Sewing, Finishing, Living

A few years ago (when we were still living in Tucson, AZ) my mom awarded me ownership of a little piece of equipment I will always associate fondly with sweet mom-made summer dresses - her old Kenmore sewing machine. All these years it's been untouched (short of the 8 moves we made in less than 2 years, that is). I hadn't a clue how to use it.

Well since my mom was in town for my sister's graduation - Congrats Steph! - I made it a point to get out the sewing machine for a little how-to! And this is the fruit of that lesson:


A little dress for my Lady Bug! It is terribly flawed, and please let's not even bring up the little diaper cover that was supposed to go with it! But I'm actually very proud of it! So I pat myself on the back! This is only the beginning of my sewing adventures!!! I am hooked!

Speaking of Lady Bug...guess who is now rolling from her back to her belly! They grow up way too fast!

On the stitching front, last week I made time to finish my "Paper Whites" by LHN into a little pinkeep. This is even complete with a hem-stitched pocket on the back! And I did a bow using Vonna's method. I'm more than pleased with the way it turned out! It's easily my best finish to date :)

Paper Whites by Littlehouse Needleworks

Stitched 1 over 1
Thread: Recommended DMC
Fabric: 28 Count natural linen
Stitched: 5/1/09 - 5/8/09
Finished as pinkeep: 5/21/09

Other than that, things are going well around here. I started thinking seriously in the past week or so about going back to school. I went to the University of Arizona straight out of high school, and after about 4 years there, I was miserable and still had no direction and no degree to show for myself. I just couldn't find anything that felt right. So after a lot of contemplation, I left school to start a family. We've been very blessed that DH can support us and I can stay at home with the bugs. But I still want to have my degree. Now at 26, I know what I want to study and what I want to do outside of being a mom and wife. I want to be a nurse. And that brings us around to today.

My sister's passion - besides boy bands of the 1990s - is student affairs in a university setting. She just graduated with a masters degree in College Student Personnel. So my talking about going back to school gets her blood flowing! Today she went with me to the University of Missouri - St Louis to poke around campus. I just wanted to see the university and planned to make some calls next week to speak with an adviser there. But, leave it to my sister to have me seated in an adviser's office in the College of Nursing before I even knew what had happened! I left there with a lot of answered questions and a plan. That leaves me both excited and terrified! But nothing happens if we don't just commit, grin and bear it for a while, and follow through. So, that's that...I'm going back to school! And, with 2 small children and commitments to my family and husband, I give myself 3 years. I expect to have my BSN in 3 years. You heard it here first :)

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It sounds like many of you had very nice Mother's Days. Mine was no exception!

DH and Cuddle Bug got up and made me a wonderful breakfast! We had french toast made from french loaf (not a stick in sight) that was divine! And it was accompanied by country potatoes, canadian bacon, and fruit salad! It was so yummy! We spent our afternoon at The Magic House where moms got in free. Then we joined DH's (surviving) brothers and mother at Baileys' Chocolate Bar for drinks, cheese, food, and dessert. Yummmm! If you're ever in St Louis, do be sure to give Baileys' Chocolate Bar a visit. It's a slice of heaven in my opinion. And I'm not just saying that because my BIL is the owner ;)

I also laid claim to my Mother's Day gift - Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden from Just Nan! Can you believe my LNS has had this all this time and no one took it home???? It was displayed on a low shelf, fairly out of sight and all wrapped tight in its packaging. I caught sight of her in a passing glance. I think it was fate :) DH saw my excitement and purchased her on the spot! He's so wonderful!


I've been running around for days trying to stay ahead of the game with house work. My family comes into town tomorrow and I have a list a mile long of things that need accomplished before they land. I am so excited as tomorrow I will be meeting my brother's fiance for the first time! Then Friday we head to a tiny little town in Illinois where my sister is graduating with her masters degree. This will also be the first time everyone in my family - except my sister - will meet the Lady Bug. So much to celebrate! Now if only my family could get together without the drama...

Somehow I did manage some stitching in all the housework though! I saw this little feathered friend on a few other blogs and had to have her for myself! I started this Tuesday afternoon when I found a free second and put the final stitch in her last night before bed. I can't help but notice that my bird is lighter than everyone else's (including the model). I checked the numbers a million times to be sure, and it seems my DMC 613 is lighter than everyone else's 613. I bought the skein brand new yesterday and checked the numbers and labeling repeatedly. I'm not sure what happened. But I like her just fine so she shall stay as she is. I'm thinking it's a genetic mutation or a recessive gene exhibited from one generation to the next.

Eggs...etera #109 from The Cross Eyed Cricket

Thread: recommended DMC
Fabric: 28 Count Mystery Linen (unlabeled scrap from LNS)
Stitched: 5/11/09 - 5/12/09

Still no finished finishing to show. I couldn't commit to finishing when the little birdie was calling to me :)

Off for more chores and a cup of coffee!

