Frogs on 32 ct over one...

I'm finding that frogging on 32 ct lugana stitching over one is NO FUN!

Now don't get me wrong, frogging is NEVER fun but is definitely an increased dread when you are stitching over one.

I took this first picture on Thursday, August 20th figuring it would show what GREAT progress I had over the weekend while being away overnight for work on Saturday night.



Well, so much for those plans. I've been working on the lower left edge and it would be so nice if I could actually count. In fact I lost count of the number of times I had to rip out the section that has the full larger diamond on the lower left side there (the one that is a border to the inner design and along with it the smaller motifs around and below it.




Well, I finally approached the area from a different direction (from above by the area already stitched rather than along the bottom edge) and it seems to have worked. What you see in the above photo is what I've accomplished up until 8:30pm on Monday, August 24.

I have 6 days and 11 1/2 hours until my first class starts (not that I'm counting!!). If I continue stitching in the pattern I have in the last four days (stitch, frog, stitch, frog, stitch, etc) I'll never get this completed before I start classes.

On another note, my daughter starts back to school on Wednesday. She's not looking forward to it but mom is so maybe I'll have a little more time for something else (yeah, right, I know I'm dreaming!!)

Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope you enjoy following it as much as I have been updating it.

9 Days and counting...

Until my daughter goes back to school, 13 days for me and 14 days for my son and I can't wait...They are both going stir crazy and driving each other (and ME!!) nuts!!

Well I've gotten stitching done since last update...again I had taken pictures a few days after the last update but didn't get around to posting, so the first photo is just that (taken on 8/14) and the second photo was taken yesterday(8/16.)



I have now almost completely finished three pages. I have moved to page 4 which is back on the left lower edge of the piece. I really want to finish this before my classes start on 8/31 but not sure if that will happen seeing as I'm working the next two weekends, although the weekend of 8/29-8/30 I'll be in Lakeville, MA for a race Saturday morning and then have the majority of the day to myself with NO ONE ELSE around so I may get quite a bit done then. Of course there is the whole getting kids ready to go back to school which cuts into a lot of time too...only time will tell.

I'm also trying to decide if I'm going to enter my BoInk and/or Blackstone Fantasy Garden into one of the local "country" fairs this year. I really got burned by one last year that changed its rules in one spot in there "Premium Book" and not in another so I wasn't able to enter all the pieces I brought to display and I was very upset with their attitude and lack of response to the letter I sent regarding the situation at the close of the fair. I'll let everyone know if I do decide to enter and which piece or pieces I choose to enter.

Home again, Home again

I'm home from the shore and finally the HOT weather of summer is hitting after we were at the beach. Yesterday (August 10th- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!) was the first day since April that the temperature went over 90º and today is supposed to be a little cooler but not by much (maybe 88º instead of over 90º).

We had a lovely time at the shore. We had quite a few days of sun (and a few of clouds) and the kids had a ball playing in the "surf" (for as much surf as you get in Long Island Sound/Narragansett Bay).

As you can see from these pictures, fun was had by all...

The first picture is my son on his boogie board. (He really improved his swimming during lessons just before vacation and was swimming in the waves like a fish- we couldn't stop him!!). The next picture is my daughter (on the left) and her friend that spent the week with us, showing off their sand castle creations.

The third picture is of all three kids "eating" their lobsters...well, my son polished his off, my daughter ate the large claws and some of her tail and her friend had the small legs and nothing else...we had yummy seafood pasta the next night with all the leftover lobster from the girls. The final picture is of my kids and my husband hanging out in their "pool" they built at the edge of the water. No there aren't any pictures of me (which is fine!!) because I'm the photographer by design!!

As you can see below this, I also had fun on this vacation. I got lots of stitching time, whether it was sitting on the beach under the umbrella or at the house sitting on the couch under the window utilizing all the natural sunshine I could.




This first picture I took this on Tuesday (we'd been at the beach house for three days at this point). I would have updated the blog then but we had LIMITED connectivity that wasn't stable (was there one minute and gone the next!!)

This picture was taken yesterday (8/10) in the morning, so it shows the work from 8/4-8/10 in the early am. The small "square" that has the floss coming out of it is the upper most and furthest right, so the top edge is complete. I have completed 99% of page 2 and about 50% of page 3.

