New Start and a Beautiful Weekend

Good Morning Everyone!

What a Beautiful weekend we had! We grilled some meat and potatoes and sat out side and enjoyed the sunshine. Today is going to be another story. It is suppose to be around 60 degrees by noon but go down hill from there and by 7-8 this evening it should be around in the 30's and a blizzard warning is in the forecast. In our area they say we could get 1-4 inches of snow.

Ok back to our beautiful weekend. Here are a few pictures that I took, as you can see my focus is my granddaughter,( imagine that).

 

She loves her bunny ears!

Taking a walk down to the shop to see grandpa.

Aunt Kay and Sharlee



Aunt Heidi and Sharlee had just gotten back from a ride on the 4wheeler

 

These next pictures are of Sharlee helping grandpa sweep the shop.

notice her outfit - she dressed herself and we didn't argue.

 

Now for my stitching, I decided to start something new.

I thought if I stitched something spring it would help with the weather outside, but not so much.

 

Country Cottage Needleworks

Bee Joyful

 

I am using the called for fabric of 28 ct Lambswool Linen and the called for threads. I have had this project kitted up for some time. It is an easy stitch, so I should have it done this week. Here is what the finish will look like.

 

 

Well that is about it for this morning. I have a few things to get done then off to town to drop my income taxes of at the accountants - nothing like waiting to the last minute to get them in. I am hoping to get back home before the snow hit.

 

Enjoy your week!

Happy Stitching!

Denise

 



Just Another Update

Good Tuesday Morning Everyone!

 

I woke up Sunday morning and walk in my living room to find what looked like a pile of blankets.

but when I lifted the blanket up I found my grandson all balled up underneath

Not sure if he was cold or if he sleeps that way at home. We had a great time this weekend with the boys. Took them out to eat a couple of times and Gavin (the one in these pictures) was so excited because Grandpa taught him how to drive the skid steer around the farm. He will turn 10 in April.

 

This week I am back to part time work - but I am catching up on stuff here at home that I got behind on while I was working full time.

 

American Flag Quilt Sampler is coming along - here are some pictures.

All of the blue words are done with an eyelet stitch which is very time consuming. I think that is one of the reason I have enjoyed this piece is because there are different stitches in it.

I think I will work on this piece until the end of the month and then pull out We Three Kings and put some time in on it. So that gives me about 6 more day on this piece. I think I need a change, I have been working on American Flag since Dec 8.

 

Well my dishes are begging to get done and the rest of the day will be spent on my farm bookkeeping, can't get much more fun than that.

 

Have a great week!

Happy Stitching

Denise

 



Wow its been over a month!

Where does the time go?

I am still working full time and spending plenty of time with the family. The stitching has been a little bit of a hit and miss so I don't feel like I accomplished very much. Here are a few pictures of what I have done in the last month.

 

 These two pictures were taken on Feb. 22, I had intended to post them at that time but

that never happened.

 

March 12 through March 16 I spend with a group of creative women at Lake Shetek in Minnesota for our annual spring retreat. Years ago it was just stitchers that attended but now we have mixture of stitchers, knitters, quilters, and scrapbookers. It is so fun to see what everyone is working on.

 

I took this picture before I left for my weekend retreat.

This is a Jim Shore - Mill Hill -

Glad Tidings Santa Kit that I started on Thursday

finished cross stitching it on Friday

and finished beading it on Saturday

I finished backstitching Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana on Wednesday when I got to Lake Shetek and worked on the red part under the blocks on Sunday.

And a shot of what I have completed as of last night (Sunday evening).

 

I am not going to be able to get much stitching done for the next couple of weeks because I have to get my butt in gear and finish up my paper work for the tax man. That April 15th dead line is sneaking up on me. I always tell my self that next year I will be more on top of things and not wait until the last minute. HAHA never happens. May be next year. 

 

Well that is about all for tonight! Another full day tomorrow so I better get to bed.

 

Happy Stitching

Denise

 



Another Way Over Due Post!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

 

Oh my gosh I have been trying for the last couple of days to do a post and could not get blogger to work for me. All I could see was where I was suppose to put the blog title. Everything else was blank. I have been using Chrome so I switched back to Internet explorer and every thing seems to be working there. We shall see how things go.

 

I am still working full time at the Post Office but still can't wait to go back down to part time again. They are saying It will probably be the end of March before that happens. :(

 

I had an awesome weekend - Friday night was spent with all 3 kids and there families, Saturday evening was spent with some friends and a couple of grand kids, and Sunday I watched my son race his 4 wheeler on the frozen lake. Here are few pictures that I took over the weekend.

 

My son is the one with the orange jacket in the middle of the pack. He ended up loosing one of his tires so he was not able to finish this race. His first race he got 1st place.

My granddaughter - Sharlee  playing games on my Nook.

 

 And here is our Sonny Boy - He was waiting for his treat.

 

On the stitching front I am still working on American Flag Quilt Sampler. I didn't work on it for a few days but I am back at it again. Here is a before and after picture

 

As of my last post

 



This was as of Sunday night.

