Well, I have been doing a good amount of stitching lately. I am going regularly to my Tuesday nigh stitching group which allows for at least three hours of stitching. Unfortunately the shop that originally hosted the stitching group went out of business yesterday. The stitching group will continue at local libraries and people’s homes, but it means no more stash shopping on Tuesdays and no more opportunity to use the shops stock to do a floss toss on cool fabrics or with alternate colorways of a pattern:( The only positive is that my pocketbook will not be opened for stash as often now.

Since the last time I posted I have finished Mirabilia’s Holly Pixie, made good progress on Bordeaux Wine Sampler and Alchemical Romance and even pulled out My Chatelaine mystery that I started in 2006. I also started a Shepherd’s Bush Christmas Stocking for Nathaniel. I am hoping that by the end of October I will be able to finish Nathaniel’s and stitch one for my nephew Ethan so that I can get them finished and hug for the boys for Christmas this year. I am about halfway through Nathaniel’s so I have high hopes of meeting that goal. Ohh, and I started Shepherd’s Bush’s St. Peter’s Fair.

Since it is July 1 today, I thought I would post some goals for the month of July. Here we go:
1. Stitch half of Santa on Nathaniel’s Stocking
2. Finish a dividing band on Bordeaux Sampler
3. Finish a corner of urns on Chatelaine Mystery
4. Finish 3-6 symbols on Alchemical Romance
5. Stitch 2 bands on St. Peter’s Fair
6. Start Mermaid’s Folly while on vacation
7. Stitch on Christmas ornament on vacation

It is amazing how as you get older the years go by faster and faster. I remember when I was in elementary school thinking that the year was sooooo long. Now there are times when it is not long enough. I guess that is what happens when you are busy every moment of the day. The end of February was also a blur as we were all very very sick. Nathaniel brought us home a great virus that has had us all down for the count.

Here is what I have been stitching on the last few weeks…Mirabilia’s Halloween fairy. I needed something to take with me on our trip to Allen’s family over presidents day and I kind of stuck with it. Here she is so far…she does have legs, but I didn’t feel like un rolling her.

She is so much fun. I am running out of the Black Coffee that came with the kit. I also heard that many stitchers ran out of the Dandilion Stem as well so I will have to pick that up when I go to my stitching group tomorrow night. Maybe my embellishment for the Nora Corbett “Holly” pattern will be in as well.

I also got my Neighborhood RR back recently. It is fabulous and I look forward to getting it framed. Thanks to Carol, Glenna, Karen, Deb, Marie, Carissa, Nicole, Sabine and Wendy for stitching on it. I thank 9 stitchers instead of the usual 8 as Carissa was unable to finish her block and Marie was kind enough to take what she had started and put the finishing touches on it. Thank you so much ladies for such a lovely memory of you all.

One more picture for you today. We got a ton of snow this morning so we took Nathaniel outside to play. He had a fabulous time. He even helped us shovel. One of our kind neighbors brought him a tiny little shovel. It was so cute.

I also have some goals to work on for March. I hope to:
1. Finish Haloween Fairy
2. Finish half of Part 5 of Bordeaux Mystery
3. Stitch on Mystery 9

Good luck to me.:)

I really feel like I have gotten my stitching mojo back a bit. I worked a lot over the last ten days on My Stitching Treasures. I made my goal to finish the border of the piece and then I plan on stitching on it whenever I go to my Tuesday stitching night. Hopefully the weather will hold out and I will be able to go again tomorrow. Here is the border…

After finishing the border, I moved on to the next piece in my rotation…Butterfly Rest. I was reminded how much I really love stitching on this piece. There are tons of color changes, but I really enjoy watching the colors blend together to create this beautiful piece. As of the last time I stitched on this piece (probably a year ago) I had finished the bottom two half pages. I started working on the right side. I wish I had had a little more time to work on her this weekend, but we had guests and both of my boys caught a tummy bug. It totally sucked:( But here is where I am so far.

Here is Nathaniel before he began to spew…I bought him a box of used books and he pulled them all out. I bet this would remind my mom of me when I was his age. I used to drive her nuts by pulling all the books off her bookshelf:)

Okay…I was a bad stitcher and started a new project despite having numerous unfinished projects sitting in my stitching drawer. And whose fault is it….I blame it on Nathaniel:) If he had not had croup (btw, croup sucks and I am glad that my munchkin man is now feeling better) and required a prescription, I would not be in this situation. As he and I were wandering around the grocery store waiting for his prescription to be filled we checked out the magazine section. They NEVER have any stitching magazines, but on this particular morning they did. It was the most recent edition of Just Cross Stitch and it had a new seasonal sampler from Jeannette Douglas Designs. I purchased the magazine and as I sat looking at it later, I remembered that I had her My Stitching Treasures tucked away in my stash along with all the beautiful threads and charms and the recommended Silkweaver Days Gone By fabric. So instead of doing housework while my sickie slept I started My Stitching Treasures. I am now almost half way done with the border. The threads are so pretty and I know I am going to have a hard time putting this one down. I am thinking that I will alternate between this piece and Alchemical Romance at my Tuesday night stitching group. I have them both on small q-snaps and I can get a motif or two done each week.

