Current WIP

My current work in progress is Mary Gail by The Scarlet Letter. This is my first cross stitch piece since having surgery on my right shoulder in mid-January. Recovery has been going well and the physical therapy a great help. It's slow going but one stitch at a time.

Catching up

Yes this is way over due but I'm going to try my best to keep it up to date. Here is my last cross stitch finish, Funky Cats by Linda Bird.

I'm back

I'm bringing my blog back to life. Stay tune.

Florida vacation

After endless invitations from my sister, we finally decided to make a trip to Cape Coral, Florida. We had such a great time visiting with her, my brother in law, and my mother who is spending the winter in them. I even got a chance to see my cousin Mabel who I hadn't seen since my dad's funeral back in 1996. We did plenty of sight seeing, shopping and just relaxing. The highlight of our trip was the boating excursion on my BIL's boat. What fun (and so worth the sunburn I got)!! Here are a few pics.

Happy New Year

Wow, has it really been two months since I last posted here?! How can that be? Where did the time go? Okay, I'll try to fill in a few of the spaces.

Hubby and I spent the week of Thanksgiving down in Nevada with our daughter. We had a pleasant drive into Las Vegas since Patrick wanted to take along his new bike and do some riding. Got a chance to really spend some quality time with my family, just chatting, watching movies, eating out, and shopping. Can't remember the last time I was bold enough to tackle the stores on not only Thanksgiving evening but on Black Friday. Needless to say the experience was much more pleasant that it would have been here in the Bay Area.

During this trip I gave Sarai her belated birthday present. Had this quilt finished using her concert T-shirts.

QoTW

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.

Weekly update

The Little Sheep Virtue Series by Little House Needleworks has totally captured my attention. These are great little pieces that can be stitched quickly and satisfied my stitching mojo. LOL! This week I completed #3 in the series called, "Peace." I again used an ornament cut that I purchased from Sassys Fabbys a long time and had in my stash. I love that I discovered these after cleaning out my stash room, I'd totally forgotten about them. Nice to find "hidden treasures" in my own stuff.

In between my stitching I made time for my hand quilting and managed to add another row to my scrappy quilt. Loving this piece but I'm resisting the urge to sitting for too many hours and sewing. My doctor insists I make time for my friend…the treadmill. Time will tell which one will win!

QoTW

"To witness miracles unfold in your experience, count your blessings and be thankful. Perceived small blessings accumulate to be the most powerful." - T.F. Hodge

Busy busy little hands...

Happy Monday all!

I was able to devote a little more time to my hobby and crafts this weekend and here are my results. LOVE, is part of the Little Sheep Virtues series by Little House Needleworks which I stitched on a long lost ornament cut fabric from Sassys Fabbys which I had in my stash.

"Patches" is my version of the Scottie Dog pattern I found on favequilts.com. This I did totally by hand and I'm plesantly surprised that it turned out so well for my first try. Not that I will be stitching many more any time soon, since though small, they are a bit time consuming and hard on my fingers. I think I'll stitck to my hexies for now.

QOTW

Be thankful for what you have. Your life, no matter how bad you think it is, is someone else's fairy tale.

"Patches"

Yes, I have a few projects in the making but that didn't stop me from trying out / starting something new. While cruising some quilting websites I came across this Scottie Dog pattern on favequilts.com.  The pattern does call for it to be done my sewing machine but since I'm no expert on it (though I do own one) I figured I try it by hand. I immediately cut some paper into 2" squares, ordered some 2.5" squares on eBay and I was set. This is what I have to date. Two sides completed and now for the tricky part of putting it together. Wish me luck!!

QOTW

I'm bringing back the Quote of the Week (QOTW) so check back every Tuesday.

"A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for it justness and its sincerity." -- Robert Hall

What a week...

Was a very busy week at work which thankfully meant the week went really quickly. Of course it also meant I was tired when I got home with not much desire to do much. I was determined to getting my "walk on" and did two walks on the treadmill and two walks with the hubby. Actually starting to feel better already. I do need to keep a more active lifestyle to fight the complications of diabetes...and my new nemesis, high blood pressure. Getting old is NOT for sissies indeed.

I made a bit more progress on MSQ (Milly's Scrappy Quilt) and I'm happy with the results. As my husband likes to tell me, I don't have to finish EVERYTHING in one sitting. LOL! Boy he knows me so well.

I been a little negligent keeping up with the various Yahoo groups I belong to that I made the decision to drop them all with the exception of the LHN/CNN group which I moderate and love, and the Yahoo group for my local stitching group. The decision was made easier by the fact that Yahoo changed their email format which is not very user friendly. Anyway hope this gives me more time to keep up, cross stitch, quilt, read, and even update my blog more frequently.

Have a good week!

MSQ (Milly's Scrappy Quilt)

I am currently working on my second hand sewn quilt using my beloved hexagons. To say I'm hooked is quite the understatement, considering I  must have spent 5 or 6 non stop hours yesterday working on it. I am now "filling" in the background around my patches of elongated hexies and my poor little fingers are sore. LOL! Here are a few photos to show my progress.

I'm still here

Yes the hours, days, and months just keep slipping by and again I been neglectful of my little blog. My niece Karla recently started a blog and when I mentioned I had one she wanted to follow mine. Well of course that means I have to keep it updated huh? Thanks Karla for the motivation! Muah!

I have been busy trust me. I finished my BBQ (Baby Bro Quilt) and then sent it to a friend who did the final finishing/quilting. I am just thrilled with how it turned out...not shabby for my first try at hand quilting. Here is BBQ in it's new home..aka my stitching room. Nice back drop for all my stitched goodies don't you think.

Quilting update...

As I mentioned back in late May, I took on doing some English Paper Piecing and creating these wonderful hexagons by hand. Who knew it would grow so quickly? I didn't hold out much hope I would get this far so I am both surprised and thrilled with the results. It's almost done and ready to become a "real" quilt. LOL! This is my BBQ (baby brother quilt) in honor of my brother Santos who passed away in May of 2012. Many of the fabrics are from clothing that belonged to him.

Catching up...yet again

Hello all,
My poor little blog has been neglected by me yet again. Just where do the hours in the day go? I did have a few weeks off recovering from surgery and I did manage to get some stitching, reading, and even quilting done while I was at home. So here is a little of what I been up to. I stitched "Miss Peepers" by Little House Needleworks awhile back and finally got her laced and framed. Being in the patriotic mood in June I took on "Sams in Stripes" by Cross-Eyed Cricket (CEC). I have the most perfect frame for this piece and hope to have it laced and framed real soon.

Flower Power

WOW, never imagined this would so take over my time, but I am HOOKED! Thankfully I'm going away for a few days so this is the perfect time to give my little sore fingers a break from all this sewing. Here are the hexagon flowers I got done this week. The first two are really special to me. I used fabric from some old shirts and pajamas that I got to pick from after my youngest brother past away last year. I thought I'd use them in a YoYo Quilt but here they are. My small homage to my brother Santos.

Something new...

While cruising various sites online I came across something called English Paper Piecing. I watched a few videos on YouTube and was instantly drawn to trying this out. Little did I know I would so quickly become hooked! I found a website where I could make a hexagon template, printed out a few, dug into my stash for some fabric, and away I went to try it out. I LOVE IT!  Now remember I am a complete novice at this but I am just intrigued by any time of hand sewing and the memories it evokes of my grandmother who was quite accomplished in different crafts.

Here is what I have so far.

Updates...way over due

My poor little blog has been so neglected. So here is a little update on what I've been working on. I finished two cross stitch projects, Miss Peepers by Little House Needleworks and November Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks.