our Pastors for Pastor's Appreciation next October I hope. If I get all four done and framed by then. I think the first one is done. (Music piece I did earlier this year) . It's going really good, much easier and quicker than I contemplated. The only thing is I'm using Gentle Arts Thread, and doing one complete stitch at a time because of the different shading in the threads but I'm not noticing the different shades like I do in most of their threads. I'm thinking about saving a little time and just stitching the regular way. We'll see. How was Halloween? We didn't get any Trick or Treaters. But I don't think they allow it here. My niece did bring over Johnny and Kate. Johnny was Dak Vader and Katelyn was a Cowgirl. They were so cute. Katelyn looked so pretty in the cowgirl outfit. I heard Trunk or Treat at church was very disappointing. Only 3 cars showed up and they ran out of candy by 7. I feel bad but I think a lot of it was because of the weather conditions. Well.....until next time Happy Stitching!

Sun Flower Finished

After struggling through the Chipmunk piece this was very easy and enjoyable to do. As I said it is going to a quilt being done at Quilts for older children. Actually for adults too. Toni is my cousin and has 3rd stage ovarian cancer. The square is due tomorrow but this and the chipmunk will go out in mail tomorrow. Now to kit up Great is Thy Faithfulness. I know I'm going to think of Ruth's family all the while I'm stitching it. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may remember the Lighthouse Quilt that went to my friend Ruth who also had ovarian cancer. She died just a few days after receiving the quilt. Great is Thy Faithfulness was her favorite song, and when she died her husband, parents, brothers, and sister were singing that song to her. Her father died one year later almost to the day after she did. So I'll be thinking of her mother, brothers and sister. Actually it was her 2 oldest brothers and sister that were closest to us and her sister in law and her oldest sister and brother. We were almost unseparable as teenagers a group of us did everything together. I have a complaint against blogger. I can't get the paragraphs to show on the final copy even though they show when typing. Also I can't edit my blog roll anymore or add to the 50 challenge. I have completed 3 more pieces. Oh well. At least I can still post. Tonight my niece Melissa, is bringing Johnny and Kate over so I can see them in their costumes. I bought them each a good size candy bar which I'm sure Melissa and John will split in half or eat some of themselves. I don't think I'll get any more trick or treaters. Last year was the first year they did it but I was at church working at Trunk or Treat. This year because of my vertigo I'm not....but I haven't heard that they are doing trick or treating here. Well....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Sunflower Start

Hello everyone! Here is my start to the Sunflower for Toni's quilt. I love working on it. It's my kind of a piece, small but detailed. I'm sure I'll finish it Wed. afternoon than get it in the mail on Thurs. If not done Wed. it'll be done Thursday morning for sure and still can be mailed that afternoon as our mail comes late in the day. I hope all of you on the east coast are safe from the storm Sandy, and had minimul damage. I have a niece and her family out in VA and we are trusting her and her family are safe. We are suppose to get the outer fringes of Sandy this evening and tomorrow. Yes even this far west. They say Lake Michigan's waves will be high tonight and tomorrow but nothing compared to the ocean I'm sure. Well......until next time. Happy Stitching sun

Finally Finihsed!

Finally finished! I am Happy Dancing! This is for a quilt we are doing at Cross Stitch Addicts featuring the Baby Animals by Eller Mauer-Strohl. It's going to be an adorable quilt. Now I have barely started the flower for Toni's quilt. We are doing it at Cross Stitching for Older Children. Although we do a lot for adults too, such as case of Toni. Toni is my cousin and has 3rd stage ovarian cancer. I asked her if she'd like a quilt and accepted. She chose a lap quilt with theme of flowers. It's due Thursday. I'll have it done by then but it may be received early next week. I have noticed on my blog that for some reason the different paragraphs are not showing up even though when I type I do paragraphs. Why doesn't it show on the blog itself? Thank you for reading my blog and for the comments. Until next time Happy Stitching!

Almost Done Finally!

