Looking forward to a new year....

The holiday has come and gone and I'm ready for the new year. I thought I'd start this final blog entry for 2010 with a few pics of mom's last project. Mom works for the school district as a kitchen manager for one of the elementary schools...yep, she's a "lunch lady"..LOL This year for her work party she made a gingerbread train. It turned out really cute and the ENTIRE thing is edible! Even the base it's sitting on! This first pic is the engine.....
Next we have the coal car and the wood hauler.......

And finally, the caboose.....

The "snow" is flaked coconut and the rocks are chocolate pieces. Who knew they sold that kind of thing?

The coal in the coal car is actually coal shaped chocolates.....

Here's what the entire thing looks like....complete with a tiny pond!

Ok, so that ends the holiday festivities for me....LOL On to new and exciting things.....




On Christmas Day there was a package tied to the mailbox. It had been torn in half and opened, but inside it had this.....

My very own Cross Stitch a day Calendar for 2011! My friend Janet RAK'ed me for Christmas! I've been wanting one of these calendars for as long as I can remember and have never been able to find one. I'm so thrilled! I've found a bunch of cute little things to stitch for the new year so I have a feeling you'll all be seeing a lot of this calendar in the coming months. :)


This year I'm starting something new for myself. I've always made plans to get things done, but seem to lose momentum not long after the plans are made. So...to start of the new year right, I've decided to start making monthly goals. I'll list those goals here on my blog and at the end of the month we'll see how good I did. Here's my pile of things for January 2011:

There is one thing missing from the pile, a crochet afghan. I'm determined I'm gonna learn how to crochet this year. Here's the breakdown of my plans:

2 sections (H & R) on Lizzie Kate "Christmas by the Letter"

2 sections (believe & care) on Lizzie Kate "Living with Charm", this is part of a UFO challenge in the stitcherhood group.

200 stitches in moms "moose sampler". This was suppose to be done a year ago but hasn't seen the light of day in months! This is another UFO challenge piece for the stitcherhood group.

1 page (part 4) of Alla Turca. This is an old SAL that I'm gonna be stitching along with Carla in the stitcherhood group.

I am also going to be starting a few new things in January.

2 ornaments for a 12 ornament challenge in KraftersKorner. (JBW designs "mitten collection")

Lizzie Kate "Winter" boxer for a seasonal SAL in Stitchesandstuff group.

2 squares on "Grand Marquoir" an old SAL that never got started.

1 square on Bent Creek "Red Thread Snappers"

And, last but not least.....I'm gonna attempt to start an afghan. I've wanted to learn to crochet for a long time and have decided this is the year to try it out. Sometime in January I'll be fighting the yarn monkeys and giving it a whirl. Kinda scared about that one!

Anyway, those are my goals for January 2011! I'll update sometime during January and let you all know how it's going. Wish me luck on accomplishing at least *part* of all this...LOL

Hugs to everyone and I hope everyone has a wonderful 2011!

November is Flying by!

Wow, can you believe November is halfway over? Seems like the months have just flown by this year! I have been trying to stay busy with my crafty things. Most of you know that I have been putting together charity quilts this year....this is the next one:
The martians were stitched up by 6 different ladies over the last few months and they did a wonderful job! This quilt will make someone very happy!


This next little piece is a block for a "girly theme" charity quilt. For some reason this little piece took me forever to finish, I just couldn't get interested in it. But now that it's done, I can do a happy dance and say I have a finish...hee hee! I'm hoping to have all the blocks for that quilt soon and if I'm lucky it'll be the next quilt I get to show everyone.

This week I recieved these lovely goodies in the mail......

My name was picked from the "hat" and I won these wonderful magazines and tea from Regina over at:
http://oubliette-riona.blogspot.com/

be sure to check out her wonderful blog when you all get a chance. Thank you so much for the great surprise! I can't wait to try out the tea!

After having one great surprise come in the mail, I recieved yet another via 123stitch. I *thought* it was the package that I had ordered for some exchanges but the surprise was on me....

