February Wrap UP:
How i did on my goals for February:
1) Work on Mystic Sampler ~10 hours [FINISHED]
2) Start Precious Moments piece for Charity ~5 hours [17 hours]
3) Piece Amish Quilt [FINISHED]
4) Finish 3 ohio stars [FINISHED]
5) Draw outter lattice quilt lines and start quilting [Nope]
6) If RR arrives in time - start and finish? [Just arrived so no]

Also this month:
Learned to knit
Started and finished a surprise piece
Pieced Pooh wallhanging and started quilting it

Ah - I forgot to upload pictures last night! I will have to do that tonight. Sorry.

Weekend update:
Friday night I had to pick my boyfriend up in boston at 12:30am because he missed the train. However I worked until about 4, showered, ate, and then stitched all evening so I can't complain too much, it really was a good time. I finished adding the baby's name to the Pooh Sampler for my coworker and I worked on the Precious moments piece.
Saturday was a day of nothing much, my boyfriend's friend and girlfriend came over for lunch and a movie then headed home. I managed a little stitching since we watched I-Robot which I had already seen. Then the movies continued through the rest of the evening so the stitching continued. I also finished Ohio Star number 6 - then found out that I had stitched one of the little squares in wrong! So i took it out and fixed it.. another picture needed.
Sunday I put together the Pooh Wallhanging and quilted around the cross stitched picture. I may do more quilting in the border, i'm not sure yet. Then I went to my Stitch/Tea Party.
The party was awesome, we had a great time, I stitched mostly on precious moments but then I learned to knit :) My friend did the cast on part and then started a row and taught me how to do the basic knitting - 18 stitches across for a scarf, what to do if i drop a stitch or add a stitch etc. It was HARD - took me forever to get the needle in the stitches but i'm managing better now. So when I went home i worked on my scarf the rest of the evening and I brought it to work on at lunch but Precious Moments can't be neglected too long it must be finished soon.
So now I knit :) and i can't wait to finish this scarf, learn to cast on for the next scarf and then learn a pattern - maybe a matching hat or something. And this thursday is stitch night - what a great week this will be :)
Alright - work must get done :)

Snow day - working from home.

Not that there's much snow but i have driven in the snow too much this winter and what i'm working on right now can easily be done from home. So taking advantage of the fact that computers are great and I can log into my computer at work and do exactly what i'd be doing there with less distractions, i decided to stay home and get some work done.

Don't think I get a day to daudle, I may actually get more work done than if i was at work. Fridays are wierd at work, tend to be chatty days for everyone.

So last night I came home after a stop to ACMoore where I picked up a light box finally (must resist urge to get it out and start tracing amish quilt patterns onto quilt... plenty of time to do that tonight). As i'm driving home my boyfriend called and said his friend is right behind me coming to visit - of course i haven't been home and the apartment is a mess but my boyfriend did a good job picking things up here and there so it wasn't too bad. So his friend and his friend's girlfriend came over and we went into boston for dinner and then to a bar. It started snowing -yes really snowing while we ate dinner and the walk to the bar was long. I think we got home around 12:30 so i'm amazed i still got up at 6:30 this morning to start working. Then I drove my boyfriend to the train station so he didn't have to worry about having his car and getting home if he goes out drinking after classes today.

So it looks like tonight i have to myself, he's meeting up with his friends again after class (around 11am) and hanging out and then going out probably. I figure i'll work till 3 as normal when i start at 7, maybe 3:30 if i stop to cook up some lunch. Then I have hours to myself :) I think I will listen to my book on tape while stitching/quilting. Saturday i have no plans except to work on the website and then sunday i have my stitch and tea party at my friend's so more stitching planned :) I'm behind on website work by 2 hours though so i need to fit an hour in tonight and make up 2 hours tomorrow. Time for some breakfast and back to my documents.

Thursday - bagel day - but not time for bagels yet. As usually one person always brings in bagels but switches between two places that he gets them. This started a little tradition of finding the best bagels and people offering to bring them from bagel places near their homes to try them out. So the guy bringing them in today is one who comes in a bit later than the rest of us.

Last night was nice - dinner (hamburgers always good), and then just stitching. I didn't work on the ohio stars, i haven't been in the mood but i did continue work on the precious moments, getting her eyes filled in and her hands done. Her hair isn't too scary as it's only 2 colors so i may start on that today at lunch, it will be an early lunch because we have a class today at 12:30.

Well that's it for today. Next week is my boyfriend's spring break so i've been considering taking a day off work - maybe next friday off to just hang out with him, go home with him if he wants etc. Of course i won't know until the last minute with him planning things!

