Waiting For Neptune....

This is charted from artwork by Linda Ravenscroft. I would love to work on Evening In The Park and also start Salamander for my black box-top. But, I'm loving working on this one even if it's just a little here and there - it all adds up! So until something else ^screams^ louder - WFN it will be!

I worked in the nursery at Church this morning. I haven't seen any of my sweet little ones in nearly a month. I've had the flu and missed 2 weeks, then some of them were traveling, etc. As I was getting ready this morning I kept thinking they've probably grown so much since I last saw them and will be little grrranimals with all the new teeth they've cut! So I took my camera and I kept talking to Fox trying to get him to smile and do his little he-man-grrrr (it's so cute and completely adorable) anyway, I had the camera set to video so was pleasantly surprised when I got home and saw this tiny video clip. Note-to-self - really need to learn how to use my camera.....



On the quilting front, I've mailed 2 completed Love Quilts this month and pieced/quilted the top of a Whinnie-the-Pooh quilt (in yellow check fabric and blue striping); just need to put the binding on and it's ready to go. I have 3 other quilts ready to start. They are so much fun to work on, finding just the right fabric to match the beautiful stitched squares and then to see them all put together - it's just fantastic. So all you ladies who stitch for LoveQuilts - keep up your generous gift!

So we're in the South and can you believe it was in the 70s Thursday and it started snowing yesterday afternoon ^saturday^ and has snowed off and on since? It's coming down now in big fat flakes - so beautiful to watch. I think we've seen a total of 8-9 inches. But best of all is that we are just hovering at the 33/34 degree mark and so it's cold enough to accumulate on the lawns, houses and such but not cold enough to be anything more than slush on the sidewalks or roads.

We are leaving for Tunica, MS in the morning. It's about 30 minutes south of Memphis, TN. We have free rooms at the casino and will just relax and play for a couple of days. Our daughter is home from college for Springbreak so it's nice for us to get out of town for a couple of days while she is home to care for the dogs. Honestly, I would rather just stay home than have to board them so it's just a nice treat for me. She gets some alone time since she doesn't get much of that while she's at school as she has a room mate this semester - so it's good for everyone!

Have a fantastic week and happy stitching!!!!

Waiting For Neptune.......

Linda Ravenscroft's beautiful mermaid piece. I haven't actually gotten to any of the mermaids but it's a great over 1 stitch. See the small pink flower I'm working on? At the top right of this flower is the tail of a beautiful seahorse!!! I can't wait to get there but I'm going to put this one up and give it a rest so I don't burnout. I'm already excited about picking it up again. Now what can I work on the next few days? I'll have to see what can call louder than this one.



Or maybe I'll make a trip to the Library today. It seems like forever since I finished a book.

I love March. It's the beginning of warmer days here and lots of bright sunshine. I can usually work in my flower beds at some point and just generally start being outside after long months of being stuck in the house. I think I'll plan a BBQ this weekend to celebrate!

Finally framed.....

Once Upon A Tree Sampler is finally framed and hanging in the kitchen. This chart was featured in Just Cross-Stitch Magazine in 4 parts during 2009. It was beautiful as charted but I just grabbed from my box of silks and changed all the threads and beads. I love it!


On the exercise front - I'm going. Some days that's just as good as it gets; so I'm proud of myself for getting up and not talking myself out of it, but actually going. Today was TurboKick and while it was a great cardio class, I'm beat!

I think I'll go stitch for a bit and recoup. Have a great Monday!

Quick note on survival.....

I survived Zumba and most of a toning class this morning. I don't know how the rest of my day will go, and while I'm very sore - it feels good.

I have a ham bone in the soup pot with white beans, finely minced carrots, fresh garlic and sweet onion. Add a nice crispy skillet of cornbread and we'll have a great winter dinner this evening.

I don't think I've posted this on my blog so here's my Chatelaine piece, Evening In The Park. It's stitched on Silkweavers 32ct Jobelan in Sudden Storm. It's a really softly mottled piece and is a wonderful companion for the colors in this piece.

While Dear Husband's away.....

the wife will play. He's gone until Friday and I've planned something special for everyday. Usually I hibernate at home and luxerate in having the house to myself, staying up till all hours of the morning and sleeping in. If you can call 7:30 really sleeping in. LOL

This year I decided to step out of the box and try something new. I hit the casino with friends last night (it's ladies night). Broke even and had a great time; that's what it's all about!

Tonight I have a group of friends coming for dessert, manicures (and hand dips in one of those paraffin spa baths) and of course swimsuits and the hot tub. They will all go home loose-as-a-goose and ready for sweet dreams. Of course I'll stay up and stitch. Can't quite put down WFN and I even have a new start all ready to go!