Almost a month ago now I mentioned in my post I was applying to go to some classes at the local Community College for some pre-requisite classes before starting a nursing program. I was accepted and I've signed up for my two classes (anatomy and physiology 1 and an intro to computers). Yesterday I purchased my textbooks online (if you know a student going to college- have them find out what books they need and look online, I saved $170 on my books over what I would have spent in the school bookstore!!). So now I'm challenging myself to finish CdC before classes start on 8/31. We'll see if that happens with all I have to do between now and then with getting the kids ready to go back to school too...

Update before the Beach

Tomorrow we head off to the beach in Rhode Island for a week so I figured I should do an update now before we left because my connectivity there is always in question...

I'm amazed at the progress I've made this week since Monday. I didn't think I'd spent that much time on it this week but I'm blown away when I compare the pictures...

As you can see in the above photo compared to the below photo, I had to do some frogging but I survived that and continued on...

I am almost complete with the second page (I've completed the top half of page two and now working on the bottom of it). This leaves me with one full page and then three 3/4 pages to complete this piece. I may be too positive on how much I'll get done at the beach house but I just cut my fabric to take with me to do the companion to this piece (Cirque de Circles). We'll see how I do on this and possibly start that...

See you in a week or so (I'll try to post from the beach house but I'm not promising I will)... JS

So Much for Sunday Updates...

Didn't even make it through the first consistent Sunday Update...well as the saying goes (I think- well this is how I say it) "so much for the best made plans of mice and men"! but I have a good excuse!!

This past weekend the kids and I accompanied my husband to the Catskill Mountains of New York. He was running in the 33rd running of the Escarpment Trail Run. What is that you ask? It is a trail race along the Escarpment Trail. It is 30K (18.7 miles) long from North Wyndham to North Lake in Tannersville. This is the third time he's run it and he loves it no matter the weather or trail conditions. Last year when he ran it there was a MAJOR thunderstorm that followed the runners along the 5 mountain peaks and made for some very nervous spouses and significant others waiting at the other end of the trail. This year he completed the course in just over 5 1/2 hours...the trail was complete mud this year with all the rain we've been having in this area of the country. Many runners were complaining of their slow speeds this year because of the wet, slippery rocks and mud this year.


My husband is in the blue hat and how do you like the mud pack on his legs and believe it or not those were NEW SHOES before the race? How about the gal next to him?? They all seemed to have a great time running the race but they were all DEFINITELY muddy by the time they finished.

You would think with him out on the trail for 5+ hours I'd have lots of progress to show on Cirque de Carreaux (CdCa)...but it didn't happen. The kids and I volunteered at the finish area helping to cut up watermelon, mix Gatorade, mix pasta salad, etc and the time just flew by before I could even get the stitching bag out.

I did make some progress in the last week on it though. I was going to post last Wednesday or Thursday. Got the picture taken and uploaded to the computer but never got the post made so the first picture here is the one from last week...

...and then the second is for this update.


I have "completed" the first page (except for a couple of stitches here and there which are part of another "major" square located on an adjacent page.)

I am going to try to update again later this week and there won't be another update on Sunday seeing as we leave for the Rhode Island shore for vacation on Saturday.

Thank you all for following my progress. Knowing others are enjoying seeing my progress as much as I enjoy making it is very fulfilling...JS

Sunday Update

So I thought I should start trying to do a daily update or at least weekly on Sundays. I can't believe the progress I'm making on this design already...

This first photo is the work I did after correcting my mistake in the "arrow head" on the left side. This photo was already posted on Friday but I figured to show it again to show you the time line of how it is going.


This next photo is my progress as of Saturday... and I didn't spend much time on it Saturday because my husband was out with our son and one of his buddies and his son, so my daughter and I had other projects going with no guys around...

And here is my project tonight (Sunday) as of about 8pm...

I have a little more than half of the first page completed...I love the colors I have chosen for this one and am already looking forward to doing Cirque de Circles and thinking possibly of getting Cirque de Triangles too...

Frogs and storms...

