Sewing project today!

I ended up making two of the q-snap covers today. I'm not sure if I just need to make a couple more to figure out the right measurements for my favored 11x8 q-snap size, but the first was a bit too small and the second was a bit too big. The good thing is, the first fit the 8x8 and the second fit the 11x11.

While I was working on these, my grandsons sat and asked questions about what I was doing and why I was doing it. They were so cute. The oldest one has expressed some interest in my stitching. As much as I'd like to have him learn to stitch, he's a bit too active to sit and concentrate on details. I'll keep encouraging him to help keep him interested, once he settles down a bit, I'm sure I have something that will keep him busy. I think I have 2 kits that came with 11 count aida.

By the time I finished with the two covers, I looked in my sons living room and saw what just screamed for a picture.

The three boys hanging together. When my son had kids I wonder if he ever imagined that at some point he'd become a piece of furniture or a jungle gym. But I must say, they look so comfortable together. I love seeing the three of them together.

I think I might have some more pics to post tomorrow, so until then...Happy Stitching!

Quiltmaker update

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this piece. I've been working on it all week and it just doesn't seem like I got very far. I hope as I progress farther and get to fill in more colors, I'll feel a bit more accomplished with it. So this is where the piece was when I started the week.

And seven days later...

Ok so I guess you can kind of see which way the quilt is laying just by following the basic outline. But I'll tell you, I'm kind of tired of looking at that gold.

Next week I'll be working on Autumn Evening, which is a pretty ambitious project for me. I think I'll begin the weekend by trying to make a q-snap cover. I bought some fabric and I have the "pattern" so I'm going to see how I do at making something new. I'm looking forward to my little sewing adventure.

Hoping you all have a wonderful week and I'm going to try to post a couple of times this week. So until later....Happy Stitching!!

Color Me Surprised!

I have been awarded the Liebster Blog award! Wowsers! Thanks to Ann at Colorful Cross Stitches. I've seen a lot of the blogs that I follow getting them, I never thought I would be awarded one.

Liebster is a German word meaning favorite, dearest, or beloved. The Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition.

The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting.

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blog so they know about the award.
4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

My award recipients are listed below, please pay them a visit!

1. Mellybelly at http://melly-belly-cross-stitcher.blogspot.com
2. Kim at http://kim-demeter83.blogspot.com/
3. Joke at http://jokegaoxing.blogspot.com/
4. Southpaw Stitcher at http://southpawstitcher.blogspot.com/
5. Shannon at http://mylittlestitchingblog.blogspot.com/

Now then, 5 random things you don't know about me.

1. I named my first dog AND my daughter after my favorite stuffed animal as a child.
2. I went to 7 different schools in 7 years from 5th grade to my senior year.
3. I'm the youngest of three kids and my children are my dad's oldest grandchildren, while my oldest brother has the youngest.
4. My lifelong wish is to swim with the otters in Monterey, but I'm not a very strong swimmer.
5. My family has had a reunion every July since the 1980's in Pennsylvania, sadly, I have never been to one.

I never realized how hard it is to pick 5 random things about myself. I'm really quite boring.

Just a quick update on the Quiltmaker, she's coming along slowly, and I must say, I am having a hard time with all the bits of gold here and there. It's making it seem that I'm not getting much done. I know that it will come together slowly, just because it's so large, I just have to have patience. I'll post a pic later in the week. I'm off to stitch for what's left of my Sunday night.

Breast Cancer Mandala update

Previously on the Breast Cancer Mandala update... Ok I watch too much tv. :) But it's so much fun to listen to while I'm stitching. So this is where I left off, pretty pathetic huh? Well, no longer!

As I said yesterday when I posted my TUSAL update, I have made huge progress. I took a pic in the middle of the week because I was really surprised at how much I had accomplished. The pic on the right I just took a couple of minutes ago. I kinda slowed down by yesterday evening, but I was so anxious for Friday to get here, I just couldn't stay awake for very long last night. For an insomniac that is quite rare, so I jump at any chance I get to sleep during "normal" sleeping hours.

This is really stitching up pretty quickly. I figure another 2 weeks of rotation and this one should be done, maybe sooner, just because the ribbons should go pretty quick as they are mostly large chunks of one color. This border is pretty intricate and I love how detailed yet simple the design is. Kind of an oxymoron isn't it? The dimensions seem to be just right to turn this into a trivet, I think. I haven't measured it yet, but then I will get to look at is all the time and it will even be functional.

I did my RNG a little different this week...I know what is up next already. I'll be working on The Quiltmaker for the week. This is probably the oldest pattern that I have, that was planned for many many years ago, before I lost my stitchy bug didn't have a place to stitch. So it was a combination of both. If I make the big strides this week again, I'll post midweek updates too. We'll see how it goes. So until next time...Happy Stitching!!

TUSAL #3

Wow, where did the month go? It's time for another TUSAL update. What is a TUSAL you ask? Well it's a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long! If you want to take part in it, go visit Daffycat's page.

