Stuffing

Howdy from a very blustery, warm central Arizona! Yes, this is me, from the Lost and Found Department! I hope you're all healthy and happy. Just where have I been?

To tell the truth, I think Covid-19, and working 6, 7 days a week has knocked the stuffing out of me. I don't have corona and my family and friends are safe as well. I think it's all the working and stress of not becoming infected, not to mention a gnarly case of insomnia, that has done me in. I work at a large greenhouse 30 minutes away that was deemed essential as food crops such as tomatoes, herbs, chilies, onions, squashes, etc. are being processed in addition to planting and maintaining annual flowers. I start work at 5:30 am and wake up at 3:15 am to get ready, 6 or sometimes 7 days a week. I am tired! Tired of waking up that early but it gets so hot in there so that's why the early hours. I take Advil PM or Tylenol PM to help with sleep because my mind doesn't stop at night. Very frustrating. I need to get myself off the PM medication and find Melatonin or another way before getting actual sleeping pills. I'm trying to stay away from those. All this has affected my stitching. This job ends soon as it's seasonal so there's the stress of looking for another job or if we qualify for unemployment benefits.

So let's talk stitching! This past week I finally stitched some on Tombstone Angel by Carriage House Samplings. Here's the before picture..

and here's my progress..

Not an amazing amount of progress by any means but at least I'm stitching!

After I finish stitching in color on that right medallion?, it's onto the angel. 

I have the outline of her face now. I have basically become a monogamous

stitcher! Never thought it would happen!

I have been stashing a little too. The Shepherds Bush kit on the left is something 

I have pined for for a while. A whole kit with silks, and 32ct fabric.

I'll have to be careful stitching because there are no full skeins of silks, just strands of silks.

Good Company on the right is also an ocean/sea theme. When will I start these? When I return to

normal. No telling when that'll happen!

Does anyone else use Bloglovin'? I've been getting about 2 or 3 followers a week. I hope most

of them are legit and not scammers. I apologize to anyone who is following and is a stitcher.

Thanks for hanging with me! I will just keep plugging away on Tombstone Angel when

the spirit strikes. By the way, because off the hours I'm working, my broke pinkie toe 

has lost the bruising but is still swollen a bit and is not looking real good. I ice it and

wrap it good before work but yeah. I'm looking forward to when I can really put my foot

up and let it heal!

Take care and stay safe and healthy!

Helloooooo, anyone there?! Haha

Let me gather my thoughts......got it. I'm doing this post on the fly because I finally have time! After working for 11 straight days, I go and break my pinky toe! Yup. Yesterday morning, after waking up at 3 am to get to work at 5 am, I turn on the floor lamp next to the couch of which a filled-to-the-brim expandable file sits in front. I turn around and boom, kick the file by accident. It didn't hurt immediately. I've stubbed my toes before so no problem, I thought. After getting home after 9 hours of working and limping throughout, I get home, take off my sock and my toe is swelled up and black and blue! I'm home today because of it but I think I needed a break. No trip to the doc because he'll just tell me take ibuprofen or something, ice and rest. I'll wrap that sucker up in the morning tomorrow and try to get through the work day.

Hope you're all remaining healthy. We are. A little update on my two cousins: the one cousin was finally released from the hospital last week after 3 weeks in. Turns out she had pneumonia, not Covid 19. Whew! She remains on oxygen. She's really lucky. The Covid 19 tests came back as negative. The other cousin has now recovered.

I have not stitched in nearly two weeks. I'm just not feeling it. I was watching flosstube, my favorites are Nicole's Needlework, Brenda and the Serial Starter, and Saltbox Stitcher, among others. I did get inspired to put in a few stitches in These Is My Words by LHN. No picture though, I will next time. I do have a finish though, yay!

Dear House by La D Da, in all its GAST Midnight and Toffee glory. That last 1/3 seemed to take forever. Love it!

With all these hours I'm working, I thought I would splurge! These 4 charts I just received yesterday and I can't wait to start them all..

If I never buy another chart again, I would be complete! So glad the ladies with

BBD decided to reprint. I first started this blog when the 3 Loose Feathers

were out and about. I don't know why I didn't buy them then. The bottom booklet

is what I pined for. I would see it for sale on eBay and on the FB sale sites but didn't

want to pay the prices. 

The next items I bought from Stash Unload, Needlecraft Corner, and 123..

All from Needlecraft Corner. I ordered the PSS with the fab and floss, and on a whim, 

asked Drema if she had any Vt Examplar linen by lakeside and she did! That's it on the

left. 

From 123, I snagged the PTP Legacy, a nice big piece too.

The chart is from Stash Unload.

I need to hold off on any stash buying from here on out. I was horrified to learn that

Gentle Arts had to close. Man, this virus has done some damage to lives and livelihoods.

I look forward to things getting better.

Maynia has started also but I'm not taking part this year. Since I'm laid up, I'll

stitch more on These Is My Words today.

I apologize for disappearing. Summer hit around here with temps in the high 80s

and it is draining. I've had more Bloglovin' followers join lately too so I

thought I better do a post sometime!

I hope you're all doing well and holding up. I've spotted toilet paper and more

food on the grocery shelves. We all continue to wash the hands and use sanitizer.

Take care!

Good news! And not so good.

Hello everyone! Hope this new post finds you all healthy!

Yes, good news! My daughters Coronavirus test came back negative!! I don't mind telling you those 4 days of waiting were nerve wracking, for her, her significant other, and me. It took four days for testing. Bad news, I now have a cousin who is waiting for her results but she is pretty sick. Full body aches, hacking coughs. A difference of 50 miles separates the two hospitals where my daughter and cousin went for testing. My cousin has to wait another week to hear back! I don't get that! Another cousin has the full-blown Coronavirus and she is in quarantine right now. It's touching too close to home.

On a happy note, I received my exchange package! Here it is..

The candy is completely gone, of course! I love the box with the LK spring design

mounted on it. The Pineberry Lane design, can't wait to stitch that up. Check out the

socks though! Do Not Ask About The Stash, haha! Love them and they're very comfy. 

I wear them to bed. Love my package Tammy!

I didn't stitch at all for the entire week but last night I put in more stitches on Dear House.

I have just the last third to stitch. I think if I stitch for the next week, I'll have it done.

Challenge accepted! It felt good to stitch after the last week of the good news and

then hearing about my cousins. Worried about the one waiting on results, she

has diabetes and asthma.

On Stitch Maynia, you see lots of posts of stitchers losing the stitching bug. We've 

all been knocked out of sorts with this virus. I am still working, thank God! And

practicing social distancing. I did my grocery shopping this morning for the week.

I was a buy-food-every-two-days kinda gal but now buy for the entire week. Keeps

me out of the stores.

That's it! Thanks for stopping by. I tried to post sooner during last week but 

couldn't get it together! Thanks for your words of support. I appreciate you all.

Take care and stay safe:)

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!

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!

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!

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!