Summer Sampler Block #6- Arkansas Traveler

I finished the sixth block on the summer sampler tonight. I like the way it turned out but it is about an inch smaller than all of the other squares- so I will have to figure out how to adjust when I go to put them all together!

The tutorial for this block- Arkansas Traveler is over at Freshly Pieced.

The plan was to get all caught up on the series this weekend but I don't see that happening- I had a lazy day Saturday and slept a LOT! I did finish a couple projects which I will share later.

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Crafting!

Progress on my Veggie Wreath.

Vegetable Wreath progress Feb 2010

Vegetable Wreath progress Feb 2011

I have been working on my vegetable wreath WIP for the past couple weeks. Last time I worked on it was about a year ago (Feb. 14th 2010). I got a big patch of lettuce done and also a mushroom. Don't know if I will keep working on it now- haven't planned that far ahead. Here are some pics of the progress- doesn't look like much, but its coming together!
Well, back to the basketball game- go Wildcats!

Has it really been a month?

Well, one of my goals was to post more this month, but that apparently didn't happen- oh well, that is just how life goes... But I did finish a project! My first cross stitch project I have worked on since February! This is Forever Friends Bear, I finished it for a round robin that was started several years ago and never finished by one of the participants. Sadly she still has my snowman I started and I haven't been able to get in touch with her. But I hope Robin enjoys the bear and it brings her joy :)

I did finish the outside squares on my quilt... but then had a minor setback. Apparently when I basted together the back and front of the quilt the backing didn't go all the way to the edge on one corner. I had to trim an inch off of each side- but that made all my quilting on the outside squares look funny- so now I am in the process of tearing out the old quilting and re-hand quilting it. But, still pretty close to being done, and I got all of my binding stitched, pressed and ready to go.
This is a pic of my little sweetheart Penny, playing at the beach :) She is such a silly dog!

Recap of my July goals:

1. Finish quilting the border of the quilt.- Yes and No, did finish it :), but having to redo it :(
2.Work on a round robin cross stitch project- Forever Friends Bear- Yes, done and sent out!
3.Start on Lizzie Kate- Dogs leave paw prints on your heart.- Nope

August goals:

1. Finish quilting the border of the quilt.
2. Start on Lizzie Kate- Dogs leave paw prints on your heart.
3. Start on 4th Classic Care Bear for baby quilt.

Happy St. Patrick's Day- My TU SAL is only a few days late!

Well, maybe my TU SAL is 3 days late- but here it is: Not too colorful- mostly white thread from my quilt basting- I am finding I don't have too many ORTs because I stitch down to the very end of the thread.
Isn't everyone glad March Madness is here! Go K-State Wildcats!!

I have been working on my quilt lately, its not done, but sometimes Scout likes to use it to cuddle her!!


Today I got the Bunny Binky Pattern from mmmcrafts.blogspot.com. I am very excited to work on this pattern and I think my nieces are going to get some cute presents in this coming year :)

This embroidery transfer below I am excited about- going to put these patterns on some denim squares to make a quilt- but that is a few projects down the road.


Thanks for visiting my blog and happy stitching/quilting!!!

TUSAL for Feb 14th and Mid-month update

Well first things first, here is my ORT jar for the new moon. Only a day late. I didn't really forget yesterday, just had too much going on. Took my nephews to see the Percy Jackson movie and cooked a roast chicken dinner for my family.


I have been making progress this month on a few things.. stitching on my vegetable wreath and quilting.

Here is my most recent progress on the vegetable wreath and what it was like at last update.

The progress on the quilting has been good d/t the SuperBowl and Olympics. I can quilt pretty fast while watching sporting events.... Not that I stay really in tune with the sporting evens. Anyway, the progress was 32/320 squares at the end of January and now it is 52/320 - 16%.

On Saturday I had Craft Day with my Mom and my sister.. Our main goal was to finish stockings for the family and we did it! We made 12 stockings to add to the ones my sisters had made a few years ago. They are all finished... This is my mom with the finished project.




I also working on Bret and my scrapbook for Valentine's day at craft day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone and have a great rest of February!

