Whew!, Decisions and Progress, Curious & Huge Chocolate Fix!!

Whew! I don't ever feel like I have enough time, ever; then again, it's January and after a crazy-busy time from Thanksgiving to New Year's at home and work...it's real-time year-end, month-end, fiscal year-end, etc at work. Now don't get me wrong, I am thankful to have a job and one that I don't mind most of the time but when you work Human Resources, the end of the year brings many, many tasks you have to have done with a strict deadline, plus all your normal stuff. So, whew!

I have managed to stitch a bit this month. I did the band on the February sampler (Friendship Sampler with my pals)... This one is Pam's - isn't it gorgeous! (Hi Pam!!) This pic isn't a bad pic, but it sure looks lots better in real life.

I think I am finally at the cross-road of making a decision...which house to work on. This is for the challenge for my Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild. It needs to be done in June. I figured one would "call" to me as I stitched away; neither did. So I have to make choice; I guess it's the green one (since this shot, I have filled in the grass through the whole lower portion of the fence and a few other places show progress from being bored with the grass). I will finish both and they are both going to become pillows in their next life for my bench (shown in several other postings with stitched and/or sewn pillows.

Aren't these pretty though! BBD sure are addicting!

So not much else for fun going on in my life - today was filled with errands, balancing checkbook and banking stuff for 2010, laundry and housecleaning (althought dh and ds helped - err, did most)... I did the list of what had to be done, that's gotta count for something, right! And there's more of that tomorrow. Beef stew to be made in the a.m. for dinner with great bread from the local grocery here (picked it up still warm today - so hard not to just gobble it up while shopping)!!

Now for the "curious" portion of the title: I am curious as to whether or not others check out the blogroll on the blogs they read for their title? I do - it's kind of a little thrill to see my blog name there - kind of gives me a tiny kick! Call me easy to thrill, I don't know...but it's cool. I have been reading about all the people doing the crazy 15 day challenge - and wouldn't you know, it's caused my list of "check these out" to grow...it makes me smile to see some I finished months or years ago which live in the ever growing to be finish-finished pile... [sigh]!

So I close with yet another pic of ds...my husband received this 5 pound Hershey bar from a couple of co-workers this Christmas. I think we better wait to open it at the grad party this summer...otherwise I think that chocolate will put much more than 5 pounds on my already needing exercise tummy! But yum! The other thing we joked about - must take one heck of a marshmallow and graham cracker to s'more that thing!

Thanks for reading, following. Welcome to new people, hi to the regulars...and thanks for leaving comments - I do read each and every one! Hope the weather is treating you well, I know the world is experiencing weather issues all around the marble! Enjoy and stitch a few x's!

Sherry

Christmas, New Years and other stuff (Warning - picture heavy)

Happy New Year everyone!!



I'll start this post with the stitching updates in case you don't want to read the babbling and take a gander at pics of the rest of my post...



Here is my finish from New Year's Eve. I only started it about 10 months ago. It's Jingle All the Way by Amy Bruecken. I am going to finish-finish it into a pillow for my bench. Into the basket of finished stitches to be finished-finished it goes!!



Here's another friendship sampler with my band - the bottom one is mine. They are all turning out so nicely. This was the one for January to stitch; it's ready to pass on ahead of schedule. Now I can move on to February - the person before me was ahead and it's sitting next to my chair - waiting!!

I enhanced my stash a bit - needed the Guacamole to finish Jingle, the other two are kits I just couldn't live without - may start one of them today...after all, what's the new year without a new project.

I also finished the quilt in the header. It was quilted and ready to be bound in October but with my back issues and the holidays, it didn't get completed until Christmas day. It's for my husband and has been a WIP for many years.

This is my nephew, Ashton and the quilt I made for him for Christmas. He loves the University of Michigan and hopes to attend there upon graduation from high school - he liked the quilt!

Cody received a new bed from Santa this year - he needed one terribly. He also was gifted the great antlers - he wouldn't leave them on his head so we had to put them by his collar to get a pic. My son put the blanket on him with the antlers once Christmas morning festivities were done.

He's very curious and helpful when Jordan was opening his gifts - do you think perhaps there may be doggie cookies wrapped somewhere under that tree?

This shot was when "his boy" was coming down to inspect what Santa delivered - Cody was already comfy on his bed!

Our tree, this year, Christmas morning.


Because I loaded pics in the wrong order and find it a pain to move them, here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. My mom, sisters and their families and my family have a celebration. This year I had Christmas Eve off (I am usually the only one who may have to work, besides my husband), so we started mid-afternoon with the festivities. Since we had snow, the kids decided sledding was in order!

This first picture is of my sisters, mom and myself. Cindy is on the right side, I am in the middle, Tammy on the right. That's my mom in the front.

Let the hill climbing begin! This is my sister Cindy with niece, Amira. Amira is a daredevil; she and Cindy went down the hill almost to the river. My mom's house is on a hill that goes to the river, which was not froze over. Amira thought that was great!

