Assembling

This morning I started working on some finishes. OK, so mostly just one so far. I think that's about all I can handle for the time being, so I'm going to work on the Abstract for a little while and see if I feel like coming back to the finishes later in the day.

This is what my little dude looks like with the fabric added to the inside of my bourse:
And here's what it looks like after I finished the whole thing:I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, considering my shoddy sewing skills and all. I'm hoping to drop it off to the recipient sometime tomorrow.

Time to take the dogs for a walk :-).

Abstract Progress!

Not far to go now! I'm stitching as fast as I can. I might be getting a bit obsessive...
My wrist is starting to hurt. Egads! I better take a break :-|.

Bad?

Is it bad if one is looking through one's stash inventory and starts panicking? I'm sitting here trying to keep myself from starting another project right now. I have the following going: abstract, nova, x-mas stocking, angel, st. petersburg, co-worker gift, free-bee. OK I think that's all. Oops, no - also the sampler book. And I'd like to start the blackstone fantasy garden, fire and ice, a needle keep, an accessory box, seasons of the trees, and about 30 different little projects.

Then of course there are the projects I need to finish - some soon.

I wonder when someone is going to stage and intervention! Sheesh!

Ta Da... The letter B. As usual I took a less than stellar photo. I need to get my filters out so I can do a better job with them. But you get the idea ;-).
I'm enjoying samplers all of a sudden. I'm not sure why this last year has me so focused on letters. I guess it's similar to my interest in school figures in figure skating (they should never have done away with those in the olympics). It's the conventional that lets one really see someone's style and execution. Or maybe it's because I have a bunch of friends with babies now and we're all singing the alphabet song!

Oops I Lied

I didn't get the "B" section of my sampler book done yesterday. I did end up having a very good time though! I took off to deliver the cake in the late morning and got hung up there chatting. Then I went into the city and to my LNS :-). I spent an hour at the shop picking out colors for the rest of the sampler book and then realized I was going to be late to my doctor appointment. I quick paid for it all and sped off for that. After the appointment I returned to the shop for another hour of color picking. I accidentally kept my buddy Gail a little late at the shop - she's a gem!! Then it was off to dinner with some friends and returned home late.

I can't wait to get going on the rest of this project! The colors are wonderful. Sadly I think I'm in the process of ransoming my first born. I hope whoever it is that's taking him doesn't realize he's a dog and not a people :-).

Day Off...

I have the day off of work today in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr's life's work. It's one of the few non-holy holidays in the US that promotes peace and caring. Now that I think of it, it may be the only one.

Calls are out around the nation for people to spend the day engaged in community activities. I'm a little bad in that I won't be doing that today. I don't feel too awful about it though because I visit nursing homes with my dog twice monthly and coach a kids sports team regularly, among all of my other charity activities. If you're not already volunteering on a regular basis, think about it - it's very rewarding and is so wonderful for the people who need help.

This morning I did some baking and then settled in to work a bit on my sampler book. I'm hoping to have a photo of my completed 'B" square up by the end of the day. It's very close to completion.

I also motivated to hang my framed Sunny Day Cat project that I got back from the framing shop on Friday. It looks great in my sun-shiny guest room.
I didn't put in any time on my Abstract this weekend. Between the skating meet (all day Saturday) and messing around the house on Sunday I just couldn't find the time. I'll be putting in some hours on it during the week though. It's so close to completion!

Big Push

This week I've gotten quite a bit more finished on my Abstract project. I'm very excited about the progress. I'm glad I'll be taking tomorrow off for a skating meet since my hands are getting tired. Here's where I'm at:
At least I was able to move the frame to the other half of the project. That's always a good pick-me-up :).

Yesterday I received the new Nordic Needle catalog in the mail. I shouldn't be looking in it since everything is so tempting and I overspent a bit on crafting items during the holidays. ooooh I couldn't help it. Today I brought it to work so show a couple people who have been asking about my projects. I didn't know that my coworker at the next desk was interested in stitching. It turns out that she used to do some before her kids were born and went nuts over the catalog. Yay - I'm an enabler.

I better get back to the project... happy stitching!

Stitcher's Panic

Earlier this week I was swimming in the morning and strained the index finger on my left hand when I overdid it a little on the breast stroke. It was rough stitching that night (I'm a lefty). I was worried that it would be out of commission for longer. It's funny how something little like that can make one worry.

I've been stitching like mad on the Abstract. Since I've been getting out from work a little earlier than usual I can get in a walk with the dogs and spent a couple of hour stitching at night. It's made a huge difference in how I feel in the morning. The dog walk gets me out in the sunlight and the stitching is so relaxing and productive.

I'm planning to post another progress photo of the abstract this weekend. I have the last portion of the project broken up into weekly goals. I seem to have broken through the blockade on that project. I decided to put all of the smalls on hold for a while so I can get some work in on the projects that were starting to languish.

Winter Reflections

Winter is my favorite season. I'm a snow monster. I grew up alpine ski racing, sledding and making snow forts. In high school I went to a school for ski racing and learned to speed skate. I now cross country ski, speed skate and snowshoe in the snow. I live in snow country. This makes it vary hard to cross stitch in the winter!

The other wonderful thing about winter is that so many people don't like it, so there are fewer social engagements to go to and it's so much more relaxed and introspective. I can still find some time to do my stitching between all of my snowy pursuits.

Yesterday I was able to wrap up the first frame in the sampler book I'm working on this year. I was thinking about doing it as an installment piece, but now I've decided not to worry about rigorous schedules and to work ahead if the mood takes me. I have no idea if I'll have time to. It is a nice portable project though.
I also have made a little bit of progress on the Autumnal Abstract. I thought I was going to get a lot more done in the fall and early winter, but events, and small projects, kept me away from the favorite stitching chair. I'm over halfway done with this one and just switched the frame over to I can reach everything on the right side of the project. I'm going to work on this on today exclusively - between skating and show shoeing :-).

A Pile of Pillows

The last few days I've been hosting my parents for the holidays and traveling all over the place visiting. All the car time gave me the opportunity to assemble all of the Quaker Squares I completed in 2008. Fortunately I got a nice storage box with one of my gifts, so now I have a nifty place to store my projects until I get around to making a display case.The first photo is the first 6 months of the year and the design Suzanne stitched for me for an exchange recently. The second is the last 6 months and Suzanne's signature square.I still have another 3 or 4 exchange squares to do up as pillows. Hopefully sometime this week. It's a good year so far ;-).

2008 Retrospective Slide Show

Ahh the end of 2008! What a crazy year this one was. I entered stitching competitions for the first time and actually won some awards. I also completed more projects than I ever have in one year. Most of them were smalls, but there were still a good number of larger ones.

I finished my first year long series project. That was the Quaker Squares. I'm in the middle of finishing them all as little pillows that I can display in a basket somewhere around here. I'll be starting a new series project in a couple of days.

Tomorrow evening is the first stitch-in of 2009 at my LNS. I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening.

And now for the slideshow...