WIP - Autism Awareness Ribbon

Day after Christmas

I was able to get some stitching in on Christmas Eve but haven't had a chance to touch it since then. Today I spent most of the day cleaning up from yesterday and going through the old toys to get rid of to make room for the new toys. I'm very proud of myself; two huge boxes full of toys and such to put out to the curb tomorrow for anyone that wants them. It's easier to do that with the kids toys then to try to go through my stash to see if there is anything that I absolutely will not use.

I'd really like to get my stash more organized. I have my floss as organized as I can but I'd like to make a list of the charts and kits that I have sitting waiting patiently for me to stitch. I'd also like to come up with a better place to keep them other than a storage bin next to my recliner. It's overflowing and the kids can get into it much too easyily. I will put that on my list of items to do for 2008.

I started this post on Wednesday afternoon and it's now Thursday afternoon. I did get some time to stitch last night and ran out of one of the primary colors for the Autism Awareness Ribbon. I really hate the fact that Wal-mart no longer has floss! Thankfully Curtis was heading out to Daytona today and volunteered to stop in at Michael's and grab me some. He's so sweet; asked if that was all I needed and if one skein would be enough. He even takes a few minutes to check out my progress on each project and make a comment on it. He's such a good husband and father. I've been trying to find something that I can make for him for either his birthday or Christmas next year. I was leaning toward something with the Houston Astros Logo but that has been harder to find than I anticipated. He's really into baseball and raquetball so I could do something with that. Perhaps when I get the cross stitch pattern maker software I can just grab something with a logo on it and make my own pattern.

My plan for 2008 is to get more organized and then pick out some projects for gifts for this next year. I will make sure to save pictures of my finishes so I have them for me. I've given away just about everything I ever made so I also plan on finishing my TK for me. I'd love to have that finished and framed in 2008 along with some other projects. I think I will take a page from Val's book and sit down and make a list of 10 projects I'd like to complete this year. (Taking the time to do that will be the hard part. I'm really good at starting things but not so good at finishing them all.)

Update on current projects

Thomas Kinkade updated work

Autism Awareness Ribbon

Stitching and things

I had some time to stitch on the T.K. project and I started a new small project too. I have been looking for an Autism Awareness Ribbon for quite some time and a lovely lady in one of my cross stitch groups found it for me. I started working on it yesterday and it's such an easy one that I'm probably 1/3 done with it. (or would be if I didn't have to rip some stuff out!) I'm enjoying the TK stitching but I also want something that I can do pretty quickly so I have something to show for all my hard work. I will probably not get any stitching time in tomorrow at all so I'm going to try to get some extra time in tonight. I've decided the AAR is my gift to myself this Christmas so I want to get it done before the end of the week so maybe I can "finish" by then. If the stitching is done I will be more than happy!

WIP

Well, I didn't take the day off like I had originally wanted to do. I also didn't start anything new either. I continued working on my TK project because the colors look so nice and it's coming along well (except for the occasional brain fart by yours truly). I have decided that when I can't sleep thanks to Mr. Logan, I should just stitch. The only problem with that is how to do it in the pitch black. I think I have solved that problem but now how to get it....

I decided a miners lamp would work wonders. I could sit on the couch in the dark and stitch "till the cows come home". Yeah I know great on paper but..... I can see it now, sitting on the couch with all my stuff and only being able to see my stitching area. I would turn to look for the thread or scissors and flash the light right in Logan's eyes. That would have him letting loose his prehistoric bird screech that would wake the entire house. How about this, I could use it to sit in my chair and stitch so there would be no big lights on at all. Yeah I know, since Logan wants me by his side not sure that it would work as he would do that screech again. Hmmmmmm I still like the idea of the miners lamp!

Finish and WIP - Pictures

Look to the far left bottom; grey and grey with light lavender. This is where I had to rip it all back out.
Here is my updated WIP as of Saturday.

Here is my finished pumpkin.

