And the second pic..

A little blurry but the color is a little bit better.. a little.. lol

Comfort House

Posting a couple of different pics, neither are very good.. but they'll have to do til I get batteries for my camera! This is an exclusive design by The Sampler Girl. The quote is from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

"Magic Stitch" sewing machines are..

PIECES OF CRAP!!!!! I mean, I wasn't expecting a professional grade sewing machine, just something that I can sew little pillows and ornaments with and stuff.. well I got one free through this gift thing at my husband's work. When we got it the thing was already threaded, which was ok but it had a little sample piece of fabric in it, and the thread was kind of twisted, the foot pedal didn't work..and now my new year's resolution is messed up because I was going to finish something every week, as I mentioned before.. I hadn't posted week 4 yet due to my camera batteries being dead.. but I had been keeping up. I am really upset, I stayed up late pinning and cutting all for naught. And there's not even an address to send the thing back to that I could find. I know it was free but I want them to know what a piece of junk the thing is.

Tuckered out..

Had to take this.. David fell asleep on my lap desk so he must've been pretty tired! It was so cute. I couldn't even wake him enough to eat dinner..I just let him sleep and then took him up to bed. Forgive the not-so-good picture quality. I need batteries for my camera so I am using my cell phone!

Finish 3 of the year

I had stitched this sometime before and thought it would be great for my friend Melissa, as she is an angel!! I finished into this tuck last weekend (finishing touches today) and framed a piece for myself, which I will post later.

Heath Ledger- A Tribute

I am so sad about this- it's so tragic! I pray for his little daughter, she is my son's age and won't understand..

Oh and a Project Runway rant..

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't watch this season due to the travesty of last season.. but I am weak. lol I love Tim Gunn and this season's contestants looked really interesting.. but I am seeing it go the way of last season as well. For instance, on the Avant Garde challenge.. Viktoria and Julianne (I think that's her name) - the judges RAVED about them.. all their outfits were wonderful, and technically they had three looks. Judges on Christian and Chris- very good also but the skirt looked cheap, etc. So who wins? CHRISTIAN. WTH? Christian is their favorite and I'm not going to be surprised at all- he's good, but he's a cocky little diva. And the fronts of his garments always almost look similar. OK I'm done for now. But if he continues to get favoritism this season I will NOT watch if there is another season, and I MEAN it.

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.. :-)

A finished piece from 2003

Finally framed this today(can't rush these things)- I actually stitched it in 2003 but just framed it today. My dad made the frame.

Cool pictures

My mom took these on her vacation in Minnesota this summer. I think they are so cool!

I am Jane Bennet

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!! created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Jane Bennet As someone who would rather see the good in people, Jane is a true pacifist and caregiver. At times, her shy temperament and naive outlook of people can land her in a compliant position, but those who know her love her for her positive spirit and cheerful view of what surrounds her. Jane Bennet 72% Emma Woodhouse 69% Elizabeth Bennet 66% Elinor Dashwood 63% Marianne Dashwood 50% Charlotte Lucas 31% Lady Catherine 25%

Tired of stitching white!

Ugh. I am working on three projects right now- a Christmas card design, a San Man Originals Christmas design (seen earlier in this blog) and a Swirly Snow design.. and I am stitching lots of white in all of them!! I am ready for another color! lol Just had to vent. ;-)

Two of my favorite things in one place!!

I recently joined a Yahoo group for cross stitchers who love Jane Austen and her works. Like I don't find enough ways to spend time on the computer, but I couldn't pass it up!! I'm looking forward to some great fun and friendship!

Finally finished!

This is my grandma's Christmas present, I just finished it tonight. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out! It's Cedar Hill Cross Stitch's "Rose Border Bookmark."

A card for a friend at church

The design and card are from a UK Cross Stitching magazine, Cross Stitcher I think. The UK mags are sooooo much better than the US ones! Unfortunately I can't afford the subscriptions!

Funny!

(Click to enlarge!)

Book review!!

