Lots of progress this week - even with the scorching heat!

You know it’s a good thing I have my needle and thread to take out my frustrations with. I’d like to jab a few people with my needle instead of my linen but that’s not possible I guess. It's getting harder and harder to maintain any kind of decent attitude at my job….between pay cuts, crushing workloads, and a benefit cut announcement about every 3 weeks, my mood is definitely going downhill! With all the cuts my company has made to our benefits, more and more people are taking retirement this summer leaving the rest of us to wallow in our misery. And yes, I AM grateful to still be employed….but it’s just not helping me feel much better frankly.

Thank goodness I have my hobbies and my dear husband and doggies. Isn’t it funny when your dogs know you’re upset and will come and sit with you…..they don’t know what’s wrong but they seem to know when you just need a good hug or a gentle head resting on your knee to make you feel better. This week it would have been our former dog’s 16th birthday….he’s been gone 6 years but we still miss our sweet Elvis. We got him about 18 months after we were married and he was sort of our ‘child’. We told him every night that he was the best dog in the world and he WAS. He has his own memorial brick at Chase Field here in Phoenix – that’s the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. We always stop by to ‘visit’ his brick when we go to a baseball game. I guess I’m being a bit nostalgic this week…thinking of better times and being wistful. Thank you for bearing with me……….

I have been able to make some stitching progress this week. This is a closeup of the floral section on my English Sampler and the little strawberries done in a brick stitch.

I’m happy it’s done – it’s my favorite part of the sampler. There are various stitches used – tent stitch, satin stitch mosaic stitch, etc. In case you’re wondering, those green things at the top are supposed to be sweet peas. Not that I’ve ever seen a sweet pea actually growing in the ground (okay I’m not a gardener) but I assume they sort of look like this! I’m now working on the strawberry band below it – doing some queen stitches.

I know a lot of people don’t like doing queen stitches but I really do! They take extra time but I just love how they look. Unfortunately, the queen stitch strawberries are paired with the double-running backstitch. If you’ve ever done it, you know the double-running stitch is supposed to look exactly the same on the front and the back. So you've got to very careful to follow the chart and not screw it up. Luckily the designer (Sandy Orton) did include some numbered drawings and even with having to reverse them it sure helps. Of course, it’s not like anyone is going to see the back, right? So I’m not sure why this technique was invented but being the well-behaved stitcher I am, I try to do it the correct way. :-)

I did finish up my little French pincushion stuffed with the crushed walnut shells from the pet store. The smallest bag they had was still huge and probably will stuff 50 pincushions. Guess I won't have to buy any more for a LONG time! I ended up having to tea-dye the rickrack as I couldn't find any ecru-colored at the craft store. Is anyone else having trouble sewing on rickrack? I found it hard but at least it's done. I was trying to catch the back of the rickrack and then the pincushion and make my stitches not show. Very tedious!

Now if only I was on a little boat gently gliding down a canal in France with a glass of cabernet….some fresh bread and brie cheese…..ahhhhh. That’s a trip I’ve always wanted to do. Wouldn’t it just be lovely?

Captain’s Inn is inching its way along too. It was kind of b-o-r-i-n-g stitching all that outlining of the tavern sign but now at least I can stitch the little ship on it. There are so many LHN designs I want to stitch, I could keep one going all the time and never get through them all!

A summer finish and back to the UFO pile....

Well I finished up Ida Mae Crow last Friday. I really like this piece - makes me think of summertime in the midwest - blackbirds, crows, and sunflowers.
She's heading on over to the framing pile now which is getting pretty stacked up. I don't do my own framing...I guess I could but I haven't ventured into that yet. Maybe one of these days when I have more time...ha ha!

