Babies and bibs!

So my boss sent out a message that she was a grandma and I wanted to do something nice. I posted earlier that I found some cute bibs to make

 

(Exhibit A)

 

I finished the two turtles in about a week. It was a fun stitch, although my fingers get quite sore and bandaids were close at all times.

 

(Exhibit B)

 

I really enjoyed working on this bib. It was the first time I stitched a bib and I've only done stamped cross stitch a few times before. Imagine my surprise when my boss tells me that her daughter in law had a baby as well! Good thing these bibs come as a pair. I quickly stitched up the second bib in about two days.

 

(Exhibit C)

 

My boss is off to visit her daughter and daughter in law tomorrow so I was up until midnight last night last night finishing the bib. This is my evidence and excuse as to why I am tired and in need of more coffee today!

 

 

Sorry I was so long between posts. I caught a bug and was under the weather for a week, but thankfully I am coming along. I spent Labor day weekend at the shop watching movies and stitching a storm. I worked on my first punch needle piece and I'll post pics later, worked on the Rose Bower Wedding, also pics later, and just generally had a relaxing weekend. Things have been a bit stressful at home lately. We have some neighborhood kids who have been causing problems and they decided my car was a great target. They have done over 1500 dollars worth of damage! Broken window and smashed the door. I have never had anything like this happen before and it is a horrible feeling. It was nice to get away for the weekend and not have to worry. My mom didn't think it was so great the dog and I were staying. Rylee decided she needed to go to China and was going to dig her way there!

 

Mom has a lot of ground squirrels and Rylee must have thought they were inviting her over for tea and peanuts.

Well I'll leave you with furry baby pics. I'll post an update of Rose Bower on Monday. It will be nice to work on it this weekend and not on bibs!

 

My friends raccoon she is taking care of until she can release it. Very cute but very feisty!

 

Bella keeping me company while I was sick

 

They looked so comfy I didn't want to move them to use the blanket. I got up and got another one. No they are not spoiled at all!







Another Monday

Well another Monday has rolled round again. I wish I could work on the weekends and have all weekdays off! Wouldn't that be wonderful? These last 2 jobs I've worked have been Monday-Friday. Well my last job was Monday-Monday with no time off. It has been hard adjusting to working a what most would consider to be a normal job. I love have every weekend free, and getting home at a decent time...but I miss being able to do things during the week too.

Boyfriend and I went to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Saturday. It was amazing. If you haven't watched it yet I highly advise it. I laughed so hard my abs hurt the next morning. Sunday was spent at the shop. Got quite a bit of work done on Rose Bower. I filled in a lot of the white stitches. I hate stitching white on white. I repeat I loath stitching white on white. I have no problem with how it looks, but my eyes hate me afterward.

Rose Bower before

 

Rose Bower current

 

Quite a bit of progress made and I'm really happy with how it's turning out. Now I have a lot of popcorn stitching to do on his shoulder and that requires counting. I hate counting. I'm horrible at counting. Hopefully I can do it without too much frogging.

 

Also I wanted to make a note that I do read every comment, It's just really hard to respond. I do most of my posting and reading on my phone and for some reason the commenting doesn't go so well. When I get my actual computer to a state where I can use it more often I'll start commenting again. I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments!

 

As always I'll leave you with furbaby pics!

 

 

Rylee showing off her lovely hair cut.

 

Pippin pretending not to snuggle, Bear pretending Pippin isn't snuggling his butt.

 

Rylee (pre haircut) and Bear watching my Boyfriend eating supper.( Well Bear is protesting getting his picture taken.)

 

Happy Stitching Everyone!

 



Feeling Lazy

Sorry for the recent lack of posts. Life gets so very busy during the summer months (and spring, winter and fall too!) I haven't had too much time to stitch lately. Mostly just on Sundays when I'm at the shop. My Grandma's brother passed away recently after a long bout with Parkinsons. I've spent quite a few hours upstairs with her watching The Carol Burnette Show and I Love Lucy. She is doing better know. Destiny Beta for XBox One was last weekend. My friends and I played a lot, can't wait for the full release in September. And as always, work work work. I've picked up more days at the fire department as on call. Which basically means I do nothing different except commit to being in district from 5pm to 4am most days. Hopefully being home more will mean more stitching!
Went into Chicago last weekend with my Mom for her birthday. She choose Hard Rock Cafe. After eating we left the city and headed for the shop. On the way we stopped in Naperville and showed my boyfriend where we used to live and where I went to school. Boy does it look different now. At the shop mom picked up Quiltopoly. Like Monopoly, but with quilts!

