Monday Pictures again.

Not much to update. I did manage to finish Ohio Star #7:


And some updated progress on Peaceful Silhouette (7.5 hours):


The amount of stitching update is really pathetic. It would be more except I stitched a whole section in the wrong blended color mix and had to take it out last night! So then I put it away, but I am to the boat now so I think I will continue down the left side and then do the boat. I know I started too low on the fabric and the bottom is going to cut it close, i seem to do this a lot!

So this weekend was really good. My sister came up friday evening then we went to my uncle's house that night. After the kids went to bed we played some video games of course. Then we watched Mystic River because my uncle hadn't seen it yet.
Saturday we went to my cousin's soccer game and then spent the day with the kids preparing for "easter dinner". The rest of the family came around 4 and we ate around 7. The kids actually went to bed surprisingly well and we played poker until it was time to head home. It was a nice day - tiring but nice.
Sunday was great, we did nothing. We thought we'd go to the mall to buy running shoes, of course it was closed (duh it's easter), but Sports Authority was open so we went there. My boyfriend and I both got sneakers (i bought his for him for his birthday present). Then we got lunch and my sister headed back home.

The rest of sunday was my time. I started working on the skirt i wanted to make finally. It went fairly well. I wasn't sure (because it wasn't stated anywhere), if the pattern pieces already included a seam allowance or not so i added one. I got it all together in the shape of a skirt and unfortunately the way i cut part of the fabric a mark was showing near the zipper (which i added all by myself too!) The mark is bright white (on dark red fabric). So i decided not to finish it, but now i have the idea down. The pattern i picked was really plain anyway and i got the learning experience out of it. What i didn't do was the lining on the top which had fusible whatever on it, so i'll still have to learn that, and i didn't hem the bottom or the slit. I did however learn how to do all the pattern stuff and i think i'll pick out one of my more interesting patterns and buy some more fabric and make another. I actually have some fabric already, dark dark maroon, that i may use a pattern from the same pack that has a slit on the front and then some embroidery. The fabric is thicker so it will hang better i think.

So a trip to Joann's is in order pretty soon. I'm glad i finally tried it though, even if i can't wear the skirt i made, i put it on and it fit so i know the size to follow now and i know to add a seam allowance and to draw the marks on the back side of the fabric, and next time to maybe use fraycheck or something on fabric like that as it frayed all over the place (cheap fabric).

So then i stitched a bit (and frogged a bit more) and watched tv with my boyfriend. Tonight i think i will do the same (stitch and watch tv). My only plans this week are wednesday go to my uncle's and thursday go to my friend's for a stitch night. Then I plan to go to my mom's this coming weekend to go visit my new cousin who will be 4 weeks old tomorrow!

Well time to get some work done, as always monday is filled with meetings :)

I my -- it's an allergy day for sure! I may resort to taking benadryl but it's hard enough staying awake when reading lengthy work documents - what a horrid day this will be!

Let me say that last night was a blast. My new friend came over for a stitch night. It was great, we mostly chatted but i did get a little stitching done too :) And progress is being made on Peaceful Silhouette! My boyfriend made us a pizza for dinner. It was a great evening and we're going to keep it up on the thursday evenings that we don't have stitch at our LNS, so once a week i will have stitch time!

No gym again last night - it looks like the week is lost. I will be good next week I promise :)

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, tonight we're going up to my uncle's house to play video games, then saturday i'll just hang out with the kids all day. Family will start arriving in the afternoon, then we'll have a big family dinner and probably head home that night so i will have sunday to just relax and stitch ;)

I shouldn't be waiting and expecting my fabric for Legends of the Dragons to arrive as I am or else it will never come, but i can't wait! Until then i will keep focusing on Peaceful Silhouette which isn't a lot of fun but at least i can start a boat now if I want to. I will stitch at lunch today and get some needles threaded with the boat color so i can work on that this weekend.

Oh my - my allergies will not leave me alone! I need some meds quick!

The snow is back.... isn't it spring??

Well I woke up this morning to 4 or 5 inches of snow. It's still coming too. I was staying at my uncle's so it's more snow than i would have seen if instead i went home last night as near boston you don't get the same amount of snow. The drive was no big deal though as it's pretty warm out.

Yesterday was one of those really strange days... i was here from 7:30-6:30 with a 20 minute lunch break where i gobbled down a sub i didn't really even like much. It started with a regular morning, then a meeting then a trip to visit a customer which took a few hours. Then lunch picked up on the way back and eaten back at the office. Then back out to another customer over in Bedford which is a half hour drive. Finally back at 4 and my security briefing which took 2 hours in the closed area. I come out at 6:20 and my phone is ringing (my aunt calling to see when i'm coming over as i had no cell phone in the closed area). Then i quick check my email - 30 emails - turns out i have to go back to the one customer today by myself this time to try out a few other troobleshooting things.

Hopefully today will be nothing like yesterday. I have work to do in the closed area and i have to set up a trip over to the customer site to help them out a bit but i think i can manage to get in my yummy pizza for lunch, some fruit during the day and even the leftover sub i have from dinner last night if it's good warmed up.