Weekend Stitching

Well, I was able to stitch a little on Saturday and a lot on Sunday. I had decided to pick up my Thomas Kinkade piece and work on that as I love his work. I looked at it and couldn't find where I thought I need to "frog". I went on and was able to get a lot more done. I was so proud of how much I was able to get done. Notice I said was.... I am constantly jumping up whenever I stitch as I have three children in diapers so it's not like I can have any down time during the day at all. I really don't know how I managed to do it but I looked at my chart, pulled the thread (as it calls for one strand each of two different colors) and started stitching. It is such a busy pattern that I have to highlight what I have already stitched so I have an idea where I'm at each time. Two to three hours of stitching later and I glanced at the chart and saw something that stopped me in my tracks. Yup, you guessed it, I looked down at the wrong combination for the symbol I was stitching. I was so upset!!! I was cooking dinner when I noticed it so I ripped all that work out and started again. My husband just looked at me like I had lost my mind until I told him what I had done. As I pulled each stitch out, I grumbled that if I mess it up again I'm putting it away for a long time. I was afraid that I would lose track of what I had done since I had already highlighted everything so I made myself go back and do it all again with the right color combo last night.

I believe that everything is now as it should be but I think I will take a day off from it and maybe start something else or just not stitch today. My eldest boy has been having sleep issues for the past couple of weeks and I think it's taking it's toll on me. When he doesn't sleep, I don't sleep and it's harder on me. I have finally figured out that I need at least 7 hours of sleep each night so I'm not cranky. You can imagine what I've been like for the past couple of weeks!!

Done!

I finished my pumpkin piece last night around 11:00. It felt so good to look at it and realize that it was completely finished (at least the stitching part) I hope to get a picture of it on here to show and then figure out what I want to do next. I need to either get back to the Thomas Kinkade piece or start on the biscornue or one of the other patterns I found these past couple of weeks. Maybe I can get back into one of the other UFO I have sitting out there. Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

There are so many beautiful patterns to choose from that it's hard to figure out what to do. Maybe I will do like some of the ladies in one of my cross stitch groups and work on more than one project. I used to work on several at once; depending on my mood I would decide which one to work on and then move on to the next one when I got bored. I always had three or four projects that needed to be finished when it came time for Christmas each year. I'd like to get back into that type of pattern but not too sure I can with the kids and the therapies. We shall see....

Updated photos

Completed coffee project; now I just need to figure out how to frame or how to "finish" it some other way.
Not much more done on the pumpkin other than the right side. I really would like to get this done and perhaps make another of them. (could make a biscarnou or mini if I had another pumpkin pose to go with this one)

Stitching

I made some time in between cooking and cleaning on Thanksgiving afternoon to work on my current projects. I was able to finish the coffee project and get back to the pumpkin. I will post pictures of those a little later. I haven't had much time to do more stitching as I caught a bug and have a tooth problem. What fun that is let me tell you. I can't get into a dentist until next week and it's not like they will take a tooth out that has infected gums surrounding it.

I've been drowning myself with an all natural supplement for infection since late yesterday afternoon so that I can get it removed sometime this week. I believe I caught what my oldest has as I also had some sore throat and swollen glands too. This stuff from Baseline Nutritionals is really working on me. It's called Immunity and it has all natural ingredients which I love. My husband found this man several years ago and started using the supplements. What a difference his supplements make in our lives! Since starting using his pHI-zymes I have had no allergies (unless, of course, I forget to take them!) A few of his other products have helped Curtis' high blood pressure. I'd rather take all natural supplements then the over the counter drugs/prescriptions that are available now.

I'm actually starting to feel almost human this afternoon so I am going to try to get some washing done and some more stitching on my pumpkin.

Just a little bit...