Souvenir de France is close to a finish as well , I just have the border to do. I just love stitching with Silk n' Colors! I've decided I'm going to have to stitch this a second time for my dear old college roommate - we went to Europe together many, many years ago. I can tell you it was the trip of a lifetime which I'll never forget - and we both loved France. We still exchange birthday gifts every year and usually try to find each other something to do with France. This will be just perfect for part of her gift this year. I wish I had used this color of red for my French Alphabet Sampler which is languishing in the UFO bin. I think I kind of quit on it because I'm not thrilled with my linen and silks -but I'm not starting over as I'm on page 4 now. I am using Gloriana Cranberry silk and it fuzzes and tends to tangle a bit - just not my favorite silk but it was what everybody seemed to be using at the time I started that piece so I'm going to have to see it through. I concentrated all last year on my WIPs & UFOs - then as of January this year I set them aside for a bit and worked on all new things. Oh it was so nice to work on all new projects! I've decided now to try to get back to one or two of my UFO's and see if I can get at least one of them done this year.

This is "English Sampler" (in 2 pictures) as of the last time it was worked on. I took a class for this in 2005, geez has it been that long already?? I only can remember the year because I had made some notes after the class in a Word document which had a date on it. I worked on the center floral section today and I am almost done with it - there was some satin stitching and work with gold filament that I had put off. I do really love band samplers and this is a beauty - it deserves to be up on a wall even if that lacis work scares me!

Ida Mae is on her way.......

Miss Ida Mae is coming along very well. I actually have more done than the photo shows – I took the photo a few days ago but then got busy this weekend and never updated my blog. I am about halfway done with the flowers on the right side and then only the fence at the bottom to complete. So a finish can’t be far off. I’ve also been working on Captain's Inn here and there – not too much progress but every bit helps.
I couldn’t resist starting on Blackbird Design’s latest freebie - A Souvenir from France. I have been a Francophile for most of my life so I can’t wait to finish this. I have other Eiffel Tower patterns in my stash but this little one should stitch up quickly. I am using a scrap of some 40-ct linen I had with Silk ‘n Colors Auburn Frost. I must make a run to PetsMart this week to get some of the crushed walnut shells for the filling. (I just wish it wasn’t called “reptile bedding”!!!)

Hope all my US readers enjoyed the holiday weekend. A 3-day weekend was much needed in my case as I have a severe case of work burnout lately. Too many emails, too many teleconferences, enough of spreadsheets, documents, and deadlines! It’s not like I want to wish my life away and wake up and be older but I sure am tired of working and retirement seems WAY too many emails off. I just want to stitch and sew and work is cutting into my time!

Now a little drum roll please……..I am so happy to finally present the finished quilt top that has been in progress for a year!

"Like Water For Chocolate"

My quilting buddies and I (12 of us) each designed a section of this quilt to coincide with a chapter in the book “Like Water for Chocolate”. This was a popular Mexican novella that came out several years ago (also made into a movie). It’s a story of romance, star-crossed lovers, heartache, women & babies, and the book is sprinkled with recipes. It's not the greatest of pictures but you should be able to pick out things like a Mexican ranch house, broken hearts, peppers, quail in rose petal sauce, chickens & eggs, fire, a sombrero, a wedding cake, a Mexican flag, and even a little spider. Many of the pieced blocks were chosen because the name of the quilt block went with the story - for example “Love Everlasting”, “Butter and Eggs”, or “Kings Crown”. Here's a couple closeups of some of my favorite blocks - lovers Pedro & Tita dancing, the Mexican ranch house next to "quails in rose petal sauce", and mint tea.

We are making a little fabric book to mount in the bare spot in the bottom right corner – it will contain everyone’s name and the chapter of the quilt they designed. Each of us made the quilt in our own choices of colors and fabrics, just using the same patterns or variations thereof. I started off falling in love with a beautiful floral Moda fabric I intended to use as a border (and which inspired my wild color choices) , but in the end it was too busy for a border so I’ll use on the back instead. Now on to the machine-quilting which I’ll be doing myself. I hope I can do a decent job of it. Machine-quilting is not my favorite thing to do (nor do I excel at it) but I really can’t spend a couple hundred dollars right now getting this custom-quilted.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I really do appreciate you listening to my ramblings! :)

The winning envelope please.........

