Obsesson Satisfied

This post is probably about a week overdue.  Last weekend I finally satisfied my obsession with Spring Quakers!  I finished it!  This was just one of those pieces I couldn't put down.  I started it on January 1st, 2016 and finished it 37 days later.  Also starting this project with me was Bonnie, who finished hers 5 hours later than me (amazing that we managed to finish our pieces on the same day), Christin who has barely touched hers but she's got another project she's trying to wrap up.  Also our friend Janice (no blog) started Winter Quakers because she had already done Spring and she finished her just a few days ago!

Spring Quakers

Rosewood Manor

Stitched on 28ct Lilac Grove Jubilee from Sugar Maple Fabrics

Stitched with Valdani Cotton Floss

Sorry I had a hard time getting a good clear picture but hopefully some of of the following closeups will help give you a better idea of just how lovely the colours are.

As previously mentioned I had planned to stitch mine on Queen Ann's Lace Joblean by Whichelt.  However the piece I got was rather "muddy" that it just wouldn't work with the floss colours.  I find though I love Queen Ann's Lace as a staple in my stash I hate the fact that there are wide variations in the dye lot sometimes, and this was one of them.  After a stash dive I settled on my last piece from the long out of business Sugar Maple Fabrics and though I was reluctant to use my piece of Lilac Grove I'm so happy with how it turned out.

As I've been working on this piece and sharing progress pictures, I got a lot of questions about what thread I was using to stitch this piece both from my Facebook and Instagram followers.  I went ahead and used the Valdani threads as  the design was charted.  Since I stitched it on 28ct I used all three strands as they came off of the ball (and a bigger needle I usually stitch with a 28).  I was a little worried about the Valdani threads as I heard a lot of talk about how awful they were to work with.  Over the years I heard complaints about how it tangled and frayed.  I had none of these problems I found it quite nice to stitch with.  I just had to use the recommended threads because of how vibrant they were!  I will certainly be doing the other seasons in Valdani threads in the future!

Next time I buy some stash I'll have to start sourcing out the Valdani threads for the rest of the seasons!!!!

Cranberry Christmas

Prarie Schooler

Stitched on 40ct New Castle Linen, Mellow from Picture This Plus

Stitched with DMC Cotton Floss

After I finished Spring Quakers I needed to stitch up my February Ornament.  I have continued with Cranberry Christmas by Prarie Schooler.  I'm stitching these on 40ct and I'm as usual just loving it!

Next up for finishing is my friend Julie's Joan Elliot Oriental Ladies Round Robin.  Julie had one spot left on her Round Robin after it came back a few years ago and I offered to stitch the last spot for her, she has a silver Buddha planned for this spot and as you can see I've got a fair start on it.  We've got a long weekend and its far too told to go anywhere unless you have to, so I'm sure this will get finished this weekend.

I have a new start to get kitted up soon.  I leave in a few weeks for my annual Dominican Experience trip and over the last few years I've stitched Cirque des Cirque, Cirque des Coeurs and Cirque des Carreaux all from Ink Circles.  This just leaves me Cirque des Triangles left to stitch!  One of my "to do" things this weekend is to get this kitted up and and during the upcoming week get a working copy made.  These pieces have been great to stitch on the plane and while I travel.

Finally Zeus was being rather pretty this morning so I just had to take a few pictures of her.

Slightly Obsessed

First of all Happy New Year dear readers!  I hope your New Year is off to a good start.  Mine is going well.

I have a couple of stitching New Year's Day rituals that I just look forward to every year.  Do you have any stitching related New Year's rituals?

My first one is always planned months in advance, its my New Year's new start/stitch along.  For many years now my best friend Christin and I start a stitch along, some years a few of our stitching friends join us and some years its just the two of us.  I start at midnight and Christin starts in the morning, I am always just too excited to wait until the morning after months of anticipation!  This year our stitching friends Bonnie joined us as well in starting Spring Quakers by Rosewood Manor, our friend Janice also joined us but she had already stitched Spring Quakers so she started Winter Quakers.

