Can I get off the ride now, please???

I have to tell you that lately life has been a tad overwhelming. I haven't spent anytime with my needle until today. It felt good to stitch a good part of the day. I also got to weed the flower bed. The day was really gorgeous, in the 60's and sunny, for a change.

The Cadet came home this weekend. He and Dave were going to play paintball on Saturday. They left around 8 AM for the game. I had the day to myself but I spent it doing the lad's laundry, our laundry and some slick housekeeping. You know, slick it up with a promise to do it better next time.
The guys got home earlier than I anticipated so we headed out to do some shopping. We ended up at Men's Warehouse for a suit for the Cadet. He is going to a wedding in June and he needs interview clothes for next year when he looks for internships. The kid cleans up really good and he cleaned out my wallet too...I didn't care though, it's nice to be able to give him what he needs. Thanks for the tax return, Mr. IRS. We ended up with takeout from the ONLY chinese restuarant worthy of selling us Chinese food, 2 movies, Casino Royale and Flight of the Phoenix. I fell asleep at 9:00. What a party animal I am.

Today, brought Bagels and French Vanilla cappacinos. The Cadet left for Rochester at noon. And the house got quiet. David and I immediately started to miss him. We had a nice weekend, I didn't push his buttons about his grades and he didn't get snarky with me.

So we puttered in the yard, planted a lilac that is doomed to perish and I weeded the flower bed. We grilled burgers for the first time this year - YUM! And once we were done with supper, I got cozy with my Quaker boxtop sampler. I finished all the motifs that I started except for one now. I have 6 completed motifs now and I've marked out 2 more. I love how little sampler is coming out! I promise pictures.

Work has been insane and it will continue to get more insane over the next couple of months. We have 8 weeks to pull of the biggest miracle - ripping out a complete software package and replacing it with another. It'll get done by hook or by crook. And a lot of sweat and late nights.
I just know that we can not fail with this migration. Prayers would be appreciated, please!

The house is still where it's been for the last 18 months. Mr. Contractor is now promising May 15th. I don't think we are going to buy this last promise though, the lawyer is going to start proceedings.

And the last thing...the DH had a health scare, fortunately the tests came out ok. But it was 3 weeks of waiting and worrying, more on my end than the DH.

SO, now you know why I want to get off this ride!

More Photos

Quick update cause I MUST go to bed.

I stitched a teensie bit this weekend, nothing major, mainly because I was POOPED. We had our annual ISO 9001 survelliance audit at work and I put in 60 hours. Needless to say, it wasn't until Sunday before I picked up a needle. SO, with further ado...I present to you some updates.
Below is my Quakter sampler boxtop. It's going to someone very special, you know who you are, Miss N...so yes, this is the big surprise. It's slow going but it's to die for GORGEOUS!





Next is Carriagehouse Samplings, My Hometown. Sorry Sue and Vonna, I couldn't resist but I put it away until you get your stuff and we can start together. I had to see what the purple looked like on this fabric. It just pops! I am thrilled but I will be good and not put in another stitch till everyone is ready to start.

Lastly, I leave you a picture of Chrissy, the Wonder Dog...isn't she sweet? She's laying in a pile of the Cadet's dirty laundry that he conveniently unloaded in my living room...AHEM...

Gotta go to bed, thanks for stopping and I AM so glad you come by to visit. I makes my day to read your comments!

Picture Pretty

Hi All,

As promised, here are the pictures of my weekend work. First up is BOAF's Peace Sampler. I really like this sampler but I am finding it a hard stitch. Don't know if I like the fabric, it's BOAF Sandpiper. It's really a drab, dirty grey. I also am not happy with the color of the letter *P*, it's a brick color. But, if I decide to hang all my *house* samplers together, it will look great with my Hillside Samplings House of Needlework sampler. Not so good with John Foster though.

BOAF Peace Sampler

32ct BOAF Sanpiper Linen

Gentle Arts Sampler Thread

Stitched over 2 thread

Next is Blackbird Designs, March Hare. It's from one of their books, A Fine Collection. It's stitched on 32ct Lambswool Lugana, over one thread. I like it very much. I only can work on it during the day because my eyes cross if I stitch on it during the evenings.

March Hare
Blackbird Designs
32ct Lambswool Lugana
Gentle Arts Sampler Thread
Stitched over one thread

Lastly, this my misplaced Quaker box top sampler. THIS is the sampler that I thought I threw away. Some of you who commented thought I threw away the pattern. No, I thought I threw away the SAMPLER. For a few days, I searched high and low, I went through the garbage and even the recycling. I was very much afraid that the DH had taken it to the landfill. I was heart sick cause I have spent MANY hours stitching this piece. When it is finished, I will mount it on a wooden tea box that I bought from AC Moore.

