What's been occupying my time

First of all, here's a picture of Olivia after she terrorized SweetieGirl, attacked my stitching and played with a chunk of wood for most of this morning. She jumped into the office chair about 5 minutes ago and promptly turned "OFF".

I joined a group, Seasonal Ornament SAL, that's stitching ornaments throughout the year. Vonna started it and the first ornament was to be for Thanksgiving. Ok, so Thanksgiving was LAST month...sue me. I chose the cornucopia from Prairie Schooler's, Autumn Samplers, and personalized it. I stitched it over one on 28 count Lambswool Lugana. It's tiny.

Lately, I've noticed that I am grousing more and more on what I don't have instead of being grateful for what I do. I am doing my best to be grateful for what I have and not to worry about what I don't. It's very hard for me cause deep down, I am a MATERIAL Girl. No, I am not Madonna, but I do like expensive things. Over the years, I've toned down shopping almost to the point of hating it. But when I do shop, I have a tendency to blow through a lot of cash in a short amount of time. This will be made into a pillow ornament and put where I can see it. ALL THE TIME.

Progress on Beatrix Potter.

I got back into her and I know I shouldn't work on her until the first of the year when the SAL officially begins but working with silk is a guilty pleasure. Bea is the only sampler I have in the Wip pile that's in silk now so when I need my silk fix, I go to her. Plus finishing motifs is like instant gratification. I am almost 1/2 done with her. Her sister is waiting in the wings to be started after I finish her.

Last is Blessings and Kind Wishes.

I hate the thread. And no, I will not get it finished for Christmas cause I hate the thread. I force myself to work on it. And right now, in the frame of mind I am in, forcing myself to work on a sampler that I am not enjoying is, well, just stupid. I will guilt myself into working on it (probably in small doses) so it will get done.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures and the wrinkly fabric. I just couldn't bring myself to dig out the iron and set up the ironing board.


So, there. I've been stitching. Next week, I start my glorious 2.5 week vacation. After Wednesday, I will be off until January 5th! YIPPIE!!! So I will be doing a lot of stitching and I will be working on some Christmas gifties. And finishing decorating and starting to bake. I am so looking forward to this time off.

I'll be more active on the ol' blog too so come back again. Thank you all for coming by! I AM grateful for all of you!

Blessings & Kind Wishes - Progress

Good Monday! I am on vacation, YAY, this week so I thought I'd post a progress picture of Blessings and Kind Wishes. I was a good stitcher on Sunday and worked on it during football and in the evening.

Here's my progress:

You would think that I would be further along after approximately 5+ hours of stitching. But No--o-o-o! I am the world's slowest stitcher. Oh well, steady wins the race, right?

I know I've been crabbing about the WDW thread, it seems to be only the greens (and this whole pattern is green) that are thin and crispy (sounds like a pizza!). The GAST thread is nice to use, they are behaving properly too. The blue diamond shapes are stitched with Cresent Colors and oh my! they are really nice to use! They are smooth and they behave wonderfully. I railroad and the threads don't need much coaching to lay beside each other. I can't wait to use them again (on Strawberry Garden (snicker)). And no, I haven't started it yet. I am waiting until I get more done on Blessings cause if I begin Strawberry Garden, Blessings will fall into the black pit of misfit stitching projects never to see the light of day until I feel guilty and drag it back out into the light of day.

Well, I've procrastinated enough. I promised my house that I would do some heavy cleaning and possibly some painting while I was home. So far, all that has been is promises. I am unmotivated by housework and if I don't get busy, I'll be kicking myself into next week for putting it off. The house certainly needs some TLC. There is a reward at the end...you guessed it, my needle and stitching.

So ciao, friends, it's off to find the broom, bucket and mop. Sigh.

Pictures as promised

Thanks to all of you who've left me comments on my insomnia. Yes, I did go to sleep around 2AM and I slept until 6:45 when I woke up with a start thinking that someone was calling from the sunroom. The DH was up already, taking care of the critters and I thought it was him. But I was dreaming. So I got up and started the day. Tired.

Are you afflicted with the disease known as "Your eyes are bigger than (fill in the blank)"? I know I am! This morning while perusing the blogs as I drank my cuppa joe and ate my cereal, I came across this beautiful picture on Aline's blog.

And now, it's on my very short list of things to stitch. You have no idea how close I am to starting this. I must have bought it when this piece first came out and I stashed it away. I do know that I was a bit put off about all the lazy daisy stitches (not a big fan of that particular stitch) when I first got the pattern but now I'd just tough them out if I started this piece. I have the required Cresent Color thread and the pattern. I just need to go fabric diving for something suitable. Tell me I should start it. I usually wait until Christmas Day to begin the first new piece of the year but this is calling my name so loudly. (Tell me to start it.) And it's the perfect gift for someone I absolutely adore...so, tell me what I should do! (Start it.) Be strong and resist or be weak and begin it? (You know which way I am leaning...I just need that nudge over the edge, hee-hee!). Leave a comment, thumbs up or thumbs down.

Here's my progress on Blessings and Kind Wishes. See I got some of the leaves stitched and my storks grew legs. And I added a word or two. But this piece really is a struggle for me. Sorry for the wrinkles, I don't iron my pieces to take pictures of them.

And lastly, is my progress on Beatrix.

I stitched the floral motif next to the vine-y circle this week and the lower left 1/2 medallion yesterday. I also worked on the motif under the vine-y circle a late last night. She's being true to her word, the AVAS is luxurious AND she wasn't a bit of trouble.

