QOTD - Who knows?

If people walked into your home would they know you were a stitcher? How would they know?

Well I have a stitching area in the living room, and if you couldn't make out what I was doing in that area.. you have problems.. he he.

Independence Day Roundabout - HIH Finish

While looking for something to stitch while I was waiting for the threads to get here for the BD - Garden of Life chart, I thought I would stitch something small. So I did. :) I had purchased this little kit from the Stitching Bee while I was there for their Super Bowl Sale in Feb.

Independence Day Roundabout from Heart In Hand, stitched on 28 ct natural Belfast linen over 2, with the specialty threads it called for (WDW & GAST). I hope to finish it as an ornament.

Now I can concentrate more on the Garden of Life. Hope to show some progress this weekend. :) Stay tuned!

USA Tree - M Designs FINISH

Well like I had posted - I only had to attach the beads to the design, and the star button. Well I took the time this evening and attached the beads.

USA Tree from M Designs stitched with Needle Necessities - Independence Day floss on 28ct linen over 2. The beads are Mill Hill beads. So this is officially finished. I plan to make it into a pinkeep.

SBQ - March 28

Today's SBQ was suggested Cindy and is:

Do you have a system for organizing freebie charts in your stash? If so, what is it? Do you print out copies of all of the freebies that you find on the web (that you think you might actually stitch) or do you maintain electronic copies of them until you are ready to stitch them?

Yes I do. On my laptop's desktop, I have a folder called "Cross Stitch Patterns" - and all the freebies that I find go into that folder. Within the folder I have catergories such as; Autumn/Halloween, School, Stitching, Christmas/Winter, Alphabet, and so on. If I have several of a designer (such as Lizzie*Kate or SanMan - I have a sub folder for them). I do not print out the freebies till I stitch them - I also have a binder that contains the loose sheets and I keep them in there, once Im finished stitching them.

Sunflower Sampler Pillow Finish

I had finished this pillow a week ago, but I still needed to stuff it with fiber fill. So Saturday I was able to do "alittle shopping" I picked up some fiberfill to finish the Sunflower Sampler pillow.

I love how it turned out! You can see it being modeled here at my sister's place in front of some of her sunflower and cow collection.

Lambeau Field Stop

Today, Brian and I met up with some friends of mine at Lambeau Field. What a perfect day to meet up with friends!! We even had lunch at Curly's Pub. Delicious!

Brian and I will have to go back to Lambeau Field one of these days to discover more!

Here is Brian next to Vince Lombardi - one of the statues outside the Atrium.

Then I got to stop over at the LNS. Got myself the "Needle And Threads" book from Blackbird Designs, "Quaker Garden from Blackbird Designs, and "Think Hope" from Lizzie*Kate. And I treated myself to some fabric from the linen bin.

March 24 - 26 Weekend

Well I noticed that I haven't blogged for a few days ... All I can say is.. I have been busy!! Well I worked on Friday, and came home Friday night, and packed for our weekend.

We left Saturday morning for my parents, and then we (my parents, Amy, Nat, Kaylee, Brian and I) attended my Uncle's wedding @ 2pm. After the wedding we went over to McD's to have something to drink, and then I had to stop over at WalMart, as I had to get some more fiber fill for the wedding gift I had to finish. Stitched it up on the way to the reception. I didn't wrap the pillow, I just attached a bow to the thread and hung it from a button. Turned out really cute!

We had a sit down dinner.. all of my family sat at the table. It was like we were having Easter dinner :) We took alot of pictures - I have to chuckle, cause getting 4 kids to sit for a picture isn't just going to happen anymore! So this is my picture of the nieces and nephew. :)

I love this picture of Brian and my brother in law, Gregg. They have their backs up against the wall, where they spent most of their time during the reception.. LOL

Now, poor Kaylee was running across the dance floor, and she took a digger into the floor. Poor thing cut her lip, and was pretty bloody. Cleaned her up, and she was off - running around again. :)

A picture of my Uncle Wayne, and his new wife MaryAnn.

