Almost...

Hiya!

I am pleased to report that me & mine have come through the "one two punch" weather wise with very few battle scars! Man, I love me some snow, but that was just a tad on the ridiculous side, lol!! 30+ inches on Fri/ Sat, then another foot on Wednesday? Yeesh!! Leah's daycare was closed all week last week, as well as today. Which meant she spent the entire day with me at work Friday, and the afternoon there with me today. Poor kid... she is sooo ready to get back to her friends and her regular routine

There were several bright spots though, that more than made up for the hunkered down state we found ourselves in. The main one being we never lost power (thank God for underground power lines!!), not even a flicker!

We got to spend lots of quality time together - Leah and I hung pictures up in her room (that's been waiting to happen for about 2yrs now), which was a lot of fun. It's so cute to see her "design sense" coming out. Of course, she is 4 so her design sense = 1 small picture on each wall, lol. I tried to gently suggest to her that it looked a tad empty that way but she assured me that "Oh no mommy. That's the way it's supposed to be. That way there's plenty of room for you to make beautiful projects for me!" LOLOL I guess she told me, huh?

We played Barbies and Ponies and games and watched movies out the wazoo... I knew she needed a change of scenery Thursday when what she came up with during our play time together was a Barbie/ My Little Pony/ Killer Lambie theme. Not kidding!! Yeah, she was going a little stir crazy... Heeeeeeeeere's Leah!! (Please know I am totally kidding around w/ that last part - she is just about the sweetest kid you could meet - headstrong as all get out [absolutely NO idea where that comes from, BTW] but still sweet as can be).

I was able to keep pretty well on top of commenting on all of your lovely blogs - I think I was even the first commenter (instead of my usual dead last!) on one of your posts.

And, because I was able to do so much during the day, I got pretty consistent time in my stitchy chair in the evenings after my sweet girl went to bed. As a result, this is where I am with Special Delivery:


All I have left to do is finish the flower, do the big & little "T", then chart out and stitch her full name and birth date. I actually think the part that will take the longest (b/c it while drive me straight around the bend every time I look at it if it is not perfectly centered) is charting her name and DOB. I remember now why the birth sampler I did for my friend made me so crazy, lol!! I've really enjoyed this one, and although it will have taken me 3 calendar weeks to finish (That's the plan anyway!! Have it done NLT 2/21.), it feels like it has gone more quickly than almost any other I've done. It's kind of funny - for the first couple sessions with this piece, I found myself checking the fabric against a "this is for sure 40ct" fabric b/c the stitches looked GIGANTIC compared to the last one I did! I was having nightmares about running out of fabric b/c I had pulled the wrong count fabric and calculated "this is how much I need" incorrectly. My eyes have re-adjusted themselves, though :).

Sunday my DH & Leah really blessed me for Valentine's Day - they took me to my (sort of) LNS and let me buy things!! I was very pleased with what I came away with:

The top piece of fabric (all are Lakeside Linens 40ct.) is a stitchers' 1/4 of Pearled Barley; in the middle is a 1/2 of Light Examplar; and on the bottom is a 1/2 of Strawflower. The blue/ cream/ brown threads are Soie D'Alger and are for the Workbasket's "Stitch in Time" chart. I finally found a piece of brown linen that will work for this! Yay! The model was stitched on LL Cattail Brown, but that dye was discontinued and I couldn't find it anywhere (I didn't know this when I bought the chart, of course). While I was at the LNS I saw a piece of LL Nutmeg - score!! It's almost the exact same shade!! The green/ brown/ rust threads are NPI and are for Carriage House Sampling's "The Garden Glade" - they didn't have all the colors I need for the chart in stock, but that's okay. I got what I could b/c all of this was 20% off. They had had to postpone their annual Super Bowl sale due to blizzard #1 - worked out perfectly for me!! There is no way in Hades I would've been able to drag Mr. Money Bags... er... I mean, my DH... out there during the Super Bowl, lol!!

I've also gotten some organizing done in "my room"... bought a couple more drawer bins, hung some pics on the walls... it's looking much more tidy now, but also strangely empty and sterile... hmmm... I feel some trips to Home Goods coming in my future! Still plenty of room on the walls for me to hang the gajillion (cough cough) projects I will complete this year. I'll post some pics of the room as soon as it is looking a bit more cozy.

I am sooo looking forward to the Nashville Market haul that my LNS brings back!! I'm already plotting the sizable dent that will be made in my bank account! I am especially looking forward to the "Elizabethan" pieces from Plum Street Samplers. Liz I is my absolute favorite historical figure, and I cannot wait to get my grubby little paws on those charts (and the supplies to complete them, of course!)!! I also saw a pair of spider web looking scissors that I may need to add to my (still quite small) scissor collection. What are some items you are looking forward to in particular? I'd love to hear your "can't wait for..." items! This way I can be sure I don't miss an opp. to spend my cash, lol!