Last night i didn't even get much done. I worked on piecing my ohio star, i'm now 2/3 done with it but i wanted to finish it. Unfortunately my aunt had girl scout stuff to do so sitting on the couch while my cousin watched tv i just fell asleep at 9. I woke at 11 and my uncle was back from Blue Ginger (a work dinner) and i went to bed. At least tonight i can get some stitching done as i think my friend is still coming over for a stitch night - unless she's timid about the snow, hopefully not :)

So today i am determined to get an hour of lunch time - with half of that dedicated to stitching more on Peaceful Silhouette. Then i want to leave an hour early (since i was here late yesterday), so i can clean up the apartment a bit as i never know what to expect when i've been gone for a night and i may have some shoveling to do. Then tonight i will stitch from 5-9 :) Hopefully i will get to the gym after that as i haven't gone yet this week!

On a an even brighter note, the fabric i ordered for Legends of the Dragon - the Dragon Myst, is all paid for and i am just awaiting a shipping notice which i was told would be sent as soon as i paid the shipping which i did... so maybe i'll have that fabric some time next week??? Maybe too i can make a trip to my LNS next week, i think she's open later one evening and i could go right after work. The fabric is 32 ct. I do have one dilema with starting another large project while doing Peaceful Silhouette at work. I have only one pair of 11x11 q-snaps, and one pair of 8x8 which are really small. I will try the 8x8 but i may have to bring the 11x11 back and forth to work and use those. I ordered more fabric than i need because i like the color so much, i will probably cut it down to what i need though so i don't have a ton of extra fabric hanging about making it harder for me to hold.
Oh i'm so excited to start this piece!! Now it's time for breakfast.. it's still quiet in the office, the snow keeps people home longer in the morning!

Already had my cocoa...

I generally start my morning at the office with some hot chocolate - it warms me up (because i'm always cold) and keeps me from feeling too hungry. Wonder what i'll do when it gets warm outside (which may be never at this rate) :)

Guild last night was very interesting. The speaker was Joan Shay of Petal Play. She does a technique of appliquet/heat-n-bond that supposedly goes quickly and makes a nice 3-d effect - it works wonderfully on flowers, birds, fish, anything with lots of small parts (petals, feathers, scales). If i had the time i'd try this out, as it is quilt wise i'm booked so i will keep it in mind and in the future some time i may pick up a book of hers and try it out. If i had just seen her books i never would have been that interested, but seeing them in person (the quilts) i can definately say there are a few i really liked. Of course the daisies as that's my favorite flower, but i could see myself doing a bunch, i have a friend in Kansas i could do the sunflower for, i could do gifts for people with there favorite flower, there were lilacs, hyacinths (i love purple), tons to keep me interested ;)

So after my boyfriend made dinner and I filled up on pork chops i went to guild. I actually won the raffle (if you wear your hand made/quilted name-tag you get entered). Then I agreed to help out with the raffle quilt commitee. That means i help with picking the fabric, designing and kitting up of blocks. Then guild members piece the blocks (anyone that does gets entered into the raffle). Then i help piece together, and then 2 quilts are made, one is quilted by guild members (again more raffle chances the more you help). The finished quilt is raffled to the public, maybe at our quilt show in October, i'm not sure. The one that's just a top is raffled to the guild members that helped make it. It's going to be an indigo quilt with pink accents. I don't have days free to do the shopping so much but i offered to help whenever i can, i can cut and package, i can shop on the weekends etc. I like getting involved :)

Then I went home and read some more of Shogun. I need to listen to the next tape and see if i've made it that far yet. I'm nearing the end so it's getting hard to put down as i know something big is going to happen soon!

I've also started a new book on tape, "The Shipping News", this one is from the library and i think i'm going to have to renew it as i've already had it over a week and just started it. I think i get 3 weeks. Well hot chocolate is wearing off, time for some oatmeal :)

And the week continues...

Last night after work I stopped by walmart, i needed just a few things, i ended up stopping by the purse section and getting a new wallet and purse, then the shoe section for some sandals, then some socks... then finally getting the few things i needed. Ho hum! Then I picked up pizza on the way home for dinner :)

I did manage to clean, i vacuumed anyway, no dusting but i also cleaned out my closet completely and reorganized and now so much more stuff fits in there! This closet is huge, it's the size of a laundry room, but it has a slanting ceiling and the clothing rods aren't placed in the best spots. Plus i have to fit all my crafts in there, plus the fake christmas tree and all my just stuff. It fit though!

So then we decided to skip the gym and just make a quick trip to the grocery store and then read (spend some time together). So i picked up "Shogun" and found the spot where the tape i have broke (i've been listening to the book on tape and i am in part 3 towards the end). So i'm just going to read the book for a bit and then find where i am on the tapes.

In other news, i have decided on a new semi-large project to start soon. Yesterday i ordered the fabric that i'm going to use for Legends of the Dragons! Once the fabric gets here (not sure when that will be) i will get the stuff together to start it. I'm going to be stitching along with Carol, she's also using the fabric -
Dragon Myst by The Blended Needle, and then Waterlilies Storm Clouds for the border stitches. I can't wait to do this piece.

