Cross Stitch Gifts

Isn't this beautiful. This morning I was working in the Food Pantry at church and this lady came from our church came down with some books, and patterns for me. Two or three pieces she had started but because of her eye site she could not finish so she gave me her books and these pieces. This one Amazing Grace by Stoney Creek she had only the bottom border to finish. So I'm going to finish it off. In talking to my mom, we thought maybe we'd get it framed and give it back to her. After all she did most of the work and it's beautiful I hope I don't ruin it I'll be happy if my stitching looks half as good as hers. This is only the top half. When I finish it I'll have someone piece it all together for me or have my brother take a picture of it.

Well....until next time. Happy Stitching

Back to stitching on America

Good afternoon! It seems nice to see some sun today. We are in the 20's today and most of the week will be 20's and 30's much better then what we've had. Also not that much snow in the forecast so maybe some of this will melt. It's warm enough to melt some but not too fast. They say March comes in like a lion out like a lamb, comes in like a lamb out with like a lion. Well it came roaring in like and lion! Everyone is so sick of this winter even those who like winter are sick of it. My cat is a happy cat too, he's running around here playing with his ball, even he says it's nice to see the sun more.

I have gone back to stitching on America. I was so sick of winter I didn't want to work on the ice skater anymore until next winter. I was anxious to get back to this piece. You can see the Statue of Liberty come to life more and more. Almost getting too long for one scan now. Page two is almost done. I really am enjoying this piece but there is so much confetti stitching. I like challenges though. The only problem with that much confetti stitching is it makes the back bulky, and will be harder for the framer of frame.

Our group leader and I were to provide something to eat today after Bible Study. I said I'd bring my pizza casserole. I kept changing my mind between that and 7 layer bars. I finally decided on pizza casserole because I had all the ingredients and didn't know if I'd get to the store. Well I got to the store fine and spent way too much on groceries because I bought for 3 different meals for today and I'd have everything I needed for whatever I decided. I really really really wish I would have just stuck to the 7 layer bars. I made the pizza casserole fine. But when I went to put it in the refrigerator to save it for today it all landed on the floor! I was sooooo upset. I scooped it up but I couldn't bring it today! I couldn't do that. So I made Hodgepodge soup and hoped and prayed the ladies would like it. I wasn't too confidant with the soup as I had never made it for anyone but me before, and just put in it what I want. It went over real well. The ladies loved it some went back for 2nd and 3rd helpings. I had a big crock pot full of it, and went home with maybe enough for lunch tomorrow..

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Figure Skater Start

Good evening! Since I got so into the Ice Skating in the Olympics I decided to do this Ice Skater I've had in my stash for at least 2 or 3 years. She had a rough start but she's going better now. Only thing is she calls for some beads and I don't do beading. I did but now I'm older I can't see the eye of the beading needle to thread it, and the other needles are too big for the beads. So I'm thinking of just using metallic thread and doing French knots. Or just do the metallic thread and not French knot it. What would you do? The piece is by Lynne Nicorletti.

I tried a couple of times today to read blogs that were posted today and it keeps saying that I am not following any blogs. I do to, I probably follow over a 100! I had that problem once before and the next day I was able to do it from the dashboard again. My blog list doesn't tell me who just updated that's why I go to the dashboard.

There isn't much happening to write about so until next time Happy Stitching.

Fourth Finish For February

This was such a fun stitch. It reminded me of my brother's dog, Autumn who looks a lot like this dog and she'd be right there if ice cream dropped ready to grab it in a hurry!

Our weather has warmed up quite a bit for now. The snow has melted some. It's nice to see the ice cubes gone for now. The next 36 hours it'll continue to melt but will not melt away completely, it is suppose to rain a lot, that will help melt a lot of snow. But then Sat. it's suppose to get cold again and back to the teens or lower. Each day the temp gets lower and lower. Then bottoms out at 10, but then right now they say 20 the day after that. I don't know....we don't trust these 8-10 day forecasts things usually change at end of the 8 days. Hopefully things will be warmer. Could we be so lucky.

Now that this piece is done I am doing an Ice Skater by Lynne Nicorletti. I so enjoy the Figure Skating in the Olympics I thought I would do this one. I must admit I was disappointed in the Men's Free Skate. I didn't think any in that last group deserved the medal to be honest. But the Ice Dancers were great!

The quilts we did for the Sandy Hook Project were finally taken to Connecticut today. The Police, Fire Dept., Hospital, and Town Hall all received their quilts. The ones for the individual families were put in care of a Social Worker who promised to make sure the families get them. I'm not happy about how it's all ending up but as long as the families get their quilts it'll be fine.

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

A Third Finish

Good Afternoon. After having no finishes in January, I have 3 finishes so far in February. I loved every minute of this piece. I saw it in The Stitchery Catalog and had to get it and stitch it up. (It was one of 5 kits I ordered, I have 3 of them the other 2 are on back order.) I think I will be doing more pieces by Pam Kellogg. I'm not sure what I'll do with with. I really want to frame it and keep it for myself, but will wait until I can justify spending the money on it.

Because of the weather last week, my sister didn't come in but she will be coming in today. She'll be here until Thursday and probably leave Thursday morning.

Our weather is getting better now. After today it's suppose to start getting warmer and some of this snow will start melting. I think it'll be May before the snowbanks have completely melted though, they are so high. Have to admit the snow is beautiful but the older I get the more I dislike winter.

Well... I'll go start this Precious Moments piece for Love Quilts. Until next time Happy Stitching.

Another new start

I'm on a row doing easy projects. This one isn't as quick as the other two but I love stitching on it, and wish it was bigger to be honest.

We use to sing this song in church off and on. When I saw this pattern in The Stitchery Catalog I had to get this and the "I can do all things....(Phillipians 4:19) I think that was the verse no. It's in Phillippians 4 anyway. It was my dad's favorite verse so I had to get that only it's on back order. Three of the kits I ordered last week came, the other two will come in March.

After I finish this piece I will do a Precious Moments piece for Love Quilts and then I think either Eiffel Tower or The Great Wall of China for another Love Quilts Quilt. I'm leaning towards Eiffel Tower it's easier.

