Sunday, March 29, 2020

Post!

Hello everyone! Hope you are all healthy and doing well! It's amazing that I've been able to still post every Sunday. Next Sunday I might not. I am expecting my exchange goodies so if I get the package next week, I will certainly do a post. Friday was the day to ship our exchange packages to our partners. I am 2 days late! Mine will go out tomorrow. Yesterday, I went to Hob Lob and found a few more trims, a trinket, and a nice display easel for the exchange. Here is the Hare Sampler, all done up and sitting in its easel..
So pretty, I'm going to have to stitch me up one! Carol, I used your cording as trim. The easel is the perfect size and doesn't overpower the design. I saw metal and other wood easels but this one
I thought would be the one. Here is the back..
The lovely French General fabric for the backing. I was going to sew up a pincushion
but decided not to. I signed up for this exchange in January and it's time to get
the whole kit and kaboodle into the mail! I've been so distracted lately and suffering from 
insomnia that I need to just make life easier for myself. There have been other
exchanges in FB groups that I'm in but I think I'll give myself a break.

Sandra, I'm so sorry I gave you the wrong info on the date of the PN&PS issue. It
is the Spring 2019 issue that Hare Sampler comes from. I hope you found some other
patterns to stitch in the Summer issue that you bought. I need to be mindful of any
info I post here.

Speaking of kit and kaboodle, here's the whole exchange that will be headed 
out to North Carolina on Monday..
I finally remembered to take pictures! My partner likes LHN, 36-40ct fabrics, 
WDW/GAST floss, trims, and most important..Jelly Bellys!

I don't have any stitching to show, lol! Haven't been feeling it but today I will
get back to work on Dear House. Jo had a good idea to stitch the text on a 
blue fabric so you're not spending half your lifetime stitching in the blue!

As for the elephant in the room, the county I live in now has 12 cases of
Covid-19. To amp up the worrying, my daughter, who is a 
non-medical caregiver, went to a large nursing home to check on
7 clients. They're now taking the temperature of every single 
caregiver that walks in the door. My daughter had a normal temp but the
2nd one came up as 100 degrees. So they panicked and told her
to go to the hospital for a test! She texted me saying she was there and
won't know the results until tomorrow or Tuesday! She feels fine she says.
And I am not feeling well. I know what the symptoms are for corona. I 
do have a cough but it's one I've had since the 2nd week of February,
when corona was still in China. It still scares me though. Other 50+ year
olds are dying because they have underlying medical issues. I also
felt a bit hot but it might be stress. I have to add that it's been pretty
windy here the last couple of days, the beginning of our windy season maybe.
I always get a stuffed head and sneezing a lot when this happens.

So I'll keep an eye on how I'm feeling. If anyone prays, would you include us, heck,
the entire world, in your prayers? 

Take care, you all. It's a good thing we stitch. We can bury our heads in our stash
or on our latest project. 

See you next time!

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Can't touch this!

Hi all! I am sitting in my craft room/bedroom actually FFOing my exchange piece and listening to my recorded songs on cassette tape. Hammer time! Boy, my title can't be more appropriate, right?! Just two hours after I posted last Sunday, the Renaissance festival decided to cancel the rest of their season. It's just as well as we now have a virus confirmed person living nearby in my hometown. My daughter and boyfriend live there too. I am now taking this serious. I won't drive into the neighboring town, just drive to work and back home. I did some grocery shopping last night after work and managed to find food for a week, dinner and items for lunches. I'm trying not to panic seeing all the shelves empty, and don't get me started on toilet paper!

Here's is what I'm FFOing..
That's the Hare Sampler from the Summer 2019 issue of the Primitive
Punchneedle and Stitching magazine. The backing fabric is a French
General fabric that I bought from 123stitch. I have since glued the two sides
together and have them being squished together as I'm typing. I still have a 
pincushion to put together using the same backing fabric. I will trim that bigger piece 
with a chunky chenille in brown color. I have to go find a display easel so my partner 
can display that piece above on it for Easter! Whew, I'm so glad it's all coming
together.

I finished I'm So Glad..
I just love this. Hopefully by October, thus whole Coronavirus will be behind us.
I went though my fabric stash and didn't find a fabric I like to sew to the bottom
portion. It'll be a while before I drive to Prescott where the infected person lives and 
the nearest Joanne's.

After I finished Glad, I pulled out Dear House by La D Da..

Stitching in the GAST Toffee is no problem but that blue, GAST Midnight, is 
a practice in patience! It's getting close though. Here's what it looks like finished..

I'll keep stitching on Dear House or until the blue stitching takes me down! I'll
take pictures of my FFOed exchange pieces and be back next Sunday to show them.

Vicki, I hope you were able to fix your bedroom ceiling from all that rain. Robin,
I could've given you the Tiny Cabin chart! Anyone else want it, just let me know and 
I'll send it off to you, here in the U.S. or overseas. It shouldn't cost an arm and leg going 
overseas.

