Mom's Birthday

I'm having a pretty hard weekend. Tomorrow my mom would have been 84. This is her first birthday not on earth, and I feel so alone and lost. I still miss her so much. We took the day off tomorrow so we can go to the cemetery. The last few years, on my mom's birthday, we took her to the casino. She really enjoyed it, and I'm so glad we did it so I have those memories. I'm thinking of stopping there after the cemetery, just to play a machine or two in her memory.

Other than that, I've been stitching on my Friendly Felines pretty steadily on the train home from work, and while watching TV at night when there is time. I'm pleased with my progress. 

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International Hermit & Stitch Weekend

This was the perfect weekend for me to join the International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. My DH had to work on Saturday, so he went to sleep a little early Friday night. I stayed up and stitched. Then Saturday I did some shopping, some cleaning, some cooking, and then hermitted myself away and stitched. Sunday, DH wanted to hang for a few hours with one of his friends, which was fine with me, cause I got to do some more IHSW time.



Friday morning this area of the piece was completely empty. This is the progress I made this weekend.

Thanks for looking!

What a Difference the Fabric Makes

When I decided to make the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL, I had only worked on 14 ct Aida. At the time, I had very little faith in my abilities, and never thought I could work over 2, so I bought a piece of  pink and purple 14 ct Aida from Silkweaver Fabrics. At some point I decided to throw caution to the wind and try stitching over 2 on 28 ct fabric, and I totally fell in love.

I think this is part of the reason I am not enjoying the SAL as much as I should be. It's a beautiful design, but I enjoy stitching over 2 much more. Plus, I realize now, the Aida is SO STIFF! I spent almost all September and about half of August working on the Faces of Joan Elliott SAL. When I picked up my Friendly Felines it was like I had died and gone to heaven. The stitching seemed so much smoother and the fabric so soft and pliable.

I did get a little more done on the Faces. I did all the backstitching on the upper left fairy and most of the metallic stitching and backstitching on the dragon.

But mostly I worked on my Felines. Below you can see how far I got by the end of Thursday evening -- before the International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. I've decided I'm going to keep working on this for as long as I continue to enjoy it. And definitely all weekend. After I took this picture, I moved my frame back to the top row of cats.

If I feel like working on the Faces one evening -- great. If not, that is okay too. Right now I feel at piece with my stitching. Please check back after Monday to see how far I got over the IHSW.

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Still in Small Making Mode

I don't have much to report this week, but I am happy to report that I have completed another small piece that I will ultimately turn into some sort of greeting card. I think it will be nice for someone with a birthday in the spring.

I have decided I am going to work on my Friendly Felines while traveling to and from work this coming week. I haven't worked on it since our cruise in April. This is as far as I had gotten, let's see what I can get done by the end of the week.

If I have time to stitch in the evening and on the weekend, I am going back to my Faces of Joan Elliott SAL. I just want to get it done, but I am not having fun working on it anymore. My goal is to get all the backstitching, and all metallic thread stitching done by the end of October. But, honestly, I will be happy with any progress at all!

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TUSAL and Unsuccessful Solo September

I am proud to announce that I actually took this picture of my ORTs on the New Moon! This is for Daffycat's TUSAL. I have been getting a good amount of stitching done this month, so my little boot is full, full, full! I decided to empty it after taking this picture so we will see how far I get filling it up again by the next new moon. My baggie has been added to as well, but it doesn't show as much. Not yet... it will. I have confidence! Ha!

Unfortunately, I do not have much confidence that I will finish my Faces of Joan Elliott SAL before the end of the year. :-( My original goal was to have this done and finished as a pillow for my cousin's November 4th birthday. Well, that is clearly not going to happen. I worked on this project for the first 25 days of the month as my Solo September project. I'm happy that the basic cross-stitch is done. But once I took it out of the Q snaps to move and start the backstitching... well, I just couldn't convince myself to finish off the month with it.




Instead I decided to make a little cupcake letter for a future birthday card. I think these designs are so cute, and making this small project just made me happy. That is what my stitching is supposed to do -- make me happy. Hopefully, the card I make with this will also make someone else happy. Planning to send it to my sister-in-law.







I thought about going back to the Faces...
but...
no...
another small for a card was in order. Got this adorable card kit with my subscription to World of Cross Stitch and decided I would make this into a birthday card for my cousin so I wouldn't feel so bad about not finishing the Faces. Maybe she will get the pillow for Christmas... more likely Valentine's Day. Oh well, I'm not going to beat myself up too badly over this. I use my cross stitch as a sedative, and it doesn't work as well if I'm not fully enjoying the project.


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Moving and Grooving through my Solo September

Once again a positive mixed with a negative. The negative is that my hubby had to spend the whole day helping a friend move. It was the right thing to do, but the weather was spectacular, and we weren't able to go anywhere or do anything fun. The positive is that I had a lot of time to stitch yesterday (and I did spend most of the day in the backyard stitching while watching the birds) so I've really been moving and grooving through my Solo September project.



I decided I would go through this face one color at a time, and I even tried to take a picture as each color was finished. Making it a little more fun to see the design develop.











As you can see, I haven't been totally successful getting a picture after each color...

...but here is a sampling of the progress I've been making this week.

I'm feeling good that I will have this face finished, or at least really close to being finished by this time next week.

With this getting somewhat close to being done, I've started thinking about the next project I'm going to begin working on. As much as I would like to go back to my Friendly Felines, I really think I need to start the wedding announcement for my friend who is planning a wedding for next summer. I gave him this card (I did add a little silver ribbon bow after taking this picture) and he started crying because I took the time to make him a card. Since I'm such a slow stitcher, if I don't start working on this now, it will not be ready in time. And based on his reaction to this silly little card, I think he will appreciate the wedding announcement.


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15 Years

Hard to believe the 9/11 attack was 15 years ago. It still feels so fresh and raw. This is always a hard day for my husband, Michael. He was at the WTC when the planes hit the towers, and saw things no one should ever have to see. Every year we go to one of the memorials, and just spend some quiet time. It helps in the healing, but I'm not sure he will ever fully heal.

We started at Eisenhower Park, on Long Island, NY. Not good for healing. In spite of there being a memorial there, with two pieces of steel from the WTC, there was no sign of any type of ceremony being conducted. Not even a plastic wreath. Michael was very upset.

So we went to Point Lookout, where they always have a ceremony, and they did not disappoint. Michael felt better, especially when we saw some people there whom we saw at Eisenhower. They too were upset about the lack of a sign of remembrance at Eisenhower. We spoke for a few minutes and it felt better that there are still people who care and will travel for an opportunity to show their continued love and support for those lost, and who lost loved ones.

A not so pleasant day to end the weekend with, but a pleasant weekend. Michael and I both took Friday off. It was very hot, so we did a bunch of shopping, and then spent the day watching TV (and stitching).

Yesterday we decided to go for a walk in spite of the incredible heat. It was in the 90s with high humidity, but we found a park with shady trails and did a 3.7 mile hike. From the hike we went to a local brewery, Moustache Brewing Co., for a tasty flight, and then to a local restaurant, Senior Taco, for a tasty dinner. Finally, back home for TV and more stitching.













Took this picture this morning, but now, I am happy to report I have finished this square. This means I am only one square away from being done with the cross-stitching part of this project. Then I just need to wash, do the cross-stitching with the metallic thread, do all the back-stitching, and add the beads. OMG, when I list it out like that, I feel like I will NEVER finish!



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