 

 

I am  getting in the mood to start something new or work on another one of my WIP pieces. So we will see how things go and what I feel like stitching.

 

I need to get back to work so until next time

Happy Stitching

Denise

 

 



Way Over Due Post!!!!!!

Good Sunday Morning Everyone!

I was talking to my daughter the other day and she informed me that I had not blogged in a while. So I figured this morning I would sit down and do a update.

I see I have a few new followers -Welcome and  I hope you enjoy following by blog!

First off I have to say that I have been filling in at another post office since right after Christmas so instead of working Wednesday afternoon for 4 hours and Saturdays for 2 hours I have been working a 40 hour work week. I know poor me, right! It is only temporary and I will be back to my part time hours in about 6 weeks.(I can't wait) This working all the time cuts into my computer time. (I won't let it cut into my stitching time) I am so far behind in my reading of your blogs its not funny!

Since my last update the only thing that I have worked on is my American Flag Quilt Sampler.

This was as of January 1 2014

And this is as of this morning - January 19, 2014

The 2 on the far left bottom need to be back stitched yet. I figured I would get the cross stitching done on that row then go back and do all the backstitching. 

Well not much else to report, so I will go back to stitching.

Hope everyone is enjoying there week end!

I get an extra day of stitching because the post office is closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.

Ya Me!

Happy Stitching 

Denise

Happy New Year

Another year has past by!

My husband & I stayed home and spent the time together, we were in bed by 11:00.

As the year ends it makes a person think about all the things that went on the last 365 days.

Some happy, some sad. 

One thing that has been on my mind is in March my 9 month old puppy got hit by a car, she had 2 broken legs. We got her all healed up but she still like to chase cars. I tried my best to keep her off the road. On Monday night she chased her last car. She got hit and died instantly. Rest in Peace my Sweet Girl! Our other dog Sonny misses her a lot and keeps looking for her. So I have been spoiling him more than normal.

OK on to more happy things!

First an update on American Flag Quilt Sampler.

I finished Connecticut  and only have to do the backstitching on Massachusetts

And all of the states that I have completed

I am really surprised that I have not grown tired of the piece but I just want to keep going on it.

This past week I have not had much time to stitch because I was asked to help out at another post office,(8 hour days- I have not done that in several years) so that means no stitching during the day. This is a temporary position and I should be back to very part time in about 6 - 8 weeks. So if you don't hear from for a while you know why.

I was looking through my monthly planner that I started at the beginning of  2013

This is January. I drew a line threw the date if I did not do any stitching.

And this is Decembers page

And this is a summary of my year in stitching
January - 3575 stitches
worked on 3 projects

February - 4183 stitches
worked on 3 projects
FINISHED 1 - Birds of a Feather

March - 2436 stitches
worked on 2 projects

April - 4802 stitches
worked on 4 projects
FINISHED 2 - Poinsettia House
and April Showers

May - 3528 stitches
worked on 2 projects

June - 5032 stitches
worked on 3 projects
FINISHED - 2  Home of a Needleworker
and Rose Wings

July - 3579 stitches
worked on 4 projects
FINISHED 3 - Busy Needle, USA and
Abigail's Birth Sampler

August - 5533 stitches
worked on 4 pieces
FINISHED 1 - Blooming with Inspiration

September - 7935 stitches
worked on 6 projects
FINISHED 4 - Welcome Fall, 2013 Santa, Happy fall
and Beneath the Sunlit Sky

October - 8503 stitches
worked on 5 projects
FINISHED 1 - Merry Christmas

November - 3867 stitches
worked on 4 projects
FINISHED 3 -  Angel, Witch, and
Hope for the Holidays

December - 6133 stitches
worked on 2 large projects

So to sum it up I did approximately 59105 stitches through the year- this does not include all the backstitching I did or any beads that I might have attached. And I completed 17 pieces this year.
No goal for 2014 - I plan to go with the flow and stitch what I want, when I want.

Well I am off to do some stitching and watch the Rose Tournament Parade.

Happy New Years
and
Happy Stitching
Denise

Christmas Eve is here!

Good Morning Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

It is so cold out there right now that I don't want to leave the house, but I do have some errands to run today and then its home to get ready for our family get together tomorrow. I can't wait, this is one of my favorite days of the year!
Thursday I finished my Christmas shopping, then I treated myself to a haircut and got my nails done. I also found out on Thursday that at the beginning of the year I will be working a 40 hour week for the post office for about 8 weeks. I haven't worked a 40 hour week in about 3-4 years. So this will be a change for me, but I can do this! If you don't hear from me for a while you know why.
Yesterday I got to spend the day with a sweet little girl - my nieces little girl. Her name is Amaya. I should have taken a couple of pictures to show you, but I took some on my phone and now can't figure out how to get it on my blog. Some day I will figure out all this technology.

I have been working on American Flag Quilt Sampler this past week. I thought that I would get bored with it and go back to We Three Kings but I am still enjoying it so here is my update of the past week.