Well, that's it for me tonight. Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comments!! I love and appreciate each and every one of them. It's so great to have peeps to "talk to" about this obsession I have with thread and fabric.

Wishing you all numb butts,

Robin

Thank You, Snowtorious B.I.G., a Finish, and Progress

Hi there, everyone! I hope you are all warm, and dry, and enjoying your weekend!

First I want to say thank you so much for your kind words re: my grandpa's passing... It was such a comfort to read all your comments! He was a wonderful man, and we will all miss him. Mercifully, his final decline was of relatively short duration. In answer to Deb's question, that picture was of him holding Leah when she was about 3 or 4 months old. Tricked ya w/ the B&W photo, didn't I?

Stitchy pictures to follow, but first...

As most of you have probably heard, we are currently getting SLAMMED here in the Mid Atlantic by what our local NBC affiliate termed "Snowtorious B.I.G." - I seriously LOL'ed when I read that. I went out to shovel last night at about 12:30 and we had nearly a foot on the ground already. After about 45 minutes to get my steps and the sidewalk in front of our house cleared (we live in a TH, so that's only about 20 ft. of sidewalk), what I had just shoveled already had a good 2 inches, or more. When I got up this morning and looked out the window at what I had shoveled a short 10 hours prior, I swear I heard the sidewalk laughing it's hiney off at me... it may have even been pointing at me as it laughed! We have close to 30" on the ground at my house, and may get 5" (or more??!!) more before it's all said and done.

And the worst part is... I think this may be my fault... I left this little gem hanging after we took the Christmas decorations down:

Yeah... I've learned my lesson!!! :)

Here are some pics of the 'hood (or, as Leah likes to call it, our village) about 2 hrs ago:

Note the snow that has drifted high enough to nearly cover the hoods of the cars across the street... They've plowed our street a few times already, so hopefully we won't be trapped for too long. I looove snow, but it isn't really my idea of the greatest way to burn vacation days from work!

This is my front "stoop"... it was down to bare pavement when I went inside last night, and is sheltered pretty well from the wind. Oy!

And here's Leah and her daddy preparing to go for a walk around the neighborhood... the call of the snow was irresistable to them both. They lasted about 10 minutes. I think the wind slapping the snow into their faces is what did it. Leah came in begging for hot cocoa, and a warm bed, lol!

We haven't lost power, but I hear that thousands in our area have - I hope those folks are all staying snuggled up and staying warm(ish) and dry inside their houses!

On to stitchy things... :)

I finished (really!!) The Sewing Clamp Sampler Bits stitching, and here she is:

Stitched on provided 40ct "Muffin" linen over 1 thread with provided DMC thread

The one over one was not too bad once my eyes adjusted, but, especially with such dark thread, it was a bit hard to tell what I was stitching. There were times I just stabbed at what I hoped was the appropriate hole! I'm hoping to finish finish this little doo-dad in the next few weeks, but who knows if I will get to it that quickly, or not.

One note on this kit - The kit description claims that the clamp part is wrought iron, and that made sense to me given the price. It is NOT wrought iron. It is a heavy metal, painted with a powdery dark brown paint. I discovered this when I was loosening the clamp to attach it to something (to see how well it would clamp) and little bits of paint started flaking off into my hand, and silver started to show up. I don't mind per se that it isn't wrought iron, and I probably would have wanted it/ bought it even knowing up front that it wasn't... however, I feel as though I was intentionally misled, and I do not care for that. I will not be buying any kits that include "hardware" from this designer again, for that reason. She also has a pair of scissors for sale, which I was considering purchasing, but due to what happened with the clamp, I don't feel I can trust the description on those, either.

On to happier things!!

I started Blackbird Designs' Special Delivery Girl's Birth Sampler on the way to IN, and here is where I am:

I was looking through blog updates last night (but not commenting - I'll do that as soon as I post this) and saw, to my amazement and amusement that Siobhan had posted her pic of this finish! All I can say is... that Siobhan sure does have good taste!! :) I'm working it on 40 ct. generic cream linen with the called for threads. I love this pattern and have been wanting to/ meaning to complete it for some time now. It seems to be going somewhat quickly, and if I could just get some consistent time in my stitchy chair, it would get done pretty soon, I think!

Well, that's it for me for now... I'm considering spending the rest of my day hanging pictures in Leah's room & bathroom, and maybe finally putting some pics up in my "Nest" (aka, my craft room, my throne room, the room for none but she who rules this home)... maybe if I do that, it will motivate me to do the little bit of organizing I need to do in there and take some pics and post them on here for all to see? Hmm... we'll see!