The message board over at 123stitch is having a secret santa wishlist exchange for the holidays. I received this lovely package from my secret santa. I don't have any idea who she is, but she made my day! It was an absolutely much needed surprise on a very bad day. I had just gotten news that hubby's grandma is passing, so this came at the perfect time. Thank you secret santa, whoever you are!

Well, that's my last 2 weeks or so in a nutshell. Nothing overly exciting, but hey, at least I'm making some crafty progress. :) Hugs to all my stitching family, I love each and every one of you dearly and you all brighten my days when I most need it. Keep those needles smokin!

Here's a great giveaway!

At Willow Tree Pond: My 100th Post Giveaway!: "This year has flown by! I can't thank you all enough for the nice comments and suggestions that my followers post. But wait! I will try :..."

Fall is Here...

It's hard to believe Fall is here again! It seems like the years are flying by. My boys are in full swing of school this year and doing really well. Both boys recieved scholarships for 1 year of Karate lessons! The school gave out 5 scholarships and both my boys recieved one! Yep, I'm a proud mom! They had their first lesson on Friday and both love it!

About a month ago I was contacted by an old high school friend through facebook. She had heard through the grapevine that I had been making quilts for charity so she asked if I'd be willing to make one for her. She is involved with a womans group that makes care packages for our soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afganistan. They are having a chili feed and auction next weekend to raise money for the care packages and she asked if I'd make one for the auction. I felt it was a good cause and those care packages will mean alot to a soldier away from home and missing his or her family, so off I went to dig through my stash and this is what I came up with...

I haven't worked on my LK Living with Charm series for a while so I recently pulled it back out and did a couple more words. I hope to have it done by the end of the year. I'm at the halfway mark now so I should make it.

This next pic is a new start for me. My friend Jennifer did these charts a while back and decided she would 'PIF' them on to me. In turn I have to send them on to Tina when I am done. I've had them sitting here forever and thought I better get stitching before Tina gives up on me ever getting them done, LOL This is my progress so far... not much but it'll get there!

That about wraps up my little world for now. Not alot of excitement in my world but I am blessed with a wonderful husband and great kids...and all of you amazing stitching friends. I love each and every one of you! Keep those needles moving!

Busy Busy Busy Times....

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've been here! Time sure flies! I've been stitching and sewing alot lately. Last week I finished this little letter "N" for one of the charity quilts. Not sure what the little critters are suppose to be, but I think they turned out kinda cute.

Since we are so close to Halloween and I needed a quick finish to get my groove back, I thought I'd stitch up this little cutie. I think it's a freebie from Primitive Betty's but I can't remember for sure. I'm thinking it would make a cute little pin pillow.

Last weekend Mom invited me to go shopping. I picked up a few things.....

There's more but I forgot to take a pic of the other bag of goodies.

We recently did a couple of exchanges in KraftersKorner and I recieved this little ornament and goodies from Vicky. Love the snowman! He will look absolutely adorable hanging on my tree. Thank you Vicky, he is fabulous!

Another exchange we did recently is a Halloween Pin. I recieved this adorable little witch from my dear friend Ethel, along with a fat quarter of purple fabric and some Mill Hill beads. I love the witch and I can't wait to wear it for Halloween! Ethel, thank you for the goodies, I will wear the pin proudly!

That's it for the crafty part of life. Hubby had surgery yesterday to remove his teeth and get dentures. He was in for an hour and a half and came out with the dentures in his mouth. I felt so darn bad for the guy, he was a mess. I can honestly say I have never seen my husband drool until yesterday, and let me tell you.....it was FUNNY! I've never laughed so hard in my life. He's doing better today and taking his pain meds like a good boy. I'm thinking he'll probably sleep most of the day today because whatever they gave him makes him loopy or high or something....maybe happy would be a better word...LOL

Anyway, that's it for my boring update. Hope everyone is keeping those needles busy and enjoying the fall weather. Hugs to all my stitchy friends, you really are the best and I love you all dearly!

