Slow Stitching For Me

This was the year I was really going to concentrate of getting more projects done.  Cross stitching, quilting, beading, I had it all covered.  Then unfortunately reality set it.  I've been having trouble with my left thumb for several months.  It might be tendonitis from over use.  Yep, that's the hand I hold my tablet in.  I finally got a lapstand for it and the pain has been reduced to a dull roar.  Then I got a new puzzle game from my favorite designer and spent so much time using the mouse that I got basically what is trigger finger on my right index finger.  Both hands are giving me a lot of problems.  I did talk to my doctor about this and I now have a prescription for a topical form of Advil.  It's been very slow working but I suppose it would work better if I stopped using my hands.  Let's face it, that's just not going to happen.  So I work through the pain, stretch my fingers more often, use my stand for my tablet and just stop using the mouse.  So far it's all been working.  I just never realized just how much abuse for poor hands take.

A Brand New Beginning

Okay I know I said this last year but I really do want to get back to blogging on a regular basis.  I have no excuse why I didn't get into it last year.  But I can honestly say that my attitude has done a 180 turnaround.  In the last few years my cross stitch/needlework/knitting/crochet/beadwork mojo has just disappeared.  Oh, I kept plugging on, I just didn't have the passion for it that I have had in years past.  But for some reason, I have begun this year with a renewed sense of what I want to accomplish.  I've made goals for my crafts and have a plan in place to actually finish more than one piece.  I've already finished a baby blanket that I was working on.  I did make and finish in time for Christmas 3 afghans for my grandkiddies.  I also finished a year-long SAL from The Frosted Pumpkin called In The Jungle.  There was a different animal for each month and I actually finished it on New Year's Eve.  Okay, I pushed it a little there but I did finish it in 2018.  I didn't sign up for this year's stitch along because I have at least 3 of their patterns that I want to stitch so I didn't feel it necessary to add to the pile I have waiting for me.

In the Jungle

The Frosted Pumpkin

Speaking of piles, I have also been reducing the size of my stash.  There is only so much storage room in the basement so I'm passing on a lot of stuff.  I'll tell you more about that later.

It really feels good to be blogging once again.  There's so much stuff I've missed in the last few years.  So if you want to hear about my stitching, my knitting/crocheting or just my everyday life, please join me on my blogging journey.  

Getting Back to Basics

Well, I promised myself last year that I was going to get back to blogging on a regular basis.  That didn't happen!  I finally figured it out that all my electronic devices were sucking the time out of my day.  So I have cut back on the time I spend on my tablet and on Facebook and Instagram.  I have gone so far as to delete a couple of games from it that were real time suckers.  Since I did all this, I have found I have so much more time to do the things I really want to do.  I am actually working on a jigsaw puzzle, I've been devoting a lot more time to cross stitching (I actually finished a WIP that I had started last year.  More on that in my next blog post.) and I been crocheting a lot more lately.  I started a baby afghan for a lady in our church and, believe it or not, I'm almost finished with it.  I even plan on getting back to exercising again.💃💃💃  So I'm doing a happy dance about all I've been accomplishing lately.

It's FINALLY Done!

My daughter Sherrie got married 1 year ago this coming June.  When she got engaged I promised to stitch her a wedding sampler.  Well, she chose 1st Corinthians 13 from My Big Toe.  I finally finished it earlier this week.  I hadn't realized that it would take me a year and a half to stitch it.  I stitched it over one on 25 count ivory lugana with the suggested Weeks Dye Works threads.  I had to be extra careful not make any mistakes because ripping them out caused a shadow of the wrong stitch to show up on the fabric.  So I marked up my chart like crazy and counted the border stitches several times to make sure everything lined up perfectly.  I also had to chart their names and the date and then figure out how it worked in the border.  I even hid a little capitol A in the center medallion.  I am so pleased with how it turned out. 

Completed Wedding Sampler for Sherrie & Eric

Secret A

Perfectly Centered Personalization ;-)

I'm really quite proud of how this all came together.  I had my doubts that I could add the personalization so that it was centered in the border but it turned out just as I planned. 

I'm So Over This!