Until next time,
Robin

In Loving Memory...

My grandpa...

Richard Elondus Smith

September 4, 1927 ~ January 28, 2010

How is it already almost the end of January??

Hiya peeps!! I hope you all had fabulous holidays and that your new year has gotten off to a great start.

I've been a stranger to blog-land lately, and I'm not going to be bashful about assigning blame. I wish I could say it's b/c I've been so busy stitching (and I have done some in the past week or so - pics later on in this post), or so busy reading & commenting on all your fabulous blogs that I haven't had time to update my own, but I can't say that... It's all Facebook's fault. Well... really Super Poke Pets on Facebook. Never fear, though. I've checked myself into SPP rehab and am happy to say I've been "clean" for over a week now. Wahoo.

So, here I am, back to spending my (oh so abundant) free time on what I really love - stitching! I hope to get caught up on reading and commenting on your posts shortly, and I have a bloggy request for you at the end of this post.

But the most amazing part of this post? I have finishes! Yes, plural!! I know, I know... it's rare, but true.

First up is the Olde World Santa ornament:


Umm... okay, so he's not really finished. I didn't remember that, lol!! I didn't have the pink thread for his cheeks, but got it a couple weeks ago, then forgot to finish him up. Oops! He's not finish finished either - I have a whole 11 months to tackle that fearsome task. Something tells me I won't do it until oh... November or so. :) .

Next up is the Sampler Girl's Emily Dickinson Sampler:




I think it turned out nicely, don't you? Now all she needs is a lovely frame and she'll be ready to go on the wall in Leah's room. I stitched her on 40 ct (not sure what brand and color - I really need to get better about noting that stuff) with DMC threads.

I also got the awesome thread keeper system that I first saw on one of your fabulous blogs - I'm sorry... I can't remember whose blog I saw it on! I really really love this. Admittedly, it takes a while to get the threads hooked up on the little tags, but it is definitely worth it to have all my thread organized and in one place - if nothing else it will keep me from buying duplicates. I haven't gotten all my thread done yet - I've got lots of DMC to put on the keepers. These are called Annie's Thread Keepers, and I got them from Nordic Needle. Here are a couple pics:



And I've begun a new start. It's the Sewing Clamp (Sampler Bits pattern) from the Heart's Content:


It was a Christmas gift from my DH. I chose it to be next because I thought "oh, it's nice and tiny, it should be a super quick finish", and because I looove it. Lo and behold I open up the kit only to discover - it's done over 1 on 40 ct. Ack! Never done that before! So, it won't be done quite as quickly as I anticipated, but I still am excited about it. I don't think I'm going to finish it the way the kit calls for it to be finished, though. I've seen another pincushion finishing technique on a couple of Homespun Elegance pincushions that is more to my taste, so I think I'll give that a shot. Here's where I am with it:


I worked on it for about 45 minutes last night (this gives you an idea why I finish things so slowly!), and am hoping to get quite a bit of stitchy time in this weekend, so you never know - this finish could come pretty quickly.

OK, I have a request - I know I'm missing out on a lot of fabulous blogs, so I was thinking "Self? Maybe your faithful blogging buddies could recommend their favorite 1 or 2 (or 3) stitchy blogs." If you'd like to help a sister out, just leave your recommendations in the comments on this post.

Thanks for reading ladies (& gents?)!! I'll be "seeing" you soon!
Robin

Hiya folks!

Wow... time flies by these days, doesn't it? This is such a busy time of year, but I absolutely love it! I'm sad to admit that I haven't put in a single stitch since my last post, lol!

Lots of Christmas preparation going on... shopping, decorating, and (amazing but true - for this area, anyway) a pretty significant snowfall which enabled me to get out with Leah and act like a kid for a couple hours.

So, in lieu of stitchy pics, I will share "pics of the season". :)

First, house pics - I'm done with the decor... for this year, anyway!

The tree in the living room... I always enjoy decorating the tree! Pulling out all the ornaments - some from before I was born - and recalling how I got them, the stories associated with each one. It's such a wonderful sense of nostalgia. It's especially great to start sharing these stories with Leah now that she's a little bit older. It's adorable to see the reverence she displays towards them after I tell some of the stories (i.e. "Mommy's grandma made that one.").

This is the little sitting area off the kitchen -it feels so cozy with the lights on, and the books all around. I've spent quite a bit of time sitting in here after Leah goes to bed just absorbing the peace.

And my Annalees... I looove these little things! They are so stinking cute!! I've been collecting them for a couple years now - I found them initially at Home Goods at an amaaazing amount off their original prices. 50 - 60% off! They aren't the current year's pieces, but that doesn't matter to me. I just love the nostalgic homey feel they have.

