My Stitchalong

In my last post I asked if anyone could guess what the motif would be that goes above my initials in the sampler. I had a few guesses, most of which were a panda. While that was a really good guess, it's not correct. The mystery motif is (drum roll, please).... Dart Vader!!!!! When I ordered my sampler Z was going through his Star Wars phase (he takes after his mother, after all!) and we would watch a Star Wars movie at least once a day, so when I was going through the process of picking what I absolutely had to have on my sampler Star Wars was right up there at the top of my list right next to my furry black and white friend. I saw the R2D2 and Vader motifs on another sampler that Nouveau Encore Designs did and asked for them to be put into mine as well. I am happy to report that I am about two thirds of the way done with page 19. I'm getting my dancing shoes ready for the big happy dance of joy I will be doing when this baby is done. I wanted to take a picture, but m...

Thank you to everyone who commented last night about my sampler worries. I looked at it again last night and I have decided to just plow through to the last page and see what happens when I get there. I finally got pictures of it, so even thought I don't usually post two days in a row I thought that I would show off my handy work. This is page 16 and 17, along with a little bit of page 18 that I started yesterday: Can anyone guess what type of motif will go above my initials? I'll give you a hint: it's the same theme as another motif on the sampler, and it's one of Z's favorite things. The whole sampler so far: I took a nice bike ride this morning, although I wasn't really out for that long because it's so hot and very humid here. MJ is taking the boys this afternoon so everyone can get measured for tuxedos for BIL's upcoming wedding. I'm going for a dress fitting next week. That sure came up fast. The wedding is less than two months away now and...

I have no pictures yet, but pages 16 and 17 of the sampler are done. YAY !! That leave three to go and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter with every stitch that I put in. That is actually why I need reassurance. I usually do the border on each page last, mostly because it is my least favorite part of the sampler to work on. For the last two pages, however, I have noticed that the border on each page is not ending where the chart says that it should. I'm usually at least two squares over. Now, the reason for this could be very simple. The letters may off by two squares, which would account for the border not lining up properly. Or, and this is my worst fear, somewhere along the line I messed up the border. YIKES!! The thought is enough to make me cry. Now, as I have been stitching this project I have made mistakes on the border along the way, but the mistakes always made themselves known to me because the border did not line up. The loops on...

Don't you love getting stash in the mail? Especially when the package is bigger than you think it's going to be? Doris ( http://apauseinthejourney.blogspot.com/ ) has been doing some cleaning out of some stash that she knew she would never use and had some fabric to give away. I told her that I would be interested in the fabric and I was told last week that it would be winging its way over to my house. Well, today the package arrived, and boy was there alot of fabric! These are the browns/earth tones that I got: These were the cooler shades: At the moment my personal favorites are the blue and the pink and my mind is already running trying to think which projects to use those colors on. I'm giddy with excitement. Thank you so much Doris, for your generosity. I am so grateful! Tomorrow is Lazy Daisy night, my favorite night of the month. Getting together with the people at the shop is always such a fun night and one that I look forward to. It's nice to get...

For the first time in a few weeks, it's quiet. All of the summer programs and camps are over, and now it's the calm before the start of the new school year. At least I don't have to make myself crazy buying school supplies this year, which is so nice. Our school's PTA does a fundraiser where you can purchase a "School Tool Box", which has all of the required supplies that my kids will need for their specific grade level. Last year was the first year that I took advantage of this program and it was so much easier than taking my lists and running around from store to store looking for the specific items: one blue folder, one red folder, four composition notebooks, 12 No. 2 pencils, sharpened...you get the idea. I can even buy the their book bags, too. This year both boys saw a back pack that they wanted, and they both come with lunch kits. Two more things off my list! I just have to buy some clothes and everyone is ready for back to school. Or at least ...

It's HOT out! For the first time all summer I can honestly say that it's hot. Z and I were just outside planting the Stargazer l illies that I bought yesterday and the sun was beating down on us, and good heavens it was hot out! I was very happy to get back inside, where the air conditioning is on and the house is cool. After that nasty visit from the frog last week I decided to put down the HAED and pick up my sampler. It's been sitting since I started the HAED . The many motifs and alphabets are easy to work on, it's all one color, and it's just what I need to work on when I need to lower my blood pressure. The frog can do that do you. I love the measuring spoons and the R2D2: One of the motifs that I finished from pages 14 and 15. I love my wedding date: Page 15 is almost done (woo hoo !), which means that there are only 5 more pages left to go. the whole sampler so far: This is where I left the HAED , after spending an hour and a half ripping out ...

Well, it probably really wasn't Kermit the Frog, because I know Kermit would not cause the trouble that this little frog did! Work on the HAED has come t o a screeching halt, thanks to the one who says " Ribbit !" The kids were playing this afternoon, so I thought I would take advantage of the momentary quiet to put in a few stitches. I noticed that the color blue that I'm using just doesn't look quite right. The color is not flowing from the previous page like the other colors were flowing. I first noticed it the other day, but just thought I was being paranoid. Today I noticed it again and decided to take a closer look at the color key. Turns out there are two symbols on the key that are quite similar and apparently I was using the color from the wrong symbol. I spent an hour and a half this afternoon ripping out stitching that I had been putting in since Sunday! And along the way I discovered that ripping out stitches when you are stitching over one...