One more January Stitchy Finish

I somehow managed a third finish for the month of January! I got this chart from sweet Becky a long while ago when she was de-stashing. I got started on it Monday afternoon and put the final stitches in it yesterday evening. This will be finished as the chart instructs so it can take its rightful place on my tree next Christmas. I haven't decided if I like the stark white yet, or if I will be coffee-dying it. Hmmmm....

Christmas Abecediaire Ornament from Historic Stitches
DMC floss on 32 count white Belfast linen
Stitched 1/25/10 - 1/27/10

The chart is up for grabs if anyone is interested. If more than one person wants it, I will draw a name on Monday night. Please leave your email address so I can contact you for an address if you win it.



I hope everyone's week is going well and that you're all getting plenty of time to put needle to fabric!

Crafts with Bug

It flurried this morning. There was no accumulation, so we took matters into our own hands. Cuddle Bug and I put on our scarves and built snowmen in our pajamas right at the dining room table.




Construction paper, scissors, ribbon, crayons, a glue stick, and 2 sizes of hole punch. My socks stayed dry and my hands stayed warm. Not a bad way to built a snowman I would say.

Happy Monday all!

Finishing Details

I've been busy the past week. I started my Anatomy and Physiology I class on Tuesday and I've been failing miserably at keeping the house in a respectable state. However, I did manage to get some (crafty) work done despite it all!

I finished my first quilt topper on Monday afternoon when DH was home for MLK day. He was a huge help keeping the bugs out of my way so I could get this worked on. I'm almost finished with the back and then I hope to baste and quilt it this weekend. We'll see how that goes.


Cuddle Bug went to Ironton, MO with his great aunt to spend the night at a little get-away cabin they have, so I had one less bug to manage today. That meant two naptimes all to myself as LadyBug still takes a morning and an afternoon nap (it's a sad day when they start taking only one nap a day). So i got to work finishing my pieces for Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden from Just Nan. This is a very special piece indeed! I have fantasies of LadyBug wishing to take up stitching and sewing one day and passing this sweet piece off to her :)



And for the record, those are my prized Piecemakers in the needle book. Vonna has changed the way I look at needles forever!

Wonderful Catherine (who doesn't appear to have a blog of her own but is a follower of mine) asked me about my adventures in school and how that works out with the bugs. I just started back to school in the fall of 2009 so this is only my second semester back. I'm trying to get some prerequisites completed right now to hopefully get into the nursing program at my local University to get my BSN. Last semester I took two courses online and one at night that met twice a week. This semester I'm only taking one course - Anatomy and Physiology I - that meets twice a week at night. I enjoy the chance to get out of the house and have some adult conversations for a change. And DH is a true gem! He takes fantastic care of our bugs while I'm away. He's the reason it's even possible for me to go back to school! I think he treasures his alone time with the kids as much as I enjoy getting away for a while. I do most of my school work while the bugs are napping or after they've gone to bed. So far it hasn't been as big of a juggling act as I had expected it to be. But since I just started A&P, there's no telling what this semester holds for me! This class is looking intense so far! :)

Thank you all for your sweet comments and all your support and friendship! I hope you all have a blessed and beautiful weekend! Happy stitchy wishes :)

Giveaways!

Thank you all for you comments on my recent finishes. I have been feeling very productive lately. I'll see how that keeps up once I start my Anatomy and Physiology I class tomorrow evening.

There are a few good giveaways out there to let you know about in case you hadn't heard:

Jennifer over at Feathers In the Nest is having a Cabin Fever Giveaway for everyone who's waiting patiently for spring! It includes a perfectly springy chart, the charms and linen that go with it, and a darling frame. You can enter that here.

Natalia at Piece N Quilt is giving away two $25 gift certificates to her online quilt shop of the same name to celebrate her shop's 1st birthday! You can enter that here.

Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous is giving away some fun jewelry. You can enter that here.

Sweet Su at Contemplating My Needle and Thread is giving away a beautiful valentine ornament she stitched and finished. Who wouldn't want to have one of Su's beauties?! That giveaway is found here.

And generous and kind Becky from BeckyBee's Stitching Hive is having 2 giveaways! She's having a SuperBowl giveaway for Quaker Diamonds (the chart and the fibers) that you can find here. And she's having an un-Birthday giveaway - because that's just the kind of woman she is - to celebrate her birthday by giving away a $100 gift certificate to the online needlework shop of your choice! That giveaway can be found here.

I wish you all luck on any and all of these you're interested in!

Happy MLK Day to everyone here in the states!

Happy Dance 2010!

My very first happy dance of 2010! I would have had Poinsettia House done a week ago but I got distracted working on the quilt. I ran out of thread for the quilt a few days ago, though, and was waiting for JoAnns to put their thread on sale today. So in the meantime, I got back to work on this one and put the final stitches in it Friday night. I love it! Every stitch was a joy! And I only had 2 - very minor - visits from the frog. This was a gift from sweet Vonna so all my thanks go out to her for making my first 2010 project so delightfully wonderful :)

Poinsettia House by Littlehouse Needleworks
28 count linen using recommended CC and DMC fibers
Stitched 12/31/09 - 1/15/09

After reading about Harmien's frustrations, I was especially conservative with the Clay Pot. And I am so glad I was! By the end of it, I had only two little threads remaining. So keep that in mind if you're planning to do this chart too.

To my shock, I have another finish to add to my 2010 list - Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden! I actually started this one over the summer when I was in Boston visiting my dad, but I only got as far as finishing the border. When I brought it home it just got set aside. I picked it up yesterday afternoon and got all the stitching finished by the time I went to bed last night. Today I picked up some beading needles while I was at JoAnns and got the beads added. This was my first time adding beads and I'm pleased with my results! This one is going straight to the top of the finishing pile!

Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden by Just Nan
28 count cream chashel using recommended DMC
Started 7/09; Finished 1/17/10

In other news, the weather was finally nice enough to try out the new running shoes DH gave me for Christmas (we exchanged running shoes this year). They are NICE! I hope to get a lot of good use out of them this year and finally get the last of the baby weight off.

I hope you are having a beautiful and productive long weekend too! Thank you again for all your sweet comments. I really do appreciate them so much! Happy stitchy wishes to you all!