Americana Sampling

Didn't think it would take long to get this one finished up, so here it is, Americana Sampling. This was a limited edition kit for 2005. I changed the date to reflect the year I stitched the piece. This was a fun stitch--but I had to substitute a thread color. It used Crescent colours Bunny Honey but my skein was just too light--the alphabet faded right into the fabric color. I ended up using Country Lane, but even that was really too light. And obviously, my try for interesting photos was a total bust. Maybe one of these days, I'll get a good picture of something.

Haven't touched "Into the Night" lately so no update photo. I will get back to it soon. I've left it on my stitching table to keep it in sight.

On the home front, the animals are being more friendly towards each other, and Banshee is pretty much house broken now. There are still a few encounters with Spooky, the oldest cat, but somehow I think it's all friendly fun. (Spooky comes looking for Banshee, if you get my drift.) Banshee and Boo are such a Mutt and Jeff pair. I snapped this picture the other night--it was just too cute to pass up.

Last night I started LHN's Gentle and Kind, and I'm doing it twice. One will be two over two and one will be one over one. Both are likely to be gifts of some sort. Since I only managed to get a tiny bit of border stitched, I didn't bother taking a picture. There is nothing recognizable there but a line of stitching. Word of warning to anyone stitching any of these charts. The charts are computer generated, and with the alphabet at the bottom for personalization, the computer doesn't put the centering arrows in the correct spots. The same was true for her Traveling Stitcher, which comprised two charts, and the computer chose to put the arrows in between the charts and a lot of people, myself included, started on their linen in the wrong space.

While our weather here is still hot for the most part, we're having a bit cooler temps at night. A welcome relief. It will soon be autumn! Stitch on, dear friends, and thank you for all your wonderful comments.

WIPs and Finishes

Summer is nearly over, and I, for one, am extremely happy about that. Autumn brings cooler evenings, the kids are back in school, and for some, time seems to slow down a bit. I take much joy and solace from my stitching, so I'm happy to report, I have two small finishes and two WIPs.

First, the finishes: Pine Tree Hill by LHN. I think this one was supposed to be an ornament but I plan on framing one and making a scissor fob out of the other. (I thought it too big for a tree ornament.) I saw this design on artisticneedle's finishing album, thought I had the magazine it was in, and YES, amazingly, I did have it. When I started the first one, on 32 count Belfast, I didn't have all the recommended threads, so I substituted Manor Red for the Ruby Slipper I was missing. But, Ruby Slipper arrived soon after, so the second one was done with all the charted colors. I haven't done a lot of over one stitching but I think this one turned out fairly well. This little one will be part of a special project I have planned.










Next up are my work in progresses: Into the Night by Shepherd's Bush, and Americana Sampling by LHN. I'm enjoying both of them, but I had to step away from the Shepherd's Bush piece because I just couldn't concentrate well. Hubby is home, has been in and out for the past week or so. I needed to get stitching on something that I could "sail" through and still be stitching. After Americana Sampling is done, I might be able to get back to Into the Night.






We finally had two days of thunderstorms and while still humid, it's not quite as hot as it had been. In fact, today is positively marvelous. Too bad I'm stuck inside doing laundry, LOL.


Thank you all for the lovely comments left. Our stitching community sure knows how to show love and encouragement. And you all have kept me very entertained with your blog posts lately. Happy stitching everyone!

Finishes, birthdays, and gifts, oh, my!

I'm a bit late in getting this post written and posted. July ended up very busy, as was the start of August. We're into Birthday months--and September is THE worst of all. (five and counting) My birthday was at the end of July and I have a few gifts to show you from that, and then my youngest granddaughter's birthday was August 1st. Hubby actually made it home for both of those days, though he couldn't stay long for mine. More miles run mean more bills caught up, and thanks to my Mom, Dad and Hubby, a stash order will be forthcoming. (I'm panting in glee right now, and can't wait to get started with my online shopping.)