In the meantime I have to get some quilting done as I've kind of been putting that off. I would like to get at least one of the ohio stars pieced before the end of march (since i planned on doing 2), and i'd like to get quilting on the amish quilt which is ready to be basted at least. I've kind of stopped knitting for a bit - i will bring it with me when i am in the car or have an appt. or something because it's easier to pick up and put down but at work for lunch time i'm sticking to "Peaceful Silhouette" stitching and at home I will quilt.

Basically I hit a problem by doing this ohio star quilt with my mom. I had already planned on my Amish quilt for my boyfriend's sister, and i have my sampler quilt waiting to be finished, by starting another new one that takes so much hand work i have to juggle more. I'm not going to stress though, if i can get the ohio stars all pieced by the end of May i'll be happy, other than that i will quilt the amish quilt and the sampler quilt will just wait until the amish quilt is done.

As for stitching there's no stress at all. I am in a round robin but i finished the piece i have and i'm not sure when our next mailing date is anyway. Until then i have my lunch time piece with no deadline and will be starting Legends for myself. And even better i'm not already thinking of "what i will stitch after Legends", i'm just going to enjoy Legends, if i need the "start something new" feeling i will do a freebie or something since i have a ton of small dragons and such that i'd like to get done!

Well it looks like i have to do some more reading today... Unfortunately the next step is writing so i'm not looking forward to that either.. i miss coding!

Springtime!
Yesterday even seemed like spring :)

Well it's picture monday so here are my latest pictures:

I finished the Winnie the Pooh Wallhanging last night (put the binding and the sleeve (to hang) on.


I finished the figure in The Spirit Within by Fantacat Designs:

This took 7.5 hours to stitch and most of the colors are not the exact ones called for, i substituted with what i could get.

Then my progress on Peaceful Silhouette - a Dimensions kit. This is 5 hours progress:


Well we sure had a good weekend. Friday was my 5 year anniversary so my boyfriend took me to "The Top of the Hub" which has an amazing view of boston. It's of course expensive but we don't go out very often and rarely to nice places. It was great. The food was "ok" for the price - not as good as Blue Ginger but the view made it worth it.
We wanted to rent the Incredibles after dinner, but hollywood video had run out - so we get a free rental of it next time (hey - saved 5 dollars, that's great!). So instead we bought a few movies and went home.

Saturday I spent the morning and early afternoon going through all my cross stitch stash, organizing my patterns, fabric and kits. Oh my i have a lot! And i found out that I already have 2 of the patterns I just ordered that should be arriving this week. I do have a growing pile of patterns I will never stitch, some of which are nice just not my taste that i will save to give out to friends, others i may sell on ebay (they aren't worth much and i don't know anyone with this taste but for now i have a drawer where i will put said stuff and some day i will get to making a list of it. Nothing great really so i'm in no rush.

After my boyfriend got home saturday from his reveiw session we drove up to my uncle's house for the evening (played with the kiddos) and then played Medal of Honor (computer games) all night. We haven't played that game in months, we've been playing battlefield 1942, so this was a pleasant change and we had a great time.

Sunday i got up early to get some girly time in with the 3 girls and we ended up not leaving until almost 2. It was great though, the youngest is 13 months old and she got really attached to me for a bit. She was tired after lunch (nap time) and she wanted me to hold her so i danced with her cuddled up, then i sat on the couch and she cuddled up and i rocked her (all to music of course). Then she decided she wasn't going to sleep but she wanted to lay on my lap, or next to me, or kinda upside down on my legs, she kept moving but putting her head down and relaxing in whatever position. Then she layed in my arms and just "talked" to me, touching my nose and her nose and showing me her new teeth coming in. What a cutie! She's so quiet (being the 3rd child she knows how to scream to get attention), but generally she's quiet and so cuddly!

I did also get to spend a lot of time with the oldest who is 5 1/2 now. I taught her how to play solitaire, which she actually picked up quite well. And my boyfriend, her and i played catch with a koosh ball for about half an hour - she's getting very good at both catching and throwing and i see little league in her future for sure :)

I didn't get to spend a lot of one on one time with the middle one - she's a doll, loves to play house and dolls and princess. She also loves to just sit in your lap and read. I of course spent time with her but not a 30 minute special time like i did with the other 2, she was more involved in doing her own thing this weekend which of course is fine.. besides i get to see them again next weekend :)

So sunday - very tired - we came home and I got started on my quilting. I finished the Winnie the Pooh wallhanging (above) and pieced the back for my amish quilt. Then i started on ohio star number 7 (just a tad), while watching tv. There was a special on Animal Planet on Dragons, so i watched part of that (and of course taped it), but then switched over to Law and Order CI for my boyfriend.

Unfortunately i didn't get any cleaning done so tonight i need to stop by walmart on the way home, then clean the apartment, then do my grocery shopping and cook. Probably no stitching time at all :) And now - it's monday and i'm hungry!

An update before the weekend...

What a day this has been! I have eaten absolutely nothing but junk food. We started the morning with some doughnuts, then my hot chocolate of course. Then at lunch I had a bowl of oatmeal and some cookie dough. Then i baked up a few cookies to share in the toaster oven so i had a few of those (and some more dough). Then we just had ice cream cake to celebrate someone's birthday.

