Just because I've made such good progress, I'm posting my Dec. Goals early and how I did:
December Goals:
1) Work on Herb blocks - adding borders - [Not Done]
2) Finish Block 5 Applique and Quilt [Finished]
3) Piece Row 3 together (block 5 and 6) [Finished]
4) Piece all 3 rows together with Lattice [Finished]
5) Put on outside Lattice and Border [Finished]
6) Start quilting Lattice and Border of Quilt [Finished]

7) Work on Winnie the Pooh pattern - [Complete - 14 hours]
8) Work on Bunny Gingham 2 hours - [Completed Bunny Gingham]
9) Start Shepherd's Bush RR piece April [Completed RR piece]

Yea - I made a decision to take tomorrow off from work! I'm not sure how many vacation days I have saved up but it's something around 8 or so. So thanks to my uncle bringing up the idea about going out to dinner and a movie tonight i decided to take tomorrow off to get my cleaning done and a trip to joann's done.

Now however they can't get a babysitter, but we may still go to the movies after going to the gym and having dinner. Then sleep in tomorrow, clean and go to Joann's to enjoy the sales and spend gift money. Maybe a trip to acmoore too since i have a card to that too, but i may save that one a bit longer.

So along comes another 4 day weekend --- HEHEHEH :) I'm psyched totally. Only one hour of work left too.... And i got a lot of work done today too so i dont' feel like i'm behind or anything. Plus i waded through old emails and got rid of a bunch of old ones so my inbox is visible again :) Be back Monday!
Speaking of which.. i will post my goals for January early - and goals for 2005 too... off to figure those out...

Feels like friday - but it's only my third day at work this week. Luckily tomorrow IS friday!

Last night was productive at least, after work I went home, my boyfriend and I went to the gym, then to target, then to the grocery store, then each made up something for dinner and watched Profiler episodes until bedtime. I also stitched while watching so I got another hours work on Pooh done.

On the list for tonight... go home, go to the gym with my boyfriend, enjoy dinner that he's cooking (pork chops with spanish rice). Then clean the apartment, vacuum, dust etc, the whole works. Then go through fabric and figure out what i have for my SAL starting saturday, i won't actually start it until sunday since I'm doing christmas saturday but i want to get the fabric out, in case I need to buy some in which case I will be starting late. I'm guessing I will not have stitching time tonight but hopefully I can stitch at lunch today, more on Pooh so maybe this weekend I can scan in some progress pictures.

How it's looking. Herbal sampler will remain at work in case I work on it here, Pooh will be my focus piece, and the SAL sampler will be started and worked on sporatically, including at work and at my stitch nights. That reminds me, it's stitched in silk, so i need to start taking care of my hands so they aren't so rough.

Once Pooh is finished I will switch over to the Precious Moments piece that's due in april... of course that means picking one out and digging through my aida for a piece the right size, i very rarely use aida but i'm sure i have some charle's craft or something from a sale. I think I will stick with 14ct so the PM will be large enough for the "restrictions". This will be my first charity stitched pieced so I want it to be nice and correct. I'd like to do at least one a year.

I can't believe tomorrow night is New Year's Eve. I wonder what we're doing. I think my sister and her boyfriend are coming out to our place, but not sure if we're just staying in, playing cards and drinking like last year or if they want to go out, i think they want the first, but my boyfriend thinks they want to go out, we'll just have to see, i'd prefer to stay in and off the roads especially since there's a chance the road conditions will not be good and 100% chance there will be drunk drivers on them. Saturday we're going up to my uncle's for christmas celebrations with the whole family... i need to call my aunt and find out what time and tell her that we're definately coming. So much to do... you know the rest.

A long day ... I'm tired.

I just finished my lunch break, which consisted of another frozen pizza and then stitching on the Pooh piece. I have no outlined Pooh's butt so i can just fill it in. I'm looking forward to the backstitching on this piece because it will really take shape, for now it looks like blobs of color. I also worked on Pooh last night, but I worked on the Hunny jar a bit, I finished outlining it and started filling it in while watching tv.

Last night: I got home and my boyfriend had put up the surround sound speakers I got him for christmas .. how nice :) So we ordered subs (which were horrible!!) but i didn't want to go grocery shopping and there was no food around the house, and we watched "Love Actually" and then some Profiler episodes while I stitched and then cuddled with him. It was definately a relaxing evening.

