Hinzeit Sweet Land of Liberty....finished!

I really enjoyed working on this piece and glad it's finally finished.

Happy stitching!

Hinzeit Sweet Land of Liberty Update

It's hot and humid here in SE TX so I've been spending a lot of time working on this old wip of mine.  I think the amount of frogging I had to do is about equal to a small-medium project and I'm pleased that I've finished all the frogging (unless I make more mistakes, that is).

As you can see, there's a little staining from the red of the flowers that I frogged out but since I was only off by 1/2 stitch, I'm hoping it won't be seen when it's restitched.

Happy stitching!

Stitching again...and a PSA

Now that our daughter's wedding is over and we're back to empty nesting, I've begun to start stitching again.

Here's current progress on a PS  bunny design (book 111):

Next up is LHN's Old Glory.  (I'm participating in a LHN patriotic sal.)

I dug out a long-standing wip/ufo (bowing my head in shame) from Hinzeit...Sweet Land of Liberty and stitched a bit on it this week:

Since the picture was taken, I stitched an elephant below (left side) the whale.  Funny story about this one.  I was on my way out the door after buying some stitching stash at a LNS in Berlin, OH when I spotted this one as a model.  I immediately turned around, asked where it was in the shop, and bought it.  Maybe I'll finally finish this one this year.

Now for a brief PSA:  I visited a new dermatologist (previous one retired last summer) shortly before the wedding to have some AK's (actinic keratosis--precancer lesions) frozen off my face.  Since it was a new dermatologist, I showed her a mole on my leg that I've always had.  She got a little excited, biopsied it, and it turned out to be a melanoma.  Thank God an early one!  I hadn't noticed any changes in it since having it checked the last time and almost didn't show it to her.  I had it resected and danced at DD's wedding with 15 stitches in my leg.  I just had the stitches removed and the pathology report showed that they got all the cancer out.  Get those skin checks done, everyone!

Happy stitching!

2 Finishes and some wips!

As I'd hoped, I finished the CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler.  I love this one!  I finally made peace with stitching on the black aida...and now wonder if I could see the holes on black linen.  Someday I'll try.  Rather than letting this "properly age" (like a fine wine) in the drawer, I hope/plan to have it framed for this Christmas.

For the last few years, I've been wanting to stitch an old BOAF freebie (Halloween Cat?  I'm too lazy to go look at it to be sure of the name but it's something like that..)  As my readers know, until this year I've been incredibly busy volunteering with the band so I never quite got around to stitching it.  FINALLY I got together the needed floss and some purple fabric and stitched this cute little guy.  (I bought enough fabric to stitch another one in case I get involved in another block exchange where this will work.)

I also made a little progress on Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty.  This is turning out to be a long-term wip.  I can remember a visit to a now-closed LNS in Berlin, Ohio ("Amish Country").  DH was with me and I saw this stitched model while walking out the door after making some purchases.  I immediately sighed, turned around, and bought this design.  I'm so glad I did!  A few years later, I sang a patriotic cantata entitled "Sweet Land of Liberty" in a community group on the first anniversary of 9-11.  This piece will remind me of that.

Lastly, I made some more progress on one of the PS Woodland Santas.  This will make the third (out of 4) designs I've stitched from that leaflet.  I'll probably stitch the 4th one sometime as well.

On the empty nest front, I'm way busier than I thought I'd be, getting some things done around the house, singing in the church choir, daily fitness walks, going to Friday morning coffees, etc.  Last night we attended a community production of "Kiss and Tell".  A band mom friend and a couple of "my" band kids were in it.  Another of my band kids was in the audience.  For some reason, last year he started giving me a "high five" every time I saw him at band.  That practice continues to this day because I got another one from him last night.  :-)

Our "baby" and possibly our other college son will be home next week so there will be some cooking and baking happening here.  Our oldest DS is definitely moving to Denmark and may be spending up to a couple of weeks here before he moves.

Happy stitching!

Friday WIP Progress Report

I finished and sent off (and got word that it was received--Yay!) the CCN model so I got to stitch on some of my wips this week.

First off is a ufo/wip (just picked it up again recently) of Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty.  I love patriotic themed pieces especially patriotic samplers.  For me this qualifies as a bap too.  I found out that I stitched a bit 1/2 stitch off vertically so I'll have some frogging to do on this one.  I just wanted to enjoy stitching this a bit first so worked some more on the border and the branch on the left side.

I also worked a bit on LHN's My Dwelling Place.  (Wow! that's a lot of grass!)  I don't think I'll put the date in the little banner because I'm not sure what date to choose....wedding year, one of the houses where we've lived, ????  I think instead, I'll center the lettering and maybe put some motif on either side of it.  I'll see when I get that far.

I'm itching to start something with a fall or Halloween theme.  For years I've wanted to stitch a little BOAF freebie of a cat wearing a pumpkin suit so this may be the year.  I'll order some purple fabric for it if I decide to go with that one.


