This & That

I've been working on the Fixer-Upper almost every day, but I did find a little time to stitch and made some progress on Spring Has Come by Prairie Schooler.I'm really feeling the need for a stitchy break! We're planning to grill hamburgers out at the lake for dinner tomorrow night so maybe I'll just take the whole day off!

Because I've been working so hard at the house, I treated myself to a Vera Bradley laptop case. This color (Mesa Red) is being retired so the case was 25% off. Gotta love a sale!
You wouldn't believe the HUGE box this was shipped in! I was hoping I'd won some secret Vera Bradley lottery, but nope, just the one bag. Drats!

We've been finding odd things in the house as we're tearing it apart. This envelope fell out of the bathroom cabinet when we tore it down...It says it's made of real human hair. Now isn't that just creepy? And no, I haven't opened the envelope to take a look!
We found this in the kitchen...Quite dirty, but way less creepy than the hair net, IMO! It reads: These coupons can be exchanged for handsome imported China premiums like samples on exhibition. Think it's still valid? Should I go get my china?

Hope everyone is having a great week and finding plenty of time to stitch!

I Believe

Believe by Lizzie Kate
stitched on 32-count linen with WDW and GAST
Seven down, five to go! Here's what the whole thing looks like so far...

Hello, It's Me!

At last! I have settled on a stitching spot in this teeny tiny house! This teeny tiny house that has only seven electric outlets! I never realized just how dependent on electricity we are! Or how many things we have that need to be plugged in or charged! We are constantly asking each other questions like, "Do you need to charge your phone, or can we have the lamp on tonight?" "Are you done with the curling iron so I can finish charging my toothbrush?" We're using those splitter things in three places but I'm afraid we'll blow a fuse or something worse just because I wanted the fan on while I was drying my hair!

So my stitching spot is at the kitchen table. My Ott Lite shares an outlet with two laptop chargers, the iron, and a fan. There's a big window over the table and usually a kitty or two will be sitting on the sill, watching the birds hopping around in the neighbor's yard. My daughter will sit across the table from me, tapping away on her laptop, while mine is tuned in to KLUV in Dallas. With our IM's blooping and familiar voices on the 'radio', we don't feel so far from home.

I've been working on my LK Double Flip piece. This month is "Believe". It's a bit rumpled and the picture is dark, but here is my progress so far...
You finally get to see "Learn" from last month, too, since I never posted a picture of that finish!

We've been busy working on House #2 aka The Fixer-Upper. The kids and I spent a day over there cleaning up cobwebs and all sorts of dust and crud. Next on the list, we're completely re-doing the bathroom, ripping out all the fixtures and tearing out walls to open it up a bit more. The before pictures are on my other computer or I'd show you why it had to be gutted, LOL! I'd also show you the floor tile that's been glued to the kitchen counter and the "popcorn" texture that was sprayed on the walls as well as the ceiling. Most of it I can only stare at, completely bewildered. Who were these people and what were they thinking??? I may have to devote a whole other blog to this project!

Other than working on the house and doing the "plug shuffle", we've been spending some time out at the lake. The Fourth of July was amazing, with tons of fireworks being set off. It was quite a show and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Jim (my sweetie) spoiled them with a generous assortment of things that went BOOM!

Yesterday morning we ventured out to a local U-Pick farm and filled up several buckets with fat, juicy blueberries. It was a gorgeous day, and we couldn't have found a more perfect way to spend it.

Yummy!

Me? Act normal? Never!

Before and After

Our 26' Penske rental was packed to the gills. The good news is I didn't have to leave behind one bit of stash! I even packed my orts!
Six of us worked for about four hours to get everything unloaded. It was a bumpy trip and a few things were damaged in transit, but my Ott Lite made it through unharmed! Woohoo! Now, if I could find my stitching bag I'd be in good shape!

We're slowly settling into a routine here. I found a fabric shop during one of our explores and there's a Michael's a couple of towns north of us, but I'll need to check online to see if there are any needlework shops nearby. Keeping my fingers crossed that there is something not too too far away since gas is over $4.00/gallon here.