 I am so over winter.  These photos were taken today out my front and back doors.  It's the middle of May, not January.  I am so sick of snow.  I want my sunshine and my heat.  I want flowers and birds and bunnies.  I'm a hot weather kind of gal.  On Monday I was wearing shorts; today I'm out trying to save my trees from losing limbs due to the wet, heavy snow.  All I got for my efforts was big clumps of snow plopping down on my head.  I have been babying a rose bush in the back yard for almost three years now.  Last year it actually had buds before a tremendous hail storm stripped it of both its buds and leaves.  I had a stick bush for most of the summer.  Yesterday it actually had two blooms on it before all this heavy snow was dumped on it.  I know we need the moisture but rain works too.  Oh well, I think I'll go stitch something.

Who Knew?

Now I've lived here in Colorado for almost three years.  I've heard it said that it has a high desert climate.  I never believed it because I was used to the desert in Arizona.  The Sonoran Desert to be exact.  Now there's a desert!  But much to my surprise, I discovered something today.  We have cacti in Colorado! 

It was such a beautiful day (compared to last week when we had a snowstorm in April - I don't think I'll ever get used to that!) that Dave and I decided to take a hike.  Now I'm not a mountain climber.  I like my hikes on flat, stable ground.  Our favorite place to hike here in the Denver area is at a park called Platt River Park in Littleton.  They have a trail that both hikers and bikers can use together but they also have a trail that's strictly for hikers.  It winds through the wetlands and it's like a peaceful oasis in the middle of town.  It travels by the river and you can often see birds and beavers in their natural habitat.  We saw a beautiful little mallard duck just a swimming along and lots of butterflies.   Even the dandelions are pretty here.  I like to think of them as wildflowers but Dave just calls them weeds.  Today I noticed something I had not seen before.  In one area of the park were these lovely little patches of cacti.  They may be prickly pear cactus but don't quote me on that.  It was like having a little piece of Phoenix here.  Here's a couple more photos of our wonderful day.

Dandelions Along the Trail

Dandelions and Butterfly

How Tastes Change

I mentioned in my last post that I had found a new-to-me designer whose patterns I just fell in love with.  That got me to thinking how my tastes have changed over the years.  For a while in the 90's, I stitched every Just Nan that came out.  Then there was my Drawn Thread phase.  I went through Bent Creek and Lizzie Kate as soon as they came out.  But eventually all their designs began to look alike.  If I had stitched one Just Nan, I had stitched them all.  Of course, she has changed what she is doing but they don't appeal to me at all.  A little too fiddly for my tastes.  I'm really not picking on Just Nan, just using her as an example.  But what appeals to me now would never have found a home in my stash before.  I guess my tastes have changed.  Of course, that means I have a bunch of stash that I will never stitch.  I guess I need to find someone to give it a good home. 

But all this means is that I've found designers that are new to me whose patterns I love.  With Etsy and Facebook, a person can find it much easier to market their own patterns than it used to be.  Before you had to find a distributor and they would then sell to the shops.  Now you can search on Etsy for cross stitch and find all kinds of designers.  And most of the patterns can be paid for and downloaded with no waiting.  One of these has become a new favorite of mine.  The Frosted Pumpkin has some of the cutest designs I've seen in a long time.  I love their use of color and I especially like the way they design their little people.  I'm not usually a fan of using people in my samplers.  I have never liked the way the stick-figure people look.  It's a little too primitive for me.  But I love these little guys.  They make me feel good when I look at them.  I'm finishing up their tribute to the National Parks and I have two more waiting in the wings.  They were both SAL's from the past few years and I plan on working them into my rotation.  I just can't decide which to do first.
I'm leaning towards the Woodland sampler but I reserve the right to change my mind.

Passport to Adventure SAL 2015

Woodland Sampler

My Current WIP

I have recently found a new-to-me designer, The Frosted Pumpkin.  I fell in love with this design last year when it was offered as a SAL.  Now as usual I kind of took my time doing it.  I know most people like to keep up with the stitching but I've found if you give me a deadline, I tend to resent it and subsequently won't stitch it.  I tend to want to my own thing.  I will say this is almost finished so I'm not too far off the finish line on this one.  Obviously this sampler celebrates the centennial of the National Park system.  I have one more park to stitch.  For those of you interested, the parks depicted in the sampler are Yellowstone, Volcano National Park in Hawaii, Denali National Park in Alaska, Arcadia National Park in Maine, The Great Smoky Mountains and Joshua Tree National Park in California.  I just have Joshua Tree and the bottom border to finish.   I have purchased a couple more of their designs.  I just need to decide which one I want to start next. 