Thought I'd throw something new into my blog.. lately I have been really hooked on Beverly Lewis's books- the ones that are about Amish communities? I was seeing them at Walmart all the time so I finally picked up one at the library sale and I was hooked. I just got finished reading a series of two -The Postcard and The Crossroad. They were great!! They center around an Amish woman named Rachel who loses her sight via hysterical blindness toward the beginning of the book, a postcard, and "Englischer" that comes to stay at her family's B&B, etc. I don't want to give anything away but they are really so good! Just make sure if you read any of the books in the different mini-series that you start at the beginning. I am going to take a break from them for a little while but I plan on reading all of them eventually. She really knows what she is writing about because she has Amish/Mennonite heritage in her background. It's really interesting reading about how Amish communities work! Ok that's enough on that for now, but I really do recommend reading them.

A gift

for my "brother from another mother(and father.")LOL I finished this as a birthday gift for him, I think it's safe to post it now.. not sure if he's gotten it yet or not..

Our tree

and a speedy little kid!

Candy Cane Seeds!

My latest accomplishment. Rob tied the bows, didn't he do a good job? hee hee. These are gifts for Hanna's teacher and teacher's asst. I have finished something else too but can't post yet cause it's a gift for someone and I haven't given it yet. ;-) I really like these jars, I may make one more for my desk at work..but probably after Christmas.

Quilt racks my dad made

The quilts were made for my kids by the lovely ladies in the Yahoo group Chatty Stitching Exchangers!

What' I've been up to-

Stitching, stitching, stitching! From the top: An ornament or card by Tokens & Trifles, my San Man stitchalong(which I am putting aside for the moment), another ornament/card by Homespun Elegance- this one will have the bird holding a star from his beak, Mom is mailng me the button- and David's stocking..

Oh I am such a slacker...

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging more or posting pics, I am still plugging away at David's stocking, and the San Man stichalong, which I may put on hold to stitch some cards/ornaments. I will post a pic soon I promise!

Halloween freebie by San Man Originals

It feels good to finish something! lol I finished this one today on my lunchbreak. I doubt I'll have it framed in time for Halloween though.. ;-)

Progress pics as of 10-13-07

David's stocking on the bottom, and my San Man monthly stitch-along on the top. I am still on the September stitchalong, I need to get crackin! I have only been working on it on my lunch break for the most part. I have put "Loving Swirly Snow" on hold to work on a fall project, a San Man Halloween design. I will post a pic of that soon. :-)

Very disappointed..

This is my Christ in Gethsemane framed. I'm NOT disappointed about this. My dad made the frame and my mom framed it for me. I took this to the county fair for the needlework competition and did not win ANYTHING for this. I mean, the eyes and the hands are 3 floss threads over one fabric thread! The two other pieces I submitted were unframed and therefore in a different category- they got 2nd and 3rd place ribbons and were much simpler, and THIS got NOTHING?? I know it's just a county fair, and it's not the reason I did the piece to start with, but I thought surely it would get something. The ones who got blue ribbons were professionally framed and I'm pretty sure that's why. But you know what? I am not spending $70 or more to get this framed at Michael's when my dad makes beautiful frames. Anyway, I just had to vent.. thanks for listening.

September Stitchalong..

My progress on the September Stitchalong for the San Man MB, moving slowly but it's my lunchtime project.

Making progress!!

Been working hard on this one lately.. still slow going but I've gotten quite a bit done since last time I posted. :-)

A funny pic!

Just a pic of my youngest eating a push-up over Labor Day weekend. lol

Moose Be Christmas!

a message board exclusive by San Man Originals.. finished him today at lunch!

Tagged! Middle Name

The rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
3. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
My middle name is Michele.
M-Music. I love it! I love to sing, I love all kinds of music.
I-Interesting.. at least I hope I am! lol
C-Cross-stitch!! Need I say more? If I need to you don't know me very well. hee hee
H-Housework. What I feel like I am always doing but I don't think I probably really do enough of. ;-)
E-Eating.. especially sushi!
L-Love I have for my family and all my friends!
E-England- my favorite place to visit.
I'm tagging:goodness.. I don't know many bloggers.. um.. M-??I-?? C-?? H-?? E- Elisabeth L-Lizzy E-Eileen (Leeny)

Going away for the holiday...

We will be driving to MD to see my brother-in-law and family this weekend. Hope I will have a lot of stitching progress to show when I get back! We'll be back sometime on Labor Day!

