An un-stitchy week

I'm afraid I don't have much stitching to show this week- only got a few stitches in on The Alamo but I do have a picture of my progress- have maybe made a little more since this was taken-

I don't think I ever did post one last week.

 

I started a new project over the weekend, since I finished my snowman. It's a little Sheepish Designs ornaments from an old Just Cross Stitch- I guess it might be considered an early ornament issue- from 1988! I was hoping to finish it this weekend as well but didn't have as much time to stitch as I had hoped.

 

It's called "A Primitive Christmas Heart." Who would've thought they liked primitive back in the 80's? That's when I first learned to cross stitch, in the 80's.. but I was young and stitching cutesy things. :)  It's actually a little aggravating- in the cover photo on this issue there is an old sampler on the wall in the background behind the Christmas tree.  I really like it but it's not featured in the magazine.  It looks like it was originally stitched by Susanna Neat in 1820.

 

I went to the library book sale this week; one of my favorite things twice a year. I usually only buy paperbacks because I don't have much room for hardcovers and the paperbacks are cheaper. :) The prices have gone up a bit- they were 5 for 1.00 and are now 50cents per book but still a great deal! I got a few books, and some for the kids.. the ones I got are Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri, Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham, and Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. A couple of them were actually already on my Goodreads to-read list so that was nice!

 

 

Ginger will be one this Wednesday- I can hardly believe it!

                                                                   Crazy girl!

 

Everyone have a great week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

 

Tracey

 

 

 

A quick finish and other odds and ends

First of all, wow! I have 101 followers! I can't believe it! I will try to have a little giveaway or something soon.. I'll see what I can come up with.  This week I found out my baby David has his first loose tooth!  And immediately I thought of this old Journey's End(aka Sampler Girl) freebie from 2002(?) That's when I printed it anyway.  So I stitched it up quick and finished it as to be ready for the big day.

I know it's not perfect.. it's only the 2nd time I've done a tin and the 1st time I didn't have Vonna's great tutorials! I will get better with practice. :) I would show you the inside too but I am having problems with this weird blogger uploader, it keeps turning my pictures sideways and I can't get it to turn them back.

Let me try a different way-

Oh, and it was stitched on ivory 28 ct monaco(I think) over one with one strand of DMC-

colors used are DMC 310, 817, 809, and 824. The pattern didn't have any recommended colors. I let David pick them.. except for the black for the wheels.. there is actually only three colors for this pattern but I added one more. :)

David liked that his tooth would have a 'bed' to lay on, he wanted to know if it could have a blanket too? lol

I forgot to mention last weekend I went to a clothing swap a church was sponsoring- you brought clothes you didn't want anymore, and you could look through clothes other people didn't want anymore. Or if you had nothing to donate but needed clothes, you could take some for free. I cleaned out my closet and brought a few things, and really got some nice things! I won't bore you with all of them but I did find a fabulous sweater (if it will EVER get cool enough here!) and it was so pretty I took an up close of it-since it was brown but had other threads woven into it-

It looks kind of light since it was under my Ott-lite, but it really is dark brown and has all those different colors in it too- it's so pretty!

I had to drive to a meeting in Raleigh on Thursday- my boss directed me this way I had never gone before- well my husband said we had but I didn't remember it-it was so nice! Hardly any traffic and the scenery was beautiful-

I think it will be especially pretty once the leaves start to turn! :) May have to take a trip that way again- to the Lazy Daizy maybe?

Friday my son's class and some others had a parents' picnic- moms and dads (or other loved ones) got to come eat lunch on the lawn with their kids.  I decided I would take a picture of David to commemorate the day. Well he figured out that when my camera on my phone makes the shutter sound that he could change his face just in time. So I kept thinking I got a picture of him smiling and instead I got this-

Then this-

Then this-

And finally this-

Hooray!!

And last but not least- progress on the ornament I've been working on- I haven't been stitching on this every week like I should. I need to get on the ball! But here it is so far.

I really like how the brick stitch looks on this!  Well that's it here- hope you didn't mind all the pictures! I will post again soon. 

A finish, some birthday mail, and some park pics!!

