Thank you

I want to thank the people who've been commenting on my blog about the fact I've not been blogging.

Life is so difficult.........the most devastating thing has happened in my family. I can barely put two words together most days, never mind think about writing something on my blog. I haven't picked up a needle in weeks. I feel like my husband and I are just two "shells" of people walking around trying to get through each day and yet still be good parents to our kids. The strength we have is knowing that God knows everything and is in control, but that doesn't make it any less painful. And I never knew it was possible to go through so much emotional pain. But we need to continue to be able to give this to God. This situation has changed my husband and I forever, but hopefully we will be better people because of it.

Thanks to all of you, I hope someday to be able to pick up a needle again.

Update on Miss New Years and mean-spirited people

Miss New Years is almost there. All the stitching and backstitching is done, I just have the beading to do. She has been fun to stitch and hopefully I'll have her finished in a week or so.
I need to address the person who left an anonymous comment for me (I did not publish it). If you dislike my blog, then don't read it. I have found this somewhat puzzling that someone would leave me a comment about how much they dislike my blog and yet they seem to continue reading it. To whomever left the comment: Get a life and move on, there are hundreds of blogs out there you can be looking at. If you wish to continue to criticize me then be courageous enough to not hide behind the "anonymous" button and do it under your own blog name.

The start of the end :(

I have started Block #12, which is the Olde Burial Ground and the last block to this piece that I have so enjoyed working on. I believe I've been working on this for about a year and I have loved every minute of having this in my hands. I will definitely miss this when I'm finished with it. My goal is to have this finished by the end of September.
I hope everyone has a lovely Labor Day weekend ;)

Update SPWN

Here it is, the piece that will never end. Sorry I have another out of focus pic, but the battery is dying on my camera. I really had to force myself to work on St. Pete's this week. Those mansions have gotten quite boring. And yet as I've said before it is just beautiful. But I will be so glad when I am finished this thing.
On a sad note, someone I've known for 15 years died this past weekend. She taught two of my kids at the school they attend. It was exactly one year ago that she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Today was supposed to be the first day of school but out of respect for her (her funeral was today) school will start tomorrow instead. She is no longer in any pain, she is in her glorified body in Heaven, and I look forward to meeting her there someday. Until that day, I will miss you Judy.

Block #11 Finished :)

I finished block #11 on Village of Hawk Run Hollow, only one block left and then the entire piece is finished. Block #12 is a solidly stitched block so it will take me a while to get that one finished.

I'm using a different computer so I can't crop my pics (but hubby said he'd fix that). I took the cutest pic of my two cats, and then accidently deleted them, oh well.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend ;)

Miss New Year's Fairy

I went over to a friend's house last night to stitch and.... we actually did some stitching :). Of course we did a lot of chatting too. She made me a wonderful dinner and we had a nice relaxing evening. I worked on Miss New Year's Fairy while I was at her house, she's stitching up quickly and I am thoroughly enjoying her. Please excuse the wrinkled fabric, I just didn't have time to get her ironed.
Thanks for all the nice comments on St. Pete's, they're encouraging and help me to continue plodding along on it ;)

St Pete's Update

Well, I'm having trouble with my camera, so this out of focus pic is the best I can do. I'm working on my 3rd corner, I'm out of the yellow I need, but will be getting it tomorrow. I've been trying to figure out why I dislike stitching on this piece so much. It's the most stunning piece I've ever stitched so one would think I would be having the time of my life working on it, but alas, that is not so. I have determined a few things: 1. I do not like stitching a piece when I do not have all of the chart, hence the many mistakes that get made. 2. I do not like the repetition of doing the same stitching 4 times. If I had the complete chart I would stitch it differently than the way the parts are given to you on-line. 3. I will quietly say Martina makes many mistakes and often leaves IMPORTANT things out of her directions.
Realizing these things I may even do another Chatelaine someday. But it will be when the whole chart can be bought and I can stitch it in the order I want to.