At lunch time i stitched to, i got a half hour in on Peaceful Silhouette, i will post a progress pic on monday hopefully if i remember to bring it home tonight. Then i finished up the stitching of the green sun on The Spirit Within so all i have left is blue stitching.

Hopefully after all this junk food i'll still be hungry tonight since we're going to a fancy pancy restaurant. How much would my boyfriend not love it if i showed up full :) Well i have 2 hours to go, maybe i can get some work done today...

5 Years

That's right, today marks the end of year 5 that my boyfriend and I have been together. Sometimes it doesn't seem that long, sometimes it seems longer. I guess that's always the way it is. So tonight we're going out to a fancy dinner and I get to get dressed up J

Last night was fun. I went to my stitch night, of course bought a few things, then just stitched and chatted with friends. It was a great time, I worked more on The Spirit Within. I was hoping to buy the kreinik threads it calls for but they are too new and she didn't have them so I just picked some that were close and used them. I think it will look fine. I'm almost done with her lower body and the sun so that leaves only her belt and backstitch when those are completed. Definitely will finish her this weekend, now I just need a saying since I'm not fancying on the one designed for her.

So after my stitch night I came home, I was feeling off so I just went to bed (missed the gym again) but I got a nice 9 hours of sleep last night and I can't complain about that since I love sleeping. I got the new stitcher's world but I haven't checked it out yet, from first glance I didn't see anything in particular I liked. I think I may stop subscribing to this and just cross stitch, I'd rather save my money for patterns that I like individually, but it is nice to get a little treat in the mail (hence I joined a second fabric of the month club - one at dyeing4u.com this time - the other one is silkweaver's). So I'll get fabric instead of magazines.

It's looking like today is going to be boring again. Yesterday at lunch time I didn't get to stitch because I went for a walk with a girl here, it was really nice. I forgot my sneakers today though so I can't go again, but I want to stitch anyway, especially since tonight I won't get to stitch since I'm going out. Well I should get back to reading about Elliptic Curve Cryptography (I'm just doing this for fun since there's no actual work to do) :>)

Hmm... made some progress on The Spirit Within last night, and I was good about it. I stitched for 2 hours and after each hour I not only rested my wrists but i warmed them (trying to make sure i don't develop tendonitis as i seem to have a tendancy to). So her upper body is done, the moon is done and i've made progress on her lower body. Tonight at stitch night maybe i can finish her body leaving only the sun, her belt and backstitching which is all in Kreiniks that i don't have yet but hope to pick up.

So last night my uncle had a business dinner so we went and got dinner from a pizzaria, then i stuffed myself to the max - oh man! I was hurting i was stuffed so bad. Then i settled in to stitch and after a while of that i picked up my knitting a tiny bit here and there, and helped my cousin cast on the new yarn i got her and helped my uncle with his computer when he got home.

It was a nice night. Tonight will also be a great night. I have stitch night so after work i head home, i eat something quick and i go stitch with friends at my LNS where i also end up buying new stuff. I've actually been finding it hard to find new charts to buy. I got a gift certificate to 123stitch for 23 dollars from a friend (an exchange), and then i couldn't fill it with charts, i found 2 that i liked and then i bought a bunch of threads i liked but it was pretty disappointing i couldn't even find more charts, although i do have a LOT of charts already . Hopefully this weekend i can sit down with my stash and organize to make a pile of pieces i want to start real soon. The Spirit Within will be finished quite soon so i will need another piece, of course i've been stitching a lot lately, which means i'm neglecting my quilting big time, the knitting i do here and there for a few minutes at a time but quilting is like stitching in that it takes more supplies and time to set up and do. Maybe this weekend i can get an ohio star pieced though, since i'd like to get them done by the end of May at least and i have quite a few more to go (6).

Alright - i'm just waiting for bagels to arrive since it's thursday, work was really slow yesterday, hopefully today won't be so bad!

Another good day productivity wise.

Yesterday I went home and my boyfriend cooked dinner again (pizza this time)... yum! Then I stitched and watched my taped show from last night, then continued to stitch. I started a new piece "The Spirit Within" I believe it's called, it's a limited edition by FantaCat designs or something. I don't have the Dinky Dyes it calls for but i had a WDW blue that i liked so i am using that. It's really small and i'm not sure i'm stitching the saying either "Celebrate the Spirit within" or something so it should go fast.

So after working on that for a few hours, we went to the gym to lift, a good workout for sure, then home and i read before bed for a half hour. I am reading Poe's Cat by Brenda Walker It's pretty entertaining, wierd but entertaining for sure.

Tonight I go to my aunt's house, i brought my knitting as I will probably do that, but i did bring my new cross stitch design too just in case. I don't have a lunch break to stitch on Peaceful Silhouette because i have a dentist appt but i do have tomorrow :)

Well i must prepare for another interview in 15 minutes.

I am a wimp! Really I am.

