Model Stitching

It's always exciting when the designers release their designs that I model stitched for them.

I have 2 I can show you now and I loved stitching both of them so much that I will, no doubt, stitch them again for me.

The first is by Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks called "Hands to Work".  This one was just my style that I love to stitch.  You can see it here:

Little House Needleworks

The second one is by Nikki Leeman of Country Cottage Needleworks and is called "Be My Valentine".  I loved how the colors of pink looked against the color of the fabric and that you can stitch this one in its entirety or use some of the parts as "smalls".  You can see it here:

Country Cottage Needleworks

I enjoy model stitching for both these talented women.

Happy stitching!

Happy Friday!

We've actually had a rather boring uneventful week which is just fine with us.  Last Saturday we returned our DS to Austin (first day back at UT was Monday).  Our older DS caught a ride back the previous Wednesday with his roomie. So...we're back to empty nest again.

I finally packed up a stowed all the Christmas decorations.  Yay!  (Well, except for a few things that are DH's "department" and I'll encourage/help him with those this weekend.)  It feels good!

I decided to try to finish up some wips this year.  The first one I picked up was "Betsy's House" by Plum Street Samplers:

I'm also working on a PS freebie called "Welcome Home" for an exchange block:

I'm also excited to see that Diane of Little House Needleworks released a design for which I was the model stitcher.  It's called "Hands to Work".  I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this one...so much so that I was almost sad when it was finished.  For sure I'll be stitching it again for me.

We've had some cool enough weather this past week that I claimed a couple of "soup weather" days.  One day I made some homemade vegetable soup (I don't really have a recipe bc I made it up...and it can be different every time.  I used to call it "garbage soup" bc I'd make it on Fridays and put in all the little dabs of leftover veggies from that week.)  I made a big batch and kept out some of the leftovers and froze the rest for later.

I also tried a new recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup which DH and I both loved.  What's even better is that it was easy peasy to make and doesn't call for any "exotic" ingredients (many of which I already had on hand.  I love a well-stocked pantry and freezer!) .  Yum!  I'll definitely be making this one again.

We have a neighborhood association annual meeting/get-together tonight for which I'll be baking some Texas Sheet Cake and some cheese breads.  While the oven's hot, I may bake something else to freeze for our use later.  I'm thinking maybe a pound cake that I'll divide into 4 "hunks".  (I'd like to stock up the freezer for those too-hot-to turn-on-the oven days that will be here soon enough.)

Until next time.....

Happy stitching!

Getting back to normal

I've taken down the Christmas decorations (although I still need to pack them all away--it's like a puzzle to me getting everything in their little boxes and then fitting them into the bins).  I'll do that next week when I'm here by myself.

One DS has returned to his college apartment.  The other one goes back tomorrow.

DH's care was indeed totalled and we bought him a replacement car last week.  He liked his old one so his new one is just a newer version.  It has a back-up camera, blue tooth (for the phone), and a little plug-in for an mp3 player.  We weren't thinking of it while choosing which color car but DS asked why, when 3 of our sons have attended University of Texas, we chose a maroon car (the color of Texas A+M).  I told him just to squint while looking at it and imagine that it's really scarlet for (The) Ohio State University (my alma mater).

I've been stitching a bit too and managed to finish 2 small LHN designs:

Seven Pines (I stitched this for a snowman themed exchange block.)

Happy Skater (from a JCS ornament issue)

There's a group doing a sal of an ornament each month this year so I'm going to try to keep up.

I also started another small piece, a little bagpiper guy that I was going to stitch for DD's (Scottish) bf, but I ran out of time before Christmas.  If they're still together next year, I'll be all set.  No picture yet but hopefully I'll have it finished next week.

One DS requested that I make "chicken cobbler" for dinner one night.  It's a recipe from Ina Garten and very popular in this household.  Here's the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stew-with-biscuits-recipe/index.html

.....and here's a picture of my version:

Until next time......

Happy stitching!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!

Our 2013 ended with sorrow.  My mother in law passed away the Sunday before Christmas. We feel blessed that DH was able to be with her and 2 of his siblings when she passed.

Summer 2011

He flew back here so we could have Christmas together and then he and I flew back to Pittsburgh for the funeral activities.  It's all very sad, but it was comforting to be with extended family and many of his old friends (some whom he hadn't seen in ages).  We arrived home just last night.

We're in the Central time zone but were so tired that we celebrated the new year during the Eastern time zone's midnight.  We weren't sure if we could stay awake one more hour.

