Holidays...

The holiday season has been busy and full of happiness, laughter, and tears. We lost our 17 year old cat this month, and also our mom's 12 year old dog that also lives with us. Sad, sad, sad. Our pets are part of our family.  More on that another day...

I've gotten a little stitching done, more on that later too.  I hope you have a wonderful 2015 and a great celebration soon!

December is here...

Happy December...it's that time of year!

I got a tad bit of decorating done earlier than normal this year.

It's fun to see the bright colors of Christmas in our home.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Quaker Diamonds Progress

I've had a bit of time to stitch. How grateful I am for free time to enjoy this wonderful hobby. My latest update of Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds is shown below.

I hope to fit in more time later on today!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the U.S.A.

A Pattern Still Waiting to Be Stitched

Awhile back I shared this pattern here, and it's still waiting to be stitched so many months later.

 When I first saw this beautiful Fantastic Fall Bouquet by Barbara Baatz stitched in person, I loved it immediately.

The problem was, it was hard to find. I searched high and low for quite awhile, to no avail. Some time ago I did finally locate it on Ebay, and here is what the finished product will look like:

I am thinking of it today, as it's finally feeling a bit like fall this evening. I love its colors and contrasts.

Do you have a lot of patterns waiting in the wings, just like me? Somehow I think I am not the only one.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Too Busy

I spent 14 years at home raising my children.  I loved it! They were truly the most rewarding years of my life, and the most relaxing. Were there hard days? Yes. Were there financial sacrifices? Yes. We had very little materially. On the other hand,  I got to structure my day and time.   Our house was comfortably clean, dinners were planned and prepared, and almost each day I stitched a bit at some point in the waking hours.

When our kids were in high school, I went back to school for graduate education and thus began the start of my 'second' career.  I've been at my chosen career now for 15 years, or 19  years if one counts the time spent doing part time work in my field.  It hasn't gotten easier, it's gotten more complicated and exhausting.  This year has been particularly difficult.

I miss my SAHM days.  My career is rewarding, but it is extremely demanding. No time to stitch lately.

With that being said, today I am sharing some photos of an autumn day. I love fall with its rich colors and crispness in the air.  These photos were taken at Disneyland a year or so ago:

The Train Station--Upon Arriving Through the Main Gate

Charming Lampposts on Main Street, USA

The Haunted Mansion- decorated in "Nightmare Before Christmas" style

Another View of the Haunted Mansion

Main Street Decked Out in Fall Colors

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Fall ---Embroidery at the Fair

I wish I had been stitching lately. Sadly, I think I have stitched only one hour in the past month. My job has taken a turn and that change means hours more work for me at home daily.  It is just the way it is.

We did go to the neighboring county's fair a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, there aren't many crafts featured in this county fair anymore. There are millions of people living in the county, but very few enter crafts in the fair. I don't think people craft too much at all out here! I did manage to snap a photo of one entry. It's an embroidered elephant, and I thought it was charming and beautiful. I am sorry I do not know the embroiderer's name.

Another fun photo from the fair is featured below. No, we didn't eat this food but I love the bright colors of these types of fair stands.

Since it's finally feeling like fall around here, yesterday I placed a few fall decorations around the house.  No photos to share of that, my efforts were rather scant.

I hope you get some stitching in today.  It's back to work for my job now.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Another Finish- MN Sampler

Forgive this photo as it's surely not very clear.  I finished this piece tonight after way too many  years as a WIP.

I fell in love with the piece when I visited Stitchville many years ago. What a wonderful shop it is!   A model was on display near the store's entry, and I had to stitch it.

I started it in August of 2006.  Eight years and one month later, I'm finally done.

Summer is almost over season-wise, but it's been over 100 degrees here lately.  I long for fall weather, and cooler air.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Oberlin's Minnesota Sampler Update

I've been stitching a bit on Oberlin's Minnesota Sampler. All I have left are a few french knots! I enjoy french knots so I'll get to them when work lets up a bit.  This photo isn't the most recent version of what I've done, but you get the idea. I'll be glad to be done with this, and we'll hang it in our office as a sweet reminder of my husband's and mom's home state.

Thanks for looking!

Last time I stitched was while attending a local stitching group's gathering a week ago today.  It was wonderful to sit with fellow stitchers and talk with each other.