I am more than ready for Spring to come. We've had well over 100 inches of snow fall already this year and have 24 inches on the ground. (The snow banks are probably 6 or 7 feet tall and that's no exaggeration some are almost up the wires). So far they say it's 5th snowiest winter on record with Jan. and so far Feb. being second snowiest on recornd. (1977-78 winter was snowiest.) But Feb. is not even half over yet and we still had 2 more months that snow so we can move up the ladder. Maybe not quite as much as 77-78 but we may give it a good run for it.

I love the winter Olympics. Although I wasn't that impressed with the Opening Ceremony (I only watched half of it though I had to watch Hawaii Five O.) I did see some of the Figure Skating on line and look forward to seeing more tonight with sound. I don't have speakers on my computer so don't get sound. I keep saying I'm going to get speakers so I can hear what my great nieces and nephews are saying when videos of them are posted!

I just got done reading some blogs. I seldom comment but I do enjoy reading the blogs. Thank you for reading my blog. I love seeing where everyone comes from and who all reads the blog, it gives me encouragement that people enjoy my projects. I may not get a lot of comments but that's okay, like I said I seldom comment on blogs myself. I go in streaks, sometimes I'm in a mood to comment, sometimes I just enjoy reading the blog which is usually the case. I still enjoy the blog.

Well....I better get some dishes done and Saturn has just woken up from his nap and telling me I've been on computer long enough in fact he has put himself between me and the screen so I can't see what I'm typing. So guess I better go. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

And yet another quick finish

Good evening. I bought this pattern book over 30 years ago, planning to do this pattern one day. I just never found a purpose for it until an opening came up for a man with cancer who liked cars, trains, and his Bible Study so I chose to do this for him. It was a fairly easy piece as long as I concentrated and didn't let my mind wander. It really was a fun piece.

My sister is coming in to town tomorrow I think, (weather willing). She hasn't been here since before Christmas so it'll be good to see her again.

Oh I said my mom was getting a cat, well, she decided against it. There were too many family members opposed to it. One is allergic to cats, so she'd never go to mom's. Plus Tim lives with mom and does have a dog although Tim really wanted her to get the cat. We just weren't sure the dog would adjust as she is 10 years old now.

Well....not much else is happening so until next time Happy Stitching.

A Very Quick Finish

I laid down America for a while. I wanted to get 2 pages done before I did it but I had to lay it down before I started hating the piece! This was a nice break, a quick easy finish done for a little boy at Love Quilts. Theme of his quilt was Christmas and the patterns all came from same book by Ursulla Michael.
We had our annual business meeting at church yesterday. We found out they were ready to present a candidate to the church as a Pastor but he sent them an email earlier in the week to say he accepted another church. Our hearts just dropped everyone was so disappointed. Our church needs a new pastor fast, we lost so many people. But last year will go down as a bad year in history of our church. So they will decide rather to just restart the whole process or relook at the other 3 candidates that were in the final four. We'll see.

Well, I'm going to select my next project, I have 4 more quilt squares to do plus I want to do a UFO for a UFO week stitch I got invited to join. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

A whole lot more progress

Good morning everyone! I did a lot more stitching on this then I had and made a whole lot of progress. It's funny, it seems like it's going so slow yet I look at the progress from last week and wow! I made progress. I just wish there wasn't so much confetti stitching is all. But I love seeing the Statute of Liberty come to life.

Well....I fell off the wagon big time this week. I was looking through The Stitchery Catalog and found 4 pieces I really liked. Three of them were religious, one inspirational. One of them was of my dad's favorite verse which is on back order. Then I got a 5th one at a discount some nature bookmarks. I spent too much. There went my resolution to get no new patterns this year and not to use my credit card out the window. I can't wait to get the patterns. Three are on their way to me and 2 are on back order coming in March.

I can't say I'm sad to see January end. It's been an awful weather month and at least through next week this will continue. This morning there was an awful accident right near here. An intercession I've been through a million times in my life. It is sort of dangerous but there is a light where people come off the interstate onto the highway. I don't know how the accident happened I suspect someone either wasn't paying attention and ran the red light or decided to try to run it. Anyway 4 people were killed. Sad.

Tomorrow is the funeral of a long time family friend. Sally was the sister of my second mom. The family and I were so close it's sad. Only one of Sally's brothers and sisters is still alive. So many great memories of them. Sally was one of my mom's best friends and they talked often on the phone. I just hope and pray her family makes it to town safely in this weather. All of them are out of town, most are out of state.

I can't believe I did this. But yesterday I had my brother take me to Pet Smart for cat food. Well...he looked at the cats to see if one he liked was still there, and she was. We left the store and a few minutes after I got home my mom called me saying she was upset because she couldn't have that cat. Well....I talked here into it and said I'd get it for her. So Tim and I went back up to Pet Smart and Tim filled out the adoption papers for her. I just hope her and their dog get along okay. Mom has wanted a cat for a long time and dad wouldn't let her. Since dad died she's often talked about wanting a cat. Angel was a greeter at the Humane Society, and while I liked a couple of other cats better, Tim liked Angel and she is who we were going for. When Angel cuddled up to Tim I knew she was the right cat, the other two cats didn't cuddle up to him, plus they had claws and we didn't want a cat with claws for mom. Angel was declawed. She is shorthaired and all white. Now to see if they get accepted to have her. I'm sure they will we haven't been refused by the Humane Society yet. They are they ones that send the cats to Pet Smart. Like I said, I just hope Angel works out.

Well, I better go get my laundry from down stairs and put last load in dryer. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Progress after 100 hours of stitching

I know I just uploaded a picture 2 days ago but I wanted a picture of 100 hour mark.

Is it spring yet? I think I'm sick of winter! I know we are not alone in this horrible weather. But it doesn't make it any easier to put up with. It's supposed to get better next weekend. We'll see.

My cat wants me off the computer and is just about ready to jump on my shoulder to get me off so guess I better obey him LOL! Until next time Happy Stitching

First page done 9 more to go!

Good afternoon!
Like most of the country we are in a deep freeze and we are getting lots of snow! Winter is so pretty as long as your're looking out at it and that's what I'm doing with my cup of hot chocolate in hand. That's my kick this year, hot chocolate with marshmallows in it.
I didn't scan the pattern cover last time so I am now. You can see what it will look like when it's done. Why do they have so much confetti stitching? To annoy us? I finally broke the rules and made the thread go from place to place rather than tying it off each time. It made the back of material to lumpy! I'm anxious to get further on the Statute of Liberty so it will come alive and see more progress. Right now it looks a mess to be honest.

