Heart

I've been stitching up a heart from Madame la Fee (it's a freebie, quick go to her site and look!), for a kind stitcher to incorporate into a quilt for a cancer survivor, who is also a stitcher. "C" -- Been there, don't want to do that again!  but of course very willing to bring joy to a fellow stitcher.

This is how it looked the other day:

This is how it looks now (so sorry, it's a very overcast Saturday.. but you might be able to see the flower top left that makes up the outline for the left side of the heart). I hope to finish the left side this weekend; it's all solid stitching:

I must say, I think this is the fastest I've stitched out of panic, because I have to mail this off before the end of July.. the bumble bees remind me of my younger brother, his birthday is end of July, but he's gone.. suddenly, unexpectedly, 5 years this August.  He used "bumble bee" as a term of endearment for his son,  my nephew.  He and I used to fight a lot as kids but I like to think we were getting a little closer as adults, at least I was hoping to be as we grew older  :(

Brother, I hope you know that you were/are loved .

11 questions.. down to 10 =)

I was tagged by Ms.Linda Lee of CrossN My Stitches, whose blog I am a follower of... a game of 11 questions for stitcher-bloggers, and a way to get to know them better.  I will answer the ones she sent me, then I get to come up with 11 of my own, to send to another 11 bloggers (yikes, I'm sure I don't know that many !)

1. How many years have you been stitching? Counting sporadic stitching episodes from grade school, it would be 25!

2. Name one piece on your wish list. Um.. right now it would be Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers No. 31, Blessings and Kind Wishes. Pretty! And hard to find.

3. Would you rather receive floss or fabric as a gift? Floss, but only if it's fancy.. I'd love to try HDF and WDW! If not, I'd rather have fabric. There's not much here but Aida.

4. Do you have a LNS within a 50 mile radius from your home? Yes, but nothing fancy.. it's now called a Yarn Shop! it's more a hobbyist's store than a LNS.

5. How many pieces have you got going right now? Five! one a work in very slow progress by Whimsey and Wit, my Peaches chart (a companion to a Plums chart I completed years ago), a small kit from Dimensions, a little herb kit from Cross My Heart.

6. Why do you enjoy cross stitching? The way you can make a pretty picture by your stitching.. and the pride you feel when you can say “I did that!”

7. Do you have a special chair that you use for stitching? No, but I wish I did! It would be something you could sink in, but have steady arms for balancing the stitching if needed!

8. Have you ever taught anyone to stitch? Yes, 2 of my nieces. One tried it and likes it but she hasn't got the concept of stitching completely in her mind , and the other one likes it – I'll be sending her a kit to sew!

9. Do you knot your threads on the back of your stitching? No, they go under.

10. When you plan a trip, do you look up needle shops on the routes before you leave? There's not a lot of LNSs.. but when I am in a mall I always check to see if there might be one!

11. How often do you take your needlework with you? 90% of the time, I bring it along. It's always nice to get a few stitches in and know that I'm progressing with my stitching,

Okay... I am tapping Joyce of Random Ramblings and Cindy of After the Storm.. and trimming the questions to 10!  

1. What was your first stitched piece?
2. Who (or what) first got you started on stitching?
3. Where do you usually buy your stash?
4. Who are your top 3 favorite designers?
5. What are the top 3 items on your wishlist?
6. How long do you stitch?
7. What are you working on right now?
8. How old is your oldest WIP?
9. Do you use any special tool in your stitching? If so, what is it?
10. Please share any special lesson you've learned from stitching (or stitchers)?  

Have a great day, y'all!

Milly's Giveaway

Hi all!  Please head on over to Milly's and take a look at all the stitching and crafting goodness she has going on..with furbabies, too!  The link to her is on the left (thought I'd revive the Giveaway Goings on heading!)

Happy Saturday!

What I've been up to

What I've been busy with..

the little dears - nephew and niece; my brother's children who I love to bits.

this arrived in the post - stitchy goodness from Cecilia's - Blackbird Designs' Loose Feathers No. 30 and 32; Rites of Spring and Beyond My Heart.  Made it safely here from 8,000plus miles away with $3.45 postage.  First time I've tried ordering and having it mailed direct. It took 2.5 weeks with a few days at the post office where they made a notice to me to pick it up.  Not bad!  Now I know it's a mix of frugality and lack of funds that's keeping me from ordering more.  :)

I just paid $7 in gcs to a lady on the 123 message board for 2 more BBDs that make up the Mystery Sampler.  I hope she checks her mail - she never replied to my last question 5 days ago about the Peacock Pinkeep!