Guild last night. Wow - there were a LOT of quilts! I had a real good time, 2 ladies who quilt together did a lecture and showed off some quilts - about an hour or so of just showing quilts - it was great.

I did then make it to the gym where i ran for a bit. I didn't lift too, mostly because i was kind of dizzy and light headed, so this week i will stick to the treadmill and pick up lifting again next week.

Tonight however i'm off to my aunt and uncle's for the night. Hopefully i will work on my ohio stars. I just realized i forgot to bring the movies i was going to bring for them to borrow - darnit... i'll have to remember them the next time i go.

Lunch today i worked more on precious moments, started the face and hands. Getting the flesh color done, then i'll fill in the eyes and cheeks. Once i start the hair maybe i'll start the backstitching too so the design really starts to come to life.

Nothing else going on - i'm tired today and had a lot going on -one hour left to go - i think i can write a few unit tests in that time....

Quite the roll I am on for 2005. Lots of stitching for sure. And I think I've come up with a plan for working on the website as well. My goal is 4 hours a week. That's 1 hour a night for the 4 nights I'm home - and if i miss a night (like I will tonight) i work on the weekends to make it up. So last night i got an hour in.

I didn't make it to the gym last night as I had planned - attack of the stomach pains, must have been something i ate during the day - maybe the gazillion lollipops??

So last night was not very productive, i went to Joann's to get a light box - they didn't have one, so i bought the scrapbooking stuff I wanted to get, and a container to keep my new hobby in (scrapbooking that is). I didn't break the 50 dollar mark which is what i had gift cards for so i technically spent no money. So it seems a trip to acmoore is in order to look for the lightbox, i also have a gift card to there and another coupon i can use. Maybe i can squeeze that in tonight before guild meeting.

Lunch today will continue work on the precious moments piece. I need to dig out the winnie the pooh piece to add the baby details for my co-worker who had her baby yesterday morning. So that needs to get done soon and now that i've finished mystic sampler it's not a problem, i will start on it this weekend.

Well I've been here 40 minutes - guess i should get some work started :)

Back from the framer...



Also - a finished pic (it's a pic from the camera so not that detailed, if I have time I will scan it in later. It's still not ironed and the flag will be added today at lunch now that I have my beading needles but here is Mystic Samper (50 hours):


And my precious moments progress so far - 6 hours:


So this weekend was pretty busy. Friday night we went up to my uncle's after I went to ToysRUs (bought gifts), wrapped said gifts, cleaned up apartment, and then packed. We played some Battlefield - i fell asleep around 12:30 though. Saturday was a day with the little ones. We slept in and missed the soccer game (8am game) but got up just as they were getting back and had a great day. My parents showed up early afternoon, then my sister and her boyfriend a little after that. We had a turkey dinner and then did presents. Let me just say - a 1 year old and presents... everyone should have only wrapped one each. It took forever, she did great for the first 2 but got distracted by the toys so it was a long evening.
Her sisters each bought something for her that they wanted to play with as well.. oh kids...

We headed home after the gifts and cake, i dropped my brother back off at MIT and the guys got some movies which we watched. Then sunday after my sister and her boyfriend left we continued with movies. After running out of new movies we went and got more (and fit in a grocery store trip and a trip for chinese food.) So I got a bit of stitching in. I didn't stitch during "Man of Fire", i think that was the name - it was really good. But I did stitch during Harry Potter (my boyfriend has read the books, not i).

And today I woke up at 5 with my poor boyfriend throwing up. Luckily it was just the one time, maybe something in the chinese food. Anyhow, i got up late (6:40) and there was snow and more coming, but i headed into work and now i'm in a windowless office so who cares :)

I did however forget to bring all the food i packed up for my lunch... not sure what to do about lunch today, i always have cereal and easymac, and a frozen pizza but not exactly going with my healthy ways with that... Well - time for some breakfast at least and then time to get some work done.

Mystic Sampler -> FINISHED - 50 hours exactly. I will post a picture on Monday.

That's actually why I waited until after lunch to post, so I could finish it up. I made so much progress last night at stitch night that today I just had backstitching the house to do, adding my initials and adding the charms. There is actually one more charm to add - but i need a beading needle, the other charms I used my regular needle for. So i have to add the flag at the bottom tonight or tomorrow night.

I debated waiting on the charms till after being ironed but I figured I might as well add them because after adding them i'll have rolled the fabric again and will need to iron again. So i will iron this weekend and take a picture. Who knows when I can afford to get it framed, not now for sure - but I will put it someplace safe for now - maybe keep it hanging in my office or something.