Thanks for all the nice comments, especially on Miss New Year's ;)

A tree grows.....

I'm almost finished with the trees in this block. I think I'll need 2 more stitching sessions to get this block finished. I'm probably hopeful in the thinking I can get the whole piece done by the end of September.
Some one asked what fabric I was stitching St. Petersburg White Nights on, it is Opalescent Midnight Fantasy by Sugar Maple Fabrics, this was specially dyed for this project.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend ;)

St Pete's Update

Well I had a pretty good session with St Pete'sburg this week. Of course frogging was parting of my session as it always is with this piece. I'm out of a color and won't be able to get it until next week, so that's slowed me down some. This piece is so pretty IRL, it sparkles and glitters and all that good stuff.

Update on Miss New Year's Fairy

Miss New Year's Fairy is coming along quite nicely. She's been pure joy to stitch, although I've had little time to put into her :(. Life has been crazy. Work has been extremely busy for me and trying to get the kids ready for school is leaving little time for stitching ;)

The Schoolhouse is erected

This block is moving along quickly and as usual I love every minute I put into this piece, but there's still a lot of stitching to finish this block. I'm starting to think about what I'll replace this with when I'm done. I have several birthday gifts to stitch and of course Christmas is right around the corner. So I'm undecided if I'll replace this in my rotation with gifts to be stitched up or another big project. Of course, I could always use an extra night on St. Petersburg to try to get caught up but I'd really have to think about that one.
Have a great weekend everybody ;)

Update on SPWN

Here's my update on St. Petersburg. I'm glad it's turning out so pretty, since I still get very little joy out of stitching it, but I will persevere to the end ;)

Block #11 of the Village is started

Here is the beginning of block #11, it's the School House. That little girl is jumping rope, but I haven't stitched in the jumprope yet. I'm not real happy with how close the "greens" are in this block. You can barely tell the 3 different greens apart. None the less, I still enjoy every minute that I'm working on this piece.
Thanks for the great comments on Miss New Year's Fairy. You guys help keep me going ;)

Miss New Year's Update and some stash

Here is my update on Miss New Year's. I LOVE working on her. I can't remember the last time I did not stitch on hand-dyed linen and I'm finding this is a nice change, all of her colors pop so much better on a plain color.
I did a little more shopping. We have upper row: Silkweaver 32ct Jobelan "Dreamin" and Silkweaver 32ct lugana "Iris Garden" (super pretty), bottom row: Silkweaver Tallahassee Teal 32ct belfast linen and Silkweaver 32ct belfast linen "Thunderstorm", all FQ's.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a nice weekend stitching!

SPWN Update

Well, I have fallen farther behind on this than I thought I would. I'm very happy with my stitching rotation but this piece has taken a hit because of it. The way I do my rotation is: I assign myself a project for every day (evening) of the week and if I'm able to stitch on that day then I work on the project assigned to that day. Bridal Showers and meetings have not given me the time for this project because of the days I have assigned it to.
So above is the upper left hand corner, and below is the entire piece so far. Last night I ran out of NPI #133, which is the main yellow used in these mansions so I'll need to get more of that.

This is part V and Martina came out with part VI one day early. I'm sure she thought this would bring great joy to the people doing this class, but it brought a huge *ugh* from me.

A New Start

My new start is Miss New Year's Fairy. I got a good start on her this weekend. I'm using 28ct Fairy Dust, I bought this linen on eBay and it was listed as 32 ct, but once I started stitching on it it was clear this was 28ct, which is okay but not my favorite count to work on. And out of the *TONS* of hand-dyed linen I have, I couldn't find anything that worked well with these threads. I'm happy with the Fairy Dust, the threads show up much better IRL.
Thanks for all the nice comments on my Noah's Ark finish, they were kind and inspiring ;)

The Ark That Noah Built is finished :)

WooHoo, another finish. This was a relatively quick stitch, nice to have another finish under my belt. Now I get to start something new, woohoo again ;-)