Tonight we're going to do the grocery shopping together and then make a trip to walmart together, i need to get stuff for new year's eve, check out any sales and maybe buy some cheap winter boots because I couldn't find mine back home.. maybe i should check my closet first just in case I brought them with me but i'm pretty sure i didn't. Maybe tomorrow night he'll cook dinner for me when I get home, and then I'll clean. Not sure if getting to the gym will fit in this week even though it's on the list, there's a lot of stuff "on the list".

I read a lot of blogs - daily, and when I find one I'm interested in I go back and read it from the beginning. I did this last thursday with a new one, i found it and started it from the beginning, i finished it today. This takes a lot of time, and work gets pushed aside, of course there isn't much work to be done but this afternoon I will focus on just doing work now that i'm done with the blog, i'll just add it to my daily list. Most of those are listed on my sidebar, however the new ones I've found will be added the next time i change my template.

I really am tired, I don't know why, I got plenty of sleep if you dont' count the stupid heaters waking me up spitting steam for an hour straight this morning! I would love to take a nap right now, instead I'll walk to the mailbox and mail my rent check, then come back and work. Oh and there was something I needed to fix on the website I need to do that before I leave tonight too... pain in the butt!

I had a great Christmas! Where to begin.. first the stitching and quilting progress.

Yesterday I came home and spent the day stitching and watching Profiler season 3 episodes (a gift from my mom), I started the shepherd's bush April month for my next RR which may start in January. It's almost complete, I was missing one color so the beaks and feet are not done, but I got the color from my stash and will finish it at lunch today. The beads will not be added until the RR is completely finished and it's washed. This is 4.5 hours of progress:


So that was monday (the day i took off). Going backwards, Sunday I relaxed at my parent's house, while my boyfriend played his new video game (half life 2 which is really cool --i played a bit too). I quilted, got the border added to my quilt. Some pics:

And the back of it:


Now the corners on the border are mitered... however I did the back first to practice, and i ran out of fabric lengthwise and had to piece one of the strips for the front - boy was i kicking myself. If i didn't I would have had to buy a 2 yrd length more and wait until i could use the machine again, on top of the fact that i don't think there was 2 yrds left on the bolt when i bought more last week! So I pieced a tiny bit in one bottom corner and it's a lap quilt, no big deal!

Let's see before that was Christmas and Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve we went to my boyfriend's family's house for dinner, they got me matching pieces for my dishes. Dinner was great, prime rib and shrimp cocktail. Saturday morning my family did a big breakfast after stockings. Then my boyfriend came up and we did gifts which included a new coat - which I love!!! It's leather (suede). And it fits perfect. He got me a TON of great gifts, quilting stuff (tote bag, templates, stencil), books on cd, a warm cozy shirt (which i'm wearing now) and some other smaller stuff. It was a great christmas. My parents also went all out, I got the iron I needed desperately, the food processor I also wanted, some quilting stuff, including one of those cutter/iron board things that you can carry around, perfect for me!

I didn't get much stitching stuff, my grandmother got me a kit and my new aunt also got me a kit. My grandmother also got me a dragon thimble to match my dragon pincushion from graduation. All great stuff. I really had a great time.

So since I made lightning progress on that RR piece, my goals are being met left and right. I will start on my goal list for 2005 in which I'd like to do a few pieces as christmas gifts, even if they're ornaments, I was wishing i could give stitched gifts this year but I was too busy. And with the RR piece finished my focus can change again :) I can continue herbal sampler at work and Pooh at home.

Well that's my update. Enjoy the pics, I must get some work done so I can stitch at lunch :)

New PICS!!

Herbal Sampler after 21 hours of progress:

Click for larger image.

Winnie the Pooh at 13 hours progress:

Click for larger image.

DD Virtue Series, Wisdom Dragon, after 5 hours progress:

Click for larger image.

That's the last herbal sampler update for a while. I will be starting my Shepherd's Bush RR piece next so only that, Pooh and my quilt will be updated until that's done!

Wow missed a week day... yesterday morning passed kinda quickly, I found a new blog to read, i'll have to update my sidebar because i read a few more blogs now.

So it's Thursday but it feels like Friday but that's okay because I have Friday off! I came in by 7 so I can leave at 3 today, head home, pack up the car, take out the garbage (fun stuff) and head to my parents, a normal 2 hour drive, may turn into 3 or more depending on traffic.

No stitching last night (or the night before). Tuesday night was my last quilt class, it was a show n tell and we saw a ton of beautiful quilts. My teacher had made a Baltimore Album quilt -- it was amazing. Not my style of quilt but the amount of appliquet is quite impressive. Then I went home and worked on the website...

