Visiting

We have been enjoying having our adult children visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hubby has been getting them out in the backyard to reprise past games. Golf clubs, golf balls and garbage can lids make for an hour of entertainment.

Of course it was not all fun and games. My son had to spend some time working on his thesis for his PhD. Doesn't he look thrilled.

While my daughter was visiting she finished her cross-stitch Christmas ornament. It looks beautiful and she enjoyed working on it. 

My stitching has been lagging as I have been crocheting while enjoying my kids' visit. I can crochet and still conduct a conversation, but cross-stitching requires more concentration. I have gotten a few stitches completed on my Santa. 

Now that December is almost here, I must get going on my Christmas shopping and decorating. There are not going to be many handmade gifts this year as I just don't have the time to make them. I did give my daughter her crocheted Christmas tree. She promised to share a picture of it when she places it in her apartment.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I will be stitching Santa. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stitching to get rid of stress

    Family circumstances have prevented me from getting much stitching completed this week. An ER trip for my mom, followed by my taking care of her and a doctor visit meant I had little time for stitching. I even had to take off from work for a couple of days. I brought my crocheting to her house, but never touched it. She is beginning to feel better now and I managed to get a few stitches done on my Prairie Schooler Santa yesterday.

My son is visiting us for a couple of weeks! He is working on his thesis for his PhD. while getting a Thanksgiving visit in. He hasn't made it to Thanksgiving for a couple of years now. Baker Beach will eventually be a given to him as a remembrance of his time in California at Stanford University. I did get a couple of hundred stitches done last Sunday. Here is an updated picture:

The mail brought some goodies this week. Some I can't show as they will be Christmas gifts, but the rest is for me. I bought the linen and needles to make this pinkeep that Catherine at I Love to Stitch so kindly sent to me. I am looking forward to starting this in the new year.

I am taking time today to join Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I know when I am stitching that I will relax and let the stress go. Even if I am thinking about family circumstances while I am stitching, the up and down motion of the needle and the evenness of the stitching eases my mind. I will also join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Fun Crafting

With life being a little hectic lately, I am forcing myself to get some crafting in. It keeps me sane. I was sifting through organizing my fabric one day when I came across a bag with red and white taffeta and a box of straight pins. This has been around for quite some time waiting for me to find the right color green taffeta. Let's not mention that I haven't been looking. They are the supplies to make pretty folded fabric ornaments from a magazine from the 1990s. 

 On the same day I saw this YouTube video for a No-Sew Quilted Christmas Ornament Tutorial from Shabby Fabrics. I have been fascinated by these ornaments for a long time. The tutorial uses cotton quilt fabric instead of taffeta. Well, I had the foam balls, the pins and a lot of scraps of fabric so I just got started. Here is my resulting ornament so far.

The two ends don't line up perfectly, but for a first try I am pretty happy with the result. I have to buy some ribbon to go around the middle. My stash was either too wide or too skinny. I will stop at JoAnn's or ACMoore on my way home some night this week and buy some ribbon. I have a whole lot of scrap fabric and four more 3" foam balls. I also have a bunch of 2 1/2" balls that I am sure I can use. This was a really easy and fairly quick craft. It only took about an hour in total.

I have made progress on Baker Beach. Last week it looked like this:

I have managed to get more than halfway finished with the 7th page and it now looks like this:

I have also been working on the 2014 Prairie Schooler Santa. 

I am hoping to finish this one and another before Christmas. Wish me luck! That is probably not happening.

Here is an update on my daughter's stitching also. She is really having fun. When she calls and I ask what she has been up to, she tells me she is cross-stitching. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. Tomorrow I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Harvest of Quilts

Hubby and I went to the Evening Star Quilters' show, Harvest of Quilts this past Saturday. He wasn't feeling well, but I didn't feel like going alone and Mom was sick too. I didn't purchase a single thing, but I did enjoy looking at the pretty quilts. I thought I would share them with you.
This is Braided Poppies. I really love the fabric and the beautiful graphic nature of this quilt.

Rainbow Haze.

Another one of my absolute favorites was this Mariner's Compass.

Isn't this appliqued quilt just beautiful? It is Love at First Site. Obviously it won many ribbons.

Here are a couple of close-ups.

I love this block with this still life. There are a whole lot of berries and leaves.

I always love star quilts and any blue quilt. This one is called Aurora Borealis.

Another beauty: By the Sea

Hubby's name is Scott so....The Scotties. Isn't this adorable.

You actually could see the graphic nature of this quilt better in the photo than in person. The secondary on-point yellow squares were hard to see.

This is Confederate Courtship.

This Scrappy Hunter's Star really spoke to me. The graphic nature and the calico fabrics make for a stunning quilt.

This is My Favorite Place.

 The Gifted Cardinal. There are a bunch of cardinal fabrics.

 I have always loved a Card Trick quilt.

 Keep your Sunny Side Up.

 Can you believe this gorgeous quilt? I believe it is called Falling Border.

So pretty.

 Yet another beauty called Dream Weaver.

 Exploding Universe

 Stars Over Hawaii

  Trees of Life.

I hope you enjoyed this quilt tour.

Thanks for stopping by!

Like mother, like daughter

An unexpected day off from work on Friday allowed me to make progress on two projects. Finally, finally, finally Autumn Angel is completed.

Ta-da! 

Once again I used stash items to finish her. The fabric has been in my stash for many years and the yarn is an old hair tie. 

I think she looks great! She is a great addition to my Autumn decorations.

I was able to spend more than an hour working on Baker Beach. This is where it was in September when I last worked on it.

I added swaths of two more colors. I am just shy of being half-way done with page 7 out of 10. 

Now here is what makes my heart sing. Last Christmas, I gave my daughter a cross-stitch ornament kit. Now that she has finished studying for her 10th actuarial exam, she has some free time and this is what she sent me.

What is even better is that she is really enjoying working on it. She has promised to continue to send me updates so I will keep sharing her progress as well.

 I may continue working on Baker Beach today, but I also have two Prairie Schooler Santas that need my attention. I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!