I drew 2 names tonite for my blogoversary giveaways. The winners are:

#1 - Lisa from Australia

#2 - Theresa in Kansas (didn't see a blog listed for you Theresa)

I have emailed both of you for your snail mail addresses so I can send off the prizes. They're all sitting here just waiting for a mailing envelope and address.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by to enter. I so appreciate everyone's comments and visits! I don't have any special stitching friends here where I live so you are all my friends to chat with and understand my stitching obsession. It's a joy reading all of your blogs and finding out what YOU are doing too.

I spent most of the last few days working on some quilting projects. Right now I have 120 nine-patch blocks to press - oh my! I'm not looking forward to that!

Be back soon.........

Summertime progress & blogoversary giveaway!

So how is everyone doing out there? Are you all stitching away? We've been having great weather - our June has been much cooler than usual which has been so-o-o-o nice. Usually we are frying in temperatures from 105 to 115F this time of year, and we've had some very pleasant days. It also helps keep that air conditioning bill down a bit and that's always good!

I've been making some good progress lately - my DH has been out of town for 3 weeks so I've had more time to myself than I usually do. Not to mention no cooking and less laundry to do. :) Ida Mae Crow's dress is taking shape you can see below. This is my first time stitching on Lakeside Linen's "Vintage Buttercream". I think it's one of their newer colors and I love it! It's a really nice shade, sort of what I would call "butterscotch-y".


I also made a new start over the weekend. This is "Captain's Inn" from Little House Needleworks. I've always wanted to do a grouping of nautical-related pieces. You might think I live by the ocean - NOT. I live in the desert southwest but often wish I did live by some water as I'm starting to really crave it. I've kept a list of charts I'd like to do for this theme and it's time I got busy. I'm stitching this on 32-ct Pewter Lugana (I think....'someone' never labeled it when she brought it home).

It's been awhile since I stitched on an evenweave and I forgot how nice it is - no issues with the coverage like I get with some of the linen & silk combinations. (Note to self: stock up on some more evenweaves.....) It has just the right bluish-gray tone for this piece. I'm not real fond of stitching lettering and I'm anxious to get to the 'fun' part which is the tavern sign. That being said, I still do have plans to stitch the Gettsyburg Address one of these days. Erica Michaels has a chart out for that but I like the one that Liz of Primrose Needleworks is designing on her blog (http://howtomakeanamericansampler.blogspot.com/) and hoping she'll offer the pattern for sale when she gets the model done.

Now on to more exciting things. I have a couple of giveaways in honor of my 3rd blogoversary! There are 2 sets of charts below - some of these are extras I had or they've already been stitched - might as well pass them on. I will also be including a mesh project bag with each set (which I'll be making this weekend so not pictured!). Two names will be drawn so sign up by leaving a comment if you want to be in the drawing for the giveaways. Signup deadline is Sunday June 28th - I'll draw the winning names on Monday the 29th.

Also, here is the information a few of you requested about the mesh bags. The pattern is called "Zip It!" by Nancy Ota. You can find it easily on the internet or perhaps at a quilt or craft store. The most economical way to make these is using black vinyl mesh that you can get at home improvement stores. I get mine at Lowe's but Home Depot probably has it also. It is sold as "pet screening" and you can get a roll for $8 or $9 usually - it's in the department where they sell replacement door or window screening. You can make at least 4 large bags out of one roll. Colored mesh is harder to find - most of mine I have bought at quilt stores or shows where they had vendors. I did find several places online where you can buy the colored mesh. Of these listed, I have only ordered from Erica's before and they gave me good service. As far as sewing skills, these are not difficult to make. The instructions are good and once you make one by following the directions you kind of pick it up pretty easily. You do need to own and know how to operate a zipper foot on your sewing machine. The inside seam is covered with single-fold or double-fold bias tape (either one works) - this is optional but I recommend you do it so there are no rough edges inside that could snag your project.

