A few stitches, a little sewing and a new job!

Don' t you just love the basting lines? I hate counting - I know, counted thread stitching and I hate counting - just doesn't make sense, does it....well this is boring counting. This is for the friendship sampler we start in a couple weeks - there are 13 of us....stitch your band on each person's sampler...their color choice, their fiber choice, your band. Tonight my goal is to make up my mind which of the two bands I have in mind, that fit the stitch count (length/width), to use. One has queen stitch - lots of them and the other is a spider web...I love them both. I could also substitue a rhodes heart for the queen stitch. Decisions, decisions!

I did do a little stitching this week on the two BBD pieces for the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild Challenge piece - we can do any of the "Remember Me" series. I chose "My Missouri Home" and "Merry Christmas Ella Vaughn". I couldn't make up my mind which to do....so I figured I would start them both and which ever tickled my fancy, that's the one I would concentrate on - finishing the other one later...well, what is it they say about best laid plans - I like both - equally.

Here is the progress of both... Notice the needle in the piece on the right? It's a John James petite. I am not sure I like working with it, I have to give it time to see if is easier for me to stitch using the sewing method. I do both the stab/poke method and the sewing method. It depends on what it is, how I'm holding it (I stitch both in q-snaps or in hand depending on mood). Has anyone else tried these? Do you like them?

I love Sundays where I have gotten all the necessary crap done during the week or on Saturday. Why - because then I am free to do fun things on Sunday. Today I needed to spend about an hour at my desk paying bills and catching up on medical paperwork ... switching things to September. Did that...but did most the laundry and errands yesterday, light housework - checked off my list! So I took myself up to the the sewing studio and finished the cutting the quilt I started Friday night. My nephew, Ashton, is next in line for a quilt. Already have one to Amira, Olivia and Brennen. Ashton really likes the University of Michigan and wanted that to be the theme of his quilt - so I am doing a basic square (fussy cut) in the middle, framed in yellow, then blue on some squares and then reverse on the others. I now have it all cut and ready to sew. Here are the pieces - ready to go!

I also took the little bit of extra time I had to spend (before hubby took a nap - my sewing studio is next to our bedroom and he had to go to work tonight, so he napped a bit this afternoon) anyway - back to what I was saying...














I used that extra time to put together two strip panels for the bags I give my friends for their b-days this year (see previous posts - one is July 25th). I got two of them done through the strip sewing portion. That's the easy part. Maybe next weekend I can get them finished. I am behind on one of them, would be right on time with the other. I only have a couple more to do and then the year is finished out - but I have not made myself one and since I have fabric picked out for mine, I will have to get that going one of these days. So many ideas, so many projects and drat, that work and keeping the household running gets in the way.

My son got a job this last week - he has been looking for a couple weeks to find something for just a few hours on the weekend once school starts - he needs a little walking around money and hopefully put a couple bucks away too. I kind of feel like an ATM lately. He will be working at a local fast food. He's glad to get a job, but wanted to work in an auto part shop more than fast food since he wants to be an auto mechanic. Since our economy is really turning around slow here in Michigan, those jobs are occupied by people making a living for survival, not walking around money. The only auto store job he was offered, he had to be 18 to do, delivery of parts. Maybe next year!

So the humidity returned. I am afraid there will be no more windows open sleeping for a week or so, minimum. This makes me very sad, as I really, truly don't like the hot weather and closed up house. However, my tomatoes will be out of control with the warmer nights returning. We have been enjoying caprise salad, grilled tomatoes and BLT's! The fresh produce, for me, is the best part of summer; that, coupled with no school/homework. DS is now a senior - prayers and lots of hard work will get him through this year - fingers are crossed he's up for the challenge.

Time to stitch! Hope your week is productive...month-end again here - hopefully work will go quickly and I will be efficient this week.

Stitch happy,
Sherry

Lots of chatter - and pictures (non stitching) (life happens - no stitch pic)!

So this is going to have lots of photos, so now you're forewarned ... and not much stitching going on here as of late :-(

but lots of other stuff happening - hence, the lack of needle to thread!

Earlier this year when I really started searching for the flower frogs, my DH told some of his co-workers about them (co-workers who go to flea markets regularly) and look what one of them found - for fifty cents! Can you believe it? So now I have two..

But wait!