Our internet was hooked up this morning so I'll be catching up on my blog reading over the next couple of days. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has been working on lately!

We're Here!

Woohoo! I finally arrived in Michigan, along with two children, six pets, two cars, and a 26' truck full of all our worldly possessions. Tired does not even begin to describe how I'm feeling at the moment! Tomorrow we'll start unloading and deciding what needs to go where. We will be living in Temporary House #1 before we can move into Temporary House #2, which turned out to need more work than we originally thought it would. Heck, this whole move turned out to be 100 times more work than I thought it would, LOL! But I had some great helpers and things went reasonably smoothly. And I honestly believe in time I will get over having to give away my patio furniture... and my dining room set... and my Christmas china... and my filing cabinet... and my vacuum cleaner...

Okay, maybe not the vacuum cleaner so much.

Checking In

Just a quick post to say I'M STILL HERE! And I am never, ever doing my own packing again! We've been in this house over 15 years and have accumulated so much STUFF! It's unreal! Most of it hasn't seen the light of day in several years but for some reason my logical brain can't persuade my sentimental brain to toss it! We did have some success in getting rid of 90% of what was in my garage. Some ex-relations came by with a rental truck this morning and I pretty much let them have whatever they wanted. To me, most of it was junk, but they were more than happy to take it off my hands.

Sadly, I haven't picked up a needle in at least a week. I did manage to finish my Lizzie Kate Double Flip for the month, but for the life of me I can't find it to take a picture to post. My house is a maze of boxes so that's understandable!

Off to watch Hell's Kitchen and then I'm hitting the hot tub for some relaxin'!

Progress Pictures

Some proof that I am still finding time to stitch despite the packing!

Thursday was the Happy Home Sampler SAL. I finished the top row of flowers and got started on the alphabet. It's a little tedious with the three different blues but the result is quite pretty.

Block 3 of VoHRH is coming along slow but steady. This is the City Hall. The windows are all but finished and there's steps leading up to the door now. I can't decide whether to start laying bricks next or work on getting the sign hung.

I started my LK Double Flip for the month. I'll have it finished soon if I can sit still long enough. I seem to have a lot of nervous energy these days!

Thank you for the comments on my Fiestaware collection! I had quite an obsession with it (and Bauer, too!) several years ago! I wish I had taken a picture of the whole cabinet before I started packing. I'll never remember where I had everything!

Goals

I didn't do too bad in May:

1. Work on VoHRH. Check!
2. Work on Spring Has Come! Check!
3. Start and finish Listen (the next Lizzie Kate Double Flip). Check!
4. Start and finish May Woolly Tyme Blanket. Check!
5. UFOs! Nope, they're still UFOing!

I've decided not to make any goals for June because I'll be doing a lot of this:
I love my mummified dishes!

I would like to at least do my monthy projects, the LK series and my sheep blanket. And I'll be working on my Happy Home Sampler each Thursday for the SAL. Other than that it's gonna be slim stitchin' here for a while.

May Sheep Blanket Finish

May Woolly Tyme Sheep Blanket by Homespun Elegance
Stitched with WDW and DMC on 28-count linen
Charlotte was thrilled that her blanket was finished in time for the Sheep Social. It's hard to tell, but that's her happy face.

Can you believe it's June? The year just started and it's already almost half over!

SAL Progress

Here is my progress so far on my Happy Home Sampler, plus a glimpse of what's to come. Constant interruptions kept me from getting as much done as I would have liked. There's always next week, right? Maybe I'll get smart and take the phone off the hook, haha!

Everything regarding the house repairs has been worked out with the buyers and soon I'll be in packing mode. We are trying to do as much as we can ourselves, but I'm still looking at options. Moving is expensive!

Oh my!

That's a lot of orts, ladies!

