It's Been a Long Time!

It's been a long time since I posted on my blog! I've been busy, just not really busy cross-stitching!

As most of you know, and some were even a part of, I went to Honduras for my 3rd trip last summer. Every time I go, I just feel like there is something I need to do. This last trip, after spending every day with the same group of kids, I was even more convinced that surely there was something we could do!

Thanks to my husband and a good family friend, we finally did something! Simple Matters We kept thinking that it didn't need to be a big, complex thing. That it could be something simple: food, water, education. Things to us that are so ordinary, they hardly even matter. It's when you don't have it, that it really begins to matter! And if we all just do something simple, then together we can really make a difference.

To be honest, big dreams take big work! haha We had no idea how much would go into setting all of this up! We're not sure where this will take us. Not even sure we'll be able to raise the money we will need each month. I have no doubt we can raise it for a month or two! But what the next month? the next year?

We will trust God! Do what we can to positively change these kids' lives, and invite as many people to join us, as we possibly can!

In addition to getting Simple Matters up and running (we're even on facebook!)...remember those bookmarks I was collecting supplies for? Well, I got my first package of bookmarks! I am shocked at what a great job the ladies have done! Each bookmark is better than their previous one. There are about six ladies that have taken this opportunity seriously, and the money they receive is providing for their families.

We are selling the bookmarks: $3 for one or $5 for two. Plus a $1 to help cover shipping costs. 100% of the money received will go back to the ladies. Please contact me if you're interested in purchasing a bookmark.We're working on finding the best way to make these available.

Sara

To Blog or Not To Blog

That seems to be the question lately! :) I guess I kind of miss the interaction with other stitchers across the states, and around the world too.

I've had a few emails over the past few weeks from people who say they miss my blog! How nice is that?!

So I don't know. I'm not sure I have much to share with the blog world. I'm still thinking about it, if anybody is even here any more!

It's been almost three months. Crazy.

Dumb Comments

And another reason not to stay: why do I always get those types of comments left on my blog? All summer, I've had to go back and delete them! So frustrating.. :)

Hello and Goodbye

I've been gone with my family for the past eight weeks. We do youth mission trips during the summer. We were in four cities across NC; Moncton,Canada;Tegucigalpa, Hondruas; and NYC. We had a really great summer. Had so many neat experiences that we were fortunate enough to be involved with.

I obviously haven't posted since we've been gone. And oddly enough I haven't really missed blogging. So for now, I think I'm going to continue my break! I'm sure the cross-stitch world will continue to exist without my random blog posts! :)

Still stitching, though I haven't hardly touched a needle in two months. Maybe I'll be back. But not for now!

I'm available via my email if anybody needs to contact me: sssowers@hotmail.com

Sara

ISO Barb in Oregon??

For some reason I didn't save Barb's email! I tried to find her on 123stitch.com but maybe she contacted me through my blog?!! I owe a big thankyou for some fabric!! If you're Barb from OR, please leave me a comment or send me an email! :)

You guys won't believe the pile of fabric I have been given! We have so much we are probably going to do the same thing (in English) for a young mothers home in the USA.

Do you have extra 14 ct. aida for HONDURAS?

I already posted this at 123stitch.com, but am hoping to get some response from my blog too! :)

Forgive me for not retyping it, but it's a lot! :)

As some of you know, DH and I do lots of summer mission work with teenagers. We are heading to Honduras the end of July, and have the priveledge of working with young mothers in the capital city Tegucigalpa.

The place where we go to work, is run by a native Honduran. She daily feed 30-40 children that live in the surrounding area. She has been trying to reach the mothers in the area and she asked my DH if anybody would know how to teach the moms CROSS-STITCH!

WAHOO! :) imagine that, xstitch and me and mission! Can we say perfecto?!

ANYWAY! We've found a really awesome pattern that we are going to use with the ladies. Hopefully to be able to sell in their market place.

All that to sum up... I need pieces of 14 ct 17 by 13. The pattern only uses one color of thread, so I am going to go through all that DMC I bought when Walmart was going out of business! :) But if you have any needles and or cheap little scissors you might want to contribute, that'd be awesome!

We know for sure there will be 10 ladies there. But I'm hoping to leave them with enough supplies to make some more. Plus I'm going to take a few books to leave with them that have much smaller projects.

Would you want to help? Email me! :)

White/cream/ecru aida would work best. Sara

sssowers@hotmail.com

Thanks Ladies!

I Stitched for Sue Hillis

Remember this?

A couple weeks before our get-to-gether last weekend in Richmond, I got an email from Sue. She asked if I would be interested in stitching the pattern she made for the weekend, over one! I was so surprised she emailed me! :) I had the supplies within a day and had it stitched the next day.

And then she told me to finish it "however I want too".

All together, let's say it: "YIKES" This nice lady has been designing for forever and wants me to do it "however" I wanted! Can we say pressure?!

This is what I came up with:


I found some charms in my stash, and tied them on the ends of the ribbons. I know we all loved cross-stitch and without a doubt, we were going to laugh a lot!

So I sent her some pictures, she said it looked great... off to Richmond I went. The first night, I secretly handed her the project, it's top secret after all! :)

The next morning, as I got in line to register for the weekend, Sue grabbed my arm and asked me if I was able to check my email. Now my heart really started thumping. I felt for sure I did something wrong, that she didn't like it, that it wasn't what she wanted, etc. etc. etc.

Not to worry, turns out she liked it more in person than the pictures! I walked away and gave a huge sigh of relief!