We're still awaiting word from our insurance company about whether DH's car is worth the expense of repairing or if we'll be looking for another car for DH.  I'm hoping we hear something tomorrow since his work commute is one hour each way....he goes back to work tomorrow.

Before our trip, I'd frogged the leaves on LHN's My Dwelling Place bc they were so light, it was hard to see them against the fabric.  I restitched them in a darker green and I'm so glad I restitched them.  The piece looks so much better now.  It's my official last finish for 2013.

I finished 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, then picked up and read Brain on Fire by Susannah Calahan (I couldn't put this one down!).  Yesterday at the airport before boarding our first flight, I bought the Kindle edition of Sycamore Row by John Grisham and read about half of it while traveling yesterday.  So instead of stitching this past week, I was able to get a lot of reading done.  (I love to read about as much as I love to stitch.)

I spent (more than I'd planned) time in the kitchen today.  Later we'll have some black eye peas, ham, and cabbage casserole for dinner and some pound cake (that I'd baked and frozen before we left) with a little blueberry pie filling on top for dessert.  One DS has plans with a group of friends to watch Baylor's bowl game tonight and our other DS who's home hasn't been feeling well today so I think he'll stay here with the "old folks" tonight.

I started a January 1 project (with one of my groups).  My choice is Bestitched Lone Star Sampler.  I saw it stitched on some overdyed fabric when I was at the San Antonio LNS earlier this month and bought the fabric for it.  (I already had the leaflet;  in fact stitched it once for a friend's Texas themed family room.)

I'm hoping to have a progress picture to post soon.

Happy stitching!!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

I managed to finish the second model and it's been delivered.  (I always feel better knowing when they've arrived.)

I also finished my 4th PS Woodland Santa:

I've put a few stitches in CCN's Silent Night (no picture.)

Both our college boys are home.  DH's mother has taken quite ill and he flew out yesterday to be with her.  Hopefully he'll be back tomorrow night.  Unfortunately he was in an auto accident near the airport on our end.  He's ok but the car isn't.

Happy stitching!

Busy, busy, busy!!

I'm way behind on reading blogs and posting...such a busy time of the year.

Some things that I've been "up to":

--Singing in a local church's production of The Messiah (If THAT doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will!).  If you have the time and are interested, you can see it on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jubwH-RMk_I

--Singing in my church choir's Christmas cantata

--A trip to San Antonio (I went along with DH on his business trip.)  I've been there many times but never this close to Christmas.  The lights along the Riverwalk were beautiful!

--Model stitching....I put the finishing touches on 2 of them this month.  One has been sent and received, I need to send the other, hopefully in the next day or two.

Just last night I picked up one of my wips, the PS Woodland Santa.  I hope I can finish him this week and then get back to CCN's Silent Night.

--Preparing for Christmas.  I'm way behind on this "project" and need to catch up.  One of our college boys is home and the other will be here in a day or 2.

Since I can't show you the models, I thought I'd post pics of some of my previous Christmas stitching projects.

...and in the spirit of The Messiah.................

That's probably enough for one post.

In case I don't make it back in time.....Merry Christmas!

Happy stitching!

I'm still alive! ;-)

Thanksgiving was all a blur, it went by so quickly.  We enjoyed having the fam here minus our DS who just moved to Denmark.  He called though and it was nice to hear from him.

We had our big dinner on that Friday and then drove to Austin, TX for the weekend.

It was our DD's BF's first ever visit to TX.  He's from Scotland (his mother is French) and he had a list of (stero)typical Texas things he wanted to experience.  We checked off quite a few.  He tried pecan pie topped with Blue Belle ice cream, was dragged taken to multiple Buc-ees (between Surfside Beach, here, and Austin), bought and tried some jerky, had authentic (and really good!) Texas BBQ, etc.  (I had him try Frito pie and Dr. Pepper cake last Christmas at a Texas BBQ place in Atlanta, of all places.)  On their last day here, we drove down to the beach so he could see some of the Gulf of Mexico.  (While there we saw a poor dolphin that had beached itself and hadn't survived.)  We teased him that by the end of his visit that he'd be wearing cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a big belt buckle and start using the terms "fixin' to" and "y'all".

For some reason, I forgot to take pictures.  (I wonder if I can get them to fly back for a "do-over".)

On the stitching front....I finished and mailed out a model and am working on finishing another.  When I finish that one, I think I'll work on my CCN Silent Night wip.

I took my CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler for framing and it is already back home with me.  (I love my framer!!)  It's sitting on my mantel.

Happy stitching!