Embroidery

Last week, I tried embroidering free-hand in preparation for my newest godson's baptism. My years of cross stitching made it fairly easy to back stitch Steven's name onto a bib I purchased at Wally World.  I wrote his name on a scrap of paper, and then traced it onto the bib while holding it up to a window (aka poor person's light box).  If I had to do it again, I'd probably use three or four strands of embroidery floss instead of just two to make the letters thicker, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Not bad for my first attempt at embroidery!

My godson Steven, baptized August 8, 2015

Positivity Challenge: Day 3

For the third day of the Positivity Challenge, and my 3 positives for the day are:

1. Love and support from friends and family
2. An upcoming beach vacation to look forward to!
3. Getting my crafty time in with both the library stitch group and the IHOP stitch group in the same day

My current cross stitch project and another knit dishcloth

Small Project Progress

My Christmas cross stitch project is coming along nicely, albeit slowly compared to my stitching friends.  I'm also working on a knit baby set, which I'll photograph when it's done.  Speaking of done, I can't believe I forgot to post my little bunny boy cross stitch when I finished him in April!

The mouse now has a birdie friend

Finished the week after Easter... guess he's ready for next year!

New Project

I started a new cross stitch pattern at IHOP stitch night this past week. I haven't been doing much knitting or stitching lately, so it was good to pick up a small project again! 

Tea Station

It's so nice to have my computer back!  The power supply died earlier in the week, and I've had five days to experience how a smartphone is not a good substitute for a good old-fashioned desktop.  Thank you to my BIL for helping Dave get it back up and running!  While the computer has been out of commission, I received a belated Christmas present from my best friend in California.  Pretty awesome for her first counted cross stitch project, don't you think?  I know exactly where I'm going to hang it, but the problem is, we don't have that space in our current living accommodations.

I found this image of a coffee station on Pinterest a while ago and decided we would make space for a tea station in our next house.  Instead of a Keurig, we'll have our electric kettle, and all of those baskets will be filled with tea.  Heather's cross stitch definitely fits in with this plan--picture it on the top shelf with several of our fancy bed & breakfast mugs!

Original Source: For the Love of Coffee

New Year, Old Projects

I finished weaving in ends on my stack of "to finish" knits at IHOP last Thursday.  I had one last bib, two burpcloths, and a dishrag made of these same pink and pastel remnants (not pictured because I then gave it to one of my fellow stitchers to take home and use).  Now I need to sew buttons onto all of the bibs, but that's something to procrastinate another day.  I actually worked on some cross stitch when I was done with the knits.  The bunny project I started four or five months ago would have been done already if I didn't put it down for several months between stitching sessions... but such is my habit.  Maybe he'll be done in time for Easter since it falls so late this year!

May Blessings

Yes, I'm running a week late on this post for May.  I've kinda been busy getting the house ready to sell, so without further ado, here are the blessings I'm counting from last month:

• Mother's Day brunch hosted by my sister Mary and her fiance Paul with lots of enjoyable conversation on the back porch on a beautiful afternoon (plus entertainment provided by one particularly adorable dachshund and her pink racquetball)
• My last day of work (May 17) and the beginning of voluntary unemployment, which for the first two weeks consisted of back-breaking work like painting, yardwork, packing, moving boxes into storage, and cleaning just about everything in our house.
• Girls' Night Out at the Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta and lots of fun comments about taking Hot Hamlet home in our trunk...
• A pleasant birthday afternoon spent stitching with the ladies at PINS and a birthday date night with my husband to see Star Trek: Into Darkness in 3D on the IMAX screen.  Yes, I am not ashamed to be a Star Trek fan!
• Brunch with my in-laws at Ray's on the River (my first time there) to celebrate the May birthdays of me and my SIL--any excuse to get together with family and to see our three adorable nieces!

Counting My Blessings #2

This week has been a little crazy, but it's helped to be counting my blessings throughout the week to try to narrow down what will make the cut for the blog!

1. Dave didn't have to work last weekend (yipee!) because we had a family birthday party to attend for two of our nieces.  It was great to see everyone on his side of the family and to watch the girls having fun with their cousins.
2. Sunday was a monthly lunch date of a few friends from a now defunct book group (apparently we're a foodie group now).  There's nothing quite like stuffing yourself full of garlic knots and then laughing till your stomach hurts.
3. My hair appointment this week was long overdue.  It feels so good to have the cute Diane Lane haircut again!
4. Last night I attended the Thursday night cross stitch group for the first time in a few weeks.  My rear end was numb after a couple hours in those not-so-comfortable IHOP chairs, but it was nice to work on my project again.
5. My best friend's little girl turns 3 years old today!  It's hard living on the opposite side of the country, but through Facebook and text pictures, I'm still able to watch her grow up.  Happy birthday, Faith!

Aimee tries to make herself comfortable before
our lunch at Provino's.

Special Valentines

When you're home sick (with a mutant sinus infection) a few days before Valentine's Day, what do you do? Well, if you're me, you look for a small project that doesn't require lots of energy.  Inspired by a craft I found through Pinterest, I made my own "Hearts Stitched Together" cards.  Since the template link from the source blog was broken, I made my own in Excel, printed it, then used push pins on a cork board to make the holes I needed on the blank card.  When I was finished stitching, I had three beautiful cards to send out, made at no cost to me (except postage) since I had everything I needed in my stash already!

The first card I made (top right) was stitched with a dark maroon thread and mailed to my west coast best friend with the inside message: Friend are God's way of giving us hugs on special days.  Consider yourself hugged this Valentine's Day!  As of right now, it's still en route to California (so Heather, you better not be reading my blog till after it arrives!)