Well....I'm going to read some blogs. Thank you for reading mine. I love hearing from people. Until next time....Happy Stitching

A huge start by Mystic Stitch

Good afternoon! Has everyone been keeping warm these cold, snowy days. Although right now we are on a warming trend. It is suppose to be messy tomorrow, as it's suppose to rain and turn to sleet no fun. My brother was suppose to take my nephew down to Indianapolis tomorrow which is a 6 hour drive and he planned to do it all in one day. Andrew wanted to look at a school down there that had Auto Mechanics. Anyway because of the weather tomorrow and doubts the car would make it that far, plus Tim would be driving 12 hours in one day, none of us want them to go. I told my mom if dad were here, he just wouldn't let them go and that would be that. She agreed. I do understand though that Andrew has looked forward to this for a while so he is going to be very upset and mad at his dad.

Today would have been my dad's 85th birthday, so Happy 1st Birthday in Heaven, Dad, but we miss you here on earth. Mom said she was wearing dad's favorite sweater today to keep him close. We donated most of his things, but there were some things we kept. I have his chair and tv.

I saw on some blogs something about Turtle Trot. I had never heard of it until today. (I guess I don't usually go to blogs on 10th of month). Anyway it sounds interesting but how long do you have before you have to finish all 10 projects, and what is minimum size of a big project. I know for sure this piece would count as 1 of the 10 as it's 14 1/2 by 21 when finished. It's by Mystic Stitch. I promised this one (America) to my brother, Tim. Right now it's barely a start, you can see the arm of Statue of Liberty but not much more. Statute of Liberty is probably half the project. Underneath her will be Golden Gate Bridge, I think it's Monument Valley Mountain, one of the twin tower, and a football player. All of them are mini size compared to Statue of Liberty. It has a lot of confetti stitching so will take awhile.

Something else I've been interested in is the Blog Hop but haven't figured out how to join that either. I do enjoy seeing everyone's blogs, even if some make me so jealous as they know how to make their blogs interesting, I don't. Guess I have a boring life!

Saturn's latest kick is to jump on my shoulders and lay there, which I wouldn't mind if it weren't for his claws. I wish I had him when he was younger, or he would have been declawed. By time I got him, my vet refused to declaw him because he was 9 months and weighed 11 lbs. If he'd been smaller she may have done it. At least she was looking out for best interest of the cat and not the money.

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

Last Finish of 2013

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2014 is a much better year for everyone than last year was. I finished this yesterday, but didn't get to scan or post until this afternoon. This will go to one of our members at ESC who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I really liked doing this flower. For being small, it wasn't an easy stitch, it was detailed, those are the type of patterns I like to do small and detailed.
Now the piece I just started today is large and detailed and will take a while to do. It is America by Mystic Stitch, and I'm doing it for my brother. Once it gets going and comes to life it will be a fun stitch I think.
Well 2013 ended with a bang. Late in the afternoon my phone rang, I went to answer it and lost my balance, fell against my computer chair and scraped my face, nose and got a bad blood nose, tried to get up fell backward and hit the back of my head against edge f computer desk really hard. So I did what any mature adult would do. Called my mom, had my brother come and get me and spent the night with them. Finally got my nose to completely quit bleeding this morning. I woke up with a swollen nose, black eye, and scraped up face, I look a sight. My head hurts a little but not bad, my neck hurts more but that is manageable. I took a couple of Excedrin tablets this morning but haven't since, I'm not in that much pain. I'm home now and looking forward to a good night sleep in my own bed with my cat. I love my brother's dog, and she wouldn't leave me alone the whole time I was there. I have her spoiled, but she's a nice dog and easy to spoil.
Today we watched the Rose Bowl Parade, I watched it on Home and Garden Network, my mom watched in on family chanal in her room. I thought it was one of the better Rose Bowl Parades I had seen in years.
Well, I'm going to go back to stitching on this Mystic Stitch Piece. Oh is there anyone who knows how to piece pieces together. Could I have them do it for me and I post it? Thanks. Until next time Happy Stitching!

One last post for 2013

Good afternoon! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We did. It was our first without dad and we felt it but mom kept saying, "This is about Christ's birth, and we will celebrate it that way." So we did. We had our family Christmas on Friday night. It was fun with all the little ones.

I had hoped to have this finished before end of year but it may be finished Jan. 1. But that's okay. It'll be the first finish of 2014.

This is September Aster a freebie by EMS. I am doing this for a special quilt we are doing at Every Stitch Counts. The quilt will have all the monthly flowers on it. It's a very detailed piece so I really like doing it. My next piece will be by Mystic Stitch. At least I will start it, it has the Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge and another landmark on it, plus a football player.

I just got home from the funeral of a special lady at our church. She would have turned 92 yesterday and died suddenly Christmas Day. She was active in our church right up to the end. Christmas Eve had Christmas with her son's family. Christmas morning she talked to her son on the phone, that afternoon her son and daughter-in-law went over there and found her dead. She was God's gift to heaven or gave her a special gift by taking her to heaven on Christmas. She was a very Godly lady and practiced what she preached. At end of service they read the poem "My First Christmas in Heaven" then sang "When we all get to Heaven." That did it I was in tears thinking of my dad, as it was his first Christmas in Heaven.

I can't say I am sorry to see 2013 leave. It really was a difficult year and was a roller coaster ride really. I hope 2014 is better.

Well....I hope everyone has a Happy and safe New Year. Until next time Happy Stitching!

West Quoddy Finished

Good Afternoon. Unfortunately Red Bird is done for the year. I left the project in my sister-in-law's car yesterday. She was going to have my niece bring it to me today but because of the weather out there I didn't want her to drive anymore than she had to especially with the baby. So I won't get it until Christmas, I decided to work on something else and lay Red Bird down for the year. That second tree was driving me nuts anyway so I'll pick it up next year refreshed and probably will take no time to finish. So I got in my drawer looking for material for the floral pattern and I found this piece. I had been looking for it for about 2 or 3 months! There wasn't much left to do on it so I finished it off and after the first of year it'll get mailed off to Love Quilts. (I think it's who I promised it too.)