 Missing from the group was member Debbie who had very recently sadly passed away. I had never met Debbie in person as I seldom am able to attend gatherings, but I felt I knew a bit of her from reading her posts and blog. Many around the globe knew Debbie from her blog, videos, and inspiring posts.  My stitching friends who  knew her personally speak of her so highly. It is so apparent she was a very special person who will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

She passed away so young.  Life is so tough, and sad. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends as they mourn her loss.

Eight Years Ago...

This post is a bit self-indulgent. I don't do a 'blogversary' post each year. I don't even like talking about personal 'stuff' on here. But here goes....

I can't believe I started this blog eight years ago today.  Where has time gone?

So much has happened in our lives here. My father and father-in-law have both passed away in these eight years, we've taken on the care of my elderly mother who now lives with us, our daughter married and became a teacher, two grandchildren were born to our now SAHM daughter, our son graduated from college and has a rewarding career in his chosen field, we moved to a different home and city thirty some miles away from where we'd lived 23 years, my husband switched jobs, and I earned my master's degree.  There are many more changes, of course, in our lives but those are some of the major ones.  We are so grateful for all the blessings in our life.

Thanks for reading the blog. Not many leave comments, but I do appreciate them so much.  I can see there are page views, so I know folks are reading even if they're not talkin', and that's fine too. :)

I'm still stitching, but not near as much as I would like to be doing. My job teaching elementary school keeps me very busy, as do other responsibilities in my life. I dream of projects, just the same--and I do find time here and there to pick up my needle. I know that someday when I retire I will have more time to pursue it.  I miss my SAHM days at times, as I loved the freedom to create.  I am fortunate that in my job I am allowed to be creative, and it is something I enjoy immensely.

The old blog used to be here, but then it got hacked. I moved it here several years ago, and in the process I lost a lot of organization in the 'old' blog.  It was so frustrating to go to that older blog three years ago and find out I actually couldn't even get to it. It was completely hacked!  I was finally able to get there and send a reference to this one, but that's it.

So Happy Blogversary, and Happy Stitching!

Antique Sampler Framed

Several years ago I found an old and damaged sampler in a drawer at my parents' house.  It was amazing to me as this spot sampler had a red floral design in the lower right corner, just as I had put a red floral design in the bottom corner of a sampler I put together and finished in 2009. I put this design in my sampler one hundred fifty years later--and BEFORE I saw the antique spot sampler, ever. Amazing to me!  You can read more about that and see the comparison of the two samplers here.

The antique sampler was stitched by my Great-Great Grandma when she was around ten years old, across the ocean in Switzerland before she and her family moved to this continent.

I finally got it to our wonderful framer, and I am so  happy to see it displayed in our home.

The Spinning Wheel and Armoire are also from the 1800's

Thanks for stopping by today!

Back to the Routine

Sigh. Summer is over for me.

I returned 'unofficially' to work over two weeks ago, and I returned officially a week ago today.

Bye, bye summer. You were so relaxing....no stitching done for a few weeks now.

Updates on my Minnesota sampler are coming as well as a framed family heirloom --the sampler made by my Great Great Grandma in 1849.

Hope you're enjoying summer, if it's still summer where you are.

 Part of the Sampler stitched in 1849 by my Great Great Grandma

Fruit Bellpull Progress

Summer is flying by so quickly.  My break from my job is almost over, in fact. I can't believe it.

With that being said, after a very long break of perhaps seven years, I stitched some on Teresa Wentzler's Fruit Bellpull.  I had seen this stitched in person at a local stitch group, and it was awe inspiring, to say the very least. The colors are exceptional-- so many blends and gradations of color.  At the time I saw it, the pattern was out of print and difficult to locate.  I finally found one on the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board and I happily purchased it.  It actually was shipped to me from another country, so it is thus one of my most treasured patterns.  Teresa Wentzler's work is amazing.

 I pulled out my threadbox for this piece, and also my box of envelopes where I have some blends in small envelopes.

 Here is a photo of the color key, just to give an idea of the amount of colors in this piece.

When I started on the piece it was very difficult to find my place. On top of that, I had highlighted my working copy as to where I'd stitched, but I didn't highlight it accurately way back when. It was rather challenging in every way possible to know where to go. I have heard people say the grapes are the hardest part, and that is of course where I left off seven years ago.  These photos show a bit of the piece, and a bit of progress:

A few more views, and a view of the peaches which include the backstitching:

Some of my stitching doesn't look up to par to me, but it will do!