Olivia and Brea preparing to head on down the hill next...they did eventually fix Brea's hat so she could see.


The boys were breaking the trail initially - there was lots of laughing, squealing and rosy cheeks when they came in!

Then we did lots of munching on appetizers and hot cider. Fixed a delicious dinner...opened presents. I received books and a sweater from my Mom. Afterward, my son and I went to midnight mass.


Unfortunately, my husband had to work Christmas Eve, so he was not part of these festivities.

Christmas day was relaxed (as always the norm for our household). We had breakfast burritos, fruit and candy (it's Christmas, after all). Laid around admiring presents...after a visit from my Mom to check out Santa goodies, we ate dinner and watched movies. My son was surprised with his Santa gift - which was nice since he helped with the picking out the past few years and I love to give a surprise! My husband was delighted with his mittens, slippers and flannel shirts. I received a rolling case for my sewing machine (this will be so much easier to take it to classes now), a couple books I wanted to add to the "read" pile and my son bought me an Eminem CD - "Recovery" which I really wanted...and he did it all on his own, own money. There are advantages to having a 17 year old.

My husband was off all week, so we were able to go the movies (he works nights, so that's rare for the middle of the wek for us) - saw Little Fockers and it was very predictable but we still laughed. It was a light-hearted, fun movie and we loved the previous two in the series!

New Year's is always pretty quite around here too - we had yummy ham, green beans, brussel sprouts and cheesy potatoes for dinner yesterday - watched football most the day. Jordan wanted to watch a movie last night so we watched The Other Guys. I didn't really care much for it, not a Will Ferrill fan...but John and Jordan found it entertaining. I liked Letters to Juliet, which I watched while John catnapped on New Year's Eve. He did wake up just before the ball dropped, Jordan arrived home from a friends shortly after midnight.

Off to stitch now - I plan on doing that the balance of the day. Might read a bit.

I close with this pic...my husband is not a poser or ever likes having his pic taken, EVER, but he agreed to take this one - Santa brought Jordan a laptop for Christmas and we put this on there for wallpaper!

Until next post - stitch happy, enjoy the rest of your weekend (though there's not much left) and Happy January!!

Hugs,

Sherry :-)

Happy New Year!!

No pictures yet today...I plan on posting some updates, quilt finishes and other misc. pictures this weekend. Just wanted to wish all my new-found friends a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2011 bring you peace, happiness and lots of fibers & fabric!

Thanks for being my "follower" - I love to read comments and visiting stitching/quilting blogs...

Peace,
Sherry :-)

A few more ornaments

I had some more of my favorites I had to show off...so for updates on everything else, see the post just previous this one - this is just ornaments on the tree. The mitten to the left is a Mill Hill kit from a couple years ago - it was a quick stitch.

This snow guy - his nose sticks out real far and I loved his tie. It too, a quick stitch from many years ago. I don't remember the designer since it was so long ago.

This silk ribbon stocking was from an ornament exchange years ago with the local EGA chapter. Unfortunately, I don't know the pattern for this one either but it's beautiful and one of my top favorites!

The knitted mitten is store bought - but I love that it fits perfectly in my tree of hand painted, hand stitched, mostly hand made ornaments!


Another of my mom's hand painted - I received this one the same year as the star in the previous post - but this has the church! Such an important part of this season for my son and I (although he may not agree at this point of his life)! He loves the Matrix Youth Group, but not so much the mass, itself. At least he stays involved and does continue with service projects and friends!

This last ornament is from my childhood. My Grandma was quite the knitter and did quite a bit of needlepoint on canvas - she always did up an ornament to give each of us (her children and grandchildren) with $$ for Christmas each year - this is one of mine that still is a top ornament. I think it's about 40 years old!!

I didn't take a pic of the candy cane I colored in kindergarten, laminated as a young adult - it hangs next to the same ornament my son made in kindergarten. The star on the top of our tree was my Great Grandparents - my Dad remembered it on their tree and I remember it on mine as a child. Don't you think decorating the tree brings back so many memories (hopefully all good) and is such a great chance to pass the history of your family on to your children!

Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by (again)!

Peace,

Sherry :0)

So much ... settle in! Merry Christmas!

I know - some of you may have thought I fell off the holiday truck and was stuck in the city of "I'll never get it all done". Well, I have done quite a bit (like most everyone) in the past couple weeks. So - get your reading glasses out, settle in and here's a lengthy update - some stitching and some not....

Finished; yes, pieced, quilted, bound and now wrapped. I did a bit of wrapping tonight and this is one of them - my nephew is a University of Michigan fan - not necessarily the sport part, but the school part. He is a freshman in high school and this is where he would like to attend once graduated. It is his turn to get a lap quilt from Aunt Sherry (and family). Hope he likes it!