Yesterday work, then went to my Aunt's to celebrate my cousin's 12th birthday. We had a good time, lots of food, Mexican Quiche for dinner and a cake after presents. Of course I fell asleep on the couch shortly after the cake and then went up to bed. I woke up not feeling well, my throat is kinda itchy and I feel congested.. I'm wondering if I have a cold now. Bah HumBUG if i do! So right now I'm drinking some warm tea, waiting for bagels to arrive and counting the hours till 3 when I can head home to start the holidays!
Guess I'll get some work done, not much got done yesterday with a 1.5 hour lunch full of good food and talking and a constantly interrupted afternoon.

Just when I thought I was going to be deadline free for stitching...

My next RR piece is due some time in January (i'm aiming for the end of january as a mail out date).
I'm joining an online SAL for a sampler that's all in one color .. starting January 1st. Basically I'm hoping my RR piece doesn't take long and I can focus on this one as my lunch time/daily piece.
The Pooh is due around Valentine's day - or whenever the baby comes.
I signed up to stitch a Cole's Quilt square for Grace... due 4/15. I chose Grace because that is my great grandmother's name and she had the farthest due date for the square. I will focus on this after the Pooh is done.

What does this mean stitching wise...
After this week Herbal Sampler will be put away again.
It's Winter will NOT get done this winter.. put away again.
DD Wisdom dragon will be pushed to the far background.

So my organization/focus is as follows...

1) Start and Finish SB RR piece
2) Start SAL sampler
3) Finish Winnie the Pooh
4) Start and Finish piece for Grace
5) Finish SAL sampler

All the while continuing to work on my quilt and finish that up. I do want to start a quilt for my boyfriend's sister... hmm.. Off to look up quilt patterns she may like and gather information to email to her if my boyfriend sends me her email address.

Quilt class tonight - the last class!

I know I should have stitch update pics by now but I don't... I haven't brought home my herbal sampler to get a new scan yet. My goal is to stitch the herbal sampler today and tomorrow at lunch and thursday i'll work on the wisdom dragon at lunch. Then they are getting put away temporarily while I start my next RR piece and work on the Pooh piece at home exclusively.

Well I'm all done christmas shopping now, i do plan on getting my mom a few things at the quilt shop tonight for her stocking, just some needles and thread heaven, but other than that I'm done, stocking gifts for everyone ran me about 70 some odd dollars, but they're done and wrapped! I even organized all the christmas gifts so under the tree are the ones for new year's day and by the door are the ones to be packed and brought home!

After shopping and wrapping last night (and baking the corn bread), i worked on the website for a few hours, got one part done, hopefully tonight after my class i can get that more tested and the customer side started. Other than tonight I don't have much time - wed and thur night are packed, and i'll be home after that. Ho HUm!

Lunch today is Chili!!! I can't wait :) After work today I will head home quick then to the bank before my class. At class today we have show and tell which is our teacher bringing in a bunch of quilts to show us. I have my class quilt to show since it's together mostly, but i have to buy more border fabric tonight. I also have to use my coupon tonight so I will have to buy a bit more.

Well work is calling my name :)

I feel refreshed. That was a nice long weekend.

Friday was babysitting with my boyfriend, went pretty well. I actually went to bed pretty early too. Then Saturday up early (by 8) to go to my 5yr old cousin's soccer game. After that we went to breakfast and spent the rest of the day with my aunt and uncle (and the little ones). We left around 7:30 and I was wiped out when we got home so I went to sleep. Sunday we slept in -- oh how nice that was. Then we just relaxed until my boyfriend left to head to his parent's for the week.

So the rest of sunday I watched 2 movies while quilting, cooked lots of food to bring to work (meatballs, bread, rolls and made a cheese ball). Then I stitched for an hour before bed (a little progress on Piglet).

Quilting wise I"m halfway done quilting the inside lattice - 3 inner strips done and the 2 flowers, just have 3 other strips to do. Once the border's on I will have the outer lattice, 4 more flowers and 4 LONG strips, then whatever I'm going to do in the border.

Stitching wise there's notable progress on the Pooh piece, Pooh himself is most of the work left besides backstitching so I may have to start on his butt soon :) Besides him - I have my herbal sampler which I will continue on at lunch time this week. But starting next week I will start work on my RR piece - Shepherd's Bush Month series, i'm stitching January I believe. So that will be brought to work starting Tuesday (monday is my day off when I will probably start it).