We will definitely have a White Christmas this year. We are getting plenty of snow. Today is more of an ice storm but more snow is coming.

I haven't said much about Saturn lately. His latest trick is to jump on my shoulders and just stay there until I get off the computer. He can be sound asleep in another room, I get to computer and he's there. Especially if he wants my attention! He's not too spoiled is he. Right now he's sleeping on his cat condo.

I finally have my Christmas shopping all done. My sister-in-law and I went the other day. Now it's arranging to get the gifts to Johnny, Katelyn and Trice.

Last Sunday I went to my niece's church with my brother and sister-in-law to see Johnny and Katelyn in their Christmas program. It was well done and they were cute. I don't think Johnny likes being on stage, he seems nervous on it. Whereas Katelyn just handled it like she was in the classroom. Afterwards we went to Melissa's house to have a birthday party for Johnny. He turned 7 a few days earlier. Remember when I posted the day he was born? Can't believe how fast time goes by.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching.

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Not my stitching piece yet, but it's coming along. But outside it keeps snowing and snowing and snowing. And it's suppose to be like this tomorrow too. We should have a white Christmas if it keeps up. I hate it when it snows early then we have no snow or little snow for Christmas. I'm also hoping winter just stays and then leaves in Jan. Another thing I hate is like last winter it never came until mid Jan. and it stayed and stayed and stayed. But on the positive note it is more like Christmas. I'll finish my Christmas shopping Monday. The fun ones, the kids. My sister told me not to get for her 5 grandchildren so guess I'm not going to, but they are so much fun. Beth is taking me shopping for her 3 and I'll get some Christmas Cards then too.

Here is my progress on Red Bird, only the male cardinal won't show up until later this weekend or early next week. I am plugging away on the tree, that is a hard one to do. I did get quite a bit done on it.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Start on Red Bird

Good Morning! It is snowing out this morning. I didn't think it was in the forecast until later in the weekend. Oh well....it is Dec. and makes it seem more like Christmas.

I started this piece last week I think. The tree was difficult but I finally got that in. The female cardinal is now underway and is going quite well. I can't wait until more of this piece is done. There is a second tree to go in and the male cardinal plus the wording and some branches so it's a long ways from being done. It's another one by Stoney Creek.

Well, not much is happening so until next time Happy Stitching!

Finished!

Good Afternoon! How was everyone's Thanksgiving. Ours was good. We went to my nieces house to celebrate it with her family. The traveling wasn't easy, glad we only went about 15 miles. It took close to an hour to get home it was so nasty out. Johnny and Katelyn were as cute as ever. Noisy but you can't ask a 3 year old or 6 year old to be still and quiet, especially when excited. My mom did pretty good yesterday for it being our first holiday without dad.

I finished this piece earlier today and I love it. I hope it makes a good addition to Savanah's quilt.

Now to start Red Bird in Stoney Creek's Home Again Christmas. It's an old book and I've done so many pieces in it it's actually ripping up. I seem to like Stoney Creek pieces. I'm sure I've done over 50 of them. Has anyone done more of them then me. I think I would win that contest.

Well now to go start it and read some blogs. Until next time....Happy stitching!

One Last Update on I Will Give You Rest

Good Morning! Hope everyone is doing okay in the storm areas and gets to their destinations safely. We are going to my niece, Melissa, for Thanksgiving. They are having us and John's dad over. Melissa and John are picking his dad and I up early in the day and my mom and Tim will join us for dinner. Mom really isn't up to being around everyone for a great length of time. She really misses dad a lot. We all do. This is our first holiday season without him. At first I just wanted to sleep through Thanksgiving but that's sort of foolish. Only we aren't having turkey I guess, John couldn't find one so he bought Cornish hens. We'll still have the dressing, etc. I have to make the green bean casserole this afternoon. I am almost done with this piece. I love doing it. I hope it's suitable for a teenage girl. At first I thought it was then I thought it's more for an older lady. Hopefully it will fit into Savanah's quilt fine. We are getting plenty of snow. I just hope we have it for Christmas. I'd love to have it like this over the Christmas season and when the kids are out of school they can enjoy sledding, skating, skiing, tobogoning, luging etc. I remember we loved skating, sledding and skiing when we were kids. Those dunes of Lake Michigan we great for that. Now you can't sled or toboggan down them but they still have a skating rink and have other places you can go sledding, skiing or taboggoning. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with your families. Until next time...Happy Stitching!

Progress and a Finish

Good Morning! Did everyone survive the storms of yesterday? For us the storm lasted about 5 minutes as far as hard rain and thunder and lightning go. Lighter rain and the winds lasted longer. It did do some damage but fortunately no tornadoes here, but we don't get tornadoes. Lake Michigan protects us. East of us may have had a tornado or two but that will be confirmed today rather it was tornado or straightline winds. I finished the Sabine Bank Lighthouse in LA. I love doing these Lighthouses even though it has been years since I did one. They are small but detailed. This is Fifth one I've done over the years.

L am making great progress on this piece. I love working on it and it seems to be moving fast, especially for a Stoney Creek piece. I've done about 50 Stoney Creek pieces, I love doing them. Wonder if anyone has done more than me. My sister was in town for the weekend. She had planned to stay for church yesterday but after hearing the weather report she thought she better head out before the storms came in, so she left Sunday morning. Good thing she did or she would have been caught. We had our annual Harvest Dinner yesterday, after church but none of us went. We didn't even make it to church yesterday. While she was here, I was able to get Christmas presents for my mom, brother, and nephew. I'm holding off on the kids as they are so much fun and waiting to hear when/if we have a family Christmas this year. It's so hard to get a time that is good for everyone. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

