Holiday Weekend

I hope that everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Did you take some time to thank a soldier for keeping our beloved country free?  I don't know about you, but we had quite a few celebrations in our neck of the woods.   In celebration, I have my LHN's Heart of America hanging above my fireplace.  I will keep it up through the 4th of July weekend and on into the early summer.  It is a great way to celebrate the USA and our soldiers.

Hubby and I went to another Estate Sale on Saturday morning.  It was not as great as the first one we went to, but I still found a couple of frames.  Hubby found the fishing lures at a Yard Sale that was down the street from the Estate Sale.  We spent less than $10 for the lot!  Can't beat those prices!

What was really neat is that the bigger frame had some cross stitching in it.  I was talking to the guy running the sale and he said that the person who lived there loved music and had an addition put on the house just for their baby grand piano!  I'm not real sure what I'm going to do with this piece just yet.  I feel so bad getting rid of it.  I know about all the time and effort that was put into this piece.  You can tell that there was a lot of care put into each stitch.  I just really liked the frame, but I don't want the stitching to just get thrown away either.  Maybe once I take it apart I will give away the stitching on my blog or on a message board.  However, if you know someone that might like it, drop me a line!

Sometimes, things just fall into place.  When I purchased the smaller frame I thought that it would be great for some exchange stitching or a giveaway.  Then, I had a thought (yes, that is smoke you smell!).  I rummaged through my finished pile and I have the perfect little piece of stitching for this frame.  It is a sampler reproduced by Blackbird Designs called Now I Know My ABC's which was a freebie on their blog not too long ago.  (You can find it here.)  I think that the frame is just perfect for this, don't you?

Well, I guess I've been procrastinating long enough.  (You read my last entry, right?)  I made a decision on my next project.  I decided to go ahead and start Blackbird Design's Seaside Retreat. 

If I hadn't spent this weekend shopping the Memorial Day sales at AC Moore, Jo-Ann's and Michael's....... 
If I hadn't spent so much time Estate Sale shopping........
If I hadn't spent all day at the beach yesterday with MIL and Hubby......

.......I would have been able to finish and then I would be stuck at deciding what to start next!  Here's Seaside Retreat as it stood on Saturday afternoon.  All I have left now are a few motifs, my initials and the fish swimming in the ocean.

I'm really hoping that Hubby fixes dinner tonight so that I can try to finish it up before bedtime.

Happy Stitching!

Procrastination

According to Wikipedia, Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.

It also goes on to say that the word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow).
Based on my actions this past week I officially procrastinated on my model stitching.  I definitely don't have starter's anxiety, but many be completion anxiety!  LOL!

Seriously though, I did finally finish up my model stitching.  For some reason I just wasn't connecting to it this time like I normally do.  I guess that I'm too focused on everything else that I want to do instead.  I've been planning out the next few projects and I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do next.

Here's the short list:

1. Rose Quaker ~ I picked this one up while I was in Arizona.  I intend to honor my grandmother with this as her name was Rose.  I plan on putting her date of birth and maybe even her date of death in the sampler somewhere.
2. Needle and Thread by LHN ~ I'm about 10 stitches and three french knots from finishing the first of two coverlets.  (Yes, I'm stitching this twice!)  I'm only about a quarter of the way through the scissor fob.
3. Blackbird Designs Box Top & Pin Cushion ~ This was the class project from the 2008 Shepherd's Bush Retreat.  Now that I am more confident with my finishing I know that I can "finish" this one myself and that makes me anxious to stitch it.
4. Seaside Retreat by Blackbird Designs ~ (Do you sense a theme here?) I got this while attending a retreat in the late summer/early fall of 2009.  I doubt that many of you have seen it, but I think it is fabulous.  It came as a kit, but I changed out the fabric and the thread anyway.
5. Mouline Rouge by Long Dog Samplers ~ (See another theme here?.......BAP anyone?) I've had this in my stash for quite some time.  I was going to to it as a SAL with a good friend of mine, but unfortunately we have not motivated each other at all.  Still, it is calling loudly.....
6. Languishing WIP's ~ Then there are always those works in progress that are hanging around like HAED's Bo Peep (I'm on the last page!) and my Shores of HRH (ongoing since 2008!)