Oh My Gosh!

I knew it had been a while since I've made any blog post but I hadn't realized it had been since August of last year.  I had such good intentions for this year.  I planned to start blogging again at the beginning of the new year and here it is April already.  I have no excuse, just had other things that I got caught up in doing.  Well, I'm back now and hope to keep up more frequently thank once a year! 

One thing that is new with me if that I retired after working for a lot of my adult life.  I really couldn't take standing on my feet as a cashier at Michael's any more so I left them right before we went to Phoenix for Sherrie's wedding.  I still teach their jewelry classes but that's only a few times a month.  I am thinking of starting either an Etsy or an Artfire shop to sell some of my jewelry in.  I need to do some research first though. 

Another thing that has been on my mind has been switching from Blogger to Bloglovin'.  I've been happy with blogger but am not sure they are still supporting their blogs.  I need something easy to set up and use.  Oh well, one more thing to research.

I wanted to share a few pictures of Sherrie's wedding last June.  Hard to believe it's been almost 9 months since she got married. 

Sherrie & Eric 6/11/2016

The Whole Watson Family

Typical Brother and Sister

Where Has The Time Gone?

Okay, I know I haven't blogged in a while but 5 months?  It's been a very busy year and I hope to getting back here more regularly.  The big event was Sherrie's wedding in Phoenix.  That was a lot of fun .  I will do a separate post on that later this week.  I've also been hard at work on her wedding sampler.  I'll do another post on that later as well.  See, it won't take me too long to catch up.  ;-)  But here is one thing I have finished this year.  There's a SAL going on at the message board for Cross Stitch 123 called ILTWHIST.  That stands for I love this.  Why haven't I stitched it?  It's for those designs that we love and bought or have had kitted up for years, but for some reason or another they've just never gotten stitched.  Well, here's my contribution to the party.

This is Bittersweet Moon from Blackbird Designs.  Now I bought this years ago but never got around to stitching it.  Then when this SAL came along I thought it would be perfect to stitch.  But guess what?  I had misplaced my chart.  It must have been during the move but I couldn't find it anywhere.  Luckily someone from the board was kind enough to lend it to me and I was able to stitch it over the summer.  I haven't had a chance to iron it yet hence the wrinkles.  But I still do love the design and was so glad I was able to stitch it. 

Stay tuned for my updates real soon.

Have You Heard?

Have you heard the wonderful news?  There's going to be another Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival!  Yep, that's right.  Jean Farish is reviving the festival this year.  It's going to be in Richmond, Virginia this year October 13-16 (at least I think that is the correct dates).  I would love to go but there is no easy way to get there from Denver.  I remember how much fun the festivals were.  I went to Winston-Salem in 1992 (that's back a ways), then to Valley Forge in 1994 and 1996.  It was so exciting to go and meet new friends and catch up with old ones.  The classes were great even if I haven't finished some of the projects from them and the shopping was incredible.  If you're interested, Jean has set up a Facebook page about it.  If we support them, maybe they'll plan more in different parts of the country next year. 

2016 Goals and An Update

Please can someone tell me where January went?  I had all kinds of plan to be more consistent in my blogging yet somehow here it is, February 8 and I've only posted one entry.  It just seems like yesterday was Christmas and here it is almost Valentine's Day.  Well, I hope to post more often but I make no guarantees.

I did make some stitching goals for myself this year.  Aside from finishing Sherrie's wedding sampler, I also want to stitch another Prairie Schooler from the 4 Seasons chart I worked on last year.  I still haven't decided which season I'm going to do next but I'm leaning towards summer.  I also want to work some more on the DMC Pets chart I started last year.  Another piece I want to try and finish is my granddaughter's birth sampler.  She is 3 now and I think it's about time I finished it.  Then when hers is done, I'll work on her brother's.  And lastly, of course, I cannot forget about the wedding sampler.  I have made good progress on it but I need to get in gear to have it done by the wedding in June.  I'm debating on changing the medallion in the middle to a monogram of her new last name initial.  I've gotten some really neat books with charted letters and I'll see if I can find one that fits. 