Well.....I had so hoped to have this piece done by now but didn't quite manage it. But it'll be done Monday for sure if not over the weekend. I don't have that much left to do on it. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the end but probably Sunday. Our Tigers are not doing so well in the World Series. I'm not a big fan of any sports but I get a kick out of seeing the posts from my friends at Facebook. There are some devout fans out there. Our weather has cooled down quite abit. Yesterday we hit 78 which was a high for this time of year. Our leaves have peaked. I missed it this year because my vertigo was at it's worse durring that time. It looks like eventually I may have to consider sinus surgery as there is a cyst in my nose. Right now I can live with it but if it comes to that point than well like it or not I will have to do it. I'm hoping the cyst will just dissolve itself. Today is a sad day for my niece, Christina and her husband's family. Her father-in-law's fiancee had a bad heart attack a couple of weeks ago and today they took her off of life suupport and she died this afternoon. It shows how life turns, just a month ago she caught the bouquet at Christina's and Jared's wedding and had a heart attack two weeks later and never came through it. On a happier note, my 1 year old grand nephew, Chase, finally got his adenoids out yesterday and last night was the first time he slept without oxygen in 3 months. My niece and her husband are very happy and hope it stays that way. He hated the oxygen so they always waited until he was sound asleep to put it on him. Well...I'm going to go back to stitching a least another hour today and get closer to finishing this piece. I can't wait until it's done. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Slowly but Surely

I have one goal in mind. To get this piece done early next week! I don't know a lot of sttitching yet to be done and so little time! But I'm sick of this piece it's taking much longer than I anticipated. Of course Vertigo hasn't helped either. But this piece has to be in the mail by end of next week in order to be received by Nov. 1. Plus I have a small flower piece due Nov. 1. Guess that piece will be a few days late! Tomorrow we are going to a wedding of a daughter of some friends. Hard to believe "little Kristen" is all grown up now. She will be a beautiful bride. After church on Sunday we are invited to my brother's house for dinner. Not sure what the occasion is but they invited us so we're going. Wonder if their grandkids will be there. If not the dog will be there. I'm known for spoiling all the family animals! Of course Saturn isn't spoiled, he just gets what he wants. LOL! We have some answers as to my vertigo and some other issues. Actually the cat scan on my sinuses showed several issues. Including a cyst right below the sinuses at the gum line which was causing on the gum problems and jaw pain. Here I thought it was dental then convinced myself it was all in my head. There also is a cyst in the sinuses and a narrowing there. So I'm taking an antibiotic for now and see how that goes. If it doens't work we'll talk surgery. Also the allergist thinks sleep apnea may be involved which would make the vertigo worse. I see the ENT next Friday so I'll know more than. Well....I need to go stitch just a little longer. So until next time....Happy Stitching!

Another week of stitching

This week I did get to do more stitching then I have the last couple of weeks. So the Chipmunk Baby is finally moving along. It's a little over half done now and while I enjoy working on it I am anxious to get it done. I have this piece and then a small flower piece both due Nov. 1 so I need to get this done and start the flower piece. Especially since the flower quilt is for my cousin who has Ovarian Cancer. Today Whiskers would have turned 20. I had so wanted him to make it to his 20th birthday but didn't quite make it. So I have thought of my sweet forever baby a lot today. Of course Saturn has created his own special spot and has been pretty active today. I'm still having problems with vertigo although not to the extent it was and today really was a descent day. I even managed to do two loads of washing. The washer and dryer are down in the basement but I made it. Our weather has cooled off some but it seems to go back and forth. One day warm and the next day cool. This weekend former idol contestant Chris Sligh is going to be at our church. Saturday he is doing a conferance for worship leaders, that night doing a concert then on Sunday morning will be performing during our church service. I'll wait until Sunday to hear him. Has anyone been watching Dancising with the stars? I think this year has been great and last Monday was the best ever.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Chipmunk Baby Progress

I have stitched some this past week. Not as much as I would have liked because I've had a real difficult week with vertigo. Today has been about the best day I've had in a while so I'm hoping it's running it's course! This piece is coming slow but sure. I love working on him he's so cute. I need to get him done within a couple of weeks though and I think I might be able to do it. It'll be close. They already have snow in Denver. My niece's husband posted the cutest picture of their 3 year old and 15 month old shoveling snow off their deck. Since their Grandma (my sister) is visiting them I said it was to show her what good boys they were. This really has been a very uneventful week I've mostly slept the week away so until next time Happy Stitching!

