Progress Update

I'm a bit late in showing my progress on Sea to Shining Sea--I should have updated a few days ago, when I finished 'Southwest'. Instead, I just kept on going, and last night, finished 'West Coast'. This one was the most fun--I loved this house, with it's blue shutters and climbing flowers at the sides. I made a few little changes to my piece--the yellow middle of the flowers are smyrna stitch, and the yellow window in the front door is all smyrna stitch, just to give a little depth to the stitching. Tonight I start 'East Coast', the silks are organized, the chart is out, I just have to make my start, and hope I find the right spot to start in, lol. Let me apologize right now for the really poor photographs--I really suck at taking them. I stitch in hand, no matter the size, so the sides of my stitching pieces are always rolled up. Nicole, where are you? I need you to take a few pictures for me. . . . . . . .

On the home front, hubby is on the road, the truck is fixed, (for now, anyway--there's always something that needs doing on the Beast) and I have my house back. Peace and quiet reign supreme. No TV the minute we grab our coffee in the morning, no ten million phone calls all day long. Just quiet. No one snoring during stitching time, or black door knobs. It's going to take awhile to get the house back to normal but as long as no one is messing it up as soon as I get finished, it shouldn't take too awful long--well, probably longer than most because I HATE housework.

I managed to catch a picture of Shadow sleeping near the dog--she was NOT happy that I caught her, snuggling up to Boo. If looks could kill, and all that. She paid me back today by laying on each of the pillowcases as I was trying to get them on the pillows. She is such a hoot--and doesn't seem to realize that Boo could gobble her up in one bite. She'll sit at the edge of the recliner and bat at Boo's nose as Boo walks by. Sometimes, I don't think Boo even notices her.

Off to make supper, so I can start my stitching time a bit early tonight. Just hope there is something on TV to listen to. Stitch on, my friends, and keep your own updates coming. They encourage me. And sometimes really really tempt me to start new projects. LOL And try to take advantage of the lovely weather. We have a sunny 72 degrees today, here in north east Indiana. Until next time.

An Award

I have been given an award by Patti, on her blog. I am overwhelmed, thanks so much. Now comes the hard part of choosing people to give it to.

This award means -

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with.
This is always the difficult bit, and please don't feel let down if you're not on the list, it doesn't mean I think less of you.

Nicole She is always an inspiration


Leigh She makes me smile


Deb Truly a needle artist


Kathy Loves dragons


Coni Makes me laugh outloud


Siobhan A real Hoot!


Rachel Great with a needle


Miss Jane Lovely pictures


Thank you Patti, for this honor. Now, fingers crossed that I did this correctly, and hope the names don't end up in cyber space.

OMG, do I need to frog?

HELP!!!

I just noticed that I'm off one stitch on my first block on Sea to Shining Sea. Can you believe that? I checked the instructions, and it says "There are two spaces (stitches) between the individual charts and the white line border." The chart has one blank stitch on each side and two blank stitches on top and bottom. If I go by what she said, then I should have three blank spaces on each side, or should ignore the blank space on each side on the chart. Darn! I thought I had spaced it out perfectly, but I went over 24 stitches to start the middle tree instead of 25--so the right side has three blank spaces and the left has one. Darn again! Now what do I do? I have the house nearly done, the tops of all three trees done--how bad does it look? Does anyone think I should frog it all out? (I am NOT doing that border again, so that means no starting over.) I could add a few extra stitches to the right side tree, make it even up a bit more. I am so bummed out.

On a lighter note, I wanted to show this picture I took of our cat Shadow. For some reason, she loves Wal Mart bags. Grocery store bags. All kinds of bags. She's waiting at the door when I come home from the grocery store and can't wait for me to empty those bags and throw them on the floor. For the last few days, all I have to do is shake out this bag, and put it on the floor, and she crawls into it, curls up and goes to sleep. Spooky used to do this also, until she got her head caught in one of the handles and got "spooked", lol. She tore through the house, trying to get that dratted bag off and since then, when a bag lands on the floor, she's in the other room. Instantly.

Perhaps I'll make a start on 'Home is where your cats are', until I get enough comments for me to make a decision, to frog or not to frog. How does it look? Is it real obvious that there was miscounting going on? Does it look really off center?

Stitch on, dear friends. Spring is a-coming!

New Stash, Oh, My!

A new month, and a new order from House of Stitches . It arrived today, and to say I'm thrilled would be really understating things.

I received a blend of old and new. From Val's Stuff, "home is where my cats are". I had to get this chart--it shows a picture of two cats, a gray and a black one. Both of which, we have. Then from Blue Ribbon Designs, from market, "It's Cold Outside". I really like this chart. I'm not sure that I'll ever do the large sampler but I have many uses for the smaller designs. Snowmen, and who doesn't like snowmen? Penguins, my daughter in law loves penguins! Then there are snowflakes, presents, a gingerbread guy, ice skates, a bunny, trees, you get the picture. And I do so love smalls! I also got all the Crescent Colours that the chart required. Might as well have it on hand, eh? Also in that first picture, something called the Buddy Case. It's a faux leather tool case for my stitching bag. It has an inside tray so I can keep some things secured, and still have a place to keep my good scissors safe from scratches. I think it's gorgeous. Mine is in the color Saddle but it does come in tons of other colors, even Eggplant.

Little House Needleworks--truly a blend of the old and the new. The old would be Peach Tree Cottage (which I thought was cute and thought I had but didn't) and Goodwill thread pack. Of the new, East Coast (from sea to shining sea) the last installment, Liberty and Justice, In the Beginning, State Fair and the first design in the new Women's Virtues "Gentle and Kind". Gentle and Kind is a thread pack with Crescent colours Belle Soie and this first one is gorgeous. And before you ask, no, I didn't buy any linen this time. I have a huge cabinet full of linen and it's time I started using what I have before I buy more.

As mentioned above, I did receive the last chart pack for From Sea to Shining Sea, East Coast. Yesterday, I finished that border, completely, and started in on the middle design, Mountains. It was so nice stitching something other than border; new colors, different shapes. Now my only problem will be continuing to work on this project when I so want to start one of the new charts, like "home is where my cats are".

Well, back to my stitching chair and afghan, as it's plenty cold outside and it's been difficult keeping the house warm enough without spending a ton on heating. Keep stitching, and smile! It makes people wonder what you're hiding, LOL.