Okay, I haven't had that much time to stitch yet this week and as it's Thanksgiving I'm not sure that I will as the children are out of school for the rest of the week. I'm hoping that Mom comes up for dinner tomorrow as I am cooking a big meal for us and I know she would enjoy getting out. Another reason I haven't done that much stitching is because I'm waiting on my glasses to be done. I had gone into have my eyes checked on Sunday and they said it would be at least a week for the lenses to come in. I received a call yesterday afternoon to say the lenses are in so my wonderful hubby will be going by today to get them put in my frames. I have the reading glasses that I found a few weeks ago but they make it hard on my eyes and give me a headache. I will have transition lenses to make it easier on my eyes as I have an issue with distance too. It's hard to get old! I can't wait to get my new glasses so I can get some stitching done without getting a headache. I can't wait to finish my coffee project and my pumpkin project. I'd really like to get going on the biscarnou and to start back on the Thomas Kinkade project too.

It figures; I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and I have to wait on someone else. I really need to stitch; need to de-stress. I will be adding another day to the therapy sessions for the boys so I will be running around for 4 of the days during the week. They want to stop double teaming with one of Ryan's sessions so that is going to add another 30 minutes to his schedule and Logan's O.T. wants to switch days. It's going to be crazier then ever so I will need more stitching time to relax!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

A little stitching

Well, I haven't had much time to stitch since last week. I did have the girls over on Monday as it was another day off from school. Jenna asked if she could trade in the booklet I lent her the last time in for another book and project. I was so surprised and happy to see that she likes to stitch. I gave her the run of of my stash and books and she decided on a pretty hard horse pattern from one of my magazines. We had a good laugh because the magazine is older than she is which shocked her. She is going to stitch a horse (head) for her little sister for Christmas. I think she took on a big project for such a short time but I didn't tell her that. I did tell her that she has a lot of work to do but it would be beautiful when it's finished. She promised to show me or get a picture to show me when it's completed.

I'm so excited! I can't wait to see the finished project. Most girls her age are not into crafts they'd rather be talking to their girlfriends on the phone or going to the beach or mall to hang out. Now if I can get my daughter back on track and learning. I did sign up to be a DMC Mentor so I'm hoping that with the kit they send I will be able to entice Marie into sitting still long enough to learn. She is such a great girl; she is so full of energy and I want to channel it in a good way besides running around playing outside and at school. It would be a nice Mommy and Me time for us so I'm hoping that we can get started up again soon.

As I said, I haven't had much time to stitch but I did get about an hour in last night. I'm almost finished with the coffee project. I then will finish the pumpkin; maybe have an hour or so to go on that one. I have seen so many beautiful projects on our cross-stitch group and think I'm going to try my hand on a biscornu. They look so awesome and seem like they'd be pretty easy to make. You notice, I keep avoiding going back to my Thomas Kinkade project. I'm just so afraid that I will have to take it all back out and that just sits like a big lead balloon in my gut. I need to just bite the bullet and do it. It isn't going to get any easier if I put it off; same thing will have to be done no matter when I do it.

Any advice on how to get over my TK block???

Progress

I've made some progress on my Coffee project this week. My wonderful husband even helped me by going into Michael's in search of the floss I was needing. We had gone by A.C. Moore first but couldn't get all the colors so we headed to Michael's. He volunteered to run in and get the rest of the floss I needed. He also took me by Dunkin' Donuts for a much needed coffee before heading back home with the sleeping little ones.

I will work on the pumpkin for next Halloween after I finish the coffee project. I'm on such a roll with this one I dare not stop. I won't be able to work on it again until Sunday (if then) so I'm really happy with my progress this week. (I neglected my house cleaning duties for a couple of days so I could de-stress a/k/a stitch so today I made up for it. Laundry and cleaning toilets; YUCK!)

We had a nice Thursday; went to Target to see about Halloween costumes for the oldest children for next year. Target had marked down everything for Halloween to 90% off so we had fun shopping. We were able to find costumes for them and some other nice decorations dirt cheap. Now, if only they would start to carry craft supplies.....

Pictures

This new project is called Coffee. I downloaded it from a free pattern site.

Here is the pumpkin that I found in one of my old (1980's) cross stitch mags.

Stitching time

Okay, I started the pumpkin but then ran out of the floss that was used the most. I went to our local Walmart trying to find it and of course, they are totally out and will no longer be carrying any floss. I had to put that project on hold until I can get to a craft store. Since I know of none in this area I will have to wait until I or hubby heads to Daytona this week. I started another project because I just don't want to rip out the Thomas Kinkade boo boo from a few weeks ago. I will be needing more floss for the new project as well so I guess I will just work around the missing thread.