Decided to join the Totally Useless Fun!

Here is my container for the Totally Useless SAL. There is not too much in it yet because I started on Saturday and have only been working on this on project. You can find details about the SAL on YoYo's blog here

Have you ever had one of those projects that seem to take forever?? I started this small potholder with a strawberry design on it because I have mostly big projects going right now and I was looking for a quick, cute finish. I didn't have the greens or one of the red's the project called for, so I substituted. Then I run out of one of the greens half-way through and I have tried 3 different shades of red to match the one color I did have but none have worked out. Looks like I am going to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for some more floss, sigh.
Thanks for all the nice comments on my posts, I really appreciate it!

A Finish for the New Year

But, not a cross stitch finish- I completed a dress and bloomers for my niece's first birthday. I used some fabric I already had (think I had planned to make a dress for me out of it at some point). I love the way it turned out and I can't wait for the summer when she can wear it!

This is the front of the dress and the bloomers. And below is the back of the dress with a tie in the back.
This week I FINALLY got the birth announcement in the mail. It had been framed and sitting on the table in bubble wrap for too long!

I have been sick this week and it made it hard to get much done around the house, I did get some work on the quilt done last night, but the hand stitching doesn't give me quite as much satisfaction as seeing progress on a cross stitch project or sewing project. I will keep working on the quilt today, but I think I may do some scrap booking as well! I have the whole day free.. hubby is hunting!

Well, I better go get some oatmeal and eggs for breakfast! Happy stitching and thanks for visiting my blog.

Time to take the Christmas Tree Down.

Christmas was great this year.. I got to give some hand made gifts and I hope that they are enjoyed. I made Molly Monkey for my niece Marley and she loved it. I also made initial plaques for my sister, my parents and my in-laws.
Marley, her doll and my sister on Christmas morning.

Scout got to go quail hunting this Christmas and she did very good at helping to find the birds!


December Goals-
1. Christmas presents (several home made things and buying some)-Yup!
2. Birth Announcement (finish and frame)-Almost finished- Kinsley was born on 12-28 and I finished the details of her birthdate and weight yesterday. I need to get some other things to frame it, so this may not happen until the weekend.
3. Also worked on Vegetable Wreath- made some progress but not enough to post a new pic.

Well, I have been really pleased with how much having this blog has helped me keep working on crafts and stitching projects that I really wanted to get done. I have also enjoyed reading others blogs and have found lots of motivation from them. My blogiversary is coming up in February- maybe I will have to do something special for that.

Goals for 2010-
1.Finish the quilt by July- I have 320 squares on the quilt, about 15 are quilted (5% done). My goal is to finish at least 50 squares each month. This will take some effort, but I really want to finish this project.
2. Do a triathlon in June- Already training, just have to keep going :)
3. Start Marley's Rag Quilt
4. Continue to work on current WIP's- no specific goals for finishing them.

Birth Announcement is almost done!

Last Update on Birth Announcement.

Birth Announcement finished except for backstitching and name/birth info.
I am about half way done with the back stitching and it really makes the picture come to life. I love it, and it is just in time too, the baby may be here any day!

I am a little disappointed that I haven't got to do any Christmas stitching this year, but maybe I will once this project is done.

Keychains, get your keychains!

Made these keychains this week. I quilted the one side and then stitched them together. I am going to make a bunch of these for mini-Christmas presents, maybe stocking stuffers. I am getting excited for Christmas. Only one week until Thanksgiving! well, less actually.

And I have made some progress on the Birth Announcement. I will really need to focus on this in order to get it done in time!! It is moved to the top of my goal list (along with the December Erica Michael's design).

Happy Stitching and thanks for reading my blog!

Molly Monkey!!!

I have finished one of my homemade Christmas presents today. It is a stuffed monkey I made for my niece. I am very excited about finishing it and I think it turned out way cute. I used the pattern from a crafting blog I found.... http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/
She has the pattern available for download for free. Also she has very neat projects she makes. So jealous!

