Some thoughts for today

I don't exactly know what this entry is going to be about. I'll just start in and see where it goes.

I skipped that whole 10/25/50 deal. Now, New Year's Resolutions are the talk. I am an anti-resolution sort of gal. Yet, I do feel a need for some focus. I'm not any good at making resolutions. My first thought is just to make a few very general proclamations and leave it at that. But what good is that? Then I go the other direction and start listing everything I can think of that I might want to do. Again, what good is that?
Here's a couple that may make the cut, that is if I decide to venture forth into the resolution making madness -
1. Start a Spanish sampler
2. Finish a Merry Cox piece

The other thing I wanted to talk about was my holiday project starts. It didn't happen. I did start Heaven Is My Hope (The Scarlet Letter) on Thanksgiving. I really thought I'd be starting two more projects, Sarah Moon December 1, and another one on Christmas Day. Didn't happen. I needed some supplies and I was struggling with purchasing anything when I have plenty of other things I can start that I don't need to buy anything for. Unfortunately, those other things just aren't as interesting now. I do have a couple of large gift certificates I can use, but I waited too long to place the orders and I won't have them in time for New Years start either. :( All of this is actually good! It means I've been far too busy with other things. Those other things would be my family. (Oh yeah, people. Interaction and the such. Good. LOL... ) In the meantime, I've been working on HIMH while I wait for the next round of the quaker round robin. When I started this piece I really had no thought of actually finishing it. Isn't that silly?! It's just that I've had it for a while and I got such a screaming deal on it and it was ready to go since it was a kit. I had already decided I would use the kit as is and not substitute the fabric or the cotton floss. It is such a large sampler that I thought if I were to swap the supplies out I would be investing more in it than I want to and I'd rather spend it on other new charts or fibers and fabrics I need for other cool projects. I'm not too keen on this linen but I can deal with it. Here's a progress shot after stitching on her by candlelight the other night. I was desperate! It's not on 32ct though. It's on 30ct and, as you see, there's a lot of repetitive stitching and that doesn't require consulting the chart so much, that's why I was able to work on it in such little light. The queen stitches will require full light.

Power Out!

13+ hour power outage = me no happy

I stitched by candlelight last night. Really!

Oh, and I just switched to the new Blogger, so if I'm popping up on your Bloglines with a crazy amount of posts, this is why.

Are you ready?

Christmas. Just two days away. Are you ready?!
I am! It was decided this would be a "no gifts" Christmas. (In truth, there are a couple of secret little gifts hidden away.) I am so relaxed I can't even believe it. The house is decorated. We play Christmas music throughout the day. I've baked some of my annual Magic Bars. This is the easiest recipe in the world for some decadent bar cookies. You must try them! Today, we made up some batches of pretzels dipped in white chocolate, another ridiculously easy thing to do and everybody loves them. Of course, tamales were made a few weeks ago. Miraculously, we still have some left, because I froze several dozen. I've been out shopping with daughter a couple of times and I am sort of marveling over my free and easy attitude. I don't feel the least bit of stress and I am loving it. There's been a twinge or two wishing we had the money to do the Christmas's we've done in the past, but it passes quickly. This Christmas, my biggest gift has been having our younger daughter home from college on break. Oh, how I've missed her! Our other daughter has been ill with a terrible cold. Hopefully, next week she'll be up for some "hanging out" but this week she's been down for the count. She seems a little better today. The next few days we'll be on the go, going to church, visiting family near and far, and eating a lot.

Best of all, our hearts are prepared, as we approach the day set aside to honor the Christ child, Savior, Redeemer, King. Gloria in excélsis Deo!

Quaker Round Robin Update

Time for an update on the Quaker Round Robin I'm in on the Legacy Board. I was the fourth stitcher to add to Linda's piece. I'm sorry the color just isn't showing up correctly no matter how many photos I take. It's stitched on a very pretty shade of blue with mostly DMC 824 and a little 3842. I really like her center alphabet idea and I get a kick out of her initials being "LMN". I added the large floral urn and the little crown, plus my initials of course. Bring on the next round!

The Fourth Ornament

Have you been counting?
Remember, I said I signed up for four Christmas Ornament Exchanges?
Believe it or not, I would do it again. I think Christmas ornaments are my favorite thing to stitch. I definitely enjoy receiving them too!