Thanks for your comments, help, and support! Sending you all wonderful stitchy wishes!

Little Happy Dance

Even a small scale project deserves a little jig!

I finished LHN's "Paper Whites" this afternoon while Cuddle Bug napped upstairs in bed and Ladybug napped in my lap. Even with dishes crowding the sink, toys littering the living room, and kleenex strewn about (these allergies are going to be the end of me), I still consider myself to have been incredibly productive during that rare moment when both kiddies were asleep at the same time this afternoon! I finished another small project! Now excuse me while I pat myself on the back!

Paper Whites by Littlehouse Needleworks

Stitched 1 over 1
Thread: recommended DMC
Fabric: 28 Count natural linen
Stitched: 5/1/09 - 5/8/09

So, what's next? Well I have plans to finish this finish as well as another unfinished finish I have in my to-be-finished pile. You know you're a stitcher when that sentence makes sense to you :) So I may do that this weekend. And I am going to get started on my little Cross Eyed Cricket Eggs...Cetera bird. I want him finished and on the mantle before spring ends!

A very happy Mother's Day to all you amazing mothers, moms, and mommies out there! I would give my right arm to be spending it with my mom this year (instead I will be with my MIL...). But I will get to see my mom next Thursday when she comes in for my sister's graduation. So I have that to look forward to! My mom has only seen pictures of Lady Bug and she hasn't seen Cuddle Bug in person in 2 years! So it will be a fun time for everyone. My how he's changed!

This will be Cuddle Bug's first Mother's Day in charge - to some degree at least. Last year DH got a sitter for the little guy and he took to me an amazing (and expensive) Mother's Day brunch. Ooooh what a treat! This year CB has decided he wants to make me breakfast. And after asking what exactly it was he wanted to prepare, he has boldly decided that Mommy will be having french toast sticks for breakfast! I try to explain to him that I eat my french toast with a fork, but we shall see if I end up with sticks with the crusts cut off. Who knows!

Cheryl asked me about the Cars cake I was poised to make for Cuddle Bug's birthday. Well...that didn't happen. And as the mother of an infant, I'm sure she can understand why :) Thank goodness the grocery store could manage a birthday cake on such short notice!

Hugs and wonderful stitchy wishes to you all! I appreciate all your sweet comments and support more than I can say!

Cross Stitch Heaven!

DH declared yesterday that for the last few days I have been "in cross stitch heaven!" And he's right!

Friday I got started on a new project - something small and (ideally) quick. I started LHN's "Paper Whites." This is another chart I got from generous Jacque! I'm hoping it will be finished by the end of this week, but with an infant there's just no way to be sure.

Paper Whites by Littlehouse Needleworks

Stitched 1 over 1
Thread: recommended DMC
Fabric: 28 Count natural linen
Started: 5/1/09

Saturday I went to my LNS to pick up some charts I ordered. I picked up a few other things as well. But I cant show all of it because some of what I purchased is actually going to be part of an upcoming bloggging project I have planned. So pictured is what I can share. I fell in love with the little Eggs...Cetera bird after seeing him on several other blogs. I got two small cuts of fabric as well. The JBW chart and Crescent Colors floss are actually not for me. I picked them up for my sister who is giving them as a little gift to a good friend of her's who stitches.


I also made a pretty great find in my LNS and it was purchased as my Mother's Day present. I almost fell over dead when I saw it sitting on a little shelf down low! I can't say what it is yet, as I have to wait for Mother's Day to claim it as my own. But DH was quick to get it when he saw how excited I was to have laid eyes on it!

And then yesterday I got a chart in the mail from wonderful Tracy at Ink Circles. She sent me an Ink Circles chart of my choosing as a door prize from her "booth" at the Needlework Show! My entry was all about how I never win anything and my twin sister wins everything! It's been my lot in life! Let's just say that when I finally won my first raffle after watching my sister win raffle after raffle growing up, I won a washcloth folded into the shape of a bunny! My sister, however, won (in the same raffle) a calculator with matching pen, clickable pencil, and pencil case! As a 5th grader, I was especially disappointed. But I got the last laugh, because I got me a fantastic Ink Circles chart for sharing my story! Tracy is so sweet to offer such a prize to me! I scooped up "Croakworth 2008" as my winnings :) And I still have that washcloth bunny! So there!


Finally I wanted to share with everyone two awesome giveaways out there that you can enter! First off, Steph over at Where'd All My Money Go?! is offering an amazing prize to celebrate her 10,000th blog hit! You can enter her giveaway here. Congrats to Steph for her amazing milestone! And Edgar is having a blogoversary giveaway to celebrate his 2nd blogoversary. So if you haven't already, you can enter his giveaway here. And congrats to Edgar on his blogoversary!

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my fob! Happy stitching to you all!