Speaking of the wedding sampler, here is an updated picture of it.  I can't show all of what's been stitched because that would involve taking it off the scroll frame and I'm not quite ready to do that.

Happy New Year!

I want to wish everyone a very happy new year.  2015 was lots of high and some low points but mostly the year was a good one.  I know 2016 will be even more eventful with Sherrie's wedding coming up in June.  I do have some stitchy resolutions that I'm making but more about those in another post.   

Merry Christmas!

I want to take a moment and wish all of you out there a very Merry Christmas.  Though we may be in different places, may we all come together during this season of love.  And let us remember that Jesus is the real reason for this season.

I Have Another Finish!

I have my second finish of 2015!  Now I know that sounds a little pathetic but I do have a good excuse.  I've been working almost nonstop on Sherrie's wedding sampler and just worked on this one intermittently.  This is Prairie Schooler's Autumn from their chart The Four Seasons.  The fabric is really a soft pretty brown.  I don't know why it's looks gray but it's actually brown.  My plan is to find a standard sized rustic frame for it and save on framing costs that way.  I'll buy all four frames at once so they can match if and when I stitch the rest of the series.  Now to decide which will be the next season I stitch.

Victorian Motto Sampler Christmas Giveaway

Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler is having a Christmas Giveaway.  Go on over to Victorian Motto Sampler and check out her 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway.  This would be a great opportunity to try out some new (to me at least) floss.

Even More Progress

The wedding sampler is coming along really well.  I'm really enjoying stitching it.  Yes, I still get the little knots on the back of it but I've decided not to stress too much about them.  As long as they don't make the back lumpy, I'm okay with them.  It will be a little tricky stitching the center motif.  It's actually spread out on 4 pages.  I plan to copy all four of the corners it's printed on, then cut them out and tape them together.  That way I'm not worrying about what stitch goes where.  But I think I can wait on that part until I can stitch more of the words around the motif.  I'm stitching the border as I go.  That way I'll be sure it ends up where it's supposed to.

Here is another piece I'm also working on.  I joined the Prairie Schoolers SAL a few months ago and am almost finished with this one.

Autumn from The Four Seasons 

This is Autumn from an old leaflet called The Four Seasons.  It's been really fun to stitch and I hope to finish it this week.

A Bit More Progress

September 30, 2015

As you can see, I've made a bit more progress on Sherrie's wedding sampler.  Page 1 is almost completely finished while I have made a good start on page 2.  It's going much faster than I ever thought it would.  And now that I've quit worrying about all the little knots on the back, I've been moving much faster on it.  They're so small that it's not going to hurt to have them on the back.  Now I have had a few real snarls and those I have removed.  I've been lucky to have caught them before stitching on so that's been a blessing.  There's only been one that I had to cut out so I think I'm doing okay.  I really do think I can finish this before the wedding.

A Prairie Schooler Update

September 30, 2015

I guess it's time to update my Prairie Schooler I've been working on.  I have made quite a bit of progress on it since last month.  I've been trying to work at least an hour a day on it but more often than not I'm still spending way too much time on the ipad.  I have deleted most of the games on it and have been trying to limit the amount of time I've been playing the few that are left.  Also I've been spending a lot of time stitching my daughter's wedding sampler.  I've made really good progress on it and I can actually see myself finishing it by the time the wedding rolls around next year.  So I guess I'm okay with the way this one looks right now.  It is a fun piece and is working up rather quickly.

More Progress

September 15, 2015

Well, I've made a bit more progress on the wedding sampler.  It's actually going faster than I thought it would.  I'm almost done with page one and am well into page 2.  But I've decided I will never again use sampler threads to stitch with when I'm stitching over one.  Even with using Thread Heaven, I'm having a terrible time with the thread knotting.  Did I mention I REALLY, REALLY hate using this thread?  It is going to be beautiful when it's done so it's just a matter of trying to get past the frustration of turning the piece over and discovering several knots way back in the center of the row.  It's too difficult to rip out that much and the knots are small so I've been leaving them.  I know, sacrilege!  But if I frogged them all, it would never get finished.  So I'm trying my best to make sure I catch them before I get too far. but that makes for slow going as well.  But knowing I'm stitching it for my beautiful daughter and her soon-to-be new husband makes it worth all the aggravation I'm feeling.