A Winterly Heirloom UFO

My A Winterly Heirloom HAED was calling my name this week so I pulled it out to stitch on it.  Here is what it looked like before I stitched on it....

 This is what it looks like now.  As you can you see, the tree is filled in more and more of the sky is filled  in also. I only have 149,980 stitches left to go on this project!!!!

Betty Crocker Moment!!!

Mark was wanting Lasagna this week so I pulled out my Betty Crocker Cookbook and found a recipe.  It was really simple to make and it turned out YUMMY!!!!  

Smiles from Heaven and Winners!!!

I got the best surprise today!!!  My Lilac bloomed for the first time!!  My granny, who passed away 3 years ago, gave me a cutting from her lilac bush 6 years ago. Mark and I had just bought our house and she decided I needed a cutting.  She and I decided to plant it in front of my house where I could smell the lilacs when the windows were open.  I have been waiting and waiting for this to bloom.  Mark just thought it was a GREAT big bush!!!  I told him to wait,...be patiently because it would bloom.  Today, my granny is smiling down at me because her lilac bush finally bloomed!!!   I am just so happy.  I told Mark that if we ever move, the bush is coming with me!!!!


Winners of the Patchwork Sampler and Ozark Sampler Mystery SAL....Plus my houses..


Karen  from my Stitchers UFO Challenge - she is getting the Patchwork Sampler SAL




Paula from Paula's WIPapocalypse - She is getting the Ozark Sampler Mystery SAL


Sue...you won my Disney houses chart..I need you to email me your address!!!

Winter 9-patch and spring break wrap up!!!

Who-HOOOOO!!! I have another finish to show off!  I worked on my seasonal 9 patch and I finished the Winter Section!!!  As you can see, I just have 2 more boxes to stitch in the Summer section and it will be completely finished!!!! 

So this project is being put away, because a HAED is calling my name.  I am going to work on my Wintery Heirloom project.  I loved all the responses I received about my stitchers guilt.  I am going to put my 7 UFO"s in a 4 day rotation until School is out at the end of May.  Then I will start adding a new project here and there.

Spring Break is over and I have to go back to work on Monday.  I set out some goals...lets see how  I did:

1. Go get my taxes done

Got the notice from the state Dept.  about our refund!

2. Finish 2 houses in my Victorian Village

Finished Ice Cream Parlor and Mercantile

3. Take all the recycling to the recycling center

You saw the garage photos!!!

4. enter 2 binders of charts into my excel program

Actually entered all my charts that I know of...still gotta look in the nooks and crannies.

5.  Go in my Classroom and finish my Annual Review Conference paperwork 

(each conference takes about 2 hours to plan and I have 13 of them!!!!)

I went in and worked for about 5 hours, finished my conferences, failure notices, graded all papers and I can now see the top of my desk!!

Because I worked really hard this week.... I went and had new nails put on my fingers!  I love them!!!!  The only problem? I have to learn to type and text with them....this is going to a learning experience!

2 UFO's needing new homes and my stash.

Today I spent the afternoon entering the rest of my charts onto Excel.  As of right now, I have entered all my charts and all my kits into an excel spreadsheet.  I haven't checked the nooks and crannies though.  You know how us stitchers are, we have things EVERY where!!!    As of right now, I have over 500 charts and 300 kits to be stitched!!!  I think that is enough to last a life time!!   
I still need to go through my magazines and write down the charts from them I want to stitch.  Who knows how many that will be when I get finished. 


New homes:  I decided to give away 2 of my UFO"s to people who may actually want them. 

This is an Ozark Sampler Mystery Stitch Along. It has all the patterns, and specialty threads needed to complete this project.  This was designed by Debbie Draper.  It is a sampler and I am not a sampler person.  It does turn out really cute. I won't tell what it is since it is supposed to be a mystery....

  The second one is my Patchwork Sampler. You can see the finished design here at Catiacrafts.   This was a freebie SAL design a few years ago.  I started it over one with Ozark Sampler threads.  I will include everything needed to finish it.


If anyone would like to have one of these projects...just leave your name.  I will rehome them on Monday.  Hopefully, there will be someone who would like them!!!

Victorian Village - Mercantile Finished

Yesterday, I was talking about my Stitcher's Guilt and if anyone else suffered from it.  I was amazed that I am not the only one who does suffer from it.  I got some good ideas on how to handle my guilt.  I realized I left off a UFO.  How I could forget my Disney castle design, I will never know!!!!  I do have this one left to finish.  I have 2 more pages of it and it will be completed.  This is a retired chart that is very hard to find.

The Victorian Village is coming along great.  I have two more buildings left to stitch and it will be finished!!!