First, a finish finish. Took me far longer than I expected, but Witches Hat Scissor Case is now completed. What an absolute pain it was to do but it turned out looking pretty good, if I do say so myself. I'm thinking of using the leftover black belfast and the chart to make a fob for my witch's scissors so have left the threads and chart out. (okay, so I'm a slob and haven't put them away yet--but I can still make a fob, right?) Putting the cording around the edges hides a multitude of tiny mistakes, or tiny linen threads that just didn't want to stay put. If ever I do another finish like this, I'm using GLUE!!! Of course, my friend Deb would say there is nothing wrong with a little judicious use of glue in finishing. (though I know she uses very little.)

I tried copying some of your techniques to make pictures interesting, so here is my Witch's Hat Scissor Case, front and back, with my Witch's Scissors by Uncommon Scissors. (She makes great and cool scissors.) Okay, so I know I take boring pictures, sorry about that.

My birthday was a lot of fun. The grandkids came over and brought their Wii, so we had a Wii party. I won on archery--yeah for the old lady! Both my boys got me a game for my DS, Guitar Hero and Harry Potter. Chad also got me a leather notebook/journal, and a lovely pair of opal earrings. I baked a three layer cake, and thankfully, no one put candles on it. (could of burned the house down, lol) We all had a great time, and the day ended with me feeling very loved and appreciated.

My dear friend Beth sent me a lovely package for my birthday--stash! Wonderful, glorious stash. And all from Shepherd's Bush. She sent me three kits, all wonderful: My Pins, Home (the newest sheepie with hat) and Purple Snowman (I've been wanting this one a long time) and a leaflet that I really want to do up for Chad: Halloween Night. It's shown done on 20 count but I thought doing it on 28 or 32 count would look really awesome.

I mentioned last post that we had a new puppy. She's part Cairn terrier, and feisty! She weighs like 5 pounds and thinks nothing of attacking Boo's nose to play--and Boo weighs in at about 95 pounds. Unfortunately, one week after bringing her home, son got called back to work, so the job of house breaking her has been put on me. BOO! HISS! I so hate that job. But, she's doing well, not many accidents and the cats are putting up with her.

In trying to take pictures before Chad got home from work, I forgot to snap a picture of what I'm working on right now. I'm about half done with Shepherd's Bush's Into the Night and nearly finished with Little House Needlework's Pine Tree Hill. Will try to get pics taken soon.

That's all for now. Hope everyone's summer is going well, and that the heat isn't getting to you. I know we have really high temps coming this weekend and I plan to stay inside with the a/c and my stitching. Stitch on, my friends! And for those of you who have children in school--school starts soon! Yay!

More finishes, well, sort of.

Its been a strange summer so far. The new truck has had troubles a plenty--boo, hiss, but the hubby keeps keeping on. He's passed the frustration on to me--which is my job, to keep him as cool headed as possible--and I pass the frustration on to my stitching. I wonder how many of us do that? Deal with all the negatives in our lives by stitching? Sure does keep me a lot calmer. How about you all?

First up, GOODWILL by LHN. I stitched this one because of the lovely colors and because it was a thread pack. I didn't have to hunt down any of the threads, just a lovely piece of linen to stitch it on. And I didn't even have to make a frame up--I have two large tubs of frames I've bought over the years and I had a perfect size to use. (I actually had 4 the perfect size but wrong colors.) There was a lot of mindless stitching, stitching without having to count very often, and that made it absolutely perfect for my purposes. I was sad when I got it finished, but today, very happy that I could stick it in a frame and hang it on the wall. I'm thinking, for the time being, that the wall is finished. (I did think of doing LHN's The Rose in Morning and doing it over one, for a tiny horizontal piece.) Does it seem that I was in a hurry to get that wall done? Absolutely, hubby should be home in the next day or two.

The next piece isn't really finished. The stitching is done but not the finishing work--and I'm a bit nervous about doing this finish. It's Witch's Hat Scissor Case by Historic Stitches. It was really easy to stitch, but would have been much easier to stitch on a different color linen. Done on Black Belfast, I couldn't believe how much difficulty I had in seeing the threads. I think it took me twice as long as it would have on a lighter color. My picture turned the fabric gray but it really is black. The chart called for two pieces of Black Belfast, 11 x 11 inches--I stitched it on one piece of Belfast, 11 x 11 and still have two large squares left over to do a scissor fob or biscornu. But, I've hesitated starting the finish process as I don't think I have enough skill to do it justice. I'm going to try anyway and I'll let you all tell me what you think of it.