In the meantime, I had been looking at them on eBay too - most were very pricey, especially when you added the shipping. Then I found a grouping of flower frogs - that with shipping worked out to just about $2.75 each...so I did something I have never done, something new and kind of uncomfortable at first...and this is what I bought.

I have sold things on eBay, but never bought. It seemed like it took forever. She put in the posting that she worked a full-time job and would not ship until the end of the week. I won the bid on a Tuesday - so it was a few days before they even shipped. But when I received them - WOW, they are all in great condition. The oval one will be harder to find a base for, but the rest are pretty nice size. The smallest one is 2.75 inches and the largest a little over 6 inches - so now I have enough that I can share. I'm thinking maybe for auction or donation prize at my guild, one for a friend or two for their scissors and then maybe a giveaway (is there one in my future)???

On the stitching front, I have been basting a long, long piece of linen for a friendship sampler I will be starting in September - that's been it - boring, no picture! I can't wait to start it though - it's with the group of gals I get together with as often as possible...(I will miss you all on Monday - more on that later). I have my fibers, I have my band kind of planned, I am basting and I hate doing that! But on to better things soon!

Last weekend my baby (my only) turned 17. I can't believe he's almost a legal adult. Where did the time go? Sometimes I am glad to be this far; if you asked me 10 years ago, I wasn't so sure we'd both make it here, sane. He has a cousin who has a birthday about a week earlier and we had a boat/pizza party. The boys decided to have a pizza party in the water - here's a shot of that - what a hoot!

Happy birthday boys! Especially to my DS, Jordan. I love you and am proud of the young man you're becoming.

He asked if I would post about his passion - fish and reptiles - so here are his tanks (excuse the glare, the drip marks, etc.)

This is the big one - over 50 gallons - and tons of really cool fish - some just had babies and they are fun to watch.

This pic is of the proud parents. Now don't get me wrong, he drives me nuts sometimes with the fish changes because some don't get along, the algae, the broken filters, and on and on...but they are his passion and he works hard to maintain them and plan out the plants, rocks, sand, etc.

They are fun to watch too - some of them have been fascinating, others not so much. The bad glare is of the 10 gallon tank - DS took this over when my dad died a few years ago. This tank was the precursor to the large one!

Shell dwellers live here in the small tank - they move the sand all around to suit their needs - it's actually kind of cool as they move all of the sand and shells around, which sometimes I think makes DS crazy as it doesn't stay as he designs. The fish is on the far left of the photo - the others were hiding, I guess.

Then there is LG; that would be Leopard Gecko. I know, original name, but it fit ;0} and it stuck. He's 5 years old and was only about 1.5 inches long when he came to live with us. He's now about 7 or 8 inches long. He's cool! He sheds frequently and that is very interesting to watch. He goes from very opaque to beautiful spots and coloring!

So I guess I am justified in feeling like I live in a zoo some of the time!

So why am I not stitching with my pals this Monday - have to go to registration with DS for his senior year. He has some scheduling issue that I know are going to be hard for him to take care of without an adult present - they won't argue with me - and he won't argue with them! I have the whole day off, but may go in to work in the afternoon if we're done early and save my vacation time. Final registration - whew!

I have saved one more thing to tell you about and include a pic... I WON A GIVEAWAY - thanks Susan for this pattern - very cute.

I also won a giveaway on Susan's blog and am
not sure yet if I will attempt the wool pillow and the cross stitch - or just the cross stitch. I have not done anything like this wool applique but I know that if I take it step-by-step, I will figure it out. I have never purchased wool like this before, I am sure my local fabric stores will help me out. I think the pillow would look great with my other seasonal pillows in my family room (see in several previous postings). What do you think?

Well later today (as it's after midnight and I've had issues tonight posting) hopefully I will get some stitching in (besides basting) and hopefully maybe even a little sewing. I have to go to the funeral home in the afternoon...the grandma of a friend of mine died this week, she was in her 90s and such a sweet lady. She will be missed!

Have a good week. Hope you put needle to thread, whether with a machine or simply with your hands, enjoy!

Sherry

All Kinds Of Updates...

First some stitching progress:

These are both BBD - first photo is Merry Christmas Ella Vaughn and the other - My Missouri Home; they are from the "Remember Me" series. The Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild I belong to has started a challenge project (runs June to June) and I couldn't decide which to do, so I decided to start both and then pick which one I like to work on the most and finish it. I will finish the other afterward; I'm thinking making pillows out of each of them. So far, so fun!