I hope you all stay safe in these days of the scary and unknown. Arizona also
had it's first death from Corona last week. I haven't watched news in the 
last couple days so I'm not sure if anyone else has died. Sad times are
ahead but we have our stitching.

Take care and see you next week!

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Finishes and progress

Hi all! I thought I better post something before you all abscond! Lol. Here in Arizona, we just went through 4 or 5 days of rain. Oh my! We started seeing some sun on Friday with more showers, and finally today no rain. Whew! I could never live on the rainy sides of Oregon and Washington!

I won't say anything about the virus except to say it's business as usual here where I live, still working 6 days a week. No cases here but yes to counties south of here.

I have 2 finishes and a near finish, so let's go.

The two finishes are Tiny Cabin by Designs by Lisa, and on right is Snow Bird by LK. Both cute.
I went to Joanne's today looking for the brown suede with dots fabric that finishes up Tiny Cabin and
wasn't successful. I did find a lightweight brown suede that I might be able to use with fabric paint dots. I'm bound and determined to finish that design just like the model picture! Colorful designs
just work up nice on black fabric, don't they?

Here's my near finish..I'm So Glad..
You can find this design in the JCS October 2015 issue. I just have another acorn top to stitch on the
right and stitching a few dots of an autumn color around the tops.

In between finishing, I picked up Girls With Blue Dresses sampler and added in some color with the
red berries..


In the two weeks since my last post, I think I've read more than I've stitched. I have an hour
lunch at work and I always take a book.

Updates..
I'm still in the process of gathering items for the exchange that I'm in. This will go down
to the wire I think. I gave up the idea of mounting the main stitching onto the top of
a wooden box. While I was at Joanne's I picked up mat board and will use that
for the stitching, pretty it up and attach a small pinkeep onto it and stick it
in an easel stand so she can display it. I'm at the point where I want this done! 
Next Sunday is the day to do it.

Also, my daughter and her boyfriend and I are headed to the Arizona 
Renaissance Festival next Saturday. As long as they don't cancel the rest of
the season! It's day by day at this point. We will carry sanitizing hand gel with
us and just be careful. The county that Phoenix sits in has 3 confirmed cases. It's a different 
city that hosts the Festival. It's been 3 years since I've been to it and I need a 
break from my job! 

As for stitching, I'll finish up I'm So Glad. After that, I don't know. I've been
picking up whatever speaks the loudest. Still without wifi. I haven't commented on
blogs, watched flosstube (can't really), and haven't paid attention to Market!
I did spot a new sampler by PSS that I want and one by WTN&T also.

Alrighty, this is it. I haven a lot of new followers through Bloglovin'..Welcome!
Take care!

Sunday, March 1, 2020

And Now, Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming!

Hi everyone! March 1st already, hard to believe. Due to technical difficulties, I couldn't post at all for the last couple weeks. Things were a mess but it's now all straightened out. I was WIP parading but since the last two WIPs are ornaments, I'll call the parade done. I did count and I now have 31 WIPs. I did finish 1 and I'm nearly done with another. I have progress to show, my Secret Stitching Sweetheart item, and the finish/near finish.

I just want to say Welcome to the new followers through Bloglovin' and a special Welcome to Colleen who lives here in Arizona. Hope you all enjoy my blathering about stitching and life.

So first up is the blog hop that Jo sponsored for Valentines Day..
Love, a freebie by the Stitcherhood, made into a pin pillow with a couple red topped pins stuck into it. I found the picture at a new to me blogger whose name escapes me. I should've looked up the name. I think I added it to my blog roll there on the right. If not, I'll add it later. A lot of people commented on the presentation, that was nice. I see whoever my Stitching Sweetheart hasn't come by to claim her picture of the two quilted hearts.

Here is my finish of a bday SAL start..
Merry Mouse by WTN & T/Brenda Gervais. Too cute! I like the use of WDW Tomato for
the red. I'm not sure what the scrap of fabric I used but I went 2 over 2. I left off a few
snowflakes on the left also.

My near finish is this bday SAL start..
This is Snow Bird not Snow Day, as I think I put it on a previous post, freebie by LK.
It is looking great on black linen. I sat up pretty late last night stitching the house.

Now my progress on a few things..
The Hannah Goose Tombstone stitch. I think it's called something else though. I've since
stitched in the two geese, the beginnings of the angel in the middle. I'm waiting on
a skein of another color to add an outline to the geese but for now I'll
keep plugging along with the black stitching.

Frosty Forest by CCN..
I'm working on that bottom right square putting in the front of the house. I want
this finished this year! Wish me luck, haha.

I am in the last stages of getting my exchange ready. I found a wooden box at 
Hob Lob to mount the main piece on. I just have to paint it. I'm glad I have until the 27th of
this month to box everything up and send. I am working 6 days a week so I'm catching
a couple hours in the evening to stitch and that's in competition with all the 
normal stuff I have to do anyway! But I'm making it work!

Alright, Blogger is harassing me so I'll finish here. I'm glad to be back again.
The problems have kept me from commenting on blogs too but I don't want to use up my phone's 
data as it slows everything down.

Take care and Happy Stitching!