Update on the house: We had the inspection on Friday. They were here over four hours! We came back to find little orange stickers stuck all over the house. They irritated the heck out of me so I removed them. Saturday I met with my realtor to go over the list of repairs they'd like me to make. Considering the stickers, it was a relatively short list. I agreed to all but four of them, and we were pretty satisfied that they wouldn't object. So I get a call yesterday evening from my realtor saying they realllly want one of the items taken care of. This just happens to be one of those things that you just can't repair and have it be right. The whole thing would have to be replaced which I'm told they don't expect me to do. My response was no, based on the fact that I know they won't be satisfied with the repair. I haven't heard anything back, which I find odd considering everything has been rush, rush, rush up to this point.

Anyway, I have a certain sheep's blanket calling my name. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Poor Charlotte

She's not very happy with me. Just look at that face.If I don't get busy, this is what she'll be stuck wearing to the monthly Sheep Social & Fashion Show.

I swear, that face! If she were a pig she'd be disgruntled.

Emotional Rescue

Things went well with yesterday's negotiations. We spit and shook hands on a selling price, and I initialed this and signed that until it was all official. We're having a home inspection tomorrow... cringe! Think they'll notice the crack in the kitchen light cover we just put there while changing the silly lightbulb? The inspection will take 3-4 hours so I'm planning to head out to a movie and make myself sick on "buttered" popcorn. Don't even try to stop me!

I had such an emotional crash and burn this morning. If there's such a thing as seller's remorse I had an acute case of it. So I did the only thing I could possibly do to feel better... I started a new project! I decided I'd join in the Happy Home Sampler SAL that BeckySC started on her blog. Even though I'm behind on my May goals, I needed something new to take my mind off this incredibly stupid thing I've just done (haha!). All that counting and recounting proved to be just the therapy I needed! Here's my start: I haven't done a stitch-a-long in ages, so this will be fun for me. I'm already looking forward to next Thursday, and to watching everyone's progress!

I Feel Like Singing!

Got an offer! Got an offer!
Got an offer just now!
Just now we got an offer!
Got an offer just now!

The last few days have been crazy and I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I think we may have finally sold the house!

WOOHOO!!

I've Been Spoiled!

There's been no stitching for me the last couple of days. Why? Because I received the most wonderful Mother's Day present from my children! A laptop! I have no clue what I did to derserve this amazing gift but I am just tickled about it!! It's been so much fun learning how to use it, setting things up, making it my laptop. And I'm WIRELESS!! The freedom!! Now tell me why I haven't moved more than six feet away from the router?

I do have a finish the share! I put the last stitches in Lizzie Kate's "Listen" Saturday night after dinner.

I made a small boo-boo on the letter S, but I've left it for now. If I correct it I'll have to restitch the T-E-N as well. I'm thinking I can live it. Here's a photo of the whole thing so far...

Oh my! The wrinkles! Is there Botox for linen?

Enjoy your special day, Moms!

C-O-F-F-E-E!

I had to share this for any coffee drinkers out there!

Goals

Can you believe it's May?? Where did April go?? It seemed to blow through here so quickly, but I did manage to get a little stitching done! Here are my goals for April and how I did on them:

1. Finish "Season of Hope" by LHN. Check!

2. Start and finish "Give" by LK. Check!

3. Work on "Spring Has Come" by PS. Check!

4. Start "Village of Hawk Run Hollow" by CHS!!! Check!

5. One more attempt at the UFOs! Whoops! Forgot about this one!

Here are a couple of progress pictures that I've been meaning to post.

Spring Has Come! by Prairie Schooler

I have quite a ways to go on this one, but it's a nice break from the tiny stitching on VoHRH! I plan to keep working on it this month, so we'll see how much more I get done. These big projects kinda scare me but I'd hate to see this one become a UFO!

Village of Hawk Run Hollow (Block 3) by Carriage House Samplings

I started on Block 3 because I was initially stiching it without the Q-Snaps and I didn't want to be wadding up blocks 1 & 2 in my sweaty hand. I'm using Vikki Clayton silks and so far I love them! It's been a little rough working on the 40-ct. linen but my light and magnifier help tremendously. I'm taking it slow!

On to May goals!

1. Work on VoHRH.
2. Work on Spring Has Come!
3. Start and finish Listen (the next Lizzie Kate Double Flip).
4. Start and finish May Woolly Tyme Blanket.
5. UFOs!