I spent most of the past weekend watching Harry Potter movies and stitching on Shepherd's Bush "Into the Night". Didn't really have enough done to take a picture of it. Hopefully, after getting the top part done, the specialty rows will go quickly enough so it actually looks like I stitched something. Of course, eldest son has already said it's going to be his one day--and I think I'll surprise him and give it to him when he buys his first house. (He's looking.)

It's hard to believe that summer is half over already, and the grandkids go back to school next month. What's up with that? Am I the only one who remembers going back to school right after Labor day, in September? I shudder to think of all those young people sweltering in classrooms during the hottest part of the summer.

And with all the heat, the problems with finances, truck troubles and all, we have a new member of the family. Banshee is some kind of terrier, very small, short, with these tiny short legs. We are having a terrible time getting her housebroken but she's finally getting the idea. She is Chad's puppy and he's doing most of the work with her. She really is adorable, and I'll have a picture of her next post. But, do you see a theme here with pet names? We have Boo, Spooky, Shadow and Banshee--two black pets and two gray ones. Shadow has finally taken to the new puppy but Spooky is still hissing and spitting at her. Boo has become her protector, though she's not too fond of Banshee using her tail as a toy. As you can see from the photo above, Spooky seems to spend all her time sleeping on our bed--its a high four poster and the puppy can't reach her there.

I've had a lot of fun reading everyone's posts, and I am amazed at those who can post nearly every day and show pictures too. How on earth do you do that? Debbie, if that was your first framing job, how talented you are. You did a super great job. And Terri Boog, that sampler is to die for. Coni, I love your newest LJP finish--its super spectacular! It would make a really lovely pillow with some patriotic fabrics--or a great wall decoration. Nicole, as always, I'm amazed at how much lovely stitching you do, and with three small boys to raise. Cathy, I love seeing pictures of those grandchildren just as much as seeing your stitching. Deb, busy as always but when do we get to see the pics that are hidden behind those smiley faces? Kath, been missing you and don't think my emails are getting through to you. And to anyone who has been waiting for an email from me--I probably already sent it, but our ISP has been having problems the last few weeks, and most of what I send out is not getting where it should go. Anyway, I love reading all your blogs, it's nearly like visiting in your home and stitching with you, without the drive.

Stitch on, dear friends. Can't wait to see what you stitch on next. Enjoy your summer, and Terri, watch out--that was a lovely looking and very appetizing table you set on the deck. Made me ready to jump in the car and come for a visit. For those that don't know, Terri lives in my old 'neck of the woods' and there are times that I sure do miss Michigan. Until next time. . . . . . . .

Happy Dance times 2

Finally have something to show. With some of the hottest weather in Indiana history, for the first week of summer, I've been staying indoors with the air conditioning. Hot and humid do not work for me at all. (Not to mention the hot flashes the doc says are normal at this time in my life, lol.) I have continued to work on the wall behind our four poster bed, making it look, (I hope) a bit less feminine.

First up, Moon and Stars by LHN. Wow, I really loved stitching this one. I didn't have the recommended Crescent Colours cottons so I substituted Crescent Colours Silks, the Belle Soies. Love working with these threads. I think my color choices were a pretty good match. I had to pull the DMC for general color, and then use the picture to make better variegated matches. I used the recommended fabric color and count, but I wasn't really happy with what I had. My fabric was thin, not nice and dense how I like it.

When I framed the piece, I took Diane's (LHN) idea for frame color and used white. I used a liming paint process that allowed the wood grain to show through and then polyurethaned it for a soft glow. I'm really happy at how it looks all framed up.

I finished the stitching early one evening, and had to find something else to work on. I had LHN's Thread pack of Berries so I pulled out fabric and got started on it. I got the outside borders stitched that first night, so I had the dimensions to measure for framing. Went ahead and made that frame--my first time making a frame before the project was completed--so when I was finished with it, was able to put it in the frame as soon as it was done.

I did make a few changes in this piece. I changed the door to 8 Rhodes stitches, to mimic an eight panel door, and added two chimneys to the roof. The flowers beneath the fences were done with a Smyrna stitch as were the two buds further up the flowers. Just wanted to give a bit more depth to the piece.

