a repeat stitcher . . .

What a great weekend I enjoyed in Hendersonville, TN!  We went up early Thursday morning for a Lifeway Women's Leadership event.  Three days packed full of fabulous speakers, great teaching, encouragement, fellowship and fun.  But whew!  I was worn out.  Hence my slow stitching post didn't get written for yesterday, and that's a shame, because I have some fun stitchy stuff to share!  So Monday it is.  ;)

Ellie (oldest granddaughter) had shown some interest in embroidery.  For Christmas two years ago I gifted her with a sampler kit that I put together for her.  Once we started working on it, she finished it in record time! I asked if she wanted another stitchery, and she said yes -- she wanted a monkey.  So I found a cute monkey coloring page for her, kitted it up, and handed it over.  I've blogged about all of this, but I don't think I ever shared a finished picture of her monkey stitchery . . .

She was very proud of her finish.  She did a great job!

We put it in a wood hoop and made it ready to hang on the wall over her bed. So cute!

I told her when she finished that she should let me know when she was ready and I'd prep another project for her.  I didn't press . . . I didn't want her to feel obligated . . . so I was thrilled when she approached me two weeks ago and said she was ready for another stitchery project! I asked what she wanted to work on and suggested something seasonal, and she decided on a snowman.  She even drew out a concept drawing!

I love how she included the hoop! She had a vision ... so I put it together . . .

And kitted it out for her.  I even got a spool of metallic light blue by Au Ver à Soie from The French Needle, which is perfect for snowflakes -- the asterisk snowflakes ... not the french knot snowflakes! If it were just me, for such a small piece, I'll probably be okay using a DMC metallic—but I wanted Ellie to be able to use a super easy to work with metallic floss!

Within a couple of days of receiving the kit, Ellie sent me this picture her mama had taken:

The girl really loves to stitch!  She still had the french knots to stitch, but she needed some hands-on tutoring for those! I did ask if she'd like to finish it out in a patchwork setting, instead of just in the hoop, like her prior two finishes. She was really excited about that idea!

I decided I needed to test the whole thing before I put it in her lap, so I stitched up the design for myself (taking a few liberties, like satin stitching his nose, and using metallic floss for the holly and berries, as well as the snowflakes):

Y'all, I'm so glad I tested this out, first. Yikes! But I worked through the design issues and it turned out okay. I stitched-in-the-ditch quilted it, and then quilted simple snowflakes in the corners. 

Super cute! Well, I think so, anyway.  :)

Ellie's picked out the prints she would like to use to frame her stitchery:

The blue (Fairy Frost) print will be the star, the snowflakes will be the background, and the dark, starry night will be for the backing/binding. All of them have a little bling. Not only can the girl stitch, she can pick fabrics, too! I gave her the option of hand-stitching the patchwork or machine stitching it.  She's still contemplating!  If I can publish this in time, I'll go ahead and link up to the slow stitching linky party at Kathy's Quilts!

Sawyer had his last soccer game of the season.  I love this action shot . . .

He's kicking the winning goal ... Go Sawyer!  He was voted MVP for this game!  What a great way to finish the season!!  (All the exclamation points!!!)

From oldest grandson to youngest . . .

Isn't this precious?!  Such a sweet baby boy!  He's growing, growing!! ♥

Have a fabulous week!

:)

moving along . . .

So this morning, I did a thing.  I hid my blog.  Or rather, I made it private.  Who knows ... at some point I may go back and make it public again, but for now, I need the space to write and upload pics, without the need to field comments and return blog views. *Edit* 5/3/21:  I've taken it off private, but eliminated comments.  There, all better!

***Note to self:  DELETE the above, you selfish thing you, if you ever make the blog public again!  

We had a crazy week.  Snow flurries , threat of snow, ice, then real snow meant we had no office hours this week!  

Here's pictures taken Thursday (the morning after), Friday, and finally, this morning.  You can definitely see it fading, but still trying to hang in there!

The girls got some good snow, too!  I was so glad!  This county is so big, we often don't get the same weather.  Point in case, my parents, who live twenty-five miles south of us, got nothing but rain. Boo!

I love this pic with all the tracks in the snow.  NONE of which are human! Such fun! It's cool to see hard evidence of the little feeding station ecosystem we've created!  Ha!!