Two littles, and two bigs! Perfect for me! And I can't forget my UFOs this month! They're getting sad!

Give

Give by Lizzie Kate
from the Double Flip series

stitched on 32 count linen with WDW & GAST fibers

Here's what the whole (wrinkly) thing looks like so far:

I am officially 1/3 of the way done! This is going to be one looooong piece once all twelve are finished!

P.S. I started VoHRH!!! Hooray!!!

Season of Hope HD

Season of Hope by Little House Needleworks

stitched with DMC on 28-ct. Antique Ivory linen

I've been on a bit of an internet diet this last week. We had a storm take it completely out, but once Verizon declared it fixed we were still staring at a dead modem. We're back up and running again, and I've been playing catch up on my blog reading. Please forgive me lack of commenting! I'm hoping to be back to "normal" soon!

I've been busy out in the yard, trying to stay ahead of the weeds. They sprout as fast as blog posts! If only there was a delete button!

I've also been getting a tiny bit of stitching done. I'm working on Give from LK and should have it finished soon. I need to tie myself to my chair tonight because I really don't have much left to do on it. Believe it or not, I still haven't started VoHRH! Why do I procastinate?!?!?

We went to our first Rangers game this season on Tuesday. My daughter treated us to some very nice seats, in the fifth row right behind the first base dugout. And who cares if we lost! The weather was perfect (remember last year's rain-out about this same time?), the view was ideal, the food was classic (hot dogs with grilled onions!) and we had a fantastic time!

Goal Review

A little late, but here is what I accomplished in March:

1. Start and finish "Remember" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
2. Start and finish "Season of Hope" by Little House Needleworks. Almost...
3. Start "Spring Has Come" by Prairie Schooler. Yes!
4. Start and finish at least one of the bird ornaments from "Birdsong II" by PS. Yes!
5. Reduce my pile of UFO's! No... I guess that's why they're UFOs :-(

For April:

1. Finish "Season of Hope" by LHN. (I am sooo close on this one!)
2. Start and finish "Give" by LK.
3. Work on "Spring Has Come" by PS.
4. Start Village of Hawk Run Hollow by CHS!!!
5. One more attempt at the UFOs!

I have been such a lazy blogger these last few weeks. Maybe I should add "Be a better blogger" to my list! It's not that I don't have things to share, it's just that I'm woefully ashamed of my photography skills! I may have to turn that job over to my DD. She has a much better eye than I do!

You may have noticed VoHRH on my list. I finally broke down and splurged on the Vikki Clayton silks. I had the fabric and pattern already so now I'm all set! Woohoo! I'm excited but I must admit, also a little nervous. 40 count fabric?? Eep!

We've had a few more showings on the house but still no offers. I'm starting to get grumpy! Any happy thoughts, prayers, good vibes, rain dances, or whatever else you can spare would all be greatly appreciated!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Hand Dyed

Happy Easter!

Still Here!

And still stitching! I have two finishes to share! The first is the next installment in my LK monthlies, called "Remember". Here's how it looks so far:We're definitely having some issues with wrinkly linen here! And this is after I ironed it!

I stayed up past my bedtime last night and finished this little guy:It's the red-headed woodpecker from Prairie Schooler's Birdsong II. Instead of filling in the background with stitches, I cheated and used some light blue (okay, it was dawn grey!) fabric. See the line where the fabric was folded? It will not go away no matter what I try! Does anyone else ever have this problem with fabric that's been in your stash for several years? I have all these nifty little packages of fabric in my closet that I've been trying to use, but they all seem to have these fold lines. Any advice?

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter weekend! I will have everyone home tomorrow except my oldest son who is still in Korea. Now I'm off to boil a couple dozen eggs for the kids to dye!

