Stash in the mail...ahhhhhhh. :-)

Today was a good stash day. I got all 6 "Winter Greetings" Mill Hill kits, all four patterns "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Redbird Designs, the three Mill Hill kits I like best from the "Treasured Diamond" series, and the 7 1/2" Gingher pinking shears. (Yep, I tried to slip another pair of Ginghers in there. *hee hee*)

I plan on stitching a lot this evening. We ate dinner out (yippee!) so I'm free with the exception of the boys' baseball practice. Look out frog, here I come!

Teeny ornament finish

I spent the better part of today stitching on a gift for a friend. It's about 1/3 done so I decided to take a break from that project.

In my stash, I found the cutest little stuffed ornament design by Stone & Thread called "Snowflake". (Does it really come as any surprise that I had a snowflake pattern in my stash?) I decided to stitch it up, attach the button, and finish it into an ornament before I went to bed. It's done! I didn't follow any directions or use any instructions...I just went with it. It measures about 4" square. I added a blue and tan checked fabric for the backing and then added a blue cord to hang it with. It's not perfect but I'm very happy with my first ornament finish, especially since I didn't follow any instructions or anything. Here it is:

It won't really hang on the wall like in the photo. I will find a spot for him near my year-'round snowman display. (That was another lil' tidbit of info that shouldn't surprise you.)

For the next ornament, I will follow some instructions because I do want the next one(s) to turn out better...but I'm happy for now.

Meanwhile, I'm quite sleepy as it's 1:05 AM, Central time now. I just had to finish that lil' guy and get it posted before I went to bed.

Nite nite to everyone and happy stitching! :-)

Stitching ramblings...

Well, I took "Solitude" by Mystic Stitch off of my WIP list for now. It has been retired as a WIP and sent back to the "To Do" pile. I barely had any of it done anyway (like maybe a 1" x 2" area) and couldn't bring myself to work on it. It was eating at me that I started it on aida - which I rarely use anymore, and I have been really worried that my fabric would end up too small. Soooooo, I decided to quit while I was ahead. I will still stitch that piece...someday. Meanwhile, there are other projects I need to finish and want to start moreso than "Solitude". You know how fickle I am, though, so gimme time -- things may change. hahahahaha

Today I finally made some working copies of patterns for projects I am working on and projects that I want to start. Why do I put that off like it's some miserable chore? *scratching head*

The top-secret project for a friend is finally going again. This is the THIRD freakin' time I have started it. Third time's a charm, right? *eye roll* If I were to mess it up again this time, I would stitch her something else and I'd probably set fire to the chart, threads, and ruined WIP. Hah! I'd have to do this before the men in the white coats put the straight-jacket on me and carried me away for a looooooong time.

Oh, by the way, I finally started working on "Noah's Sub" again last night. I got part of a sea critter done and a little bit of a wave...probably about an hour's-worth of work...but nevertheless, it's still progress. :)

Ahhhhhhhhh, it's Friday night...the baseball game was cancelled (yes, that was me you heard screaming with joy when they announced that earlier) and I plan on doing nothing but stitching. Hope everyone's weekend is starting as good and lazy as mine. I can't be that lazy all weekend, but I'll enjoy it tonight, that's for sure.

Lizzie Kate "August" Stamp is finished

With my stitching time being basically nil due to the boys' baseball games, I am lucky and glad to have been able to finish another block on this WIP. :-))) Just four more blocks/months to go -- yippee!

I have got to make myself work on that gift for a friend now. It's one of my June goals to get it finished and mailed this month. I'd better hurry -- the clock is ticking!

Blocks for scissors and cross-stitch gadgets/tools

My husband is the best! I have been loving those wooden blocks to put scissors in. Brad went and bought some oak and made three for me! Woo hoo!

The first is a block with seven holes that I am now storing my most favorite Ginghers in:

The second is a block I had him customize. There are four larger holes for scissors, a boo-boo stick, star de-tailer, and whatever else. There are also four smaller holes for my thread picker, stitch counters, etc. I added a needle magnet on the front side. (The beautiful scissor fob, thread picker, and stitch counter you see were made by My Big Toe Designs. Thanks, Debbie!)

The third block has ten holes and is being sanded as I type. It will house the following Ginghers: Bianca, Freedom, and Emma. Roberta will be in my home ASAP. Uh oh, looks like I've got some holes to fill! *mwah hahahaha*

I love my husband. Thanks for looking.