Here's the third ornament I received. Sorry, I didn't post that pic sooner. I received it on a day I had to rush over to my mom's and I never got around to posting it here. Isn't it darling?!
Julianne stitched this design from "All Our Yesterdays" by Faye Whittaker. She generously included a lot of extra goodies including two fabric cuts and some darling snowman fabric I know I will definitely use. I've already worn the Christmas socks twice. The chocolate bar was enjoyed by the family. What a sweet package. Thanks Julianne! :)

AND THE FOURTH ORNAMENT...
I signed up for the ornament exchange and contest with Judy Odell's board, Just A Thought. I did her exchange last year and she sweetened the pot by offering a free finishing class to show us how to do a box finish. This year the extra incentive was a free set of chimes to add to our ornament and the winners got bucks at her sight. I was very motivated! However, I stretched my finishing time too thin and when it came down to it I just didn't have the creativity to figure out a clever way to hang the chimes. Anyway, I did not win the contest but I am a winner anyway because I got one of the best ornaments in the bunch. Su's entry was this gorgeous quaker and it suits me perfectly. Another of my favorites belonged to a stitching friend, Nancy, and it was another quaker, very cleverly constructed.

I can't tell you who got mine yet but I can show it to you.
This is the other ornament I refered to stitching from last years JCS issue. I'm afraid the pulled work doesn't show up that well in the photo. There is gold lining underneath the stitching that doesn't show through. The design is by Patricia Ann Designs. I botched up on changing the 2005 to 2006. The six is strange looking. I've been wanting to do some whitework after seeing some beautiful work others have done lately. This was just the right size for me right now. Small. LOL...

Fancy Work Sampler Noel

Juanita received the Christmas ornament I made for her. This one is (also) from Fancy Work. This one is Sampler Noel from this years JCS Ornament issue. I am so happy she likes it because I did not want to let it go. I plan to stitch this one again. I am not sure what fabric I used but the fiber is Vikki Clayton's Garnet and the silk ribbon is also from Hand Dyed Fibers.

photo is clickable

And Heaven & Nature Sing

Chris received the Nature Sings ornament I stitched for her. It seems I made the right choice for her for. That always feels nice. This one is by Fancy Work and it is in the 2005 JCS ornament issue. Funny, that was an issue I was quite disappointed in last year, yet I've stitched two of the four ornaments I just finished from that magazine. I'm not sure what that proves, but surely it must count for an exemption of this, or an allowance of that, somewhere in the stitching world, right?



Thanks for the comments on Tamale Day. We have survived two back-to-back days of tamale madness this weekend :) More to come about that later.

Tamale Day is Coming

Yes, Senorita stitches and she makes tamales too!
My family enjoys making tamales every year at Christmastime.
I've been doing it since I was a kid and my girls have done the same.
Last year we initiated a 2nd tamale day and started what I think will be a new tradition of the younger set (the cousins) all joining together to continue on the family tradition. So this week I will be busy shopping for ingredients and preparing the meat and chile. We save a lot of time by doing as much of the prep work as we can in advance so Tamale Day itself really just involves wrapping the tamales and cooking them. It's a festive day will lots of laughter, great music, and THE BEST tamales you'll ever taste.

Why don't you make some for our tree?

You can't blame 'em. Four perfectly nice ornaments out the door...where's ours? LOL... Since I was in the finishing mode I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to finish off one for the home team. The stitching on this one was actually completed in 2003 - says so right on the edge there. This little guy was originally intended for my first ornament exchange sometime back in say 2000 or 2001. I abandonded it when it was taking way too long to complete this solidly stitched ornament with many color changes. He's from a Better Homes & Gardens Special Issue they used to put out every Christmas. Are they still doing that?
You know, I've got a good little stack of stitched ornaments, and every year I say I'm going to do a finishing day and get them done. Maybe I'll do it this year...

Prairie Schooler Christmas Exchange

I just love it! It turns out Nancy got my name and I got hers. I came really close to stitching her initials too, but decided on a mitten instead.


Check out the message board dedicated to Prairie Schooler designs.

Mr. Christmas arrives!