Fear of Finishing

I admit it! I'm a finishing chicken! I'm terrified that I'll take some lovely piece that I spent hours stitching and completely ruin it by trying to turn it into a pillow or pinkeep! So I decided I needed some practice to build up some confidence. I pulled out an old round robin that didn't really have much of a theme (unless it was "Cross Stitch from the '90s") so the motifs didn't go together very well. I still cringed when I took the scissors to it, and cut away one of the squares; Victim #1 was in my shaking hands! With the hardest part behind me, I got to work making a little hanging pillow. I had to sew the entire thing by hand because my machine is still being cranky. And I learned some lessons. Number one: Don't forget your seam allowance! What a newbie mistake! My second lesson concerned the hanger part: If you want it to be on the outside when you're done, don't sew it to the inside! I'm also going to have to learn how to be neater about sewing up the "stuffing hole". It came out a little lumpy. Other than those few things, WOOHOO! I did it! And I have to say, I couldn't have done it without the inspiration I get from other stitchers who share so many lovely finishes on their blogs! Thank you all!

A Non-Stitchy Post

Saturday has turned into "Adventures in Baking" day here. So far we've tried focaccia, bagels, and kolaches. Today it was baked donuts. I couldn't help but laugh when we pulled them out of the oven. We made belly buttons!

Some got dipped in cinnamon sugar, some got dusted with powdered sugar, and some got eaten right away!
We are showing the house tomorrow at 1:00. This is our first serious showing in close to two months so keep your fingers crossed!

SBQ Time!

This week’s SBQ comes from the archives:

After you stitch a pattern or kit, what do you do with it?

For the most part I hang on to them, even the freebies I print out from the internet. A lot of times they're pretty worn out by the time I'm done with them but I don't think I've ever thrown a pattern away. I've also sent them on to other stitchers or done trades.

Winter Has Returned!

Did I say spring had sprung? I take it back! Here's what we woke up to this morning...I know most of you are tired of snow by now, but I have to say it was totally gorgeous watching it fall last night in the moonlight. I was surprised this morning to see so much had accumulated. I had to get outside and take some pictures quick before it all melted!

I started Spring Has Come from Prairie Schooler yesterday while watching our winter storm roll in on radar. I'll get a picture posted as soon as there's enough to show! Tonight will be Sonic Burgers, American Idol, and primary results, with a little stitching thrown in!

Goal Review and a Finish

Overall, I think I had a good month...
1. Continue to work on Winter Sampler. I did, but not much. This one is in danger of becoming a UFO :-(
2. Finish "Love My Coffee" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
3. Start and finish "Dream" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
4. Start and finish "Love" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
5. Start and finish February Woolly Tyme blanket. Yes!

Goals for March...
1. Start and finish "Remember" by Lizzie Kate. (I'm planning to do one of these a month.)
2. Start and finish "Season of Hope" by Little House Needleworks.
3. Start "Spring Has Come" by Prairie Schooler.
4. Start and finish at least one of the bird ornaments from "Birdsong II" by PS.
5. Reduce my pile of UFO's!

And here is my latest finish...

Lovebird

a delicious freebie from Deborah at Midsummer Night Musings

stitched with DMC on 28-count Golden Tan Quaker Cloth

My itchy nose says spring has finally sprung here in North Texas. Even though our temps have been in the 50s and 60s, I still had a case of the winter blahs last week. I'm hoping to shake them soon with some springy stitching!

Dream/Love HD

Dream & Love

from the Double Flip series by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 32 count linen with WDW & GAST fibers

These were such fun to stitch! And the best part is there's ten more to go! Woohoo!

We've been busy as beavers around here, still doing little things around the house in the hopes that it will sell soon. I bought a flat of pansies yesterday and stuck some in a couple of flower pots in an attempt to make the front of the house look less drab. My daughter planted the rest around the pool in the back while I cleaned out the flower beds. We had some rain recently and the weeds are starting to pop up everywhere. More rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. I may have to go out and rescue my flower pots, poor babies!

I'm hoping for a more relaxing day tomorrow. I want to finish reading Emma (I love me some Jane Austen!), maybe make a pot of chicken soup for dinner. And then there's the small question of what to stitch next. Hmmm...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Meet Charlotte

I decided my little sheepie needed a name to go along with her new blanket! She doesn't look too happy about either, though...
Now hush, Charlotte! That hem is perfectly straight!

Happy Dancin!