A Pretty Start

A

I just love this piece it is so pretty. I can't wait to have more done on it. For some reason I really like Stoney Creek pieces. I may not be a fan of the owner but she does have some good designers. I haven't seen the owner in years so she may have mellowed since I knew her 20 years ago. I think I've done about 50 Stoney Creek pieces over the years, more than any other designer that's for sure. I saw the comments on a couple of blogs about why they don't blog so much any more. I know I'm guilty of being real lax. At start of year I wanted to have 88 posts this year. Not even going to come close. I just decided my posts were boring, so I decided unless I had something I really wanted to share like cross stitch pieces I wasn't going to post. Last night we had our first Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and sister-in-law and their two daughters and families. Kevin and Beth are going to AZ for Thanksgiving and will be gone two weeks. They are going to visit Beth's dad and their son. Jeremy lives about 2 hours from his grandfather. So they'll see a couple different parts of the state. Mom had a really hard time as it's the first holiday without dad. Personally Thanksgiving Day if I had my way, I'd sleep through it because I'm not looking forward to any of the holidays this year. They say each year gets easier. Anyway Thanksgiving Day we are going to my nieces. So it'll be fun. We got to meet baby Trice for the first time last night. He will be a month old tomorrow. He was so cute, and sweet, and so tiny! Next Sunday we are having our annual Harvest Dinner at church. Rather or not I'll go or not I don't know. There again it just won't be the same without dad. Plus it's been a very rough year for our church and attendance has dropped terribly. We need to find a new Pastor soon. Our former Pastor left in May for another church. Well.....until next time....Happy Stitching!

Finally a finish

I finally finished this earlier today. It was fun to do but it had to get done. It's due on Friday, so it may be out there a little late as I'll mail it tomorrow or Wed. Now I'm working on a Halloween witch by Ellen Maur-Strohl. I usually don't get into witches but this one is cute. We moved my mom and brother into their new apartment a couple of weeks ago. Mom couldn't live alone so Tim and his son moved with her to a 3-bedroom apartment that mom already lived in. I seem to have caught a nasty cold. I have had it for 4 weeks now and the cough was ridiculous. I haven't been to church in 3 weeks or gone to anything. I finally called the Dr. and went today after my mom and friends kept after me to telling me they thought I had walking pneumonia. So I went today and it's a sinus infection which is what I thought it was. I hope by Thursday I feel good enough as I'm suppose to help with apple cider and donuts for Trunk Or Treat at church. I love doing that but if I'm coughing all the time that won't be good. Well...until next time....Happy Stitching!

Another new project

Good Morning! I know it's been a while since I posted but there hasn't been that much happening and no stitching has been finished. The lighthouse only had a few more stitches to go and I can't find that piece! Grrrr! All those hours and I lost the piece in the end! I hope I didn't throw it away by accident. So I got this fox out to do for Cross Stitch Addicts as it's due Nov. 1. I love doing it and it's about 3/4 done now. When this piece is done I'll look for another Lighthouse pattern, an easier one and get that in mail by Dec. 1. It looks like winter is getting closer and closer. My sister is in town for 3 days so yesterday she took my mom and I shopping and I got two new winter coats since I had to throw my other 2 winter coats away last year. I had them both for several years and the zipper gave out on the one and Saturn got sick on the other so that settled it. Sears had a good sell on their winter coats so I got a good deal. (Actually my brother paid for them for me he's sending my sister the money.) I finally broke down and turned the heat on here. I have one bad cold and decided the only way I'd get rid of it was turn on the heat. Dumb me, it took me forever to figure the new system out. At first I couldn't even get the heat to kick in so thought the furnace was broke. Last night I finally got it to kick in but the temp kept dropping. I read the instructions this morning and found out it was doing what it was suppose to do, drop at night and early morning, then warm up during the day. Helps to read the instructions. I'm glad I didn't call the office! Well....until next time Happy Stitching!

Quoddy Lighthouse Update

Good Evening! I know my blogging has been off and on but things are getting back to normal now so will be blogging a little more than the past couple of months. Stitching has also taken a back seat but I have made progress on this piece and hopefully it'll be done at the end of this week. I am noticing on the grass though it looks like two different colors, I had to start a new skein and it looks like the shade is different but it's still 3347 so the floss said. I don't like doing that grass so not going to rip it out. In earlier posts I mentioned my dad was at a Hospice Home here in town. On Friday, Sept. 20 he took a turn for the worse so we were with him almost constantly. Especially my mom and sister. Then at 2 am Sunday, Sept. 22 dad died. It's been a difficult week. Though we know he's in heaven and more alive than ever we already miss him. Yet we know we'll see him again some day. The picture is of my dad and sister taken earlier this year. It's one of our favorite pictures. My brother did not make it in from MO before dad died but he was here from Wed.-early this morning. My sister came in Sept. 19 and will leave tomorrow. Last night our church got broken into! They really tore the office apart and the sound board although the guys got the sound board working for the morning service. They took cash and some keys. Earlier this year another church in the area was broken into and the thieves came back and finished the job a couple weeks later. They did not take anything from the food pantry that we could tell but the key to the food pantry was among the keys they took. Basically we think they were scoping the church out to see what they had and did take some cash. This week we will be packing my mom up to move. Her and our youngest brother and his son are renting a 3 bedroom apartment in the same complex she lives in now. Mom can't live alone and Tim moving in with her was best solution for now anyway. Well....until next time Happy Stitching.

A Finish Finally

Finally got this piece clean. This cute lion will go to a newborn baby. Her quilt theme is Jungle Babies by Stoney Creek. Well... since I just posted another piece last night nothing else is going on so until next time Happy Stitching!

Back to Quoddy Lighthouse

Hello! I know it's been awhile since I've blogged. It's just been busy and to be honest I haven't even stitched that much let alone blog. I did finish a Jungle Lion which is in the sink soaking for a few days. I finished it yesterday but it had some bad stains on it. Most of them are out, but there's one though faded it's still obviously there. So maybe tomorrow it'll be clean enough to iron and post. I decided to go back to the Lighthouse. It's going easier than it was before I laid it down. I really enjoy these lighthouses even though they are a lot of work. Since my last post my dad has gone to a Hospice Home. He's holding his own, but it's day by day. He's lasted longer than anyone thought he would. We all thought when he decided he didn't want the meds that were keeping him alive anymore, that he would live maybe a week at the Hospice Center, but so far it's been about 3 weeks. It's a really nice home, they only have 14 patients and we're happy with the care. We had heard nothing but good things about this place so when told there was an opening there we were delighted. So I've been going to see my dad a lot. My brother and sister in law were here from MO a couple of weeks ago, and my sister was here. She will be back Tuesday. We had our annual pig out at church a couple of weeks ago. Though thrown together at the last minute it was a success. Then yesterday was the Kia Club Kick Off Carnival. While I didn't go to that, I heard that was much more successful than they expected. A lot of neighborhood kids came which was good, now to see if they come to Kia Club. I'm not working in it this year because of my balance problems. Well, until next time Happy Stitching Everyone. Hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday I can post the Lion Baby.

