A little is better than nothing, right?

Since this is supposed to be a blog primarily about stitching, I figured I'd chat about that first. That way, if none of the other rambling thoughts I have appeal to you, you can just move on! I'm all about saving your precious time! First up is my Prairie Schooler Year SAL with Julie. As you'll recall, we're stitching one square a month and an empty May basket tells you, I'm not quite up to speed. My goal, originally, was to do each block at the first of the month. Unfortunately for the last two months, I've barely finished by months end. I will finish this before the end of May but just barely. It is being stitched over one on 30 count R&R Iced Cappuccino linen with DMC. I know I will love this when it's done but I can't say it's the most fun thing I've ever stitched. Luckily, one block a month is doable..... but barely! What do you think? I threw the nickel and my needle in there so you'd have a point of reference as to size. Really, that's about all I've worked on for the last couple of weeks. I am not sure where in the world my time has gone but it hasn't gone to stitching.
The exciting news for me is that a very sweet person (you know who you are!) sent me the BOAF Friendship chart I mentioned in my last post! Whoo Hoo and thank you, thank you, thank you! I can not wait to stitch this chart that I've been on the hunt for since I first saw it. I have to order some linen and fibers for it and I'll be on my way. Isn't this stitching community a wonderful place? I never imagined that I would meet, and become friends with, so many wonderful people when I first began perusing stitching sites or started this blog.

Okay, that's pretty much it for stitchy news.... Forge ahead at your own risk!

Up next is the cabinet I got a few weeks back from my frame shop that went out of business? Remember, it was the Yankee Candle display I got for all of $25!? Do you remember what it looked like before? Here's the original:


Here's how it looks now:

You know, I can remember when my mom used to refinish furniture ~ back in the day when you'd buy an antique and strip it and then "antique" it. I can hear the wizards on Antiques Roadshow now...."Yes, it is a beautifully constructed blanket chest and had you not "antiqued" it this lovely avacodo color, it would be worth $25,000. As it is, it is only worth $25." Of course, I'm not saying that about this cabinet - just re-doing it made me remember......

This is the planted tree I got for Mother's Day. As you can see, the neighbors patio sits up quite a bit from our lawn and they can peer right into our yard - why bother with a privacy fence? They put that up, not us..... Anyway, as you can see the little tree has a way to grow to give me the shielding I really desire but it's a start. I'm sure they were thrilled when they saw it as it will also give them a shield from my prying eyes! I love the chicken I found at DAWN's SHOP checking out the flowers at the trees base. You may have to click on the pic for a better look.



I can't, for the life of me, remember who recommended this book on their blog - but I got it, listened to it and LOVED it and highly recommend you read or listen to it as well. If you recommended this on your blog, please send me a note so I can thank you and let you know how much I loved it. I loved listening to it on cd because all the characters are british and what beautiful accents they have! I would not have "heard" it properly in my brain had I read it. This really should go on your reading list! Really, a must read!!


Finally, I will leave you with some pictures from the Relay for Life we participated in with our Boy Scout Troop a couple of weekends ago. Our tent was amazing and they used glow sticks to light up the whole thing at night - it was AWESOME. We bought 4 luminaries for folks we know that have either had and survived some form of cancer or are currently battling cancer. Tyler walked and worked at this the whole day - Rob and I were there for a good chunk of the day and night but it really was amazing. The entire High School track was lined, on both sides of the track, with luminaries. My pics don't do it justice but it was a really amazing night. To those two that are battling, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers and that we continue to lift you up and pray for your well-being and full recovery. To those that have survived, you can't know how glad we are that you are still in our lives! Be well, all of you and all of you that are fighting, have fought or will fight this awful disease (Doris,I am thinking of your mother as I write this) keep the faith.




Peace,
Terri

A Start, a Finish and a Question

It's a cloudy and cool day here in Michigan. I'm home today waiting for a tree to be delivered and planted. My Rob and boys gifted me with an Adirondack Crabapple tree to offer a bit more privacy (eventually) in my back yard for Mother's day. No more need be said, right?

I finally started The Primitive Needle's ABC Hornbook. I love this sampler and can't wait to finish it. I am missing a couple of skeins of floss but it's coming along. I stitched the first row of the verse in the wrong color so had to rip that out and do it over but it won't take too much longer to finish that row and move on.



I finished the last of the BoaF Virtues a couple of weeks ago and just got around to taking a picture. I ordered frames before my framer's store closed and she will frame them at her home for me. I think these are just the cutest little samplers and I love the colors in them. I used mine, Rob's, Matt's and Ty's initials in one sampler each.


My Question is this: Have any of you stitched this sampler? It's by Birds of a Feather and it's called the Friendship Sampler. I would really like to stitch this but can't find it. It is posted on Emli's website but I don't think they actually have it. I've heard it's OOP but I don't know that for sure. If you have this, and would be willing to trade, sell or take one of my kids for it, I'd be happy to hear from you.
Just kidding about the kids of course.... sort of! ;-)

That's all the news that is news for today. I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Thank you so much about the comments on my last post (and all my posts). I love hearing from you and I appreciate that you take the time.