I had a bit of a panic moment with this piece, I had every intention to stitch this piece on 32 ct Queen Ann's Lace Joblean by Wichelt.  I had bought a 1/2 yard of it back in the fall.  In December I pulled out my fabric, cut a piece just the right size then I pulled out my little box of Valdani Threads.  That's when I totally panicked! This piece of Queen Ann's Lace was quite brown and muddy, several of my Spring Quaker colours just disappeared into it.  Total panic attack!  I knew I didn't have enough time to order a new piece of fabric.  Stash to the rescue!  I spent a good hour pulling out fabrics out of their bins to find a suitable replacement.  I started with my 32ct and had no success, oh no!  Next I was digging through my 28ct fabrics, I had really wanted to stitch this piece on 32ct ... oh well.  After a bit of digging I came across one of my last precious pieces of dyed fabric I got ages ago from Sugar Maple Fabrics which is no longer in business!  They had some of the best dyed fabrics I ever came across.  I mourned while I settled on this fabric, but its PERFECT for Spring Quakers and just the right size.

As you can see I was immediately obsessed by this piece!  Despite being obsessed I didn't have all the time I wanted to stitch it and I've had a hard time to settle lately getting easily distracted by things like Instagram (sigh, addict for sure).  When I have been able to sink my teeth into this it just goes!!!!  I'm now well into page 4 and hope to be into page 5 by the end of this weekend.

My second stitching New Year's ritual is the annual emptying of the ort jar!  I love seeing the wonderful layering of colours from projects throughout the year.  Its also a great measure of just how much or how little stitching I've done that year.

My final stitching New Year's ritual is turning a page on my stitching journal.  Well its not really a journal but a list of all the projects I finish that year.  I also keep a sticky note in there of projects that get carried over from one year to the next and cross them off as they become Happy Dances.  My ultimate goal would be to cross everything off and throw that note away but that hasn't happened yet.  In 2015 I had 54 Happy Dances!  A very productive year and some awesome big finishes in there too!

Cranberry Christmas

Prarie Schooler

Stitched on 40ct New Castle Linen, Mellow from Picture This Plus

Stitched with DMC

I did take a one day break last weekend from Spring Quakers to stitch up my January ornament, I am still sticking with this little goal of mine to stitch one ornament each month.  I've picked Pararie Schooler's Cranberry Christmas as this year's set to stitch up and I'm sure I'll stitch some random pieces through the year as well... when I'm finished with my current obsession.

One thing that has gotten put off to the side is my friend Julie's Round Robin.  In early December we had a stitching day at her place and we were going through her finished projects.  She showed us her Joan Elliott Round Robin, but there was one blank spot left.  I immediately offered to stitch it for her.  I did start stitching the silver Buddha she wanted in the last spot... but like I said I'm obsessed right now.  Once I get to it, I'm sure it'll whip up quickly!

In my last post I promised I'd share with you pictures of a few other items I had stitched last year.  Well I forgot, but I've made a copy of the list and hopefully I'll be back soon with those.  I also put some stitches into an old project, The Big Red by The Silver Lining  I hope to share that with you too.

Productive Weekend

Well a productive stitchy weekend that is! I've been on the road so much this summer that I forgot what it was like to stay home, stay in my pj's and stitch all day! That's exactly what I did! Here are the results of my lazy weekend!

Bleeding Hearts
c Sweetheart Tree

First I finished up my contribution to Kathy's Sweetheart Tree round robin. I'll be passing it onto Christin this week so she can add the last heart. This was quite enjoyable to stitch, with its specialty stitches and threads. A quick stitch too!




I took a stitching break, and did the finishing on this freebie ornament that I had stitched earlier in the year. I think you'll be seeing a lot of bead edged ornaments in the future (since I've now got so many!).

French Country Dove - Christmas Doves II
c2012 JBW Designs
Stitched on 28ct black Luganda
Stitched with DMC B5200

When I was ready to get back to stitching, I picked up this JBW which I had kinda started the previous weekend, it stitched up super-quick! I've also started another one, I need to stitch up six doves for gifts this year. I've got four stitched, one in progress and one left to start! I imagine there will be beads involved in the finishing.

