Trees and Water

For once I remembered to bring my camera with me when we went to town. I managed to take a couple of scenery pictures on the back road to town. This first one is of a tree that was washed out. I am not sure if this fell recently due to all the rain or not. I had to zoom in to get a good picture of it.


This next one is of the same tree except with no zoom. See how big that tree really is!!

This last one is a pretty waterfall on the same road.

Other than that small venture we didn't do a lot yesterday. Mike mowed the yard while I stitched on Snowman and Friends. He is so close to being finished! :)

I'm sorry for such a quick post but I have an appointment in just a little over an hour and I have to get my butt in gear!

Have a wonderful day:)

Gift for Kendra

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Mine has been okay. I spent most of the morning and afternoon yesterday driving kids to friends houses and picking them up. They wanted to keep going into the evening but I put my foot down and said I wasn't driving any more!

I have been working on my stocking and I have finished the snowman!:) All I have left to finish is the "friends" and my name at the top! Eventually I will sew this one into a stocking but right now I don't have any material I like for it so it will get put it the WTF pile. The next stocking to be stitched will be Mac's. He still wants the dragon I did for my step dad so I will be working on Mine All Mine by X's and Oh's next. My step dad may not be his blood grandfather but I am telling you those two are so much alike in personalities that sometimes it is down right scary!

Today is my normal day to SAL with Renee but since we are both waiting on our Kreiniks we decided to go ahead and skip another week. I will probably continue working on Snowman and Friends today.

Also before I go, Kendra let me know last evening that her blogoversary gift arrived. I stitched a biscornu freebie (I'm too lazy to find the link right now) on 32 count opalescent linen. I found these adorable tassels and decided to add them to the biscornu. Those tassels gave me a little problem but in the end I won. I had a hard time parting with this one but I knew Kendra would give it a good home.:)

Enjoy your Sunday!

SBQ of the Week

This week's SBQ was suggested by Christine and is:

How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before you start a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store them? Do you have another option for blends to share?

I am a grab and stitch kind of girl. I have tried to put the blends on a needle and label them but my floss always gets tangled into a massive mess!

Yesterday Mac got the packing removed from his ear. Whoo-hoo!! He also pulled the super glue off the incision behind his ear. Dr. L says everything is healing nicely. However, Mac's good ear has a bunch of fluid behind his eardrum. Dr. L is taking a wait and see attitude on that ear. Grrr...that is exactly why he had to have this surgery in the first place because we took and wait and see attitude! I seriously feel like banging my head against a brick wall!

I have been working on Snowman and Friends this week. I am considering working on this one till it is finished. I haven't had a large finish this year yet and I really would like to have a finish soon!

Enjoy your weekend!!

Snowdrop Box

Every year I have the same complaint....I hate springtime! My number one reason for not liking it is allergies. It is even more of a pain this year since I can't take any allergy medicine. Another reason I don't like springtime is the weather! We had some rough weather last night with hail. Hail scares me...I am always worried that it is going to break a window out. Our lovely weatherman says we are supposed to have this kind of weather for the rest of the week. Yuck!

I worked on my stocking today. I made some progress but it doesn't seem like it because I am stitching white on white. I do have something to share today.:) I made this little box for Dee. As soon as I saw this snowdrop pattern I thought it would be perfect for her. I got the pattern from the CrossStitcher Feb. 2008 issue and stitched it on some 32 count opalescent linen.

Have a great evening!

Alphabet Tree

I started the freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs called Alphabet tree on Sunday night. I put the last few stitches in this morning. I am not sure how I am going to finish it yet so I didn't do the personalization. I will do that when I am ready to finish it.

I stitched it on some 28 count fabric. The floss I used was DMC Variations 4030. I definitely see more stitching for me in that color.:)

Ruffled Pillow

Yesterday was a wonderfully lazy day! Which means I was able to do some stitching. :) My Kreiniks still haven't arrived ( I am beyond annoyed with this now!) so I wasn't able to work on Harvest Witch. Instead I pulled out Tour des Marques and worked on it for a couple of hours before I started working on a secret gift.

I had planned on working on TdM some more today but because it has been cloudy all day I haven't been able to work on it. When I stitch 1/1 I like to use as much natural light as possible to see them tiny holes! So instead I mailed my gifts to the blogovesary winners finally!