So my bloodwork is done... I got so worked up over it, worrying last night and this morning and of course it was no big deal. I hate needles so much but it wasn't bad. Boy did the nurse take a lot of blood though!

So last night I came home from work to dinner almost done - my boyfriend made chili! So we ate, then I got out my stitching while I watched the two episodes of Summerland that I had missed this season. I started working on the piece for my boyfriend again (Peaceful Sillhoutte), it doesn't use a lot of colors which is really nice but it's large and it's all in browns so it's not very interesting.

I'm glad I got that out, the piece goes pretty quickly with a lot of half stitches, so for its size i still think i could get this done within the year.

Then I made it to the gym - and i did a good job too, i had a bit more energy than usual, even though i'm still pretty sick. I pretty much went to bed right after that, although i did get a bit of reading in, i'm trying to read more now that i don't have the website to do, i figure i can fit some form of stitching and some reading in each night if i'm not working. We'll see how this goes.

Well i have to interview a summer intern shortly (schedule just got changed), so i need to read the resume and prepare. I have another one tomorrow. Lucky me.

And I remembered pictures. Stitching first:

I finished the RR this weekend - it's a Sunset kit, i stitched the Hat boxes, the heart and the letters, it took 12 hours:


And a picture of my knitted hat:


Pictures are more fun than words :)

Okay first the news about the cousin - sorry I didn't actually get the details until Friday or else I would have posted sooner. My new cousin Viktoria Alethia was born Tuesday the 8th, and is healthy and strong. She was early but still large (possibly 7lbs) for being so early. I may get to see her this weekend or the first weekend in April, it's undecided so far.

And this weekend -> Good and bad. Friday night I went home with every intention to paint. I cleaned up and moved everything from the kitchen and diningroom and got the paint stuff out. I taped the ceiling (i cut in without tape on the windows and baseboards. And then I pretty much went to bed (actually I started reading a new book but fell asleep).
Saturday of course - I woke up with a horrible cold! I couldn't believe it, but this could not get me down, I got up and showered (to clear up my sinus'), then i did my errands to the library and the bank. Then finally by 1 I started painting and got a first coat on everything in 3 hours. Then we decided to go out to dinner as I needed to go to ACMoore anyway.

Not a great idea it turns out since it was snowing. Not much by me, we got a few inches but out in Natick it was pretty bad. We enjoyed dinner anyway and with all wheel drive we didn't have much of a problem. ACMoore was great, i bought some knitting stuff and my boyfriend got some stuff to, i should get a picture of what he made (he bought a ceramic pot and painted it to look like a copper pot, and then put in fake plants (eucaliptus (?sp) and dried vines it looks like), it came out really good). Now it just needs something to sit on, like a little end table or something so i'm going back to ACMoore to check out their unfinished wood section i think soon.

So saturday night i was exhausted from being sick and went to bed early, then sunday i managed to get up and finish painting - i can't believe it really, but i finished the second coat. Then I did the regular grocery shopping and I took a nap (feeling exhausted). Finally in the evening i picked up my stitching while watching Gladiator (part of it anyway) before Law and Order came on. So I finished the RR above and tonight I hope to get out my WIP and bring it to work tomorrow. I think I'm skipping a break today as I have work in the lab to do. So I'm back to the lab now...

My hat is finished - Monday i will post a picture. I never actually learned how to sew a seam on a knitted hat, i just kinda made it up. I knitted the hat with 2 strands of yarn so i had to weave in 2 from the beginning, and then sew the seam fully with 1 then weave that in and then sew half the seam again and weave the fourth in. I love the hat, i think it came out great. The only thing i'd do differently for my sister's hat is cast on a little looser if i can because that part is tightest, which works great because folded up it then holds on better but still.

So i love my hat, and i started my scarf yesterday. Then last night i finished stitching the hat boxes so this weekend i'll do the letters and start the heart and that will definately be done next week. Plus I have stitch night next week - definately time to start something new for that!

I didn't get to the gym last night, i wanted to and at 9:15 i got ready and was waiting for my boyfriend and i fell asleep, i woke up at 10:45 which is bed time and i took out the garbage and went back to bed. What a pain, i have no idea why i was so tired, i think i am tired a lot and dont' really notice it, i technically should have more energy, i will work on that.

So tonight I'm hoping to get out the painting stuff and at least get ready to paint by moving everything i can. I don't see much use in painting tonight as I won't finish a whole coat so i might as well wait and do that tomorrow, then sunday do the second coat. I will probably do the taping tonight though as that helps tremendously.

After painting prep i will reward myself with some me time as I will do most of the weekend, i do need a trip to ACMoore at some point for canning jars but other than that i have no plans. Well i think i will get some work done, at 11 i have a meeting about what project i am moving to on monday... i can't wait to find out.

He he he he... bagel day.. sometimes life seems to revolve around food. ;)

Well last night was very nice, I went to my uncle's had some low carb pasta with some turkey sausage sauce (they are on south beach diet). Then while watching Troy I knitted, and I taught my 12 year old cousin to knit as well. just passing the torch so to speak. I already taught her to cross stitch and she just recently did two small projects, one for school and one for a friend so i figured i'd teach her something that goes a little quicker, so she's making a purse and i promised next week to bring her better needles and yarn since she's using old stuff she had around from a yard sale.