Last night at stitch night I got my Herb Sampler back framed - it came out great, I also bought a few things that my LNS owner got from Nashville, in all I spent around 100 (but that included the framing which I think was about 60). I got a limited edition TW and DD (dragon and unicorn - since I collect dragons/fantasy). And I got some more Twisted Threads that I've been collecting (these mini gingham months - i'm up to July now I think). And another pattern that came with charms too - Dragon Dreams - a dragon in a bathtub. "Just a little Peace and Quiet Please" - it's called, perfect for my bathroom some time, maybe with a different saying maybe not - but I love dragons and every room must have one :)

So i had a blast - I couldn't believe how much stitching I got done too. Then I went to the gym - same old. Then home to take out the garbage, fold laundry, put away dishes and clean out the pantry closet that my landlord is going to put shelves into saturday while we're gone. Unfortunately while cleaning it out I dropped a heavy pot and top on my foot - ouch. No running tonight for sure if i go to the gym - i'll just lift. I can't even wear my sneakers, i've been wearing my sandals but mostly going without in my office.

Tonight we're headed to my uncle's for a night of gaming - but first i need to go by Toys R Us and get my little cousin a gift. Maybe a trip to ACMoore too (right by there) since I've been meaning to go. Then maybe go to the gym to lift or just pack and leave. What comes will come.

I'm guessing not much will get done this weekend since I have only sunday and my sister will be here sunday morning. After they leave i'll work on the website probably and maybe go to the gym. That leaves only a bit of time to do anything fun - which will turn into work on the PM and watch movies or something.

Well back to work - and when I come back I will come with pictures :)

Back to a more normal schedule today - not sleeping until 6:40, must mean I'm almost healthy again.

Well no quilting last night - I was exhausted, I watched tv and part of a movie at my aunt and uncle's, then I slept through the rest. At lunch time however I managed to finish the other tree and start the stone wall - which I realized I need to buy another color to finish - so I need to buy 2 colors tonight to finish this piece. So if i work on it tonight and tomorrow at lunch maybe it will be done?? Hopeful...

My interview yesterday went well .. we meet today to all discuss how it went individually. Today I take another guy out to lunch... free lunch at least :)

Stitch night tonight - and Nashville releases will be out! I wonder if the piece I had framed will be done - if so then I have to pay for that so money for extra stuff will be more limited. I'll just have to be reasonable. Also the Carriage House Samplings Trunk Show will be up, i've never seen those patterns before so that will be nice.

It looks like friday night we will be going up to my uncle's to play video games, then saturday night (after a birthday party saturday for my cousin) coming home with my sister and her boyfriend to stay the night. Then sunday catch up i guess on work ...

Goal wise this month I am doing great so far. I've met my mystic sampler goal, can easily meet the PM goal and the ohio stars (just have to finish one more ohio star), met the amish quilt goal. The rr hasn't shown up - that will probably be next month, and the sampler quilt hasn't been touched but maybe I will get that out before the month is up as I had hoped - start quilting it at least (but i have my amish quilt now... :( )
:)

Wednesday, officially the middle of the week - why does it feel like friday???

Even though I've been sick, this week has been quite productive, i'm right on schedule, even with interruptions I will meet my deadline friday and move on to the next task monday which i have 2 weeks to complete.

Today I am interviewing someone. I am newly hired myself (out of college no less) - worked here since June of last year, that's 8 months and I'm interviewing someone who has more experience (we're talking 4 years) than I. How strange that is. Not a short interview either - 45 minutes! So i have a list of questions and hopefully she'll be talkative :)

Tomorrow there's another applicant coming in, I am not on the interview list for him but I am one of 2 people taking him to lunch (kind of an information interview type thing) to see how we like him and to answer any questions for him. I'd have to say the stress of interviewing someone is worse than getting interviewed!

On a lighter note - stitching wise. Lunch times continue with Mystic, i will finish the second tree today and maybe start the stone wall. Tomorrow at lunch no stitching (going out), but tomorrow night I have stitch night so i'll finish the house and maybe start the brick path and finish the stone wall. That leaves just the flag pole heart and the words Mystic and 2004. These are over one - maybe i can finish them friday (this weekend at the latest).

I stitched last night some more on the precious moments piece. Another hour and half while watching "50 first dates" - great movie. This piece is going to take forever, hopefully next week it can start being my lunch time piece so i can really make some progress - it's just so BIG.

Well - it's time for my salad and hard boiled egg (pre-lunch snack) - for lunch I have a choice of white rice or potatoe, no meat today only because I haven't had time to cook any at home, but trying to eat healthier (AKA - less sugar!)

Still sick... uck. And my nose hurts a lot from blowing it.

