Secret Stitching & Family

Since I can't post any of my current stitching pictures I've decided to post a picture of my sweet DH and our dog Shelby. She is definitely her daddy's dog, LOL. Shelby will be 14 in May, we've had her since she was a tiny puppy. We aren't certain what her breed is, only her mother knows for sure :-). The mom was a cow dog, the owner said the father was the cocker spaniel, I don't think so. She's more of a sheltie mix.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, company was perfect and food was delicious :-). It was just a very nice, relaxing day. We also managed to squeeze in a couple movies while my parents were here, the Prestige and Happy Feet. Both were very good but Happy Feet was my favorite! My mom, my DD and I shopped on Black Friday. I didn't actually buy much but it was fun to see what was out there this season. Instead I took advantage of Cyber Monday. I sat down in the morning with my cup of coffee and the laptop and did most of Christmas shopping for my DH and the kids. It's so much easier than fighting the crowds, plus I can look for on-line coupons and comparison shop. I have a few things I will need to get out and shop for but the majority of my shopping is finished.

My finger is healing nicely, I took my stitches out on Saturday. I used my Ginghers and a pair of tweezers, LOL. It is such a time bust to have to go to the hospital and wait, I just couldn't be bothered.

I have two openings in my PIF challenge. I would love to stitch for a couple more people. If someone is having trouble filling their pay it forward, maybe we could swap gifts?

I am madly stitching on Christmas presents. My goal is to have the ornaments finished and my mom's piece at the framers by Tuesday. My DH has been gone for a week or so and will be gone next week too. My DS is traveling for work next week too so that leaves my DD and me at home by ourselves. Translation, no cooking and lots of stitching time. Hopefully I will finish my Christmas pieces up and have time to do some personal stitching. I got CHS Green Tree out and put a few stitches in for my Thanksgiving start. On Christmas day I will start Frances Burwell, it's in the closet ready to be wrapped and put under the tree. I didn't even take the shrinkwrap off so I haven't actually seen the chart, linen or threads :-). On New Year's day I plan on starting Sarah Moon. I really should finish Sarah Tatum first, last year's New Year's start, but I really want to start something new that day.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

What a Week and Pay it Forward!

My week started out well since my parents decided they were going to visit us for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am very excited because I haven't seen them since July, they will be here tomorrow. We got more good news on Wednesday. Our DS, who is in the Air Force Reserves and has been at school in Arkansas since March, is finally finished. He will be home tomorrow as well. We will have a full house for Thanksgiving which makes me very happy.

I really enjoy cooking, one of these days I am going to take some gourmet classes, and planning the menu for a large meal is an all day process for me. I think I've found the right combination of old favorites and a few new things. Thursday I went to do my grocery shopping which is another all day event by the time I go to the commissary, Sams, track down the specialty things I need and put everything away when I get home. I was almost finished putting things away, I just need to run the trash out that's when my week went downhill.

When I was pushing the trash down I cut my finger to the bone, thankfully I missed the tendon. Jeff, my DH, had to take me to the emergency room to get stitches. I have 9 stitches in the pinkie finger of my right hand. The only bright spot is I am left handed. Unfortunately, my left arm is also very sore from the tetanus shot they gave me. I did manage a few stitches yesterday, I had to be sure I could still stitch, LOL. Note to all, when you go to the ER for a cut, be sure you bring your shot record. I am almost positive I had a tetanus booster 4 years ago but since the doctor couldn't confirm it he insisted on giving me another one. I can't get my finger wet for 10 days, we'll have to see how that goes. The worst part is it took the medic quite a while to get set up. The cut is in a very awkward spot and she was nervous so it took a long time to stitch. Unfortunately, it took so long that the shots to numb it wore off, the last 4 stitches were not fun at all. She did offer to re-numb it but I'd already been there for over two hours so I told her just to finish it. It's going to make cooking and all awkward to say the least. I am hoping in a day or two as it closes the swelling and pain will decrease. It's a half moon cut on the side of my finger next to the middle knuckle. I am so not impressed, in the big scheme of things it is a minor inconvenience but still annoying.