Swallowtail Butterfly Start

Good Morning! It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged and this is a new piece. This piece is due Oct. 1 so thought I better lay down the Lighthouse which isn't due until Dec. 1. This summer has been a busy summer and not the best one I've ever lived. What am I saying, this year hasn't been the best year. My last post I mentioned my dad had a quadruple by past. After almost 2 weeks in the hospital and he came home and did well for a couple of weeks. Then things started going down hill. For one thing he got an infection in his leg. That is healing up fine now. But Sat. the nurse came to change his dressing and his blood pressure had bottomed out, plus he wasn't feeling good. He was very short of breath when we walked that morning. A five minute walk and he had to stop twice. He kept saying he felt like there was fluid in his lungs. The nurse called the Dr. and had him go to ER they admitted him to Critical Care. His sodium count was really low too which accounted for some of the confusion he had. Also his kidneys aren't functioning right and they did find fluid on his lungs. Oh and they discovered he had sleep apnea. He's doing okay right now but he'll probably be there a few days yet. Wed. is my birthday, guess we aren't going out to eat for it like we usually do. Oh well...Last year my birthday got lost with mom's surgery and a couple of other things, I survived, so I'll survive this year too. My niece and her 2 little boys came in from Colorado and so my sister and another niece came in to town camping out by the Lake. It was so much fun to see them. The four little ones (Addie 5, Nicholas almost 4, Nolan and Chase both 2). They love Lake Michigan so spent a lot of time there. It wasn't the best week for camping but they all had fun. Now Michelle, Nick and Chase are on the plane on their way back to CO. Hopefully the boys are being good as Michelle felt absolutely rotten this morning so it's a long flight for her. Like I said I laid the lighthouse piece down to do this butterfly plus have two other pieces due before that one. This piece is slow going. I really don't like half stitches, I get too lost. I would almost rather do quarter stitches. It's the butterfly that has a lot of 1 strand half stitching in it. I'm thinking it would go faster and easier if I just did whole stitches and not care, but I'm not doing that now. Well, until next time. Happy Stitching.

Quoddy Lighthouse Start

Good Evening! It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted anything. It's been a whirlwind of activity around here. It started 2 weeks ago when my dad had a heart catherization. We all figured no big deal, they may have to put a couple of stints in and he'll go home Wed. Wrong. He didn't do well after the catherization and they found 3 blockages one 100%, 90% and 80% so they kept him and scheduled a triple by pass for Friday, which turned out to be a quadruple by pass. He's still in the hospital and is getting stronger every day. My sister came in a couple of days last week and my brother came in from MO this past weekend. So I've been busy. I went to eye dr. today because I was really having problems with the eye they removed the cateracts from. I was afraid there was an infection. Fortunately there isn't. My eye just wasn't ready to ween down from the prednizone drops so they just increased it. I hate doing those drops. Now I have a beef and I don't usually use my blog to do this but man this is bad. A lady I added to the food pantry in the beginning was over powering and controlling. And I sort of got to the point of praying something would happen she wouldn't work in food pantry anymore. Well....it happened....she got caught stealing money from the Sunday School fund. A little each week over years. My first thought was "I always knew she would show her true colors I never trusted her." But I also felt really bad about it. Here this lady who's husband had been a Pastor and demanded we call her husband Pastor Dave, and a lady who played the piano and sang solos so many Sundays. A lady who everything was black and white and very judgmental of others, and a lady who claimed to be so spiritual. Claimed to love God claimed to love our church (she grew up in it. It was beyond my comprehension how she could steal from the church when she knew we were not a rich church at all. Then come to find out she did the same at a couple of other churches they had gone to. Not only that but had been shoplifting from stores, got caught in NY and had to be bailed out of jail. Oh she claims to be completely innocent but she got caught red handed stealing the money. Anyway, she'll loose her membership to our church. Her husband claims he knew nothing and claims she's innocent. I don't think so. Well enough on that. Now unto something more pleasant STITCHING. I lost the Patriotic piece. I don't know what I did with it! So I started this lighthouse. I tell you, the sky will bring the death of me! But I am enjoying the piece and the worse of the sky is done I think. I did another lighthouse from this book a few years ago and loved doing it. This is my progress after about 20 hours of stitching and 10 days. It's going slow but starting to go faster now the sky is well under way. Well this book is long enough so until next time---Happy Stitching!

Red, white and blue SAL

. Good afternoon. How was everyone's 4th of July? Mine was quiet. It's one of my favorite holidays to be honest. Only thing I don't like is people in the neighborhood think it's fun to shoot off fireworks well into the night even though they are suppose to stop at 11. Saturn seems to tolerate the fireworks better than my other two cats did. He just looks around when he hears a loud bang, my other two cats were under the bed. They are doing a Red white, and blue SAL at 123 stitch and I decided to join in late. It was getting close to Independence Day so I waited until now to join in. So far it's going good. I'm not too crazy about the birdhouse but it's going fine so far. Thank you for reading my blog. I love seeing where everyone comes from and I do read your blogs. I'm not a big on writing comments but once in a while I do. I still enjoy seeing the pieces and some of you I'm so jealous of. Your pieces are so pretty and great and you know how to write a blog and make it interesting. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

Carousel Horse is Finished

I finally have this piece finished. It was fun to do but so very detailed. I was happy to get it finished this morning. This will probably be my last piece for the Sandy Hook Project as the deadline is right around the corner. Right now I'm doing America by Sue Hillis. It being the 4th of July this week I wanted to do a Patriotic piece. It's funny, I can actually see the squares and holes now and not have to feel for them. I went to eye dr. earlier this afternoon and did the eye chart very well. In fact I did better without my glasses then I did with glasses before my cataract removal so I'm pleased. It went real well yesterday. It was a piece of cake to be honest. But I had heard from others cataract surgery was very easy so I wasn't worried at all. Well....until next time....Happy stitching!

