Still On Cloud 9 over My First Exchange

What a week! After being sick last week, this week I had 2 huge midterm exams. I was completely overloaded this week. Has anyone else been forced to take statistics? Wow! That is an intense class!

But now here it is Saturday morning...the exams are behind me. Cuddle Bug is curled up on the couch watching Miffy and Friends on PBS and LadyBug is upstairs taking her mid-morning nap. The floors - that shamefully have been neglected for 2 weeks - have been swept and vacuumed. No more stale Cheerios on the rug under the table for LadyBug to be stuffing into her mouth when I turn my back for a split second (did I mention she's "crawling" now...it's really more of a butt scoot but she's very good at it). Now I can exhale.

Ahhhhhhhh.

So now I can mention that I am still absolutely living on cloud 9 over my exchange from Ranae! That was one of the most fun things I have done in a long time! Milling over charts, picking out just the right thing to stitch and deciding how to finish it. Picking out fun things to keep the exchange piece company in the box during it's travels. It was an absolute blast! And then there's the excitement, the anticipation of finding a box on your doorstep! Oh my gosh...it is fantastic!!!

Of course I forgot to get a picture of my piece before I taped the box shut. Wouldn't you know? It wouldn't have been right if my first exchange went perfectly. So I had to make at least one amateur mistake, right?! So there you go, no picture. But fortunately Ranae took a wonderful picture and has kindly given me permission to post it to my blog.



This is part of Tanya's Quaker Boo freebie she posted last year. I have wanted to do this one since she posted it. I went back and forth over this and a Bent Creek design. I really wanted to do this chart, but I couldn't decide if it's poor exchange etiquette to use a freebie chart or not. It was my favorite since I thought it would make the most interesting finish, so I went for it anyway. Anyone want to set me straight on this? Anyway, I did the large octagon motif over 2. Then I stitched 4 slightly varied versions of the pumpkin motif over 1 and hung those from the bottom 4 corners of the octagon. I put mine and Ranae's initials on the back along with the year. My pillow ornament finishing wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But Ranae didn't seem to mind.

Ranae, thank you so much for offering to exchange with me! I had so much fun doing this with you! You are wonderful! My flatfold from you is gracing my living room window sill, and I seriously can't help but smile every time I see it!

Hugs for Ranae and all the amazing stitchers out there who continue to inspire and support me in my stitching adventures :)

H-A-Double L-O-Double U-Double E-N spells Halloween!

I cannot believe it's been about 6 weeks since my last entry! I've been getting into a groove with school, and I've been working on exchange stitching. So I haven't had too much I could show for myself around here.

But, I did get a little something finished up yesterday that's worth a show! So here it is. Overcast days make for poor pictures, but I wanted to share anyway.





It's the La-D-Da ornament from the JCS halloween issue. I stitched it 1/1 on white belfast linen with DMC. I love the way it turned out! This was my first time doing a coffee dye and I really think it gives it something special! I took a cue from Alma at the BBD blog and wove a fiber from the linen into the piece to give it a little haphazard mended look - adding to the old, worn feel of it. Cuddle Bug ran off with this one and put it on the doorknob of his bedroom door. I'm not sure that's where it will stay.

School has been going well. I've been getting into a rhythm with that. I have 2 online classes and 1 in-person class. So far, my grades have been good. And I'm really enjoying my biology class. Last night was our first exam in Bio and I got the highest score in the class. For myself, that always feels good. But I hate when the other students ask what I got and I have to tell them I got the high score for the class. I feel so self conscious about it in the classroom setting. But when I get home I want to shout it from the rooftops :)

Cuddle Bug is in his 2nd week of preschool today. He only goes for 2.5 hours twice a week (Tues and Thurs). It's been a big adjustment. So far we haven't been there without tears. But he comes home busting at the seams to tell us all about his fun! I'm hoping it won't be too much longer before he can't wait to go back.

Thank you for coming and reading my little ol' blog and leaving such wonderful and supportive comments. The stitching community is so warm! I enjoy you all! Sending you all happy stitchy wishes!!