Well last night my boyfriend and I exchanged cards and candy, and then went about our own thing (work), he had reading to do and I worked on the website (oh yea - he ordered dinner for us so I didn't have to worry about that at all). Then when he went to the gym (i was too sick still), i popped in the last 2 episodes of Sex and the City season 5 and started stitching the Precious Moments piece for Cole's Quilts. This piece is quite large - of course I also started stitching it in the wrong direction on the fabric but it should be fine, i think my fabric needs to be 14x14 and my piece says it's 15x18. The design is smaller than 6x8 so i should be fine... pain in the butt though!

So I got a good 2 hours stitching time on that in and then read for a bit before falling asleep.

Today I have to call the landlord - for a week or so now we've had tepid water instead of hot water - i love really hot showers, on top of that the hot (tepid) runs out before the second shower - we are not happy with this, my poor boyfriend has had almost cold showers for 2 days now - so i need to call and get this taken care of, who knows what my landlord did to make this happen - before winter he turned the temperature down and i told him i wanted it back up - he may have done that again.

Other than that, i hope tonight to go to ACMoore - i have my gift card, i didn't bring my joanns' coupon but i just want to get some scrapbooking stuff anyway (and stickers). Then I need a trip to toys-r-us to buy my little cousin a birthday gift. 1 year old on saturday!
Well that's it - my nose is running - my cough won't go away, i have a ton to do and i feel like crap!

Another late morning - but I had a good excuse. I am sick... I was sick all weekend with a cold. But that didn't stop me as my pictures will show.

First 46 hours of progress on Mystic Sampler (the top is cut off on the scan but that's finished and on other pictures so I wasn't worried) ::


And I spent 5 hours this weekend piecing the Amish Quilt for my boyfriend's sister. I am very proud of it, the corners of the diamond came out very well and the corners in general almost all match up.

The colors are a bit off in the picture.

Also I finished the little name tag block for my guild, it was a simple star:


And blocks 4 and 5 of the ohio star quilt are finished:


So I had a productive weekend, Friday night I went to the gym - making that 4 days a week! Then I pieced the center diamond of the amish quilt and cut out the red and green for th rest of the quilt. Saturday I drove back to NY and visited with my mom, went to a quilt store quick, changed my oil (in the snow), and worked on my ohio stars - finishing number 5 and starting number 6. I also took some fabric that she used in hers for the rest of my blocks so now I have enough fabric for all 13 blocks, i just need to trace the rest and cute them out and piece them. She started her embroidery - she finished piecing the whole quilt (she did it by machine), I want to do mine by hand.

Then I drove back home - still feeling under the weather (felt a bit of a cold coming on all day saturday). So I crashed pretty early. Sunday I cleaned - even though I was even sicker - but DayQuil helps a lot! Then I worked on the Amish quilt finishing it in the afternoon while my boyfriend was at school. I then went to BJ's to check out the selection and when I got home we went out to dinner (early valentine's). Our meal took SO long - our waitress forgot to put the order in, that she comped the meal - which was very nice of her. Then we went to the video store and bought a bunch of 3/30 dollar movies and went home and watched 2 - of course I taped L&O CI, and also of course I cross stitched - on Mystic Sampler to be exact.

We watched I Robot and 13 going on 30, i really enjoyed both of them. I also ran out of one of my kit threads in the Mystic Sampler (I've run out of quite a few), but this one I didn't pre-plan on running out of so now I have none in backup. Thursday is a stitch night however so I can get more and maybe finish it if i leave just the house to be stitched and backstitched after I get the thread. I think I can finish everything else around the house during my lunch breaks this week.

So it looks like I can finish Mystic this month for sure, then I will start on the PM and focus on that while otherwise just quilting. I need to buy batting and backing for the amish quilt so I can't start quilting that, but i also need to buy a light box to draw the quilting lines on before basting it all together. I plan on washing it when it's done so I'm just going to use my white pencil to draw all the lines and hopefully they'll stay in for the whole time i quilt until washed. My poor neglected sampler quilt... I won't be getting back to that for a while to finish.

It's a late morning - not just for blogging but in general. I woke up late (hit snooze a LOT), got to work late, chatted a while with co-workers so got to my desk even later. Late late late. SO i will have to work late - like 5.

I got chocolate in the mail yesterday though :) And I'm enjoying it right now :) It's yummy...

So I updated about the mystic sampler already - today I will start on the house section.