Chipmunk Baby

I saw I wasn't going to get the horse done and have it in the mail by Oct. 1 so I put it down until after the 1st of the year and started this chipmunk baby so it would not be late. These are designed by Ellen Mauer-Stroh. When they first came out almost 10 years ago I thought they were the ugliest things and would never do them and they were free at first! Now they have grown on me and I think they are kind of cute. Cross Stitch Addicts is doing a quilt of these animals so I signed up for Chipmunk Baby. It's going good now that I have the face in. That took a few days. I'm still struggling with vertigo but I am not as nausiated and the head ache has gone away so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Plus I do better in the morning, then lay down in the afternoon and do okay for a while. They say that is the thing to do, sleep when you have to it'll help and it works. Our fall colors are just starting to come in. It looks like it will be a prettier fall season then what it has been. Thank you for reading my blogs and for posting. I really appreciate it it gives me encouragement to keep stitching. I really enjoy all the blogs I go to. Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Progress on Brown Pony I have stitched quite a bit on this piece this past week. It really has to be done by Tuesday of next week so I can mail it out 1 week from today. It is due Oct. 1 so I'm cutting it very close. I suppose if they get it Oct 2 or 3 it'll be okay as long as I tell them it's coming. My problems with vertigo have returned! And I am not happy about it. Our weather has cooled down quite abit it's now more fall like weather. I love the fall season. I love seeing the different colors even though I know the leaves change because they are dying but they can be so pretty! There isn't much going on so until next time Happy Stitching!

Back to Brown Pony

I started this last spring and then laid it down. It is due Oct. 1 so I better really get serious about this horse. It's going much better now than it was in the spring.

Bible Study Fellowship started back up this week. My group leader is my friend, Marilyn. This is her first year doing it and it was funny I got put in her group. We've been friends since we were teenagers. We were in and out of each other's lives for awhile as our paths went different ways, in recent years I moved back to our home town and she started going to my home church and we reconnected then. She was the one who got me into BSF. So I'm looking forward to a good year. I knew a couple other ladies in our group from previous years at BSF.

After taking the summer off from the food pantry I returned last week. Yesterday we had 5 people come . It's been a very busy summer, and no one did much food ordering while I was gone so our shelves got very low. Fortunately we are building back up and in Oct. we are having another food drive. We also are hoping to remind the people of the food pantry once a month. As they do good in giving at Food Drives but then sort of forget about us. So by someone different each month making an announcement as to what we are collecting that month will help. Some will, some like me won't get up in front of the people, fortunately enough others will do it.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Chelsea, Addie, and Saturn

I just have to share these two picture of Chelsea and Addie. I talked about them on the dance floor in my last post and here's proof. I miss those two girls already they were so much fun! Aren't they adorable? Or am I just prejudiced. You can sort of tell they are related I think. Although Chelsea being part Mexican and part Chineese is darker than Addie who is pure blond. These two little girls became best friends and probably will call each other on the phone from time to time for a while anyway.
My brother came today and took some pictures of my sweet Saturn. Here is one of my favorites.

Splish Splash is Finally Finished

Hello! I know it's been a few days. I just was busy and really wanted Splish Splash to be finished. I loved stitching on it but am glad it's done. It was so much fun to do. Now back to the horse I started a few months ago and due Oct. 1. Better get going on that

Last weekend was a busy one for us. My nephew, his wife and daughter arrived in from MO on Thurs. so Friday we did some things with them. First they took Chelsea down to Lake Michigan, it was a littly drizzly out but she had fun, then they came to my parents and we visited a little bit got to meet Chelsea. She was 2 months old when we went to MO to see her so she didn't remember us. She was really shy Friday. That afternoon my sister came to town and we all went to her daughters, near Grand Rapids. Chelsea and Addie were shy at first and we weren't too sure they would play as well as we had hoped but in time they warmed up to each other.

Saturday was Christina's Wedding. Christina was a beautiful bride, it was a nice ceremony. Katelyn age 2 and Johnny age 5 were Flower girl and
Ring bearer. They were so cute. Then we went to Jared's (the grooms aunt and uncles for the Wedding Reception. They had a beautiful home and huge yard that accomodated about 200 people. It was a beautiful day outside. The bride and groom did their dance, afterwards they invited everyone to join them in a dance. Chelsea 3 and Addie 4 decided they wanted to join in so Heather took both little girls up there and they basically stole the show. Especially after the dance was over a couple of other dances were planed but Chelsea and Addie took over They were having a great time out there so the adults left the floor and the children got it. A few more children joined in. They were so cute. Sadly the weekend had to end. Josh, Elaina and Chelsea left for MO and Jeremy (Christina's brother) had to return to AZ. We only got to see Jeremy at the Wedding. He had changed so much we barely recognized him. After the wedding becdause other members of the family were by him I went up to him and said "Is that you?" He says "Yea it's me. I know I've changed in looks." We had hoped he would return to MI when the wedding came because he and his girlfriend broke up but he loves it in AZ and has no intentions of returning to live.

