Blackbird Progress Update

Well, the weekend progress continues on "Beyond My Heart". I am working quickly to get done before Spinster Stitcher completes hers. Well, I think I am neck and neck with her. Kind of fun to challenge myself this way. I guess that helps to spur my progress along. Here is what I have done so far. As soon as this one is done I will be starting "Two Hearts" which is the latest pattern in the Loose Feather's club. I am going to do it on a 32 count linen called Cupid's Blend. Stay tune for progress next week on that one.

Sorry that the quality is not the greatest tonight. But when you are trying to update your blog with someone wanting attention from you it is kind of hard to do.

Brinkley (4 months old) is a handful. I cannot wait for the puppy time to be over. He is constantly finding ways to get into things. If it wasn't for his big sister pointing him out when he is bad he would be getting away with a lot more. All I can say is "Thank You Josie for Watching"..... Love Mommy...

Slow Progress

Okay, progress is going slow between the two projects I have going. During the week it seems that I am running out of energy early in the evening which means my stitching doesn't get picked up. My best effort has been a few stolen hours over the weekend. Here is my progress shots of Flying Geese and Chicken Feet....

Also, Sunday's are dedicated to Blackbird designs SAL with my BFFs. Here is my latest progress on "Beyond My Heart".

Husband's.... I am being called back into the family room to spend time with him and the doggies. Well, I guess that cuts my blogging time off early. Sorry, stayed tuned for future updates. If I am lucky it will still be this month. Where does time go.

HELP

I am in need of some advice. The picture at the top of my blog is a valentine pattern from Hinzeit that I did several years ago. I did not put glass on it since I have had issues in the past with other ones in which the charms have moved and I cannot get them back in place due to the glass. Well, the charms on this have tarnished and I am not sure what to do to clean them without having to take this framed piece apart. So, if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear about them.

No stitching done this past weekend. What a drag. Between cleaning, visiting, and taking care of sick puppy this was not a stitchy weekend. I hope to make that up quickly.

January Updates

As time slips by so does my ability to update the blog. What can I say.... Okay, a 12 week old puppy can keep you busy, keep you from sleeping, and drive you insane. Yes, Brinkley has been a handful and the only time I can get some stitching done is when I make it nap time or leave him with DH. I have to admit, we went to puppy class tonight for the first time and what a shock. He sat in my lap and watched all of the other puppies going nuts and amazed me that he wasn't. Course, wait and see what next week brings. I think he was just in shock.

I recently made trip out to visit one of my BFFs. What was amazing is that we found a local shop close to her home to visit and what a selection of patterns, material, and fibers. So, we had to make the most of our trip and find a few patterns that we had to add to our stashes. I had planned to only work on UFOs in 2009 and cut down the new additions but that went out the window as soon as we walked into the store. How can we explore a new local shop and not walk out with huge smiles on our faces.

I picked up the most amazing pattern called "Flying Geese and Chicken Feet" by Brenda Kocher. It incorporates patterns from four different quilts. It uses many different kinds of fibers and in the store they had it done in my most favorite color combinations. Green and purples.

I picked up the pattern and fibers and decided to do it on congress cloth. The store gave me a listing of the colors they used but after I got home I just couldn't figure out what was used where. So, when Monday rolled around I called the shop and they were so wonderful to take a picture of their finished sample and e-mail it to me. A two hour drive in the snow to their shop was out of the question. Here is the pattern book and a picture of their finished piece. Don't you just love it...... I do......

Course, this wasn't my only purchase. I also got the following pattern "Winter Blooms" by Hands to Work. This will have to be added to my stash and hopefully it will be finished before 2009 ends.

Spending the day with my BFFs was so much fun. With our busy lives and the distances apart we decided that since we cannot get together very often to stitch we would try something else. We have created our own SAL. Each Sunday we are to find time to sit and stitch on any Blackbird design in our stash. This is a great idea since I have a huge collection, okay I have the total collection of Loose Feathers club patterns which include fabric and fibers. So for the past two Sundays I have been able to steal away a couple of hours in the morning and late evening to work on started projects. As of Sunday I completed Loose Feathers Pattern 31 - Blessings & Kind Wishes. I did this on 28 count Sand Dune. Off to the framer it will go....

For next Sunday I will be picking up Loose Feathers Pattern 32 - Beyond My Heart. I will be doing this on 28 count Lavender Bliss. Here is what I had started and stashed.

Before I forget I did do one resolution so far for 2009. La-D-Da's Bushel & A Peck. Course, this project has not been in my stash that long but I had hoped to finish it for a gift during the holidays but that did not happen. I hope to get some help in getting it finished and I think it will make a special Valentine gift for someone special in my family. Stay tuned, I have ideas.

Hey not to bad for the last two weeks. Okay, not too good on getting the house cleaned but I did get the Christmas tree down and took advantage of how many naps a new puppy needs. Until next time and you know how bad I am, have fun stitching and stay tuned. The saga continues between which will come first, puppies and/or stitching.