I finished my hat last night, it's not finished like a hat yet but the knitting is finished. I need my needles (big plastic needles) to sew the seam and the cuff up. It's cool though, it really looks like a hat. I think today I will measure out how much yarn i'll need to sew it up and cut that then start a matching scarf at the doctor's office since last time I was there I had a very long wait.

Tonight i think i'll drive over to my fabric store to buy the fabric i need to finish up my amish quilt, then maybe i'll get out my stitching again and finish up those boxes. Hopefully by the next weekend i'll have the RR finished and my boyfriend's project at work and be focusing on quilting a bit. It's tough having so many hobbies but sometimes it's good because if you're bored with one you always have another :)

Speaking of other hobbies, it's been quite a while since I read. I used to read a lot, then i read a little before bed each night, now i never pick up my book. I think it's because the book i'm reading still "The Peppered Moth" just isn't that capturing. It's not bad, but you dont' make progress. I hate leaving things unfinished though. What i may do is pick up a really good book and start reading again, then go back to the Peppered Moth when i have more free time and more interest in just finishing it. I do listen to a lot of books on tape, i'm almost finished with Shogun but in the middle of tape 6 of part 3, the tape broke so i either need to find out where in the book that is and read until i get to tape 7 or see if the library has a copy of the book on tape and get that. I haven't done either yet and it's been about a month but it would be nice to finish this one so i can guilt free listen to a few others i have waiting.

And another hobby - scrapbooking - i'm not a major scrap booker, i do it more for function, i dont' just make intricate pages, i try to creatively show case things I have (letters/postcards/pictures) without too much work, keeping it simple. Recently i bought a ton of stuff (tons of pages), stickers, paper pieces that i can dress things up a bit more with and maybe this weekend i'll do a few more pages of my "International Friends" scrapbook. I don't have a lot of pictures of anything but my friends send letters and postcards and cards so i'm putting anythign i can from them in it. I'd like to do a family album someday too but i need to actually take pictures first. That means a photo printer is in my future to go with my digital camera, my printer isn't quite up to snuff with photos, it's a printer scanner copier in 1 but the photos don't come out right color wise. So i have 2 semi large purchases in my near future, a photo printer and a dvd player since our dvd player is acting up and i think it's on it's last legs, it can't get through a whole movie without freezing and going bonkers... oh boy :)

It's a wordy day. I feel like writing a lot today so i thought i'd add a quick afternoon update.

Stitching wise: I finished the top hat box, leaving only half of a handle to be finished and then backstitching. I am going to my aunt's house tonight so i figure i'll get some stitching in and i might pick up my knitting a bit too and work on my hat.

Work wise: It looks like by friday we are wrapping up the program we have been working on and monday we will be moved to new programs. This is a semi-good thing. Good because any program we get moved to will be more stable than the one i've been on, but not great because there was some great work to be done that we had designed and i was really looking forward to implementing.

More good news, i have a doctor appt. tomorrow, this is supposed to be a meet the doctor appt, but i already met her in january, but we'll go over my history and everything. It's really good timing because i have a problem with my neck itching for the last month at least and maybe she can tell me why... no rash or anything, it just itches like crazy (i am writing this because it itches right now :)

I'm glad i get to go to my aunt's tonight, i didn't go last week because it was my boyfriend's spring break and he wanted to spend more relaxed time with me, usually he just does work all night after school but during his break we watched movies, went out to dinner etc. Anyhow, this week i hadn't planned on going because they were supposed to have guests but their guests aren't coming until tomorrow so i can go tonight :) So yippee - a nice night of relaxing and eating a great home cooked meal :)

Okay i can't type more my neck itches too much :)

A night of stitching through the storm...

I got in about 6 hours of stitching yesterday! That really is a lot for me, i generally average probably an hour a day. The storm started around 2, the snow anyway, it rained all day long. So i headed home around 3 when it really started coming down and sticking. It was a long drive but no problems. Since i was home early my boyfriend wasn't home yet so i put in a movie, got a glass of water and started stitching. After the movie i had some dinner and continued stitching with no tv on so my boyfriend could get more work done.

Then the tv came on for Gilmore Girls, then off again, then on again for Law and Order SVU, all the while i stitched. Then bed.

So what did i stitch... well i started the round robin that arrived a while ago, it's a kit by Sunset with 2 teddy bears and some other cute country things. I'm stitching 3 stacked hat boxes right now, then i'll also stitch some letters and a quilted heart. I got almost all the actual stitching on the bottom 2 boxes done, that leaves the small top box and backstitching. I'd say not a problem to finish it this month and start a new piece of my own after that.

I also came up with a brilliant plan for this weekend -> finish painting the kitchen :) When we moved into this apartment it was all pink - different shades, from light to dark. We repainted to shades of green that I love! All that's left is half the kitchen/diningroom in a very light shade of green, the half that includes moving and painting around a LOT of things (5 windows, a huge mirror, shelf, fridge, radiator, door etc). So it's mostly cutting in. I figure I will take this task on myself this weekend, maybe starting friday night (or saturday morning) with the primer. I will of course need my boyfriend's help moving the fridge and stuff but i have a latter and everything else i need.