Last night I went to walmart, spent WAY too much on who knows what. Then I put together my little quilt block nametag for guild - i had to re-cut the triangles because they were definately too small, but it's all together now and I just need to whipstitch one side shut now. I even did the "quilting" part with the machine so once whip stitched it will be ready to wear.
Then I got all the rest of my fabrics for ohio stars together and while watching OC I traced out and cut some more blocks. I traced all 4 and cut 2, so that brings me up to 9 blocks. That's all i could make with my stash so tomorrow when I go home I will raid my mom's stash to make 4 more blocks.

Then the good girl i am I went to the gym again - then home and I started ironing my amish fabric - after a few I decided to iron my ohio stars instead so I did 2 of those nicely and 2 quickly which I will have to fix (the seams in the back are messy).

Tonight I want to stop by ACMoore on the way home, get some scrapbooking stuff and stickers. I have a gift card so I want to keep total spent under 20 dollars if i can. Then maybe I can organize my floss tonight and then relax. I need to go to the gym again - yippee :) But it has to be early, i think they close at 9 or something on fridays. Pain in the you know what.

Tomorrow I am going back to NY to visit my mom for the day, get fabric and cut out more ohio stars to piece. Then back home that night. Sunday I plan on cleaning and working on the website and quilting - maybe putting together the amish quilt?? Maybe???

Well - almost 10 already - shocker - and I have a ton of work to do so I best get on that. I wonder how much progress I'll make on the mystic sampler at lunch. I promise pictures next monday of progress!

Just a quick note - I finished the flowers row and the long arm cross stitch.. All that's left is the last row (the house with trees) which is a large row but I should be able to finish it some time next week.

Not leaving early today :( But at least work is going well. Then a trip to walmart on the way home and a relaxing night - maybe even some quilting. I also need to get the precious moments dmc floss together and put away all the floss that's out and about (tons) so i'm all organized again. Maybe i'll do that tonight so I can start the PM this weekend. If i finish Mystic I may work on the PM at work so I can get that done quickly and get back to finishing WIPS. I don't want to start a new project right now because I have so many WIPs and quilts to work on. Plus RRs are coming soon too.

Hehe - back to work, 2 1/2 hours to go - i will definately need to eat within that time frame ;)

Another Note --> So far this month I have stitched a little bit EVERY DAY!

Well the snow may not be coming.. it's raining out and the radar shows the snow belt way up in NH. I wanted it to snow so i would have a good excuse to leave work early and clean. We'll see.

At lunch yesterday I didn't quite finish the row of flowers, but I finished the lazy daisies and cross stitching and backstitching... what i forgot about was the rhodes stitches, i have to do 3 of those today and a few cross stitches on top of the lazy daisies. Then it's on to the long arm cross stitch row. Major progress though, and I really like this flower row, it's really pretty.

Last night at my uncle's I worked on my ohio star - almost got #5 put together, i have the 3 rows done. Time for me to draw and cut out a few more since this is the last one I had ready. Maybe tonight while watching tv I will draw a few more out to cut.

Bagel day - i better get out there, i generally just eat a plain bagel but there's a dutch apple out there so i may get a taste of that one too... i think it's going to be a quiet day because everyone was expecting snow... we'll see if they keep their plans or decide to come in anyway. Off to eat!

Quilt Night at Fabric Corner.

Last night I went to my fabric store for our monthly get together where everyone shows off what they are working on and asks for advice. They're were some amazing pieces for sure! Then I did some shopping, buying fabric for my amish quilt, i went with some unexpected to me colors that my teacher actually picked out, i have 4 colors instead of 3 and I'm not sure what the main center color will be yet so I bought two possibilities. So tonight I can wash my fabric and maybe this weekend start it.

So I figure I'll go home for the day saturday, there isn't much to go home for, I need to go to the bank for my boyfriend so I need to get there early, then I'll just hang out with my mom, pick out fabrics and stuff and then just head back. Sunday I will clean and relax probably.

Oh I hate cramps - it's going to be a long morning with these darn cramps bothering me. I wish I had something better than tylenol to take.

Sorry - one track mind when the pain comes.

Anyhow. After the quilt night I went to the gym and ran and then lifted with my boyfriend again. 2 days a week is easy - lets see if i can do 4 days this week.

Tonight I'm going to my aunt's house. I am bringing an ohio star block to work on, and I'll bring my cross stitch too just in case i'm snowed in a bit tomorrow. What's bad is that I dont' have my laptop so i can't work from my uncle's, and to drive home means driving right past work so i might as well work tomorrow even if it's snowy out.

I would like tomorrow night to stop by ACMoore or Joanns and get more scrapbooking stuff (i have gift cards to both places). I'm not sure with the snow if that will happen but i'd like to get the stuff. Then I hope to cook some dinner (tacos) and relax with my boyfriend, we don't get to do that often anymore.