Links for buying colored vinyl mesh:

http://www.lylefabrics.com/Vinyl-Mesh-for-Bags-Vinyl-Mesh/c28_29/index.html

http://www.ericas.com/sewing/patterns/totes_screenplay.htm (also has the pattern)

http://www.elegantstitches.com/Purses.htm#Bag%20Accessories (scroll WAY down the page)

http://www.metroscreenworks.com/shop/petscreenaccessoriespetscreencolors-c-2_74.html?page=1&sort=20a

http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php?page=CatalogPage&pageid=5515

Yum.......cupcakes!

Here is my cupcake flatfold - almost good enough to eat! I'm not sure why I made it but I love it. Pink is my favorite color and I find it pretty cheery.

Lizzie Kate's "Cupcake"

Stitched on 25-ct Pearl (included in the kit) with DMC

I sewed and stiched so much this past weekend that my fingers are sore. I think I was under some evil spell as I have never stuck myself on so many pins & needles in my life. Part of the reason is I was sewing project bags using vinyl mesh and zippers etc and it's a little hard to pin through those things (A lot of bent pins went into the wastebasket as proof). I've been planning on making bags for myself for over a year but finally got to it. I finished 10 of them. Now, I love Ziploc bags - I've been using the 2-gallon size for most of my needlework projects, however unglamorous the bags look. They are a fantastic invention I couldn't live without. But it feels great to have moved my UFO's and WIP's to these cute mesh bags. We're all happier now. :=) It's hard to photograph them as the camera sees through the mesh but you get the idea - they are really nice - take my word for it. They show up much better if you click and view the larger picture.

I still have more vinyl mesh and I'll probably sew a few more next month, especially the smaller ones for little projects. Somehow I'm obsessive about being organized - maybe because the world is such a mess I have to have my own little world in order as best as I can. Now I just have to find a basket that is big enough to hold all the bags.

While watching the rerun of Lonesome Dove last night (love that movie), I started a new little project by The Goode Huswife. This is Ida Mae Crow -loved it since I first saw it come out. It is not a big project so should go along fairly quickly. I'm so happy that the Goode Huswife is creating patterns again! I picked this pattern up with a few other odds & ends at the LNS last week. I got my latest Loose Feathers although I don't know that I'll ever stitch it -it's not one of my favorites but being that I love most all of the other 35 they have published I'm not too concerned! I think it's the grayish colors that don't appeal to me. Likely I'll soon see someone else's version with different colors and then fall in love with it. I was behind the door when they passed out originality!

Peppermint Twist - moved to the finished column!

Yeah ! I finished this one up earlier this week. I was stitching along with the blog SAL that started in January. This was a fun stitch and I really enjoyed it. I tried putting some beads on but decided I didn't like them and took them off.

"Peppermint Twist" by Blue Ribbon Designs

Stitched on 35-ct WDW "Straw" linen with various silks

I started up a new little project last night - this is Lizzie Kate's "Cupcake" and I am making it to go with this cute cupcake fabric I got at Joann's a few weeks ago. I changed a couple of the threads to match my fabric better - I'm planning on making it into a flatfold. It's a really easy pattern but I haven't stitched on anything that is 25 ct in a long time so it feels odd. I hope to be done with this over the weekend. I got the inspiration from Deb's ( http://artisticneedle.blogspot.com/) photo album - once I saw it I had to stitch it! If you haven't viewed her photo albums of finishes (her own and from her finishing service) you are in for a treat! She does gorgeous work. I'm not sure where all this cupcake-craze came from but lately I'm seeing cupcake-related things everywhere. But hey, who doesn't like cupcakes??

Normally I shun fabric from Joann's but now and then they do have some cute fabrics for craft projects. I picked up a cute pirate-themed fabric. I recently saw the new pattern "A Pirate's Life" from Country Cottage and I might need to stitch it just for fun. http://www.countrycottageneedleworks.com/new.html

Hope to be back soon with my Cupcake finish!

At long last - a post!

