Dad's Surgery

I got up yesterday morning thinking it was going to be a normal day. My sister called to see if I knew when they were doing my dad's angioplasty, my parents had decided to tell me after it was over so I didn't even know he was getting it done. I live a couple states away and they didn't want to worry me? Not great and they won't be doing that again. My dad had an ECG done a few weeks ago as a part of his pre-op for a knee replacement. It came back funny so he did a stress test, he's had a couple of funny ones but they didn't think it was anything. Monday the cardiologist recommended he have the angioplasty to rule out anything. Long story short he's having a quadruple bypass tomorrow morning. Lots to be thankful for, they discovered it before he had a major heart attack, his heart is otherwise very strong, he has good doctors but it's still very scary. He's only 65 years young and never had any symptoms so this is all very unexpected. Luckily I was able to get very cheap tickets so I flew home yesterday afternoon. I was actually out the door at 2:oo yesterday afternoon. I love this picture of my dad, he was in his early 20's here. Please keep him and my mom in your thoughts and prayers!

Another PIF and Goals

I got a gorgeous beaded scissor fob from Karin in the mail yesterday. The really neat thing is she made the beautiful red and blue heart shaped bead herself. Thank you so much Karin!

I so appreciate all the great advice I got on goal setting from everyone. Karen and Chelle even posted their perspective on organization and setting goals on their blogs :-). I love to "think out loud" and getting so much feedback is wonderful. I am realizing I can be organized and accomplish a lot without being so wrapped up in my daily "to do" list. I've also decided Karen and I must have been separated at birth we are so much alike, LOL. The long and short of it is I am going to have some overall goals. I want to meet my timelines for exchanges and gifts, I love participating in exchanges and stitching gifts. I also want to finish some of my UFOs and I do like having a list of projects I want to work on over the long term. I am just not going to plan quite so much of my day in respect to what I am stitching. I want to leave room to change my mind :-). Speaking of which, the new BBD loose Feather is in my hot little hands and I am going to stitch it as soon as I finish a PIF and an exchange piece I am working on.

DT Sampler Game Board WIP

My DT Sampler Game Board is coming along nicely :-). I had a few missteps, I didn't care for the linen I had originally purchased. The weave was too "loose" so I ended up pitching it, literally, in the trashcan. I pulled out a beautiful cut of 28 count lambswool instead. I also wasn't crazy about a few of thread conversions so I made a couple of substitutions. Now I am happy, happy with my linen and fibers and I am making progress :-). I've set it aside to work on a Valentine exchange and a PIF challenge piece.

I've been thinking about setting stitching goals every month, it's just not really working well for me. I love making lists but then I feel obligated to cross things off. I am a little compulsive about my list, LOL. It's a lot of pressure and sort of takes the fun out of things. For instance, the new BBD loose feathers is winging it's way to my house and I really, really want to start it but technically it's not on my list for this month. What's more it's not on my list of 50, not that I can't make adjustments... :-). I am not sure how to make progress without setting goals, but there's a part of me that just wants to stitch what I want to stitch and see what happens. Maybe I should not be so specific about the which and when and be a bit more general, I'd like to finish two pieces this month and make progress on a couple others or maybe I should just work on what I feel like working on at the moment? I'd be curious to know how tied you all are to your goals, rotations and lists?

My First 2007 Finish

My Bent Creek Spring Snapperland is done! I am thrilled with how it came out. I change the colors in the border, brown flowers aren't my thing, so I did them in WDW Sweetheart Rose and GAST Antique Rose. I also changed the chicken coop section. My grandmother always lived in a house in the country and kept chickens. Some of my fondest childhood memories include staying with her and collecting eggs. Once I found a snake in the coop but that's a whole different story, LOL. I wanted to remember my grandmother, Audie Pearl, by stitching a cute little old lady with a bun and a dress. She was just the sweetest person.