Quaker Sampler Boxtop
Various Ackworth Quaker Sampler Motifs
32ct Lambswool Lugana
Gloriana Overdyed Silk - Autumn Foliage
Stitched over one thread

Last night, I didn't stitch at all. Tonight, I have to do some work. I am not sure how much stitching I will get to do before the weekend, the job is going to be on the front burner. And next week, work will be insane.

Well, let me know what you think of my weekend accomplishments!

Happy Easter!

The DH and I had a quiet day today. We went to church, in the snow(!) and it was very cold! We spent the day with the Sunday paper, napped on the sofa and I stitched for a good while.

I worked on a few things over the weekend. I took BOAF's Peace sampler for the car ride when we went to see the Cadet but unfortunately, I had a hard time stitching in the car. I had a hard time stitching even with my *cheaters*. I just couldn't see the holes in the linen. But after I got home, I stitched until bed and I got a bit accomplished. And today, I stitched on March Hare. I have the bunny almost completed now. It was very nice to stitch.

Oh, I found my wayward sampler. Somehow, it ended up under the sofa. I am not sure that Chrissy the wonder dog didn't *bury* it. I didn't see any doggie slobber on it and it's not any worse for wear but I am not sure how it ended up where I found it.

I wanted to take some photos but the day was so grey and it snowed a good portion of the afternoon and evening. We have a dusting on the ground. For goodness sake, it's APRIL already! Enough of the snow. My daffodils are shivering! I guess you'll have to wait for a few pictures until we get better weather. In the meantime, I hope that everyone had a nice weekend filled with chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs!

This is just St-oo-pid!!!

Well, I am going a bit nuts right now. I've been working on this Quaker sampler box top thingie off and on this week. Tonight, I had a bunch of time to stitch and I thought, cool! that's what I want to work on tonight. I can find the silk, I can find the Quaker patterns that I am using to stitch this sampler but I CAN NOT FIND the sampler. Now, I am skeerd that I THREW IT AWAY when I was once again...cleaning. The paper was all over the floor yesterday so I picked it up and put it in the recycling. Oh gosh, what if I threw it away with the paper? No, I couldn't have done that, now could I??

So, I called up one of the second stringers, Moira Blackburn's, Time and Seasons.

It's a beautiful sampler that I began 2 years ago...yikes, and according to this spreadsheet that I keep I haven't stitched on it for 15 months!!! Oh my...but anyway, I put needle to fabric and I did a couple of acorns and a few of the leaves on left side. Not a lot of stitching but enough to satisfy me. When I began stitching this sampler, I changed the colorway to a more antique palette from Vicki Clayton silks. Kwilty Kim did her sampler with that colorway and it's so soft and vintage. Just the look I wanted.

I also received this sampler in the mail the other day. It's also from Moira Blackburn, a reproduction sampler called Maria Short. I first saw this sampler on Donna's blog, Cross Stitch Samplers and Such and I KNEW I had to have it. It came earlier this week from Criss Cross Row. I had to start it too, right away. I haven't put a lot of stitches into it, just a bit of the upper border and the upper left motif. It's done in DMC and I am stitching it on 36ct Antique White Edinburgh linen.

This is the description of the sampler that I pinched off Moira's website:

This sampler has been re-produced from one sewn by Maria Ann Short in 1829 at the age of 11 Years. It was worked on fine linen, over two threads in silk. A religious text was worked over one thread ‘Lord make me understand thy Law Show what my faults have been And from thy gospel let me draw Pardon for all my Sin’.
Two alternative verses are included with the Chart and an Alphabet if you wish to include your own choice.
‘She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands’Proverbs 31.13

I am going to stitch the Proverbs verse, I didn't get a choice of verses with the sampler. Hmm-mm. I thought about stitching it tonight but the linen really needs to be zigzagged or hemmed before I get going on it. Fraying linen drives me nuts. All those loose linen threads...grr-rrr.

Now, I am just waiting for my fabric for the Stitcher's Wallet, a lovely pattern from The Gift of Stitching.

Earlier this evening, I tried to fix the broken links in this post and I inadvertantly deleted the bottom of this post. I posted about going to see the Cadet and how I was so anxious to see him.

We went yesterday, it was a great day (but expensive, he needed many things from the grocery store). We took him out for dinner and hit the grocery store, Borders, Best Buy and Wegmans. It was a fast afternoon. I miss him an awful lot!

TNNA survey

While out blog surfing, I came across a post on Just String about the TNNA (The National Needlewarts Association) survey.

Here's the link...

TNNA Survey

I urge all of you to take the survey, it's doesn't take long and it will give the industry an inkling of what crafts we pursue and how we feel about our passion and where we buy our supplies. I believe this survey can only help our brick and mortar shops stay open by understanding what we, as needleart Customers, would like to see in our shops. Of course, I do not have any affiliation with TNNA, I just want to keep our hobby alive and healthy. So, please take a moment and complete the survey!