bodner017

Thanks for the input on the comments on previous post! Clouds have lingered these past few days. Today the sun shined through, just for a bit before sunset, enough to take a few pictures of my projects ;-).  Above is where I'm at on my Give Thanks project from Stitches from the Harvest book by Kathy Schmitz. Done with the chain stitch on the yellow pods, and practically 2/3 done with the brown stems/branches. Might work a bit more on it this weekend. These, above, are all the completed stitcheries, and the WIP on the first picture. Above is this month's One Stitch at a Time design. It was stitched by my daughter on a flour sack kitchen towel by Colonial Patterns. She used DMC threads. From these ones, the Quilt on the Line and the Hop Along Stitches were also stitched by my daughter. She used Artiste variegated thread in Sugar Plum, and for the house with the quilt she used variegated Valdani 3ply thread in color M66. The other two were stitched by me....

Since we moved, I haven't been able or motivated to set up my new craft space. I've been missing my old space and how enjoyable the natural sunlight of that room used to be. I'm adding a few pictures of my old craft space here. We had a very large home, beautiful custom home.... but it was challenging for me to keep up with (even with the help of my husband)... living with chronic illnesses makes things a bit challenging. We refocus and decided to downsize a bit.   My new craft space will be craft room/guest room, so I'm lost as to how I'm going to set it up. The old one used to be in the kids playroom. So I had it set up to simply look like a craft space.   New projects, books, work in progress projects, supplies, etc., used to sleep right on top of my desk. Waiting for me whenever I had free time to keep working on them, without having to dig them out.... or even worst, being forgotten. (By the way, I'm having to use see thru project bags lately to help me rem...

At some point I will continue to work on this quilt. The one that was meant for mom. There are a few older blog posts about this project. When mom's health started to rapidly decline it took us (my siblings and myself) by surprise, it happened so fast, like a ride down a playground slide. My grandmother (mom's mother) lived for many years with Alzheimer's, even her late stages were quite long. We thought it was going to be the same with mom. Not so. Perhaps the fact that mom also had Lupus accelerated everything? Can't know for sure, but it is a possibility. Perhaps, all was clear all along and we were somewhat in denial? Maybe. What if the natural disaster that hit the area had to do with it? No matter how many questions we may ask, what we do know for sure is that the 'unexpected events befall us all'. - Ec 9:11. For safety reasons only certain things approved by the caregiving facility were allowed in her room, handmade quilts weren't part of that approve...

Stopping briefly to add a better update on current projects. Above is the actual progress (mentioned on previous post) on the Count Your Blessings by Country Cottage Needleworks cross stitch design. No current progress on that one. You can also see the Bitzy Bob 2 recently purchased from ThatsSoKelly on Etsy to keep my cross stitch project work in progress floss organized, handy and portable. Recently placed an order for the original Bitzy Bob for my small hand embroidery projects, like the Once Stitch at a Time Club monthly embroidery patterns by Kathy Schmitz. It fits in my purse or just in bare hands nicely, and it is very light. Above, ready to go, is the Give Thanks design also by Kathy Schmitz, from her book Stitches from the Harvest. It is the project pictured on the book cover. Used a Sublime Stitching iron on transfer pen to traced the design after it was printed. Traced from the back in order to keep the same orientation as the original,...

Last pool outing with my littles meant a finished Ruth... yes!!! So glad that was able to complete the embroidery before the official end of summer. Love how it turned out! For a moment doubted my color choices, but glad that I kept going because I really really like how it looks. Used Sulky Petites which are a 12wt thread. More about Sulky Petites in this previous post , and on this post the beginnings of Ruth. This cross stitch project is going slow, but I'm enjoying it and that's what really matters ;-). Actually the 2nd sheep is done too. Thinking that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow I might be able to work on it a bit more. Really not looking forward to stitching the grass... that's a lot of grass! May recruit my daughter to help me with it. Since my chosen fabric was 14 count aida instead of the one called for in the design, ended up using 3 strands instead of 2, which meant that ended up ordering two more skeins of that color just in case I ran out. Have to ...

Still warm around here, but Fall is definitely in the air! Love how the sunlight changes when autumn is approaching, which is already happening! I'm enjoying cross stitching, it's kind of neat to see a design growing stitch by stitch on the fabric without having a design transferred onto it, but all the counting is exhausting... so I took a break and went back to my freestyle embroidery! Especially in the postdrome of a migraine (aka: migraine hangover), yeah... no counting please, just give me some freestyle. Little by little advancing on the various works in progress projects, plus added a couple new starts to the mix ;-). You know, got keep things interesting ;-)! It felt so good and so refreshing to just stitch away without having to count, LOL. Plus in the great company of my older daughter, we talked and stitched, moments to treasure indeed! Her stitches and technique have improved so much! Will try to be back soon with pictures of completed stitcheries, and perhaps...