Next up is finishing Goodwill, another LHN Threadpack. I got that started up last night but only have the outside border and some of the green ground work done. After that is finished, I'm thinking of a Halloween scissors sheath but not sure of the designer. Or perhaps the Drawn Thread scissor pocket that's Halloweenish.

Here's what the wall looks like over our bed now. As Goodwill will frame just a tad bigger than Berries, it might look good where this tiny shelf is now. Or I can lower the tiny shelf and position the picture above it. And yes, before you ask, hubby and I used to collect Boyd's Bears plush. These bears, hares, and others reside on shelves that encircle the room high up near the ceiling.

On the non-stitching side of life, things are going a tiny bit better--if one can disregard my son's car getting vandalized for the second time in six weeks. (He thinks disgruntled old girlfriend.) Whoever it was left the driver's side of his car decorated with lots of long, deep scratches. Insurance company is NOT going to be happy. Hubby is right now stuck in Atlanta, waiting for a load that will bring him this way. Catching up on bills is going to take us longer than it ever has, thanks to the increase in fuel prices. Looks like perhaps my birthday trip to House of Stitches might have to be a lot later than next month. :(

Stitch on, dear friends, and thank you for all the lovely comments you leave. You have kept my spirits up, encouraged me to keep "keeping on".

Sunflower Inn Happy Dance

My newest finish is Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks. This piece seemed to take me forever, and I wasn't even distracted by my dh being home. It was an enjoyable stitch. I didn't use all of the recommended threads. Substituted Crescent Colour cottons for the three DMC listed and used a different fabric, Heritage Cashel. I really like how it came out.

I will admit to having a small problem with framing this piece. I got it all together, and was ready to put the paper on the back, and realized that I had missed two stitches--the ecru color between the house and the roof. I was so upset. Set about to fix the problem, with my son laughing hysterically in the background. Yes, I added those two stitches without taking the piece out of the frame. Can you spot my addition?

I seem to be on a roll with LHN designs, but there is a reason. For 18 years, the most prominant picture over our four poster bed has been an Alma Lynne bunny, dressed to look like a little girl. Okay, so that isn't the most masculine picture for a bedroom shared by two people. LOL. Dh said he didn't much mind what was hanging there, but I think he likes these LHN pieces better. So far, I've hung Sea to Shining Sea, Prairie Sampler, Holly and Berries (?) and now Sunflower Inn. I have Two White Houses in the works also. (only have most of one house done so far.) I know LHN has another chart with a house that's similar to Prairie Sampler, so I need to find out which one that is, and get that one going. I think that would fit into the collage.

A moment for a rant here. I did Sunflower Inn with two threads over two threads--and what is it about using two ply, strands, whatever, that really sucks? Somehow, I always ended up with one thread shorter than the other. I kept a close eye on my stitches, so I didn't have any uneven ones, but still. Does this happen to anyone else? Is there any way to keep it from happening? Between us, I prefer to stitch with one thread but it just doesn't cover well enough on 28 count, and it's barely sufficient for 32 count. (silk is a different matter, covers just fine on 32 count.) Oh, well, grin and bear it, right?

Here is the piece that I showed last time, all framed up. Acorn Hill. What do you think of the frame color? Too "out there"? Too bright? I tried dulling it down with a wash of green paint, but it doesn't show much.

On the home front, things are getting marginally better. He's running the miles and getting paid, but we have so much to pay back and it's taking a lot longer getting bills paid off than I had thought. I'm on a stash diet--well, not even diet as one eats on a diet. I'm in stash withdrawal, and will change that the second that I can. So many lovely charts out there, so many threads I'm running out of. I'm actually doing Two White Houses with the recommended DMC floss colors.

Life goes on, summer is approaching and with it, the dreaded heat. I've already spent a lot of time indoors with the air conditioning. Did spend one Sunday afternoon washing and waxing my car but it was a cool day, about 65 degrees. That's the kind of temps I enjoy. We have survived a severe storm with only a few downed tree limbs and short power outages. (Poor Boo, the thunder scared her so she stuck close to me.) And this stash withdrawal is causing me to dip into stored stash, and I'm finding things I didn't even remember I had--how cool is that?