Some quilting progress:

This is what I chose to do last Sunday (so one more week avoiding finish/finishing) - I finished my husband's quilt - only had this fabric for oh, I don't know, about four or five years. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road (can't remember who it's by) and I've done this or variations of this several times now. I had to add a strip to the back since I added a row and of course, the fabric is no longer around in stores and I searched on-line all over the nation...but this worked and it is going to be cool (but not cool, working on a FLANNEL quilt in the summer) - what possessed me to do that! Won't necessarily work on the binding on this one until fall. It's off to the quilters as of Saturday morning - chose a cool leaf design as I thought it would go nicely! DH is is excited about this one and will live under it as soon as it's done, I'm sure.

Some stash enhancement:

Saturday while at the fabric store, I redeemed a store certificate for the roll of fabric - not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I do have a couple ideas - it's bright colors and batikish. Can't wait to do Pumpkins Three by La-D-Da. I have several of Lori M.'s patterns, several finished but not yet framed and several in progress...love them and this one is a must stitch! The linen and some of the fibers are for a Friendship Sampler I am starting with some awesome, talented friends soon (only purchased a couple of those and then matched some out of my stash - who'd have thunk I had enough of those LOL) ...and the other fibers, needed for my BBD pieces above.

So that's all the pics...

The rest of the story on my previous post Stay Tuned - well we had a nice day, a little less humidity so that made the art fair we attended much more bearable. Then did a little shopping as you can see and then out to dinner...really nice day with must me and my DH. We at at the Mexican restaurant by my LNS. Yum.

After our fun day, DH and I went Bella's (son's girlfriend) graduation party. Met her family and hung out there a bit. Now one thing I don't think I've shared, my husband loves to go out and antique, garage sale, shop and various other things...but he does not like parties so this was a nice treat to have him attend with me. I know it was important to my son, us to meet her family, and important to Bella. After her party, DH treated me to a Dairy Queen ice cream and we watched a movie together - didn't even pick up stitching, just didn't have the mind to.

Today was lots of stuff - couldn't sleep so I was up at a little after 5, did lots, and I mean LOTS of laundry - I did do it last week, I swear and how do three people make so much of it! Cut DH's hair (or shaved it really), paid the bills, balanced bank accounts, surfed around on the net a bit, put away stuff in the sewing room (whew, no wonder I'm tired tonight), made a delicious tomato/mozzarella/basil type salad for KSSG (mentioned above) as we had a potluck today for our meeting. It's always a fun meeting because there is such a diverse group that attends. When deciding whether or not to join KSSG a few years ago, I hesitated about the Sunday afternoon/once a month meeting, but it's well worth the once out of four of the Sundays a month...and the best benefit, most of the group of ladies I stitch with on a regular basis (some of the bestest friends I have) are also members.

Well, if I want to get in some serious stitching, I will quit rambling - thanks for hanging out with me and thanks for checking in once in awhile....hi to the new followers and hi to the regular followers - have a great week all! Me - hope work is productive and lots of home front stitching!

Stitch happy, Sherry

Stay Tuned,,,

Whew - a little relief we are experiencing here in Michigan - nice out tonight and maybe even give the a/c a little break!


So stay tuned for what, you may ask - I have been busy - started two new stitching projects. Quilting quite a bit - will have pics this weekend.


Tomorrow I will be going to my LNS to buy items needed for the round robin sampler I begin in September with some of the most talented and fun women I know. I also will be making a couple purchases. Then it will be off for some yummy Mexican food - just happens to be in front of my LNS. The owner of that shop is in an art fair and I will be checking that out - DH in tow (he loves Mexican and loves art shows - the LNS not as much, but doesn't mind as there is a store close he can visit while I shop).


After that, we come home for a bit and then head off to meet my son's girlfriend's family - it's her graduation party tomorrow.


Sunday brings Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild - always a treat to see what everyone is working on and finished. Such creative minds belong to this group.


So again, I say "stay tuned"


Oh yeah - also, if you don't read Coni's blog and you are looking for some really "laugh-out-loud" moments, check it out. Say Hi to Coni and check out August 4th post. I have gotten quite a kick from her postings.

See you later this weekend - and thanks for checking in -
Stitch happy - Sherry