Progress on my 3rd project

This one is slow going, since I only work on it on the weekends..

My progress this week..

The second picture is "Moose be Christmas" by San Man Originals, the 1st is my progress on David's stocking. Progress is slowing down on the stocking because I'm working on the top there and it's "stitch a few stitches, change colors" , etc. I'll be glad when I'm done with that part!

German Shepherd

I finished this a few weeks ago, couldn't post cause it was a surprise for a friend of mine, and I don't know if he ever looks at my blog. lol I was semi-happy with this, the features of the dog aren't really defined, but I didn't want to wing it with my own backstitching. It was a free pattern I got off a website and there wasn't a picture of the finished piece.

Finished something!

Hurrah! This is an exclusive pattern by San Man Originals for a monthly Stitch-along.. I finished it tonight! It was my "lunch hour" project but I wanted to finish it so I've been working on it the past two nights.. now I know I am going to give it to someone but can't decide who(m?)- I have a couple of people in mind.. as there are not many that I "pine" for.. hee hee..

Another project I'm working on

For the San Man message board 12 days of Christmas SAL.. the pictures not that good but will post a better one soon. Haven't decided who I'm going to give this one to yet..

Progress from vacation on..

Haven't posted in a while.. this is the progress I've made since last time I posted. Will post some of the other things I'm working on soon. :-)

Stitching into the night..

Here is the progress I made on the stocking on vacation, and the little bit I got done tonight!

"Making Friends" is finished!

Back from vacation!

It was great and I got some stitching done too! finished my Pine Mtn. pillow kit and made some progress on David's stocking. Also started a couple of new small projects. I will post pics soon!

June 25

Before I go to bed, thought I would post my progress..

Progress as of 6-21-07

Let's see if I can put both pics in one blog!

No stitching this weekend. :(

Was too busy!! I hope to get some done tonight though.. we'll see..

Peter's Stocking WIP

Got a loooonng way to go on this one, and of course it will say "David". lol

Pine Mountain work in progress

Not much longer now!

another finish

This is another one I finished not too long ago, from an old Just Cross Stitch magazine. If I remember tomorrow I will scan and post my WIPs!

Hi all!

I hope some of you are still checking this, am going to start posting cross stitch finishes and WIPs on here.. I miss all my stitching friends! To start off let me show you one of my recent finishes, for my grandma, for her birthday. (She doesn't have a computer so I'm safe to post it. LOL) It's a Daydreams kit.

just in case anyone is still checking

I have moved my blog to www.xstitchmama.vox.com, but thought I'd post this here anyway. I finally finished!

I've moved again!

http://www.xstitchmama.vox.com

Come and see me!

Progress as of 8-15-06!

Finally! Now on to the other side.

Is anyone else tired of Brangelina?

Just when we think the hubbub is dying down, they make a wax figure of Shiloh and her parents. Give me a break!!!!! They aren't the Holy family. Shiloh is cute but so are alot of other babies. SO tired of it.. they are just people like everyone else! Sorry just had to vent. This whole wax family is so ridiculous.

in case anyone is still checking..

and not given up on me! Here is a picture of my progress on Christ in Gethsemane as of lunchtime today.

here I am!

I had all this stuff I thought of at work that I wanted to post about, just random thoughts really and now I can't remember any of them.
Pop Candy posted this link to look at Tom Hank's hair over the years. I have to say all years are better than it is right now. His hair reminds me of John Travolta's in Pulp Fiction. EEw.
Does anyone watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter?" I so thought he and Beth were already married. Duh. It's so sad about his daughter.
I started back stitching today, a little, at lunchtime on my break, working on Christ in Gethsemane. I still would like to get this done by the county fair this year. I will post a pic when I have made a little more progress.
What is up with the Dixie Chicks? I mean Natalie M. needs to give it a rest already. Let's just drag the whole insulting the president incident out. We get the point. Holy crap. The other two aren't saying much that I've seen. She just seems like such a witch(actually something else but I'll try to keep it clean.) Are they a country band or political activists? I don't want to buy a CD where all they do is moan about the government. Granted I haven't heard the CD but look at the title. Her opinion is her opinion and she needs to stop shoving it down everyone's throats.
OK enough said.