One thing from my To Do list for december that won't get touched is my herb block quilt. It's on hold a bit, but will get done after my stitching is more under control (as in Pooh is done). Now is the time to start figuring out my stitching for 2005 - quilting too, so I need to get in touch with my boyfriend's sister and find out what kind of quilt i'm making for her... my boyfriend is going to talk to her hopefully this week??!
Alright-- must work - meatballs are in the crockpot and i have 2 1/2 hours till the lunch is getting served :)

Friday has arrived!

And none too soon. I got up early this morning (5:30) so that I can leave work at 3, go and pick up my boyfriend at 4 and then head up to my uncles to babysit. Having my boyfriend there will make babysitting MUCH easier and it will be nice to hang out with him some more with him almost stress free (law school wise anyway).

Last night was relaxing, I went to the gym (day 3 of 4 this week!), and walked/jogged/lifted again. Then got my boyfriend and we went to dinner. After that I thought I had to work on the website but it was being taken care of so I read, watched my show at 9 then read some more and went to bed at 10:30.

So today is work work work, no stitching at lunch, but I got extra stitching in yesterday. I checked out my goals for this month, I finished bunny gingham so that's great, but I should be working on my RR in case we start that in January, not sure if we will or not. Maybe Sunday i will get that together and start it, i'm anticipating that it will go quickly. Once that's done I can focus on the herbal sampler and finish that along with Pooh for february.

Tonight I babysit, i'm looking forward to it, after my uncle gets home from his party we may play some computer games to, so also looking forward to that. This leaves all my quilting to sunday which is fine because i think the website will do fine with out me this weekend.. if i update the database some time today.
Alright - it's getting close to food time (pizza at lunch today) and a few deserts people brought in. I best get some work done...

Easy babysitting done - hard babysitting still to come...

Last night was easy and fun. After a not so bad day at work (with some great food!), and some stitching on Herbal Sampler (Parsley done, word Oregano started).. I headed to my aunt and uncle's. My cousin was there and we went and got a pizza and ice cream. While eating we watched some movies (after eating I moved to working on the website [ on my day OFF!!] and then cross stitching on Pooh for 2 hours.)

So Pooh is coming along nicely, or should I say piglet because that's the part I worked on last night. All piglet has left is his ears and his legs are not finished. Then outlining but I will start the bottom half of Pooh first in case they touch more.

While I did this my boyfriend was out with his law school friends celebrating the end of semester 1 with a few drinks. I talked to him at 11 last night and then called this morning to be sure he got home all right since everytime I woke up last night I worried (that's 2am, 3 am, 5 am and 5:30)... then i got up at 6:20.

So Day 4 of 8 days of pigging out - the halfway mark is today. It starts with bagels like every thursday so I'm going to go make some tea to go with them, then it's MiddleEastern day foodwise I think, not sure what that means but it's probably good!

Tomorrow night I'm babysitting the 3 cousins again. I haven't talked my boyfriend into helping me yet but I will try tonight. It would be SO much easier with someone there to help hold the baby who doesn't like to be put down and he's good at getting her to sleep. Whether he comes or not I'm looking forward to tomorrow night, I had a real good time last time and I have a small gift for the 2 older girls to work on for their parents, hopefully while the youngest is in a playing mood.
Well it's time for tea.. bagels are calling me :)

It's rather cold today! Wearing a sweater and I'm still cold, even after hot chocolate!

Well problems with the website last night but now it's back up and running, and hopefully we can switch it over to the new server soon. It's all set and ready just needs an ssl cert installed to work.

Yesterday was day 2 of 8 days of pigging out.. and boy did i feel it big time! I ate way too many cookies, but i dragged myself to the gym again after work :) Then I had to drive to Fedex to pick up 2 packages which completes my wait for gifts.. all gifts arrived in time for christmas. I have one person left to get a gift for unfortunately i don't know what to get! Other than that i have some stocking gifts i should get.

Well christmas will total between 1100 and 1200 this year. Unfortunately my family (extended) is talking about changing the way we do christmas next year - and i was all for it until i realized it doesn't save me more than 30 dollars! It saves everyone else a lot but not me and my family because we're the kids that are grown, we still have to buy for the young kids. I'm not complaining, i'm just disappointed that it won't save me much, i still like the idea of really focusing on one person through the year and buying for them rather than a last minute buy for everyone thing. The problem is i spend the most money on my immediate family so unless we do the same thing internally (which maybe we will), it doesn't save me anything and christmas will always be about a 1000/year. (i spend a lot on my boyfriend).

