New Project

New WIP- "Yum" Bear from 101 Bears with Personality. I am also going to stitch the "Sandy" bear. No pic. yet. I have the bear and the watermellon stitched up but that is all. I have also worked on my Bent Creek Holiday Snapper on the Arbor Day square.

SBQ Needle Mania

How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your favorite needle?

The only project I have ever used more that one needle for is my TW-The Fortunate Traveler. I have 7 needles I keep threaded for that one. I don't park them on the piece of material I am stitching on though. I switch them out and keep them on an extra piece of material stuck through a small scrap of paper with the color number or symbol on it. I thread up the ones for the area I am stitching in and switch out the colors as I go. This seems to make the stitching much faster for me.

LIfe's A Stitch Finished!

Started and Finished, LK-Life's A Stitch yesterday. I did not get the border on that came with the chart. I did mine on aida and it just would not work on this. I frogged it out several times and finally gave up. I added the small running stitches as a border in honor of my mom who would sew all my clothes when I was a little girl.

Spring Sampler Finished!

I have finished the Heart In Hand-Spring Sampler. Don't look too closely! It is so bad! This was my first experience in working on 32 Count Belfast Linen. 32 count made my eyes cross and the linen was unreal! I am definately going to have to practice! I loved the flosses which were Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art Sampler and Olde Willow. Working with these was also a first. I have the Summer, Fall and Winter Samplers kits so by the time I get to Winter, maybe I'll be a better 32 ct. linen stitcher!

Caring Wings

I have updated my Caring Wings photo. If you have never tackled a larger project, I would recommend Caring Wings from Mirabilia. The chart and color changes are easy to follow. I am stitching mine on 28 ct. hand dyed evenweave. I matched the lavender colors in the chart when I selected the material. When finished this will be framed and given to my daughter. She picked out the pattern.

Butterflies and Flowers

I have changed my theme, yet again. This one more reflects 'me' than the last one. The pic. of the butterfly and the butterfly weed is one I took. I have them growing in the flower bed by the back deck. I dug them up out of my neighbors field a few years ago and transplanted them in my garden. I suppose they have an official name but we always called them butterfly weeds. They are just begining to bloom now.

SBQ May 16,2007

If you could only stitch one more piece what would it be and why?

I would have to choose a Teresa Wentzler chart but I do not know which one I would choose!! I like the castle and dragon themes she uses so I suppose it would be one with a castle and a dragon! lol That is as close to an answer as I can get. If I had to choose now, I would stay up all night trying to pick one!

Field Trip

If you are looking for a great family trip, try Holiday World in Indiana.
http://www.holidayworld.com/ We spent yesterday there with DD and her highschool band friends. It was great! You will never find a Cleaner, Friendlier park anywhere! Check out their website! They have free Pepsi products along with free gator ade and free sunscreen. You help your self to their ice/fountain drinks at the many stations around the park. The food is good and at a resonable price. There is even an air-conditioned nursuring mothers building! There are lots of trees and shaded places to rest, which we did! lol The rides are great and Splashin' Safari is an awsome water park! Take extra clothes and rent a locker. This is great for 'kids' of all ages. We had a blast!

SBQ

How do you choose a project for an exchange? Do you pick solely onwhat you know of the taste of the recipient or are there other reasons you pick the piece you do?
I choose mostly by what the recipient say's she would like. Then I stitch a piece I feel she would like.

Stash List

Bent Creek-
1. The Weathered Garden
2. The Littles-Snowman
3. Waxing Moon Desings- Bring On The Snow
4. The Trilogy-Secret Birdhouse
5. Celtic Cross
6. Bookmark-Composers -Finished 6/5/07
7. Dragon Dreams-Spot of Tea
8. Cross Country Stitching-Ladybug Garden
9. Sisters & Best Friends-Summer Sampler
10. Dames of the needle-Alphabet Sampler
11. Just Nan-Summer Stroll
Lizzie Kate
12. November Flip-It
13. Friendship
14. Treat Time
15. Life's A Stitch - Finished 05/25/07
16. Horray for the USA
Teresa Wentzler
17. Noah's Ark
18. Unicorn
19. Peacock
The Stitch Works
20 Star of Wonder
21. Starlight Snowman
Heart In Hand
22. Easter Bird
23 Be Nice
24. Dog Sampler
25. Wee Rooster
26. Little Snowman in Drifts
27. Spring Alphabet Sampler - Finished 05/07
28. Summer Alphabet Sampler
29. Fall Alphabet Sampler
30. Winter Alphabet Sampler

Lily of the Valley

My lily of the valley and columbine are blooming. I now have a few roses blooming also. The cold wave that went blasting through a few weeks ago ended the blooms on both of my lilac bushes.

