2:30 AM and 70,400 Stitches Later

And.. here it is!

Noah's Submarine

c1997 Stoney Creek Collection Inc.

Stitched on 28ct White Jubilee using DMC

Started Summer 2002 finished Summer 2007

Now That's Progress & Goals

What a great day! LOL at least to me its been good. Despite some domestic goddess-like activities I had to execute I had the house to myself and I stitched!

I made fantastic progress on Noah's Sub today!

Here's what I managed to do in July and what I'd like to do in August :

July Recap :

Work on Noah's Sub - Yup!

Stitch one ornament - Yup!

Stitch Instant Gratification RR - Yup!

Stitch on any other RR's that show up - Yup!

August Goals :

Finish Noah's Sub

Stitch One Ornament

Stitch Kathy's Instant Gratification RR

Stitch Neighbourhood RR that shows up next

Stitch Fair and Square exchange

Work on The Castle

Post Cottage Update

Well, I'm back from the cottage. There was a little debating on Monday if we were going to go to the cottage or not but we decided to go for it. We're glad we did and we're just back tonight. We had fantastic but hot weather! I honestly didn't get a lot of stitching done.

Here's how far I got with Noah's Sub, as I like to say... Didn't get as much done as I hoped...

While I was away I got this fantastic parcel from Dawn! She made me a beautiful tin with a Dragon Dreams design on the top, inside a range of blue DMC's and TW's Woodland Stocking chart! Thank you so much Dawn, you've obviously put a lot of thought into the parcel and hit every thing I liked!

I think I should be able to finish Noah's Sub this upcoming week. I have to stick close to the house while our new roof is being put on.

Whew! What a Weekend!

Well, I should correct that by long weekend!

Wednesday night Christin gave me an early Christmas present! She just didn't want to store it at her place. I had been drooling over this scrap booking caddy in Michael's. I could just see the possibilities! A great way to store and tote around all my sewing and finishing bits and pieces!

Our adventure started Thursday morning, bright and early! Christin and I hopped in the car and off we went. The very first stop was in Kingston at the Die cast Model Gallery where we picked up models for Todd for his Birthday (its on Monday). Back into the car and we hit Ann's doorstep at 11:30am just as planned! There were greetings and hugs, and getting our stuff into the house. Soon we were joined by Beatrice and had a wonderful lunch before Ann's Thursday stitchers arrived. Ann's group have grown immensely in the last year there were about 14 ladies there! There was so much to see... and show off (I was asked to bring my finished projects by Marie Paul, one of Ann's ladies), I never got a stitch in!

Once the ladies thinned out it was just the four of us having a quiet stitch until it got close to dinner time. Christin headed off for an overnight visit with Beatrice (as I said they've become good friends). Ann prepared a fantastic lasagna for dinner and we stitched all evening long! It was just decadent!

Friday Ann and I had the day to ourselves for the most part... again lots of decadent stitching! I got to witness Ann's happy dance (I'm sure she'll be sharing on her blog shortly). We were joined in the afternoon by Wendy for more stitching! Beatrice brought Christin back at about 7:30 and the four of us stitched even more!

Saturday Christin, Ann and I did... guess what? Stitching! I've been a little stressed lately and I guess it all hit me on Saturday. I woke up with one shoulder up around my ear... I was tight from ear to shoulder and a huge knot in my shoulder blade. I was also exhausted! So I had to be rude and excuse myself for a nap before lunch. Then after lunch I just had to lie back down... I tried to stitch but made so many mistakes I knew I was useless. I was finally feeling much better by late afternoon, and soon Beatrice joined us again as Dan made us a fantastic dinner (Kudos to Ann for all the prep-work!). More stitching after dinner, where Beatrice finished the piece she was working on (I'm sure its up on her blog by now!). Saturday night was an early night for all of us... that stitching must really exhaust a girl!

Sunday ... today we were treated to a Dan breakfast! More stitching. Early afternoon Christin and I paid for the stash we had set aside at Ann's. I bought a number of boxes of DMC Colour variations (the dark blue I used in my Hedgehog Quaker) that I will use for Paradigm Lost in the fall. I got a piece of 32ct Natural linen for the Fair and Square exchange. Two charts happened to pop into the pile too! Elizabeth Designs Green Old Garden, for some reason it really caught my eye one the shelf, and JBW's French Country - Love. On the way home we stopped in and visited Rebbecca and her wonderful family. The boys actually let us stitch and Rebbecca served us a lovely dinner. I wish we could of stayed longer but I had to get Christin home... she has to work tomorrow. We also made a short stop to get my bangs trimmed. I finally got home after 10pm!