It was to be expected with all the wet weather we've been having here in the Northeast this "summer" (if you want to call it that- hasn't felt like it, that's for sure!!). The frogs hit my Cirque de Carreaux last night. I was just about complete with the first of the "larger" squares and I realized the stitching inside wasn't balanced...I counted, recounted and counted again and realized I miscounted at the top (where I started the inside design) and everything was dropped by one stitch...so a frogging I went...

The nice thing is that Tracy at Ink Circles took a look at my blog (I messaged her at Facebook about finishing BFG) and she noted back to me that it looked like the count was off on Carreaux (THANK YOU AGAIN Tracy!!).


As you can see, I finished frogging and I've now restitched the frog area as well as got more done too...major thunderstorms will help with that...couldn't sleep last night with the storm that was literally in our backyard (I think one lightening strike hit a tree in the gulley next to our house)...

I feel fairly positive I'll get an even bigger piece of it done today with son's swimming lessons and then the after lessons swimming with both of the kids...

Cirque de Carreaux

I decided today after doing my community college application that I deserved to "treat" myself. So instead of pulling a project out of the back of the MIA WIP pile I'd work on Cirque de Carreaux from Ink Circles.

Back in May I played with it a little bit when I was getting ready to go on my crazy adventure to Indiana (remember "to Indiana and back in 3 days or less"???)... At that time I had decided to try and do this project over one (my first try at working over 1 and only my third project on some other evenweave other than aida).

This is a picture of what I had "accomplished" on it at that time.

I still haven't dealt with the edges of the fabric but here is what I accomplished on it today while my son had swimming lessons, waited for the nurse practioner to give me my MMR vaccine and then waiting for my daughter at the library while she was involved with a program there.

Not bad progress if I do say so myself!! The blue in this lower right corner is truer to the actual color of the fabric.

Here is what it will look like when complete.

I'm doing mine on 32ct wedgewood blue lugana with 4240 DMC variations floss...

A finish and a NEW start...

I just finished Blackstone Fantasy Garden at 6:00am (eastern time) this morning... I just figured out it took me a total of 6 months and 20 days...it didn't actually take that much time but I started it on December 26, 2008 and finished it on July 16, 2009. I've had many days of no progress on it between working on other projects or dealing with real life.



I'm posting pictures of it I took a few days ago with 6 or 7 areas to be complete and then the final pictures. Not sure when I'll get it framed but as soon as I do, I'll post a picture of it here on my blog...

Now on to the NEW start in my life... this morning I took the plunge and applied to the local community college so I can start taking classes this fall to start working towards getting my nursing certificate... this may not seem like a big deal to some but it has been well over 20 years since I've been to school and two kids later it is a VERY scary proposition for me but with the love and support of my family I'm sure I'll get through it...

I now have to get on the phone and find out from the college what they mean by "proof of immunizations" so I can try and figure out what I need and get what I don't have.

As usual thank you for reading my blog. I'm sure future updates will be both stitching and groaning about classes.

Getting There...

This title is so appropriate for so many things around here lately...

My father in law is getting there in his recovery. He was given a clean bill of health by his general practioner earlier this week. He is going to PT a couple of times per week to regain muscle strength and balance.

Our road is under reconstruction...makes "getting there" a challenge some days (which way do I turn out of the driveway to get off the road???).

And Blackstone Fantasy Garden (BFG) is getting there...got two more sections of the blackwork completed and only have 8 small and one larger (the final corner which I've started) to complete...




I'm thinking I may actually finish this by the end of next week (and depending on when I get to Vermont this weekend for work and how many registrations I have to enter for work before my co-workers get there, maybe this weekend but I doubt that one!!)...

I love this pattern and can't wait to have it finished, frame it (myself because I have too much Scottish in my background to pay some one else to do it!! LOL I don't mean to offend any of my Scottish friends with this one!! ) and get it hanging on my wall...

Have a great weekend all and hopefully my next post will be with a finish (or maybe two if I get the alpha blocks done too!!)

Missing Stitching Mojo and Dad in law...

WARNING...this is a LONG post!!!

Boy I've been MIA for quite awhile...Thank you to Sadie for her email checking up on me...you don't know how much that meant to me to hear from a stitching friend across the pond that hadn't seen hide nor hair from me here or on the stitching groups in a bit...