Besides that - today is my boyfriend's last final for the semester! He gets a whole 2 1/2 weeks off after today! I wish i could celebrate with him but i'm watching my cousin tonight and he already had plans to go out drinking with his friends from school. If i wasn't watching my cousin i would just be picking him up at 9 - so i wouldn't actually get to see him anyway. Now i think he's going to take a cab and tomorrow night i'll drive him over to go get his car and we'll get some dinner. I'm not sure what his plan is for the next two weeks, he's probably going to go home to his parent's and work a bit so i won't see him much. It kinda sucks that the time he's not stressed out and busy he won't even be around to enjoy spending time with. The past month and a half have been hard, i never get time to just sit and talk with him, if i have something i need his input on i feel like i have to interrupt him from studying, and yet he finds time for entertainment when i'm busy, we just don't coordinate our free time well.

I just can't wait for law school to be over, even just the first year which i think is the hardest. However there's no saying him working will be any better but maybe it will. I'd just like to be able to talk a bit in the evening, about my day, about his day, just talk - i miss talking. The only talking i do is at work and i feel like i should be working or whoever i'm talking to is being interrupted from working. So instead i write here.

Well enough pity party!

On the stitching front, i stitched a bit on Herbal Sampler at lunch yesterday, got 3 of 4 colors done on the Parsley leaf, just have one color to do and the backstitching today then it's up a level! No other stitching done but i did bring my quilt to work to show off a bit. This way i can maybe work on it tonight at my aunt's too. Alright - i have work to do and i have to check if any food has been put out yet :)

I love this 8 days of pigging out :) Yesterday was a blast and I'm still full! Today will be even better I think with sausage rolls for lunch. Yesterday was Samosas and Tartines. (And chocolate) :)

And I made it to the gym last night! Then we made pizza for dinner which I love! And I was not feeling well after that. Probably not the food or anything, just feeling off and went to bed early which is bad because there was work on the website to do. But today I'm going to finish uploading the site to the new server and try to get it running tonight so we can make the "switch" again! This is a real pain because I'd rather be finishing the tasks I had to do and be done with the site instead of doing this moving crud when it's almost christmas! I want a break :(

Anyhow - at lunch I stitched a bit on the Dragon Dreams Virtue Series Wisdom dragon. He will be my monday at lunch project, maybe more often if i need. But today i brought floss in to work on herbal sampler so that's what i'll do at lunch... I'm up to parsley, maybe at lunch I can finish the herb parsley so tomorrow i can start on the next row up. As for pic updates, i'll probably do those weekly, maybe on the weekends i'll scan all my updates (DD Wisdom, Pooh and Herbal Sampler) and monday post the pics. The quilt is easier to update because i use the camera but there won't be a new pic until the border is on after christmas probably.

Well today is definately not moving as quickly as yesterday was but i have some work to do until lunch, i just need to stop munching or i won't even be hungry for all the great lunch food we have :)

I broke down and did another test:
Results:
Caron ushers you across the river Acheron, and you find yourself upon the brink of grief's abysmal valley. You are in Limbo, a place of sorrow without torment. You encounter a seven-walled castle, and within those walls you find rolling fresh meadows illuminated by the light of reason, whereabout many shades dwell. These are the virtuous pagans, the great philosophers and authors, unbaptised children, and others unfit to enter the kingdom of heaven. You share company with Caesar, Homer, Virgil, Socrates, and Aristotle. There is no punishment here, and the atmosphere is peaceful, yet sad.
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Some major happy dances!

First -- BUNNY GINGHAM - finished! 13 hours total:


Then an update on Pooh and Piglet:(10 hours):


And - Saturday's progress on the quilt!
Here is the progress I actually made:


And here is what it will look like when the border is on:


And my weekend update. Well Friday night I went to Target and pretty much finished my christmas shopping, only my brother is left and any stocking gifts I find for my mom, sister, brother or dad. Then I just got stuff done around the apartment so I could leave Saturday early.
Saturday I spent the day at my mom's (9 hours), in this time I had to take apart the two rows I had previously put together because they were sewn with more than a quarter inch seam (i didn't know this at the time), so starting over i managed to finally get all the lattice on by 8. Then I went to put the border on and oops... the stripes are going the opposite way than i thought, and i don't have enough fabric to do 6 inch borders like I want. So i cut as many 6 1/2 inch strips as I could and left it at that.. my next class is in a week and I can have my teacher help me figure out what to do and I can buy more border fabric.
So sunday I worked on the website, started quilting in the lattice and then my old car finally got towed off so I could get my errands done. After my boyfriend got home I stitched, cooked dinner and stitched some more :) I worked on Pooh then organized what project I was going to bring to work on at lunch today.