Sunday morning I got a start on stretching a piece I teased you with earlier in the summer so I can get it framed and to its new owner. She's been known to read this blog so no peeking! Sorry! I then picked up The Accolade for the rest of the day, you'll be seeing a 1/2 way happy dance soon!

Lets get back to goal setting! It's been month since I've talked about what stitching I'd like to accomplish each month.

September Stitching Goals
Stitch Kathy's Sweetheart Tree RR
Stitch one ornament
Finish page 6 on The Accolade
Finish The Cat's Meow
Work on Fortunate Traveller



- thanks for reading!

Stitching For Friends and Friends Stitching For Me

Quite some time ago I saw this post on Carolyn's blog.  Her Alphabet Zoo Round Robin had made it back home, but it wasn't finished!  Being the kind, wonderful person I am I left a comment on Carolyn's blog offering to stitch a block for her if she decided she needed a couple of needles to get the round robin finished.  My good friend Kathy also made the same kind offer.  Some time passed, and Carolyn did decide to take us up on our offer and Beatrice decided to get in on the fun too since there were 3 blocks to be done.

Kathy and Beatrice stitched theirs up in quick order, and when I arrived at Kathy's last Friday afternoon she passed the piece onto me.  I was going to tuck it away until I finished the wedding sampler I NEED to get done before September 10th.  Kathy told me it was such a quick stitch that I could finish it before I left on Sunday.

As usual, Kathy was right!

Alphabet Zoo

Blue Ribbon Designs

The block I stitched

While so many have been stitching for me, it was nice to return the favour for someone else.  Speaking of stitching for me, I had more quilt squares returned to me this past weekend.

Quilt Blocks stitched by Ann

Christin stitched these four for me

The Prodigal Round Robin Returns

Well actually the round robin returned the weekend I met up with my stitching buds in Kingston, two weekends ago. I was kinda holding onto the picture of it for a blog entry when I didn't have a lot of progress on my own projects to show. I did work a bit more on Todd's Stocking between several naps on Sunday. So there's not as much progress to share as I hoped, we'll save a progress picture on that for another day. Since Todd and I had an evening at home last night I was able to work on Mirabilia's Art Deco Spirits. Boy, what a lovely piece, I'll save progress on that for another day too.

Without further ado, here's my Neighbourhood Round Robin complete, and home to stay! Once the official round robin was over I passed it onto my good friends Kathy and Beatrice to fill in the last two spaces. I just LOVE how this turned out! Thank you to everyone for working on it! Its truly a unique neighbourhood.

Onto some more good news! The SCALE was kind again!!! I've lost another pound this week. Which means all the bad I did at the beginning of June has been fixed. The 2.5lbs I put on during the first two weeks have been eradicated. Fingers crossed my body has shifted back to loosing and I'll be able to shed my LAST 8 POUNDS.

Some even more good news, well at Taekwon-Do tonight, I unofficially ended up teaching the class. I started out doing the warm-up when the instructor for the night wanted to work one on one with a WTF TKD student trying out ITF TKD. So he asked me to take over the class. Its amazing how rusty skills just kicked back in. I led the class in patterns, reviewed the 9 (sometimes 8) training secrets, and critiqued some patterns. It felt good to be at the front of the class again.

Final item on the good news agenda, well good news for me. After e-mailing back and forth with Claire's Mom and phone call/cry from Claire... it was so good to hear from Claire. It's been decided and its booked. I'll be going back down to Jacksonville, Florida July 24-Aug 2nd to give my best friend the biggest hug ever. I feel so much better knowing that I'm going down to see her in a few weeks. So strange, this March was my first trip to Florida ever, and here I am going back within the same year. But I need to see Claire.

Its Home! Its Home!

Yay! Today my neighbourhood round robin came back home! I want to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful ladies who worked on my piece, I just love it and what you stitched on it! Yes, I do have two spare spaces and they will be filled by my friends Christin and Kathy.

Also on the stitching front, tonight I finished the "top secret" stitching project. So now I'll be able to switch over to ornaments (yes, more) I don't have as many as I'd like to for gifties! These ornies, I'll be able to share... Yay!

