Stylish Blogger Award & Charity Square Used

Lorraine (AKA K1nS) from Cross Stitch Forum presented me with the Stylish Blogger Award! Thank you very much Lorraine, I appreciate it! :)

The rules for this award are:
1: Thank the person who gave it to you
2: List 7 things about yourself
3: Pass it along to 15 other bloggers

7 things about myself, hmm, that's going to be a tough one but I will try.

1. I am a giver whenever I can be and will push myself to do more than I should
2. I like to write
3. I like to read
4. I don't watch much television
5. I home school my son
6. I love my yellow Mustang
7. I love collecting cross stitch stash

You'd think listing 7 things about myself would be easy, but for some reason I'm never good at stuff like that and end up having to seriously think to find stuff to write. LOL

Pass it on to 15 other bloggers. This isn't going to be easy because I read many many stitching blogs as well as chronic pain blogs and many of them are favorites! I don't comment as much as I want to but I do read all the blogs that are listed on the right side of this page (you have to hit the more link to see them all). I will try to pick 15 though and they may not all be stitching blogs.

1. The Spinster Stitcher
2. Craftgirl78
3. Living With Bob
4. Boo's Mummy
5. X Marks My Spot
6. Two Handed Stitcher
7. Tickled Pink In Stitches
8. Tales of A Stitching Mouse
9. Tales From A Stitching Witch
10. Purple Peacock
11. Of Needles Pins and Stitching Things
12. Dani, Black Belt Stitching Wizard
13. Glitter, Vinyl, and Thread
14. Hockey Mom Stitching Hobby
15. It's Daffycat!

Yay I came up with all 15! I enjoy every blog I read, so I just randomly picked 15 and gave them in no particular order.

A while back I did a square for WOCS (a charity stitching group) and until today I did not know what it had been used on. Through another blog I was able to see a photo album of some of this groups' finished items and this is one of them. This is the Precious Moments square I stitched back in 2008 or 2009 I think it was. It has been finished into a tote bag. I hope the recipient liked it!

Update and Request

Here is where I am at on Quaker Welcome. I am enjoying this piece. I love contrast between the dark blue floss and the light sparkley fabric.

Quaker Welcome by The Stitcherhood

Here is a nice closeup of the stitching. I am proud of this pIece even though it is taking me a lot longer than I thought it would.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
With the economy being the way it is I know that giving a monetary donation may be very hard to do, so I had another idea for fundraising for Kyle's best friend Matt. In my area we have a weekly flea market where people can rent a table and sell items. A while back I stitched a card of a flower in the blue Delft type colors. I sent it to the UK to be sold to raise money for cancer research. My friends Sammy and Serinde asked me if doing something like that would be a good idea for raising money for Matt. It sounds good to me. So I have decided to do that. A few of my friends on the Cross Stitch Forum are going to stitch cards or bookmarks. Would anyone out in blog land be willing to stitch a card, baby bib, baby t-shirts, ornaments, pin cushions, bookmarks or any other small item that I could sell at the flea market? I am thinking of renting the table near the end of July or early August, so items would have to be mailed to me by the first week of July (20th of July if I go for early August).

Other crafts can be included as well such as jewelry, beaded items, small quilted items (table runners, place mats), paper crafted greeting cards, etc. I will take pictures of all items made and give these pictures as well as the crafter's name and contact information to Matt's parents so that they know who did what. If you would prefer to remain anonymous just tell me so and I won't give your name to Matt's parents. If you would like to do this please e-mail me. If you know someone who would like to do this please feel free to pass on the information and my email address to them. If you would like to join in or have any questions, please feel free to email me.

I would really appreciate any assistance people could give me. For more information on Matt, in case you haven't read it yet, please visit Matt's Hope. The page titled "What is Matt's Hope?" has the story.

I could really use the help!

Thank you!

More Help Please & giveaway

Cath at The Stitchin Chicken is holding an absolutely fabulous giveaway for reaching 100 followers. Congratulations on 100 followers Cath!