The first time I have been able to stitch since last week was last night after three of the four went to bed. Ryan was fighting sleep so we let him run around until he was running into things. Once he became really fussy I had to stop to get him settled. Of course, once that happened it was so late I just gave up for the night. I was able to get some stitching today while he was napping. Katie would play and then run over to me to see what I was doing. I'm hoping she will be interested enough when she gets older to try her hand at it too.

I will take a picture or two of the pumpkin and the newest project so I can prove that I am actually working on something. Hopefully I can get them on here tonight but if not, there is always tomorrow.

Update

I was able to finally get some stitching time yesterday as it was Sunday. I had done all the laundry and cleaned on Saturday so I could sit and relax on Sunday. (as much as you can relax with 4 kids, 3 of which are still in diapers!) I was hesitant about sitting back down with the Thomas Kinkade work because I know that I made a boo boo the last time I stitched. I talked myself into doing a small side project for halloween. I'm doing a pumpkin that I will make into something for display. I just wanted to do some stitching but not deal with a big project; anyone ever feel that way??

I was having issues seeing the chart as there are 3 pumpkins on the page and I thought it might be the lighting. Nope; I went in search of some reading glasses I had purchased years ago for when I was doing this type of work. Once I put them on....WOW, I can see the charts again. I think I'm almost ready to tackle the TK project now that I have "my eyes" back!

Some Projects I found

I found it! I had put it in with my current project so it wouldn't get lost....

I believe that I started this Santa project over 10 years ago.

I was working on this mother and children project at the same time as Santa. They both need to be ironed!

Here is a not-so-good picture of the Thomas Kinkade project.

I started this project in September and haven't had much time recently to work on it but I've made a good start.

Here is something truly embarrassing; this is the project I was making while pregnant with my first child. (She is now nine and I've never finished it!)

Finished Projects

First, I need to admit that I haven't been cross stitching in years. I have recently picked my needle back up as I've really missed it. I think the last time I did any stitching was when my oldest was still in my belly; she's now nine. Way back, I would start a project then get bored and start another one. I probably had five or six projects going at the same time all the time. I would finish several projects at one time, get them framed and give them away as gifts. I've looked around and I've only found one project that I kept for myself (at least so far). It was the first big project that I did for myself from a kit and it needs a little cleaning.

I first started cross stitching as a senior in high school because one of my friends was doing it and it looked fun. I was soon hooked and started collecting my stash. I have just one storage bin full of books, booklets, magazines and floss. Recently I discovered that Wal-mart was no longer going to be selling the floss so I had a field day getting every color that I didn't already have or that I had but was almost gone. My husband was so good that day. (I'm actually very lucky; he's wonderful all the time but the little extra things he does just makes me appreciate him even more) He took the youngest two in the stroller walking around the store while I spent about 10 minutes pulling from their floss caddy. (I now know why they are no longer selling it; that floss caddy was so old and so loud that I had the employees chuckling at me by the time I was done getting my mound of skeins.)

I made a bookmark recently which has become MIA - not sure if the hubby took it (I did make it for him) or my eldest snagged it for her book. It felt good to finish that one little project so I was hesitant to start anything bigger because I don't have a lot of time to stitch. With four children, two of whom go to therapy several times a week it's hard to squeeze stitching into my schedule. I've decided that my stitching time will be when the two youngest are napping (if I get lucky enough and they nap at the same time) or when everyone settles for the evening.

My newest project is from a kit as I can't find any booklet or book for Thomas Kinkade. I love all of his work so I purchased a kit through e-bay a while back and recently started working on it. I will take a picture of it sometime today and post the picture of the end result and what I have done so far. If I can find anything else stashed that may be done/almost done I will post some pics of those too.

Happy stitching!

Under Construction

Please be patient while I get this blog up and running. Thanks and visit again!!