Making Progress

For the last two weeks I've been working on The Twelve Days of Christmas from the Plum Street Samplers. I am really loving this project and I am so happy with my progress.

I'm especially pleased with my progress since this is the first time I've worked on 32 count (a little small) and the first time I've worked on linen. I'm not loving the unevenness in the threads (slobs, slugs?? I know they have a name) but it is not as difficult to work around as I feared. If I found a fabric in the future that only came in linen, I would no longer immediately put it aside as a 'no go.' If I really liked the color of the fabric and had a project in mind that would look good on it, I would get it.

My other excitement for this week is that I registered for a sewing class at Joanne's Fabrics. I'm actually really excited. Hopefully, I will learn quickly, or at least at a reasonable speed, and I will then be able to learn to use my mother's machine. I'm having a little trouble finding the instruction manual for her exact model, but someone once said that I am nothing if not persistent, so...

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to post a comment. I do love reading them.

Feeling Really Proud

I have finally finished one of my finished projects! All by myself! I realize that most of you will not find this very impressive, but this was a really big accomplishment for me. I want to send out a huge Thank You to Needlework Tips & Techniques for the incredible instructions that made this possible. I know it's not perfect, and I have a ways to go, but for a first, I am really proud. I think my mom would have been pretty proud of me too.











I'm also pleased with my work on this week's project. I knew I was going to love this Flower of the Month with the beautiful blues, and I am so happy I decided to use a soft pink fabric. Because of my lack of finishing ability, I've not done anything with the previous six FOTMs and was planning on trying to finish all of them at the same time when all 12 were completed. But I may try to frame this one first since it is definitely my favorite so far. Should be able to finish it the next time it comes around in my rotation.

And last, but not least for this week, I've decided to join the Totally Useless SAL being sponsored by Daffycat. You can find the link here. So here is my March picture of my ORTs. I just recently emptied them, so I'll be able to watch their development along with everyone else!

Well, thanks for visiting! Feel free to leave a comment. I really enjoy them.

Quiet End to a Crazy Week

This week was our AAALAC visit at work. Let's suffice it to say it is a huge inspection that is very important. If that does not make it stressful enough, the head of the department gets so crazy that the hysteria trickles down to the point everyone in the department reaches what I call 'psycho level'. By the time the visit started on Thursday, most of us were running on empty. On Friday, it didn't matter who you spoke to, the answer to the question, "You doing okay today?" was a standard, "I'm okay, just so tired." Honestly, I cannot tell you how many times, I received that exact answer!

The good news is that it was worth it. We received a wonderful debriefing report. The site visitors told us numerous times that we had a wonderful program and should be proud of it. They specifically mentioned several sections, and felt our training (my department) was one of the areas we excel in. A rewarding experience in the end, but so exhausting.

As a result I didn't have as much time to stitch this week as I would have liked. I did stitch a little each night in an effort to unwind, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.

Today is my 50th birthday. The plan is to do nothing! Well, nothing but fun things, or at least the things I want to do. I've decided I am going out in the backyard as soon as it gets warm enough - might be there now actually - and I will enjoy listening to the birds while I stitch on my July Flower of the Month. Maybe have a glass of wine...

Thanks for visiting! Leave a comment or two if you like, I really love reading them!

Moving On

Leaving my mom's apartment last week and handing in the keys turned out to be harder than expected. Even though I haven't lived there for 30 years, it wasn't just her apartment, it was still my home. That was where I grew up. Seeing it empty and walking out knowing it was no longer ours... I still can't put into words the feeling. For at least 40 years she would sit in her kitchen window at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and wave to her neighbors and the people in the building as they walked by, or entered or left the building. So many have told me they look up everyday, still expecting to see her. Others can no longer enter through 'the ramp' cause she isn't there. But the new people moving in won't even know she existed.

But I am trying to move on, and accept the changes in my life. But it's not easy. I'm never sure when a wave of sadness and loss is going to come over me.

I'm sticking with my stitching for the most part, which is bringing me some peace and relaxation. Since my last entry I worked on 12 Days of Christmas for another week, and then moved to the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL for the past week. I'm pleased with the progress I've made on both projects, and I'm more confident that I will finish them in time for Christmas and my cousin's birthday, respectively. The question still is will I be able to finish them off into pillows. But I think that will be a story for a future entry.

