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