We got home really late, and got to bed about 2:30am. On Sunday, some of the family met up at Applebee's and had lunch. Amy and I did alittle shopping while the rest sat out in the vehicle. We got back to my sister's place about 4:30p, and got invited to go for a cook out at my sister's inlaw's place. We got home about 8pm, and watched Rocky Balboa (which I bought Brian) I finished my sister's Sunflower Sampler pillow, while I was there (will post another post to show it off.).


This morning, Brian and I left for home, but we swung by Green Bay, and met up with some friends. Even made it over to The Stitching Bee, and spoiled myself. :)

USA Tree M Designs - WIP

Tonight I finished the stitching on USA Tree from M Designs. I chose the color Independence Day from Needle Necessities, and I stitched it on a piece of white 28ct linen over 2. I just left the finish on the Qsnap, as I need to attach the beads yet. (Sorry, you cant see the "A" on the top, don't worry, its there!)

I need to purchase the Mill Hill beads for it - and I will do that this weekend when we go down state for a wedding, and I'm hoping I can stop at a Hobby Lobby, or visit the Stitching Bee in Green Bay, for the beads.

Can you believe I did not stitch for 2 days this week! I was sooooo exhausted on Monday and Tuesday night, that all I could do was just stare at the tv. I'm feeling much better!

Work Play Trust Lizzie*Kate - FINISH

Brian has been using a bookmarker that he got off a top of some kind of a bag, and awhile back I mentioned I should make him a bookmarker for his Bible (which he reads every night before bed).

So the other day, I mentioned to Brian. What should I stitch next, and he said, when you going to make me a bookmarker?! A light bulb went off in my head! I wanted to stitch Work Pray Trust from Lizzie Kate. So I looked at the pattern to figure if I could stitch it over one, and would it be appropriate for a bookmarker. Well what I did was, started in the middle, and then I just picked a magic number and counted out those stitches and skipped them. Im VERY pleased with the results.

I finished the bookmarker with Presto Felt on the back. I also put some Fray Check around the edges, but I still wasnt happy. So I just stitched some "x" around the edges for protection. I had asked if he would like a tassel on the top. He said that he didnt mind.. He liked it the way it was.

Work Pray Trust by Lizzie*Kate, stitched over 1 on 28ct lite blue linen with DMC floss. Finished as a bookmarker.

Corn Beef And Cabbage

We had Corn Beef and Cabbage for dinner tonight. OMG was it good!!! I made it in the slow cooker. Had the Corn beef on the bottom, then the potatoes, and then the cabbage. I added a can of beer. OMG!! Was it good!!

Once it was time to eat, Brian couldnt take it anymore!! The smell was just mouthwatering, and he was like a little kid in the car.. "is it done yet?!"

Once I got the cabbage and the potatoes out.. I lifted the corn beef out to put on a plate to cut.. it just fell apart as the knife hit it. I made a plate up for my MIL and ran it over next door. Once I was back, I had to take a picture before I blessed my meal. LOL

After we were finished I asked Brian how was it? He said it was two thumbs up with a smile.. LOL So I think thinks St. Patricks Day meal was a success.!

Saturday Finishing

This morning I ran and got some groceries.. ok, I got corn beef, cabbage and red potatoes. Added a can of beer, and now its lovely smelling up the house! Can't wait to eat it. :) Yummy!

I also stopped and did alittle shopping at Wardo's (the place I work at). I bought some fabrics to finish some of my cross stitch designs in. I found the snowflake material that I was looking for! Cant believe I work there, and forgot to even check the fat quarters for the material! DUH! And I bought some sunflower material for the Sunflower Sampler.