So anyway, coupled with a short day on the Thursday before Valentine's Day (staff lunch and enrichment), followed by a holiday Monday (President's Day), and I've not worked for nine days. (Okay.  I've not gone *in* to work. I have worked from home, just to be clear.)  Ten days including Sunday, before going back to work on Monday.  LOL!  Then I work two days and am off for the rest of the week to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday with two of my sisters!  We're piling up on my folks and reliving the good ol' days for the long weekend.  Should be fun!

I finished both Christmas table runners, hand quilted and bound ... one for Jules and one for Lar.  I should probably make labels for them, but I'm so lazy.

They're similar but different.  Have no idea which one will get which.  I'll gift them when they arrive on Wednesday; we're going to stop and have a sisters' lunch at Chicken Salad Chick before we head to the folk's house.  :)

I've also been slowly working on stitching down the wool on the Hospital Sketches blocks.  Finished the utilitarian stitching on this one . . . 

I know it needs some embellishment via fancy stitches.  It just *needs* it.  I'll get busy on that.  Eventually.

I also played around in EQ designing a foundational pieced kimono, for a friend, based on a pattern by Betty Blais. 

I just love these fabrics!  It's a blend of Asian prints and batiks. Yum! I upsized it considerably, to make it a wall hanging. It would be a pretty to display in the spring/summer!

I still need to get out in the Nook.  Time wise this would have been the perfect week for it, but it's just been too darn cold out there.  We have been able to get out on the sun porch, with the propane heater going at full blast! 

So glad we've been able to use this into winter.  I'd have hated getting it screened in late November and then not being able to enjoy it until Spring!

Enough for now.  We lost power last night and it didn't come back on until 10:30, so we lost a big part of the day!  Perhaps I'll make this a weekly thing ... to share pics and tidbits of life, so I can recall them when my memory struggles.  Bahahahaha!!!

:)

interesting times . . .

Has anyone else struggled with what day it is?! LOL! I stayed home sick on Tuesday and the boss shut us down for the remainder of the week, so I worked from home. The days start to run together after a while!

It's been a busy and fairly productive week, though. I have enjoyed some super domestic time ... I made bread and have done a lot of cooking (which I don't typically do during the week). One of our favorite meals is . . .

Italian Loaf Rustica aka Double Crust Pizza! It's so very good, but very time consuming to make. We had this for several meals, actually!

I've gotten in several lovely long walks around the camp this week. Thursday was super warm and look what I found hanging out in the nursery sanctuary . . .

Two toddler turtles! We figure one's a two-year-old and the bigger one is three. They still look sleepy and have dirt on their tiny faces! It's gotten cold again, so they've gone back down under.

Todd and I also watched the sun go down from the back deck that evening.

It was just a lovely day through and through. I love sharing all my camp nature pics, but I hate making these posts so picture laden (not that you could ever tell). I share a lot on Instagram as @daneesey, too! :) There are a number of duplicates, but ah well.

I also got in some quilting/stitching time. First things first, though. My Nook was in desperate need of attention. I'd not taken the time to set things straight after retreat and it had already been in need of tending after I finished my class quilt. So I spent a couple of hours and took care of it. Happy National Quilting Day to me. ♥

It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was, once I scooped up trash, put fabric and rulers away, and swept! Then I got on to stitching.

I finished up this small quilt kit from Temecula Quilt Co. Then I hand quilted the heck out of it! In honor of the first day of (astronomical) Spring, I quilted a pink dogwood blossom in the center.

It's sort of hard to make out, but I know it's there! I also had gotten the week 10 block finished on my Peppermint Purple stitch along.

I guess block 11 and the binding for my Temecula piece will be my slow stitching for today! I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts for that.

One last thing I want to share before I head to the living room for church (!!!)...

I've seen this in several places and have posted it myself on social media, but I think it bears repeating. It's been comforting to me to re-read this and reset my focus!

Be blessed today!!

:)

happy crazy busy . . .

The crazy busyness of the season continues ... and probably will right up until Christmas Eve evening! But it's happy crazy busy, which makes all the difference in the world, right?!  Wednesday evening Todd and I went to the staff Christmas party for Essential, the church where we're currently serving.

It was a very fun, laid back evening. Except for the 10 minutes we had in Target (where we went as a group to shop for our dirty Santa gifts).  That was hilarious!

Thursday lunch was the staff Christmas luncheon for my work (it was also my last day of work until January 6, 2020).  We met at a very nice restaurant and I forgot to get a picture. Silly me.  After lunch, I ran some errands, including running over to Patches and Stitches (our LQS) to check out metallic flosses for future snowflakes. I wanted some blues, purples, and iridescents. Here's what I came away with . . .