Hoping to finish this face this coming week (except for back-stiching and beading) and then spending another week with my July Flower of the Month. 

Thank you for visiting, and please post a comment! I really appreciate them.

Finally a Weekend to Relax

My mom's apartment is almost completely empty and we are almost ready to hand over the keys. I'm glad we are almost done. It's been a long two months, going there every Saturday and Sunday, going through all of her stuff, trying to decide what to keep, what to sell, what to donate, and what to trash. The trashing was the hardest. It was her stuff.., her life... how can it be trash? But we couldn't keep it all. But as much as I look forward to not going to the apartment every weekend, seeing it empty, and realizing that in just a few more days it will no longer be hers... She will be completely gone... Like she was never there... Someone else will move in, and never even know she was ever there. Do I need to say, I'm not sleeping well lately?

I know she lives on in the people she touched, and she touched so many people. She also lives on in the memory of so many of my friends who she made baby blankets for. I think that is what is making me so obsessed with picking projects as gifts for people, over working on projects for myself. I was hoping to finish the Flower of the Month this year, get them all framed, and start putting them up in 2017, but I've decided to put more of my stitching time into some projects that I want to use as gifts.

So this past week I've worked on the 12 Days of Christmas SAL which I want to gift to my sister and brother in law. Since I don't have that much stitching time available, and I'm still a pretty slow stitcher, I've decided that this and Faces of Joan Elliott SAL (also planning to give as a gift) will get two weeks per rotation visit, and the FOTM will only get one week.

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I never really celebrated Valentine's Day, even when my husband and I first got together. But every year my mother sent me a card. This year my 11 year old cousin sent me a card. She told her parents that ChuCha (that's what she called my mom - Ukranian for aunt or something) probably sent me a card each year, and now she should send me one. Kids are so amazing sometimes. Made me cry and smile at the same time.

I got a bit of stitching done this week. Really set my mind to working on my stitching on my way to work. The morning is the hardest time, since I called my mom on my way into work everyday to make sure she was okay. So, I'm finding the stitching on the train, and for a few minutes once I get into the office, to be a bit settling. It's filling a bit of the void.

Finally got back to the Flower of the Month SAL. I finished June at the end of November, and put it on a little bit of a back burner until I could get the birth announcement done. With that done I decided to get back to my FOTM (started July) and the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL (almost done with the second square) and about to start the Plum Street Samplers 12 Days of Christmas. I realize I'm like the Queen of Last Year's SAL. I learn about them after my year is booked with other projects. I swear next year I will not plan anything until January so if I find a 2017 SAL I like, I will actually work on it in 2017.

Start of 2016 Stitching

I've been finding it hard to get really motivated about my stitching this month. I've kind of been finding it hard to get motivated to do anything really. We've been spending all our weekends at my mother's apartment, trying to empty it out before the end of this month. That's when her lease runs out and we have to get out. It's weird that she never renewed it. She was always so careful about thing like that. But it seems on some level she just knew she wouldn't be around.

It's been hard going through her things. It was where I was born and grew up. She was there for more than 50 years. Everywhere you look there is a memory. I've taken a lot of stuff home, but I don't really want it, just can't get rid of it yet. And then when I get home, I don't want to do anything. But we are almost done, and hopefully, once the apartment is empty, and I have some time to relax I will get back to my old patterns of stitching. I miss it because it really does relax me. Just not much relaxing me these days.

But I have gotten a little bit done this month. I am happy to report that I have finally finished the Joan Elliott Birth Announcement I was working on for my friend. She is having the Christening in New Jersey at the end of the month, and if the apartment is empty and we can spare the time, we are invited. I would love to give her the birth announcement as part of the gift. I have everything I need, I just have to wash and press and get it in the frame. I need to spend a lot of time improving my french knotting, but otherwise I am really happy with how it came out.

I'm not ready to get back into a real rotation, but I decided I would work on the July Flower of the Month for the next week, maybe two, or maybe even until it is done. I'll see how I feel at the end of the week, and make my decision then.