Mystery Sampler Part 1 Finished

I just finished Part 1 a few minutes ago. I am looking forward to part 2 coming out and stitching that. This was a lot of fun to do. My sister was here for the weekend. It was nice. We did some shopping. I needed bath towels and wash clothes and socks so went to Kohl's. I was surprised even on sale they costed a lot. Good news is I saved $150. Also stopped at Pet Smart to get my cat cat food, treats, and kitty litter. He had enough to last 2 or 3 weeks but as long as Kay was here and willing, I had her take me since I don't drive. I'm swetting tomorrow out now. I just hope I am doing the eye drops right so I can get the cataracts removed from left eye tomorrow morning. I think for most part they went okay but someone told me today I was suppose to have been given instructions how to do them as each time is different. We'll see tomorrow morning I guess. Well....until next time Happy Stitching. I'm going to finish the carousel off in the next couple of days.

Mystery Sampler

I got to eager to start the Mystery Sampler so laid down the Carousel Horse for a few days. Besides I needed a break from it even though I only have about 6 hours of stitching to do on it. This is the mystery sampler by Little House Needleworks. I love doing this piece and look forward to receiving part 2. Part 1 is not completely done but about 2/3 done. Needless to say when I get going on part two I'll be scanning in two parts. Today my sister is coming in from other side of state. We'll do a little running around today like pick up my brother's desk from his ex-girlfriend and get mom and I state I D's. I lost my I D 2 or 3 months ago. Monday I'm having cataracts removed from my left eye. I started the eye drops today and hope I'm doing them right! They say having cataracts removed is a piece of cake so I don't expect any problems. Well....until next time....Happy Stitching

Carousel Horse

Oh this one is so much fun to do. I can almost see and hear the carousel in my mind. It takes me back to when we use to go to the carnival and all the fun we would have. The pretty animals on the carousel and the music it played. All a part of summer. This one has a lot more color than I like, but it's so much fun to do and is moving really fast. This is after only 15 hours of stitching, so it'll be done in no time. I received my LHN Mystery Sampler in the mail the other day, at least the first part of it. I'm anxious to start it. Anyone else have their's yet and want to do it as a SAL? I'd love to do this one as one. The end of June and it brings a lot of birthdays. My great nephew, Richard turned 10 earlier this week, today is my niece, Heather's, birthday, tomorrow is my niece-in-law, Elaina's, birthday, Monday is Heather's little boy, Nolan's birthday and next Saturday is my great nephew Chase's birthday. So that's a lot of birthday's in a short time, oh and my nephew's step daughter will be 5 in there somewhere, coming up. Nolan and Chase will be 2 years old. Well....until next time. Happy Stitching. There is a storm coming in so I'm going to need to shut down the computer. Wonder if Saturn will give me back my stitching chair. Hmmmm....

Cape Florida Lighthouse Finished

I loved doing this piece. It went fairly quick and very easy. My type of project, small but detailed. Plus I love Beach Scenes, especially Lighthouses. This will also go to Sandy Hook Project. I wasn't going to order a pattern for myself, but.....Well Yesterday I was looking at different blogs and saw Little House Needleworks, one of my favorite designers. Diane had a mystery sampler posted. I've wanted to do a mystery one for awhile, and I felt confidant enough that I would enjoy doing it. Figuring it would be about birds which aren't my favorites but okay. I was hoping it was about music too, so we'll see. Anyway I had to go to 123 stitch and order it. I can't wait to get it. It comes in 3 parts and the next part is available in July, and the last one Aug. I also figure it will be four different seasons of birds. We'll see. I went through LHN section at 123 stitch and man I think I could have spent a couple hundred dollars just on her designs. But I was good I only ordered that. Now when I order the July and August patterns I may order a couple other ones with it. Guess I'll start the 15 challenge in August! LOL Well, I'm going to read some blogs and then look for my next project to stitch. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Florida Lighthouse

Good afternoon! I am a seasonal stitcher and I love doing beach scenes and this one I really am enjoying. It'll probably be done quicker than I thing though. I left the Lighthouse to do the trees as I knew they would be more challenging. They went easier than I thought they would thought. Growing up on the shores of Lake Michigan we use to go down there every week in the summer and the lighthouse was the star attraction. We would walk the pier, and go swimming etc. We loved Lake Michigan. Even today when family and friends we grew up with that moved away, have to go to Lake Michigan with each visit because of all the great memories we have of each other and the times we spent there. Tomorrow being Father's Day, we are going to my brother's for a late dinner. We usually don't make a big deal of Mother's or Father's Day. Our parents just wanted a card and a phone call, but now they are getting older we try to do something special on those days, as to be honest, we don't know how many more special days we'll have with them. Mom is 80 and Dad 84 and both have Congestive Heart Failure and other health issues. Well....until next time. Happy Stitching!

Fifty Finishes!

For being such a small piece, this piece was a dickens! I had to frog so many times. Maybe it was because it was my 50th finish! I can't believe I made it although some I ordered intending to do for charity and discovered size wise they wouldn't work. I will probably wait until Aug. to order anything for myself. I am old. I knew for a couple years I had cataracts, well the one in my left eye will be removed in 2 or 3 weeks. I'm not worried about it, every one says it's simple and no problems. I'm hoping I'll be stitching on even weave, or even 18 count material again. I'll probably have the right eye cataracts removed next year. Another sign of old age, arthritis and today my hip really hurt bad. I could hardly move this morning so didn't go to the Food Pantry to work. We had the storms last night, several of them, but fortunately none were severe. South of us got hit hard though. Lake Michigan really protects us. Well until next time....Happy Stitching!

Finish 49!