Mystic Sampler - I think I can finish the full cross stitches in the flower row today, maybe do the lazy daiseys too and backstitching (hardly any backstitchign), which would finish the row - high hopes huh? Then tomorrow I could do the long arm cross stitch row and start the house row. I see an end in sight and i'm excited.

Lunch time update. More progress on row 17, i'd say by the end of the week that row will be finished. Row 18 I can easily finish in one lunch break and that leaves only the last row which is large (a house). With the amount of time left in February there is a very good chance I could finish this by the end of the month, unless I focus on the Precious Moments piece at work that I haven't started yet, i do want to get that going real soon.

I also took out my initials that I stitched in the shell row, i really didn't like how discernible they were, i will just stitch them with a single strand (instead of double) in another color in the same spot. Maybe I will do that tomorrow.

It does bug me that I can't wash this piece with all the overdyed's, even the fabric is and i'm worried it would just ruin the piece, but washing really makes a piece look great - my herb sampler looked tons better after washing/freezing and ironing, and it never looked dirty or anything, it just gives it a freshness.

I do plan on framing this one with a mat, i will probably go the professional framing route again. I have Bunny Gingham to frame myself and that's enough of a stressor. I may try cutting out a mat for this if i have a color that would look right - big if. I do have the mat cutter - i just don't know how to use it ;)

The day is dragging. That's why i'm writing again - and i am munching on things like crazy - must be PMS or something!

I wish every night was like last night. Seriously it was great.

I got home around 5 and decided to organize. So i got out my fabric bins and cross stitch stuff and put away everything that has been living on my diningroom table. Once that was done I decided to do some scrap booking to get the pages I bought put away. So i got out my scrapbook and my caligraphy and made a few pages. I have more to make but i ran out of nice pages so i'll have to get more. Darn a trip to Joanns needed :)
My boyfriend got home around 8 - just as I was finishing scrapbooking and picking up, so I cooked up a pizza (with only a little help on the crust), and it was good. So we ate and then I moved on to starting my quilt block pin for guild night this month. I cut it out and started piecing.
Then we went to the gym - got home around 10:30 so I started piecing my block so more - and it was too small - wierd, so i took it apart, figured out how it's supposed to go again, and put it together again, still too small, took apart a piece and tried again - still small, so now all the triangles are together, too small but together none the less so i'm leaving them. I don't care that much :) Now I just have to cut the squares smaller to get them all together. I do have enough fabric to probably recut larger squares since i must have messed something up - but i added seam allowances so i'm just confused.

Oh and before bed i checked and fixed something on the website. A very productive night i'd say :) Tonight i'm off to my quilt store, which is good because i can buy the fabric for my amish quilt and show off my ohio stars, i'm sure all the ladies there will be much farther on their projects than me but at least i have something small to show.

Maybe by my next stitch night my herb sampler will be framed - i wont' count on it but she did say two weeks so maybe :) That would be too great. I can't believe i actually finished it. And mystic sampler will get finished real soon (this month or next), a start to a very productive year. Last year was productive but all round robin pieces so i saw almost nothing finished. But this year is different, and i'm still doing round robins and charity on top of that!

Oh and I should frame bunny gingham soon - i need to get him out and measure him and maybe order a frame on line and try my hand at it. And the friendship piece i finished last year needs to be turned into an album cover, i should get that out and buy some fabric to match tonight - way cool :) Things are getting finished!

A very very productive weekend. Stitching is going strong for sure!

Friday night I went to my one uncle's house, braided my cousin and her friends' hair then went to their performance which ended at 9. From there I drove to my other uncle's house where my boyfriend and brother were just setting up video game night. First I chatted with my aunt though before joining the basement group. We didn't stay up too late, i was in bed a little after 12.

Saturday was my cousin's soccer game, then it was so warm outside that we got the girls dressed nice and warm and went out to play (this after I also double french braided their hair too.. a 5 and 3 year old both sat still long enough, i couldn't believe it and they looked ADORABLE!). So we ran around the driveway, my brother taught them how to throw snowballs and the 11month old ran around with me following to keep her out of the mud.

Then we got them packed into strollers and the 5 year old on her bike and went for a walk around the culdesacs.

After that we left (and while walking my boyfriend and uncle washed cars, including mine :)

Saturday night we relaxed, watched a movie, I stitched a lot.