I did get a little stitching done this week on Maria P. Oliver, not enough that you'd want to see a picture yet so instead here is a picture of where it will hang in my mom's house. This is my mom's 'wall' my sister calls it the 'Katrina wall', lol. I know it looks like my mom is out of space but she will make room for Maria P. Oliver and she is already talking about the next wall. Several of my stitching friends have suggested I teach my mom to stitch, I must note here my mother is an accomplished seamstress but she's not a stitcher. She'd prefer to leave that to me and I am happy to accommodate her :-). She loves her wall and I enjoy deciding which piece to stitch next for her. I have the next two or three pieces already picked out and kitted to stitch for her:

If you compare it to my smaller "wall" that goes up the stairs in my house, I need to do some serious stitching to catch up:

I have many other stitched pieces in my house, and if I pulled them together on a wall I would have a very nice display. I want a wall like my mom's without leaving bare walls everywhere else in my house :-). I have a long way to go. My goal is to make major progress in 2007, a little more time stitching and a little less time on the computer would help.

Finally, I signed up for Su's Pay it Forward Challenge. So now I am paying it forward, the first five people to sign up, via my comments section, will receive a stitched item from me sometime in the next year. After you sign up in the comments section email me at n2stitchkd at yahoo dot com so I can get your info. There is a catch of course, you must continue the gift by blogging this challenge yourself!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, happy Thanksgiving!

Chit Chat and My And They Sinned Dilemma

First I want to discuss my dilemma. I have started ATS twice and almost finished the first 8 1/2 by 11 page on both pieces, the first over one and the second over two. This is an older WIP picture, I have the cloud done too now and I am still going back and forth. I am so conflicted about which way I want to stitch it. On the over one side: I keep thinking if Vilma ever finishes And God Created, won't I need to finish AGC over one too? And do I want to do two projects that big over one? I love, love how it looks over one and I've seen it finished over one it's beautiful. On the over two side of things: It's not an issue of wall space, I definitely have room to hang the finished pieces if I did them over two, although the framing cost would be a lot. I also wonder if it's easier to see all the detail and symbolism when the piece is stitched over two. I desperately need to make a decision before I go any farther on either piece. And no, stitching both ways is not an option, LOL. I just can't make up my mind!

I had a productive week, I stitched and finished an ornament and I am almost done with my second one. Unfortunately since they are gifts, I can't post pictures but I will after they are given away. So now I only about half a dozen to go :-). I am planning on making big progress this week, I don't have quite as much in my schedule so I should have lots of stitching time. What I need to do is limit my computer time, LOL. Hope everyone has a great weekend and lots of stitching time!

Weekly Wanderings Pt. 2 10-25-50 Plan...

I've been considering for a couple of months how to be a bit more realistic about how many needlework projects I have and what I can actually accomplish in this lifetime. I've thought about going on a "stash diet", doing a two for one kind of thing, finish two projects in order to purchase one or just trying to be a bit more discriminating. I've decided to do the 10-25-50 challenge, Hastur Torres. It's a great idea, essentially I have to finish 10, 25 or 50 projects from my needlework stash before I can purchase anything new. Of course there are rules and exceptions :-).

The purpose of the challenge is to reduce the number of pieces in my needlework stash that I have not stitched.

The Rules (as modified to suit me :-):
1. Have fun reducing my stash.
2. There is no time limit- people have different size projects they would like to work on.
3. Thou shall not purchase any new patterns until 10, 25, or 50 projects have been stitched, 50 for me. Pattern size does not matter.
4. You can make some exemptions.

My Exemptions are as follows:
a. Blackbird Design's Loose Feathers Automatics
b. Autumn Snapperland Pieces, I am on auto for these also.
c. Limited Edition Pieces, this includes the Needleprint Ackworth Martha Brady and Ann Trump and any piece that has a limited availability that I feel I cannot live without :-).
d. My penance for these exemptions is I will not count Christmas Ornaments as a part of my
50 finishes.
e. I may purchase linen and thread only if I do not have what I need in my stash.
f. Finally, I may substitute anything on my list of 50 projects from stash I currently own as I desire.