Hello world…….I’ve been gone for a bit. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues that have me stressed and I just wasn’t up to blogging. I’ve been reading everyone else’s but just didn’t feel like stitching or trying to be cheerful. Meanwhile, thanks to all of the rest of you for keeping me entertained by reading your blogs and seeing what you’re up to.

DH and I visited my mom and siblings back in Illinois for Mother’s Day last month. It was the first time in quite awhile that all of us kids were together with Mom so that was really nice. Sadly there are no stitching shops in my hometown anymore. I did however visit several cute gift and antique shops with my sister and managed to find a few things I could spend some money on. I picked up 2 nice antique needlecards – they’re in really good shape. I’ve been collecing a few antique sewing accessories when I can find any that are reasonably priced. I hope to make a shadowbox one of these days for my sewing room.


For some reason, I never seem to find much in the metro area where I live so there must be other collectors out there snatching all the good stuff up first! I see so many cute things on some of the French stitchers’ blogs – they must have some fantastic shops and flea markets but we don’t have a lot of that where I live - it's just not fair! Seems like any flea markets here are mostly selling stolen goods and not cutesy antiques. I also found this really cute plate holder below - it's made to hold small 4” decorative plates but I was thinking of stitching some cute items to sit in the available spots - maybe some of the Prairie Schooler Easter eggs or something? For only $10 I couldn’t resist it.

Mom has been cleaning out a storage place she rented and she had some great finds to give me. Here is the only vintage quilt that is in my family. It was made by my grandmother Lyda Virginia and from the fabrics it looks like she made it around the 30’s or 40’s. It’s totally pieced and quilted by hand – the pattern is Grandmother’s Flower Garden – seems like just about everybody made that pattern back then. I didn’t know my father’s mother very well because she was in her mid-70’s when I was born and she died when I was around 8 or 9 I think. I’m the only quilter in my family so I’m happy to be the caretaker of this. Thank you Grandma wherever you are - I will treasure it.

Then Mom turned up with my old Barbie doll trunk! Is this a hoot or what? I’m so excited to have it. The case is from 1968 and still in good condition. I sorted through everything – throwing out some of it that wasn’t worth keeping, then hand-washing the clothes. It’s funny how you don’t think of something for decades until you see it again and then the memories come right back to you. There are outfits my other grandmother crocheted and some that an aunt knitted. There’s even a Buffy and Mrs Beasley doll – does anyone remember them from Family Affair?
Here’s a pic showing a favorite outfit – my mom made matching dresses from this striped fabric for Barbie and me. I plan to have Midge modeling it on a shelf in my sewing room along with another doll in her “After Five” classic 60’s outfit “a la Audrey Hepburn”. :-)

All of this reminds me of many happy hours playing with my 3 childhood girlfriends – we’d pool all our stuff regularly for long play sessions with our Barbie Dream Houses (made of CARDBOARD in those days!). Now and then I’ll walk through the toy dept at Target just to look at all the cool Barbie stuff they have now.

I did manage to get in some stitching this past week. Here’s my progress on Miss Beatrix Potter – I just barely made my progress goal for the month but hey it’s the best I could manage. I used a Watercolors varigated silk called ‘Chili’ as the focal thread then pulled in some coordinating NP silks.

I still don’t have my Peppermint Twist piece finished – it’s almost there so hopefully within the next 2 weeks. I’m trying to get my stitching mojo back but it comes and goes. That's all for now folks!

Peppermint Twist update - on the final stretch....

I'm starting my last section of Peppermint Twist now - hoorah! I'm debating as to whether push ahead and finish it this month or lay it aside and work on Beatrix Potter. This month has gone fast - I was gone for one weekend and we have out of town visitors the next 2 weekends so time is limited. I'll probably stick to my plan of finishing this in May. I still am very happy with it - I had to rechart my initials as it wouldn't fit with the font given in the pattern. When you have 2 M's in your initials, it takes up a lot of room. :)

Here's a little pic of a hibiscus blooming in my yard for those of you still waiting on spring. It won't be long now!