A busy week for me!

What a busy week it's been for me! On Monday & Tuesday I finally got around to putting one of the charity quilts together. Carein had sent me some cute little diaper pin alphabet blocks months ago and with the move I just didn't have time to get things together the way I had intended. I figured I better get on the ball and start doing some things before I fall so far behind I can't catch up. Here is the first project of the week.......
The picture just doesn't do it justice. The little blocks are absolutely adorable! The 'white' part of the edge has little bitty pastel alphabet letters scattered all over it.
Next is a little train for another charity quilt that will have a "toy box" theme. I've got 10 more of these little blocks to do so it will be a bit before you get to see that one.

Yesterday I started cutting the fabric for this next piece. I got it all cut and the red part sewed on thinking I'd finish the rest today. Woke up this morning and got the blue border on, sandwiched it together, sewed it all up and realized I had it inside out! I could not for the life of me find a darned seam ripper anywhere! Three hours later after using my teeny gingher embroidery scissors, it was ripped apart and ready to re-sew. This is the final product......

It will also be going to charity. I hope the child that recieves it enjoys the cute animals and finds some comfort in it.

After all the darned irritation over the quilt fiasco, I finally got the mail. I recieved a wonderful much needed RAK from Carein! She sent a few candies with a little note explaining the meaning behind each piece she chose. It was a wonderful surprise this afternoon after all the tears over the quilt. Thank you so much Carein for brightening my day!

That's it for this week. I'm hoping next week I can stay on this kick and get more done. Hugs to all my stitchy friends, you all make my heart sing! :)

It's been a long time.....

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've been here, I've been a slacker! I'm not going to go into much personal stuff right now but thought I would show off a few recent finishes. This first one is a little pin for an exchange. I don't believe my partner reads my blog so it should be safe to go ahead and post it here. It's done on 14ct plastic canvas, not so sure I like stitching on that stuff but I thought it turned out cute.
This next piece is for one of the charity quilts. It's for the "girly" themed one and I'm hoping it'll be cute with the rest of the blocks everyone is doing. It was an easy and quick stitch to do. The chart is a Lizzie Kate and it's done on 14 ct aida.

The final piece for today is the letter "O". We are doing all the letters of the Margaret Sherry Alphabet and they will be turned into a charity quilt. I've got one more letter to do for this one and I'm waiting for 3 more to arrive in the mail and then these will be ready to piece together.

I know this isn't much of an update but I've got so much personal "stuff" going on in my life right now I just can't think clearly enough to want to put it on here. Hope you all understand. Hugs to all my stitching friends, you all mean the world to me.

Life and a finish and exchanges....

It's been a while since I've updated this poor blog. We've had lots of major changes in our life the last few months and finally moved back to Idaho and we are staying with my mother. I can honestly say I will be so glad to have a place of my own again. I wish I would have known how difficult it would be, I NEVER would have done it! Live and learn I guess...but that's for my other blog.

I've participated in a few exchanges the last month or two. Jennifer B sent me this cute little "Easter Surprise" pattern from Bent Creek for a Spring exchange. Thank you Jennifer! I love it and plan to make it for next Easter.

We recently did a patriotic exchange in KraftersKorner and Carein sent me this great collection of goodies. I can finally say I have my first ATC for a collection...LOL! I loved it, thanks Carein!

I haven't had a whole bunch of time, space and peace to stitch lately but I was able to finish a block for the quilt group. I believe we only have a few more letters to get stitched and then we can make a quilt! I love seeing all the blocks as the ladies stitch them and seeing how these quilts come together. It gives me a sense of peace...or something, I dunno, just feels good inside if that makes sense.

Anyway that about wraps up my world at the moment, not too exciting. Hope everyone is having a better summer than my family and I. Hugs to all!

Little stitching Going on Here...