Happy stitching!

Friday update

We keep crossing things off the dorm/school list and it seems like every time we cross something off, we think of 1 (or more) things we forgot to put on the list. Aargh!!  I think we're making progress, though.

Proud Mom Moment:  Our oldest DS will be defending his thesis soon for his PhD (Physics) and DH and I will get to go watch.  He's busy interviewing for post doc positions and has some promising possibilities.  Earning a PhD is a long slog and quite an accomplishment.  (I hope he won't make me call him Dr. Mike.  lol!)  We're so proud and excited for him.

I know, I know.....my youngest child graduated from HS (and band) but that didn't stop me from helping out some at their first week of summer band camp.  I helped most of yesterday's practice because my replacement had a doc appointment.  I think I can truly say I'm addicted.....although I'm glad I can go only when I feel like it this year.

I worked on the following wips this week:

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler (I can only work on this one in small doses.  Stitching on black is challenging for my old eyes.

LHN My Dwelling Place (I'm stitching this one as a sal with my friend, Renee, and I think my friend, Sherre will be joinging us.)  I'm really enjoying this one!  I'm missing a few of the needed overdyes for this one so have to order them soon.

Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty which was recently "rescued" from a drawer where it had been languishing for a few years.  (Yes, I said years!  I'm not proud of that.)  I sang in a "cantata" with a community choir that was called Sweet Land of Liberty (I can still hear the title song in my head.) the year after 911.  I thought this piece would be a great way to remember that event.  I noticed I'm half a stitch off in the bit below the right flowers....I blame the pesky teensy weensy thread that I must not have seen when I was stitching that part.

I'm also working on a new model which, until it's finished, will be my stitching priority.

It's very hot and humid here but I keep making myself go out for my am walks.  I enjoy the walk (minus the heat) and how it makes me feel but for some reason I dread getting started even after all this time.

Thank you for reading my ramblings and for the comments.

Happy stitching!

Happy, Happy, Happy

OK.  I'll readily admit that one of my guilty little pleasures is watching Duck Dynasty and you can see by today's title that it's rubbing off on me just a bit.  I won't get too worried about it until I start dressing in camo.

Yesterday was my birthday and was a whole lot more fun that last year's (when we took our DS to Houston for hand surgery after he broke a bone in his hand).  DH arranged to take the day off work and planned for us to take a tour of a winery not too far from here.  DS decided to come along with us.  (He's been making a point of spending some quality time with us before he leaves for college.  Sweet kid!)

We've been to wineries in Sonoma Valley, CA and, while this winery was not like their's yet, it was very nice.  It's only been in commercial operation since 2001.  The wine we tasted was great and a few bottles came home with us.

Haak Winery

We had lunch at Olive Garden, browsed in Barnes and Noble (I bought the JCS Annual Halloween special issue), and went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond where we finally bought a nice knife set (our mutual anniversary gift for this year.  My sister thinks there's a funny story in there somewhere about a knife set for an anniversary gift.) and a few more things for DS's dorm room.  I picked up the mail when we got back in town and found a gift from my DD, a cookbook.  I also heard from lots of FB friends, my parents, siblings, and our other 3 children.

We were too full from our late lunch for much of a dinner but we really enjoyed the intensely chocolate cake DH baked the night before.  He also whipped up some homemade whipped cream.  Believe it or not the recipe came from Cooking Light.  Yum!

I share my birthday with my cousin (who just turned 40...I won't say how old I am, lol!) and I found out today that one of DS's best friend's mother also shares my birthday.

Band camp starts Monday.  The band director mentioned to the mom that took over my volunteer job that I'll probably show up at some practices to help them.  lol!  He's right although I hope to taper off after they all get the hang of it.  He knows I'm "hooked" and really believe in what the band program does with their students.  As I've said often...the music is wonderful but it's such a small part of what band is for the kids. So...part of me is a little sad that we're finished but another part is looking forward to all the things I can do since I won't be spending all that time there during marching season.

I also stitched a bit this week.

The beginnings of LHN's My Dwelling Place.  (My friend, Renee, and I will be stitching this together.)

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler

Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty (It's been a neglected wip/ufo but some people on mb were talking about it lately and inspired me to get it out to stitch on a bit.

I also have a couple of finishes.   First off is LHN's Blessed Are the Pure in Heart.  I converted the CC's called for to DMC bc this is a donation for a quilt and they didn't want any overdyes.  I'm pleased with how this came out and heard yesterday that it was received by the quilt organizer.

This little one is a freebie by Cherrywood Designs.  I'd had it kitted up for a while and finally got to it.  It was a fun little stitch and I finished it up the day I started.  It will either be a pincushion or a pinkeep.

Thank you for looking and for the nice comments you leave.

Happy Stitching!