Stitch on, dear friends, and thank you for all the comments you leave me. Your encouragement brings a smile to my lips and happy thoughts to my head. And a special thank you to all of you who keep your blogs updated on a regular basis, for I have interesting things to read. Until next time. . . .

Acorn Hill

It's been a very busy time around here, and not much fun. Right after I posted last time, the truck went down again, and hubby was home for 12 days. There was a choice to be made, either fix the old truck, or try to get another truck. I kind a figured that we had put so much money into the old truck that it should be new again, but hubby didn't see it that way. And because he used the title for the old truck as security for purchasing a truck he wanted to put a driver into, and that one hasn't been paid for either, he couldn't use the old one as a trade in. Oh, the drama continues, and for the first time in my life, I hate trucks.

Have you ever seen an Irishman mope? That should be MOPE in capital letters. Irishmen are depressing when they are in a funk, or trying to make a decision, or worried about finances. And my Irishman does it all to the extreme. He must have made 500 phone calls, eaten me out of house and home, tracked in dirt and crud from the garage, did totally nothing for several days, and then tried to get everything he wanted done in a day. HE DROVE ME CRAZY!!!

I have to say, I'm very glad I was stitching on a Little House Needlework project--if it had been a Shepherd's Bush, I'd have made a cake of it. But, with LHN, I can not only enjoy the stitching but not have to worry so much about a certain person talking while I'm counting. Or snoring. And this piece really gave me the "soothing" I needed during this difficult time. So, without further ado, here is Acorn Hill.

This piece was charted for either Crescent colours cotton or Crescent colours silk, so with the choice, I decided on the silks. But, now I need to be careful. I have found out that Chad's cat loves my silks--she stood up on her hind legs and snagged my ring of silks and ran off with them. I caught her before she'd done any damage, but now I have to watch her when I get the silks out.

Now that Shawn is back on the road, I'll be getting the saw out and making a frame for this piece and for my newest project, "Sunflower Inn". About all that's been done on that is the stitched border and the sun, so I didn't take a picture of it yet.

This last picture is the gift Chad got me for Mother's Day. This is the 2009 Friends of Boyd's Bears club kit, with a basket, stuffed bear and a treasure box (I collect their treasure boxes). Wasn't this a sweet thing for him to do? Now I get to find a good use for this lovely basket.

Thanks for stopping by, and many thanks and appreciation for the loving comments you all left me. The encouragement, sympathy and love made me cry and smile at the same time. Thank you all so much. And thank you all for your posts. They really keep me entertained.

Stitch on, my friends--for you all are my friends, the friends of my heart. What blessings you all are!

A New Frame and a New Finish

I sure didn't think it had been over two weeks since the last time I posted. I think I wait to have a picture or a finish to share before I post something new.

First up is the new frame for LHN's Sea to Shining Sea. Thank you for all the compliments on the first frame for this piece, and I really did like the style of the frame. But, what you couldn't see was that the corners didn't fit perfectly and I felt like that detracted from the look of this piece. I tried to match the frame color, but used the idea of what Diane used for her piece. I thought about going the blue she did, and I had the paint for it, but after using the stained frame, I thought that just brought out the color of the lettering so nicely that the new one just had to have stain. I would have posted several days earlier but here in northern Indiana, we've had nearly a week of rain, and the humidity caused the drying time to be really slow. So, what do you think of the new frame?



And now, my new finish. I was really inspired by the framing job Miss Jane showed on her blog of her My Needle's Work. It was fabulous so, of course, I had to get started on it. It went so fast, I was amazed! Got into a good rhythm and had it finished, for the most part, in three days. (or three evenings.) When it came time to stitch the picture she is holding, I just couldn't stitch that rooster. It's not that I hate roosters but it just didn't feel right that my needle worker would stitch a rooster and then be so proud to show it off. Now, I have stitched a rooster picture, but that was for my little sister for Christmas one year as she collects and decorates her kitchen with rooster everything. Anyway, I decided that my little needle worker would stitch a LHN design. I used the Traveling Stitcher chart, stitched only part of it, over one thread. I used the left side house, with the fencing with the bird, the fence on the other side of the house and the flower, plus some of the upper border. I didn't use the thread colors used in Traveling Stitcher, but the thread colors used in the My Needle's Work. Let me tell you--it took longer to stitch that tiny piece than it took to stitch the rest of the piece in its entirety. But, I was very pleased with the results. I am not the greatest over one stitcher but I'm getting better.


