Update On My Stitching

After I finished the Quaker, my niece asked me to do a Hello Kitty cross stitch for her, so I did. I don't remember the date I started it. However, I finished it January 27, 2015. Here is a picture:

I have started a Joan Elliott, Fairy On A Dragon. This is as far as I have gotten (it came between the Quaker and Hello Kitty):

After I completed Hello Kitty I picked up my old WIP, Christmas Dreams from Joan Elliott. I completed it on the 26th of February 2015. It needs to be washed and pressed, then the beads will be added. Here is the pic for that one.

After finishing Santa I picked up the Anniversary/Wedding sampler that I started years ago for my hubby and I. This is the Sentiment Sampler by Betty Spencer from thee American magazine Cross Stitch Crazy (May 2002 issue). Here is where it stood when I started stitching on it earlier today. I joined a Sampler SAL on the Cross Stitch, It's Fun Facebook group. I got almost all of the lower right corner filled in, which is the outermost border.

Here is what that sampler will look like (well, real close to this as I did change the center and am adding beads as well) when it is done.

A friend from the Facebook group gave me a RAK. Her name is Heather and I am so very grateful! She sent me the pdf from Heaven and Earth Designs for Amy Brown's Mini Naughty Fairy. I don't know when I will get a chance to stitch it, but I do love it!

I've been participating in the Facebook group and we hold daily Google+ Hangouts. These hangouts are a LOT of fun and go a long way towards keeping my stitching bug alive and well. Watching everyone stitching makes me want to stitch more and more. I am quite glad I joined them. They are a great group of people.

It has been a while

I realize it has been a month since I posted. It has been a busy month, though I didn't get a lot of stitching done. I started a Little House Needleworks piece but didn't get very far on it. I had to start it over on a new piece of fabric because the white didn't show up.

My pain is in better control. I had radio frequency done on Dec 27th on the left SI joint, which is broken. It has helped a great deal but OHMAN that was horrible! The procedure itself hurt like absolute hell and when the lidocaine wore off I was in agony! I actually screamed from the pain when my husband had to help me sit up. On top of that I've been sick as a dog for the last 2 weeks. So it has been a rough month.

Christmas was good though. On Christmas Eve we went downtown. The city puts up light displays in a park downtown and we went to see them. They were beautiful! Bridgette had a blast looking at the pretty lights. I actually took a picture that doesn't look too bad. Here are a couple pictures of the lights and Christmas Day.

Ron and Bridgette decorating the tree

Brian, Bridgette and Stephanie under the light arch

Me and Ron under the light arch

Bridgette opening presents

Kyle opening presents

I cooked Christmas dinner. We had a ham. We also had company over and had a very good day.

I have so many things I want to write about that I can't figure out which one to write first, so I haven't been writing. Thanks to the lower pain level I have been doing more at home and thanks to being sick my brain feels like it is under water. But I figured I better post something before everyone thinks I disappeared or something. LOL

More Christmas Dreams

I have continued to stitch fairly regularly on Christmas Dreams by Joan Elliott. It is coming along nicely I think. I love the blues in it! At first I thought the darkest blue was too dark, but as I fill in the medium blue it is coming together nicely.

Here is what it looks like before I started stitching on Valentine's Day.

(click picture for full size view)

Here is a closeup of the stitching.

(click picture for full size view)

I am really enjoying stitching this piece. I love how the fabric adds a wonderful sparkle to the overall design. This will make it perfect for the Christmas season. I plan on turning it into a wall quilt and giving it to my mother-in-law for Christmas. She makes beautiful quilts so I am sure she will like having this as a holiday wall quilt. I may have to wait until closer to Christmas to get some appropriate frabric that will match the colors in the design itself, but I'm hoping I can find some (possibly on clearance) online somewhere.

I stitched for a good 3 hours straight last night but I haven't taken any pictures of that progress yet. I will try to get them up tomorrow.

SBQ January 9, 2008

This week's SBQ is: What was your favorite finish of 2007?

Answer: I only had five finishes in 2007 and all but one were small items. Though I do know which one is my favorite: The Blackwork Cat ornament from JCS Ornament Issue by Kitty and Me Designs. I love blackwork and I love the way it turned out on the opalescent fabric by Silkweaver and it is also my first completed Christmas ornament and my first ever cross stitch exchange (X-mas ornie exchange for Cross Stitch Crazy).

New Finish For Charity and SBQ

I was hoping to get this one done before the end of 2007 but doing the sachet bag for Curtis got in the way so this wasn't finished until today and is now my first finish for 2008 and my first ever charity stitching peice. I thought it was a real cute design! I stitched it for the Yahoo Group called WOCS. They take stitching, crochet, and knitting projects and donate them to hospitals and such. I hope to continue to do more charity stitching in 2008. Here is a picture of the King Tut Cow. The pattern comes from a French web site, and there are a bunch more cows and mitten designs to stitch. Some of them are real cute! I just loved the King Tut cow so I chose that to be my first charity cross stitch and I completed it earlier today. It is done on 14ct Aida fabric with DMC floss. I changed the color of the yellow as the chart called for one that seemed far too light in my opinion, so I selected a darker yellow and used that instead. Hopefully I will get it out in the mail tomorrow.