Sunday I slept in, it was rough getting going but i finally managed, and I had my stitch in at my LNS. We had a great time, we had lots of food to eat, I got a lot of stitching done and we had a Yankee Swap where I won the new Feather Fairy by Mirabilia. Not exactly something I will stitch as the fairies are not my style - very very lovely just too much stitching for something I wouldn't enjoy so much. But I'll hold onto it - I know it will be a great surprise to someone in the future, I have many friends :)

So after hitting the grocery store, cooking dinner and eating it was getting late, so I pulled out my stitching again while I watched tv. So that's a lot of stitching!
And I have an updated picture of Mystic Sampler:


This is at 42.5 hours and the rolling hills are done and the pumpkin row is ALMOST done - just need to fill the apples inside the basket in then it will be complete. That leaves 3 more rows to complete!!!

So - goal wise this month is kinda swapped, i'm doing more stitching and less quilting, and I still have to start the precious moments piece which I do plan on starting soon now. Tuesday is my night at my quilt shop so i will buy the fabric for my amish quilt and wash it wednesday at my aunt's so maybe this weekend i can start that quilt - put it together.
Well work calls - I only have 3 hours left until training this afternoon, must do work :)

HA! This is just -- of course --

I finished the rolling hills row on Mystic at lunch today, I realized as I was finishing it up that the spacing from the top of the mountains to the row above seems a bit large -- it is ... OOPS

Nothing i did now - i messed up back at Stitcher's Hideaway when I started the hills, i counted down too far. All well. I can still fit the whole piece on no problem i think - i checked quick.

So now i'm thinking of stitching something into that space - maybe some clouds with my name hidden in them or something... I put my initials in one of the shell rows but you can't see them much at all really and even if you notice something's off there, it's still really hard to see what it does say so this may be a good thing to add in, in a very subtle shade though. We shall see... we shall see...

Oh and my plans for this weekend already changed - after my cousin's concert tonight i'm going up to my other uncle's for the night where my boyfriend and brother will already be (playing battlefield vietnam). Guys are so strange - changing plans at the last minute - my boyfriend even had to pack for me directed over the phone of course, as i'm at work and home is out of my way big time! Ah 30 minutes to go and i'm headed out for the night!

Stitch night was great :) Plus I got a ton of stitching done! And Twisted Thread's new mini gingham months had 2 new ones in the store so i got those too, i think i have 8 now (Oct - May), plus i got a charm for a piece my sister is stitching.

I worked on my surprise piece, got a lot done too - maybe i can finish it this weekend, I also dropped my herb sampler off to be framed, i decided yes to glass so i'm not sure how much it will cost (probably another 10 dollars she said).

Also at lunch yesterday I finished the mountains on Mystic, also outlined the school house and started stitching the church over one. Today maybe i can finish the church if i take an hour break again (yesterday was a whole hour pretty much). Then next week I can get back down to the pumpkins and apples row.

Celebrations has class information up now, I checked them out, found a few i really want to take - i just want to keep my total under 500 this year, last year i stayed at 350 but didn't stay at the hotel, this year i will stay at the hotel either one night or two. That's actually funny because i live closer this year :) I think i'll only stay one night at the hotel to save some bucks.
I'm trying to get my sister to come with me and take a class, we shall see, currently she started a full time job last monday and is still taking 3 classes in college (she graduates in may with a BA). I dont' know if i could do it but once she's done she's done and she has a job already.

Well i had a bit of a rough night - unfortunately tonight i won't be home till 11 and again more personal details i won't go into, let's just say that timing is bad having my cousin's concert thing tonight to go to, i wish i could go home. Well I need to focus on work, try to get my mind off of other more troubling things and i'm really looking forward to sunday's stitch in - yea more stitching :)

4 Ohio Star blocks done! I'm almost a 1/3 of the way done with the hand piecing :) It's kinda wierd, i'm doing all the stars by hand piecing but then i'll be piecing the quilt by machine (sashing and triangles), maybe. Maybe i'll change my mind and do it by hand - putting on the triangles at least. If i didn't have to deal with all the seams i'd say definately, it doesn't take long to just sew down a line, but dealing with seams is a pain, trying not to sew through more than 2 piecs of fabric at a time. We shall see, this is still months away unfortunately.

So last night I pieced the block while watching the Pianist at my uncle's. It's a good movie, very hard to watch it and know that this really happened, that humans can truly be this way, it's so very very sad. It's really depressing.

On a lighter note - tonight is stitch night, so after my 8 hours of work with an hour break for stitching and lunch, I get to go home, take out the garbage, do dishes, eat something quick, stop by the bank (atm) and then go stitch for 2 1/2 hours. I'm not sure what i'll bring to work on - more mystic sampler? Or my surprise piece? Probably my surprise piece, that way i can leave mystic at work and just work on it at lunch today and tomorrow. Today on mystic i will outline the first building i stitched and maybe finish filling in the mountains and backstitching them. That will leave only the church left to stitch and outline which i can start tomorrow.