Only one more finish and I will have reached the 50! At first 50 seemed so over whelming. But the further along I got the more determined I was. I did buy some patterns to make for gifts or charity. And some of them (about 3 or 4 were not what I thought they would be so maybe I shouldn't have counted them but my intent when I ordered them was for charity or gifts. So does that count against me and I have to go back a few. I'm not doing that. But I have set a goal of 15 projects without buying any patterns for any reason. There were patterns along the way I thought I'll get after the 50 mark, and now I forgot what they were. I'm also wondering if I will actually do something for myself let alone spend the money on framing it. That's the second trick. I'm trying so hard to get that credit card down! But it's hard. Especially since I see the eye doctor on Wed. and we talk about removing the cataracts left eye first. It will help me see better, and who knows maybe I can even work on evenweave or linen again, or even 16 or 18 count aida. Some hard to figure out charts may even be easier. This was a really quick finish I found in an older book called Summer Children by Cross Stitch Originals. I thought it would be cute for Sandy Hook project. My next one is in same book and just as easy I'll then have my 50. Okay I cheated found easy charts to end on. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

The Old West Finish

I finished this earlier this evening. It was such a fun stitch, I'll probably do it again down the road. I have a dumb question, sarcastic question really. Why must mosquitoes bite and night and on the back? I dare that mosquito to show itself during the day and bite my arm or leg, something I can get at it! LOL Bible Study Fellowship ended last month. But this month a few of us ladies from church are doing a Beth Moore Bible Study she has several. But the one we chose is Breaking Free. I was really excited about that. I've been wanting to get in a Beth Moore study for a long time. There really isn't much of anything going on. My life is very unexciting and that's fine. So until next time Happy Stitching!

I know the picture is a little crooked. Sorry I'll do better next time. But this piece is really moving along. Once U get the Alamo done, the rest will go quickly. We have been very fortunate in missing out on the storms. However I can't help but feel for those in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri. My brother and his family all live in St. Louis area, and while they got the tornadoes, they came through them okay. Some property damages but their homes made it through and they made it through. So did my sister and her husband the other night. Six different tornadoes went through their area but they came out alright. Well, until next time Happy Stitching. One of these days I'll have a lot to say.

A Western Piece

I love doing Western Pieces but I have so few patterns that I don't get to do them very often. I've been eyeing this piece for a couple of years now, and finally got it out of my stash to do it. I'm not sure if it'll go to Love Quilts or Sandy Hook. There is a little girl at Sandy Hook that loved the west and wanted cowboy boots for Christmas. But this piece may be too boyish. I don't know yet. It's a fun piece to do. Unfortunately because of the size requirements some of it is being left off but this is type of pattern you can do that too. I may do this 2 or 3 years from now for one of my great nephews, only the whole pattern then. Well, until next time.....Happy Stitching

Finish no. 47

Good afternoon. I finished this piece earlier today. I love doing these Inspirational Words pieces. This one went real fast. Now I'm doing a piece called The Wild West by Little House Needleworks. I like their pieces too. I don't know that I'll do the whole pattern as it's too large for either Sandy Hook or Love Quilts. Just which one I'll send it too I don't know at this point. Hugs is going to Sandy Hook Project. Anyone have special plans for the Holiday weekend? I really don't. Boy lately my mind is been dry when it comes to thinking of things to say here. I wish I had the gift of gab like some of you do. I am goi9ng to go read some blogs now. Until next time Happy Stitching!

Finally stitching again.

I finally am getting back into stitching after 2 failed projects attempts that went into the garbage. This one is going to be a quick one. And I may revise it a little by doing complete stitches instead of half on the flowers. We'll see. Sunday was our farewell to our Pastor. It was a somber day. He and his wife did a mini concert for us. Already people are thinking of names of people to give to the search committee once it's formed. Which will probably be at June's Elder board meeting. There isn't much happening right now so until next time Happy Stitching!

Music & Books

This was a fun, quick finish. I loved doing it. This one will also go to Sandy Hook Project. There isn't anything going on right now. So until next time....Happy Stitching!

Finish no 46

I think it's #46 maybe 47. This was a fast cute piece. Most little boys like to go fishing so I did this for the Sandy Hook Project. So far I've done 7 or 8 squares for them. Not sure. I am so glad this week is over. I worked hard on cleaning things up had my sister in law , Wendy come over. Wendy has a couple of steam cleaner that are amazing! Wed. was the inspection and thanks to Wendy, I passed it in flying colors. Just as they were leaving from the inspection my sister came to pick me up. I told her I wanted to get a steam cleaner and she bought me one. I'm going to love it. Today I made a tuna bagel with cheese on top. Went to take it out of the oven and dropped it in the oven. Right away I tried cleaning it up. I didn't spend all that time on my oven for nothing! And it was hot so burned my fingers. That was not smart at all. I don't remember if I said anything last week or not, but our Pastor of almost 8 years is leaving. He's going to a church about an hour in a half east of here. Sunday was a hard day when he announced it. Well he actually emailed everyone that he had e mail address for, and he put letters in our mailboxes at church. So everyone pretty well knew what was coming. It was sad as we really like him and his wife a lot. I think it'll be a while before we get another pastor or we will compare him to this one and that won't be fair. It took over a year to get Pastor Shane after Pastor Brian left. So a week from Sunday is his last week, and we are having a Mexican Dinner after church. He loves Mexican food. Well....I'm going to go back to stitching on this music piece. It's called Music and Books by Little House Needleworks and going fast. I love stitching on it. Until next time....Happy Stitching!

A very quick finish

This was a very quick finish. I loved doing this pretty piece. It was detailed but small. Well our church got some sad news this week. Our Senior Pastor is leaving and going to a larger church about 60 miles east of us. He's been at our church 8 years and the people just love him. Though a few of us sort of new he would be leaving we read the writing on the wall. I found out Monday night and had to keep it quiet all week, that was hard. Then today he e mailed everyone and told them. He had planned just to tell everyone Sunday but someone let it slip to the people at prayer meeting Wed. I guess so he decided to e mail everyone and still announce Sunday. He'll be with us 2 or 3 more "Sundays. When Pastor Brian left everyone thought his shoes would be hard to fill and Pastor Shane was perfect and did fill the shoes even better. Now it's going to take someone really special to replace him and his wife. I am trying to get ready to have the apartment ready for it's annual inspection Wed. These people are very critical of housekeeping. I have my sister in law coming Monday and Tuesday to steam clean the rug and floors. My sister comes to town Tuesday again so looking forward to seeing her. Well...I think I'll go back to stitching on the Fishing Boy for the Sandy Hook Project. Until next time Happy Stitching!