Gym update - I need to get back into my early morning machine routine which consist of the elliptical, the treadmill then making a round of the free-standing weight machines. Who knew they were actually fun? I called Lisa, my exercise partner and we both decided we have to get back to it. Also convinced her to come to a ZUMBA class with me and give it a try. If you have the opportunity but have never tried one, your really missing something!

Today will consist of cleaning house for my guests, including bathing the dogs (you know they have to greet everyone who enters the house). Baking a homemade chocolate cake too, from scratch!

I think I'll turn the music up really loud and practice some Zumba routines while I'm cleaning......

enjoy today, no matter what you do!

Here's an update of Waiting For Neptune (Linda Ravenscroft is the artist). You can see the beginnings of the scroll work on the left. I can't wait to work over to the tail of a seahorse or up to the tail of a mermaid.

Not everyone.......

loves Valentine's Day but I do. We've made it into an elaborate celebration and had years where it was simply a quiet, romantic day spent together. It's all good - so Happy Valentine's Day, feel special and loved all day.

On a crafting note, DH will be out of town next week and I'm anxious to start my new piece. It's ready to go and these past few days I've been so excited about putting those first stitches in. Can't wait to get started and see it start to grow. ooh - it's Ian Daniels, Salamander piece for the black box.

The perfect little black box.....

since I'm to fat for a perfect little black dress, I'll have to settle for a perfect little black box. ROFL

I spent the better part of a late afternoon and evening plotting the fragmentation of Ian Daniels Salamander chart to fit the openings for this box. I think it's going to be fantastic!

On a whiney note, I did my first Zumba exercise class on Friday and I'm still sore. It was great fun and I will be going back.

A couple of new starts....

there are so many beautiful charts I would love to start. Here are two relatively new ones.

A Chatelaine, Evening In The Park stitched over 2 on 32ct. Jobelan from Silkweaver in Sudden Storm.

A Linda Ravenscroft piece, Waiting For Neptune stitched over 1 on 28ct. Lugana in Ivory.


I have a couple of new craft projects in the planning stages, along with 1 new cross-stitch piece. I found these beautiful black boxes (about 10x15 or so) at Hobby Lobby. They are very, very nice and are lined inside with black felt like a jewelry box and also have a hinged lid. The top is cutout into various spaces for pictures but rather than having the entire lid cutout with a large mat that has individual cutouts (have I lost you yet?) these pieces actually have the wood top cutout, leaving behind the black wood outlines around the cutouts. There is a layer of glass under the cutout and a compartment to insert your photos into. Now I thinking I could stitch parts of Ian Daniel's Salamander chart to fit the cutouts. It's in navys and orange/peach/shimmer shades. It would look very nice sitting on the coffee table and would be a great place to hold all that damn remotes.

Pretty and functional too...

New beginnings.......

are awesome! my bad, I've been neglectful of so many things since this past summer. I quit several groups and activities so focus more time on family and the things I really want to do. Time to reinvent my stitching blog and that means a beautiful new template. It's courtesy of Izzie Grace Blogging Backgrounds; you'll find her button at the bottom of my blog. They are free and she literally have 100's of beautiful backgrounds to choose from.

I've been traveling, stitching and quilting up a storm since last summer. I'll be back with pictures after tweaking my template.....

June is nearly over.....

but what a wonderful month it's been. It sure doesn't seem like I've done much stitching or other crafting but I think a little here and a little there adds up to a nice bunch by the end of the month.

I've been working on my Love Quilt squares and really enjoying them, especially this time of year. The Aida is so nice to work with and the designs are usually so playful and light hearted that they make the perfect thing to work on during the busy summer months.

I'm also putting together my first quilt for Love Quilts. I received the squares last week and will wait until it's finished and sent to the intended child before I post a picture. It's a real pretty one too! Dusty pinks and blue colors.

June has been very busy around our house, my birthday and our wedding anniversary and all the usual summer stuff. We have enjoyed the college kids being home this year.............so much better than last year. We've termed 2008 as our summer from hell, what is it about turning 18? They think they are adults and can just do anything they like and run all over their parents to boot! Thank GOD this past year has been so much better and she thoroughly enjoyed her first year of college - took to it like a duck to water.

DH and I had such a wonderful time in Gulf Shores last fall we decided to go back this year. So, we start talking about it and planning a trip for the first of Sept. and invite my B&SIL to go with us. We are all getting so excited then our kids (ours 19, theirs 20 & 15) start complaining about how they would just love to go with us would we please go the first week of Aug. instead?

Trust me, I know - we are still in shell shock that they want to go anywhere with us and are looking forward to it too! I've rented a beach house for Aug. 1 - 8 which works out well. DD has to be at college Aug 9 for check-in. She is a mentor for her dorm this year so they have to show up a week before everyone else for orientation, etc. We are taking 2 of our vehicles to Gulf Shores so we can load them both with her stuff and she can leave it all at her Aunt's house (she literally lives less than 1 mile from the university). We will be back Sat. night and she can stay with a friend in the dorm then move all her stuff in on Sunday.