Oh I have so much work to do today - i have to get to it, i have more writing to do so I can start coding again, and i have some new coding to do so it will be hard to put that off and get the writing done. Maybe i can just check out the files i will be changing... i am so weak!

The rolling mountains on the Mystic Sampler are almost complete, a little bit on the right side of the missing church is needed to be finished, then the church itself and the backstitch on the buildings needs to be done. I still can't decide whether or not to bring this to my aunt's tonight and work on it, or just quilt tonight. Once the mountain line is done it's back down to the pumpkins and apples row. Yea - almost done!!!

I like my new schedule, basically because for the last 2 days I ignored the website, i come home from work, i make up some dinner, then I stitch/quilt while watching dvds. Then go to the gym. Last night I watched 5 episodes of sex and the city while stitching on the piece that shant be named (i may have just made up that word), then we went to the gym (8:30 so actually early). I ran a bit, but started not feeling well, by the end of 20 minutes (more than half was running), I couldn't take it anymore and there was no way I could lift, so i went home and to bed.

After dinner though I took out my herbal sampler (from the freezer where it went after i washed it yesterday), and to my surprise it was mostly dry! So I ironed it and it came out great, this is definately my new thing. All wrinkles are gone, i can't wait to bring it thursday night to be framed!

Today at lunch i'll stitch more on mystic sampler - continue on the rolling hills, the main section of hills are almost done, then i have a church to stitch over 1 then a small section of hills on the other side of the church, then just backstitching.

Tonight at my aunt's i brought along my ohio start so maybe i can finish putting #4 together. Then thursday if i have time I can cut out #5. It would be beyond my expectations to finish mystic sampler this month - but what a start to the year to finish up two decent size pieces. Time spent since I started keeping track, my longest piece to finish (45 hours) was a 5x7 piece for my boyfriend (a ship), next longest was actually a small RR piece but it was small, not sure why it took so long, then Herb Sampler at 31 hours. Mystic Sampler is at 38 hours already so i'm sure it will turn into my longest finished piece. There are pieces that i didn't keep track for finished and unfinished so this isn't exactly acccurate. That just reminded me i have an email to write... and work to do :)

I'd say we might be buying a condo or something by this summer... boy does that make me feel grown up - no - i still feel too young for all this grown up stuff (mortgage/bills etc). But it's much smarter than renting, money isn't just getting thrown away (well less money is getting thrown away, instead of 1400 rent we'll pay 600 in interest a month and the rest will go towards owning a new home.

Yes it is expensive to live near boston, but there's little choice right now with my boyfriend needing to get to law school and after he graduates in 2 years needed to get to work which will most likely be in boston. No final decisions about buying a place will be made until april/may comes around. Our lease ends may 31 so we have time and we're starting the looking process now.

On the more interesting front, stitching:
I stitched on Mystic Sampler 1/2 hour at lunch - started tackling those rolling hills I had been putting off, they're not so bad, I'll get back to them today :)
I washed my herbal sampler, it's in the freezer now so tonight I will take it out and iron it after it starts to defrost :) Gets the wrinkles out really well. Then how to transport it...
Last night I started a new small piece, I dont' want to mention details in case my friend ever hits this site. This piece takes priority over the Precious Moments piece, so I must finish this first -- ack no progress pics :( I'll keep a finished pic saved though until after she gets her surprise.

Other than stitching while watching Sex and the City (finished season 4 finally), we went to the gym, i ran a bit - but i had forgotten to take my allergy meds before going so running was hard when you're legs itch like crazy! Then I lifted with my boyfriend which was good. I may start this up. Wednesdays when I miss a day I will make it up on the weekend, 5 days a week will be good for me... let's see how this goes :)

I really crammed a lot in one night, probably stitched about an hour, it was slow going because i was watching my show too much but it's started so now I can pick it up whenever, it's officially on the q-snaps :)
Well - 8:30 - time to get some work done, maybe today will be a "fast" day - probably not but maybe :)

February Goals:

I am on a role - even hit 40 hours stitching last month! A first!

This month:
1) Work on Mystic Sampler ~10 hours
2) Start Precious Moments piece for Charity ~5 hours
3) Piece Amish Quilt
4) Finish 3 ohio stars
5) Draw outter lattice quilt lines and start quilting
6) If RR arrives in time - start and finish? that

That's pretty challenging for a month, light on the stitching only because there's a lot of quilting to do, I'm kind of hoping website work will be light and my evenings can be more for me, in which case I need a weekend to put together the amish quilt and the other things can get done in evenings for sure :)