Soooo I have to say a huge thanks to Ann and Dan for letting me stay for so many days and making me feel at home! Also thanks to Rebbecca for letting us stop in with only an hour's notice.

Finally here's my Noah's Sub progress... as usual I didn't get as much as I hoped done, but what can you expect when you're visiting friends!

7/8th done!

Yay!

Well of best laid plans for today none of them happened as I envisioned! I was imagining lots of stitching time. I managed to find enough to finish up my current page on Noah's Sub.

This morning started off with a lot of phone calls. First was the lawyer we've been waiting to hear from (no worries nothing serious) so we could get in and sign some papers before I leave. He made an appointment with us at 2pm downtown. Then I got a call from a co-worker she was hosting a lovely lunch open to all the female staff at work. I told her to give me a call if she needed some help. She took me up on that offer to it was into the shower and out in the car. Unfortunately I couldn't stay too long I had to pick Todd up at work and get downtown.

By the time we were done with the lawyer it was getting close to 3pm so instead of taking Todd to work then driving back into the city to pick up Christin we drove over to her place of work. Her boss was kind enough to let her leave 30 minutes early. A quick stop at her place for her stuff, and a trip to take Todd back to work. It was 4pm by the time I finally got home! I passed out on the couch for a bit while Christin entertained herself with her stitching. We got to go out for a nice dinner... finished my page and now I'm ready for bed!

Post Weekend Sub Progress

Well I really was dreaming... thought I could finish my page this weekend. But I didn't ... LOL just not enough hours in the day! Also silly things like grocery shopping, out to lunch with Mum, making meals and doing laundry just get in the way too much!

Two days of work and then I'm on holidays! I can't wait!

Someone Put the Fire Out!

Can you smell the smoke coming off of my needles? This is my pre-weekend progress update. I took Friday off so my weekend has started and I put in mega hours this evening!

Now, I've had a few questions piling up in my inbox (I have my comments e-mailed to me so I don't miss a single one!)

Karin and Margaret asked if the flower from one of my recent posts was from my garden.

-- Yes it is. I have a narrow bed (which we're expanding) along the side of my house that's pretty much all daylillies.

Louanne asked if I plan on stitching Fish City someday... its by the same artist.

-- No. I was excited to hear about Fish City before it came out and when I did see it, I was disappointed to find it had no appeal to me at all.

Post Weekend Sub Progress

Waaahhh! The weekend is over, but I just have to keep remembering my holidays start next Wednesday! A week and a half... a week and a half. I'm looking forward to it I'm ready for an extended break from work! All I keep thinking about is working on my Noah's Sub, how much stitching I'll get done. Or should I say hope to get done? Some of my regular readers may recall I finished another long-time project over my summer holidays... Celtic Banner. So will luck shine on me, will I finish Noah's Sub? I don't have much specific planned. My first few days will be taken up with a visit to Brighton with Christin to see Ann, Beatrice, and her stitching ladies (unfortunately Kathy won't be available... waaahhhh). We also have a week set aside at the cottage where I'll probably steal my nephew for part of that week.

Anyhow I did get a lot done on Noah's Sub, but somehow I feel like I could of gotten more done! Am I crazy or what?

Pre-Weekend Stitching Progress

Thanks to everyone for migraine-go-away vibes. Yesterday turned out to be a pretty okay day. It did threaten to come back in the evening, but I managed to keep it at bay. I'm doing much better today. So after all my pre-weekend running around (I had today off of work and this would of all been done last night after work if I hadn't stayed home sick) I'm going to do my online stuff, and get stitching! Chrisanne is coming up to stitch with me!

So here's where my Noah's Sub is at...

Noah's Sub Progress

I made good progress on Noah's Sub today! On my new page (suppose that's current page now) I stitched up the base of the sub above water and almost all of the waves. I'm dreading getting down below the water line. Its going to be rows and rows of the same colours!

Here's this weekend's progress

For a little fun let's see where I was six months ago... (I did try to find a pic from a year ago but apparently I didn't really work on it much in 2006)

This week I decided to join the Fair and Square exchange... I really like what I've seen stitchers produce. They're still taking sign ups the next round dosen't start until the end of the month. Be srue to follow the link on the sidebar of the F&SE to check out the rules!

Long Weekend Stitching Progress

Well, I had a lovely weekend with Chrisanne and her daughter Lindsay! We took Lindsay to see Pirates 3... enjoyable but not as good as the first. And well we stitched LOTS! LOL. Really I'm sure my progress picture will say it all!