I made the card in portrait for my second try and ended up adding a third heart because it looked so blank at the bottom.  The first thread is a deep red for the top two hearts and a medium purple for the third one.  I sent this to my grandmother with the message: You're sew special to me!  Happy Valentine's Day, Grandma!  Mom told me that Grandma was very tickled by her homemade card (despite the really bad pun).

The third and final card (bottom right) has one burnt orange heart and one navy blue heart with the saying inside: Happy Valentine's Day to my favorite Bears fan!  Of course, this was stitched especially for my dear husband, and it was very appropriate since we had Valentine's dinner at Bobby G's Chicago Eatery.  Please don't think less of my husband for not taking me out for a fancy dinner--this is the third year we've had Bobby's at my request because I love their Italian beef sandwiches.  The past two years, Dave brought it home, and I pulled out our china for the special occasion!

Belated Flat-Fold Reveal

It's been how long since I posted?  And how many posts do I have floating around in my head?  All I can say is life is crazy busy, and when I get home, the computer usually stays off.

Anyway, back at the end of September, the other stitching Karen gathered a few of the local stitchers together for a flat-fold class.  What is a flat fold?  It's a way of framing cross stitch.  By the way, the piece I framed was lovingly stitched for me by HistoryDiva a few years back.

All of the pieces waiting to be assembled

A line-up of flat-folds from our class

The Knit Wit is temporarily at home on the mantle, next to a stack of
almost finished knit projects I need to keep out of reach of kitty paws...

Summer Stitching

Finishing the Sewing Room has allowed me to start a new
cross stitch project.  What is it?  Wait and see...

Using a double-strand of red chenille yarn makes a nice winter scarf

Finished in August: A fuchsia chenille scarf and a
child's fringed scarf in some purple remnants from previous projects

Knitting patterns: Crushed-Velvet Scarf from Simple 1-2-3 Knitting Scarves (red scarf), Easy Scarf in Faggot Stitch (fuchsia scarf), and I honestly don't remember the pattern for the purple remnant scarf because I frogged it so many times--I was trying to make a full-sized scarf from the remnant yarn, but I finally gave up, added a fringe, and dubbed it a "princess scarf" for some lucky little girl...

Another Finish

Two cross stitch finishes back-to-back?

Are pigs flying?

Do the Cubs have a chance of winning the World Series?

Were the Mayans right about 2012? 

Naked hedgehog (aka before backstitch)

Look at that cute little face! 

Can you spot the difference?

Big Finish!

I began this blog with the idea of keeping track of my stitching projects, primarily The Sewing Room. I've been working on backstitch for over a year with the hopes of eventually finishing for Mom's birthday or for Christmas. Throughout the process, I texted pictures of my progress to my BFF in California.

With less than a week to spare, I stitched on my initials and declared it complete.  I presented it to my mother this past weekend--Happy Birthday, Mom!

Backlogged

And this is why there have not been very many knitting posts lately...

Weaving in the ends on knitting projects is right there on my list of "not fun crafty stuff" along with backstitching on cross stitch projects.  I'm currently lost under a pile of completed knits, which Skeeter loves because all of the loose ends are great fun to bat out of the knitting bag and to nom when I'm not looking.  I will definitely be washing all of these prior to gifting to remove the kitty spit!

Organization Attack

This past weekend, I felt the need to clean.

I emptied 90% of my craft closet's contents
onto the guest bed.

Skeeter thoroughly explored her "forbidden closet"
while I sorted and reorganized.

I was excited I could fit my craft books
in the closet!

Much better than my toppling stacks of stash!
I should have taken a "before" photo...

All I have left is to reorganize some yarn remnants and
my pattern notebook... and spoil the kitty!

Something Accomplished

I finished all of the cross stitch involved in The Sewing Room this weekend, and it took (just barely) less than five years!  Now I need to do all of the backstitching...

Please ignore the unflattering angle of the picture and the fact that I should have put on make-up (even though I was running late to PINS).  On a positive note, my new haircut looked cute despite the torrential rain that afternoon!

It's Coming!

Two more weeks, and I won't have to drive a half hour to stock up on craft supplies ever again! And it's right next to BB&B, which could be double-trouble for my poor credit card...

Motivation

Baby Faith's birth announcement came in the mail today, so I convinced myself that I should leave my cross stitch bag at home and take my knitting instead for Tuesday night stitching at The Stitch Store. Fortunately the cross stitchers are pretty accepting of other forms of stitching, so hopefully I'll finish the second burp cloth well before Faith starts kindergarten!

In creating this post, I learned how to fix pictures that are upload sideways onto Blogger from my old digital camera. It didn't take long to get Faith facing the correct direction, and in the process I learned that you can use Paint to convert .jpg files to .png files!

Sewing Room 2009

A lot happened in 2009 (most notably Dave and I got engaged!) so I didn't work on "The Sewing Room" very much.

Flag Day 2009

But thanks to the relocation of The Stitch Store (formerly known at The Dogwood Patch) a few exits from my house and Terrie's Tuesday night stitch-ins, there is an end in sight for 2010! I will post pictures when it's ready for backstitching...

Sewing Room 2008

This was the year I busted my butt on "The Sewing Room" to finish the quilt so I could send my mother a picture of my progress for Valentine's Day. It was also the year of the Summer Olympics, which I watched with hoop in hand...

New Year's Day 2008

Valentine's Day 2008

Labor Day 2008