Well that's it for now. Until next time. Happy Stitching.

More Progress

Hi everyone. I want to thank all of you for reading my blog. I love getting the comments and appreciate them. I do try to make comments on blogs there are so many great ones out there. Mine isn't half as interesting and good as there's. There are some good writers out there!

I had so hoped to have this piece done by today but it didn't happen. It'll be sometime next week before it's finished. As long as it's done before next Friday is all I care. Then I can give it to my sister and she'll have it framed for her two grandsons. Only thing is I probably won't be showing the finished piece for a couple of weeks as I can't find my camera charger and don't know how to piece it together. The person who usually pieces these larger pieces together will do it in a couple of weeks. I know part of it is cut off but you've seen that side of it. It's just a little too large for my scanner.

A week from tomorrow my youngest niece gets married! Why do they grow so fast! So we'll be having family come in from out of state and out of town. My one nephew and his wife and little girl are coming in from MO. We can't wait. Chelsea is now 3 almost 4 and we last saw her at 2 months. We are expecting, Chelsea, Addie and Katelyn to get along great as all 3 are little Princesses. All are girlie and all like just about the same things. Addie is 4, Chelsea 3, and Katelyn 2. Plus Johnny 5, and Nolan 1 will be there, maybe Ashton age 9, but the rest are all too far out of state to make it in. I doubt the ones from Chicago will come in, we'll see.

Last Saturday's Kia Kick Off Carnival was great. We had a pretty good turnout and everyone seemed to have fun. It was a long, fun day. We got there at 9 am to set up and everything. It was to close at 3 but about 2 the crowd was down to just basically the workers kids and a few from church and we were all getting tirred and crabby so by 2:30 we had closed up. Next Sunday night Kia Club begins. I'm working with the 2nd and 3rd graders this year.

I can't believe August is at it's end. Where did the summer go? I like fall though, it's not quite as hot.

I hope everyone has a great Holiday Weekend!

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

Lots of Progress

I think the end of this piece is in site. My goal is to finish it up next Friday that way I'll have a finish in August. I think I can do it as it should go fairly fast from here on out. Knock on wood! I have enjoyed this piece but am ready to see it finished.

I deserve 10 lashes with a wet noodle. Can you believe I forgot to announce the birth of Emma Jane. She is Great Grandchild no. 17 for my parents. They named her in part after my mom, (Jane). She is so honored. We always told Amanda and Michelle if they had a 3rd child to head to the hospital before they go into labor or they won't break it. Both had 2 boys and they barely made it to the hospital and all 4 were born a month early. Emma followed suit born a month early and she was not born at the hospital. They got part of way there and Amanda told Luke to pull over and call for help this baby is coming. So Luke pulled over and called for help went to the back seat to help Amanda and Amanda already delivered. She says to Luke, "Here is our baby girl." Fortunately all is well and Emma is now at home with her parents and 2 older brothers, 2 1/2 year old Scott and 18 month old Connor. Think Amanda has her hands full?

This Saturday we are having our Kia Club Carnival to mark the start of Kia Club in Sept. Last Sat. the Pork Out was a success, it was a beautiful day for it and everyone had a good time. We look forward to the same this Sat. only it's suppose to be hot out there.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Some Progress on Splish Splash

Hello! How was your week this week? Mine was busy. I didn't get quite as much time to work on this past week. I've been gone almost all day this week and 3 evenings I was away. My poor cat hardly saw me at all and today he let me know it. He wanted my attention when he was awake and didn't let me stitch a lot. He kept trying to play with the threads and material.


