My Stitchalong

It's the day after Christmas, and while my kids are quiet I thought I would update my blog.  It was a quiet day here, with just MJ's parents coming for dinner.  I don't do alot of fuss when I set the table, but my Christmas table runner always looks so pretty.  It was a large project, but was well worth the time and effort. This is the first year in a long time that I made no new stitched Christmas ornaments.  Over the years, between the ones I've made and the ones I've received as gifts or in exchanges, I've amassed quite a collection.  In addition to the Christmas tree in the living room I put up a second tree in our den where I hang my stitched ornaments.  I'm beginning to think I need a bigger tree! Christmas stitching continues on Mickey and Minnie.  Now that they have eyes, ears, and a hat I can move on to stitching their sleigh. Every family has their own holiday traditions, and ours is no different.  One that started abo...

I'm not sure how it started, but over the years I have become a collector of scissors.  No, wait.  I take that back.  I actually do know how it started.  I had one pair of small embroidery scissors that my mom bought me when I first started stitching back when I was in college.  Then I was given another pair from a friend.  Then I started having more than one project going at a time, and I would keep a pair in the project bags so I could just grab a project and go when I was taking my stitching with me.  If I was going to have multiple projects I needed more than two pairs of scissors, right?  Then last year I bought my very first pair of Gingher scissors.  I was in heaven!!  I had finally gotten a pair of the really good ones.  While my collection isn't as big as other people's, I think it's quite nice, and quite colorful. So when I was wandering the aisles of Michael's the other day what did I happen to see?  These l...

Happy Thanksgiving!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and was able to spend the day with people you love.  Our family got to meet our new nephew, which was definitely something to be thankful for. This year my husband, MJ, and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  To celebrate we planned a trip to Hawaii!  While I hated the thought of all that flying time (11 hours total from the East coast of the United States), I was very excited about going. We were happy and relaxed for two glorious weeks. This was the sunset from our table at dinner the last night we were there.  It was a trip I will never forget.  Seeing the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, the many historic and beautiful beaches and seashores around O'ahu, and the lush, green canyons of Kua'i was something I will never forget.  While we were away we had some days where we had absolutely nothing planned.  Now tell me, when does a mother ever get to d...

It's been a while since my last post, and as I was sitting here I thought I should write an update. It's been a busy house this last month, with my husband going back to work after his surgery and Z going back to school.  8th grade!!!  How on Earth did that happen?? Now that M is adjusting to life in a college dorm my home is a much more quiet and peaceful place.  This has allowed me to get back to a project that has been sitting in my bag, literally, for years!   I started The Final Few way back in June, 2009.  You read that right.  2009.  It was my first Heaven and Earth chart (I've since acquired several more), and it fed two of my loves: stitching and pandas!  I remember thinking, "How hard could it be?" Then I looked at it.  Over 60 pages.  Lots of confetti stitches.  Throw in a very strong willed young man causing lots of anxiety and anguish.  It was too much to work on, and I put it aside. After the...

I'm not even sure where to start with what this week was like.  I suppose I should start at the beginning with my husband having surgery to remove an obstruction in the kidney area this past Monday.  He did well, but I was really not pleased with the care he received in the hospital.  A surgical PA who came in to evaluate him on Tuesday was trying to release him without consulting the physician of record, and the hospital would have let him go if I hadn't called the doctor and demanded to know what the hell was going on!  He hadn't even started on clear liquids yet and this guy was trying to release him?  Ugh!  They sent him home the next day, again, against my better judgment, but it was what it was.  He's home and on the road to healing, which is what is important. Friday brought move in day for M, my college freshman.  He didn't want me to take any pictures, but this was a huge step for him.  He's not far away, and while living in the...

Today is August 11, 2017.  Do you know what day it is?  It's World Cross Stitch Day!!  Does anyone plan on celebrating today?  I know I certainly do!  What is everyone working on to celebrate our hobby? For those of you who don't know it, I'm a huge Star Wars fan.  I came to love the franchise in my late teens because I wasn't allowed to see the films when they first came out.  I'm not sure why that was, but the first film I saw in the movie theater was The Return of the Jedi.  Since I hadn't seen the first two movies, parts of the plot were pretty much lost on me, but I have since made up for that.  I'm not a big Etsy person, but every now and then I peruse it to see what they have.  I found Star Wars sugar skulls!!  Wow!!  I bought them, then wondered what I was going to do with them.  All I kept thinking was I needed to put one on a tee shirt.  You know what that requires?  Waste canvas. First of all,...