Peace,
Terri

Mothers and Daughters on Mother's Day

Forty-nine years and nine month's ago, I became a daughter and this beautiful woman became a mother for the first time. How lucky I was to be the first born to this special lady!!! She was beautiful then and she is still today. And, as beautiful as she is on the outside, she's more beautiful on the inside. She would, and has, done anything for me and I know that I can always count on her support, guidance and love. My mom lives in Virginia and I live in Michigan so I don't get to see her nearly as often as I'd like. We always have a great time together because we like the same things - antiques, shopping, crafting (she's an amazing sewer but I did not inherit that talent), we think the same, find the same things funny and now, many of my friends say we look a lot alike ~ I'll let you decide that for yourself. This picture was taken this past Christmas when she and my dad were visiting us for the holidays. I love spending time with this beautiful woman and I so wish we could spend the day together today. I miss you, Mom and wish you a very, very Happy Mother's Day! I love you with all my heart!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Peace,
Terri

Today's the Day

It was 18 years ago today that I woke up at 3AM and told Rob that I thought I was in labor. Granted, he was sound asleep but his reply, which may not surprise you was, "Can we sleep a couple more hours? What??? No - get up!" So, after a few harried moments, because we really weren't ready because this blessed event wasn't supposed to happen for 3 more weeks, we were off to the hospital. My doctor came into the room around 8:30 AM and I'll never forget Rob's expression 'cause my doctor had a long leather coat on with his hair pulled back in a long ponytail. Not exactly what Rob was expecting - I loved him, though! He said, "I'll be back late this evening - you've got a long day ahead of you." An hour and a half later, the nurses were scrambling to get him back to the hospital because this kid wanted out NOW! Matthew was born at 11AM on this day, 18 years ago. He was the most beautiful baby and it was the most wonderful Mother's Day imaginable. Matthew was in a hurry to get out that day and he's been in a hurry ever since! He is one on-the-go kid and he has kept us busy! This child of mine has brought me so much joy, laughter, and fun - along with the worry and frustration of a growing teenager but I wouldn't trade a moment. Matt is a wonderful, caring and generous kid and I love him so!

This is Matt:


This is Matt with his date, Katie, last night for Prom:



GNO was last night in Holly and Deb, Julie and I all met there. We did some shopping - no major damage but here are a few of the goodies I got:
Crossroads Candles were on sale and they are the best smelling candles and they burn completely - love 'em!


I found this cute little crow at Dawn's shop and just love him:


Also got this tissue box at Dawns shop - I'm going to paint over the wording (sorry, Dawn) but I love it - it will hang on the wall in the bathroom.



Got this brass shoe shine thingy at a silent auction for $14. No idea what I'll do with it but I thought it was interesting:


Got this little box at Dawn's shope as well - isn't it cute?



And finally, this quilt - I got this for $28! Can you believe it? I love it, it's really soft, pretty old although how old, I have no idea and it's in relatively good shape. For $28 I couldn't pass it up:


That's about it for today - started stitching on the Primitive Needle's ABC Hornbook and much to my horror, realized I had stitched the entire first line of the poem in the wrong color. AGH! I wasn't crazy about the color and Lisa must not have loved it either 'cause the one she intended is much better. So.... a froggin' I will go!
Have a great rest of the day. We'll be partying for Matt's b-day tonight.

Peace,
Terri

I've been holding out

I'm warning you up front, this is a picture laden post! I have been holding out on all of you. I wanted to surprise you with a grand finish but I just can't wait any longer. This is Dutch Beauty, almost complete. It is stitched on 36 count Edinborough Cream with the called for fibers. How long do you think it'll be till it's finished?



You can see from the cover of the pattern that this has been well used!


Isn't this a beautiful stitch and I just love the fabric! But, I have to tell you the truth - oh, I wish it were April Fool's Day - this is not mine (like you had any doubt whatsoever!) but it belongs to a lovely woman from our guild named Paula Wolfe. Here's a picture of Paula with HER sampler:

Isn't this the most beautiful thing? I swear, when she held it up, and I got close enough to really look at at, I got chills. I never thought I would want to stitch this but I'm telling you, Paula's work was flawless and it could not have been prettier. I asked her if I could post a little joke about it here and she was gracious enough to say yes. I just had to show this to you all - it really is amazing. Paula, if you're reading this post, please bring it to the next KSSG because I knowDEBis going to want to see it. Do you think I feel intimidated by women that create things like this when what I had there to work on was BoaF Patience? You bet your sweet bippy I do!!!!
Here's a pic of Julie working on Wayward Garden (Drawn Thread) with some of the church stained glass behind her.

Julie, Carol and I all ended up on a cozy couch 'cause all the tables were taken when we got there. Here's a pic of Carol -

Some of you may know her from Legacy (Carol in Toledo) or something like that. She's just the sweetest thing and the three of us had quite a good time stitching and talking and laughing.