The Mercantile was actually fun to stitch up.  It wasn't that hard either.  If I could have stayed off Pininterst then I would have finished it sooner.  


At the end of the school year last year, one of my parents bought me an hour massage for helping her son graduate.  I cashed it in today and I am SORE!!!  I carry all my stress in my shoulders and neck. She spent most of the hour there and I can't believe how sore I am from her breaking down all the knots in my body.  Note to self---Get more Massages!!!!

Stitchers Guilt- Real condition???

I am not sure if I am the only one who suffers from Stitchers Guilt but  I do!!!!  Stitcher's Guilt is where you have started several Big Projects and you really want to finish them but there are other Big projects calling your name!!!  So, do you start a new BIG project or do you finish the ones you have started before starting something new????  


I have some stitching friends who have 10 to 20 Big projects in their rotation and do not think twice about it.   I am not sure I can do that.  I think it is the teacher in me.  I see a project, I start it, and then I finish it.  


I have other friends who suffer from Startitus - They have no problem starting new projects and do not care if they ever finish them!!!!!


So, My question is ...Do you suffer from Stitchers Guilt or do you just don't worry about it??  


Should I just go ahead and start some of these projects before finishing the UFO"s below?????  Just curious...which is your favorite????


Below are some BAP charts that I REALLY REALLY want to start.... (we'll get to the smaller ones later)

First:  My Thomas Kinkade Disney kits (the only one that isn't a chart is the center one)  The other 8 are in my stash begging to be started:

Thomas Kinkade Disney Kits

My Love of Pride and Prejudice just wants me to stitch Pemberely

Darcy's Pemberley  540 x 349

Then again...there is my new chart that I just received....

A gathering 331 x 212

This is my DREAM chart...Just love it!!!!

An Afternoon Embroidering  250 x 160

Once again, my love of Disney is begging me to stitch my Haunted Mansion portraits...

Haunted Mansion Portraits  242 x 704  Each Portrait!!!

.

Here is my love of Jane Austen again...I just love this house....It just needs to be stitched

Mystic Stitch - stitch count uncertain. (too lazy to get up and look)

This chart I fell in love with it the first time I saw it....Not sure why....

Musical Fete -HEAD  625 x 501

Then I have my UFO's!!!!  In my UFO pile of BAP we have:


A golf Pattern for my husband.....

Augusta #13  Mystic Stitch  325 x 216

My Victorian Ball scene....

Summer Ball by Sandy Little John  478 x 129

This is the SAL I started with my friend Kim...we have both stopped working on it. I think she got bored and I was iritated because of the trees at the top.  They are a pain to stitch!!

A wintery Heirloom   HAED   450 x 360

My love of Faery Tales made me buy this one.... but for some reason I don't enjoy working on it...probably because I am only in the top left corner which is very dark threads.......

Faery Tales HAED  575 x 453

So there you have it my guilty confession.  I have tons of HUGE projects to start...others to finish.  Am I the only one that suffers from this condition????

Yiotas Cross stitch Patterns and Kits Review

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Yiotas Cross-Stitch Patterns and Kits to see if I would like to review one of their items.  Of course I said I would LOVE to review one of their products. I had seen her name appear of other bloggers sites about her products and the rave reviews she had been getting.  My friend, Shari, over at Shari's Sharings reviewed a beautiful kit called Winter Sunset Cottage.  

Yiota offered to let me order a kit or pattern my choice. If I chose a kit, then I would get to chose between aida or evenweave fabric.  The pattern would be printed on regular chart size or 11 x 17 size which means less pages.  Well...since I love Victorian style pattern I fell in LOVE with four different designs:

A Gathering

Reading by the Lamplight

The Letter

Gossip

It was like being a kid in a candy store.  So many choices.  So I let Yiota pick for me and she chose my top pick...A Gathering (top photo).  The designs I LOVED only came in pattern format. Which is fine with me....I got my pattern in the mail yesterday and this is how it came:

Sturdy envelope with cardboard in the back so it wouldn't bend

The pattern came wrapped in a plastic covering.  The front of the design has a beautiful picture, the stitch count (a whopping 331 x 212), the size once finished along with her email, website and telephone number. Which is nice because it shows she wants us to contact her if there is a problem.

A gathering

I chose the larger paper for this project.  It came on very sturdy paper. The symbols are very easy to read.

pattern

The symbols page is very easy to read and lists the number of DMC and the color beside it.  It also include the layout instructions, number of threads and how many skeins of each color needed to finish the design. 

Symbols Page

I am VERY please with this company. Her cross stitch patterns  are easy to follow which is great for a BAP!!!  I will be ordering from them again. They have wonderful intricate designs and I can't wait to see how this stitches up!!!!