My sister came to town Tuesday and stayed until Thurs. Tuesday was my birthday but it got lost in the day. In the morning my mom had her surgery. Then that afternoon my sister came in to town for our niece's bridal shower that night. Since she got in early afternoon she took me shoping for new shoes and a purse for the wedding. My sister insists I have to have brown purse if I'm going to have brown shoes. I can't take a black purse with brown shoes. I've asked around and verdict is I'm not buying black shoes to go with the black purse. Hey the shoes will match the outfit I wear to the wedding what more can they ask for. I am not a fashion queen and have no desires to be one.

Christina's shower was fun, my sister's 4 year old grand daughter came hoping to be able to play with another nieces 2 1/2 year old daughter, and 5 year old son, but they were camping with their other grandma so weren't at the shower. Once Addie got over her disappointment she was fine. She got to give Christina the shower gifts and pass out the prizes to the game winners. She seemed to have fun.

Wed. my sister and I stayed at our mom's and played Mexican Dominoes and Push Rummey with her. Then I went to a Premiere Jewlery Party my nieces was demonstrating and one of my friends house. Of course I ordered a necklace and bracelet.

Then last night a group of us from church went out for bagels. Well I just got a Pepsi. I mostly went because one of my friends from church doesn't get to do much and so I asked her if she wanted to go to this, and she did. She said she had a nice time. (She works 12 hour shifts 7 days a week, is mandated to for now but is on medical leave. Sometime in next two weeks she is hoping to get her gall bladder taken out.

Tomorrow we have our 2nd annual Pig Out at church. It's a community wide event where they have a contest who can make the best pork, they'll have 3 judges that are known in the community. Plus each class and ministry will have a booth set ut. Love Inc. will be there as well as Habitat for Humanity. I don't know if Pastor Nate got anyone to set up a Food Pantry Booth or not last year I did it but I took the summer off from the food pantry this year. I'll go back in Sept.

Also in Sept. BSF starts back up. I haven't heard from my new leader yet, hopefully next week. Also a friend got me into the Beth Moore Bible Studies. So I ordered 5 of her books. Two came last week and 3 came today. Some of us are going to do a Bible Study using her material.

And more Progress on Splish Splash

There is a method for my madness here. I don't know why designers do this but they fold the pattern in half and a row of the pattern is on the crease which fades over time which was happening so I decided to do the parts on the crease to make sure it was accurate. Also page 2 was stappled in the book and had to be very carefully taken out in order to read the creases. Why do designers do that. Fortunately the picture of the finished piece is very clear so I am using that as a guide too. Other than that this piece is going very well, is a lot of fun and obviously very hard to lay down. It is so cute I love stitching on it. Although I wonder if anyone else finds this as cute as I do.

Next week is going to be a fairly busy week as I have something going every day but Friday. My mom is having a stint put into the artery of her kidney on Tuesday. Hopefully this will solve the elevated blood pressusre problem, and her heart problem. Also Tuesday is my nieces bridal shower which mom is disappointed she won't be able to go to that. Tuesday is also my birthday. So mom isn't happy. But like I said to her she has to do it, each day it's not done she's at risk for a stroke or heart attack so do it. Christina will understand and I understand so don't even worry about it. Besides it's not like we are young children. We're mature adults.

Today a friend and I went to see a lady from our church and had a nice visit with her. We planned to see a second lady but she was not there when we got there. We also went out for lunch. So we may try again next week.

My sister will be in town Tuesday afternoon-Thursday so that will be nice.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

More Progress

Hello again! I have made more progress on Splish Splash. I really am enjoying this piece so much. I really think Nick will like it and Chase will when he gets a little older.

Chase has had a rough week. Michelle (my niece, his mother), was planning on bringing him up to Michigan this week and Scott and Nick were going to go camping. Chase got really sick and spent a few days in the hospital. They think his adenoids need to come out. They were taking him to a specialist today. Because he is only 13 months old Doctors hate to take out his tonsils and adenoids. He's home now on oxygen when he takes his naps and at night. He hates it so Michelle and Scott wait until he is sleeping good to put it on then they switch off as far as watching him during the night to make sure he doesn't wake up or strangle himself on the oxygen cord. Poor baby. Doctor told Michelle she couldn't travel with Chase so their trip to Michigan to see us got called off. She's going to try later in the fall.

Well the first week of the Olympics is over. The best of the two weeks, the track and field doesn't interest me completely. Some of it does but not all of it.