Progress on two more WIPs this week...

Between regular life, work, baseball games for both of the boys, and storms, I didn't get much stitching time. Come to think of it, I didn't get much time for anything, including sleep or communications with anyone outside of my home/work. I am so tired and about to drop but I just posted my WIP pictures at 123 so I had to come post them here, too. (The title of my blog should have spelled it out that I am an addict. Don't act all surprised.) *hee hee*

I got some progress done on My Big Toe Designs' "I Corinthians". As this project progresses, not only am I falling more and more in love with it, but also with other MBT stuff. Talk about some pretty patterns...but to make matters even worse (or better?), the designer, Debbie, seems like an awesome and wonderful person. That makes buying and stitching her designs even more exciting. Anyway, even though there's not that much to it yet, you can see it beginning to take shape:

The second WIP that I made a wee bit of progress on this week is "O Beautiful" by Shepherd's Bush. At this point, I am basically halfway done:

This has been a rough week emotionally and physically. Some reasons are obvious, others you would never guess...but I won't go into details. Let's just say I am ready for a nice, relaxing weekend with my little family. Hopefully we will remain storm-free, stress-free, and frog-free.

Now THAT'S what I call progress!

I posted a work-in-progress (WIP) picture of "Break Time" less than 24 hours ago. Here it is with the windmill finished:

I also got another little pattern done from the "Mother's Wisdom" series by Heart in Hand. I started pattern #3 ("Drive Safely") and finished it, all in less than a few hours:

So, kiddies, that's what happens when you drink too much Dr. Pepper and get a stubborn urge to finish a pattern before heading off to bed. No one should have sympathy for me if I gripe about this later. ;-)

Now I'm off to get some much-needed sleep. Goodnight! Er...good morning!

Uh oh, we have a new pair of scissors!

The latest addition to my Gingher family has arrived! Would everyone please welcome Jamie to the family?

"Hiiiiiiiiii, Jamie!"

Sorry about the glare but my camera batteries are in desperate need of recharging, so I didn't want to chance snapping another shot and watching my camera die. Lord forbid if I couldn't post these pictures on my blog right away instead of waiting a few hours for the batteries to recharge! *snicker*

Here's my latest finish --

That's a Tie On pillow kit by Pine Mountain called "Winter". Of course it now sits on my year 'round snowman/Winter shelves. I hope to add at least one pillow or small picture to that display each month.

I did get some work done on a WIP last night. This is the latest picture of "Break Time" by Stoney Creek:

It's hard to see but I have done some stitching on the windmill blades but it just doesn't show up very well because the floss color is almost the same as the fabric. Maybe I can get the windmill finished up tonight.

Tornado aftermath update: We finally got our power restored at the shop yesterday. Whew! It took a week but hey, we're glad to have to it back and our time without power certainly wasn't due to lack of effort on anyone's part. The head of our Emergency Operations Center keeps insisting we didn't have a tornado. He says it was a downburst. Uhhhhh, okay. Citizens have written letters to the editor of our newspaper with their eyewitness accounts including photos they took of the tornado, yet the powers-that-be still insist there was not a tornado. Whatever. Why can't they just admit that someone dropped the ball and didn't sound the sirens or at least admit that Mother Nature isn't quite as predictable as we'd like to think she is? Because they're men, that's why. HAHAHAHA!

Hope everyone is getting some great frog-free stitching time in and not worrying about this being Friday the 13th. It's just another day. :)

"Poker" by Hinzeit finished

This is "Poker" by Hinzeit for my dad for Father's Day. He is an avid poker player so this is very fitting for him and a gift he will like. I used a different fabric instead of the suggested one -- I used 28 count lugana and is an opalescent by Silkweaver. IIRC, the name of the fabric is Sparkling Forest but I'm not certain. I didn't use the charms because I thought it made it look cluttered. The frame is by Kay's Frames. The photo showed the poker chips in the upper right hand corner but I like it better with the chips in the lower left.

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. If you'd like to see photos of some of the tornado damage from my town last Thursday night, click on the link to my Photobucket album and then click on the sub-album named "June 5 2008 tornado damage". Fortunately, we had very little damage at our business and none at our home. Whew! Other people were not so lucky. Some are homeless and there are still quite a few without electricity. We were truly blessed and we are very grateful.

Hope everyone is doing well. The weather is awful for everyone this year! Stay safe, happy stitching, and avoid the frog!