I have been working on the birth announcement as well, but never seem to get as much done as I hope. Here's hoping for a productive evening :)

In other news we took Scout out quail hunting this morning. She did pretty well for her first time and I enjoyed watching her work.

Happy November

Time to review the goals and how I did on them.

October Goals-
1. Finish October cross stitch (this weekend)- I did finish it (not that weekend!) And I also finished November, so I was ahead for a little while :)
2. Baste quilt and start hand stitching- Yes- About 6 hours of basting and several hours of stitching later I still have a LONG way to go, but it isn't urgent
3. Work on Birth Announcement- Yes I worked on this quite a bit, I would geuss I am a little less than 1/3 done- It is turning out very cute though.Here we are on Halloween- This is me and two of my co-workers. I am the Hello Kitty on the right. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of my deer costume completed, but if my friend sends them to me I may post them here. Happy Halloween to everyone!

November Goals-
1. Post more updates on my blog
2. Finish December Calendar hanging
3. Finish Birth Announcement (except birthdate) and find frame
4. Make a Christmas ornament

Halloween Costume Weekend

Last weekend I finished up my October (only a few weeks late) and November calendar titles. I still need to stuff these a stitch them up, but they are most of the way done. Here they are on this sweet platter that my sister gave me for my birthday (Thanks Dunia!)

These past few weeks I have been working on my quilt. My mother and I spent about 6 hours getting it basted and I have been spending free weekends and evenings hand stitching. Here is an example of my stitches. Hand quilting is difficult for my, but I am hoping with practice it will get easier.

This weekend I decided to start on my Halloween costume. I didn't really have an idea of what to go as, but I decided to be a deer. I made the antlers from sticks, masking tape, paint and a headband. I found a pic online of a deer face painting. This is attempt #2 for the paint and I have a few things in mind to change, but I am excited for it to turn out. This is what DH is going as... get it, A hunter and his "dear". But this is his normal weekend gear!

Scout has even got in on the Halloween action. I sewed her this bandana this morning for Halloween. Doesn't she look thrilled :).

I have had a little bit of time to work on the birth announcement so it is coming along. Happy stitching and thanks for visiting my blog!

September is almost over!!

Well, I haven't posted much this month, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy and getting some crafts done.
I had said I was going to post on my progress on my training for the race, but I didn't really, but we finished the race on September 12. It was a 6.5 mile trail run. Me and two of my sisters did it. It was fun, but it rained the night before and that morning, so it was REALLY muddy. I did walk some of it, but I felt good about my finish.
This month Scout also turned one! I made a cake for her and she loved it, but ate a little too much!

This Saturday we had CRAFT DAY!! It was great. Me , my Mom, 3 of my sisters, and my cousin got together to work on crafts.

My Mom worked on organizing photos and scrapbooking.

Amy worked on unraveling her daughters yarn :) And organizing magazines


Ellen worked on sewing pillows and knitting


Camille made cards.
Dunia worked on her curtains and I worked on my quilt.


Today I worked on making Elderberry jelly and pickled anehiem peppers. I made japeleno jelly last week. I am happy with how much canning we got done this summer!

And the big news for today- I finished piecing my quilt together. This is what it looks like on the bed, too bad it won't be there for a while, I am going to hand quilt it so it will take some time. But I am excited about it.

I forgot that I need to finish my October cross stitch by Thursday. I know what I will be doing the next few days!
Happy stitching and crafting!!

Fourth of July!

This past weekend was great. I didn't get too much done on my stitching, but I did get a lot of fun family time in. On the drive to my aunt's house I did start a new project- some tea towels for a friend's wedding present. I got 1/2 of the first one done, but probably won't post these until after the wedding.

I did get to visit one of my great aunts and see how many cross stitches she had in her apartment. When we were little she used to crochet us dolls and toys and I always remembered that. I didn't really remember all of the cross stitch she did, but I didn't start stitching until a few years ago. But I thought it was neat to share a hobby with such a great lady.

I have been pretty busy this week (and sick). Got a little bit cut out of the quilt squares, but not much else. Scout got spayed today, so i will need to be taking care of her now. Happy stitching!