In my last post about the auction I mentioned about a family member being ill...well, let me tell you that was an UNDERSTATEMENT...

The Monday before that last post (Memorial Day here in the states) my father in law was admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital to their neurological intensive care unit. He was on that unit for over 3 1/2 weeks and here we are at the brink of six weeks when he was admitted and we still don't have a definitive diagnosis. It all played out like a BAD episode of the tv show "House". One day we'd have one diagnosis, then the next it was ruled out because some of his symptoms didn't line up with the day before's diagnosis. At one point we thought we were going to lose him and another we were given a 50-50 chance that he'd survive. The good news is he began improving as fast as he had gone downhill. On June 19th he was transferred to a Rehabilitaion center (through this whole ordeal he's lost over 40 pounds as well as muscle strength and coordination) and even better news is he was discharged from there to his home on July 3rd! He still has to do some outpatient rehabilitation to continue regaining his strength but he is now home in comfortable surroundings. It has been a roller coaster of a month for sure!!

Well, while all this was going on with him health wise it had put quite a damper on my stitching mojo. Between worrying about him, worrying about my husband and his dealing with his dad (and mom's state of mind- she doesn't deal well with doctors, hospitals, etc) and keeping my kids calm as well as dealing with keeping my house going and making theirs look lived in, I just couldn't get my self in the swing of things to stitch. Even sitting in the hospital with my mother in law, I figured I'd get a lot of stiching done but truthfully only a minimum of stitches went into anything during that time.

Well, in the last week I seem to have made up for some lost time...

I got bored with the alphabet blocks I was working on, so I switched back to Blackstone Fantasy Garden.




At this point I estimate I have only about a quarter of the backstitching/blackwork to go and I'll be finished with it! I'm challenging myself to get it finished before we go on vacation to the shore at the beginning of August. That gives me a little over 3 weeks to finish what I've got left, do you think I can do it?? I do...

And once I do finish it then the big decision...do I start in true ernst Cirque de carreaux (which I'm going to try doing over one- and I've cut the material to that size already) or do I go back to working on the Patchwork Sampler by Catia Crafts (catiacrafts.com) that I started last summer and but to the side to finish Boink and do Blackstone??? Such decisions to be made...and of course I have those alphabet blocks to finish too (they are almost done with the stitching and then it is a matter of assembly)...

Until the next time (and I plan on it not being such a long time between posts!!)...

Auction Results...

The auction was last night...I'm pleased to report that the "Rosebud Wreath" earned the school $40.00 and the "Footprints" piece brought in $25.00. I was kind of upset because they were put into the "silent auction" portion of the evening and feel if they had been in the "live auction" portion they may have brought in more money. I say this because one of the nuns of the school did a charcoal drawing and another did a crocheted afghan and the auctioneer was GREAT and put the guilt trip on people when they wouldn't start bidding on an item, especially these two items seeing as the nuns were both in attendance and the items both went for well over $100 each (in fact the afghan went for $175. The auctioneer tried opening the bidding on it at $100 and no one was biting so he went as low as $30 before someone put a bid on it and then it took off with people fighting over it.)

No pictures to show of updates seeing as it has been a very stressful week here with dealing with a family member's illness and keeping the rest of the family updated on his condition and trying to keep my kids calm about it. Hopefully life will be back to somewhat normal soon but only time will let us know that for sure.

Until next update...thanks for looking...

Two finishes Framed!!

Footprints and Rosebud Wreath are COMPLETE with frames and will be delivered to my son's school this afternoon for next week's auction.

I'm so happy with how both of these came out...I hope they will bring in a good chunk of cash for the school...I'll let you know after next Saturday (5/30) on how well they did...

To everyone in the United States...have a wonderful holiday weekend and please remember to thank a vet for their service and remember those whom we've lost in their service to our country...from a daughter of a vet and sister/sister in law of active duty air guardsman/woman...

My trip and stitching

Arrived home last Thursday night (5/14) from my whirlwind trip to Indiana around 8:30pm (eastern time).