So the game plan is - work on Herbal Sampler except Mondays.. work on DD wisdom. So I have Wisdom to work on today and I brought the sampler so i can figure out what colors I still need so I can bring those in tomorrow.
Oh and today starts the 8 days of pigging out at work - where everyone at work brings food in 1 of 8 days (i'm bringing in a bit more because i like to), so i brought in gingerbread, next monday i'm going to bring in meatballs i think and maybe cupcakes too or those another day. Then maybe a day with cookies or brownies (or both). So I'm going to work now and then go hunt for food :)

Helping others...

I love to help. If you can tell by my posts, I tend to talk a lot about myself generally, I don't take over conversations or anything but I do love to talk. When someone else has a problem and comes to me however I really love to listen and help any way I can, even if by really listening I am helping, that alone gives me pleasure. I like to know a friendship is going both ways and when someone comes to me then I know they value me as a friend as much as I value them and that is very meaningful to me. I'm not one to have a lot of friends, I am not a large group person, I have a hard time in conversations in a group and mostly sit quietly and listen but one on one is more my thing. Really talking to a person and learning about them and sharing something of myself.

Anyhow - the message is - go listen to someone today :)

Back to normal : I survived! I babysat my 3 cousins and survived, not just survived but it went very well. I got them all to sleep and at one point I was sitting in their bed with the baby sleeping in my arms, the oldest next to me and the middle one intertwined in my legs, all kind of snoring. It was adorable. I held the baby the rest of the night as she's used to that and fusses if you put her down, especially since she had a bottle and this was the first time she took a bottle with no problems but it definately wasn't her mom if you know what I mean.
So now i'm pretty confident next Friday night will go well. I've learned a bit, it might be easier to try to get the baby to sleep first, even if she just takes a quick doze, then try the other 2 who could technically stay up till 7:30 and I had the baby almost asleep by then... if i start out feeding the baby she may sleep around 7 even. Even better if I can get her in the crib, my aunt and uncle said they're going to try putting her in the crib more this week to see if she can start to get used to it. By the way the kids are 5, 3 and 10months.

So that was my night. And yesterday at lunch - 7 letters done! That leaves only 5 letters left on bunny gingham and he'll be finished! I'm hoping to finish today and get a picture this weekend. He won't get washed since he has hand dyed threads but I haven't gotten a frame for him yet either. For now he'll wait. Alright - now I have work to do :)

Thursday is always Bagel Day!

I'm just waiting for the bagels to show up :)

Well I'd say I got some good stitching done yesterday. I got an hour in on Bunny Gingham at lunch - probably about 3 hours left before he's completely done. All i have left is 12 letters, the bunny itself is done. Then I want to sign it and add cocoa's name to it too.

Then 2 hours last night on the Winnie the Pooh piece. I outlined and started filling in his shirt after finishing his chin. I like this outlining technique for this piece, I think I will do this for the rest too, I outline looking at the pattern and then I can put the pattern away and fill in whenever I want.

I don't think I'll get stitching done tonight - maybe some reading, I'll be babysitting, I'm hoping to two oldest kids will be in bed after 7 and then I'll just have the baby who I'm hoping will sleep a bit after a feeding. I'm not counting on anything though. I would like to catch my show at 8 but it should be taping back home so if I miss it I can watch it this weekend.

Alright - stitching at work at lunch is working out real well. I have almost finished Bunny Gingham and possibly after tomorrow he will be done. So the question is what to do next at work. I will have quilting my quilt after this weekend available, but maybe I'll save that at home so I dont' have to lug the quilt here and risk it getting dirty. So it's time to pick a WIP to work on. I'm thinking one like my Herbal Sampler because there are lots of little things to do on it, small accomplishments, an herb here, a spoon here, a word there etc. That might be ideal.

Options I have:
Herbal Sampler - definate possibility
It's Winter - just the top banner left - boring!
Mystic Retreat Sampler - maybe later but no rush to finish this right now
Piece for boyfriend - too large for a work project
Pooh - for coworker so best worked on at home
Wisdom Dragon - maybe a good piece to also work on - alternate maybe?
Noah's Arc - maybe if I run out of other things (finish the herb sampler) - but there's no deadline anymore so i'm in no rush
I have a few others but I won't even consider them right now. So the decision is Herbal Sampler - and then DD Widsom dragon - I'll keep herbal sampler here, dragon will travel with me as my small piece and Pooh will be my focus piece when i'm not at work...
With all that then I have my quilt :)

I love not having the website full time anymore. I do have more work to do but 2 days/nights a week is enough and the rest of the time I can enjoy. YEA!
Bagels are here!