I saw a great video the other day - "Religulous" by Bill Maher. I'm not always a fan of Bill Maher's politics but I really enjoyed this movie. Bill talks to people all over the world about different religions, questioning beliefs, holy books, traditions, etc. Parts of it are really funny. If you are truly a religious person it might offend you so see it at your own risk. On the other hand, if you have questions in your mind or can view things with an objective eye, it makes for some interesting conversation!

Quilt Camp!

My world has been mostly quilt-related the past 3 weeks. Whew! I've been busy.
My quilting buddies and I held a craft-related yard sale a few weeks ago -lots of fabric we've collected over the years and no longer want, unfinished projects, patterns, books, etc. It was great cleaning out a lot of old things and making room for new - and the best part - we made $852!! Wahoo! We're saving this for some kind of road trip this year. We sent out flyers to some quilting groups and were really surprised at the turnout but there were great deals to be had.

Last week I spent several nights getting projects ready to go on a quilting retreat last weekend. I look forward to going all year it seems. I cut and cut and cut some more until my shoulder ached.

I had 3 quilts I wanted to work on so there was a lot of prep work because you don't want to spend your precious retreat time standing and cutting fabrics. So I worked a half day on Thursday and then drove up to our retreat that afternoon. My shoulders didn't start unwinding from work tension until I was about 90 minutes from home. I was getting calls from work the first half hour on the road about a crisis, then my boss calls me to inform me we are getting a 10% pay cut for 6 months. During the course of that call I reached a mountainous area in the drive and lost cell service luckily. It took a while to get work out of my brain and relax for the weekend but I really enjoyed the 4 hour drive - weather was gorgeous and lots of desert in bloom until you reach the higher elevations. I saw a few patches of snow there under the pine trees but it's just about gone. I had to call in to for a meeting on Friday morning - so here I was with my friends all sewing and me on a conference call about something at work. Sometimes I really curse the invention of cell phones and Blackberries! You can't ever really get away from work with the kind of job I have. Vacation time seems to mean "I won't be in the office but feel free to call me". Grrrrr....

So I get to the retreat lodge about 4:00 pm - drag all my kit and caboodle from the car trunk inside and promptly set up my sewing machine - no time to waste! Well within 5 minutes my mood took a decided downturn when I realized I had forgotten the cord for my sewing machine! ACK!!!!! I was just sick at heart. I was in a small town so no way I could just go out and buy one at a sewing machine dealership. So I quick made some calls - luckily 2 of my friends were just leaving home and I was able to set up a rendezvous for my husband to pass off the cord to them so they could bring it with them. Hubby had to drive about 35 minutes to meet them at a McDonald's near the highway but the exchange was made and that evening I had my precious cord so I could sew. Poor DH is used to my calamities and forgetfulness. His first thought when I asked him to drive over to meet up with my friends was "I haven't taken a shower yet today". Like showers were of any importance at a time like this! I told him to put a hat on and make tracks! I now plan to buy an extra cord and keep it in my sewing machine case at ALL times.

At any rate, I did have a fabulous time. I've added a couple pictures of the big lodge we sew in. You can see from the photo above we had a great view from the balcony - lots of windows and great light. There were 11 of us just having a ball sewing and talking, doing some Kareoke and enjoying great food cooked by our hostess. The owners have recently added another smaller building (little cabin below) on the premises to house their applique business and longarm quilting machine. We were all terribly envious! This is a great retirement business this couple has created - doing quilting retreats at $175 a person (and they're always booked), plus selling precision applique cutouts and machine quilting.



I finished the top of a quilt for my sewing room although it's cut off at the bottom in this picture. It's called "Jane Street" and was a fun and easy quilt to make but I haven't decided how to quilt it yet.