Oh, what is a poor girl to do?  I guess I should also mention that I still have to stitch and finish a piece for the Blackbird Designs exchange that will be starting on June 13th.  I just checked and it looks like we have a good start to the exchange.  (There is still time to sign up if you are interested!)  I already have an idea of what I'm going to stitch.  I just need to wait until I find out who it is before I make my final decision.

The good news is that this is a three day holiday weekend here in the states.  There may be an estate sale in our future as well as some minor yard work.  And then, there is family time.  Of course, Hubby will be working this weekend too which will mean good "numb butt" and "happy chair" time for me!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Is it the Full Moon?

Things are just crazy around here today, is it the Full Moon coming up on Thursday??????? 

Things are really "off" at work....I can't put my finger on it. Everyone is PMSing....even the men!!!!!

Then my order at lunch was wrong.  I always place my salad order with "meat and cheese, no onions".  Don't they know me by now????

Then I tried to change my picture in the header and it is all screwed up.  I still can't fix it!!!!!!

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At least there is a little good news today..........................

Today is my four legged son's 9th Birthday! (Isn't he cute?)

Today is the 2nd Anniversary of our Wedding Day! (This is probably the only picture I will ever post of myself/my husband......yes I'm a little paranoid to put myself out there!)

And, I got a great deal on two Crop-A-Dile's using Craig's List.  I pick them up tomorrow! A pink one for me and an orange one for my BFF! (Yes, I know this is green, but it is the only picture I could find that shows the whole package deal.)

I guess this means that good trumps bad today!  Happy Stitching!

A First For Us

I convinced Hubby to join me in some shopping this weekend.  Estate sale shopping to be exact!  Our first one together! (I've only been to one Estate sale that was held a few months ago, but it was on a Sunday after everyone had picked the place clean.)  So Saturday morning we headed out to the sale.  It was in a great old house that was only about 5 minutes away from our own.  Hubby had a fantastic time digging through the "garage junk" as he called it.  Then we headed into the house for more fun.  This person had a sewing room with an old sewing machine and lots of 50's, 60's and 70's style fabric.  Hubby put his hands on the sewing machine and said "Here you go!  Here's your new machine!".  Ha!  Yeah right.....I'm wondering if it even works!  Then I thought to myself........You opened the "Pandora Box of Quilting" and I'm gonna get me a new machine!!!!

It was quite amazing to see all the things that were in this house.  There was some great furniture, but I thought that it was a little steep in cost, even for an estate sale, so I left it for someone else.  We saw things from wigs to glass to china.  And, we even saw a rotary dial phone!  I remember when we had those things.......we had that ugly green one.  It sure was a lot of fun to go through all the neat items and make up stories about the previous owner.

Our finds didn't consist of much, just a hammer for hubby and a flower frog and picture frame for me.  But, it is not what we got that counts or even how much we spent on each other.  It was the time that we got to spend together.  Hubby is even willing to go to another one, so I will be looking out for more sales that aren't too far from home.

In stitchy news, I spent my free time over the weekend working on a model so there are no pictures.  I also joined a Blackbird Designs exchange and I will find out who my victim partner will be on June 13th.  I'm very excited to join this exchange since Barb and Alma are some of my favorite designers.  We will have two months to stitch, finish and mail the design.  I think I can handle that!  I guess that might mean no stitchy pictures for awhile.  I guess I'll just have to start something for myself in between!

Happy Stitching!

New Hobby???

A few posts back I mentioned that Hubby went with me to the LQS to help pick out the fabric for the box that I gave away.  Let me just say that this is ALL HIS FAULT!!!!

First, let me remind you that the only thing we went in there to do was find red fabric to go with what I had stitched for the giveaway. (Ok, maybe not the only thing.....) While going in the Quilt store is not quite as bad as going into a Needlework shop, there are still many temptations.  After all, as much as I love Blackbird Designs cross stitch you know I'm going to pick up their fabric as well.  So, when I saw this you know I had to add it to the stash for future finishing.  It will come in handy when I cover more boxes!