5. Gifts, gift cards, trades, RAKs (stash sent by others randomly) and patterns bought with gift
money are not a violation of this challenge. Frances Burwell and the Proper Stitch are both Christmas gifts from my DH, can you tell I do my own shopping, LOL.
6. Freebies count as part of your total and you can aquire them at any point.
7. The offical start date for me is Nov 1, 2006.

My List of 50 projects:

1. Bent Creek Autumn Snapperland
2. Bent Creek Spring Snapperland
3. Bent Creek Summer Snapperland
4. Birds of a Feather Happy Hearts Sampler
5. Birds of a Feather Peace
6. Birds of a Feather Sally Spencer Sampler
7. Birds of a Feather School House Sampler
8. Blackbird Designs Be Kind Be True
9. Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden
10. Blackbird Designs Strawberry Garden
11. Blackbird Designs Summer House
12. Blackbird Designs Truly Thine
13. Blackbird Designs Tulip Manor
14. Brightneedle Lo, How a Rose Sampler
15. Brightneedle Ghosties and Ghoulies
16. Carriage House Samplings Alphabet Sampler
17. Carriage House Samplings Green Tree
18. Carriage House Samplings Hearts and Flowers
19. Carriage House Samplings Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
20. Carriage House Samplings Maria P. Oliver
21. Carriage House Samplings Stitcher's Prayer
22. Carriage House Samplings village of Hawk Run Hollow
23. Cross Eyed Cricket Acorn Tree
24. Ewe & Eye & Friends Alphabet Basket
25. Ewe & Eye & Friends Basket 1 Miniature
26. Ewe & Eye & Friends The Heart that Gives
27. Hillside Samplings Tree of Life Sampler
28. Historic Stitches John Foster
29. Just Nan Silkwood Manor
30. Little by Little Reward of Plenty
31. Long Dog Designs The Token
32. Needleprint Sarah Moon
33. Shepherd's Bush A Mother's Heart
34. Shepherd's Bush Autumn Blessings
35. Shepherd's Bush Busy
36. Shepherd's Bush Christian's Stocking
37. Shepherd's Bush Elisabeth's Stocking
38. Shepherd's Bush French Heart
39. Shepherd's Bush Happy Haunting
40. Shepherd's Bush Jillian's Stocking
41. Shepherd's Bush Reed's Stocking
42. Shepherd's Bush The Promise
43. Shepherd's Bush Thoughtful Hearts
44. Shepherd's Bush Victorian Sampler
45. The Drawn Thread An Open Heart
46. The Drawn Thread Marriage of the Minds
47. The Drawn Thread Sampler Game Board
48. The Examplarery Frances Burwell
49. The Scarlet Letter Sarah Tatum
50. Trilogy A Gathering of Hearts

I am committed now, I've put it out there in writing :-). It's a good thing there is an edit feature, seriously though it is a great idea and I really want to do this. I am fortunate to have any number of wonderful designs in my stash. Lately, I have been feeling like I am more of a collector than a stitcher and I want to be a stitcher!

Weekly Wanderings & House Haunting Progress

The Blizzard of 2006 came with a vengeance. But what a fun day, we had cider, soup, hot coffees, and played games. I got to stitch and we watched movies, all in all it was a cozy day of relaxation for us. We got 18 inches of snow, it you are particularly interested there are more pictures in my album, the link is on the left.

I am making good progress on my SB House Haunting. I really think it's a beautiful piece. I would love to sit and work on it until it's finished but Christmas is coming quickly and I don't want to be caught up in the last minute stitching rush. It makes December unbearable for me when I have gifts to finish. I usually do small ornaments to go with gift cards, participate in a few exchanges and I stitch something for my mom and sometimes my DH. I'd like to be finished up by Thanksgiving this year. I spent Thursday selecting and kitting up ornaments. Since they are gifts and exchanges I won't post a list or pictures until after they reach their new homes :-).

I am off to do part two of my post, my plan for managing my needlework stash...