I am feeling much better now, thank you everyone for your well wishes. As I mentioned in my last post, the flu certainly can help on the weight loss front. I went and weighed in last night at a different Weight Watchers meeting (one in the next town over). I've dropped 5lbs in the last week! Eeek! So the trick is until my next weigh in, to be cautious with what I eat, be active, and so on (hard to do with my work Christmas Party tomorrow). This way I can do the least damage to my 5lbs loss. This current loss means I've hit the 50lbs milestone! While I'm happy about this I'm not swinging from the chandelier, if I can sustain this at my next weigh in then I'll truly celebrate.

Finally! A Happy Dance!!!

Finally! I feel like I've been working on Margaret's Neighbourhood Round Robin forever! I'm sure its only been about 2 weeks but it feels like a long time. I really like how the piece I chose turned out and I'll look forward to stitching the full design in the future for myself!

This is the whole RR

The Van Tassel Farm

Sleepy Hollow

c2007 Cross-Eyed Cricket

Stitched with DMC cotton

Now I'm about to embark upon several smaller projects and they're all for exchanges so unfortunately I won't be able to share any of them until they're received! I think first off I'm going to start with the Smalls Exchange since that deadline is most immanent! I've got a good idea of what I plan on stitching and finishing it.

Round Robin Update

Wow, Margaret's round robin is taking much longer than I expected! I'm still not done! Of course being busy and praying to the treadmill gods take up a lot of time! Here's her RR so far, hopefully it'll be done by the weekend.

I had another good night at the scale! I lost 1.5 lbs this week, I'm back up to 45lbs lost, actually 45.5 to be exact! C'mon 50!

Round Robin Progress

I want to say thank you to everyone who has left such kind comments about my appearance. The comments are certainly fantastic motivators, thank you! I'm not sure how the scales will treat me tomorrow. Despite my best to not clear my plate, make the best choices I could when dealing with a set menu. You just never are in control of how foods are cooked when you eat in a restaurant. I'll be very happy if I stay the same but won't be surprised if I see another gain at the scale.



I'm finally in the groove with Margaret's Round Robin! Its taken me awhile to find the umph to pick it up and get going! I'm almost done the roof on the Van Tassel Farm on Cross Eyed Cricket's Sleepy Hollow. I am afraid I'm going to run out of the grey I'm using on the roof! I've got one length of floss left, and I've got 5 very long rows left! There might be a panicked e-mail going to Christin tomorrow night to see if she's got the colour I need on hand (its one of the old DMC variegated... 50 something). If she doesn't have it I'll cross my fingers and hope that Ann has it in her shop, Knowledge and Needles I'm off for a weekend visit after work on Friday. Ann and I will be ornamentifying just the two of us and I'm looking forward to it!

This N' That

Hi readers, sorry I haven't blogged much in the last week. I haven't stitched much so there wasn't much to talk about and I didn't feel like spending a lot of time online so therefore, no blog entries. I'm tired so this'll be brief and most likely disjointed.

I've worked just a little on Margaret's Round Robin. Here it is so far.

I found a new craft for me to play with, Kumihimo its a form of Japanese braid making. Here's my first attempt, a little rough close to the note, but its getting better.

Finally its almost here! The Knit One Stitch Too retreat (formerly Cross Stitch Cupboard) is here! I am really looking forward to heading out to the Ganenoque Inn after work on Friday and meeting up with Kathy, my roommate this year. This is my fourth time at the retreat and not once have I had the same roommate twice! I wonder, do I snore???

Plugging Away At It

Greetings and salutations B.B.S.W. readers! Its mid week, and I'm looking forward to the weekend, just to be at the end of this work week. Gosh I feel like lately I've been working harder than I have in the past, or at least I seem to be constantly on my feet and on the go! The down side to being busy at work? It leaves a girl pretty pooped, and too tired to stitch!