I came home, prepared supper, and asked Brian if it was ok if I could spend some time on the sewing machine. He said "I don't care". Well I got me 2 more pillow finishes ("Waiting Wishing Hoping" and Sunflower Sampler) and I finished the "Stitching Days" into a fob. Both the pillows are technically not done yet - remember that Wedding Row pillow?... well I used up all the fiberfill. I will get some next weekend when we go down state for a wedding. And besides I would like to give my sister her pillow, I will just bring the needle and thread with me so I can finish stitch it. :)

Now I'm going to go and sew the backing material for the recent quilt that I finished. And I think I might work on mitering the binding material too... get it over with. :)

SBQ - March 15, 2007

Humm some how I didn't get the email announcing the question, but when I checked other people's blogs I found it was listed. Weird

Today's SBQ was suggested Danielle and is:

If you had $500 to spend on stitching-related items, what would you buy?

Don't laugh, but I'm going to have to say... new "stitching" recliner!! Cause I need one so bad! I killed the other recliner I had, and now using my hubby's recliner. I have been looking for a recliner, but I haven't found the 'perfect' one yet.

But other than that, I would love to buy more dyed floss, and stock up on Sassy's fabrics!!

Grandmother Hinzeit - FINISH

I finished "Grandmother" by Hinzeit tonight. I stitched it with GAST Hyacinth (which my mom chose the color), on Sassy's Hyacinth 28ct over 2. I love how it turned out! Of course the picture doesn't do it justice!

I will be getting a special frame for this, and giving it to my Mom. :) She is a proud Grandma to 4, and one on the way :)

I just love how the charms lay on the fabric!!

Thanks again Lauren for the wonderful color of fabric!! Thank you for suggesting the color that you did!

Stitchaholic Tee

I came home from working at the quilt shop and errand running, cant believe it cost me $44 for a free loaf of bread!.. LOL But I found my Down Sunshine Lane order on the table (heck I'm not even sure what else came in the mail.. LOL) They had a special on these tshirts, and so I just had to have one! So here is mine :)

But I wanted to show you the tshirt that I got. I'm thinking I should have gotten a size smaller, but then I'm a big girl! Had Brian take a picture.

Off to enjoy the new stash - and make supper.. he he

Tribeca Quilt Top FINISH

Since I had a couple days off from work, I thought I should tackle a quilting project since the weather is starting to turn spring. Best to get the indoor stuff done before I spend most of my time outdoors.

We recently had this line of colors delivered to the quilt shop. When I first saw the material I thought, 'umm ok' But since working with it, and making the quilt top. I LOVE THE COLORS!

I was directed to a website, I found the pattern as a freebie and used the material that arrived and made the quilt.

The brand is Blank Quilting, and the pattern Im guess is called Tribeca. The colors that I used was from the cocoa line of colors.


Laurie Jean at Golden Needle Quilt Studio, will be machine quilting on the quilt, and the quilt will be on display at Wardo's in Iron River.

Wedding Row Pillow FINISH

Since I had worked on the quilt top today, I thought since I had the sewing machine out (as my sewing table is the kitchen table) I would work on the Wedding Row pillow for my uncle and his wife to be.

I think it turned out great! Went thru almost 3/4 of a bag of polyester fill! That pillow is PLUMPED! I found the buttons in my button stash.. what a perfect color (of course the color of the buttons are lighter than in the picture.. matches the floss color in the words and the fabric.)

I found the material at the quilt shop I work at.. was straightening the bolts, and this fabric just kinda fell towards me.. and I mean its like a match made in heaven, like it was made for each other! Now Im so glad I stitched with the floss that I did.. LOL

I got another special order from Sassy's yesterday.. OH WOW! I cant wait to show you what Im stitching on it to show off the colors!! Sassy does a wonderful job on her hand dying of her fabrics!

QOTD: Stash Shopping

Where do you do your stash shopping (ONS, LNS, ebay, etc)? Why do you choose to shop where you do?

Well I have done ONS with, Stitching Bits & Bobs, waiting on my first order from Down Sunshine Lane, had multiple eBay wins, won some items on Quins.