So much has been going on in my life lately I haven't had much time to stitch. My 10 year old son had been bullied at school so much that he was going through a bad bout of depression and talking about suicide. After numerous trips to the school and talking with the teachers, counselors and prinicipal, nothing was being done about it. For those that don't know, my son has Aspergers Syndrome. It's a form of autism. He's very smart, but lacks the social skills that most of us come by naturally. Anyway, the bullying had gotten to the point of my son finally fighting back and he ended up punching someone (in the arm). His teacher told him that he was going to end up in jail since he can't control himself...well, I basically lost it. I've been fighting with this particular teacher all year long and this was the final straw. At this point I had taken my son to a Dr to see what we could do for his depression and the Dr suggested he stop going to school for the rest of the year. So I pulled him out and am now homeschooling him for the remainder of the year. Best decision I ever made! He's coming out of his depression and actually went outside to play with the neighbor kids a few times.....this is something he hasn't done in over a year! (Aspies are known for not being social) He's doing fine with school work...except for math and we are working on that part. But so far so good! :)

My 8 year old has ADHD and we have chosen not to medicate him up to this point. Finally took him to the DR and put him on a low dose medication to help him concentrate at school and it seems to be working fairly well. The first few days were rocky while trying to give him the right dose, but we now have him on an extremely low dose that wears off after about 4 hours. Just enough time to get him through the school day and not have the nasty side effects. I don't know how long we'll continue with it, but we finally decided to give it a chance. I think I have more issues with this than hubby or the kids...I just don't like the idea of medicating kids like this. It really bothers me but I'll do it if it's the best thing for him right now.

Ok, on to stitching.....I pulled out my Lizzie Kate "living with charm" piece and have done another word. I love the way this one is turning out! I haven't put any charms on it yet, not quite sure if I will. I like it just fine without the charms and mom wants the charts when I finish so I may just leave it like this and let her have the charms. I'm still not sure how I want to finish it. I think a nice white 'antique-ish' frame would be pretty...but then I think it might be cute as a little wall quilt. Just can't seem to make up my mind. Any ideas???

Next is another EMS freebie. This is from the "toy book" series. I'll be doing all 12 of these ones for another quilt. We are hoping to have 8 quilts done for the girls home by November...I think we are going to make our goal or at least get pretty close.

Next is a magnet I received from Marie for a magnet exchange we did in KraftersKorner. I love it! She also sent me some candy but the kids and I ate it..hee hee.

And this is two more magnets I recieved from Vicky. ( I had 2 partners this time) She also sent me some adorable little note cards and some chocolate. Yep, you guessed it, the chocolate is gone..... :)

That's it for my little bit of stitching...not much but like I said it's been busy around here lately. We are finally moving back to Idaho! The Uhaul is reserved for June 21 and we should be out of Oregon no later than the 23rd. I'm going to miss this area a lot, it's become home over the last 9 years. I'm kind of dreading it though, we will be staying with mom for about a year so we can get our finances in order and take care of things that we just can't seem to catch up on. While mom and I have a lot in common with our love of stitching and quilting, they aren't used to having 2 rambunctious boys around all the time. It's going to be a huge adjustment for all of us and I know how tempers can flare in stressful situations so I'm a little spooked.

The good parts to it are: the boys will be going to the same elementary school that my daughter went to so at least I'll already be familiar with the school district. I was born and raised there so I know places to take the kids for outings. We have friends & family that still live in the area so we will have some kind of support system. Mom has a huge back yard with a garden so lots of room to play and tinker with growing vegetables. And it'll give the boys a chance to really get to know their Grandparents. The boys were just babies when we moved here so they haven't had the chance to spend alot of time with them. And the best part is there is lots more places to go and people to meet that have autistic kids. I'm hoping to meet a few parents and join a few support groups. There just isn't anything in this area for families like ours and hubby and I have been winging it on our own for the most part. Hopefully being around people that understand the disabilities and the things we go through on a daily basis with the boys will help us to be better parents. Anyway, I've made this short little stitching entry into a personal book..oops! Hope all of my stitchy friends are keeping those needles smoking! Hugs to all!