I managed to finis my current page and I have a small start on the next. I'll be setting Noah's Sub aside for a few days as I have my next Band RR to get stitched!

Pre-long Weekend Progress

I've been making amazing progress with Noah's Sub this week!!! Here it is before this long weekend when I'm hoping to stitch, stitch, stitch!

Shortly I'll be getting ready to go to Chrisanne's.

Yeee Hawww Progress!

Well I've had a weekend of a lot of "domestic goddess" like activities and framing jobs. In between that I have managed to get some time in on Noah's Sub and I have to say I've made significant progress since I last shared it with you.

And I just had to share this gem of a picture with you... Chrisanne's daughter Lindsay devouring a wings and ribs combo for dinner! Gosh I can't even eat that much!

Show Me A Little Sub!

Today when I got home I was greeted by a lovely sight... both of my clematis (would that be clemati for plural? Hmmm???) decided to open their first blooms! I always watch my clematis each spring closely as they are well known to be finicky plants and sometimes don't winter well. Todd and I started working on expanding the gardens on the front of the house and I can definitely see another clematis in my future for sure!

This evening I FINALLY got to pull out Noah's Sub for the first time in about 10 days. I'm working on the top right hand page (the last page on the top!!!), I can tell you its going to be a boring stitch. I have to say 97% of this page is all sky! Half stitches in various shades of blue and purple. Just as I snapped this progress pic Hunter decided to jump up on the bed to check things out. He's my precious... my precious.. mine... all mine....

I've got two friends who have recently started blogging and I'd really appreciate it if you could stop by and say hi! First is Lynn at Kearnel's Korner, Rebbecca and I helped her start the setup of her blog when we were there a couple of weekends ago. I think she has the hang of it now! Lynn is a keen stitcher whose stash is slowly starting to expand...

The second is my BEST FRIEND from grade 10 Claire at Blarney n' Grits (I came up with that name!). We got up to all kinds of teenaged wickedness together... Some of my long time readers will recall that I was one of her bridesmaids at her wedding in Tennessee just a few years ago and that I stitched Teresa Wentzler's wedding sampler for her and her new hubby. I'm so excited that Claire has started blogging, and I hope she'll keep up with it so I can keep up with her. We both work in schools so its hard to keep the communication lines flowing during the school year! I'm trying to talk Todd into perhaps driving down to visit with Claire this Christmas... if Claire doesn't go away that is. I taught Clarie how to stitch a few years ago and she's not as speedy or addicted as many of us are but she enjoys it all the same.

Today at work I was offered the honor of presenting the staff bursary at next week's graduation ceremonies. I of course said yes, never in a million years did I imagine I'd be asked to present anything in an official capacity at work. Hmmm now what to wear...

Amazing Weekend

Wow! This weekend was exactly what the doctor called for!!!

It started out with a finishing frenzy Friday night after getting home from my running around. My friend Beatrice I thought really needed a pick-me-up. She's going into hospital soon for some very serous surgery so I took my Quaker Hedgehogs I stitched up a few weeks ago and turned them into this flanged pillow. I just love how this turned out... and I made Beatrice cry!



Saturday morning I piled myself and my stitching into my car and headed for Ann's! Ann and I had the most fantastic afternoon. Dan, her husband BBQ'ed up burgers for lunch, then we finally settled into Ann's sun room and we started stitching. Honestly not a lot of stitching got done Saturday afternoon. First Kathy (who I stayed with in Arizona) showed up. Then one of Ann's customer's who I've met in the past Marie-Paul came by there was much admiring of stitching. She was in just to pick a few things, must of stayed for at least half an hour. Next another customer (don't remember her name) from Trenton came in. She had on this great jean jacket she had stitched with Harry Potter designs! She also had one of Lynne Nicoletti's new fortune teller designs all stitched up and finished, it was sooo cool! Then later in the afternoon Beatrice came in after work. One by one, everyone started to head out, until it was just Ann, Dan and me. Dan cooked us a fantastic dinner and we spent the rest of the evening stitching. Before bed, I managed to finish my current page on Noah's Sub! That's 5 pages down, 3 to go!