I have squeezed in some stitching time in the last few days on Vonna's Neighbourhood Round Robin. I have managed to finish all the cross stitching on the little shop... I'm sure its a needlework shop ... the owner lives upstairs! I've got the perfect name for this little LNS, I'll leave that for the very last! I've also gotten a fair amount of backstitching done on this shop. Once I wrap that up (tomorrow?) I have to figure out the "extras" I should stitch to fill up the space left in my block. I'm thinking a street lamp (a la Narnia) maybe a bench ... a bike? Another cat on said bench? We'll see!

I'm quite excited I've got a model on the way either tomorrow or Friday! Its been a long time since I've done any stitching for Jennifer of Dragon Dreams! I will be stitching the model for her Dragon's Lullaby that she will be teaching at the Creativ Festival! Oooh this little sampler is so droolable I can't wait to start it! It'll be nice to stitch a model I'll enjoy.

I had a decent weigh in on Tuesday at Weight Watchers, I've lost a pound. Which means I'm on the downslope towards my goal weight, one pound past the 1/2 way mark! In the last few weeks since school has started I've treated myself to some new slacks and tops for work (why can't jeans be considered "work wear" as long as you dress them up?). The truth is ... after this summer none of my work clothes fit anymore. I'm still finding it hard, getting used to the compliments I'm receiving from my co-workers... quite a few people have complimented how I look multiple times. They feel great each and every compliment, but I guess I don't see the difference they do. I asked Todd last night if there is really that much of a difference in my appearance. He says yes there is.

I know when I go clothes shopping it is now enjoyable. I used to dread having to buy clothes, I'd wear things until they were faded and wearing thin. It would take me forever... an hour at least to find just one pair of pants that would fit in a manner that I was happy with. Tops, I'd often buy v-neck shirts with no graphics on them. That would be work clothes. Its very hard to find clothing that fits and fits nicely when you're a plus sized pettite! Now that I'm just out of plus sized clothing I can go into any shop (I used to only buy clothes in 2-3 particular stores) I want to find something that fits... and looks good! On Friday night I went into Danier Leather and drooled over the leather jackets. Oh I so want a new one, the one Todd got me for Christmas a few years ago is just too big now. I'll be looking forward to shopping for a new one when I hit goal, I don't want to spend that kind of money when I've got more weight to loose!

Enough blathering for tonight! Keep an eye for something I've got coming up.....

A Weekend At Home!!!

For the first time since the last weekend in July, I have spent a FULL weekend at home! Can you believe it? Every weekend for the last month and a half has been full of fun adventures, but every once in awhile its nice to be home and have your stuff (and your cats) around you!



So what did I spent me weekend doing? Since it was cold, miserable and rainy ... I stitched of course!



I pretty much spent two days working on Vonna's Neighbourhood RR, except the odd time when Hunter insisted on being on my lap, then I worked on my September ornaments. I have to say the house I picked for Vonna (which is actually more like a shop but I just loved it!) has so much confetti stitching! Argh, I'm sure I'd be done by now if it wasn't for that confetti. Vonna's worth the extra work anyhow!

P.S. that's not the best picture but its late and I don't care LOL!

Its a Start & Photo Hunt 125 : Beautiful

Well I survived the first day of school... and the second. I am pooped and my foot is sore, LOL big surprise.



I've gotten a start on Vonna's Neighbourhood Round Robin, it was MIA for awhile but one of our members went and got since we had a good idea of where it was and she didn't live too far away. I wish I had more progress than this to show (the roof) but this is one of my busier times of year.


I am going to try my best to get back at Photo Hunting! I've had a few commenters telling me they miss my participation. So here's last week's theme : Beautiful

This picture was taken back in 2005 when my Mum and I last went to Myrtle Beach, S.C. Being someone who lives inland and too many hours from the ocean, there's nothing more beautiful than a beach with the ocean waves lapping up on the shore.

When I weighed in last night the scale didn't budge an ounce!!! I suppose this is a good thing since I didn't track a single point all long weekend long!

Thank you everyone for your kind comments lately, I really appreciate each and every one!

Better Late Than Never .... right?

What a month its been! Its not quite over yet, but the end is near.