Aren't they yummy?!  They're Kreinik brand. And they make me anxious to finish the one so I can start another! LOL!  It's the story of my stitching life.

I had a couple of more things to take care of and then it was time for our guild meeting (where I did NOT forget to take photos). It was set up beautifully and we had a great crowd!

My mini stitcher's group (my affirmation sisters) were all there, so a trio selfie was in order!

It was a fun night with a fabulous spread of desserts, games, prizes, and camaraderie.  I ♥ guild.

Friday was Todd and my traditional Christmas vacation movie date day.  We went to see The Rise of Skywalker and it was excellent.  But kind of bittersweet, too, knowing it was the end of the franchise. We had lunch out and did a little Christmas shopping, then came home and I did some stitching and went through Christmas cookie recipes. I think these are what I'm going to make to take to Joc's house for Christmas Eve . . .

Chocolate Ganache-Filled Mint Thumbprint Cookies.  Only I'm going to color them pink and call them "Peppermint" Thumbprint cookies.  LOL! I've got some other baking to do as well, and I've got Monday and Tuesday set aside for that.

This afternoon I'll concentrate on some slow stitching. I've got a variety of things to choose from. I'm not quite finished my holly snowflake, but it's close . . .

So that's definitely an option.  I've also got labels to print, iron-on, and blanket stitch to each of the three Christmas quilts.  And then Saturday I got a wild notion to quilt this UFO from April, 2015.  

Good grief, right?!  LOL! I backed it with purple flannel, got it sandwiched and did some simple straight-in-the-ditch stitching in the center.  

And I'm hand-quilting unicorns and stars around the outside, in a very pretty rainbow thread. So I can work on that, too.  And I probably need to, because I hope to have it bound and ready to take with me to:

Yup, California, here I come!  And it looks like I'm bringing the sunshine with me.  Whoop, whoop! I can't wait to see my Panter crew! ♥

I'll leave you with this charming shot of my local girls, modeling for the Spring/Easter trunk show for Mary & Grace . . .

Aren't they beautiful?  They make my heart melt!

Linking up today with the Slow Sunday Stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  Happy Sunday! 

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!

:)

no surprise . . .

So perhaps chaos does lead to creativity, after all . . . !

In the middle of all my mess (and a half-dozen ongoing projects), I saw a picture online (facebook or pinterest or something), and was instantly intrigued.

I loved the idea of this quilting around the center.  It's a really simple design -- super simple -- and would make a fabulous table topper -- and I still have sunflowers on the brain, and I thought this would be perfect for a sunflower fat quarter I'd purchased just recently.

Hence my question about how to template a spirograph-like star for quilting the other day.  I was really struggling with it, but determined to overcome.  Then I took another, closer look at the finished project in the original photo, and realized that there were 24 points, which meant they were using equilateral triangles and each triangle was a separate unit.  I wanted an unending design, so that my quilting started and stopped at the same point.

Finally, I figured it out!!!

So then it was time to put my top together.

I had to stencil my quilting design on there in order to know where my star should go (and how big it could be).  And well, if it's good on the front, wouldn't it be good on the back?! 

Of course!  Plus, I get double use from it (which I'm all about).

Instead of putting it together, quilting and binding it, I stitched it with right sides together, flipped it inside out, and then quilted it . . .

I was a little concerned about how the design would quilt on the back, even though I'd worked very carefully to line up the center design, so I used a more blended color of thread for the bobbin.

But I think it worked out just perfectly! It's hard to see in the picture, which means it's not as striking, but now I know it's do-able and I can go wild next time!  Yay!!

Already got it in use!  It was a fun and fast project and I *love* the quilting!  

[post script added:  since it doesn't get any NewFO-y-er than this, I'm linking up to Barbara's Cat Patches for her July NewFO linky party!  Yay!!]

As for "Wilma" -- she's the companion to "Waldo" of "Where's Waldo" fame.  

I'd cut and pasted her into my photo the other day:

Teresa found her first!!  I may have to mail Teresa a little something for having a 'hawk eye'!

:)

creativity vs. chaos . . .

And this is just my work space . . . 

You don't even want to know about the rest of the room!  I think it may be time for an intervention.

On the other hand, it's an incredibly good shot for a happy game of "Find the Hidden Objects" or "Eye Spy" or maybe even a little "Where's Wilma?"!

On an unrelated side note, does anyone know how to template a spirograph-like star for quilting -- the kind of repetitive triangle that leaves you with a circle in its center?

:)

ps -- she really is in there!