Here is my progress so far.

Fortunately, Nathaniel is now much better although he still sounds a bit like he swallowed a duck call. It is quite amusing to hear him babble. Today he had a very busy day. He went to a birthday party for the son of one of Allen’s co-workers and then spent most of the evening retrieving nerf darts for Allen. Allen would shoot the darts at the inside of our front door and when he was finished and they were all suctioned to the door, Nathaniel would “run” screaming at the top of his lungs and waving his arms. He would then pull all the darts off the door and help Allen reload the dart gun. It was quite funny. I began to have visions of the future when I will in all likelihood be regularly ambushed by barrages of foam darts. I am already tickle tortured and raspberried on a regular basis…foam darts can’t be that much worse:) At least they don’t involve spit!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

So here is my progress on Bordeaux Wine Sampler. I am a little past the half way point now. I plan to finish up the saying and a little of the backstitching before moving on to the next piece in my rotation. I am sorely tempted to start something new, but I know I shouldn’t. If I find my Garden Stars by Ink Circles and have a good fabric for it, I might just have to.

In other fun stitching news, there is now a weekly stitching group that is a reasonable distance from my house. It is at a shop that recently moved. I had been to their previous location several times on my way to see my parents or I have had Allen pick stuff up there on his way home from work. Unfortunately they were about 40 minutes from my house, so there Tuesday night stitch group. Around the beginning of the year, the store moved to about halfway between my house and their old location. I was so excited when I found out. Last week I went to the stitch group and it was a lot of fun. I am hoping to go tomorrow night, but with Inauguration and Allen possibly having to go out for a work dinner, I may have to skip this week. I will definitely be going again!

A Life Lived Fully?
So I found this meme on Michelle’s blog. I thought I’d share mine with you.

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. started your own blog-Yup
2. slept under the stars-For an entire summer after college when I was a camp counselor.
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii-Honeymoon on Maui
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyworld-On at least three occasions, possibly four. My grandmother lived an hour or two from Orlando, so we would stop along the way to see her.
8. climbed a mountainNot a big one, but I climbed it.
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch-Cross stitching counts, right!
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning-Wouldn’t recommend it.
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetablesWe grew tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and herbs at our 3rd floor condo. Go figure we bought a house with too much shade to grow veggies:(
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train-On a trip from Maryland to Florida to visit family.
21. had a pillow fight-Got to love sleepovers
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill-No comment:)
24. built a snow fort-Summer 1996. I almost got lost in the snow…no school for 2 weeks:)
25. held a lambI worked as a camp counselor one summer and we all did.
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset-Many times
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person-With my family when I was little.
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community-Visited Lancaster, PA in second grade
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight-Love Duck, NC
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling-Theoretically I am scuba certified to 120ft. Haven’t been in years.
52. kissed in the rain-Don’t tell Allen;)
53. played in the mud-My sister loved mud.
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookiesDuring my short stint as a girlscout
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason-Allen is just like that.
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy-Sebastian the puppy lives in Nathaniel’s closet…someday he will come out to play
70. visited the Lincoln memorial-several times
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square-Band trip!
74. toured the Everglades-On a trip to see my grandmom
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London
77. broken a bone-Left wrist in first grade…the cast stunk!
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car1996 Plymouth Neon named Esmerelda
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible-Over two semesters in college
86. visited the White House-Twice…it is awesome at Christmas…I wish they would do that again.
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox-When I was 12…it sucked!
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a babyNathaniel Mark
95. seen the Alamo in person.
96. taken a road trip-Isn’t that what college is for:)
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee-The staff at Woodley Gardens pool knew me as the bee kid one summer
100. met the love of your life-That would be Allen

Not too shabby. Interesting that most of my want to do items are overseas travel. I was born in Germany and my parents did a lot of traveling while mom was pregnant with me and while I was an infant/toddler. I have not had a chance to go back since my dad was transferred back to the US. Every time I say I would like to go to Europe, my dad reminds me that I have already been:) Not quite the same.