And now for the snowy afternoon pics. Before we went outside, Leah & Roscoe were having a blast watching the snow come down - Roscoe was beginning to get really ticked that he couldn't catch the snowflakes!

Leah and I finally made it outside about mid-afternoon... unfortunately, I don't have many pics, b/c I was afraid my camera would get too wet, and be ruined... Here is one that I thought was particularly cute, though:

Well, that's about all I've got for this go 'round! Thank you all for your comments - you ladies are wonderful! And, Siobhan - thanks for the pointer toward finishing instructions for my ornament! As soon as I get it finished I will hop right over there and check it out.

Have a fabulous week, everyone! With Christmas only 12 days away (Ha!! Really? I feel like breaking into song, now... but I'll restrain myself!), I'm sure we will all be pretty busy. Enjoy the season and make some fabulous new memories!

~Robin

Happy Thanksgiving (and Some Stitchy Stuff)!!

Hi, y'all! Howz it hangin'?

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks in my neck of the woods... my company had their annual symposium, which went well... but far more exciting than that is - I went to see New Moon with a couple of my friends and maaan did we enjoy it. It had nothing at all to do with a certain Mr. Lautner and his rather amazing body. No, I did NOT just type that about a 17yo kid, lol!! It also had nothing to do with the always dreamy Robert Pattinson... nooo nooo... nothing at all to do with those lads. :) It was good and I did love it - even aside from them. I thought it was far better than the first. One of the more entertaining aspects of the whole experience? All the tweens (literally) screaming their little heads off every time Jacob showed up on screen, lol - my friends and I were cracking up! I can't wait to see Eclipse - I think I read that the release date will be June 2010? Wahoo!

OK, on to stitchy stuff... Stitching time has been rather limited in recent days (or should I say evenings since, unfortunately, I don't get paid to sit at my job and stitch! I wonder if I could work that somehow??) so I still haven't completed the ED Sampler, but here's where I am with it:

I think if I can get a solid few hours of stitching in, I can finish it. I'm really liking the way it is turning out!

And in honor of the Christmas spirit that has overtaken me (earlier than usual, I must say), I've started stitching up ornaments - this is the first one:

It's on 32 ct. linen, with the called for DMC - this is one of the Santas in the Prairie Schooler's Old World Santas II pattern leaflet. I'm not sure if any of these will make it into gifts - I'm actually a little nervous about the finishing (to make them into ornaments) so we'll have to see a) how many I can finish in a reasonable time, and b) if I can manage to not hose them entirely when I attempt to finish finish them

Well, that's all for me for now kids! As always thanks for your comments ladies!! I love getting and reading them!!

I hope you and your families have an absolutely splendid Thanksgiving!!!

~Robin

New Start!

Hi there!

First things first: Thanks so much Deb, Terri, and Siobhan for your wonderful comments on my last two re-start posts. :) You ladies were always my most faithful commenters and it was so lovely to hear from you again right away. Thanks so much for welcoming me back into the bloggy fold so to speak. It's been great to catch up with all of you via reading your recent posts.

OK, on to new things. I worked on piecing my quilt for a while and got all the 4 patch blocks pieced (and all of my corners are perfect I am pleased to say!) but then I had to start the triangle pieces and got frustrated, so I decided I should put it on hold and re-start it at a later date. So, I picked up the Sampler Girl's Emily Dickinson Sampler. I had stitched most of the first two trees up at the top, and here is where I am now: (re-started 11/1):

I think I made a mistake with my fabric selection because unless you're looking at it in bright daylight you can barely see the green on the trees. Oh well... I refuse to frog it, lol!! :) This will go in Leah's room when it's done. I'm stitching it on 40 ct. linen with DMC.

I think the plan until Christmas is going to be to work on ED at home in the evenings after the wee child is in bed, and work on some Christmas ornaments during my lunch hours at work. We'll see how much I get done... then the finish finishing of those will be a whole new adventure, lol!

Not much else going on. I got Leah's Christmas pics done (I took her to a field in our neighborhood and took about 400 shots - overkill do you think?), so now I just have to pick out a couple to get printed up for family and friends. None of them will be posted here (although, my new profile pic is one of them) just in case a picture recipient reads the blog. Can't ruin the surprise, you know.

The weather was absolutely stunning here today and we went to the C&O canal aqueduct and tramped around on the trails and just had a glorious day in the great outdoors. Maybe I'll post a few of those pics in another post, because I did get some really pretty shots. That'll have to wait though at least until I get them off the camera and onto the PC.

This week I'm up for jury duty, and am off the hook for tomorrow, but we'll have to see what happens with the rest of the week. Maybe I'll be able to get caught up on some reading (I don't think I'd be able to take scissors and needle into the courthouse, sigh).

Alrighty kids, that's about all I've got this go 'round... Have a great week!!
Robin