Anyway.....while I am looking around at fabric, Hubby goes off into the "classroom area" of the shop.  The next thing I hear is "This is so cool!".  And then "Ohhhh!  I really like this one too."  Next thing I know he's at my side dragging me into the other room and showing me all these quilts and the next thing that popped out of his mouth was "Why don't you learn how to quilt?"

OMG!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS????

Oh yes, he was dead serious.  I don't think he realizes that he has now opened Pandora's Box!  He thinks the stitching bug is bad?  Wait until there are bolts of fabric spread about the house with ort jars full of fabric scraps instead of thread clippings!  What's worse, I don't think that he realized that I really, really, really do want to learn how to quilt! 

Then I saw this prepackaged quilt........  It is full of beautiful Moda/Blackbird Designs fabric.  (Did you notice the pattern?  I already had some of this fabric in my hand to put in my stash for finishing!)  After talking it over with Hubby I decided that I was going to buy it (it came with the pattern) and I was going to put it away until I got a sewing machine (and learned how to use it, of course).  I told him that a sewing machine would be the perfect birthday gift.....he could even talk to his mom and my mom and they could all go in on a really good machine!  Crazily enough, he thought it was a good idea!  I just don't know how to react.  I think someone stole my husband and replaced him with a cross stitch loving quilter!

So, anyone have any good recommendations for a good beginner to intermediate sewing machine??????

Gratitude

I want to extend a hearty and heartfelt "Thank You!!!" to everyone who left such wonderful comments about my finish.  It means so much to me to hear how much you like what I have done.  I feel so much better about my finishing skills after this undertaking.  I've always been leery about manipulating my stitching for fear of messing it up.  Now I have that much more confidence and I can foresee myself branching out in the world of finishing.  But, before I go hog wild, I'm going to have to make one of those boxes for myself!  I really love how it turned out.

I would also like to send a friendly wave over the Internet and say "Welcome!!!" to all my new followers.  I'm so glad to see you all.  I love hearing from you, so feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments.  You can always contact me using the email address in my profile.

Lastly, I would like to send a caring and heartfelt "You are so welcome!!!  I'm so glad to see you so happy!!" to Jennifer at Feathers in the Nest.  Jennifer......I think you are so right. I also think that it was fate that a wonderful person such as yourself should be the winner of this giveaway.

Happy Stitching!  Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S.  I thought you might want a better look at the fabric that I used on the box.  It was such a perfect match with the Belle Soie.  I couldn't asked for anything more!  (Sorry about the picture, the flash washed it out in the middle.  I took the quick picture early this morning before heading off to work so I didn't have any time to check it.  I just snapped and left!) 

I Finished It

Seriously, I really did finish it.  This deserves a happy dance of epic proportions!  After all, it is my first real and unassisted finish.  What is "it" you ask?

Well, "it" is actually a two fold finish.  First I finished stitching Bird in Hand by Blackbird Designs.  Then I dug through some older posts on the Blackbird Designs blog and printed out Alma's great tutorial on Covered Boxes Part One and Part Two.  I headed out to my local quilt shop and picked up some fabric that was a perfect match for my design.  (Of course, you know I bought an extra fat quarter just for my stash, just in case!)  Believe it or not, hubby helped too.  Who knew he would enjoy the quilt shop?  (More on the quilt shop in another post.......)  We also ran by Michael's and picked up a cardboard box, a sheet of scrap booking paper and some coordinating DMC.

Sunday morning I set myself to work and in a short time I had this:

"Bird in Hand" by Blackbird Designs

Stitched on 40ct Vintage Light Examplar by Lakeside Linen

using Belle Soie's "Sister Scarlet"

With a little more time and effort I turned my covered box into this:

Now, this being my first attempt, I have learned some valuable lessons for the next time.  But all in all, I thought is was worthy enough to send off to my 100th Post Giveaway Winner, Jennifer of Feathers in the Nest.  It was very, very, very tempting to just keep this one for myself.  After all, we have the same initial and no one would ever know.........bwaaa ha ha ha!

But, since it is better to give than to receive, I put it in the box that I sent to Jennifer.  Can't you see it in there? Look just below the "B" in Beauty and you can see one of the corners.

 
This was really lots of fun.  Now that I feel better about some of my finishing I am looking forward to many more giveaways and exchanges!
 
Happy Stitching!