A busy busy day! Started out the morning with breakfast then off to zumba class.. came home, ate lunch, did a little housework(Mom and Dad will be here next Friday!)then off to do a zumba demonstration with some others from my class.  Took my kids to the park after dropping off the library books-

I had a picture of Hanna too hanging from the monkey bars-but realized her undies were showing and wasn't sure she'd appreciate me posting it for the world to see.   lol

My birthday is Tuesday and I got a lovely birthday gift from my dear friend Mark in Washington state- the new double CD set by Loreena McKennitt- I love her music!And last but certainly not least, I finished the final ornament kit for my MIL!! Happy dance!!! Now to begin assembling them all..Now on my lunch hour I'll begin working on a birthday card for my grandma, whose birthday is next month.  The design is from a 2004 issue of the UK "Cross Stitch Crazy" magazine. :)  Well, off to stitch on my Linen Flowers bookmark, which sadly I can't post progress on, as it is a gift for someone who may see it if I post it on here!

Another kit done....

Just one more to go! I finished this one before work this morning. Sorry for the less than stellar picture, I took it with my phone. I'm surprised it's so dark with all the flourescent lighting here!

a small finish

I finished up this ornament kit for my MIL tonight.. only two to go! Then to assemble them all.. sigh.. this one was a quick stitch.

Another finish!

It is really pitiful how long it took me to finish this. I have been working on it on my lunch break for I don't know how long. A few stitches here, a few there.. it's another kit that my MIL asked me to stitch for her. I got tired of it being a WIP so I sat down and finished it today. Only 3 ornament kits to go, and Hanna (my dd) is going to try to do one. She likes stitching but it doesn't quite captivate her as it does me, so I may end up finishing it to get it done in time for Christmas. We'll see..

And surprise of surprises, when I was getting ready to post this, dh was actually asking questions about blogging/my blog and seemed interested! Wonders never cease. LOL

Again, I apologize for the terrible lighting in some of my photos. My light is strong enough to stitch by but not for taking pics evidently. I really need(?) an Ott-lite. Maybe at tax time..

Lazy Sunday

It's been a fairly relaxing day today.. went to church this morning after thawing the car doors and scraping the windows, been doing a little laundry but other than that just been hangin' out. The kids have been watching Star Wars movies all day upstairs, so we've been watching this and that, I've been online, been doing some stitching.. but what I am really excited about is that I ordered a sewing machine! Dh's work had a 'gift book' that they gave out at Christmas- we looked through it and looked through the online catalog but couldn't decide on anything.. they had a little cordless sewing machine (that does come with an adapter thankfully), so I ordered it, it should come in handy making tucks and ornaments and things. I had one of those "As seen on TV" Easy Sew sewing machines, but it didn't come with an adapter and I left the batteries in it too long, so of course they leaked. I tried to clean it out but it still wouldn't work right. So I'm going to try again. This one's called a Magic Stitch. If I can get halfway decent at sewing I'll invest in a real sewing machine. I kind of have to be self-taught as no one around here can show me that I know of, the ones I know that could, I would have to go to them which would require making sure dh or someone could watch the kids, etc... too much of a pain. Dh surprisingly has a little sewing experience (from being in the military? I don't know) so he has shown me some basics.
I had gotten an OLD sewing machine from a friend, if this new one works out I will give it back to her. It didn't have a manual and I was afriad to even try it.. I found some threading diagrams online for it but they weren't very easy to read.
Other than that not much going on today, I've been working on my "Comfort House" freebie from The Jane Austen Stiching Group and I like the way it's turning out. I changed the colors a bit cause I like overdyed threads better, and the color the words were in didn't show up on the fabric I had chosen- basically the only piece I had that was large enough. lol When I get a little more done I'll post a pic.
That's about it here for now.. gonna check some boards and my email then probably stitch some more. I love days like this but it does make it hard to get geared up for work tomorrow! ;-)

Sharing the Holidays by San Man Originals

Is finally finished!! Woohoo! As Mr Woodhouse said in Emma - "It only wants a suitable frame!" Guess I will have to talk to Dad about that.. :-)