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.

In Memory of Mom

I know I haven't posted an update for a while. The holidays really got in the way of life, but I thank heavens they did. Starting with my mom's birthday on Oct. 24th, I have wonderful memories. My husband and I took her to Resorts Casino. I gave her some money to play with, and I know she had a really good time. She even won a few dollars, and just generally had a good time. From there we took her to dinner at Vincent's Restaurant, which was a restaurant she had wanted to go to for the longest time and really enjoyed on a previous visit. They even remembered her and brought her a free desert for her birthday.

Thanksgiving I finally had the opportunity to have the family to the house. It was an ongoing sore issue for me, but things finally worked out that we were able to host, and I got to spend the day before hanging and preparing with my mom. The dinner itself was wonderful and my mom and I were happy that we were able to spend the time together as a family.

My cousin's birthday is a few days before Christmas, and each year she has a little get together. We all exchanged presents, and had a lovely dinner and just generally a wonderful evening with almost the whole family. We have a wonderful picture of my mom, me, Michael, and the birthday girl Jennifer.

Christmas we were able to spend a relaxing day with Michael's sister and nephews. Since Christmas was on Friday we didn't have to rush home. We took our time with the meal. We just sat after dinner and talked. No rush. Just laughs, love, and happiness.

On New Year's Day I didn't get my morning text from my mom. She had passed during the night. But I have all these wonderful memories of our last holiday season together.

November is Here

Can anyone believe that it is November? Didn't we just start the year? I really do not know where the days are going. I have so many plans at the beginning of each month and then it's the end of the month and nothing got done. The only good thing about this month is that I feel like I got a few good hours of cross-stitching in here and there.

I did realize something pretty important. I can only start as many projects as I plan on rotating through regularly. After getting a week in on the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL in October, I couldn't forget about it. After I got a week in on the FOTM and the birth announcement, I couldn't resist doing another week on Faces. So now I have a three project rotation. And that is where I need to stay. I absolutely refuse to start anything else (unless it is a bib for a baby shower) until what I am working on now is done. Then I will decide if I am going to have a two project or three project rotation. But if I start something else, I'll have to add it in,,, and then nothing will ever get done.

I did get two weeks in on the Wild Rose FOTM, and I am pleased with the progress I made. I think I have to thank the nice weather we have been having here in New York. It has just been too nice to do stuff inside, so I've been spending as much time in the backyard as possible. And therefore, I'm getting a little more stitching time in.

The Joan Elliott birth announcement is also moving along well. Got one week in in October, and another this last week. As with the FOTM, I am pleased with the progress I've made.















And yes, I finally did get the top row of my HAED, Lobo, done. In fact, I have been so motivated that since this picture was taken, I got another 3,000 stitches done.

Plan for this month is to stick to my now three piece rotation and not add anything else to it. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.

October Update

Well here we are again for my monthly update. First up, the Flower of the Month SAL. I finished the May Lily of the Valley. It is my least favorite of the entire series. I even considered skipping it, but I knew if I did that I would never do it and I do want the entire 12 month collection. In the end I was very happy with the way it came out. I'm also pleased with the fabric I chose for it. I really did not think I was going to be able to stitch over two. It sounded so difficult. But being me I just had to try it, and I LOVE it! I don't understand why, but it's not really difficult at all, and I just love the way the higher count fabric makes the finished product look. As soon as I use up all the 14 count Aida that I bought I will definitely not be buying any more.









But right now I still have a few projects that will be stitched on 14 count Aida. For example, the birth announcement I started a few months ago for my friend who had her first baby in July. This is now what I am considering my main project. I must have it completed by the baby's first birthday. I think I should be okay as long as I stick to my plan of working on it two weeks each month.


I have realized, however, why so many people buy a kit but then use their own fabric and threads. The fabric that came with this kit isn't too bad, but the thread is terrible. It is so twisted. It's even hard to separate the threads. Once separated they are getting very knotted as I'm using them. I think I am going to stay away from kits going forward.




During the last week of the month, I started my newest project, the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL. Again, this is on 14 count Aida which I bought specifically for this project when I first decided to make it. I wish it was 28 count, but the fabric is pretty, and I am very happy with the results of my first week of work on it. This will become my main project once the birth announcement is complete.


Lobo continues to develop very slowly. I haven't even taken a picture in quite a while. I normally get most of my Lobo stitching done on the weekend, but this weekend I didn't get one stitch in. I think it was a good thing because now I am extremely eager to get back to it. I am hoping when I prepare my next post I will have completed the entire top row. I refuse to take a picture before then.


Going forward I plan to work on the FOTM SAL (starting the June Wild Rose) the first and third week of the month, and the birth announcement the second and fourth weeks.

Summer is Almost Over!

I always feel a little depressed at the end of summer, and I'm really feeling a little bummed this year. I spent the summer with my mother while she was recovering from her surgery and missed sitting in the backyard and doing the gardening. The condition of our garden is truly sad. I'm also bummed over the fact that I didn't get more done in August for the Flower of the Month SAL, hosted by Alyssa at Brownie's Chair. This is the first month this year I did not spend my planned two weeks working on the SAL. I spent the first two weeks of the month finishing my Woodland Rabbit. Admittedly, that actually made me very happy, but then the end of summer blues started to hit.



I started working on Lily of the Valley which is my least favorite of the flowers. To make it more enjoyable I decided to use an orange fabric I got through a fabric of the month club, and I'm working it 2 over 1, which I have become absolutely addicted to. But still I have an issue with Lily of the Valleys. It goes back to my first gardening experience in my life. When we bought our house nine years ago, we did a little relandscaping on one small section of the front lawn. We dug everything up and planted new decorative grasses. I had lived my whole life in an apartment, so this was my first gardening project and I was very excited and proud. Well, suddenly all of these plants start coming up, right in the middle of our grassws! I was hysterical! It was Lily of the Valley. It took us an entire weekend, digging down at least 8 inches to get rid of all the roots. And for three years after that, in spring we would still get a few popping up that we had to dig out before they took over again. After one week the cross stitch version is coming out rather nicely though and I hope to have it finished in September, as I am going to dedicate three weeks to the FOTM this month.

After only one week working on the Lily of the Valley I was told that the baby who was due in September had arrived, so I had to finish the Ten Tiny Toes Birth Announcement. It only took me one week to finish, and I think my stitching on this piece is the most consistent of anything I have made so far. I also loved working over two and working on colored fabric instead of white. This piece, as small and simple as it is, really took my stitching to a whole new level.


And Lobo keeps moving along, slowly but surely. I am close to finishing the first row of pages, and finally the ears are complete.

So for the month of September, the first three weeks are being dedicated to the FOTM SAL and the last week will move to another birth announcement that I want to have completed for that baby's first birthday in July of 2016. The last week of the month I am going to start a new project, but more on that next month if all goes according to plans.