The nice thing about getting the painting done is that all the painting stuff i have can then be packed up or thrown out (if it's disposable). I will buy some canning jars to put the leftover paint in (since there are 3 colors), for touch up painting when we fill the holes in before we move (from my quilt hanger and shelf and stuff and just marks left). I can throw out the roller heads that we used and the sand paper and paint sticks. So a trip to maybe acmoore or something to get canning jars and maybe a bin of some sort to keep the painting stuff packed in will also be needed this weekend (sunday probably).

Other than that no work on the website, so i'm free to just do crafts. I have scrapbooking to do, quilting to do and of course cross stitch. Once I finish this RR i will pack up my boyfriend's piece i'm stitching and bring it to work to be my lunch time piece. Then I will start a new piece for myself to be my carry along, work at home piece. So this weekend i will probably go through all my stitching stuff to figure out what I want to start, i have a small piece i may do because it's quick but i'd really like to start one of my dragon pieces. However any large piece i may need to get fabric for, i can't guarentee i have the perfect piece of fabric so i might as well stitch a small one and plan out the larger piece and get fabric for it in the meantime. Oh i can't wait. Of course i need to start my amish quilt too but i still have to buy the fabric for the back, wash it, sew it together and then baste it! Maybe the weekend after i will do that.

Wow this is a long entry, guess i'm bored at work. I think i'll go see what everyone else is doing today, we're officially in a transition week so i get something new to work on probably next week.. until then i have to occupy myself!

I updated the Precious Moments on the sidebar. If you click the picture you'll get a larger version that is much clearer. I also have some pictures of my knitting and my Amish quilt.

My two scarves:


My Amish Quilt marked for quilting:


You can click the pictures for a closer look.

Last night was pretty good, i did a little work on the website, there isn't much more work to do on the site currently, there will be more work in the future but for now there really isn't anything. So I can concentrate on my stitching (all forms) but need to be careful with money since that job was my spending money source. I think maybe in April or May there will be work again on it so I will just be good until then :)

Then I went to the gym earlier than usual - 8pm instead of 9, and it was packed, we managed to get our lifting in but we had to wait a lot, it was a real pain. Finally got home close to 10 (might as well have gone at 9), and I stitched a tiny bit, starting the round robin which I will now focus on to finish this month. I thought i had taped Summerland but it turns out it was on at 9 not 8 so I missed it :( My sister said she taped it though so i'm hoping i can get that from her.

I have a new cousin being born today - by c-section - so i know it's today. Not sure what time, just waiting for the call :) Hopefully i'll be able to get out to see her in a few weeks (either the weekend before or the weekend after easter). I dont' want it to be too soon after because I know the mom and dad (my aunt and uncle - but she's only been my aunt a short time so i'm not used to calling her that), will need some time to get used to having a baby at all as this wasn't really planned and they didn't even find out she was pregnant until December. So i will have my 7th cousin born today.

And it's a wierd day at work, with the storm coming i may skip my break at lunch so i can leave earlier (3:30) and possibly work from home tomorrow. It looks like that means my quilt class might be cancelled tonight so i'll have to get to the store another night (thurs?) to buy the fabric i need for my amish quilt. It's cold in here too... kinda feels like naptime :)

Girl scout cookies have arrived! Yum!!!

I didn't get pictures last night, hopefully tonight I can take care of that. Sunday nights tend to be me trying to stretch out the weekend and I forget that i have to go to work in the morning so i should get some real stuff done :)

Friday off was great! I slept in for 3 days in a row, what a treat! Friday I started the cleaning process, then my boyfriend and I went to BJ's, Circuit City and Bugaboo for dinner. Then we just relaxed all night playing video games. Saturday I finished the cleaning process and then my parents came over with my brother and we went out to lunch with them and then to 3 different staples to hunt down a chair for my brother. Then we ordered pizza and they left around 8.

Sunday I attempted to work on the website, not so lucky with that, I did get grocery shopping done, cooking (made chicken parm) and traced out the quilting patterns for my Amish Quilt (that alone took 3 hours).

I worked on quite a bit. Thursday at stitch night I finished the PM girl - I will post a finished pic soon! Then I worked a tiny tiny bit on my Wisdom dragon but I was bored with it. I learned how to finish my scarf (knitting) and how to cast on for my second scarf. Saturday morning I finished the second scarf which used 2 and a little of a third skein of fun fir, at 24 stitches across. It came out very nice I think, straight knit.
Then I took this other yarn i bought and made a mini hat to test out purling and decreasing. Then using this green fuzzy yarn, 2 strands at once, i started a real size hat. Hopefully real size - it's 60 stitches, I"m not doing circular knitting because i dont' know how really but I will sew it up the back when it's done. I have a few inches done and I brought it to work on if i have time at the dentist office today.

So 2 scarves done, one hat started, Amish quilt all marked out and the PM finished. This week I will continue with the hat, start the round robin I have now and buy and wash the backing for my amish quilt, also binding for the baby sampler.