 

The only picture I took that day. I am so not my mothers daughter. She must have taken thousands!

I have made progress on a few items and started a new project. I know I know another new start you say! Well I was at the shop stitching with my friend and I looked up and saw one of her finished projects and knew right away that I had to stitch it.

Victorian Charm

Picture taken at Lottie's Keep

Stitched by Debra Hartwig

 

I just love the way the colors work with the dark Aida. This has been a challenge so far! I've never worked with dark background before and its 18ct too. Its coming along and Deb assures me that as soon as I get some reference marks and don't have to count so much that it will go smoother. I don't have any pictures on the Wedding or Victorian house but I have made some advancement on those. I'll have pics next time.

 

One of my sweetheart patients ended her time at my clinic (which is a very good thing, that means she's healed.) She gave me a wonderful washcloth that she made, herbal tea and lavender soap. Made me tear up a bit when she gave it to me.

 

 

 

I'll leave you as always with pics of the kids. I took the cats outside and brushed them the other day. Got enough hair out of the three of them to stuff a large pillow! My middle child Bear decided that he rather likes the outside and now comes out to roll in the grass when Rylee plays ball.

 

And so ends another post. I'm off to work and make money to buy bones for the dog. At least thats what I tell her everyday and when I leave the house.

 

Bonus cat photo. Lazers ready Captain! (scuse the messy house)

 

 



Can't stop stitching!

Have you ever had a project so fun you couldn't put it down? I started working on a stitch for my friend who is getting married a year and a half from now and I can't put it down. I'll admit when I started stitching on it I wanted to toss it out the window, that or beg my friend to pick a different picture. I couldn't figure out how my counting went wonky and I was off. Thankfully my new friend Deb helped me out. She runs a cross stitch shop close to my home town! I drove by the complex on my way to West Virgina a few weeks ago. I stopped in last Saturday and instantly knew I was going to be spending a lot of time (and money lol) here. She has a fantastic shop with a large selection of items., and also has an area to sit and stitch. We ended up stitching for 5 hours Saturday and about 3 hours on Sunday. It's so nice to meet some local people that like to stitch. I started working on Rose Bower Saturday, and even though I set it aside for a few days out of frustration I picked it up last night and stitched for 6 hours! I only stopped when my fat cat Pippin (also known by many names: The Pippinfather, Pippinpotumus, Blob) knocked my stand over because he was hungry.

Rose Bower Wedding

Started 6-21-14

 

Sunday after getting frustrated I picked up a Mill Hill Bead kit. Never too early to work on Christmas presents! This will be for my Mom, I've even got a wooden box picked out for it to go in.

 

Victorian House

Started 6-22-14

 

These are so fun to stitch on. Sorry the picture is kinda cruddy. I'll remember to turn the flash off next time!

I'll leave you with kitty pics. Pippin loves to help hold my projects down, just incase gravity fails.

Bella needs rehab for her box addiction

Bear just wonders if any of it is edible

Have a good weekend everyone!



 

Deals Galore...and some stitching!

After my great deal on two Bothy Threads patterns I figured that was it for me for awhile. Nope! My local Joann Fabrics is moving. They have some great deals. I picked up an Ottlite caddy for 20 bucks. They normally sell for 80!

 It's so pretty! Well at least mine will be when it's out of the box.

I made some good progress on my Bothy Threads. We had some strong storms come through last night. My dog is terrified of storms. She has a thunder jacket and gets a dose of benadryl to calm her down. So I was up late stitching while she panicked.

Finished more cream and gold background. Think I'll work on the cat next to add more color!

I took a break from the shed to work on a newer start. I realized I have never worked on anything Halloween themed! I picked up this kit awhile ago and thought why not. The bright colors will be nice after all the cream!

 I am loving my chart clip I found at Hobby Lobby. Makes it easier for charts I haven't been able to copy or color the areas differently.

Here are some updated pics of my furbabies.

 Bella pretending she isn't waiting for Bear to look away so she can steal his food.

 My parents dog Rion cooling off in my step mom's project outside.

 Bear was mad at me and pouting!

 Poor  Rylee baby. So worn out by all the storms.

 My silent watcher Pippin. Okay, not so silent. He has asthma and wheezes and snores!

That's all for this time. I'll end with a question. Those of you with furbabies...How do you keep the hair off your projects?! Or remove it from them? I swear no matter how careful I am all I see is cat hair!