I also got a good start on making half-square triangles for my Moda Heritage quilt - it's going to be king-size and I need over 700 half-square trianges! That's a lot of sewing, cutting, and pressing. Good thing I'm in no hurry to get this quilt done. I also worked on some applique blocks for a winter-themed quilt. It feels good to do a little applique again although I'm a bit rusty at it. While I was gone I visited 2 quilt stores in small towns and managed to contribute a little to the local economies. :) I picked up a magazine called Quilts & More because I want to make this slice-of-cake pincushion that's in it. It's just the cutest thing - I'd share a pic but Blogger is sputtering trying to upload any more pictures, so here's a link to her blog:
http://taylormadedesigns.typepad.com/
I saw them in person as the designer (Cindy Taylor Oates) lives in Phoenix and I must make some! Won't it be fun to have one sitting on a little antique plate in my sewing room?

They had some great old metal irons at our quilting retreat - wow they get HOT, and they're great for patchwork. Amazing that they're likely 30 or 40 years old and they still work great. How many products can you say that about? I love my Rowenta iron but let's face it - everything is mostly plastic these days and there's nothing like the weight of an all-metal iron to give you a nice firm crease. I had an eye appt yesterday and fortuitously there is an antique mall right near the eye doctor heh heh. So I popped in to browse a bit and found an old General Electric iron for $15. I tested it out before I bought it and in just 15 seconds it was already getting mighty hot. I will see what I can find around the house this weekend to clean it up a little better but I think it'll be handy to have around. Maybe it'll help get those darn creases out of linen as well (hey I can always use it as a doorstop if it quits working!)

So my stitching has taken a back seat lately. I did pick up Peppermint Twist for about 20 minutes at lunch today. I'm hoping to finish this by the end of May. I'm not a one-at-a-time person so I always have lots of different projects going. I plan to also put in some time on Miss Beatrix this weekend. I have Good Friday off so other than washing my very dirty car I will pop in some good movies and settle in for some good stitching time. We are going out to a nice restaurant on Easter with my FIL so no fancy cooking for me this year - yeah!!

We're all Irish today!

Happy St Patrick's day everyone! A friend of mine at work was wearing the cutest button today - "Roses are red. Violets are bluish. A leprechaun told me St. Patrick was Jewish!" My friend is Jewish and celebrates the more secular side of many of the Christian holidays so it's perfect for her.

Here's a few updates on what I've been up to. I finished my first house on my Pride & Prejudice neighborhood sampler – the Bennett sisters have a home! This house took a while to do and I could not go to bed on Sunday night until I finished it at 11:45 pm. You all know how that goes! You can see my finished "Longbourn" and a couple of the photos of the house used in the mini-series which I modeled from. I still have 2 of the sisters to stitch and then I will take a picture of the whole piece so far to share. I am just about finished reading the book - it's an easy read and I can tell that the mini-series from 1995 pretty much went right along with the book. The one thing I've learned though is that Lizzie (the main character) is spelled "Lizzy" in the book . Who would've thunk it? I already stitched in "Lizzie" in over-1 so now I'll have to fix it of course.

I cannot believe the month is half over already – I am so obsessed with my stitching lately that the days are flying by as I try to get my March goals done. At the beginning of every month I am wildly optimistic of how much I will get done but generally disappointed in myself by months’ end. I did finish up this little patriotic pillow on Friday. I stitched it one evening and finished it off the next night. It's very small - done over-1 and it was fun to get something done quickly for a change. I tried the matching buttons that came with the pillow but I wasn't wild about them so I replaced them with these flat red ones. I'm not a fan of shank buttons - don't like the way they stick out and wiggle around.

DH and I worked very hard this weekend in our backyard. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we replaced 5 plants, and spent many hours sealing all the flagstone surfaces we have. It took over $150 in sealer – ouch – but it is something that you need to do every few years. The sun here is so intense it really fades things and the sealer brought out some of the color again. However, I now look like I have some kind of awful skin disease. The label said “cleans up with soap and water” – NOT! I cannot get the stuff off of my hands even though I have washed them at least 70 times, scrubbed, rubbed, tried turpentine, tried nail polish remover and finally have given up. What was that Lady Macbeth said? "Out damned spot!" Remember putting Elmer’s glue on your hands as a kid and peeling it off? Well it looks like that but it just won’t come off. I guess it’s going to have to wear off gradually but right now my hands look like I’m about 80. As soon as this stuff comes off I’m off to get a much-needed manicure that’s for sure.

