Answers Bring More Questions

Please be patient with me as I cope....life has really been throwing me for a loop and the latest was a very low blow.  While I've gotten answers there are more questions than ever.

Because of this, I have been and will be away from my blog for a short time.  Even though I won't be posting I will still be following all of you because your posts inspire me (more than you know) and keep me going. 

Stay inspired!

Laboring on Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to all!  I hope you have enjoyed the long three day weekend if you were lucky enough to have today off.

I decided to take Labor Day to heart this year and I have spent a good amount of my morning/early afternoon laboring over my sewing machine.  There were lots of grumblings and mutterings but I managed to crank this out.....

Yellow Brick Road Quilt Top
Started 8/26/12
Finished 9/3/12
 

Here's a close up so that you can see the fabric a bit better.  I mentioned it before, but just in case you missed it, I used Puttin' on the Ritz by Bunny Hill Designs and I mixed in Blueberry Crumb Cake by Blackbird Designs.  The border is Meadow by Blackbird Designs.  The backing will be a solid dark blue.  Boring, but functional.  I plan on taking it up to my LQS tomorrow to see if I can get it quilted by the middle of this month.  My sister's baby shower is on the 22nd and I want to be sure I have enough time mail the package in case I can't make it to the shower.  (Everything is dependent on when my doctor wants us to start "trying" again.)

 

I only have one concern when it comes to this quilt.  I'm not sure that my sister will appreciate the quilt or the time that it took to put it together.  Because it is my very first completed quilt top, it isn't perfect.  But, a ton of love was put into it.  And, because of all of our losses, this baby quilt was very hard for me to make.  I should have been able to make it for our little one instead of for another person's baby.  Still, I felt a very strong tug and I knew that I had to make it for my new nephew.  I just don't want to give this as a gift and then find out that it was put up in a closet and never used.  Or, worse yet, I don't want to find out that it was given to some place like the Salvation Army or Goodwill because she didn't like it.  Would it be horrible of me to put a stipulation on this gift?  I was thinking that I would tell her that if she absolutely hated it then I would take it back and get the baby something else instead.  It wouldn't hurt my feelings if she didn't like it but it would if she didn't tell me.  What do you think?

I know I love the new quilt top my Mom made.  I'd be happy to call it mine!

Now I'm off to labor over some of my cross stitch.

Happy Stitches!

Life In Pictures

*WARNING....PICTURE HEAVY*

I thought this would be the easiest way to tell you everything I've been up to lately.....Enjoy!

I've been birdwatching through the sliding glass door.....

The pole system was a birthday gift from Hubby and MIL.

I think this may be the same Cardinal that I found back in July.  You can still see his tufts of baby feathers!

 

I've been on vacation......

Wild Ponies in Corolla, NC

Shot of the ocean looking out from behind the dunes.

 

Hubby anxious to go 4 wheeling behind the dunes.

 

Area behind the dunes where we typically see the wild horses.

 

I decided to put my sewing machine into action and attempt a baby quilt for my new nephew who is due in December......

 

Six fat quarters for the Yellow Brick Road Quilt Pattern.  I'm using a combination of Puttin' on the Ritz by Bunny Hill Designs and Blueberry Crumbcake by Blackbird Designs

Block A (fabric locations vary)

Block B (fabric locations vary)

Block C (fabric locations vary) in progress

 

And, of course, I've been stitching......

Be thou the Rainbow by Blackbird Designs

Summer Needlebook by Blackbird Designs

 



I think I'm all caught up now!  Happy Stitches!

Inspiration Revealed

A few weeks ago I found this little guy under my bird feeder and I asked for guesses as to who it was.

If you guessed Cardinal, you were right!  Surprised?  Well here's another surprise.....Vickie, please email me your snail mail information.  I would like to send you a little something for guessing correctly! 

I was finally able to get outside to take pictures of the piece inspired by the baby cardinal.  I wanted to incorporate my feeder stand into the shot.

PRESENTING.......SERGEI (by Plum Street Samplers)

Ignore the wrinkled look.....I haven't decided what I want to do with this piece yet.

Sergei
by Plum Street Samplers
40ct Vintage Buttercream (Lakeside Linen)
Gentle Art and NPI as charted

Don't you just love him?  He was such a quick and fun stitch!  After all that fun I know that there will be another Plum Street Sampler design in my future.

Happy Stitches!

Birds of a Feather

My plan to photograph my visitor inspired piece didn't work out as planned.  It has been very overcast today with only small periods of sunshine.  Tomorrow isn't looking much better with a 60% chance of thunderstorms.  I guess that means waiting a little longer to take that snap.

Thankfully I have some other progress that is bird related.  Last weekend I met up with all three of my stitching sisters.  (Our foursome is back in the groove!)  Both Maggee and Sheryl (no blog) had progress on BoaF.  Here's where we were at the end of Saturday:

Top Left - Maggee
Top Right - Sheryl
Bottom - Me

I haven't touched mine since last Saturday so when I pick it up tomorrow it will look the same as it did at the end of last week.

Looks like I will be building the house tomorrow.....

I still haven't decided what I am going to do about the alphabet.  I have a few sayings floating around that I may use instead.  If I go that route I have to figure out what alphabet to use since the one that is charted won't work.  I'm pretty sure that an alphabet from one of my Blackbird Designs books/leaflets would go nicely in its place.  Of course, I will need to decide on the saying as well. Maybe I'll leave it up to a vote.

Don't forget to guess who my visitor was.  Be sure to post your comment on yesterday's post.  You never know what may happen if you guess correctly!

I hope your needles are flying....

Guessing Game

Earlier this week I decided to stop guessing when my computer would be ready and I placed a call to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.  Imagine my surprise when I find that it has been finished since July 24th!  They told me that they tried to contact me but they had the wrong phone number in the computer.  What kind of excuse is that when I left two different phone numbers with them?  Those numbers were there plain as day on my copy of the Service Order.  What is so wrong with people these days that they can't look at a sheet of paper?  Computers are wonderful and all, but they aren't the only answer.  It is a good thing my husband picked the computer up becuase I would have given them a piece of my mind!

Speaking of guessing, no one guessed who my new visitor was.  Now that I have my computer back I can post a much better picture of my guest.  Take a look......do you know who this is?

I will say that my new visitor inspired some wonderful stitching that I will soon share with you.

Good luck with the guesses!

34 Count

I'm going to stitch on 34 count for the first time and I have come up against the ultimate question:

One strand or two?

Opinions, please!!!

Happy Stitches!

(P.S. No ETA on the computer yet...Boy am I starting to miss it!)