Pics as promised

I didn't get a whole bunch of time this week to stitch. It was slow at work which helped. I managed to get a lot done on the Spring Chair. It's part of a kit from Janlynn of four seasonal chairs. I would post a picture but all the pictures of the finished project are either so tiny or so blurry you cant see. Even the picture on the actual project are tiny. These chairs remind me of Paula Vaughn designs. They are supposed to be one large cross stitch, but I cut the fabric in 4 and plan on sewing them together with fabric to make a nice wall hanging.

Spring Chair 1

Spring Chair 2

I did manage to get some work done on my Bothy Threads Cut Thru SAL. Not as much as I wanted but any stitching is better than no stitching right?

Bothy Threads update #2

When I came home this morning I noticed something odd with Bella

Do I have something on my face?

Either she has a new colorful goatee or she was eating stickers again. She is one weird cat. She is half bengal so I don't know if that has something to do with it or not. She loves eating tape, stickers..anything with a glue background. Weirdo.

Freebies: Check out Sullivans Floss . Under the projects tab you will find some nice seasonal charts. Some are even designed by Ursula Michaels! They have conversion charts to DMC as well.

Another finish and a possible new start!

I finished the cardinal pair! I feel so silly that I set this down, when it only took me about an hour to finish it. Oh well Grandma will get a mid-summer present.

 Cardinal Pair

Dimensions

Started 2010

Finished 7/11/2013

A close up of the work

Now I just have to mount it and find a frame for it.

When I came home the other day I found Bella trapped in the window! She must have crawled in there then stepped on the window and closed it behind her. Needless to say she was not too happy with me that I stopped to take a picture.

No worries though, there is plenty of room in there for her fat butt.

She forgave me though and helped keep my threads safe on the chair as I worked on the Tardis.

"I've got this mom, no worries"

I really enjoy working on the Tardis. If I miss count it doesnt matter. I just move the stitches over a bit and no one will over know!

I added more yellow and some brown

Finally I found a pattern that I bought out in Boston when I visited my brother last October. I'm thinking about stitching this on linen. I've never stitched on anything but Aida and would appreciate any tips you savvy stitchers have for me.

I think the linen would give it more of an "aged" feel, which would fit with Boston.

Well I'll leave it there for now, I have to get ready for work. Although I would much rather stay home and stitch!

A small finish, some Wip's, a give away and my fur babies. (pic heavy)

Okay I think I have this whole blogger thing figured out and when you click on my name now it is much easier to get in contact with me. Plus I no longer have to look at my full name, which is great. First I finished the Sonic Screwdriver bookmark!

 Sonic Screwdriver

John Shirley

Finished 7/6/2013

I am having a date night tonight and will be able to give it to my boyfriend.

I went through my stitching bag after I finished the bookmark for other smaller projects to work on at work and found some old UFO's which are now WIP's

This is an old pattern my Grandma liked. I started it but quickly got annoyed by how short they cut the threads. It feels like constant changing. 

I got this for my Grandma as well. It is a non counted cross stitch. The pattern was stamped on aida with the background. You just have to fill in the missing parts (Like the leaves) I'm so close to finishing I think I'll work on this one first

I bought this last year to make the cardinal birdhouse for my Grandma for christmas. After I finished that one I started on the cat. The kit came with plastic but I had some green paper so I thought to try it on there.

I bought this pattern for my father. He used to be a dairy farmer before he hurt his back. I plan on getting this finished for christmas.

Marsha over at Everybody Loved Clark is having a giveaway. She is giving away Prairie Schooler charts for the 12 months! You can enter HERE and join her blog to help her get even more followers. 

My Bothy Threads pattern finally came in the mail today! Now I just have to wait for payday to buy the fabric so I can get started. sometimes I hate being broke lol.

I'll end this long post with pics of my fur babies.

This is Gerry the ferret. I had to put him to sleep this past year. He was such a great snuggler and will be greatly missed.

Bear is the orange marmie and Pippin is the orange tuxedo. I love this pic. It looks like Bear farted and is ashamed and Pippin thinks he smells and is trying to push him away!

Little miss Mcgee being cute.

Pippin and his spoon. He has allergies and is always itchy. It grabbed this spoon and spent most of the night rubbing his face on it.

Rylee was very tired after 4th of July. She is very nervous about everything and the fireworks wore her out. That and I have her Benadryl.

Bear, Pippin and Bella (my great marmie/bengal) snuggling. This is a rare photo. Bella is the newest addition (about 4 years now though) and Bear and Pippin tend to ignore her.

Bear playing with my prewrap.

Bella helping me organize my stitching bag. I have never had a cat before who likes to cross her paws while she is sleeping. Maybe its a bengal thing?

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post. I'm off to get ready to go see Man of Steele. Have a good week everyone!