On the home front, things continue to go wrong. The truck was down again for another repair, we haven't seen a paycheck in three weeks (which makes it really hard to not only pay bills but to get groceries and prescriptions) and would appreciate any prayers that come our way. It's been a real difficult time but we're trying to keep our heads up and keep on keeping on. The truck is running again, and hubby is in Ohio and won't be home this weekend. All of these problems plus the week of gloomy weather and rain has got me down but I turn to my stitching and all of your blogs and can forget the problems. So, thank you, all of you, who write such lovely posts, keep all of us entertained and inspired. Your posts and your comments mean so much to me.


So, what's on board next in my stitching? I was trying to finish up LHN's The Angels Sang, (and it's almost finished) but I'm having a problem with the floss colors. Her dress and wings are nearly the same color, (antique lace and Garden Trellis) so I'm going to frog out her wings, find a nice pale color that will accentuate the piece, and restitch the wings. But first, I'm stitching Acorn Hill by LHN. I needed to stitch with some silks and this piece is charted for Crescent Colours Belle Soie. I love stitching with Belle Soie. It is so soft and it gleams sweetly and covers so well. I was going to show a progress picture but all I got done was the outside border and a start to the house's roof--so just some brown stitches. I'm stitching it on 32 count Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens, which was a gift from a special friend--you know who you are and how special you are to me



Okay, dear friends. I'm going back to my stitching, and see if I can find something interesting on television to listen to. Stitch on and show plenty of pictures!

Many, many more

Its been probably a month since I last posted, and man, I've been busy! This is going to be a long post, with lots of pictures, so go grab a Pepsi, or a cup of tea/coffee, and get comfy in your chair. Maybe a pillow for your stitch butt? (thanks Siobhan for that delicious and oh, so, perfectly true phrase!) I hope you enjoy what I've been up to for most of March and a bit of April.


I've not just been stitching, although a lot of that has been going on. This past week, I've worked on framing some pieces that have been lanquishing in the tub, praying that a frame would bring them to be hung on the wall. So, some of these you have already seen before, a few are new finishes.


First, my finish and framing of LHN's Sea to Shining Sea. This has been temporarily framed. Temporary because I absolutely HATE the frame and have plans to make another one as soon as I can get my hands on different molding. But, at least, you can see what it looks like completed. And thanks to all of you that encouraged me to NOT frog. It doesn't look too bad, in my opinion.





Next up is Val's Stuff, "Home is where your cats are". I stitched this for my son Chad. I changed the colors a bit--the black cat was supposed to have green eyes while the gray cat had gold eyes. Well, our black cat has gold eyes and the gray one has green so that was one change. Neither cat has a pink nose so that was also changed. I think I also changed out the color on the house because I didn't have the charted color--but it was a close match.




My last NEW finish came after I had made up frames, so it got left out. Here is Wishing Sheep, by Shepherd's Bush. Isn't he cute, with his birthday cake?



The rest are just frame jobs, in no particular order:


Fright by Shepherd's Bush



Jingle by Shepherd's Bush



Come by Shepherd's Bush



My Garden by Shepherd's Bush



My Heart's Garden by Shepherd's Bush



Snow by the Trilogy



Halloween by Drawn Thread (also for Chad--loves Halloween. It was his idea to put the silver spider on this piece instead of the 4th black button)




And while I was waiting for varnish to dry, and the framing to be completed, I started a new LHN piece called the Needleworker. I am really enjoying this piece and already have plans on framing and where to hang it. Should only take a few more days to get this done. I'm stitching it on Vintage Examplar 32 count, with the recommended Crescent Colour overdyed cottons.




If you have lasted this long, and waited for all the pictures to load, I thank you. Happy stitching, everyone and thank you so much for visiting and all the lovely comments you leave. I hope the sun is shining in your windows today.

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!