Withdrawal is Setting In - Help!

It's been well over a month since I posted last around these parts. The truth is there hasn't been much to update. I haven't made any substantial progress on anything in almost 2 months! It's starting to take a toll on me!

But everyone was so helpful about the hoop marks on my BBD piece. The hoop has hit the trash! I was lucky I asked you all about it before I got much further in the project as I was able to force them out with the iron by carefully getting the hoop marks wet and avoiding the threads all together! Phew! But this one hasn't been touched since. I haven't made it to the store for a suitable hoop alternative. But I'm going to try to make it to he store today!

So I ask you all....q-snaps or scroll bars? And why?

It hasn't been all stitching withdrawal lately though. I've had my share of fun in July! Expect pictures of that fun in my next update!

Thank you all for all your help and support! And thank you in advance for any help deciding between the q-snaps and scroll bars, Happy stitchy wishes to you all!

That Lonely BBD

Thank you all for your sweet comments about my 3 problems on Friday. And an especially big thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get that Cheesecake Factory! I'm going to be letting DH know how you all feel ;)

I didn't find any time to pick up my current stitching project this weekend as I had hoped. I'm working on BBD's "Something Sweet." I started it over 2 weeks ago, but haven't touched it in over a week. So it's only got 1 week's worth of work put into it - which isn't many hours considering I have 2 small children. It will get some quality time this week I hope. Pay no attention to the stairs. I will be fixing that mistake! Oops.

Something Sweet by Blackbird Designs
Thread: recommended CC, WDW, and GAST
Fabric: 28 Count winter white linen
Started: 6/6/09

We had a good Father's Day. Cuddle Bug and I got up and made Daddy the usual Father's Day breakfast of cinnamon rolls. When they were ready we woke up Daddy and Ladybug and all had a wonderful breakfast. We gave Daddy the gift we had prepared for him. Then we loaded up into the car and drove to Ironton, Missouri to spend the day with some family. It was wonderful and low key. I finished up the day very sick. I think I had become terribly dehydrated in the heat. My head was pounding and I was dizzy and tired. I guzzled a bunch of water upon returning home, took a bunch of advil, and laid down to close my eyes for a bit. 2 hours later DH woke me up to nurse the Ladybug. I felt terrible to have napped so long on Father's Day, but I was really not feeling well at all. DH assured me he didn't mind.

This is what we gave Daddy for Father's Day (one of the rare moments you will get to see a picture of the bugs or see their names on my blog):


I have a question for all you wonderfully helpful seasoned stitchers out there in blogland. I am stitching my BBD project in a hoop. I find it makes my stitches more even and consistent than stitching in the hand. But it's leaving ring wrinkles in my fabric and I'm finding it impossible to iron them out. Since I'm using hand dyed fibers, I can't get it wet to force the wrinkles out. Any suggestions???

Well that's about it around these parts. I hope everyone else had an incredible weekend! Sending you all wonderful stitchy wishes!

It's Been Too Long!

First of all, thank you everyone for your kind comments about the dress and support of my desire to head back to school! I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

It's been too long... Since what you ask?

Well it's been too long since I've posted an update to this here blog. That's one. And it's been too long since I've put needle to linen (almost a week now). That's two. And it's been too long since I've seen the inside of a Cheesecake Factory. That's three.

So I'm on a mission to fix these things in the near future.

Problem one - well I'm taking care of that one right now.

I don't have much to write about. I've spent a little more time behind the sewing machine since my last post. Cuddle Bug got a chef's hat. Now I can stop being reminded how Santa forgot to bring him the chef's hat he requested for Christmas. And this one is made of Disney Cars fabric! Beat that you little elves!!! And Ladybug just got a new summer dress. This time I managed to get the little diaper cover worked out as well :) I'm improving!

I've also been dabbling in the paper crafting world! I'm a huge admirer of the work Steph does over at Where'd All My Money Go?!. And she's peaked my interest in paper crafting! I'm all signed up for a "Scrapbooking Basics" class at a nearby scrapbooking store next week. I'm excited!

I made it out to a great LNS in historic St Charles, MO with a friend. I got some specialty fibers I needed to start my current project. They carry Belle Soie and for a moment I considered picking up a skein to quell my curiosity. But I exercised self control and just got what was on my list. I'm a bad stasher... Too much self control for my own good! Someday very soon I want to give silks a try!

That was two weeks ago tomorrow we made that trip, and that afternoon I started my current project - my first BBD. And I love it! It's been a joy so far when I have the time. That brings us to problem number two. I haven't touched this project in almost a week! I have to admit I've hardly made a dent in it and I haven't had a moment to get a good photograph of it when the sun is up. When the sun is up, my bugs are up. And that leaves very little time for taking pics of my projects. Oh well. I promise a picture this weekend! So bare with me! I may become a BBD junkie! This one is going to get some much-needed attention tomorrow...I hope...

And that leaves problem three. Something tells me this one is going to remain a problem for a while longer. I will just have to settle for some Sarah Lee cheesecake from the freezer section of my local grocer. And I admit, as humble as that sounds I may almost perfer it that way. That I can eat in my pajamas as I work on that afformentioned WIP. You can't say that about the Cheesecake Factory ;)

Okay, since I have no picture of my own adventures, I leave you with this little beauty I have been drooling over today:

Feast your eye on that!

And for anyone interested in a crafty giveaway I came across this one in my scrapbook blog hopping and you've got to check it out (not stitching related, but good fun for the craft enthusiast!):
Paper Craft Pleasures is giving away a Bind-It-All binder machine and accessories! This is generally a paper crafting tool, but stitchers could use it to bind your very own journals complete with stitched cover! You know you want one ;)

That's it for me today. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

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 :)

Tweet Tweet

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!