Love My Coffee

from Coffee Crazy by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 28 count mystery fabric with Weeks Dye Works fibers

I just love these Coffee Crazy designs! Love the colors, love how simple and quick they are to stitch! I'll have the other two done before you know it, haha!

Next up, though, is my February Woolly Tyme sheep blanket. It's sitting here, kitted up, just waiting for me. But I tend to drag my feet when it comes to starting something new. I don't know why. Anyone care to give me a jump start?

January Goals Review/February Goals

I had a short list, but I managed to do everything on it! Baby steps, right?

1. Work on Winter Sampler. I did, but not very much. Considering the size of this project, I really should devote a little more time to it.
2. Start/Finish Season of Rest (LHN). Done!
3. Start/Finish Winter Fields (Secret Needle Night). Done!
4. Work on reducing my UFOs. Finished one UFO and made progress on three others.
5. Find Woolly Tyme blanket kits! Hooray! I found them on Thursday, the last day of January!

I'm gonna keep it short and sweet again for February:
1. Continue to work on Winter Sampler.
2. Finish "Love My Coffee" by Lizzie Kate. (I was sneaky and started this last week!)
3. Start and finish "Dream" by Lizzie Kate.
4. Start and finish "Love" by Lizzie Kate.
5. Start and finish February Woolly Tyme blanket. No more naked sheep!

We spent Wednesday and most of Thursday internet-less while our service provider tried to fix the problem. I completely lost my patience at one point and yelled at one of their technical support people. I think he said his name was James. Sorry I hung up on you, James. Then I called back and talked (calmly) to Edwin who told me he'd send a service tech out the next day to check things at the house. Mark arrived at 10:00 and laughed about how they had tried to fix my old line with a new circuit that wouldn't work on it because, well, it was too old. Mark had them switch us back to the original circuit and it looks like we're stuck with what we have for now. At least until I get my voice back, haha!

Anyone watching the big game tomorrow? I'm not a football fan, but I'll tune in for the commercials and halftime show. Plus I enjoy rooting for the underdog. It's also a great excuse for pigging out on chili con queso!

It's Here!

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

Freebie Finish

We've been plagued by an intermittent internet connection among other not so fun things, including my first (and hopefully last!) root canal. Ick! Finding the desire to sit down with my cross stitch has been tough but I did manage to put the final stitches in this cute freebie from Lizzie Kate the other night.

You Have Stolen My Heart
an exceptionally old freebie from Lizzie Kate
stitched with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads on 28-ct. lavender Quaker Cloth

I've also been trying to finish up another of my ancient UFOs, Just Nan's Winter Roses. As much as I love getting things done that I've been wanting to do forever, I'm really feeling the need to start something new. As in something that was published in this century!

UFO Sited!

I've spent the last few days working on several of my UFOs, and I'm proud to report I actually finished one of them! This one is (was!) my oldest UFO and one of my earlier projects. My guess is I started it sometime in late '80s. The chart was in one of my cross stitch magazines, and because my oldest son loved kites I had to stitch this one for him! Plus it was designed by Susan Winget! I remember I stopped working on it because the fractional stitches were such a pain on aida. And then there were the French knots! I couldn't make a decent French knot if my life depended on it! I tried and tried. See...

What a mess!

So, almost 20 years later, here it is!

Do All Things With Love
designed by Susan Winget for Leisure Arts (not sure which publication)
stitched with DMC on 14-count cream aida

Season of Rest HD

Season of Rest

by Little House Needleworks

stitched with DMC on 28-count Antique Ivory linen

I'm thrilled with how fast this one went! I'm finding the trick with me is to stay with one project until it's done. I have too many UFOs that are close to being done, but I put them down to start something new. And speaking of UFOs, my plan today is to go through my closet and find one or two to work on. Who knows, I might even find my sheep blankets!

Is it the weekend yet?

Hope everyone's Friday is going well.

Mine?

Could be better...

I also learned that it's a good idea to empty out the previous day's leftover coffee before starting a fresh pot. There's only so much room in one of those carafes!

On the bright side, the tracking info for my Silver Needle order from their New Year's Eve sale is showing "out for delivery"!! Woohoo!!