This was today's project at Guild - a pinkeep made out of a clam. Our Guild president, Sharon designed it and I just love it.
This is the front of the needlebook - a stitched mermaid! Don't worry Deb, I got your kit and picked a very pretty shell for you!

Here's the back - a real clam shell! And just look at those tiny little shells that go on the end of the ties. Gorgeous!!!!

And this is the inside - pretty, isn't it?

There's a small needlebook that goes with it:

Isn't this the cutest set ever?! Sharon sold us the kit with everything we needed in the package to complete ours (except the skills) for $25. I'll show you mine when and if I ever get it completed.

I'm going to go work on this little angel doll I found at Marshall's HomeGoods. She was all of $9.99 and I think she's so cute. I'm going to paint her wings to get rid of the writing and I think she'll look like a million! She already looks old - I just loved her face and for $10 how can you go wrong?



We also have a drawing at each meeting and today I won! It was certainly worth the price of a ticket or five. Funny thing is.... when the called the numbers, I looked at mine and thought in my head the numbers were ahead of my starting number but they were not. Julie looked at my ticket and said, "You Won" that's the cleaned up version!!! ;-) Yeah, I haven't been diagnosed with dyslexia but I'm beginning to wonder........

Okay, that's it for today! I hope you all have a wonderful week and that the weather is beautiful wherever you are. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment - it's nice to know you're out there!

Peace,
Terri

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I am all about RECYCLING! I worry about the state the planet will be in when my kids have kids and we, as a family, try to recycle as much as we possibly can. This post will not be a lecture on recycling though so breathe easy. I do want to share with you why those words are so apropos today.

First, my stitching time has been REDUCED significantly of late. First, it was getting my room finished. Finally finishing it has helped some but still, stitching production has been greatly REDUCED. All I have to show you is this little bitty square from my PS monthly stitch-a-long with Julie. It is being stitched over one so it is small and I think when it's done, it'll be oh so cute.

I am afraid that as the weather continues to warm up and the time I want to be outside increases, my stitching time will be REDUCED even more.

Remember I told you that my local frame shop was closing? With the store closing, everything was on sale so I asked if they were selling the various fixtures throughout the store. The answer was yes but they weren't sure how much everything would be. I told them I was interested in the Yankee Candle display. Well.... turns out they were selling it for a mere, hold onto your hat, $25!! Yep, that's right, $25!!! Oh yeah, I want one of those!!! I have an old entertainment center in my family room that Rob and I have had since we got married. It's lived way past it's prime and it's time to REDUCE my home of that ugly thing and bring in something "new". Thanks to all my new Prim Blogging friends, I knew I could repaint, distess and use this as a new entertainment center. It is the perfect size to hold a flat screen t.v. and the many shelves above will hold all kinds of goodies. I put the black paint on this afternoon and hope to finish it up tomorrow. How do you think this'll turn out? Here's the before pic:

You'll have to stay tuned for the after pic but I am hopefull it's going to look great! Isn't this a great way to REUSE and RECYCLE? Plus, I feel like I'll have a little bit of the history of our quaint downtown in my own home. How fun!

Speaking of fun, this has been a great day! Ty had his friend Alex sleepover last night so I made biscuits and gravy for them this morning.


Tyler is on the left and refused to cooperate with my picture taking (meaning refusing to smile and all the while complaining about how dumb this whole blogging thing is) but you get the idea. Alex is in the foreground and that's my Rob with the b-ball cap on his head! I always make specially shaped biscuits for the first go-round and today it was hearts. You wouldn't believe how many biscuits with sausage gravy those boys can eat. This did the opposite of REDUCING our waistlines but it was oh so yummy.

Julie and her son Josh came by today for a visit. I had picked up a Yankee Candle display for Julie also and she came to pick it up. Josh stayed home with my older son Matt and they played the Wii while Julie and I hit the area stores. We hit the jackpot at Marshall's HomeGoods but dang it, I forgot my camera. Well, Julie hit the jackpot, I was merely an innocent bystander. I did buy one cloth doll angel that I am going to work on for a bit and then I'll show you that, along with my RECYCLED entertainment center.

Rob and I hit the local nursery today looking for a tree to plant in the backyard. I have a couple of neighbors that I'd like to be shielded from and I think this will do the trick:

It's an Adirondack Crabapple and it will be beautiful, I think. The flowers in the nursery all looked so pretty but I resisted.
The first weekend it's even remotely warm in Michigan a ton of folks go out to buy plants. You have to be careful though because we often get another good frost or two before the end of May. We've had so much rain lately that the cloudy skies today felt downright sunny! Here's a pic from my front door of the rain we had a few days ago.


We have our guild meeting tomorrow. Julie and I will be going but Deb will be missing it this week because her DD has a dance recital. We'll miss you Deb but consider it an opportunity to save a few bucks. We never, ever leave a guild meeting without spending money..... not sure at all why that is but it "sucks the bucks" right out of you.

Have a great Sunday and a great week if I don't chat with you before then. Thank you so very much for all the sweet comments on my craft room. How 'bout showing us where you stitch, or paint or scrapbook or just plain craft!?

Peace,
Terri