When I was working on the last gift I originally had planned on sending this little pillow until I realized I made a small mistake on the one corner of the ruffle. Apparently while I was sewing it up my ruffle slipped in one corner and now it is a little smaller than the other corners. Guess I need to practice my basting and sewing some more! LOL


This pattern was a freebie found here and I stitched it on 32 count linen.

Have a great night!

Gift From Nela

Yesterday day turned out to be really nice day for me. When I checked my mailbox I had a package sitting there for me.:) This is a replacement package from Nela for the Valentine Exchange on the SBEBB.


Here is a close up of the stitching. Isn't it stunning?! I just love the flowers.:) Thank you so much for everything, Nela!

The house was REALLY quiet without Allie here yesterday so I was able to get a lot of stitching done on the outer border on Egyptian Sampler.:)

Have a great day!

Long Morning

It's been a long morning already. Allie has a choir festival today so I had to have her up at the school ready to leave at 4:15 AM. After they get done singing they are going to go to Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri. They won't get back until around 8:00 PM tonight so they should have lots of fun.

I finished up the last blogoversary gift yesterday and I was pleased with how it came out so now all 3 are waiting to be dropped in the mail. I thought I was going to be able to mail them out yesterday afternoon but when I went looking for mailing envelopes I couldn't find any!

I also worked some more on Unicorn by Mary Bartlett Stockett. I really, really like this one.:) As you know I have a "thing" for fantasy themed designs but I have to admit I love unicorns. My last unicorn finish was in 2006 so it was time for a new one:)

I am planning on working on Egyptian Sampler today. I have to go to the grocery store at some point today but other than that I am not doing anything!

A New Start

The other day I was talking about a new start. I couldn't resist any longer and I started it.:)

I am stitching it on some light purple opalescent fabric that was in my stash. The only thing I might change is the color of the mane and tail from blue/green to a gold/yellow. I am not sure about it yet.

I didn't work on it long Wednesday as I finally decided what to stitch for a blogoversary gift. Actually, I finished the last gift last week but I wasn't 100 percent happy with it so I dove back into my patterns and came up with another idea. I should be able to finish the finishing on it either tonight or tomorrow sometime so hopefully I will be able to get these gifts out to their owners soon!

Yesterday, I didn't get to stitch at all.:( I spent ALL day getting the house ready for a "make-up party" for me and the girls last night. The girls had friends come over for it so you can imagine all the teenage hormones that were flying around last night! The girls had a blast but all I could think of was I cleaned for this? LOL

I am off to catch up on some blog reading. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

This and That

I will admit I was just too lazy last night to post a progress picture of Snowman and Friends. It is kind of hard to see the progress since I stitched the white part of the snowman. I was stitching the blue areas until I ran out of floss. :(

I am not sure exactly what I am going to work on today. I was thinking about a new start but I will need Kreiniks for it and, of course, I don't have them in my stash. The pattern is out The Cross Stitcher from June 1993 and designed by Mary Bartley Stockett. It is a unicorn standing on his hind legs in a magnolia flower. Magnolia flowers are my favorite flower.:)

I just wanted to let everyone know that Mama cat and baby are doing great. Mama cat seems to be adjusting to her new home quite fast. She is definitely going to be the "pack leader" here! She does not hesitate to put Gracie in her place when she gets a little too excited around her and doesn't back down. The baby is also doing great. She is a ball of fire! She is the learning how to pounce and it is so cute....sometimes..lol.

Have a wonderful day!

Easy Stitching

I have been getting some good stitching done the past few days but it isn't really by choice. The morning sickness has arrived in full force. This being said I am sticking close to the house because I am not fond of public restrooms and to be honest I don't want to have to puke in one!

I was attempting to work on Tour today when a round of morning sickness hit and sadly I had to put it away because of the headache that snuck up on me so I went and took a 2 hour nap. My head didn't hurt as bad when I woke up but there was still that occasional pounding to remind me that it was there so I figured I would work on something easy. Snowman and Friends falls right into that category!


The house is quiet and I think I am going to take advantage of it and work on Snowman some more tonight. :)

Happy Stitching!