I've had yet another productive weekend! I finished four framing jobs, which I will share with you once my customers have received them. I have just four jobs left pending. Two I would very much like to get done by Thursday. The other two can wait until a little bit into July.


I managed to squeeze in a visit with Chrisanne on Saturday. The poor girl has completely lost her desire to stitch. I wonder what I can do to help foster the urge to stitch... ideas anyone? I brought her some stash I had picked up on her behalf a few months ago that didn't spark anything. Now on the other hand that evil girl has gotten me into play PackRat on Facebook! Argh! I vowed I wouldn't get sucked into Facebook. Oh well.


Today I also finalized what photos I'll be turning in for my photography assignment. I'll be happy to hand that in tomorrow night! My course ends on Wednesday and I'll be happy to have my evenings back! Until the fall when I plan to take another photography/photoshop course.



I also got to stitch! Yay! I finally finished Robyn's Neighbourhood RR! I've got it packed away and ready to go into the mail. It should of gone in the mail on June 1st.

West Coast Lighthouse

By Julia Lucas

Just Cross Stitch August 2002

Stitched with DMC cotton & Kreinik #4 Braid

My next item to stitch is round 7 of Fair and Square. I've got almost 1/2 of the block stitched. After this is done... I promise I'll do the finishing on Sally's gift that I've been promising her since April! I received these fantastic squares and gifts from Staci last weekend, as you (my readers know) I've not blogged in at least a week so this is the first chance I've had to share them with you.


I am just so embarrassed with how far behind I got on everything and apologies to anyone who I owe something to... you're getting it in the next week to two weeks!


As for the weight loss, last Tuesday's weigh in I stayed the same. I've got my fingers crossed for a 1 lbs loss this week then I'd hit the 25lbs mark, that's quite a milestone.

Quick Update

Hi everyone! Busy times again, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped this weekend, oh well I'll have to make up for that this week.

I finished one framing job (out of 5 I bought supplies for on Saturday). Another grad composite.

I've been stitching where I can find the time, here's Robyn's RR. Not much longer and it'll be in the mail!

Tomorrow is weigh in day. I'm not sure how I did this past week, my eating was a little bit all over the map. I did pretty well in terms of following the healthy guidelines and eating my points, but I've had weeks where I've eaten better. I just wrapped up at 30-Day trial at Curves, and I have to say very happy with the results. Between diet and exercise, in a month I've lost about 5lbs, 1% of my body fat, and about 7 inches! I would of liked to have continued with a Curves membership but I can get a better deal on a membership at Goodlife through a corporate plan. So my next step, checking out Goodlife. I've got someone I met through work (a supply teacher) who has her personal trainer's certificate and is willing to put together a plan for me.

I'm looking forward to the end of June and its not far away! This means my life will calm down... photography class will be over, the framing demands will slow down (I hope), and I might be caught up with my deadline stitching. Oh what a dream!

Yes! A Productive Weekend!!!

Wow! I'm so impressed with myself tonight, and with how much I've gotten done this weekend!

Saturday I got to sleep in, which I love doing. Once I was up and conscience I did a trip into town. I picked up a new prescription from Costco (we're trying a Beta-blocker for my migraines)... a possible side effect is weight gain... I hope not! Then to the bank... and finally, to Curves for a nice sweat! I tell you I don't feel like I've exercised unless I've broken a good sweat. Then it was back home... to clean the bathroom, have lunch, and start framing! So for about 6-7 hours I cut and built 4 frames, cut 3 double mats with two openings, cut foam core, assembled 3 of the mat sets into deep mats (had a base mat, built up foam core around it then put the mat with the openings on top so you have a deep opening so something isn't smashed up against the glass. Assembled on of the pieces completely. In between all of this I had to clean off the kitchen table so I'd have a second work surface... oh yeah did a load of laundry too!

Saturday night Todd surprised me and took me out for fish and chips... well he had fish and chips, I had fish and salad. I miss fries... I know I could have them if I counted my points for them but I just don't trust myself to have them! Oh and I enjoyed a beer too! After we got home I settled down and stitched a little on Robyn's past due RR.