August seems to be a pretty busy month. Every Saturnday we have something going on, plus next week my sister will be here 2 1/2 days we have a bridal shower to go to next Tuesday, and Wed. hopefully we'll do some shopping. Sounds vain but I want to get some new shoes to go with the outfit I bought for Christina's wedding. Maybe even a purse. We'll see I hate spending money onb shoes and purses. My idea of shopping for shoes and purses is selecting the shoes and purse that my sister or mom have that they don't wear or use anymore. I'm not big on shopping anyway unless I have something specific in mind.

Wel.....until next time happy stitching!

Hello again. I am so pleased with how fast and how well this piece is going. It is such a fun stitch I may be stitching it again after the first of the year maybe for Scott, Connor and Emma this time. Emma isn't born yet but will be in August. I My youngest niece, Christina is getting married Sept. 8. So tomorrow her mother is taking me shopping for shower and wedding gifts. Her bridal shower is Aug. 14, on my birthday. Anyone else enjoying the Olympics? I am....I've enjoyed the gymnastic and swimming, & diving events especially. Some disappointments but more victories really. Well....until next time Happy Stitching.

Start of Splish Splash

I have finally started Splish Splash by Imaginating. This piece has to be the cutest one I've ever done and is such an enjoyable stitch. It is fun seeing it come to life. It will be going to 2 of my great nephews that live in Colorado. Nick will be 3 in Sept. and Chase is 13 months.

I first saw this piece at 123 stitch someone else was working on it and showing their progress in the WIP Friday thread. Several of us loved it and I did buy it with my gift certificate. This piece has the elephant as the main character but there is a monkey on the right side and frog on left, and under the tub is a turtle holding the towels for them. I can't wait to get further along on this.

Well, the Olympics are now underway. I am enjoying them so far. I just watch the women's volley ball and the men's volley ball both teams won the first round, several more to go. Go USA! Now rowing is on. I did see the Opening Ceremonies last night. I wasn't impressed with the first part and fell asleep, woke back up as the teams were marching in saw most of them and enjoyed the rest of it. I loved the way they lit the torch that was creative.

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

Lighthouse # 2 is Finished

Hello! How is everyone this cloudy rainish afternoon?
I finished the second lighthouse last night. It was so much fun to stitch but in end a challenge as someone literally ripped the pattern to shreads. Fortunately I had enough done in the areas and was able to figure it out by following the picture. Now to get it to my friend in a couple weeks. Sunday her and her husband and leaving for MO with some of our young people from church to work at CEF headquarters for a few days.

I have started Splish Splash and I love it. It is so cute and so much fun to do. I may do two of them in time. It seems to be moving fast too. I'll probably show a picture of it tomorrow.

Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

Progress on Lighthouse 2

I have stitched quite a bit on this the last few days. I do have a small problem though. In the morning I have a little helper and attention getter and he is shredding the poor pattern! I guess he wants my attention and doesn't want me to stitch!


I am looking forward to the Olympics starting Friday night. I love the swimming, gymnastics and some track and field events. I like horsejumping too. I'm thinking about signing up to get them on my computer only problem is I haven't figured out how to get sound on the computer but I can at least see them when I want. I'm not sure how much coverage NBC will have.

Tomorrow we are suppose to get showers and thunderstorms. We need the rain.

Well...until next time happy stitching!

Lighthouse #2 Under way

Hi Everyone! I started the second Lighthouse last Friday. It is going quite well and stitching up fast. It's been a busy and fun week.
My sister made it into the campground last Friday afternoon so from Sat.-Wed. was pretty much spent at the campground. Sat. her daughter, son-in-law and their two children and dog were there. They went home that night but Heather and the children came back on Monday and stayed through Wed. night. Addie and Nolan are so cute. Addie was a lot of fun as she is 4 and she loves camping. Nolan being barely a year we had to watch carefully but he's a pretty good baby. Tuesday, we went to my sister's brother-in-laws pool it was so nice and warm. Addie was a little fish. Monday we swam in Lake Michigan and the water really was warm for being the Lake. There again Addie was fearless. She loves swimming and for being only 4 can hold her own at swimming. One day my niece, Melissa and her husband, John came out with their 2 children, Johnny 5, and Katelyn 2. Katelyn just gravatated to Addie she was her little pal. Johnny is starting school this fall, Melissa is homeschooling him. Like I said it was a great fun week.