I think I was one of the few people who never have seen Phantom of the Opera – at least the modern version. So I put the Andrew Lloyd Webber version on my Netflix list and watched it Sunday night while stitching on the Bennett's house. Quite a disappointment I must say and apologies if it’s anyone’s favorite! I knew it was a musical but it is more like an opera with very little actual dialogue that is not sung. I just did not care for it but at least I can check that experience off my list and be thankful I didn’t pay a lot to go see the musical. Luckily DH was watching college basketball so at least I didn’t have to hear his complaints about the movie – he never would’ve lasted through it that’s for sure! March Madness is one of my least favorite times of the year because it's non-stop basketball on the television at my house. Normally DH goes to Las Vegas for the first weekend of the tournament but this year he is not going due to the darn economy. Luckily I will hide out in my sewing room as much as possible until the games are over – I’m just not into it at all. Gonzaga, Florida State, St John’s, Indiana, who cares?? I don’t understand being excited about college games when you never even went to any of the schools! And the worst thing is, as soon as it’s finally over then the NBA basketball playoffs begin and that leads right into the start of baseball season!

I’ve decided to make another new project start – it feels so deliciously decadent! I’ve got a bin of kitted up projects and some of them have been in there for YEARS. This is a sampler called Kona Coast by Ewe & I & Friends. It used to be a model in an LNS here that sadly closed up a few years back. I loved that little shop (sniff sniff) and they hosted an annual teaching getaway to Hawaii every year. Sadly, I never went to any of the retreats but I believe this sampler was designed especially for the year they had EEF teaching. I always wanted to stitch it and am finally going to get it started at least. I love houses and this is so cheery – beautiful tropical colors and special stitches although I probably will not stitch the wording on it. I need another start like a hole in the head but when has that ever mattered??

Finally - an ornament finish and some progress photos

I finally finished an ornament for this year! I'm way behind doing getting one done per month but at least I've got one now. This is a very old freebie I always had planned on stitching called "Santa in the Window". It's not available online.

I've been making some good progress on other projects. Here is Beatrix Potter and Peppermint Twist progress as of today. I do wish I could get the color right in my photos but you'll just have to trust me the color looks better in person. Also, I took these pictures in the evening and that always makes it harder to get the color correct.

Hope all of you readers are doing alright. I've gotten to the point where I don't even want to listen to the news anymore - too many depressing things! Sometimes it's better to avoid it and just keep on doing the best you can. Luckily we did our taxes and are getting a refund so that's some good news for a change. We've had several restaurants and small businesses close down in our area. It's sad. In the meantime I'll keep trying to spend at my LNS because we need it to stay in business! I haven't picked up much new from market except a couple of the new Prairie Schoolers. I think I have more Prairie Schooler than any other designer - I counted them and I have 54! Don't ask me how many I've actually stitched - but you know if you don't get them when they come out then you have to pay even more to get them on eBay or something.

I had a question from a reader about how I end the trim around my flatfolds. I usually make my own cording - I start putting the trim on using the end where the cording was folded in half when I made it so that at least one end of my cording doesn't have raw thread ends. I glue the cording all around to within a few inches of where it meets the starting point. I mark where it needs to be cut with a pin and I put some Aleene's tacky glue around the cording where I think I'm going to cut it. I let it dry, then cut it the cording where I need to - the dried glue helps it keep from unraveling as soon as you cut it. Then I glue a little more on the end and twist it good with my fingers and glue the end in place so that it meets the starting point. Hope that's clear - just takes a little practice and sometimes it comes out better than other times. If you have trouble getting it to look nice, start applying your braid or cording in a corner of the piece and leave plenty of extra before you start glueing it down. Then when you get back around just tie the ends in a bow at that corner. You can then knot the ends and snip them. That's how I did this little pinkeep edge.