Mothers Day Flowers and Final zoo quilt block!

I had a lovely Mothers Day spent cleaning out the garage and taking stuff to Goodwill, it feels so good to have some of the junk out of the way. This is a pic of the plant that my youngest son gave me for the holiday. Not quite sure exactly what it is since he took the poke out with all the information. I think it may be something I can plant outside, but I'm not sure so if anyone knows what it is, please let me know. LOL
I put the last stitches in this yesterday. It was the last block I needed for the zoo theme quilt. I am absolutely thrilled to have all 12 blocks done!

And now that the blocks are done, I get to start the quilting part. This is the fabric I'll be using:

The blue will be on the front of the quilt, the green is a soft flannel that will be used on the back. (Thanks Ethel for sending it!) I've decided not to use any other fabrics for this one so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Next on the stitching block is things for myself that have nothing to do with the charity quilts. I've got way too many things sitting here needing attention...like moms bday gift and my LK words. Hope to spend the next week or two working on those things and putting 2 of these quilts together. Hope the next update will have some kind of finish to show..LOL Hugs to all!

Two More Quilt Blocks & A RAK!

I've been a busy girl the last 3 days and have finished two more quilt blocks. A cute little lion and a baby zebra. Only one more block to go and I'll have them all done and ready to be made into a quilt for the girls home. Yahoo!

Today I recieved a wonderful RAK from Carein! She sent me this cute little magnet that she made. It matches perfect with the little birdhouse she made me and it is already on my fridge where everyone can see it. Carein and her husband make the most wonderful little things out of wood, the craftmanship is beautiful and this piece will be treasured just as much as I treasure the birdhouse. Thank you so much Carein for thinking of me.

Nothing else to show for now, but hoping the next update will have that last finished block and a quilt to show. Hugs to all!

A Bit of Poetry & small finishes...

Can you believe its May already? Where on earth is the time going? I've been a busy girl over the last week or so. Last week my 8 year olds class had a poetry reading. The kids had been busy writing poems and invited the parents to come to their annual poetry reading. Here's a pic of my son reading the following poem that he wrote:

Who Am I?
A long 8 hours in the car but I am excited to get there.
We pull up and I see a small gray house with a large canal in the front.
I open the door and smell my old Grandpa.
It is a stinky old smell.
I hear him snoring.
I get lots of hugs.
I get to eat spuds all day.
They are awesome with a hint of coconut.
I like visiting Idaho, home of the potato.
I wish I could visit more.


Ok, so the kids poetry skills could use a bit of tweeking...but I thought it was hilarious! He did a really good job considering he was nervous about standing up in front of everyone. It was a fun day and I look forward to attending more things like this as the kids grow up.



On to stitchy news: I've been working on more quilt blocks for my zoo theme quilt. As of right now I only have 3 more to stitch and then I can start the actual quilt part. I was able to finish two blocks over the weekend...a penguin and a parrot:

I'm looking forward to getting the next 3 blocks done and getting this quilt made. These kids are going to be thrilled with all the quilts!

Against my better judgement, I've decided to go ahead and show pics of the magnets I made for an exchange in my KraftersKorner group. I have not sent these to my partners yet so I hope they'll still be surprised..LOL The first 2 are for Marie. It was hard to find just the *right* thing but I'm hoping she likes them.

These next 2 magnets are for Vicky. I hope she likes lighthouses and beach stuff...LOL!

I've been working a little bit here and there on moms bday gift. I will show a progress pic of that one in the next update. I seem to go in spurts with that particular project, a few minutes here & there but not any set amount of time to make good progress. Hope to pick it up soon and just get the darned thing finished.

I have been a good girl and DID NOT start the LK Christmas by the Letter charts yet. I am going to finish the Living with Charm series first and have brought it back out to work on this week. Hope to have an update on that piece next time too.

Well, now you know what I've been up to! Hope everyone is having a great Spring! Hugs to all!