Oh so much to do :) Now i must go get my cookies :)

It's my friday today... I love taking fridays off :)

I was very good last night and went to the gym - but i didn't work on the website and i really needed to, unfortunately tonight i won't be home till late, i will have to remember to work on the site when i do get home though.

A bit of stitching last night when i came home to dinner prepared by my boyfriend (he made soup and rolls - i love rolls :) Then I stitched while we watched tv and i got the backstitching on the lower half of the PM girl finished, all that's left is her arms and hair - the hair will take a while though.

Then it was off to the gym, lifting back and biceps, a very good workout. Then bedtime. I did stop by Joanns on the way home to get more yarn and i must have bought my yarn at walmart because they didn't have anything like th is yarn i'm using. I did buy some fun fur yarn in blue though to make my second scarf and a hat for my sister for christmas.

So tonight after work i must stop by walmart now to get the yarn. Then off to stitch night, then to the gym, then work on the website - yipee. Tomorrow though i get to sleep in, clean the apartment, go to BJ's then relax. Saturday I will go visit a yarn store near me and work on the website, maybe meet up with my mom and dad for a bit. I'm loving this weekend and it hasn't even started!

Well i spent yesterday afternoon getting my computer set up for testing so now i can really get some new coding done and then tested so i better get started on it, otherwise i'm sure something else will come up!

It was really hard to get up this morning, I find that to be the case when I've gone to the gym late the night before. I have no choice in this matter though, our stupid gym which we joined back in December I believe - well it was fine then, of course in January when we showed up around 5 or 6 it was packed, not a single treadmill, bike or anything open. This made me really mad, this is not a cheap gym and they make you sign a 2 year contract and if you cancel it's 170 dollars or something there about. So we tried going at 7, still too packed, 8 -- better but no promise you can get two treadmills together. So it became 9pm we go to the gym, at first this was great it was quiet then, now even 9 is busy! Even when we leave at 10:15 they are still busy and they run out of towels etc... i am MAD.

I need to dig out our contract but i'm sure no where in there does it give us reason to cancel because they are too busy. This is bad business practice on their part... I advertise to everyone.. DO NOT GO TO - Work Out World - they do not cap the number of members they take in.

So I made it to the gym last night - one positive, i didn't work on the website though - a negative. I was exhausted when i got home, so i took a nap quick. Then when the TV came on i took out my stitching and worked more on the PM girl, starting the backstitching which is going to take forever! At 9 we went to the gym and when i came home i hit the bed. I am tired! I wonder how i'll get myself to the gym again tonight!

No stitching at lunch yesterday, we went out to lunch - a nice treat - but no stitching. So today i will stitch, i finished all whole stitches on the PM and started backstitching so that's all that's left. I do want to add the child's name or something too maybe, i'm not sure.

So I'm not sure if I already wrote this but this mont I will finish the PM at home and at work.
Then I will start and finish the RR I have both at home and work.
Then I will bring Peaceful Sillhouette to work and leave it here.
I will start a new piece to work on at home --- however more importantly would be my quilting of my Amish Quilt, piecing of my Ohio Star quilt and learning to knit more than just a scarf!

Going to be a busy month!

Almost didn't have pictures but I managed. Here's some progress pictures:

18 hours progress on Precious Moments:


Pooh Wallhanging progress:


Knit Scarf:


Last night was another lazy night - i really need to get back to working on the website in the evenings. Tonight I will definatel. Last night I was at work kinda late, then i went home and picked up my knitting while watching a movie. I ran out of yarn and it's not as long as i'd like so i have to buy some more yarn maybe wednesday and then learn how to change skeins. So after i finished knitting i picked up the precious moments while watching the rest of profiler season 4. I am almost done with the actual cross stitch part, i can finish it at lunch today actually then start on the crazy amount of backstitching.

So march will see the finish of precious moments for sure (which is good because it does have a deadline of april 15th). Then I have a round robin to stitch. Technically after that I have no obligations so I will work on more WIPs, maybe work on my wisdom dragon (virtue series) or pic up the piece for my boyfriend. What I may actually do is bring the piece for my boyfriend to work and leave it here and work on it at lunch time every day. It's a pretty large piece and it's the reason I bought a needlework stand but i never use the stand because it doesn't work well with my couch set :( I need a recliner or something, i'm keeping the stand because i may get a recliner some day when i have a larger livingroom or a stitching room. For now it can collect dust and i'm okay with that.

Well i am hungry so i'm going to go make up some oatmeal and enjoy the currently quiet office and get some work done today!

March Goals:

1) Finish Pooh Wallhanging
2) Finish Precious Moments
3) Finish Scarf 1, start scarf 2 (knit)
4) Piece 2 ohio stars
5) Start quilting amish quilt
6) Stitch Carolyn's RR
7) Start Skirt (sewing) - read pattern at least

I think that's a lot - maybe it's not enough, it's hard to tell but the last two months i've stitched over 40 hours and quilted too so i'm guessing it's not enough stitching stuff but it's okay to go beyond my goals and if i'm going to start something new, i'm not sure what it will be yet, i still have some more WIPs i could break out.

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 :)