Finished New Jersey on Wednesday  12/18/13

Finished Georgia in the 19th 

Finished the Star on the 23rd

What I have completed as of  yesterday morning.

I started Connecticut last night, and I should have it done this evening. Only 8 more states of the original 13 states added to the Union. Then page one of four will be done. They do stitch up pretty quickly.

Well its time to jump in the shower and then get busy with some cleaning and my errands that need to be ran.
Hope everyone has a Blessed Christmas!
I love spending time with my family!

Happy Holidays
and
Happy Stitching
Denise

American Flag update

Good Monday Morning!

This is just a quick update post for me.

I worked on American Flag since my last update.

Delaware  and Pennsylvania are complete and I have started on New Jersey.

Until next time 

Happy Holidays and Stitching

Denise

A New Start!!!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I finally got my Christmas decorating done and I have 2 more gifts to go out and pick up and I will be all set for December 25th. I guess I will have to take that back I have to plan our Christmas Brunch that we have before we open presents. Always something.

I had been working on We Three Kings and here is my progress as of  Dec 7,

 Slowly but surely I will get this done - I am hoping by next Christmas it will be in a frame and hanging in the house.

Last Sunday I could not resist a new start. I have had it for a short while in my stash. I watch the progress of  a fellow blogger  and I knew I was going to stitch this one.

It is called  American Flag Quilt Sampler

 I am using 30 ct fabric that I had in my stash and the called for DMC floss.

Yesterday I was planning on posting a picture of my new start but never got around to it.

Here is the picture I took yesterday morning,

And this is the picture I took this morning

Delaware is done - the first of many!

 I took this picture of my oldest daughter and her family earlier this fall.

Well thats about it for today. I hope everyone is staying warm in this very cold weather!

Happy Holidays 

And
Happy Stitching

Denise

Stitcher's Questions part 2

Good Morning Everyone!

Here are the final 10 questions.

11) Who is your favorite Designer?

      This is a hard question for me because there is so many of them.

12) Least favorite Designer?

      My least favorite is not so much a designer but design - I just have not gotten into the Primitives.

13) Will you or would you support a designer who's personal beliefs offended/angered you?

       Not sure what I would do. I believe it would depend on the situation.

14) Do you have a lamp especially made for needleworkers / crafters?

      Yes I do!

15) What brand of stitching light do you have?

      Ott lite

16) What kind of enviroment best suits you when you are stitching?

       Quite house, my recliner and a good movie.

17) Have you stitched any design more than once?

       No

18) Favorite design you stitched and finished?

      Birds of a Feather by Brenda Gervais- With thy Needle & Thread

19) Least favorite design you have stitched and finished

      don't have one

20) Last but not least - whats your longest running WIP?

       Heirloom Christmas Sampler by the Victoria Sampler.  Started sometime in 2006 I think.

Well that is the end of the questions. 

Happy Stitching 

Denise

Stitcher's Questions Part 1

This is part 1 of 20 Stitcher's Questions that Bonnie (Bonnie's World) found on Facebook.

1) Which fabric do you most prefer?
     Belfast linen
2) What is your favorite fabric count?
     32 ct
3) What color fabric do you most enjoy stitching on?
     I don't have a favorite color - I just use what I think will look good with what I am stitching.
4) What is your favorite fiber/floss?
     I have 2 - GAST and DMC
5) How many of the 450 DMC Colors do you own?
     All of them plus duplicates
6) Of your last 5 projects how many used DMC as the main floss?
     Three
7) Of the last 5 projects if you didn't use DMC -- what did you use?
     GAST and Crescent Colours
8) What needle do you prefer?
     Bohin 26
9) What is the Ugliest design you've encountered?
     I don't think I have encountered an ugly design, just ones that I don't care to do.
10) What is the most beautiful design that you have encountered?
      That one is easy - I am working on it right now, it is called We Three Kings. But when I think about it next week I will probably have a new favorite.

Well that is the first 10 questions, hope I didn't bore you! My next post will have the last 10 questions.

Off to get some housework done.

Happy Stitching 

Denise

December Already!!!!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Holiday! 

Our 3 children, SIL,DIL, & 3 grandchildren spent the day with us.

Lots of food, enjoyed watching the kids play, and of course looking through Black Friday ads.

I don't do the Black Friday shopping but I like to look at the ads and get ideas. Then I tell  my daughters what they can buy me for christmas. hehe

November has been a busy month for some reason - so not as much stitching for me. 

I did finish Hope for the Holidays

Hope for the Holidays
Primrose Needleworks - Elizabeth Gorski
28 ct Monaco Antq. White
Called for GAST & CC Floss
Started - 11-8-13
Finished 11-24-13

After I finished Hope I started on We Three Kings again.

This is as of Oct 30, 2013

And this is as of  Dec 1, 2013

This dark material is a b---ch to work on, I have not done so much frogging in all my life! and its not hard to get one stitch off and then you have to go back and fix it or everything is off.

Last but not least is a picture of my grandkids that I took by the river we live near.

Well thats about it for me today.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Stitching

Denise