As far as actual stash shopping, I like to go to The Stitching Bee in Green Bay - I love to hit the fabric remnent tub! I bought several LHN charts from there, was funny as I had asked for a chart and a customer had already had it in her pile, and she offered it to me. I do get my floss at Wardo's in Iron River, WalMart, and Hobby Lobby.

Stitching Days - FINISH

This I had to stitch one of these days when I was looking for something to stitch. Since Yes I try to stitch everyday!

This is from Glory Bee, their recent freebie, called "Stitching Days" I used a piece of 28ct evenweave and stitched over ONE! I love the results! I used DMC floss.

Needle And Thread - FINISH

I found this freebie from X-Appeal, called "Needle and Thread" And of course I had to do it! I used a piece of fabric that I found laying around. I hope to make it into a pillow. Very quick stitch!

Stitched on 28ct Dirty Linen over two threads using DMC floss.

Snowman Flatbed Zippie - FINISH

I just needed to stitch another snowman last night before bed! I had a work out with him, as the piece of linen I was using was narrow and didnt attach to the Qsnap well. But I got it done.

This adorable snowman is from Bent Creek - Snowman Flatbed Zippie. Stitched on 36ct linen, over 2. Using DMC colors.

Wishing Waiting Hoping - FINISH

Wishing Waiting Hoping is from 4 My Boys. I stitched this on 18ct (Im so thankful I did!) light blue aida, using DMC floss. I even learned a new stitch, called a Turkey Stitch (the ends of the scarf).

I need to find some snowflake material to make a pillow

Nat's Thank You Card

Awhile back, my sister had called to ask if I had an extra TV, VCR, or DVD player that she could use in the girl's new room. I knew I had a small tv at my parents house, as I had given it to them, and I knew they werent using it. I went shopping for the vcr and dvd player. Got some great deals! And the last time we were down there, we brought along the equipment. :)

We set it up for the girls, and got to watch the 'King of the Hill' marathon on DVD (Nat's favorite show, and she is in love with Bobby! - someone needs to let her know Bobby is a cartoon... LOL)

Last night when I got home from work, I had some mail from Natalie. And this is what I found inside the card.

AWWWWW!!!

QOTD: Stitching Groups

Do you belong to a real time stitching group (one that is not online)? What "features" would you like to have in a real time stitching club? (i.e. stitching nights, treats, stash trips, games, classes, etc)

Nope, but I would love to create one in the area, I might end up being the youngest one though.

SBQ - March 7, 2007

Today's SBQ is:

Do you use your needle, a seam ripper, or something else when you have to frog stitches? Why do you use the method that you do?

If I have to frog my stitches, I will cut the thread close to the back of the stitches and use the needle to pull my thread thru (that way I'm not putting stress on the fabric). I have used a seam ripper if I'm frogging a large area, but I tend not too, as I think I might cut the fabric also.

Ok, I figured out the "ARGH!"

After doing some personal investigation on why I was sending echecks via PayPal- my misplaced debit card had expired on 02-07, causing my March transfers to go thru my bank account.

I never received an expiring card notice from PayPal but had thru eBay, and what is kinda scary is that I lost the debit card way back in October - I had cancelled it and got a new card and new number. So be careful with lost credit/debit cards on PayPal, as they are still active, when you have cancelled them! Going to contact my bank on this matter now!

QOTD - How & When

How old were you when you first started stitching? How did you get interested?

I was around 13 or 14 - what got me started was my cousin was working for a magazine distributor and would get to keep the excess magazines when the mags came off the shelves. So she picked out the craft magazines for my Aunt who was very crafty, and then the magazines got passed onto my Mom and I.