I'll leave you with some my favorite picture of Gulf Shores from fall of 2008. We went after the hurricane dumped a TON of sand - like a solid month after the storm surge and the sand still looks like snow drifts but it was completely relaxing and wonderful.

This is my favorite sunrise photo. It was worth getting up at 5:30 to make coffee and see such a glorious scene.

A finish.....

makes a Monday seem like a great day!

I finished the stitching on Mirabilia's Crescent Dreams. The plan is to use the gingham fabric with white ribbon and make it into a doorknob hanger for the baby's room.



Of course I changed some of the design details as it's charted, but right off hand the only things I recall are changing the ribbon that hangs from the moon to 2 strands of the lightest yellow floss; I used Mill Hill 12299 petite silver glass star beads and the Mill Hill 03018 Antinue Glass Beads for the background in a matte baby pink rather than white.

Okay, I better get going and finish this piece out. I'm thinking it will be a nice idea to use it in place of the bow on my gift for her baby shower which is this coming weekend.

Have a wonderful week my fellow stitchers..........

Tada.........

Leah's quilt is finished and already sent. I sent her a card with a message from all the stitchers.

Dear Leah, there are many mistakes in this quilt, as you grow and become aware of them know that there isn't another quilt in the world like this. It was made special for you. It carries our prayers and hopes for you and each time you wrap up in it your wrapping yourself in a huge hug from The Crafty Coven.

I'll just leave you with many pictures, and a few close-ups of the different sections. It was my first quilting experience and super fun!

Totally Useless Sal.......

Here's a picture of my TUSAL Orts for May. Check the top-right sidebar for a link to the SAL info in Yoyo's blog.

Here are the projects I worked on while collecting these orts. Chatelaine's Taj Mahal; Chatelaine's Christmas Mandala; Mirabilia's Flora Fairy; Mirabilia's Crescent Moon and Stab and Stash's Dreamsleep. There was also a red and yellow race car for Love Quilts that isn't pictured.

Have a wonderful rest of the Memorial Day weekend!

Thanks Brandy.......

This is an early birthday gift from my special friend Brandy. Gingher Designer Series scissors in the Ashley pattern (pink/purple flowers) and the most beautiful scissor fob (isn't that tea pot just adorable?) and thread picker in pinks and silver. I believe the fob and picker are from My Big Toe Designs (at least the box she packaged them in was). Brandy and I drink alot of tea so this was the perfect gift. You've spoiled me with such a beautiful gift. THANK YOU SWEETIE.

Here's a new picture of the progress on Leah's quilt. It's so pretty, I just know she's going to love it! It's all pinned and ready to machine quilt which I will start on right after dinner. I'm so in love with this I may have to make a visit to see Leah so I can snuggle with her in her quilt. Just to show how tenacious I can be, I stitched the left-hand column 5 times and ripped it out 4 to FINALLY get a straight seam. I don't know what was wrong with me but I'm glad it's over. hehe

Yoyo asked through the comments section about the charts used for Leah's quilt. All the pieces are from a leaflet published by Alma Lynne (but the designs are Gloria & Pat) and the name is 'For Every Little Princess (and Her Prince)'.

This summer has started off really busy around our house. Melanie is home from her first year of college. She had a great year but she's ready for a break and is glad to be home. Music to Mom's ears! So while I don't really feel like I have more craft projects going than normal, I do feel like it takes me longer to accomplish anything.

I started this Love Quilt square for Jamison back in April and just finished it today. Isn't the detail pretty, all those 1/4 stitches and backstitching were worth it. His quilt is going to be awesome!

My next square is a baby monkey for Travon. I'll get that started sometime next week. I want to finish Leah's quilt and get it in the mail then I have a small piece to finish stitching and make into a door hanger for a baby shower the first week of June.

Don't forget to check back on Sunday for the unveiling of The Totally Useless SAL aka The Mystery Ort Jar......happy stitching!

All's right in my little world.......

DD is home safe and none the worse for wear. She has blossomed this past year and it's hard to imagine her first year of college is complete. She will be home with us for 6 weeks then off to Texas A&M at Corpus Christi for the month of July. She was selected for a slot in this summer's Governors Internship Program for high school Gifted & Talented kids and she'll be working on the campus during their summer program. It's like a free month long paid vacation. For those of you who are new readers, DH has a unique job and home unless he is actually working. So, he's been home and lot the past month and we've had a wonderful spring. I just know this summer is going to fly by.

This is a picture of my Taj Mahal by Chatelaine. This is my first Chatelaine piece and I'm really enjoying working on it. I decided to stitch it with the recommended silks & beads and it's been a fun piece. While the fabric is gorgeous (it's Fairy Morn by Sugar Maple Fabrics), looking back I wish I had chosen something without so much color. The piece it's self has so much color I feel like the two are competing. Nevertheless, I'm pleased and will pick it up again soon.