So here's my jar this month. I've spent a lot of time stitching some really colorful projects, so it's brightening up. Since I decided to take part in the 2012 Crazy Cross Stitch Challenge, I've tried many new types of stitching that I hadn't done before. And I'm stitching a ton! Lots more than I have ever done before, I think.

I hope that my infrequent posts here will increase soon too. My work situation is finally starting to settle down. I think we've found our groove which is making things go much smoother. I'll post this weeks progress on my Cancer Awareness piece. I've made huge progress and I'm getting down to the last of the specialty floss that I bought when I got the pattern from Ink Circles. I love the floss so much I bought more of what I'm using now and some other different colors as well.

I'll be back tomorrow with more pics! Happy Stitching!

Another week done.

Thank goodness this week was much calmer than last. I vowed I wasn't working extra this week and I didn't...after Sunday. I didn't do a whole lot of concentrated stitching, but I did have very relaxing evenings all week.

This weeks lucky number was 10. So I pulled out the Precious Moments In God We Trust piece. I totally love this design. And from the color picture, it doesn't look like there are that many colors in it, but it's actually 31! It even uses some Light Effects and Rayon floss, neither of which have I used yet, I'm excited and looking forward to getting to those colors.

Obviously the top pic is where I left off on Day 10. And looking at the two pictures together, I see where I did get quite a bit done this week. I can't wait till I come back to this, I'll finish the pants and shoes. I might even get to start stitching that cute little puppy. I always wanted a dog that size, just didn't want the mess that comes with a dog. So I got a little stuffed puppy that I kept on my work desk for years. Hmmm I wonder what happened to him?!

Not sure what the RNG (Random Number Generator) is going to come up with this week, thank goodness I like all of the pieces that are currently waiting for my attention. I'm going to get to it so I can start the relaxation for the weekend. So Until next time...Happy Stitching!

What a week!

Before I get into my stitching update, I have to say, I've had probably the most stressful week yet at my job. I actually broke down in tears one day this week. We've been working really hard to keep up with our deadlines, but it seems the "faster we go, the behinder we get". It's been a challenge and at times a bit hard to take, but I'm not giving up and I won't. I've learned so much more about the guidelines we have to follow as a "medicaid" insurance company in the past couple of weeks. Suffice it to say, it's been fascinating.

Ok now, on to the stitchy stuff!

Last week my random number generator came up with 13. So I got to work on my otters a bit more. This is where I was when I put them down last. Now even though work has been crazy, I've tried to put aside time to stitch every day. All week long, I was "supposed" to work from home each night, but something seemed to be dead set on me not being able to accomplish that feat. Monday, they had to reinstall my computer at work so I couldn't access it remotely. Tuesday was just NOT going to work for me, I was so tired, I couldn't concentrate on work. Wednesday, I tried logging in, it wouldn't let me since they reinstalled on Monday and it was too late for the helpdesk to be of any real help, yesterday I called the helpdesk as soon as I got home from work to get it so I could log in, well the girl that I talked to did a very good job of making it so that I could log in, but then she stayed logged in so when I got back from picking my hubby up from work, I couldn't get her logged out, and of course, no one at the building to go shut the machine down and restart it, so yesterday was out too! OY!! So I get to fit 8 more hours of work in to tonight and tomorrow. Wow that was a bit of a story huh? Needless to say I've been in need of relaxation!

Now throughout this week I've been working on stitching a little bit each night to help wind down. One evening I realized that the blue that is called for on the pattern looked a little dull when used on this beautifully hand dyed fabric that I got from Stitchnmomma. So I asked the crazy women in this challenge which they thought looked better. My first instinct was the bright blue, but then after looking at all 3 decided that the middle 826, looked the best. So off to the frogging I went so I could make it look fabulous.

This is what it looks like now after a weeks worth of here and there stitching. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Let me know your thoughts on the blue if you care to, not that I'm likely to frog more, but I'd like to know what you think.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to "listen" to me vent a little. It's been hectic, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world....well, maybe for more stitching time, but wouldn't we all?



So,until next time...Happy Stitching!!

Update on Day 1 project.

The random number generator called up a 1 last weekend. This is what it looked like at the beginning of the week. Keep in mind I worked overtime most of the week so I had very little stitching time available.

Considering that January 1st was a holiday, and I don't drink so I wasn't hung over...so, why did I not get much more stitched on this? Hmmmm, not sure what I was doing that kept me from stitching.

This is what it looks like now. I suppose at least one more week for it to be completed. Probably two, but I'm not working on it again next week. I'll roll the random generator and work on the next one this weekend through next Friday. Unfortunately, I do have to work all day tomorrow, so I won't get to stitch until late in the day. I'll have to get it set up tonight, whatever it is.







Short one tonight, I need to get to bed so I can get up at a horribly ungodly hour to go to work. So, until next time, Happy Stitching!!