My husband, my son, Z, and I were in Chicago for five days last week.  M chose to stay home and have some extra time with his grandparents.  I think Tiger the Wonder Kitty missed me while we were gone. While we were gone, and after we got back, I kept working on Vinny the Vampire and his moon, and I'm so glad that I pulled this project back out to see the light of day!  He's finished!!  My plan is to turn him into a pillow and he can be a pair with Frankie the Thinker, also by Glendon Place. A new finish means a new start, right?  How about a new restart?  I started Hot Chocolate by Alessandra Adelaide Needlwork a long time ago, and I got pretty far on it.  Unfortunately, I had my fabric turned the wrong way and only realized that the design wouldn't fit the way I was stitching on it until it was too late.  There was too much stitching to pull out, and I reluctantly tossed the fabric.  I had actually forgotten about it until ...

We all have them.  Projects that started working on, and got quite far on, but it then gets puts aside for  one reason or another.  I am certainly no exception!  I started this more than a year ago. Meet Vinny the Vampire by Glendon Place.  As you can see I got a lot done.  I had to stitch the moon that goes behind the bat, and do the back stitching.  So why did I put him aside? There were several reasons, but the big one was that I just could not figure out the directions for how to stitch the moon!  It sounds simple.  Start here, and stitch diagonally.  You would think I would be able to figure that out! I finally plucked up the courage and asked the question on Facebook!  Thank goodness for the kindness of stitchers!  No one made me feel stupid for not understanding what turned out to be something very simple.  Vinny finally has a moon, and I will soon be able to remove this project from the unfinished ...

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it's summer, which means the kids are out of school for their summer break.  Heaven knows I love my boys, but the summer vacations really take their toll on my nerves for a variety of reasons.  This summer is no exception since it's the first summer that I've worked in many years.  M has taken on the responsibility of cooking dinner for the family while I'm gone, so that has taken some concerns away from me, and he's gotten quite good at it.  We started with simple dinners, like pasta and tacos.  This morning I taught him how to make sausage and spinach bread, a recipe that my father used to make for our family when I was a child.  It's a favorite of my kids, and he was really surprised to see how easy it is to make. Yesterday the kids gave me some quiet time.  M was tired and went to lay down, and Z was watching a movie .  What was a stitching mom to do??  Set myself up with my stitching and st...

Two friends and I have been working on the Little House ABC series.  As I said in my last post the OPQ square that I was working on is going to be scrapped and started again once I get new fabric and more floss for it.  The rest of the squares have not really seen much day light, partially because I wasn't sure what to do with them once I finished them all.  I thought about a wall hanging, but I wasn't loving the idea.  Then I thought about making them into little pillows, but I didn't really know how to display them.  While the project lagged I kept my eyes open for something that I liked.  Last night, while I was at work, I found it!! There are nine pieces to the project, and I can display two on the top and the others in the little cubby holes.  When  Christmas rolls around I will put some of my Christmas ornaments in there to display for the season.  Now that I have a place to put the finished pieces I started the next square i...

I can't believe it's almost the 4th of July already.  Last September school started on what would be my oldest son's senior year.   Now it's July.  The prom, senior day, graduation, and the celebrations that accompany all of these happy events have now come and gone.  M is excitedly looking forward to the next chapter: college!!  There was a time when I was not sure college was a possibility for him.  Behavioral problems at home have caused me many tearful nights over the years.  In all honesty, they still do, but as  M has gotten older and maturity has kicked in the problems have gotten better, and he is able to go forward and study the things he wants to study.  I'm very proud of him. Summer brings lots of changes to our daily routine.  For the summer months I decided to change my work hours to evening hours.  With two kids home my husband and I figured it would be easier for me to be home during the day and work nights.  I...