I would look thru them, and some how I got started. And the rest is a hobby gone crazy!

~~~~~
In one of my Yahoo Groups, a QOTD (Question Of The Day) has been started. I thought that I would share my answers here also. :)

Public Service Annoucement or an ARGH!?!?!

I noticed that on my recent PayPal purchases, it states "uncleared" on the account summary. I had to investigate after I received an email from a seller. Earlier tonight I paid for an eBay auction item promptly, got the receipt from PayPal And just now before I was heading to bed, (yes late again.. LOL). I was informed...

"Thanks for the prompt payment for your auction win. I have been notified that your pending e-check will clear on March 9th." I thought what the heck?!

I emailed the seller back and said I was sorry, I was not aware of this pending e-check, and that I was curious about when this started. And I also so stated that it only makes me have to wait longer for the shipment of the item. :) (which does, cause it's stash right?!?)

And I read alittle bit under the email the seller sent me since they had forwarded it onto me... and it states.. this is from PayPal...

"> This email confirms that you have received a Pending eCheck Instant > Purchase Payment for $.$$ USD from Kim Rxxxxxx > (PayPal email).>> This eCheck Payment will remain "Uncleared" until the funds have cleared > from the sender's account, which usually takes 4 business days. If you are > shipping an item, please do not ship your item until the funds have > cleared into your PayPal account. You will be notified by email when the > funds have cleared into your PayPal balance."

Now, doesn't this just SUCK!.. LOL I know you are thinking.. gotta put $$ into the PayPal pot. Just don't know how I missed this! Pay promptly, now you gotta wait 4 days after before it can even be shipped. I get the money out of my bank account, and its transferred to PayPal.

And I also noticed that the other payments I made over the weekend are the same way, so this must have started recently.

The money is there, I guess its gotta take a few more days to get there electronically!


ARGH!

Quilt Time Sampler - FINISH

Well, I found the time to stitch this weekend, between the trip to the mechanic on Saturday morning (Fri night I barely got home from work, the alternator was dying), emailing designers, playing around on the computer, sleeping, eating, talking on the phone (received the news that I'm going to be an aunt again), etc. What is funny about the weekend is that DH and I have postponed our trip to the big city for the umpteenth time! Have no desire to travel I guess... LOL

But I did manage to have a finish tonight!

This design has been a WIP for some time, Im thinking I started this back in November. Im so pleased to have it finished! I was just able to get this finish to scan on the scanner. You may want to click on the picture to see it better. "Quilt Time Sampler" from Little House Needleworks, stitched on 28ct Dirty Linen over 2, with DMC floss.

I actually worked on a quilt project also today. Didnt get much accomplished.. LOL Boy this has been a week of finishes! I have finished 5 designs in less than a week! WOW, if I could do that every week!.. Yeah right!

Have a great week everyone! Remember we turn our clocks ahead next weekend. MIL thought it was this weekend... LOL

Sunflower Sampler HIH - FINISH

Last month when we were down visiting my family, I talked my parents, Brian, and Natalie to going up to Green Bay for the Super Bowl Sale at The Stitching Bee in Green Bay. Everyone was fine with it, Nat was just excited about going to Green Bay!.. LOL

While walking around with an arm load of stuff I came across this kit, and turned to my Mom and said, "I'm getting this one for Amy!" My sister LOVES to decorate her home with sunflowers. While we we're still down there, I had shown her this kit that I bought, and asked if she would like me to stitch it for her, of course her reply was, "yes!".

So I started this Tuesday night, worked on it alittle yesterday, and sat down tonight and finished it up!

Sunflower Sampler by Heart In Hand - stitched on 32ct Summer Khaki over 2 with DMC floss. There is a blackbird button that needs to be attached yet. Im going to be finishing it off into a display pillow.

Ok, now I feel its time to put Quilt Time Sampler back on the Qsnap. And get it done! :)

Today's SBQ was suggested by Danielle and is:

Do you find yourself stitching faster when you are getting to the end of a design?

Well I might not stitch faster, but its the thought of seeing the end in sight, and not wanting to be distracted away from the work.