Herb kit from Cross My Heart which my niece and I started stitching while she was here.. she forgot to pack it with her and only remembered at the airport. She wants to use it as a cellphone pouch.  It even has beads!  The other needle has gone missing, it's the one for sewing with the blunt end. Uh oh. Must ask her if she remembers where she put it!

Nope, I have no pic to post from the Advent Alphabet.. it's gone missing; I'm sure it will turn up again soon.  Too bad, as I'd put in more stitches!  No work being done either on the Peaches WIP.

Have a lovely week, all!

Sharing a blogworld giveaway from Crossn My Stitches

Ms. Linda-Lee of Crossn My Stitches has a giveaway going on on her blog.. lovely floss and some charts... check it out, and while you're at it enjoy her beautiful finishes!

http://lindalees-crossnmystitches.blogspot.com/

Have a lovely day!

Pluses and minuses

Heigh ho, another Monday.. I've heard that statistics say Monday is the most common day for heart attacks as well as the most favored day for self-destruction.  What is it about Mondays?  People say "Monday morning blues"... Why aren't Mondays viewed as the start of a beautiful week instead?

Okay okay okay... enough of that claptrap!  It's the start of another work week and that's why people hate Mondays.  I can totally relate, today.. I make an effort to go to work despite this cold I have (I'm on medication already) but it is a different type of cold in that it's mostly cough.  It sounds much worse than it is -- I'm not coughing as hard or as often (mouth covered with a hanky or tissue of course) -- as I was last Friday.  But lo and behold, here are all these people -- well, 3 actually -- afraid I'll spread the germs... I feel like a  walking germ  :(  Well if I'm still infectious then why the heck does Medical give the all-clear and let me report for work??   Sorry for that but I'm seriously annoyed.

On the plus side.. I've managed to start a new square in the Advent Alphabet - F, for fireplace!  What an achievement as I didn't even know when I would be touching that piece again!  But that Prairie Schooler angel ornament did the trick and I am quite back into the groove. I did the angel's hands and mouth so now she looks more like the Just Cross Stitch ornament 2011 pic.   I'd even be happily absent a day just so I could do more stitching, except I have an errand to do for my mom tomorrow.. so I'm off to work again later (oh my gosh is it really Later already????)

Another plus is my nephew and niece are here - that is, I think they arrived today.  They're staying with their maternal relatives for half their vacation and the other half with us - only it's not our turn yet.  No message yet from either of them, or from my SIL to my mom.  Hopefully they're here and safe.

I sound cranky -- I am! I don't like Mondays.  Picture update to come later this morning of the PLUS side to the Monday (Whoa.. I even sound cranky about something positive!)  LOL

hermitting with stitching at last!

After a long drought I finally have a couple of pics to post!  I spent the weekend doing a bit more stitching than I normally do (lately it's been zero, lol)  and I have a little almost-finished ornament, see below

It's the Prairie Schooler ornament from the JCS 2011 Christmas Ornament issue!  Just the angel's lips and hands - oops! and I can stitch the white if I feel like it, and the outer stars too.  If you have the magazine you'll note the ornament is actually supposed to be a perfect cube, but the Aida I stitched on wasn't perfectly even so it looks more like a diamond.  The horizontal squares are narrower than the vertical ones, if that makes sense.  I'm happy to have stuck to it over the weekend, though if I sewed through this week it would have been the work of 30 minutes to finish the entire ornament as pictured in the magazine.  The thing is, I got sick Tuesday (caught a bad cold, still recovering from it).

In other news, I also worked on the Peaches chart and you can see my progress below.  I believe this is what's called a WISP (work in SLOW progress!)

You can see where I've stitched in the wrong direction LOL and I'm in the process of frogging.  That bit of green I actually finished already - I was too lazy to get up and check which direction I'd sewn my tent stitches on the companion piece (Plums).  When I finally checked, I discovered that I'd sewn them in the opposite direction!  I was so disheartened.  I continued with the gray shadow in the correct direction.  I'm bent on finishing the tent stitches to the right of the chart so I know whether I have enough fabric for it (yes, I know, I did measure it) but I only had this piece of fabric that matched the companion piece - I needed white Aida that I can be assured is even, and so I used this piece which is 12 x 12.  I only have 1 inch of border between my stitches and outer space.... LOL

If you only knew what I've been through with this... last week it was missing from my basket and I couldn't find it!  It went missing for an entire week.  But praise be, it was found on the table beside the tv.  Now you know what I do while stitching!

Hope everyone is having a great week!