So have you felt like this? Cody was tired - he's allowed on the couch in the basement, a.k.a. the wrapping center these days. He was watching me walk back and forth, organize and make lists upon lists last week - not to mention watching the laundry efforts happening at the same time.

So if you're a regular follower (and welcome, by the way to my new followers - I am looking forward to seeing what Jodie picks as her 15 projects now that she's on break from school)...so if you're a regular follower, you will remember I was excited to go out to dinner with my group of bestest friends around - we went the first week of December. I had veal piccata, a wonderful salad with arugula and mandarin oranges and tiramisu for dessert - but even with as delicious as the food always is, the friendship and company is 1,000 times better. We draw names each year and here is what Peg gifted me - I am so lucky!! These two pin cushions are tiny, tiny pieces. Peg had a quilt from this fabric earlier this year that I admired. I believe it's by Moda, French General...I think. Aren't they sweet!

If you know me at all, you know I love me some Blackbird Designs. I have this book and loved this pincushion - Peg is an awesome stitcher and finisher - I love this one too.

There are a few (okay, more than a few) things I love & collect - snowmen, chocolate, stitching, reading/books - and Halloween. So here is a really cool banner Peg stitched and then "framed with fabric and buttons. The rod across the top is an actual stick, from her yard. It will look great above the mantle this next Halloween. She also included some chocolate for me - YUM!

When it was my turn to give my gift, guess who I had! Last year I drew - Peg! It's funny, we have had that happen several times where people have each other. I made Peg a Shepherd's Bush pin cushion with silk ribbon along the edges. Now I am not a very confident finisher, but this finish was not that difficult. The other item I made is a scissors case with scissors - it's a Shakespeare's Peddler pattern. It was a fun stitch and I did get it together.

I also gave her the cookbook from The Attic (in Arizona), some food items and sweets and a candle.

The gifts the others exchanged included quilt, table toppers, stitched pictures, hand stitched/crazy quilted santa, lots of goodies and talent abound. Before we left, we drew names...hmm, another project already being planned out in my thoughts!

I won a giveaway I talked about a couple posts back. Thanks Susan! It's a project bag -with a zipper - something I don't really do much of in my sewing! It already has a project stashed inside. I love being a winner - don't you?

Here are some pics of my tree, favorite ornaments and the cookie trays after the marathon baking session the past couple days. Our tree went up last Sunday during our first snowstorm of the season (more on that in a bit).

The little boy and lamb is hand painted by my mom - the year I picked this one as one of my ornaments, my son was little...I love this one. The silk ribbon heart was made by Hospice - my sister sent it to me from the hospice center who helped us through my dad's death a few years (wow, few...) ago. As you can seen in my banner posting (my tree last year), it always has a prominent place on tree!

The feather tree ornament I made a couple years ago - it's one of my favorites that I have stitched. Yes, that is a stick on our tree; when my son was about 7 or 8, his Grandma asked him what he wanted for Christmas - he replied a stick, joking of course. So that year in his package (I think he received a Harry Potter book and $$ from Grandma & Grandpa), he got a stick - it has been on the tree each year ever since. I am so glad my son has an awesome sense of humor and what a story that will be to tell his kids when I pass the stick on to them! The cookies are baked (or not in the case of the no-bakes), frosted and gift plates are done - so now we can gobble up the rest over the next week or two. The past couple years I have cut way back on what we (or dare I say, I bake). My husband makes the no-bakes each year - no matter what I do, I can't get that recipe to work out; they either are hard as can be or runny. This year he made the no-bakes, I baked peanut butter kiss, cherry-chocolate shortbread and sugar cutouts and then my husband and I frosted them last night. We used to do the piped frosting and did very elaborate cookies - not so much - they taste the same...maybe next year I will do the piped again.

The snowstorm last week left snow on the ground and it hasn't been above about 25*F since. I love the cold weather and snow. It certainly has helped inspiring me to get a move on with the holiday prep. I am now done with about everything except wrapping. I did some of that tonight and hope to finish the Christmas Eve wrapping (my mom, siblings and their families) tomorrow night. Then some elves have got to get busy on the wrapping of presents for my husband, and Santa has a bit to do too! I have the gifts mailed that needed to be - cards are all mailed (early for me)!!, baking done, decorating done as much as it's gonna be. I have some food prep to do, but not until Wednesday or Thursday. I have to stop by the grocery to pick up fruit and bread...then it's relax and enjoy. My sister is bringing lemon drop martini fixings Christmas Eve - they are so good.

If I don't post before - have a Merry Christmas. I hope the Hanukkah holiday was awesome. I am looking forward to relaxing with my sisters and their families and my mom. Of course, can't wait until Santa visits this house - I think my son will be very surprised. John and I are excited about his main gift. I am really looking forward to Midnight Mass this year - we missed last year and it felt like a vital part of the Christmas holiday was missing. Count your blessings all, I am very blessed in so many parts of life and am truly thankful!

Peace to all,

Sherry