Hey everyone…I have been doing a bit of winter cleaning around the house and took the time to purge my craft closet of patterns that I am very sure I will never stitch. I have added a For Sale or Trade page and a Wish List page to the top of my blog. Feel free to check it out. Check back shortly for my progress on Bordeaux Wine Sampler.

Hey everyone…here is my contribution to Marie’s Neighborhood RR. She had a Halloween theme and I stitched Brittercup’s Haunting the Night Away. There are a few pieces I couldn’t fit in, but it was the perfect size for her piece. I really enjoyed stitching this one and might have to stitch the whole piece for myself one day. I hope you like it. As soon as I finish frogging one section of my RR out this will be on its way back to Marie. I forget how long frogging can take.

Now the ultimate question…what to stitch next. I could finish my LHN Caffe Latte piece which is almost done or I could pull out Bordeaux Wine Sampler. Difficult choice!

Hey everyone…
On Vonna’s blog this morning I ran into a very cool potential opportunity for a round robin. Despite how much I like Carriage House Samplings pieces, I don’t think I had seen this one before and I think it is an awesome piece to do for a RR. Unfortunately the lady who was thinking of running it decided against it. I understand her reasons, but I still think it is a pretty cool idea.

The piece is Friendship Sampler by Carriage House Samplings. Word press won’t let me upload right now so until I can get it to work, check out Vonna’s post for 1/9/09 to see a picture of it or check out the CHS website.

I didn’t think I wanted to get involved in a RR this year, but although there would be a lot of stitcher, the actual stitching time each round probably wouldn’t be that high. I am willing to organize a RR for this piece. If you are interested in participating in an RR with this piece feel free to let me know. Whether it gets off the ground kind of depends on interest. While I would prefer to keep this as a North America RR just for turn around reasons (I don’t want this to become a three year affair), I would definitely accept overseas interest from stitching friends I know and trust or an overseas stitcher who has a refrence from a trusted stitching friend.

If this is something you would be interested in please feel free to email me at ralphy36@hotmail.com If you would take a moment to answer the following questions I would apprieciate it.

ralphy36@hotmail.com

1. Name, blog, current location
2. What count fabrics are you willing or able to stitch on
3. Would you prefer to stitch as charted with Belle Soie from Crescent Colors or use a DMC conversion or do you not care.
4. If you prefer to use the silks, would you be willing to provide them as not everyone can afford or have access to them.

I hope this will generate some interst. I would love to have a finished piece with the names of some of my favorite ladies in the stitching world to remember for years to come.

In other news, keep your eyes out for a finish on Marie’s Neighborhood RR on Saturday morning!!

I wish I had more time to blog. I really do miss it, but things are so busy here. I am going to try to make a conscious effort to post once a week.

I hope everyone had as wonderful a holiday as we did. My little sister had her baby on the 14th. His name is Ethan and he is adorable. It is nice that Nathaniel will have a cousin about his age to play with. Nathaniel got to meet Ethan at Christmas and was suitably unimpressed. This time next year I think they will be good buddies. Since Ethan was so little on Christmas Eve, we postponed our usual big Christmas Eve festivities until tomorrow.

In other news, my little man turned one on December 5. I absolutely cannot believe it. On December 5, 2007, Nathaniel weighed 8 pounds and was 19 inches long. On December 5, 2008 he weighed 24 pounds and was 32 inches long. He has grown so much. Walking is now his preferred method of transportation. He is a lot like his Aunt Becca. He is into everything and tries to climb anything he can get near. Nathaniel is a great eater and eats pretty much anything we do. He even likes saurkraut:) On the language front, he has good receptive language skills and seems to understand basic instructions with visual cues. I am trying not to be concerned about his expressive language skills though. Most of the children in his day care “class” are saying bye bye, mama and dada. Nathaniel is definitely speaking, but it is currently in his own dialect that sounds a lot like a Scandinavian language. The only word he uses with consistency is uh-oh. He is also starting to use a little bit of sign language, particularly around the topic of eating:) I know his hearing was probably muffled due to all the fluid build up in his ears from the ear infections and we did notice a big leap in his language just after the ear tube surgery in October so I am hoping he will stay within normal range. I am so glad we did the surgery. He has not had any ear infections since that time which means no antibiotics or diarrhea for him and no time away from work for me. Plus he is obviously much more comfortable and is even more tolerant of long car trips through the mountains. YAY!

Here are a few pictures for you.

I have been stitching too. I did a birth sampler for little Ethan. I forgot to take a picture of it before I delivered it. Bad Leslie. I have also been working on Marie’s neighborhood RR. It should be done soon and on its way home as I am the last stitcher. She had a neighborhood theme and it is absolutely gorgeous. I hope she likes it. Will post a picture when I am done with my block

Happy Friday!