Also our church had Bible School this past week but because of my sister and everyone being in town I didn't work at it this week. They said it went real well.

I got my package from 123 stitch earlier this week. The friend I made the Poppy Pair for 2 or 3 months ago gave me a $50.00 gift card to use on line. Of course I bought patterns and some floss with it. I got 7 patterns and 18 skeins of floss I got a good deal. I can't wait to get started on some of them. Especially Splish Splash by Imaginating but I have 2 or 3 other pieces I have to do first.

Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate all comments.


Well...until next time Happy Stitching.

Lighthouse Finish

I finished this earlier today. Now I've started the second lighthouse and I'll give the two to Sherry, She'll make them into a kleenix box or something. I gave her the instructions from the book. It's summer time I love doing beach scenes.

Today my sister was going to come into town and camp at a State Park a few miles from here but she isn't feeling well so hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow and come. Disappointing but no one is more disappointed then her 4 year old grand daughter Addie, who was waiting for Grandma since early this morning. They are at the camp ground too. Kay will be there through next Thursday, I'm not sure how long Heather, and Brian and the kids will be there. They have been there since Sunday when Kay and Ken came in to set the camper up.

It's a good week for Kay to be camping as it will be 90's again. Really warm for us. I love Lake Michigan and look forward to being out there during the day time. I can't after dark because all the campfire smoke gets to me. I especially loved going down and watching the lighthouse when going down to Lake Michigan. I see that lake and I am so relaxed. As kids we use to love riding the waves and also diving in to them.

I got a gift card for $50 and I had so much fun spending it at 123 stitch the other day. I got 8 new patterns and 17 skeins of floss. Best is the gift card covered it all and it doesn't go against me in the 50 challenge since it is a gift. This was piece 27 towards the 50 challenge.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Progress on Lighthouse

Slowly but surely I am getting further on this. But I have made progress. Just the part I'm doing now is slowing me do a lot. In these hot days, doing water scenes makes me cool down. Plus staying inside in the airconditioning helps a lot too.

It's suppose to be 90's all week very unusual for Michigan. And we don't like it too well! But we don't have it as warm as other places in the country!

I can tell the Fourth of July is getting close. This year Firecrackers became legal in Michigan and the last few days some of the neighbors have been setting them off. Very annoying as they are doing it in the court yard right outside my patio and they are loud!. Not only that this is an apartment complex and what if one misfired and hit one of the roofs or started a grass growing. Friday night I was really agitated as they did it about 2 am and when they left they honked their cars, and the one car kept honking and honking. How could any of us sleep. None of us around here were happy. I almost called the office this morning to complain but chickened out. Fortunately Sat. and Sunday nights were not as bad. They were done by 10:30 pm.

I hope all of you have a good 4th of July. Until next time Happy Stitching!

Lighthouse Start

Good Afternoon! I started this piece a couple of days ago and it's really stitching up fast. I love working on it. I love doing beach scenes, especially Lighthouses. So where my friend Sherry saw the pattern of these two lighthouses I jumped at the chance to do them. This is the first one of the two. They are in the same book as the beach chairs were in . This piece will be finish 27 towards the 50 challenge and the next lighthouse 28. I'm getting closer and closer to the 50 mark! I've made it further this time than any previous attempt so I think I'll make it to the end this time.

Today we had a pork barbeque after church. I had every in tension of going but I got no sleep last night. For some reason things seemed awfully noisy around here. So I slept until 9 and didn't even get out of my pajamas until after 11. I just had no energy. So for lunch I made my own barbeque and pretended I was there. For some reason I don't make the best barbeque. Not too great at chicken either.

Tuesday night we are having our Secret Sister exchange. I made a piece a few years ago and framed it and it still looks very nice so I'll give that to my SS as her gift. It is a design by Britter Cup called Believe in the Lord.

Thank you for your comments to my posts. I love getting them. I love reading everyone's blogs too.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Beach Chairs finished

I just finished these about an hour ago. They were a quick stitch when I worked on them. I have kitted up my next piece. A friend of mine saw 2 lighthouses in the same book as this that she liked so I said I would do them for her. I love doing Lighthouses anyway. I remember as kids we would go down to Lake Michigan and walk the pier. I can remember the lighthouse was always a calming site.