Weekend Progress

I was basically a stitching hermit this weekend. :) Saturday I worked on Egyptian Sampler and I was really pleased with my progress.


Today I worked on Harvest Witch SAL with Renee. If my Kreiniks don't arrive sometime this week I won't be able to work on her much longer. All I have left to do is stitch with the Kreiniks and some back stitching.

Have a great night!

Stitching and Kitties

I didn't get as much progress on ES as I had hoped but that is okay a little is better than none.

Mac had a rough day and ended up having to come home early today. It wasn't too bad since he had to go back and have his stitches taken out today. According to Dr. L everything looks great and we don't have to come back for another 2 weeks when they will remove the packing inside the ear canal.

With all that has been going on lately I haven't had time to mention that we have 2 new kitties. A mama cat and her baby showed up about a week before Bitsy passed away. Mac took to the kitten right away and since the kitten is too young to be from her mama we decided to keep both of them. It took me a few days to convince Mama to come in and stay but as of now she is on her little bed with the baby sleeping contently.

As you can see from the scratches on her nose that she had been on her own for awhile. I did manage to give her a bath (with no scratches!) but she bolted outside afterwards and came back even dirtier. The point is she came back which means she trusts us.:)

Have a great weekend!

SBQ of the Week

This week's SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

What is the most complicated piece you've ever completed?

Hands down it is Woodland Faerie by Teresa Wentzler for me! This one took me 2 years to finish this one. It was definitely worth every frustrating minute.:)

It was a quiet day for me today. Mac went back to school today with no problems. Which means I was able to pull out Egyptian Sampler and work on it for a little bit. Sorry no picture tonight because I want to work on it some more tomorrow.

Half of a Snowman

I am halfway done with my stocking as of tonight. :) I stitched the hat and the 2 birds. I think I am at a good point to put this one aside and work on Egyptian Sampler tomorrow.

Enjoy your evening!

I did it! I finally worked on Tour again.:) My longest WIP was 2 years...I bet this one beats that! LOL
I forgot to post a picture of my progress on Snowman and Friends from the last time I worked on it. If I get to stitch some tonight I will be working on this one.:)

The other night I stripped the nut on my 5" hoop so that called for a small trip to Hobby Lobby. While I was there I found this adorable pattern by Jeanette Crew Designs called Woodland Fairies. I love the one on the left with the hedgehog.:) I also discovered that their DMC Variations were on sale for $0.79 (regularly $1.29) so I picked up a few in my favorite colors.

Happy Stitching!

Recovery Going Great

Harvest Witch made her weekly appearance yesterday.:) Although, I was a little bummed while working on her because I had hoped to be stitching with the Kreiniks.


Today I took Mac back to Dr. L to have his bandages removed. This was the first time any of us got to see the incision and stitches. The incision behind his ear starts at the top of his ear and runs all the way down to the bottom of his ear. It actually looks better than I thought it would. When they removed the bad part of his eardrum they replaced it with that little piece of cartilage that is next to the opening of the ear. They had to put in 4 stitches where the cartilage used to be. He gets those taken out this Friday.

Dr. L was pleased with how he is recovering. He might even be able to go back to school on Thursday if he isn't having any pain. Mac sure has a high pain tolerance because he hasn't used hardly any of his pain medicine. I noticed he needs it about mid morning and a little bit before bed. I would say he is about 60% back to being his normal self. He isn't quite up to fighting with his sisters yet but he is getting there!

SBQ of the Week

This week's SBQ was suggested by Terri:

What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

First of all my stitching bag is just a regular mesh beach bag.

1. Current WIP's with thread, needle, and scissors for each WIP. (Currently I have 6 projects going)

2. 4 inch and 5 inch hoop

3. fabric marker

4. black pen

5. 6" ruler

6. measuring tape

7. Tweezers

8. Folder to hold all my WIP's patterns.

The Big Day Arrived

Yesterday was Mac's big day for surgery. We had to arrive at the hospital by 9:30 AM to get him prepped for surgery. He wasn't too impressed with the having to wear the hospital gowns. At least they were kind enough to let him keep his underwear on! LOL


Shortly after that the nurse came in to put his IV in his arm. The nurse did an excellent job and got it done on the first try. As a reward the hospital gave him a little bear to see him through the surgery.

