July IHSW

OK, someone needs to please tell me where the rest of the year has gone already. Didn't we just put away the Christmas tree and relish in the fact that the Christmas ornaments were made and completed on time and appreciated?? 

Wow, so here is where I left off prior to the IHSW weekend beginning:

I've pulled out The Gadsden Flag, and I'm fairly confident I can finish this this weekend, but we'll see.

By Sunday night/Monday morning, I'll post the update here.

And welcome to Monday Morning!! I must, sadly, return to work today. The school I work for has the world's shortest Summer Break, but having a paycheck again will be nice.

So, here is what I accomplished over the weekend:

The top portion:

 And then the bottom portion:

Not too bad!! I feel like I did some good work in a couple days!  I can't wait to see what everyone else managed to complete!

Part 1 Finished

Part 1 of the Little House Needleworks Mystery SAL is now complete.  I had such a great time working on this piece - even with a little frogging.

Again, what is making this piece so awesome for me is that my friend all the way in Cape Town, South Africa is also stitching this same piece at the same time.  It is really nice knowing that when this is complete, it will hang on a wall in my home just as there will be a "copy" hanging on a wall in a different Country!!  

Seriously, this is a very easy stitch, and it is simply joyous to do.  I do not like linen, so I asked about a Jobelan fabric. My fabric is much lighter than what was called for in the kit. The floss is all Weeks Dye Works. The entire piece of fabric is only 16" x 16", so this won't be very big. 

I was most nervous about NOT starting this piece in the middle.  Since Part 1 was the top, I asked around, and then measured two inches down, crossed my fingers and dove right in.  

Well, I should have a week before Part 2 is here, so I'm going to get moving on some other projects in the meantime.  

Little House Needleworks Mystery SAL

I received the first part and waited for a friend to get ready to stitch. Once she was, I kitted up and got everything ready. Sadly, I made the mistake of thinking I could fill an ink bottle quickly and then sit down to stitch. Well, the ink went everywhere and my hands were covered. Ugh!

Being a clever person and not one to give up, I grabbed some gloves and started stitching anyway. The hubby laughed when he saw me persevering.

I spent an hour scrubbing my hands, but they were still pretty bad. I was finally glove-free on Day 2.

This is a great little stitch, and I'm loving it!!! Even better for me is knowing my fried in South Africa is working on the exact same thing!!

Baby Sampler - Done!

I am doing a really big, Snoopy Happy Dance!! After 10 1/2 months, I am finally finished with the Baby Sampler!  Whoo-hoo!!!

My youngest is going to be very happy to take this to the framer's tomorrow so she can (finally) have it hang on the wall in her room.  Both of her sisters have one, and now she will too. 

Again, this one was an emotional one for me. I had almost had it finished when my ex (their father) become enraged and to show me a lesson, he took scissors to it on the scroll rods and slashed it in front of us. It took me years to rebuild my stash after leaving him, and after many, many years, I started stitching again.  In that process, I had to find the original pattern that I started for her. I don't know why it was important to me to use the original pattern and not just start something different, but it was. 

I had many things come up inbetween the start and finish of this one, but it is probably the most important accomplishment I have had. 

The SSS-DDD GTG

It was just too much fun to resist putting all of those letters in the title. I giggled every time I tried to say the name of the Get Together in Chigaco when I was there over the weekend.

The Superstar Serial Starters and Divine Disciplined Divas group on Facebook had its annual get-together this past weekend, and I was actually able to make it! I was a day late since my family's vacation had already been planned, but no one seemed to mind that I was a bit late. According to some, my weird sense of humor and continual laughter made up for being late.

If you ever have the ability to attend a get-together or a retreat, I highly suggest you make it work out. I had such a wonderful time meeting these great ladies - and man (go Mike!). It was wonderful to see everyone's work in person, ask questions, see the toys that others' use, etc.  I loved being able to get to know these great folks rather than just see posts on a computer and a small picture of their faces (or their kids', etc.)

Here are some of the pictures that were taken, and I have tried to keep the pictures of just me since no one else has given permission to use their photos, but I want to capture how amazing it is at one of these events.

 Everyone found their spot and enjoyed stitching

 Yes, I really see a camera and stop to smile! (I'm in the purple shirt)

 Everyone walks around to see what others are working on, to chat, etc.

 Aury on the left of AuryTM who kept us entertained at the table. 

Tina Bush on the right who is simply amazing!

 Lori really hates her picture taken. She also has a Johnny Depp obsession that we enjoyed during the trip

 Make yourself comfortable and get to know your neighbors!

 Go out to eat and laugh some more (OK, yeah, we were drinking).

 Spend time taking a train with Stephanie Bishop of Steph's Fabbys and have a great time!

 Yep, we had a ton of fun. My cheeks still hurt from laughing so much!!

 Stephanie Bishop smiling while Lori hides behind her menu

 Captain Jack did a pole dance on the cup and earned some cash (can you see how silly we were??)

Hanging out in jammies at night was totally cool!! The conference room 

was open as long as anyone wanted!

Also wonderful was meeting Aury of AuryTM Designs.  You should have seen my face when I realized that SHE was AURY! I knew that someone in the room was a designer, and then I felt stupid when I was commenting on the USA Pattern she was holding up. Ironically, I had it on my wish list on a stitching site, but when I said how much I loved it, Aury handed it to me.  I kept trying to pay her for it, but she said she really liked my honest comments and loved seeing my shocked face when I finally put it together that she was the designer.  Haha! Yep, still feeling like a naive dork!

Again, if you have the ability to attend a retreat like this - please do it.  I have added many more amazing people into my Facebook life as well as their email addresses and phone numbers. Some of these ladies traveled from Canada to attend, and I thought it was great they could and did make it!!

I have already put next year's GTG on my calendar, and now I'm trying to see how many other retreats I can afford to attend. There's nothing like having Stitcher Wives in your life.  (Yes, an inside joke, but I'm sure you can put it together.)

June TUSAL

I can't believe it's time for an update again. This year is moving too fast!!

I've been working on the baby sampler and a round robin project, so you can see all the white and pastels.

As it is the summer break, you can also see the lazy dog, two kids playing on their computers and one playing Kinect. That's the happenings here!

A New Adventure

A few of my FB stitching friends and I are embarking on a new adventure together - a Mystery Stitch-Along. We have chosen the Littlehouse Needleworks Seasons SAL:

I have never participated in one of these, so it will be a new experience.  I have never stitched "under pressure," but I also heard from a lot of people that it's completely cool if you fall behind.  If you're interested in joining us, here is a great place to purchase the kit:

Song of the Seasons Packs

There are tons of places offering the SAL in a complete kit, but I preferred to order through Stitch and Frog because they were the only ones offering an evenweave for the fabric. I cannot seem to work on linen, so it worked for me.