I've stitched quite a bit since this photo last weekend. I finished the building on the right and the trees directly above, plus the first section of the flower/column in the border on the right.

I've picked up Dreamsleep and been stitching on her for the past few days. It's such a gorgeous piece to stitch - all those deep browns and beautiful pinks.

We are going to see the new Star Trak moving this afternoon. I've been really excited about it and just waiting for the release date to get here!

I've joined The Totally Useless SAL from the blog of Dragon My Needle. It looks to be like a lot of fun so check back on May 24 for an update and picture.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Do you make your bed everyday.....

it really does 'set the tone for the day'. The rest of the house can be a mess but if everytime I walk into the bedroom the bed is neatly made it just seems like the whole house looks better. It's like sneaking chocolate - just a nice way to spoil yourself. try it for a week and see if you agree.

So DD was home from college and I showed her all the fabrics and squares for Leah's quilt. (see earlier post for info. on Leah) and she says 'you've never made me a quilt'.....little stinker! So guess what my special summer project will be?

It's raining today, a good hard rain. We need it though, at least it's cool and everything looks so green and beautiful. Now you know I have to sweet talk the dogs to get them to go out - they don't mind the soggy grass but they are little princess puppies and can't go out when it's raining. grrr

We were decadent today and had ice cream, brownie with carmel sauce for dessert after lunch. Sometimes you just have to enjoy whatever kind of spoiling you can get. HA

I'm still stitching on my Chatelaine, Taj Mahal. Getting very close the last page of stitching, then it will be a beading project. I have a race car square started for Love Quilts and some needle books I want to start. Then there are the 2 new starts laying on my desk (though I solemnly swear not to start them until I have another finish), another Love Quilt square and 2 kitted up Chatelaines ready to go.

See, I do have restraint. Happy Stitching everyone.....

Turning into your Mother........

do you ever just get smacked with the idea that you've turned into your Mother? I mean, it hit me that my blog is the most boring place around. But, by the time I share with friends by email, post on my favorite message crafting boards and visit in Yahoo groups it's just a little stale by the time I'm telling the story for the umpteemth time. See, turning into your Mother by telling the same story over and over (and worse, forgetting that you've already shared that particular event).

In stitching news, I'm working on my Chatelaine, Taj Mahal. Not too long before this is just a beading project then on to the category of a room remodeling project. At least that's what I figure it will cost to get it framed. I recently took a relatively small project (7.5x9.5) to Michael's for a framing estimate - a whopping $498! I could gold-plate a wall for $498!

Here are my last couple of finishes. These are more Love Quilt Squares.

This is a Zebra for Taylor.

And this is Maegan's Cat Theme.

They are so much fun to stitch!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you each find a few minutes each day to enjoy your stitching passion.

Quilt Squares

I've become addicted to stitching these quilt squares on 14 ct Aida!

This is charity stitching for Love Quilts. A special quilt of clowns and I thought he was so bright and cheerful with his orange hair and flappy flower!

Here's another LQ Square. It's for a special quilt all about snowmen.

As you can tell, I haven't washed these yet!

And the last one for LQ is EMS Zoo Babies. These are free charts from her message board. Aren't they just adorable? I picked 3 of the 'cold water' babies and made this square for what they term a 'any child' quilt. These are randomly stitched squares that they collect and catalog. Then when they need to put together a quilt in a hurry, they have these squares to design and piece a quilt.

Last but not least, I mentioned a little girl, Leah, in my last post. This is one of the squares from her quilt. There are many people stitching squares for her quilt and I will post them as they come in.

These colors were such a treat to stitch! So sunny and bright, made me feel like spring was here.

March sure started out cold......

How did I let February get away without any posting? It's just been business as usual around here. We've had some of our coldest weather of the season the past few days. I'm so ready for spring, narcissus is ready to bloom, daffodils very soon after and tulips have started coming up!

My current project is a stitching/quilting project. A group of stitchers are each stitching squares for a little girl, Leah. Please pray for her recovery from a cancerous tumor on her kidney. She is only 3 and from pictures, you can just see her precious spirit and the special person she will grow into. One of our group members knows her family and got us all involved in being part of her miracle. Many of us stitch for Love Quilts and decided to adopt her as a group project and make a very special quilt for her. I'll post pictures of the squares as I receive them.

I have a new stitching finish but I can't show pictures yet. It's going into the mail today so I promise a picture later this week.

I didn't put much effort into vegetables last year but I'm excited again this year so I'll have tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, beans and cantaloupe. I'm lucky to live in town but have a huge backyard with plenty of space for a vegetable garden. I told the little boys who live next door that they can help me this summer. They are so adorable, 4 and 6 years old.

I hope your inspired to stitch and have a great week.