I have moved on to my next WIP which is Oberlin Samplers Minnesota Sampler . After a short while on that one, I will go back to this beautiful pattern.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Quaker Diamonds Progress

I have been so fortunate lately as I've had time to actually get some great stitching time into my day. Ah, summer, how I love you!

I worked on Quaker Diamonds this past week, and here's my progress thus far:

I am now moving onto another WIP.  I think I will pull out Theresa Wentzler's Fruit Bellpull. I haven't worked on that one in years, and it's time to get some progress added to it.  It has a lot of blended needles so progress can be a bit slow, but the results are so worth it!

I have decided to go back to rotating my projects as I did years ago, so that way each of my five projects will get a bit of stitching on them on a more 'regular' basis.

Happy Stitching!

Some New Stash , etc.

I hope you had a great 4th of July, for those of you who celebrate it.  It's a fun holiday. I stitched this piece for my son long ago, and it hung in his room for years. Recently it has been displayed in my classroom.  It was a fun stitch from the now long gone CrossQuick magazine.  It's called simply "Patriotic Sampler".

I recall I was working on it in a public place way back when, which is something I don't do anymore. I require too many pairs of glasses to stitch away in a public place! I was working on this piece in a haircut place, in fact,  in our town whilst my son was getting his haircut. He was about seven at the time. There was a group home in the same haircut place, and I recall one of the young boys from the home watching me as I stitched. He was probably only about 12 or 13.  He was mesmerized by what I was doing, and he was so happy to know I was making it for my little son, who is now 28 years old.  He seemed so touched that anyone would take the time to do this. It makes me wonder how little love or attention he probably ever received from anyone, and I will never forget his face as he watched me work on this little sampler.  I could be wrong, but knowing he lived in a group home setting made me think that perhaps he'd received little attention from his family. I could have been completely wrong, of course, in my assuming such a thing about him.  It was the way he went on about me making this for my son that made me think just that thought.

And now shifting gears completely....

I also recently acquired a new pattern.  I certainly didn't 'need' it, but it sure is fun to think about what one can stitch in the future. It is from Bygone Stitches, and it is Quaker Christmas II- Songs of the Season. Here's a link to the pattern, and it's shown on the page of a great company from which to purchase items online.  

I have been working on Quaker Diamonds a bit more each day. An  update will be posted soon!

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer day.  

Sweet July- Quaker Diamonds Progress

Time is flying by quickly, and soon I will back at work. I have not been a very good blogger, have I?

I have managed to stitch a few hours during June. I also dragged out my old rotation notebook, so now I can track stitching time and spend a bit of time on each of my five projects.  One or more was started back in 2003 or perhaps earlier, so I guess it's time to get moving on those very old ones.

Here is a recent photo of Quaker Diamonds. I've done a bit more work after this one was taken, but you get the idea of how it's coming along. It's a fun stitch!  Please forgive the quality of the photo:

During June we took a short road trip across our state and into another state. It was a great time, but I am such a homebody I am always thrilled to get home.  I didn't stitch on my trip, in case you were wondering. I did bring it along 'in case', but never had the chance.

Some photos of our trip:

A beautiful planter at one of the places we stayed. I hope to do these sorts of succulents in one of our planters.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Homes in San Francisco- love the colors

The California coast near Pacific Grove

A fun place to eat in Carmel 

Dogs are allowed everywhere in Carmel.  Here's a pooch enjoying
a meal with its owner.

Even though it was fun to get away, it was grand to come home. We've been working in the yard a lot this summer, and we're enjoying all the colors out our window.

Thanks for stopping by today. What are you working on lately?

Summer Break

My summer break begins...again. Need I say more? I like what this author said:

Here's to a nice break for those of you who have one this upcoming summer, and maybe a bit of stitching for you and me, too!

Spring Flowers

No time to stitch, but I wanted to share some photos of our front yard. We were fortunate to have had the planters redone last year, thanks to our wonderful son-in-law.  The roses were planted years and years ago, all the rest is new. It's fun to wake up, open the drape...and see the yard in such a colorful way.

I hope to stitch soon. Thanks for stopping by!