Happy 2009

I have never been big on new year resolutions but I think this year I will have to come up with one for my stitching stash. There are so many UFOs in my stash that I need to make better progress in completing. Not only in getting the stitching done but also to get the finishing done either by me or someone more qualified.

This weekend I did have success in completing my stitching of the 2007 limited edition from Prairie Schooler called "Let It Snow". I now have 2005 - 2007 completed and need to start/finish 2008 in the next several months. I still hope to have all four of these pictures framed together in some sort of design.

Our holiday was wonderful and it was great to spend time with family and friends. The biggest highlight of our holiday was the new addition to our family. We have a new puppy, Brinkley who was born on November 1st. It is amazing how much we forgot about puppy care in the last 15 months since Josie came to us. She is being an amazing big sister to her new brother. So far they love to run and play and don't like to be apart. I think she will be a great help in the potty training area.

If I am not blogging as regular as I should be know that Brinkley must be keeping his mommy and daddy very busy. He loves to play and is amazed at all of the toys that are in the toy box that his big sister has accumulated in the last year. Here he is playing inside of the toy box in seventh heaven.

Happy Stitching and I hope your resolutions are reachable.

A Christmas Letter From Josie

Ho Ho Ho,

This is so funny. I watch my mommy surf the blogs night after night and she is always amazed at the wonderful stitching items that fellow bloggers send to each other. She knows that it is her turn to join into the fun and stitch something for someone else but I think she is scared her work is not up to their quality.


Well, today I got one step up on her. Today in the mail a very lovely handmade stocking was sent to me from my very favorite Aunt. She lives very far away and I have never had the chance to meet her but I know that very soon she will be coming out to spend lots of quality time with me and oh yeah, my parents.


Here is lovely picture of the wonderful stocking that I got with my name on it. Oh, of course I had to pose with it. It is the holiday season of taking family photos and I think this occasion calls for a picture of me.
My wonderful aunt does the most amazing plastic canvas work. She could make a career out of it and I know she could sell millions...... Maybe I should be named in her will instead of my parents.

Here is a closer shot of it. Mom made me get out of the shot. Gee whiz.....

You should be here with me tonight. My dad is busy baking his wonderful holiday cookies and the house smells so lovely. My poor mom is busy cleaning house. I have been a big help to her tonight. After she washes a spot on the floor I run over to look closer and let her know if she has missed a spot. For some reason after I walk away sure enough a new spot appears. I guess I have helped her so much tonight she is giving me a break by shutting the door so that I can lay down and rest. The holidays are so much work.

Well, I am going to curl up by the tree and enjoy my new stocking. Poor mom... Hopefully she finds some time soon to sit down a stitch for a friend. I know that will put a smile back on her face.

Merry Christmas to all my friends. May 2009 be a happy and healthy new year for you all.

Love, Josie

Bad, Bad Blogger

Okay, so I am heading towards getting a huge lump of coal for xmas since I have been a really bad blogger. Sorry.... What can I say. First Thanksgiving was here and with the weather being nice I had to go outside and help with the yard decorations for xmas. So, with that done the next job was to start thinking about ideas for xmas presents but that didn't happen too quickly. WHY!!!! Well, let me tell you the great news. Josie went to test for her certification to be a Therapy Dog. Yippee, she did it with flying colors. We were so proud of her. Now it is time for me to sit down and fill out the paperwork that goes along with the testing. YUCK..... I hate paperwork. Okay, so now another week has passed by and what did I get done in stitching?

During the week after Thanksgiving I started and finished.... Gertie Gobble from Bent Creek.

I hope to make her into a standup but that will have to wait until after xmas. So, next I felt like doing a bit of knitting and made a couple of dishcloths from a pattern for Breast Cancer Awareness that I found on the Internet. I just love the pink cotton yarn I found.

If you are interested in getting this easy pattern go to http://knitwits-heaven.tripod.com/breast_cancer_awarenesst.htm. This was a very quick project. Course, then I got excited to find a couple of xmas patterns to knit but gave up when the first one didn't turn out. Okay, so maybe knitting isn't my favorite hobby. So, to wind down from that disater I decided I needed to read a book and picked up Nicholas Spark's book called "The Guardian". It was so good I couldn't stop reading to pick up my cross stitch or update my blog. Again, bad, bad, bad blogger.

Since my shopping is just about done, the xmas tree is up and decorated, I allowed myself to pick up a bit of stitching and worked a tiny bit more on La-D-Da's Bushel & a Peck. I don't think this will be done in time for xmas since we still need to wrap the gifts, put up the xmas village, and bake some cookies. Oh yeah, and the most important part, attend a few parties.

Maybe I will be more together next year..... Or not....

JOSIE - sends you love and happiness for a great holiday season and blessings for a great 2009.

Till I find time to sit and blog again, have a safe and quiet night.....