Designer - Carriage House Samplings

Title - The Ark That Noah Built

Linen - Lakeside 36 ct Vintage Light Examplar

Threads - Soie d'Alger Silks

Started - 6-14-2007

Finished - 7-27-2007

Block #10 of the Village is finished :)

I finished block #10 of Village of Hawk Run Hollow last night, and even got a small bit started on block #11. This was a fun block to stitch, as they all have been. It would be nice if I could get this finished by the end of September, I'm looking ahead to block #12 which is solid stitching and know that block will take me a good amount of time.
Thought I would show you a slightly better picture of Easter Fairy. My camera just does not want to focus well on her.

Thanks for all the nice comments and have a wonderful weekend ;)

Easter Fairy is framed!

I got Easter Fairy back from the framer's and I am posting a terribly out of focus picture of her. My camera's batteries died right after taking this, which is probably why it couldn't focus. I still decided to post this because life is so busy that I may never remember to post a pic of her framed. The frame is a pale yellow that matches her dress perfectly. If I think of it in the future I'll take another pic of her. I'm very pleased with the framing.

I'm almost finished with this piece. I think I'll be able to finish it up the next time I sit down to stitch on it. I had some stitching friends over yesterday and we had a great time, of course more talking than stitching got done.
** I'm very thankful for good friends, and God has put many in my life**

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Village Update

My favorite project back in my hands, hmmmmm. I'm almost finished with this block. I should be able to finish it up next week. There's a SBQ out there about what piece you're most proud of, and I would have to say it is this piece for me.
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend ;)

Update on SPWN

I had hoped to get this entire corner finished this week and as you can see I didn't even come close. Things were just too busy this week to give any of my stitching projects much attention.
Thank you for all the well wishes about my meeting. It did get sticky, but there was no getting around that, the meeting went as well as it could have.

Update on Noah's Ark

Well, The Ark That Noah Built is coming along nicely. I think two more stitching sessions with this and it will be finished. I still have the bottom flowers to do. Sorry this is such a short post
but I need to get ready for a meeting tonight that may prove to get a little sticky. I'm praying all will go well but still have some butterflies in my stomach.

Update on the Village

Ahhhh, back to my Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I don't think I've ever enjoyed stitching a piece as much as I've enjoyed this one. I'm about half way through block #10. This is a piece that I will miss stitching on when it is finished, so I'll have to find another big project to keep me inspired when this one is done, don't worry, I have plenty in my stash.
Many people have asked what fabric I used for my Easter Fairy, (it is in the post on that finish), it is Lily Pond by Crossed Wing Collection, they have so many pretty fabrics.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ;)

An enjoyable session with SPWN :)

Finally, some enjoyable stitching on St. Petersburg :). The new stitching on this corner is representative of 10 hours of stitching, part 5 is HUGE. No way this part will be done before August. Having a stitching rotation is helping to keep the stress out of my stitching. St. Petersburg only gets 2 nights a week.
Thanks to everyone who left such nice comments about my Easter Fairy finish. You all are so encouraging.

Easter Fairy is finished :)

Easter Fairy

Miribilia Limited Edition

Fabric: 28 ct Lily Pond by Crossed Wing Collection

Threads: Crescent Colours & Kreinik Braid (No Subs)

Began: 4-10-07 Finished: 7-4-07

This is my first finish for 2007 (a little behind most other bloggers, LOL). Unfortunately, this is not a very good pic of her, she's much prettier IRL. She was fun to stitch but she has more beads than I thought. It took me about 4 hrs just to bead her. She's already off to the framers. I'll post another pic of her when she's framed ;)

Noah's Ark

Here's an update to The Ark That Noah Built. This piece is stitching up very quickly, I love the Soie d' Alger silks. Although the frog seems to have taken up permanent residence at my house. Frogging hasn't bothered me as much on this or VoHRH though like it does on St. Petersburg.
I hit a great deal on eBay today on some Silkweaver linen (like I need anymore linen). Earlier this week I actually ordered some charts to go with some of this linen I have accumulated.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend ;)

Back to a piece I love ;)

Well, I am back to Village of Hawk Run Hollow and I'm loving it. I have enjoyed every single stitch I have put in this piece. I love the fabric and the silks and the design!! This is the beginning of block #10 (the apple orchard). What a relief to put that Chatelaine away until next week. My new stitching rotation is working well, of course, I've only been doing it for a week :).
I actually don't want this piece to end.