A nice busy day...

Well it should be, I have a lot of work I can do and I'm looking forward to finishing a few things for work, like a trade study.

Quilt class last night was great. We went over putting our quilt together (I've started but I was still timid about continuing and now I feel confident). Then we talked about machines - I would love to get a good machine with a walking foot, unfortunately they're expensive, maybe something I can start to save up towards, who knows.

I also found all the fabrics I may need for the amish quilt I want to do - I didn't buy them but they keep the colors in stock so when I decide which colors and how much I'll need I can get them. That's my next major quilt project, it's a gift and it will be machine pieced because there isn't much piecing, then it will be a lot of hand quilting which I'm looking forward to big time.

I also found some beautiful dragon fabric which I just had to buy so i got a yard and folded it up and put it on my bookcase like a runner. I'm not sure what to do with it exactly but I'll think of something some time. I also bought the last fabric I need for my quilt, the binding fabric which is just one of the fabrics I used already but needed more of for the binding. This maybe I can get cut and attached this weekend if I baste my borders down (otherwise I have to wait until after I get the quilting done which I should do - in case i have to square it up... but who needs squaring - it's a lap quilt :)

So I won't be home until Friday night now - Tonight I have my regular night at my aunt's, I will cross stitch most likely, then tomorrow night I'm babysitting for my other aunt and uncle. So Friday after work, I will be home, then maybe out to Target to finish up (yes FINISH) my christmas shopping. That's all that's left -one store. Then Saturday bright and early i'm heading to my mom's - then saturday night late it's back home so sunday i can be home for when they come pick up my car i'm donating.

So I'm packed - no gym time :( And I really need to start that up again next week big time! But I should have some cross stitch time -plus I always have lunch time to stitch :) Alright - work time :)

A picture of my last block. The next picture will be after most of the quilt is put together I hope - maybe monday.

Grandmother's Bouquet

Click for a larger picture

Well last night was productive again, feeling pretty good about that. I cooked up a few meals, tacos for dinner and leftovers, then some zesty herb chicken and white rice for lunches. After that I worked on the website for a good 2 hours, made some good progress and then when my boyfriend got home I just read the rest of the night while he watched some tv to unwind.

I'm reading "Crewel World" by Monica Ferris. I really want to read her series mostly because it takes place in a needlework shop, by a needlework shop owner. They are mysteries. And they keep your interest pretty well. From a more literary perspective however they are not great. If it was a movie I'd say the actors were acting too "forced" and not natural, that's the best way to describe it, it's not "subtle" when trying to get points across. But it's not horrible - and the plot is good enough to keep my interest plus they're SHORT - always a bonus since I have very little time to read these days.

Tonight is my quilt class which I'm very much looking forward to. I need to call my teacher and let her know i'm coming for sure due to the weather it was a bit iffy for everyone but I have a new Audi so I can handle a little snow :)

I'm getting so excited to put my quilt together this saturday, i really can't wait! I don't even know what to do in the meantime! What will I work on tomorrow night at my aunt's - I guess cross stitch, of course when I was quilting I wanted to be stitching, now that I can't quilt I want to ... that's the way life goes :)

Stitching Update:


9 hours progress


6 hours progress

That's right - I worked a bit on Bunny Gingham and Pooh I picked up again last night to get more of his face done. I really want to get Pooh himself done because I know how boring he gets!

Weekend update:
Well - this weekend was pretty productive. Not really friday night so much, but Saturday I went to the dealership and got extra keys, then went to Joann's and bought some more christmas stuff. Then home to clean before my sister and her boyfriend showed up. We chatted when they arrived and then went out to dinner in boston when my boyfriend got home. We walked around boston a bit and were home around 10.
Sunday i made breakfast and after my sister and her boyfriend left I spent a while finishing my quilt block and then cutting all the 3 1/2" strips for the lattice that I can't attach until I have a machine -- hopefully this weekend I can go to my mom's and use hers. I'd like to get the lattice and border on so that I can start quilting inside it. My mom also has some stencils i might use - i haven't totally decided. Probably this Tuesday at class i'll talk to my teacher about it and decide.

So after finishing what I could with my quilt, I worked on the website and watched movies. My boyfriend didn't get home till late so we just watched the end of a movie together while I did some stitching (hence the Pooh update above). Tonight will be more of the same (website and stitching hopefully), but i want to squeeze in the gym as well. Tuesday is my class, then wednesday and thursday are nights at my uncles' houses (thursday babysitting). Busy week for sure :)

I haven't taken quilt pictures yet, maybe tonight I'll do that and update tomorrow with the last block. Now I have some work to get done before my eye doctor appt today.