Well, my oven timer just went off, I am making a pumpkin pie. Today, the DH and I are celebrating our Thanksgiving. Turkey breast with all the trimmings. We are going to the lovely Jenna's parents for the big day so the DH wanted a "test run" before Thursday. I know I'll be good today cause pumpkin pie isn't my favorite. Now if it was apple pie, then I would be in trouble!!

So thanks again for popping in, leave a comment or a dozen. I LOVE hearing from you!

Mr. Sandman, where are you? Plus stitching news

It's 1 AM in Upstate NY and guess what, gang! I'M AWAKE!!! Oh gosh, I've got insomnia. Again. More frequently then I've had in the past too. It's stress and about 12oz of caffeine too many. So, here I sit, cruising on the computer, waiting for that Mr. Sandman. It's cold here too so that's not helping. I went to bed, realized that a) I was cold and b) I was hungry. No point in tossing and turning. So downstairs I came, woke up Chrissy the Wonderdog when I turned on the light and proceeded to boot up the computer. Next I went and got a banana. But it's not enough and I am seriously contemplating making hot cocoa. You know the warm milk, sleep inducing aid but I can't decide if I need the extra calories right now. See, I went to WW on Thursday and I am ashamed to say and honestly, I can't believe this either, I GAINED 4 pounds in a week. Yea, yea, I was not a good Weight Watcher during the week but I didn't think I was SO BAD to have put back on EVERYTHING that I lost over the previous 3 weeks. But I did, the scale doesn't lie, and I am sad and upset with myself. So now, I am watching and journaling and walking on the treadmill...and praying that I stay in control over Thanksgiving weekend which will be a veritable food fest.

Anyway, I got a ton of stitching done tonight. I broke my promise and stitched on Bea for almost 5 hours even though I should have worked on Blessings and Kind Wishes. Yes, I didn't do too much today other than fight the crowds at the grocery store and do a couple of loads of laundry. But in my defense, I needed to just decompress and she softly whispered, "Me, stitch on me, I have luxurious silk and I promise I won't give you trouble." The little hussy...yea, she seduced me and we shared a lovely evening together. I completed an entire 1/2 motif on the left side and started a second. I am almost at the 1/2 way point with her. Picture tomorrow, promise.

On Friday, I stitched on Blessings and Kind Wishes but for only an hour or so because I really wasn't enjoying the process AT ALL. My storks have legs now and there's a little more done on the vine encircling them. I am thoroughly disappointed with the Weeks Dye Works thread I'm stitching with though, it's very thin and well, crunchy to my touch. The floss is not covering well (actually it's skimpy) and it's knotting up terribly even though I ran it over a damp sponge before using it to see if I could get it un-kinked. I got so frustrated with it that I put it down. I have to work on it though, it's a gift. And even though I am 1/2 way done with it, I'm not feeling the love. I don't want this piece to be a chore because it's a gift and I don't want to resent having to stitch it.

I've got a question for you stitchers out there....I want to bead the edges of an ornament. I backstitched both the stitched piece and the backing piece and I will lace them together. When do I add the bead to the lacing? After I lace the backstitch or as I am lacing? Or in the middle, after I put my needle through the first backstitch then add the bead and finish lacing the 2nd backstitch? Help! Describe how you add beads to a laced edge.

Well, I broke down and made cocoa. And after I drink it, I'm going back to bed. Hopefully, the DH hasn't hogged all the blankets. He does that, you know, and I get left with the sheet. It's not warm enough even if it's flannel. So thanks for stopping by and tomorrow, I'll post some stitchy pictures. Stay warm.

An ornament stitched and a progress picture too!

Don't look now but I actually stitched a freebie! This little snowman is from a little promotional card I got for buying all of the new Prairie Schooler patterns when they were released earlier this year. Since I am such a snowman nut, I KNEW I'd be stitching him up soon. There's just something about snowmen that make me smile and think all is right with the world.

Prairie Schooler - Snowman

32ct Rue Green linen

DMC

This is the progress picture. It's a Blackbird Design's Loose Feather pattern, Blessings and Kind Wishes stitched with the recommended thread but on Lambswool linen instead of the recommended R&R linen.

I am having the dickens of a time trying to keep the frogs away from this piece. I messed the birds twice, the border and the placement of some of the words. Honestly, I would be done stitching it if it wasn't for those contemptable frogs. But, I persevere and rip out my mistakes and try again, sometimes more than once (my stork had a rust color butt for pete's sake until I looked at the picture on the front of the pattern and found out that the feathers are grey not gingersnap) and move on, trying all the while not to loose interest or throw the thing in the trash. So the bird's are reappearing without rust color feathers on their behinds, in the correct place and with the right words.

Gosh, I hope that this business with the frogs are past. Hop away, hop away to a knitter (no offense all you yarn-lovers, but us poor stitchers have frogs 24/7 and it's time for a vacation) for goodness sake!

I did start another ornament and kitted up a third. I am working on yet another Blackbird Design, the stocking ornament from this year's JCS ornament issue. I've kitted up the 2006 Quaker design from them too, in Mulberry GAST on my favorite linen, Lambswool. No progress pictures on either of them because they are in the early stages of stitching, one is a blob and the other is unstarted.

I've started to paint again too, I am painting a very cool Christmas cookie plate that I will share with you when it's done. I will either Ebay it or put it on Etsy. And I have a few other ideas floating in the ol' noggin on some other painted pieces too. Stitching may slow down a little because I need to make some cash for a few unexpected expenses and I am hoping painting will be profitable enough to pay those bills.

Well, it's off to make some lunch and get dinner in the oven. I'm making pot roast and want to put it into a slow oven for a long time so it's melt-in-your-mouth tender. So off to the kitchen with me!

Thanks for stopping by this Sunday afternoon. I hope football is on and your needle is in your hand!