Big news on the stitching front!  I finished one of my long time WIPs. Cherry Hollow Farm Sampler by Stacy Nash.  This project right here explains perfectly why I don't buy kits anymore.   Let's start at the beginning.  I saw this project at Lazy Daisy, my LNS, which has, unfortunately closed.  I had just gotten into a Sampler period and really liked this one, so I snapped it up.  It came with linen and Weeks floss.  What could go wrong? When I went to start it I was planning in starting in the upper left corner.  Three inches in and three inches down, right?  Something didn't look right.  I couldn't figure out what it was.  Then I measured. The fabric was too small and only left a one inch border.  I needed new fabric.  Okay.  Of course the only fabric I really loved was expensive.  Are we surprised?  Isn't that always the way? Then I was reading the instructions that came with the kit, and it ...

I seem to have entered a stitching slump.  Frequent migraines, several home improvement projects, my son's looming high school graduation, and family issues seems to have gotten in my way, and nothing seems to be tempting me to get my needles moving. What is a stitcher to do?  This stitcher looked to a book that I bought at Christmas time, hoping to get myself moving.  I LOVE Star Wars.  While I was walking thought Barnes and Nobles one night I saw this kit on the shelf. Wow!!  How cool is that?  I did Darth Vader and  Bobba Fett for my sons for their birthdays, and I've had R2D2 kitted up since the beginning of the year.  Could this be what I need to get me out of my slump? While I have stitched on it, I can't say that it's gotten me moving.  I am, however, trying to stitch.  Maybe clear progress on a project will help motivate me and my stitching needles.  I have to say that I'm seriously thinking about orde...

If you have gone back to look at some of my older posts you will see that I am not a "one project at a time" kind of girl.  I used to be.  Then I met some other stitchers and their influence was pretty strong.  I'm not, however, the kind of person who can have hundred of projects started.  I have a stitching friend who is joining this group that will start a new project a day for 10 days.  I couldn't do that.  Too many projects started and I get seriously overwhelmed. So, while Intervention has been taking up the bulk of my stitching time lately, I have been working on other projects here and there, as well.  Let's take a look! As you can see, Intervention's borders are almost complete .   Now I get to pour through my book and pick motifs for each section of the piece.   Last night I had stitch night with my friend, and she and her husband thought it was a cool project to work on being that there really is no pattern.  We will s...

It's been a busy time here.  Spring break starts this week, which means Easter is on its way, so why are we dealing with two kids sick with the flu?  Ugh!  We get through the whole winter with no one being really sick, and now that spring is here we have fevers and barky coughs.  It was not a fun week. Work on Intervention is continuing.  I finished the blue, spring border: I was really happy with these colors, and how this border turned out.  It was time to turn to my trusty book to find a border that I thought them would represent winter.  Nothing with a lot of flowers or leaves on it, but that was all that I was seeing.  The I saw it: Sort of snow flake like!  I used dark colors, not only to represent the lack of bright colors and flowers, but also because the sun sets so early during the winter and it's dark for longer each day. This is what the project looks like as of this morning: One more corner to work on, ...

As I moved from the brown, earth tones of the acorns border to the blues of the flower border I wasn't  sure I happy with the project. Picking colors is not my strong point and I didn't think that the browns and the blues really went together, but I kept going, albeit very slowly.  As I was stitching on the blue border last night I was trying to think how I could make this work, and then suddenly it hit me!  Work the piece in quadrants.  Each color combination, except the center purple colors, will represent a season.  All of the motifs in the "fall" section will be done in the brown colors, all in the "spring" section will be blues, and so on.   With that in mind may I present the beginning of the spring section of Intervention:   It's almost April, and like many, I am waiting for the warm weather to come and stay awhile.  I am, however, ready for it to get warm with this awesome cross stitch shirt Anyone else like ...

Wow!!  It's been a LONG time since I posted to my blog.  I guess life just gets in the way sometimes, and things, like a stitching blog, tend to fall by the wayside, however, I recently started a new project and it came to my mind that I should blog about it from the beginning. I'm calling this project Intervention, because I think that is what I'm in need of for thinking about this. It's all started with this book:   I bought this book years ago when MJ and I were in Baltimore.  He was off with his baseball card geek friends, and I met up with a stitching friend and we were off on an adventure to The Stitching Post, a needlework shop in the area.  While I was there I found this book.  It is filled with beautiful French motifs and borders from the 18th and 19th century.  I haven't done a lot of stitching out of it, but I love to look through it, which I was doing recently when an idea came to me: I should pick different things out of the ...