LOL.. I didn't intend for this to be it's own post but I forgot to add it on to the previous one. I am married to Mr. Christmas. My husband is really into Christmas and he loves to decorate. Christmas has started at our house the day after Thanksgiving for most of our married lives. When we owned our house we had one of the most decorated houses on the street and my husband was in unspoken competition with the fireman neighbor across the street. One year, he swore the neighbor kid sabatoged a string of our lights on purpose. LOL... When we moved away we seriously had neighbors telling us they would miss our Christmas house. Well, where we are at now, he just doesn't feel like decorating the outside because it's sort of hidden back from what passers by would see and we don't have a lawn or anything. He even gave away our lawn decorations because the garage is overfull. We seriously have Christmas wall in our garage. That is how much stuff we have. But, there's always inside! LOL..
I was out today with my mom and family, and when I got home and walked toward the condo and saw our lit up wreath on the door, I knew it. Mr. Christmas had arrived. When I opened the door, I found the living room all decked out and ready. The tree is up. The nativity is set up. The mantle is decorated and stockings hung. The stairail is decorated. The table linens have been changed to the everyday Christmas cover and the snowman placemats are out as well as the centerpiece that will grace our table everyday. We'll leave the tree undecorated until our younger daughter comes home from college for Christmas break. We are on countdown.. just 15 more days. He even changed the bathroom towels to red/green and put a Christmas candle in there and a couple of snowmen on the counter. This is one of the many things that I love about my husband, the one and only, Mr. Christmas.

REDWORK ornament arrives. Mine. All mine.

I am thrilled with my new ornament from Heather. This brilliant lady did a splendid job at figuring out what I would like. Is this not gorgeous?! I recognized it as being one I had wanted to stitch myself, it's by the Workbasket from JCS 2005 issue. And just look at this cache of goodies she sent with it! Two candles (I am a big candle lover), Needle Necessities, two charts, a Christmas list pad, Mary Engelbreit stickers and THE most adorable mini note cards. I'm blown away by such generosity. I will definitely stitch both these charts and everything will be used.
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Family. Food. Stitching. What more could you want?

Thanksgiving was wonderful. When you have a large family, holiday's can get rather, shall we say, "eventful", even before the day arrives. This year, the location of our gathering changed back and forth three times, who was cooking, where/who was cooking the turkey, who was driving who, oh all sort of details being commented on by some who weren't even going to be there but had to enter their 2c. Ah, the joys of a large family full of strong personalities desperately trying to stay in check :) LOL.. The food was amazing. The new baby in the family put smiles on everyone's face. Tough guy brother-in-law sobbed while retelling his grandmother's story of being a genocide survivor. There was a huge family photo taken, less one stubborn nephew who refused to join in. He is 31... not 3! LOL...

My Thanksgiving Day New Project Start ended up being the Scarlet Letter's Heaven is My Hope. I barely made even a start! LOL.. I tried to stitch while visiting and chatting and I just didn't get very far.
Here it is, such as it is....
I dislike the greek key border, but I love the rest of it and I am wondering if I will ever complete this enormous sampler. Alas, away she goes for now. I won't be working on this for at least another two weeks. I have two ornaments that need finishing and a quaker round robin to work on. Besides that, I am going to start Sarah Moon December 1. hahaha. I discovered an SAL on one of my groups that is getting ready to start. Since I was already considering her for Christmas, I will just move her up a couple weeks. Then I can start something different on Christmas. LOL... If I do it, I will have four starts within 2 months time, not including some more ornaments I am going to do. hehehe. I just had the silly idea of trying to see how many new projects I can start between now and New Years. Crazy. Maybe I'll just see how many projects I can kit up between now and New Years. Maybe I'll kit up a bunch of ornaments! Ooohh I like that idea. Generally, I don't make up kits until I'm ready to stitch the project, so this actually sounds like something that might help me get more things worked into my rotation.

Oh, yes! I received my first ornament exchange of the four I'm signed up for. It's awesome! I'll do a post later to show you that. Gotta take a photo of it first. Plus, I have to show off what my dear husband busied himself with today while I was out.

Holiday Starts

I'm not quite ready to take the plunge into the 10/25/50 world. I am, however, trying to decide which projects I want to start next. Yeah, yeah, nevermind how many I already have going, that's not the point. I am going to start a new project on each of the upcoming holidays- Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Now, that sounds fun!

1. Catherine Agnes (Indigo Rose) - I'd love to start her on Thanksgiving. I have the chart but I am lacking in the Waterlilies department. A very kind soul is sending me the remainder of her fibers but I will still need to come up with the rest. Anyone interested in splitting fibers with me on the rest? It's all done in Waterlilies.

2. Sarah Moon (Needleprints) - Also a possible Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas start. I have the chart and probably a fabric I can use. I'm planning on using Vicki Clayton for this one and I have a large gift credit I can use for it. :)

3. Heaven is My Hope - I got a screaming deal on this Scarlet Letter kit. If I stitch it I will just use the DMC and linen that came with it.

4. Any With My Needle design. I have so many I want to do but I'll have to see which can be kitted from stash on hand. Ellen is one of my favorite designers. (I put a bunch of them here but I have several others too.)