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by ;)

Horror of horrors

I have finished part 4, including the beading. I started the beading last night and when I was almost half way done I realized I was using the WRONG color beads. Ack!!!! So I have spent this morning fixing my error. Do you know how hard it is to remove beads that are packed together? For those of you who do not know me I am not typically this brain dead when it comes to my stitching. There is something about this piece that just doesn't click for me. But every time I finish a part, I look at it and think it is just beautiful. Hopefully my next post on this piece will be one that says "hey, I haven't made any mistakes and I'm enjoying it".
Happy 4th of July!

Ahhhhhhh!!!! A piece I'm enjoying

It feels so good to stitch on something other than St. Petersburg :). I just had to put that Chatelaine away for a while. I've put myself on a stitching rotation for the month of July, it will be interesting to see how it works for me. I may even see if I can figure out how to put my rotation in my sidebar. I've noticed a lot of you do that and I like to see how people do their rotations.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Thanks to everyone who's stopped by ;)

My Nemesis

Yes, this is my nemesis. I am almost finished with part 4, I still have to finish the left hand side, do some backstitching and put in the beads. Martina came out with part 5 today, 2 days early! This, to me, is not good news. Pressure, pressure, pressure! I would actually have finished this part over a week ago if I hadn't had to frog almost as much as I've stitched. One night I frogged much of the right hand side, restitched it and realized I had made ANOTHER mistake and had to frog that whole area again, 3 hours after I began I was exactly where I had started :(. Part 4 was huge and part 5 looks huge also. I've decided I have to get myself into a more organized rotation with my stitching or this piece is going to overtake my life. Even though I am not enjoying stitching this, it is absolutely stunning IRL.

Thanks to everyone for your comments, they always bring a smile to my face.

Stash Happy :)

I am insanely hooked on hand-dyed linens. This is what was waiting for me when I got back from vacation: Top Row - Silkweaver 28 ct "Autumn"; Silkweaver 28 ct solo; Silkweaver 32 ct belfast "Forest Haven" (this is gorgeous). Bottom Row - Silkweaver 32 ct Jazlyn "Debutante"; Silkweaver 32 ct belfast "Cinnabar" and Silkweaver 32 ct Jobelan "Spring Garden". In the bottom pic we have top row - 32ct Antique Copper; Drawn Thread's Wayward Garden; Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct "Sun Dappled Glade"; Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct "Petunia Path" (I have another piece of this but this one is much pinker); middle row - 40 ct R&R "Neptune Blue" (very yummy); Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Peach Grove; Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct "Morning Meadow"; bottom row - Sugar Maple Fabrics 32 ct belfast "Posiedon"; Silkweaver 28 ct solo; Sugar Maple Fabrics 32 ct belfast "Daisy Chain". And then 5 skeins of Crescent Colours I needed.

In my last post I mentioned that 3 LNS's that I went to weren't very good but I forgot to tell you about the great deal I got at one of them. This particular LNS also owns a frame shop next to it. While I was there buying a few skeins of thread someone came through the shop with a bunch of frames, and she was talking to the person who was waiting on me about THROWING them away. I quickly spoke up and said if they were going to throw them away I would gladly take them off of their hands. I got 15 frames for FREE. 10 of them are just gorgeous, the other 5 are just kind of ordinary. They said the frames were odd sizes and they couldn't use them and they were tired of tripping over them. Yoohoo for me, I'll find something to put in them!!

I'm back from vaca......