I am on to Drawn Thread Sampler Game Board. I have joined a Stitchalong and I need to stitch four blocks :-). It is suppose to be a very cold weekend, temperatures aren't getting out of teens and we are expecting snow, good excuse to stay home and stitch. We are planning a relaxing weekend in front of the fireplace, lots of movies, games and hot coffees. My DH has been mumbling under his breath about moving to Florida for two days, LOL. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

A PIF Received

I received the most gorgeous Pay It Forward gift from Cathy, a hardanger fob and doily as well as a very pretty piece of linen and skein of silk. I was thrilled because I've never tried Hardanger and now I have two intricate, beautiful pieces in my collection. I've already put the fob on a pair of scissors I received from Adana at the SB retreat. Thank you so much Cathy, it was such a nice surprise :-). I love opening my mailbox and receiving an unexpected package. I think this PIF challenge was such a great idea and I am so glad I have the chance to participate. Now I need to get busy and start surprising a few ladies myself!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2007! I love the new year, the possibilities of a fresh start, making resolutions, and for me, a chance to get organized :-). I always make a few promises to myself and most years I manage to keep one or two of them, LOL. My stitching related resolutions are:

1. Continue the 10-25-50 challenge. I've put my 50 pieces on the sidebar of my blog. All I can say is thank goodness for birthday's and Christmas's. I will be asking for stitching stuff. I've allowed myself a few exceptions, the BBD Loose Feathers and hard to find, OOP charts, and limited edition pieces.

2. Stitch every day, I am very blessed to be a homemaker with lots of time to call my own so I should be accomplishing a lot more than I do :-).

3. Finish at least three of my UFO projects, the pieces that come to mind right now are SB The Promise, SB Victorian Sampler and DT An Open Heart.

4.I doubt I will finish it this year but I am going to work on ATS a few times a month. My friend Vicky convinced me to continue stitching it over one and we are going to work on it together twice a month. She's stitching it over one too. To be sure I don't waffle I'm giving the over two start to Vicky's mom, Danya, to stitch.

5. I want to finish at least one ornament each month.

6. I would like to frame at least one or two projects a month. I have several pieces stored away that need to be on my wall.

My goals for Janary are (amended 17 January):

1. Finish block 2 on CHS Village of Hawk Run Hollow.
2. Finish BBD Summer House (over half finished with this one too).
3. Finish Bent Creek Spring Snapperland (I am 2/3 of the way done) (finished 12 January).
4. Work on Frances Burwell (my Christmas start) (I have the first 4 bands finished).
5. Work on Sarah Moon (my New Year start) Worked on her 1 January, that's it).
6. Finish one of my PIF pieces :-), I have four to do, still room for one more!
7. Do two squares a week on DT's Sampler Gameboard, I am participating in a stitchalong with several other ladies, DT Sampler Gameboard Blog (coming along nicely, as of 17 January, I have 6 blocks done and a nice start on the border).
8. Finish Valentine Exchange piece.
9. Work on ATS (worked on it 16 January).

I wish everyone a wonderful, blessed New Year with lots of finishes! I am hopeful as always I will be the person God created me to be, keep at least some of my resolutions and get lots of stitching time :-).

A Few Finishes!

December actually turned out to be a very productive stitching month for me. I stitched my mom's Christmas present, several ornaments and gifts and a couple of scissor fobs for myself.

My mom's "wall" is now graced with CHS's Maria P. Oliver. She did tell me she needs at least three more pieces to complete this display, LOL. She was also drooling over my CHS alphabet piece, I think I may manage to keep that one but only because I am stitching Long Dog Sampler's The Token for my parents 45th wedding anniversary.


I also stitched and finished several ornaments, BBD Blackbird, two La D Da, the cardinal and heart and Brightneedle's No Peeking all for gifts and exchanges:

I did HIHN's Say Your Prayers over one as a fob for my friend's jewelry box. She asked me to do it several months ago. I've put a quarter next to it to show how tiny it is:

Finally, I did two scissor fobs for myself. I stitched With My Needle Eliza's Pyn Pillow for the red Gingher Sophia's. For the pink scissors, I can't remember their name, I did Lizzie Kate Life's a Stitch over one:

I plan to blog a lot more in 2007, time sort of gets away from me, LOL. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year :-).