My last post was asking for prayers, thoughts, well wishes, reiki (whatever it is you are comfortable doing) for my son Kyle's best friend Matt.

Now I am asking that you please spread the word. Matt was severely burned. All the burns are either bad 2nd degree to 3rd degree burns with the worst being on his hands and face (3rd degree; entire right side of his face). His neck, chest, both arms and hands were also badly burned. He is looking at a year worth of doctor appointments, surgeries, procedures etc. to treat these burns.

I am doing fund raising in the hopes of helping the family through this time so they can focus on helping Matt rather than worrying about gas money, medical bills etc.

Please visit http://hopeformatt.blogspot.com for more information on how you can help Matt and his family!

Please post a link to his blog anywhere you want to so the word spreads!

If you want to send direct messages to Matt you can post a comment on the blog, email him at  mattshope11@gmail.com or contact me and I can provide a snail mail address for cards or letters.

Thank you all for your well wishes! I have passed them all on to Matt and his family. Matt says thank you as do his parents.

Prayers Please

Yesterday my son's best friend was badly burned in an accident in his backyard. I am asking for prayers, thoughts, whatever it is that you do for this 11 year old boy. He is currently in a burn unit in Augusta Georgia with 2nd degree burns over 40% of his body. His name is Matt. 

Sticky Board FAIL and stitch update

About 9 years ago my daughter started a cross stitch of a unicorn out of a teaching book. She got about half-way through it and gave up so I finished it. I used one of those sticky boards and put it in a frame and hung it in the hallway bathroom since the walls in there are blue. Then I pretty much forgot about it. On the 17th I had to use that bathroom (I usually use the one connected to my bedroom) and noticed the cross stitch on my way out. I realized it was very dirty so I took it down.

Those sticky boards say that the stitching is easily removable so it can be repositioned, even years later. They LIE. When I started gently pulling on the fabric, I realized quickly that the sticky board was coming apart and half of it was stuck to the fabric. When you look at the edge of a sticky board you see a couple layers. The top layer is white (this has the glue on it) and sometimes the bottom layer is also white but without glue, the middle layer is brown like cardboard. The top layer and half the middle were peeling away from the bottom layer and was completely stuck to the back of the fabric.

Luckily this piece was done on Aida with DMC floss, so I didn't have to worry about fading, bleeding or anything and could scrub the fabric itself a bit harder than I would dare do on an evenweave or linen.

I spent 45 minutes or so peeling off as much as I could and took pictures of what was left after that: (I didn't think to take pictures when I started, was too focused on getting it off)

This is what the right side looked like after I peeled as much off as I could.

This is almost the whole piece. That bit of brown on the left side of the picture continues in a straight line for the entire length of the side.

This is a close up of the cardboard fused to the stitching.

Upon seeing this I panicked, remembering that I had placed my niece's birth sampler on a sticky board because a book I had read from a well known stitching author said sticky boards are okay.

She was WRONG.

I thought maybe this only happened because it was hung in the bathroom in an unsealed frame. To be sure I went and got the birth announcement and took it out of the frame. Sure enough the board did the same thing, only not the entire board. Just a small line down either side of the piece and luckily it came off fairly easily. My guess is that it wasn't worse because it hadn't been framed for as long. I was able to get it off fairly easily and the piece now lays flat in my completed drawer until I can afford to have it professionally framed. I would have been devastated if that piece had been ruined. It is a mirabilia done on hand-dyed fabric with beads and crystal treasures.

The unicorn has been soaking in water ever since. I managed to get almost all of it off, but there are a few spots of white that just will not come off and does show through when I hold the fabric up. These spots are mostly not on the areas that are stitched.

I will not use sticky boards again because they fuse to the fabric fairly quickly.

In better news, a stitching update!

Here is an update of where I was on Quaker Welcome as of Feb 9, 2011.