Today I did three loads of laundry, and finished up 3 of my 4 framing jobs. It's nice to get them all wrapped in their brown paper ready to be delivered tomorrow! I'll share those pictures with you once they've been received by their owners. Also I did a little calligraphy on a bunch of certificates for work. I had hoped to settle down and stitch some more, but I found that a challenge this evening. So I'd stitch a little then go back to my workroom and started cutting out mat board for the next batch of frames to be done... 5 of them I believe, I should hunt the person down tomorrow for a proper figure.

Before I got going on the laundry and finishing my framing jobs, it was the weekend that the Ottawa Cycling Club does its run up my road. So at around noon I popped outside with my camera to try out some panning while they went by. It took some experimenting but I finally got a few descent shots!

Oh and I found this stunning and large columbine in bloom in my front garden the other day! The sad thing is I don't remember if I bought it or it just showed up. I find things have a way of suddenly sprouting in my gardens. I must have some industrious critters in my area!

What's This??? Stitching?

I have to say I think I'm getting good at multi-tasking!!! When I got home from work I just HAD to lie down for a nap! I was struggling to stay awake during my drive home. Once I was up I swapped back and forth between preparing dinner and cutting foam core & mat board for a framing job. While eating dinner I went through my e-mails and did some online stuff. Then while I watched "So You Think You Can Dance" (one of my guilty pleasures) I stitched, during the commercials I cut a double mat and mounted a photograph. So with this one framing job I'm down to building the frame, cleaning the glass and popping it all together. This is one item of four I need to have ready for Tuesday morning.

Soooo are you wondering what I've been stitching on and if I'm actually going to show it to you? The answer to this is yes! I've been working when I can on Robyn's RR, I am overdue with sending this piece out as the mail out date was June 1st. After contacting the moderator of the RR and the person I mail it to everyone is cool that I keep on working on it. I'm so pushed for time right now that I've started dragging this with me wherever I go, just in case I can find 10 minutes to work on it.

This is a West Coast Lighthouse from an older issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. I'm hoping that between waiting for glue to dry on various frames this weekend I'll be able to work on this and show you some descent progress!

Also yesterday I finally received Round 5 Fair & Square blocks from Hannah. The first set she stitched for me got lost in the black hole we so kindly call the postal system. Hanna was nice enough to re-stitch it and sent some lovely goodies along! Thank you Hanna.

A Finish and Stuff to Share!

First off, lets address that migraine...

Dear Migraine,

You have been a constant companion of mine for 23 years. You've allowed me to have some good migraine free weeks, the odd couple of months and even once, a few years when we parted company. I feel that in 2008 you haven't been so kind to me, you've almost travelled hand in hand with me for days at a time for the last three months. January and February were rough, March was pretty good, I'll give you that... However, the last three days are starting to wear on me! I can function today but I can still feel you're there in the background.

I don't like that pain behind my eye! I dislike it even more when you gift me with nausea. You make me go to bed and sleep for hours, you sometimes even make me want to cry... you make me struggle to make it to the end of my work day. I refuse to give in... most of the time.

I think I've had enough now, and you can go away.

Sincerely,

Dani

Today I had a lovely little parcel in my mail from Peg H., a blogger I have not had the privilege yet of knowing. There are so many blogs out there, and its hard to get to them all! Peg it turns out was assigned me for the Stitching Blogger's Birthday Club which I joined for the first time this year. I received this lovely parcel from Peg!

A gorgeous biscornu

And lots of stashy goodness! A Silver Lining Chart (off of my wish list!) and a Cat's Whisker's chart which I'll love getting to, as I like learning finishing techniques! Two lakeside linens small cuts, and one Silkweaver all in beautiful colours. Also there's 3 skeins of Waterlillies oh-la-la! And some note cards, which I really needed. Thanks Peg for a fantastic birthday parcel, that brightened up my day!

Tonight my migraine seemed to stay in the background. It was there but not bad enough to send me to bed. So I worked away on Debby's Neighborhood RR, and finally finished it... a couple of days late.

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - House 11

c Carriage House Samplings

Stitched with DMC cotton

Hmmmm now what will I stitch on tomorrow?????