A little while later they gave him some sleepy medicine and we walked with him to the surgery doors. Then we headed to the surgery waiting area when I got a call from Allie saying she had split her pants open at school. Mike offered to go and get her some pants from home and take them to her at school. So I sat and attempted to stitch...it didn't work. I just couldn't keep my attention focused on my stitching.

Originally Dr. L said that it should take about 2 hours. Unfortunately there was a lot more infection in there than they had thought so it ended up taking 4 hours. When Dr. L was done and came out to speak to us he was honest with us and told us that he thinks that he wasn't able to get all the infection out and in 6-9 months Mac will have to repeat this surgery. I am very glad Dr. L was honest with us about that. After the 2nd surgery is done they will then do another surgery to reconstruct the hearing bones.

When we finally did get to see Mac after the surgery I wanted to cry. He looked like he had been in a boxing ring and lost. As you can see his head is wrapped in bandages which get to come off Monday when we go back for a check up. They had to take a small piece of skin from his ear to graft on the eardrum. He has stitches for that but the incision behind the ear is literally super glued closed.

He seems to be doing pretty good right now. The main thing besides his pain right now is making sure he doesn't fall. His balance is a little off right now but the Dr. said he would be like that for a few days. Overall, his surgery went great and no problems. We just have to wait and see if it comes back or not.

I want to thank everyone for their good thoughts and prayers for Mac. (((HUGS)))

Gift For Mylene

I heard from Mylene last night that she received a little package from me. I was lucky enough to win a fob stitched by her a few weeks ago so I thought it was only appropriate that I make one for her in return. I used the freebie pattern called Spring Keeper from The Drawn Thread. I stitched it on 32 count Raw opalescent fabric with DMC threads.

The only trouble I had finishing this one was attaching the cording. It just didn't want to cooperate with me.

Happy Stitching!

SBQ's and Shopping

This week's SBQ is recycled from January 4, 2005 and is:

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

I am a pack rat when it comes to my crafts! I generally keep every single pattern I stitch with the exception of some I have passed on to friends.

This week's SBQ is:

When you stitch a pattern that you have downloaded do you print out the pattern or do you stitch directly from your computer screen?

I always print out my patterns to work from. I have to start in the center of a design (large or small!) so I have to mark on my pattern where I start from. I have tried to stitch from the computer screen and it has worked out okay but I am much more comfortable using a printed out sheet.

I was really, really hoping to be able to work on Topaz Fairie but that is just not meant to be this week. I stopped by my LNS to see if my Kreinik order had arrived. It did BUT (there is always a but) the owner had sold it to another lady earlier in the day. I was a little irritated as I didn't just order 1 or 2 spools...I ordered 12 spools!! grrr

So, I decided to bury my head in my stitching.:) I just love this piece!

I will probably work on this one some more today after I get the morning errands done. I have to go shirt shopping for Mac. After his surgery on Friday he has to wear button up shirts until his incision is healed. This ought to be interesting since Mac is a T-shirt kind of boy.

Have a great day!

March/April Goals

March Goals

1. Work on Topaz Fairie.-No
2. Work on Egyptian Sampler.-Yes, I am 50 percent done!
3. Harvest Witch SAL with Renee.-Yes
4. Start Tour des Marques SAL with Dani.-Yes, I made a small start.
5. Stitch freebie patterns-Yes
6. Start on Mac's Stocking-No, but I did start on my stocking:)

April Goals

1. Work on Topaz Fairie
2. Work on Egyptian Sampler
3. Work on Snowman and Friends Stocking
4. Work on Tour des Marques
5. Work on Harvest Witch
6. Finish and Mail Blogoversary Gifts
7. Stitch Freebies

Thank you!

I want to thank each and everyone who left me comments on Bitsy yesterday. This whole situation was quite upsetting because Bitsy wasn't sick. She snuck outside and was attacked by another animal. Unfortunately, her injuries were to severe for her to make it. This whole ordeal has me upset because I should have been a better pet owner and not let her go outside.

Here are is my progress from this weekend on Harvest Witch.


Here is my progress on Snowman and Friends.

I tried to work on Tour last night but the colors are too dark and drab for me right now.