Stitch Night!

Last night was great - no gym because I got home a bit too late and still had to take out the garbage and fold laundry before leaving. But I made it on time to stitch night and worked on the Winnie the Pooh piece for about 2 hours. I'll update a pic maybe on monday after I scan it in. I also bought some goodies to send to my RR group.

When I got home my BF wanted to just hang out and watch tv together, so while he finished some reading, I read for a bit before watching tv. Mostly I just went to bed. But it's nice to hang out since we rarely have time together and now exams are coming up so it will be even less.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, I have some work on the website to do, but nothing major so I don't have to stress. I have presents to wrap, a trip to the Audi dealer to get some new keys for my new car, a trip to Joann's maybe on Saturday with their one day sale, i have a 50% off coupon and a 20 dollar gift certificate from using my credit card a lot. Probably have more gift certs coming soon too.

My sister is coming saturday night with her boyfriend, I'm hoping we can go out to dinner and something else after that in Boston. Then sunday I hope to have time to relax, work on my quilt (need to quilt block 5 big time) and cross stitch :)
So for now - i'll go get my hot chocolate and work a bit :)

Well no quilting last night :) But I did stitch a bit. I got the stitching on the flower in front of Pooh done, but the backstitching really needs to be done before it looks like much so I must do the bee first, then backstitch the bee and flower and then I'll do a scan... Maybe this weekend if I have time.

Last night was fun, we watched the tribute to George Harrison which was great, except for the PBS interruptions asking for donations. No problem except the interruption lasted about 30 minutes each time.

Stitch night tonight!! I am going to bring bunny gingham, but I may work on Pooh instead. Most likely I'll work on bunny gingham for an hour (to make up last month's missed hour), then work on Pooh. I also have some things in mind I want to buy so I will need some browsing time.

I may even make it to the gym before stitch night - that would be neat. I will bring clothes to change into and head to stitch night right from the gym. I just need to make sure there's some food avaible for my boyfriend, I tend to leave the fridge quite empty when I'm gone.
Well it's hot chocolate time, the tummy is a growlin!

Ah Christmas Shopping...

That's right - online is a wonderful thing! I have gotten a ton of presents online, now I only have:
My dad
my brother (know what i'm getting him just have to get it)
My sister's boyfriend
One Aunt left
One Uncle left
My boyfriend (have a few things for him
My boyfriend's family -- waiting for his input on these gifts.

That's not bad since it's only Dec. 1st Most importantly i got my grandparents done, all the children in the family, my mom and sister.
Plus - i haven't paid a dime of shipping at all! After today i will have paid $1 shipping - that's it!

So - last night I actually made it to the gym! 2 miles on the treadmill before coming home to watch my show and work on the website for 2 hours. Not an unproductive night that's for sure. And I finished quilting block number 6 - in time for my november goals even ;) I do have a pic of that too...

Click for a larger image
So only one block left to go and I have until Tuesday to finish the Applique and Quilting. I'm hoping tonight to finish the applique actually. Then i have this weekend to work on the quilting which isn't much. I'm not exactly sure what i'm going to do yet, but whatever it is I may need my quarter inch quilting tape which i LOST - i needed it last night too but i made do. I don't know where I left it the bugger!
Well almost lunch time - I will enjoy a nice lunch hour with some quilting (applique) and some leftover rigatoni and meatballs... then back to shopping, err, umm , work.

Stitching and Learning
Do you know it all or is there something out in the stitching world you still want to know how to do?

No I don't know it all - and I'm sure there's more out there I want to know how to do - but I'm content for now because I'm too busy! I would love some day to be able to knit sweaters (or knit at all), and also sewing in general I'd love, sewing clothes and stuff. That may come when I actually have a sewing machine that sews :)

I couldn't resist - i'm doing my monthly to do list early but changing the date...

December Goals:

1) Work on Herb blocks - adding borders
2) Finish Block 5 Applique and Quilt
3) Piece Row 3 together (block 5 and 6)
4) Piece all 3 rows together with Lattice
5) Put on outside Lattice and Border
6) Start quilting Lattice and Border of Quilt

7) Work on Winnie the Pooh pattern
8) Work on Bunny Gingham 2 hours
9) Start Shepherd's Bush RR piece April

I guess that's it, hopefully I can do more but I don't want to set my hopes too high with the holidays and the website still needing updates.