I am back from vacation. It was a relaxing time. We did a lot with the kids....amusement parks....water rides....eating out....playing games.....shopping etc. I managed to track down 3 LNS's and not one of them was worth the drive to get there. I don't know how these places are in business. I did finally buy Wayward Garden by Drawn Thread because I've been watching someone's blog who's stitching it and I just love it and bought some beautiful 40 ct R&R. When I got home I had 3, yes 3, packages of stitching stash from the mailman. I'll show a pic in a few days.
I did allow myself a new start while on vacation. This is "The Ark That Noah Built" by Carriage House Samplings, I'm stitching it on 36 ct Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linen in Soie d' Alger silks (scrummy), the colors are a bit unusual but it's been a fun stitch. Should have it finished in a few weeks. Nice to stitch something relatively small for a change.

I was laughing a few weeks ago while reading someone's blog who had been away on vacation and that she had over 100 blogs to look at on her Google Reader, that's where I am right now and laughing again, this time at myself. I'll get to them all ;)

What's worse than Algerian Eyelets?

Frogging them!!! I've started on part 4 and in the upper left corner are Algerian Eyelet's (which I don't care to do) and I had to frog a huge part of them because I had them in the wrong squares. One good thing about part 4 is that my husband figured out how to enlarge it to a normal size chart instead of the miniature print I had for part 3. I do not have to fix my mistake on part 3 either *phew*, I can compensate around it. This is so much prettier IRL, even though I am not particularly enjoying stitching this piece the results are stunning.

We are getting ready to go on vacation at the end of this week so I probably won't post again until we get back. Between work, appointments and packing there will be no stitching time :(. Although I think I might treat myself to a new start while we're away :)

Just an update

Just a quick post to show my progress on Easter Fairy. Her colors do show up better IRL, but are somewhat muted. I think once I do the backstitching on her body she'll look much better.

Someone stop me.......please!!!

I think I am out of control with my stash buying. No.....I know I'm out of control!! Someone help me put the brakes on. I LOVE my new stash and I'll enjoy stitching every bit of it someday if I can ever get to it all.
In the top picture we have God's Critters and Trellis by Workbasket, these go together and are rather old charts but I just love them. I will do them on the 36 ct Antique White Edinborough you can barely see under there. Then I had to get Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Samplers, but I will do it in the multi-colored version like Rob, I bought a 36 skein set of the DMC variegated flosses and I may use them or I might go with Vicki Clayton silks like Rob did. Then there's Miss New Year's Fairy by Miribilia and a FQ of Silkweaver "Elegance" 28 ct Jobelan. I'll do Miss New Year's on a Silkweaver Solo that I have instead of the natural linen it came with. The bottom picture is the series by Plum Street Samplers called Stories To Live By, I got Jonah, Noah and Adam. I got 40 ct Creme Brulee by R&R for Jonah, and 40 ct Daily Grind by R&R for Noah and Adam and just a few of the threads that will be needed.

Block #9 of Village is done

I reached the goal I set for myself for this long weekend, and that was to finish Block #9 on Village of Hawk Run Hollow. This was a relatively easy block to stitch. This is the block itself and below is what I have finished so far on the piece. Just 3 more blocks to go :)

Love - Hate Relationship

This is my first love/hate relationship. After my last post on St. Petersburg White Nights, Deb was kind enough to email me some tips on stitching a Chatelaine. One of the things she said was "you can either work it or it can work you", well I can tell you - this Chatelaine is definitely working me. I am finished with part 3, even the beading, and am breathing a huge sigh of relief. Now I did make a pretty big error on part 3 but I have to wait for part 4 to come out to decide if I have to frog or if I can compensate around the error. At this point in doing this piece I am pretty sure I will never do another Chatelaine. I give credit to all you stitchers out there who do them and do more than one at a time, you're incredible.

I do not work well with deadlines. I have decided I would be horrible as part of any SAL, again kuddo's to all of you who do SAL's. And again thanks to every one who's visited my blog and left comments.

There's a body under that dress

She is actually turning into a fairy!! This has been a fun piece to work on and is small compared to what I usually do :). The picture is a little out of focus, I guess I need to work on my picture taking skills with my new camera.

Glad everyone enjoyed looking at my stash. I'm waiting for more to come in, I seem to be going through a stash buying phase and can't seem to get out of it.

More stash :o)

I have been naughty in my chart collection and even naughtier in my fabric collection. I have Prairie Moon's "Eagle Weathervane" and "Angel Weathervane", Fouroaks "A Love Song", Passione Ricamo's "Romantic Stitcher" and Blackbird Designs "My Missouri Home".








I can't seem to stop buying these wonderful hand-dyed fabrics. Top left to right: Silkweaver's "Ocean Fantasy" Belfast; Silkweaver's "Beach Reflections" 28ct lugana; Enchanted Fabrics "Lilac" belfast. Bottom left to right: Picture This Plus 36ct "Fresco"; Picture This Plus "Thistle" belfast and Sugar Maple Fabrics "Snowflake" belfast. The snowflake is so delicate, I can't wait to find something to do on that. I will probably do my Mermaids of the Deep Blue on the Ocean Fantasy, everyone seems to do the Mermaids on this but there is so much variation between the fabrics, and I have a gorgeous piece.

Block # 8 is finished and I've been tagged

I finished up block # 8 on Village of Hawk Run Hollow, hopefully tomorrow I'll get started on block # 9.


I've also been tagged by Cheryl to says 8 things about myself and here are the rules:
Tell eight things about yourself that others might not already know.
Here’s how to play:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here goes:
1. I am a born-again Christian
2. I come from a large family
3. I am ambidextrous
4. I have lived in 3 different states
5. I buy a lot of stuff on eBay
6. I've always wanted to play a musical instrument but never have
7. I'm addicted to caffeine
8. Noise bothers me, I like peace and quiet

And I will tag Barb, Karoline, Lauren, Tintock Tap, Christine, Jamie, Cathey and Charlene.

Easter Fairy Update

Happy Mother's Day to all mom's out there. My children and husband made it a very special day for me. They made me breakfast and then took me out for dinner in the evening. And they gave me a new digital camera, yeah!! Now I can post more often :). This is where I am on Easter Fairy, she's coming along slowly because she doesn't get much attention. When I'm done this month's portion of St. Petersburg I hope to be able to get a lot more done on her. Thanks for all your encouraging comments, I appreciate them.

St Petersburg

Okay, let me explain .......... I love to stitch. And I do like to stitch a variety of things. But.....this is my first Chatelaine and......IT IS SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF ME!! There I've said it and I don't regret it. I knew when I started this piece that if I didn't keep up with the parts as they came out monthly that I wouldn't finish the piece, and it was wwwwwaaaaayyyyy too expensive not to finish, but...I don't work well with deadlines (in the stitching world anyways). So there is tons of pressure and it's making me put aside other things I'd rather be stitching. And if this piece wasn't bad enough, part 3 is formatted so small you can barely read it. A lot of people (including me) have not been able to get our computers/printers to print it out in a larger version. The first 2 parts were fine, so I'm not sure what Martina did to part 3 to make it so small. And as I was stitching on this tonight I realized I made a COLOSSAL error, but I will do almost anything not to frog (and I've done tons of frogging on this already). I will have to wait for part 4 to see if the error must be frogged or if I can compensate around it. I didn't intend for this to be a depressing post but it sure feels good now that I've vented. :)

Finally, pictures of Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Thought it was time for me to post a picture of Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I've not worked on this very much because Chatelaine's St. Petersburg is taking over my life. I'm going to work on this one some more tonight, I just can't pick up that Chatelaine, but I will post a pic soon of it to show where I'm at with it.

I absolutely love working on Village. I love NPI silks so much more than other types of silks. I believe I'm working on block # 8 and hope to have this block finished within the next 2 weeks.

Thanks for all the nice comments.