Let me start at the beginning...about three weeks now my boss emailed about 5 of us (crew of 20 or so) asking if we were interested in going on a road trip for some training on a new system he has just purchased. Well with some creative figuring and lots of support of my husband and other family members I was able to go along on this excursion. So on Tuesday at 6:15 in the morning I met the crew in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and we started our trek to Indiana.

I took plenty of stitching projects with me to work on but didn't get much accomplished.

I did finish the cross stitching of the rosebud wreath and started on the backstitching on it but didn't get too far on that before hitting bumpy roads in western New York state.

Later on I tried stitching on it and Blackstone Fantasy Garden but the roads in Ohio were no better than New York.

I did finally finish the piece next to the "heart" in the center of the picture one morning before we left either to get back on the road coming home or before we went to class, don't remember which.

Here is what the full piece looks like so far... looks like I'm about 1/2 way through the blackwork.


I also started another alpha block. I'm trying to get two more of them done before June 10th for my son's teachers. He loved the first one I did and asked for me to do some for his teachers in their favorite colors. Again though it was a challenge trying to work on this on the road. I'm doing them on 22ct white aida and I'm planning on making them into keychains for the teachers.

I've also gotten a couple of pieces done... awhile ago I finished "Footprints". This morning I put in the final french knot on rosebud wreath. I took these pictures just before washing them. They are now drying. I'll then press them and frame them and hope to have them to my son's school tomorrow for the auction they are having next week.



I plan on taking pictures of them when they are framed and I'll let you know how much they sell for next week. The auction committee has gotten one of the "big" local radio talk show hosts to be the auctioneer.

Two Finishes

One stitching finish and the floor is finished...

The kids arrived home on Tuesday evening from Disney World. They had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and all (including G&G) were exhausted.

The Floor project was complete on Tuesday morning and major part of the furniture was moved back in then.


I'm quite happy with the results I got...some spots need some further work but with two active kids and a dog and a cat, I'm sure I'll be "redoing" this floor again before the end of their stay (the kids) in this house...

My other finish is the Alphabet Quaker block from the Stitch Creations blog...



I'm also quite happy with how this came out and have my son finding out his teacher's favorite color and probably going to make one of these into a keychain for her for the end of school.

Off to finish reloading all of the stuff into the dining room, the hutch is still empty, etc...have a wonderful weekend everyone.

I hope to have an update on rosebud wreath and Blackstone Fantasy garden early next week.

No Stitching this week...

Instead of stitching, I decided since the kids were away in Florida with Grandma & Grandpa for the week I should do a project that would be easier to do minus two kids running in and out.

I decided that project should be refinishing our dining room floor. The people who had owned the house before us had slapped down a quick coat of polyurethane to make it look good for selling the house but since it has been peeling and was awful.

The kids left on Tuesday, had a play day with my friend Dee where we went to a restaurant in Rhode Island that we've been trying to get to together for over a year. On Wednesday I started with the massive project I've dubbed THE FLOOR... Wednesday was spent emptying the hutch and packing up the stuff in the room. Whoever knew how much stuff we had in this small room (definitely time to purge after the floor is finished). On Thursday, Dee came over to help me move the table, hutch, etc out of the room. From there I hung plastic sheeting over the doorways (hoping to keep down some of the dust) and headed to the local hardware store that rents different tools. I got myself a floor sander for four hours and sanded as close to the walls as possible within that time.

Now on Friday I'm on my hands and knees with a palm sander and a belt sander getting even closer to the walls.

Now this picture may scare some, so be forewarned...Haha...

This is what I'm looking like after about 4 1/2 hours of sanding and I'm still not done with all the edges...hoping to finish today and put the first coat of polyurethane on tomorrow but we'll see what happens. No matter what happens have to have this project done by Tuesday morning seeing as the kids will be home Tuesday night and Dee has offered to come over on Tuesday to help move the furniture back in the room.

Blast from the past

Just a quick note for today...

I just received this picture from my friend Dee. I did this piece for her many years ago. I've still got the chart for it and I'm very tempted to do it for myself some year!!

The kids got off to Florida with the grandparents after a delay because of fog. My floor project was delayed because I took a Play Day with above mentioned friend Dee and we had a GREAT time playing hookey!! Dee, we need to do that again, maybe you'll get the $696 one next time!!