This morning Ann was off to stitch with some ladies in Toronto so after one of Dan's fantastic breakfasts and a bit of a visit in the morning and I bought supplies for the Ornament RR that's starting up this month. I packed my stuff back into my car and I headed to Kathy's. We had a great visit, just Kathy and I... and she made an awesome lunch! When I first got there I was musing about what to stitch... Kathy not so subtly suggested (Kathy is not subtle and I love that quality in her!) that I get that ornament RR started! While there I actually finished it! The chart came with three ornaments and since I had enough left over fabric and plenty of threads I started the second one. After lunch it was back in the car then Kathy and I drove over to Beatrice's where we stitched and visited with Beatrice and her Mom Adriana... I so want to grow up to be Adriana... she's 91 and still stitching on 28ct evenweave! Is that not inspirational?? While I was there I kept working on the second ornament. Next thing I knew it was after 3pm and I needed to hit the road.

Silver Thaw #1
c2004 Wren Song Designs

Stitched on 28ct Jubile Using DMC & Kreinik

On the way home I stopped in and had a nice visit with Rebbecca. When I first got there Rebbecca was at the neighbours with the kids. So her husband pulls out an ATV (four-wheeler) and asks me if I've ever been on one. Ummm no. I'm just chuffed... today I drove my first ATV! It was fun! I think I could of ripped around on that thing for an hour! Anyone who knows me well, know I love TOYS! Anyhow, Rebecca's hubby is a nice guy we chatted, I got along with both of them really well. They fed me a great dinner and once the kids were settled into bed for the night we got to stitch for about an hour (where I finished the second ornament) before I realized it was almost 9pm and time for me to get home!

Silver Thaw #2

So here I am... its 1am I've finished the 3rd ornament and I'm wide awake...

Silver Thaw #3

Hmmm wonder why?

Mum and Dad will be picking me up bright and early in the morning for my biopsy. Then I can come back home, settle in on the couch watch movies/TV ... probably sleep and stitch!

Noah's Sub Progress

Last night I was getting ready to post my Sub progress when click... the power went out! Todd and I spent about 30 minutes scuttling around in the dark with flashlights to get the generator going so that our sump pump would empty the sump hole. Power outages don't having good timing, as I'm sure the pump was going to shortly run before it went out. Since the sump hole was getting close to full, we had to get the generator going to empty the water out. we were only out for almost an hour and a half, but we're pretty tired since this all happened shortly after 11:30 pm.

So wihout furhter ado here's my progress on Noah's Sub :

Noah's Sub Progress

As promised from yesterday's post... here's my progress on Noah's Sub. Boy I wish I could have more time to work on it!!!


The last installment of my ornament RR arrived today. I'll get to that sometime this week.

Noah's Sub Progress

I think having two weeks off of Taekwon-Do definitely helped with my stitching time! I got so much done on Noah's Sub in the last week!

Tonight I'm going to try out TKD and see how my toe does.

Lovely Weekend!

On Saturday morning I hopped into my car (yes folks, on the road again... didn't I just get back home? Yes.) first I drove down to Kingston and met Vicki, one of the stitchers from my bulletin board Needle and Thread. I got to meet her new granddaughter, beautiful wee thing with lots of hair! We had a nice visit and a cup of coffee before it was time for me to hit the road again. I was on my way to visit Ann, owner of Knowledge and Needles. I love going to visit Ann and her husband Dan I always have a great time... and I get fed well.

I got a lovely gift from Ann and Dan after helping them sort out their audio-visual equipment... One of the charts I had been eyeing in Ann's shop the day before! Thank you Ann and Dan!

I finally got to work on The Castle this weekend and a little bit on Noah's Sub!

All just backstitching on The Castle!

Finally finished the sky on my current page of Noah's Sub.

HD #9 for 2007

Tonight I finished up my portion of Shannon's Sweetheart Tree Round Robin. Shannon gave us each individual pieces of fabric to stitch one of the hearts on. I had started this shortly before my trip but left it at home for safe keeping!

Bleeding Hearts

c1995 Sandra Cox Vanosdall - Sweetheart Tree

Stitched on mystery fabric

Stitched with : DMC, Needle Necessites, Kreinik Braid, Prele Cotton & Mill Hill Beads

I also finally have progress pictures to share with you!

First Mini Cottages 8 - Tuscan Cottage my friend Chrisanne sent me this birthday present early (its on the 27th of this month) so that I could work on it on the plane. I have to say, Michael Powell designs are great for working on a plane!

Next, Noah's Sub... I got so much done on that last week while stitching with Kathy in Yuma!

Tomorrow I have several medical appointments so I'll take Mini Cottages with me to work on. Also my car is going into the shop... my windshield wipers have decided to stop working. That made for a hairy drive home yesterday! When I'm back home I'll start the next Sweetheart Tree Round Robin belonging to my good friend Kathy who I was just visiting in Yuma, Az.