I have a prayer request. The 15 year old daughter of some friends of mine ran off with her 18 year old boyfriend who is not a good influence on her and is known by the police. Pray for her safe return. The police are looking for the couple.

As much as I loved Buffy and Whiskers, Saturn is turning out to be the cat I always wanted. He is so loving, and yes getting spoiled. The other day we had a really bad storm in the morning. He was so funny, he has this tall piece of furniture, he jumped up on it and every time he heard the thunder he would reach up and try to grab it. It was so funny.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

A New Start

This is a different sort of piece for me. Not because it's a beach scene but because of the bright colors. I just wanted to do something easy and cheery, and something pertaining to beach. My next two pieces will be from same book. A friend of mine asked me to do a couple of lighthouses from it. I love doing Lighthouses and they look average, not hard, not real easy so I'm going to do them.

Yesterday I got a nice little surprise, I was going up to the rental office to make arrangements for them to just take rent out of my check once a month and I ran into my sister-in-law and her dog Sam and her mother. Beth's mother lives in same apartments I do for now. She has Alzheimers so they are moving her to assisted living when there is an opening. So I went for a walk with them.

I've cut down to 2 cans of Pepsi a day and it really hasn't been that hard. I'm loosing weight at it too so that's a plus.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching! Someone is pushing me out of my computer chair....any guesses who?

Well I know this is short but I'm going to have to go. So until next time Happy Stitching

A Quick Finish

I decided to find some easy sea life pieces to do and that way get closer to the 50 mark I'm almost half way through now. I think this is piece 23 or 24. Next I think I'm doing a couple of chairs on the beach that says Wish you were here underneath them.

It's summertime and when I was young basically the summer was spent on the beach. And every summer I want to do beach scenes in honor of those days. I remember we had so much fun on Lake Michigan and there are so many other lakes around here, we were always at some lake swimming.

Last Sunday we went to my brother's house. Because he's out of town this weekend he wanted to have us over for Father's Day. This time it was just my parents and brother and sister in law and I it was nice.

This weekend I offered to help my niece with her garage sale but since I don't drive, she'd have to pick me up and it's about 40 minutes away I doubt it. Besides I'm sure Addie would have other plans for me.

Oh did I tell you our Food Pantry got $1,000 donated it by our Women's Chamber of Congress. They had a Dancing with the Stars event and the proceeds went to area food pantries. Last year we got $500 so this was a surprise to get that much. We also got a lot of food for the US Postal Service Food Drive. Yet it seems like we always need food. Somehow I need to go shopping again.

I discovered I was loosing weight without trying so I decided to start trying and by cutting down to two cans of Pepsi a day. Except I haven't lost any more weight since I started that last week. Maybe in time. I do do exercises too but may increase them. If it weren't so hot out I would go for walks but it's too hot.

Finished Butterfly

I finished this butterfly yesterday. It was more detailed than I thought and took longer than I thought it would but it was a fun stitch. I now have a smaller piece Seahorses by Stoney Creek going. It's from Seaside Fantasies. It seems to be going rather quickly.

Later this afternoon I'm going to my brother's. We're going to celebrate Father's Day today I guess. Although I don't have a card or anything for him, I'll get it this week.

Anyone else watch Food Star or Design Star? I like those kind of reality shows. I also like Amazing Race. I haven't really liked any of the others. I think I have my favorites picked but it's still early in the program on Design Star and Food Star is probably almost half done.


Well...someone is kicking me out of my chair so guess I will have to go. Until next time Happy Stitching

Progress on Butterfly

I'm almost done with this piece. It would be nice if I finished it tomorrow but it may be Monday. Not sure I will work on it much on Sunday. If anyone knows who the designer of this piece is I'd love to know. It was sent to me to do for a special quilt and the person did not know who designer was. She didn't know if it came from a blog or where. I thought it came from a foreign magazine as it said Septembre 2010 on it and the way September was spelled made me think it was a foreign designer.

This is going to be one warm weekend. I keep seeing these posts on Face Book "Welcome Back summer....." I think we're happy to have summer around here. My sister is going to be camping here in July so I hope it's a nice week and we can spend a lot of time down by the Lake. I can remember spending hours at the Lake with our friends. So many great memories.

Boy I wish I could think of something to chat about but I can't so until next time Happy Stitching