I have been working on Stroke of Midnight by Teresa Wentzler, but I have not taken a pic of my progress. I hope to do so tomorrow and post it for everyone to see. I am really hoping to do a lot more stitching in 2008 than I did in 2007. I did not realize how much I missed stitching until I picked it back up again a couple months ago. I have truly been enjoying stitching again, not just cross stitch but also thread crochet. I am currently working on a doily that will be 16 inches accross when I finish and so far it looks better than I thought it ever would! I am quite proud of myself.

I spent most of today in the waiting room of the local surgery center. I was there to be moral support to my friend Curtis and his mother. He had surgery on his shoulder. It repeatedly dislocates and causes him a great deal of pain so the doctor attempted a second surgery in the hopes of preventing further dislocations and pain. The surgery went well and Curtis came through just fine despite a small complication with a low blood oxygen saturation level. He is uncofortable but glad it is over. I just hope that this surgery is successful and he no longer has chronic pain once he is all healed up. I live with chronic pain so I know how horrible it can be. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, forget someone I truly care about and call a friend. Being in pain day in and day out, all day long, is extremely disheartening and depressing. It is even worse when one has a doctor like Curtis's that refuses to treat pain under the mistaken idea that a preson can't possibly feel pain from things such as nerve damage, bone spurs, arthritis, torn ligaments, and bone fragments from a broken joint socket. It utterly flabergasts me that any doctor could believe such a thing and I truly hate seeing anyone I care about in pain. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all better for Curtis, no more pain, no more surgeries, no more injuries..make him all better. Sadly, this is not possible so all I can do is continue to provide him with emotional support and with any advice I can think of that might help his pain levels.

I feel good though about sitting in the surgery center for 4 and a half hours today. I had to leave when my pain level hit an 8 (0-10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain I ever felt). Curtis was out of surgery and in recovery. His doctor said he came through the surgery really well and was doing just fine. I was there to be support for both him and his mother. Before I left his mother hugged me and thanked me for being there. She said that my presence made it easier for her to deal with the waiting around for answers and news while her son was in surgery. I am very happy that I was helpful to her as well as to him. I did feel guilty though for having to leave before I saw him in the recovery room, but I did wait until I knew he was in recovery at least, so I knew he was fine. He was really worried that he wouldn't wake up from anesthesia, which is a normal anxiety whenever one faces surgery and I wanted to make it easier on him if I possibly could. I called him on the phone a little bit ago to see how he was doing and he says he is doing okay. I am glad that he is allright, I was worried about him.

Today's SBQ is: Are you starting something new to celebrate the New Year or participating in "Guilt Free January?" If so, what are you planning on starting? (The question is a link to the original site as usual) I have not started a new project yet but I do hope to start one. I want to start "And A Forest Grew" from Rosewood Manor. It is a project for my DH who is the environment coordinator for Tyndall Air Force Base which basically means he ensures that the shops he is assigned to are following the laws for environmental issues. I jokingly call him a professional tree hugger, so I thought this design would be perfect for him. I am not sure when I will start it but it is one I am planning to start. I also joined a stitch-a-long for an ornament a month on the Cross Stitch Crazy posting board. I really like the idea of decorating next year's Christmas tree with a bunch of hand stitched ornaments. It just seems to me like they would have more meaning than store bought. I'm not sure I will be able to do one a month, but I will do my best. I am unsure what "Guilt Free January" means so I can't really answer that.

Well that's all I can think of for tonight, so I will stop her. I will try to post updated pics of my Stroke Of Midnight WIP tomorrow.

Happy Holidays and Picture Catch Up

Here are the charts I got for Christmas. My DSD gave me the "Dawn, the fairy Spirit of Grace" chart from Passione Ricamo. My DH gave me Circe The Sorceress by Passione Ricamo as well as the fabric Bewitched by Polstitches Designs that is created specifically for that pattern. I am so so so happy!! I can't wait to kit them up and start stitching!

Here are the pictures of most of the crochet peices I have been doing as well. A rather large peice has no picture as it is not done yet, and a smaller peice is being used so it is not pictured either. There are 5 more angels that are not pictured, a silver one, gold one, white one and two red ones that I gave as presents.

Here is an ornament that I helped my friend Curtis make. He wanted to learn how to stitch so I helped him and he stitched this ornament for his mother for Christmas. I put it together and crocheted the hanger.

Last but not least, here is a picture of the ornament that I received in the Cross Stitch Crazy Ornament Exchange. It is stitched and finished by Jacque (momtogemma) and I LOVE IT! It has been hanging on my tree since I received it!! Thank you so very much Jacque!

Happy Holidays to everyone!!