Stitching Update, partial finish and the airport

I was getting "bored" working on the Rosebud wreath the other day (well not bored but intrigued by another design) so I started a new thing...

It is the latest SAL at Stitch Creations blog...it is a cutie and I thought "what the heck it looks like a quick stitch"...and boy is it...I've only got the first three parts (I'm assuming it will be 5 or 6 parts) and I've got the first three parts complete in two days.

This isn't the best picture (maybe I'll try to get a better one later in the day). I've used DMC 69 for the floss and I'm doing it on 18ct Aida by MCG Textiles that was in my stash. The color of the fabbie is an ecru.

Seeing as this seems to be such a quick stitch I was contemplating doing two more of them and making them into keychains for my ds' teachers for the end of the year.

Now I did get more work done on the rosebud wreath also. I've completed the right side (except for the backstitching) and now working from the bottom of the heart upwards on the left side...This is another kit that is definitely a quick stitch.

Later this morning I'm assuming I'm taking my kids and my inlaws to the airport. They are heading to Florida for Spring Break. Grandma and Grandpa are taking the kids as their Christmas gift and mom & dad were invited to come but were informed we had to pay our own way. We told them to have fun and we'd see them all when they get back.

No dh and I don't have any fabulous plans for while they are gone. In fact, originally I had been planning to clean out and paint ds' bedroom (it still has the pink flowers around the doors and windows that were there when we moved in 10 years ago!!) but now it looks like I may rent a floor sander and tackle the dining room/hallway floors that are in DESPERATE need of attention. Got thinking about it and realized it would be easier to do the floors when the kids weren't around and dh was at work and I only had the dog and cat to contend with during the day.

Off to make sure I've got everything packed for the kiddos and get dh ready for work. Then it's off to my parents' house to let their dogs out (they are away for spring break with my brother's family so I'm babysitting too!!).

Have a fabulous day. I'm going to try!!

More than green or brown

Just a quick update on Rosebud Wreath...I've actually got more colors now than just greens and browns!! I've added some pinks and white!!!

This is probably the only stitching I'll get done today. My son doesn't have school today and he heard on the weather report this morning that it is to be "breezy" today and he's dying to try out the Spiderman kite the Easter Bunny left for him. I told him, if he helped me with some things around here this morning we'd head off to a local field to try and fly his kite.

Also have to pick daughter up for an orthodontist appointment this afternoon so have to get things done quick so we can go fly kites...

Enjoy your day where ever you may be...as Tiger from Winnie the Pooh says "ta-ta for now!!"

Happy Easter, A finish and a Start...

Happy Easter to those that celebrate!! My family will be getting together with the others from the family later today for a late lunch/ early dinner. So far this morning, my kids have attacked their baskets left by the Bunny and found all the eggs they dyed last night which the "Bunny" hid before leaving their baskets.



Here the kids are dyeing their eggs last night.

This "quiet" morning has meant some stitching time for me this morning and with this being a holiday weekend meant we weren't running around all day with the kids so I was able to get in a fairly good chunk of time stitching yesterday also.



All this time meant I was able to finish "Footprints" and start another quick (at least I hope quick) project to also donate to my son's school's auction at the end of May.



It is a kit by Donna Dewberry called Rosebud Wreath. I made this design for my dh's grandmother a few years ago and it is the kit that I was searching for to originally do for the auction before I found "Footprints".



I started this last night and have worked on it for a short period this morning. This is the progress I've made so far on this project. It does seem to be working up quickly so far but I'm getting tired of greens and browns already...can't wait to get to some of the pinks and purples.

Seeing as I've been working on these two "quick" kits I haven't done a single stitch in Blackstone Fantasy Garden, although it is still traveling in my canvas bag, just in case I get bored working on these quickies and need something different to do for a stitch or two. I'm hoping to maybe have the wreath done this week or early next week and then get back to BFG. I have read on some other blogs that people feel they move quicker on their BAPs after working on a "little" project that was quickly finished. We'll see if that happens with my stitching.

Till next time...thanks for looking at my progress on my projects and following my crazy family...