Hearts In Atlantis

Just finished reading Hearts In Atlantis by Stephen King. Great Book! Love the references to the Dark Tower series.

Digging In The Dirt

DD and I spent yesterday afternoon digging in the dirt, well actually it was partly mud. She enjoyed creating her own mud hole with the water hose. Sunk herself half-way to her knees. Did I mention she is in 9th grade? Some things it is good if we do not out grow them. We planted marigolds, periwinkle, snap dragons, cladiums, and impatients. The week before we had planted yellow and pink lilies and a bleeding heart. We have also moved a few plants around. We moved some curly mint, apple mint, sedum, and ribbon grass. Also moved some siberian iris to another area. Going to try and get the bee balm seeds planted today. It has rained so hard I was afraid they would wash away. My giant columbine is blooming and so are my pinks. My hugh deep purple irises are blooming also. We have beautiful little blue birds, robins and finches at the feeders. The humming birds are getting their little bird tummys full at their own feeders. Maybe I will get around to listing all the different kinds of plants, bushes and trees we have growing on our small piece of God's beautiful earth.

Stitching My Stash

Since I have admitted to you (and myself) that I have plenty of stash, I realize the need to get some of it stitched up. I am going make a list of the charts I hope to complete this year. I will work on the list as I go thru my stash this week-end. School is almost over for the year so I should have alot more stitching time. Baseball season is in full swing and I like to stitch as I watch the Cincinnati Reds. Hopefully we will have a wonderful season! I also plan on sitting in both DD's yards and stitch while the grandbabies play.

SBQ: The Wagon

SBQ: Are you on “The Wagon?” If so, how long have you been on and how “serious” are you about it? If not, have you considered it?

I have acquired a nice stack of stitching stash so I suppose I am. I need to finish some I have started and I have alot I need to start!

Heart In Hand

I started this Heart In Hand kit this past Friday evening. It came with 32 Ct. Summer Khaki Belfast Linen, Gentle Arts, Weeks Dye Works and Olde Willow floss. Can we say, "Wow!" Now I get to add 'linen' , '32 count' and dyed floss to my list of have stitched. If you look closely at the picture, which seemed to turn out scanned better than any I have ever scanned, you will notice it appears a bit crooked here and there. It appears that way to me. Just coming out anywhere near where I was suppose to was a miracle. I tried my best and even frogged it out a couple of times. I am not used to linen. The 32 ct. was a bit small even for my new glasses. I had the material so close to the lamp it is a wonder it did not catch on fire. I have the summer, fall and winter kits also. Maybe by the time I get to winter, I will be a better 32 ct. linen stitcher! lol I must add, these kits plus several more were given to me by another stitcher. She is a very kind, thoughtful lady and I appreciate her gifts so very much.

Just Keep Swimming

Rain, Rain, Rain! We have had several inches of rain these past 3 days. We need a boat! Last year, we had our vegetable garden out at this time. This year, our garden has not been planted. It warmed up for a couple of weeks but we did not plant ours. Lucky us, because then we were hit with freezing temperatures. Those who had planted gardens were scrambling to save their tender new plants. The past couple of weeks we have seen hail, snow, sleet, and thunderstorms. We are more fortunate than those who have seen serious snow/ice storms, sever thunderstorms and tornados. I am afraid we will skip spring and go straight to hot summer temperatures. My little flowers are so confused!

Working on blog

I have put my progess pics on the sidebar and I will update them from there for now on. When I update them I will put the date and make a post. Those are the four I am currently working on. I have a few UFO's I should pull out but I am making such good progress on Caring Wings I want to finish it first.

Happy Anniversary!

Joe and I have been married for 28 years today. That is a very long time! lol Our love has grown as we have grown. We have laughed, cried and worked together. We have raised 3 beautiful daughters and now have 3 beautiful grandchildren. I hope for many more.

Changed My Layout

Well, as you can see I have changed my layout. I updated to the new layout format. It does seem to be user friendly. I have seen a few of my friends with this layout and really liked it. I don't mean to copy, but there was just not a lot to choose from. Going to put in a pic. just to see how it looks. This is our faithful family pet.