5. A Spanish sampler - Again, I have several collected but I've yet to even begin one! I've started working on a special blog I will be dedicating to it when I do start. I'm thinking New Years for this one. Anyone want to SAL with me? (Many pictured here...I do have more!)

6. American Sampler - featured in Treasures Magazine. Doesn't this sound like a good Thanksgiving start? I've been collecting the AVS for it for a long time. I may go with this one if I don't get a fiber pal for Catherine Agnes.

So, here I am testing out AOL's version of picture hosting. Eh. Might as well. I've tried at least half a dozen other photo hosting places. It's fun how they're all coming up with fun little slide show tricks.

Two down, two to go

The hard part about stitching for exchanges is when you like the item so much you don't want to send it! Then there's this part when you want to show a picture but want to keep it a secret still.
One I stitched based on the persons love for animals. Not being much of an animal lover myself I wouldn't usually chose this design. I really like it though! The other one had to be a Prairie Schooler design. I have a lot of PS books so the hard part was choosing the design. Someone is going to get a really darling m _ _ _ _ n. I goofed on the finishing but it's hidden on the back.
The next one I need to get some supplies for. I'm really looking forward to this one and I have a real bad feeling I'm not going to want to let it go either. LOL... I haven't made up my mind what to stitch for the fourth one yet.

Fruity

Oh... no big deal. Just further evidence of my fruit obsession, I guess. I finished stitching this last month I think. It just had a little bit left to do. I seem to leave a lot of things like that. I guess I get bored at the end? Who knows! LOL...
I don't know what I'll do with it. I'm considering making it into a pot holder and gifting it.

So. I am diabetic. Even if I do everything to control my blood glucose (diet, excercise) I could still develop complications anyway. That's fun to think about. Not. So, do I eat fruit or not? Today, I eat it.

I have some finishing to do

I completed the stitching earlier this year and I really would like to do the finishing this year as well. I'd like to have at least one item completely finished that I actually keep for myself.

From Needlework Sm...

From Needlework Sm...

Seven Songs!

Laura tagged me on this one. Laura, dear, while you can't come up with seven songs, I am having a tough time keeping it to seven.

Here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre. Whether or not they have words or even if they are any good but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now! Post these instructions in your blog along with with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.


ONLY seven songs I'm into now. Only seven, you say? I am really into music. My whole family is. Consequently I get introduced to a lot of different stuff.

1. Speed of Sound - Coldplay. replay, replay, replay
2. Come on Feel the Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens. OK, the WHOLE CD.
3. Walk in Paris - Estas Tonne'/Michael Shulman. Incredible stuff.
4. Yellow Taxi - Matt Costa. Nice stuff
5. Photobooth/ Your Heart is an Empty Room, etc etc - Death Cab for Cutie. I'm totally into this indie emo stuff. Credit two daughters.
6. Django - Benny Goodman :)
7. Martirio - Flamenco, jazz, latin. This is music of my soul...

Other fun cultural picks... Gloria Estefan's Mi Tiera. Classic. Gipsy Kings!

Ok. Well there's my seven (plus). I'll have to figure out who to tag.

OK now for the tagees:
Anita
Danielle
Joanie
Juanita
Darla
Anne
Susan

Ornament-a-thon

This month I will finish FOUR ornaments for exchanges.
One is for a contest no less.
C
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Quaker Update x2

Now that I'm ready to post a pic of the current round I realize I never posted a pic for that last round. So here's both :)

This is the part I stitched on Nancy's piece. She chose hers to be a monochromatic of Vicky Clayton's Wenge on sand linen. What a beautiful color combination! Sorry the color is not right on this photo. Nancy had us add our own initials and the initials of someone who inspired us in our needlework. I added my mothers initials. I stitched the crown and the wheat motifs. (Eternal life and the bread of life.)


This is the part I added to Terri's piece. Terri has provided a beautiful pallet of Vicky Clayton silks for us to choose from and we are stitching on Vintage Lakeside Linen, Examplar, I think. She asked us to add something that signified something about ourselves if we could. The best I could come up with was a tree. Yes, I am a tree. LOL.. no, no. We do have swans in the lake nearby and I wanted to stitch a swan, but I wanted to use white or ecru which weren't in the pallet. Since my city is something like the "Tree City of America", or something like that, a tree was called to the occasion. I also added the smaller half medallion of roses in the marvelous color Rufous. I think this is turning out nicely. (What is "rufous" anyway? )