When I got home, I was trying to explain to my kids and I said, "It'd be like if Lego asked you to post one of your projects online." And Andrew, my 13 year old says, "Oh mom, anybody can do that!"

I can always trust my kids to bring me back down to earth! HaHa

We had a great weekend. There were 70-80 of us, I never did get the final count. We met lots of new friends and got to sit with our Canadian friends. We only see them every two years, so we were glad to get to share a table with them.

My friend and I managed to hit 3 LNS's over the weekend. One on the way, one while we were there, and one on the way home. While we were there, we went to an itty-bitty shop that was stuffed to the brim with stuff! Course by the time 50-60 of us shopped at the same time, we were all much closer bonded! It was a tight fit, but I think we all managed to find something to spend our money on!!

And Sue invited 5-6 different people to come set up shops at the hotel! That was NOT a good idea! Well, I mean it was, but I might have spent a little too much money!

My family leaves in ten days to start two months of summer mission with teenagers. We're excited to get started and I have a million things to do to get ready. I got my stitching bag ready to go yesterday, but I highly doubt I'll get to much of any of it!

I bought some really neat smalls while on our stitching trip, had to move those straight to the top of the stitching list! Can't wait to show you!

See you around. Not sure when I'll get to post again.

Hedgehog freebie

I know Pat is stopping by to find the post for the Hedgehog pattern! :) I thought I'd help her find it and searched and searced a ton of posts.... when you click this link, look at the title of the post! DUH!! It's been a long weekend!

Had a great weekend at Sue's! I even got to stitch her model for our weekend project! Yeah me! :) My kids were completely unimpressed! I told my oldest, it'd be like if Lego put one of his projects on their website. He said, "oh anybody can do that! you just have to upload the picture!"

So much for impressing my kids! :)

More details coming, gotta go back to being a mom!

I Don't Mean to Brag, but....

Well, okay maybe I do! :) In two hours my stitching buddy is picking me up and we're heading to a stitch-in with the infamous Sue Hillis in Richmond, Virginia. Yeah! This is our 3rd time going and there is going to be a huge group of ladies! Some we've met before and some brand new to Sue's. We have ladies flying in and two ladies coming from Australia! :)

I really, really wanted to get all four little turtles done to take to Sue's. But after I saw my "to do" list yesterday, I thought that there was no way it was going to happen! We had invited our youth pastor and his wife over for dinner. And we had been gone for days and my house had been attacked by Star Wars Lego pieces while I was gone! I keep telling myself that one day I will miss all the lego's, right?!!!

I cleaned my house.
Grocery shopped.
Did laundry.
Mopped, yup I actually mopped! They have a crawling baby, so wanted to make sure the floor was good and clean!
Packed for Sue's.

AND

Finally sat down and FINISHED my two last turtles. One is a pocket and the pocket is so tiny that I have no idea what in the world might fit in it! I'm talking about an inch of room. The last one is a pincushion and it sure is a weenie little pin cushion! I put the four layers of batting in there, but it still feels a little wimpy!

No time to take pictures, but I'll post some after the weekend.

Gotta get Andrew to school. Finish packing for Sue's. Take Luke to school. Get my food out of the fridge and then wait impatiently on the porch for my ride! :)

We're hitting an LNS on the way... we gotta beat the crowd you know!

The weekend is full of fun events and we always have a blast!

I need a break really badly at the moment! Our life is getting ready to hit WIDE OPEN! One of our college students moves in on Monday for two weeks. My mom comes middle of next week. Will have all eight of our college staff live with us the four days before we hit the road. Gotta finish a lot of work for our Bible schools on the road. Then we'll be gone for eight weeks of mission work with teenagers. Including a week in Canada and ten days in Honduras!

Gotta run! :) Have a great weekend, I know I will!

Hey Daffycat...I keep trying to keep your advice and keep my posts short, it just never happens! I think that means I'm a motormouth? :)

My Brilliant Kids

My kids are pretty smart. I mean, I know I'm their mom, but I'm just saying! They don't have any problems at school. Both can easily use a computer. They can program a cell phone without a second thought. Digital cameras.....no big deal! etc.etc. etc.

Today on our way to Dh's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary dinner, we stopped by his Nanny's house. Now Nanny, mid 80's, is in no way up-to-date with any technological item. In fact she still has an old fashion,in the cabinet style, PINK oven with a matching pink stove and pink phone.

Luke (10 1/2) was playing with all his old toys from when he was a little boy. Actually, I think most of the toys were from when DH was a little boy, and he showed me the Fisher Price rotary phone and was telling me how much he loved it. So I reminded him that there used to be real phones like that toy phone! And he was SHOCKED!

Remember that pink phone?! Well it happens to be a rotary phone. So I took Luke into the kitchen and he was shocked at the rotary phone. I told him he could use it, no problem. So he sticks his finger into one of the holes and says:

"NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?!"

I had to show him how to move the dial around to the little bar, let go, and pick your next number you need to dial.

Poor kid! He had NO IDEA how to dial on a rotary phone! I let him call his Mamaw's number, just to try out the dialing! Then he called his brother. Then he called his dad. Then he called me!

Then his brother (age 13) got on the phone and called his own cell phone and talked to himself. I don't get it either...the kid is weird!

The old rotary phone (which, by the way, Nanny is still renting from the phone company! LOL) kept them occupied for a good 30 minutes!

Another finish!

That's all I can show you for now! ha

I received a lovely email from a lady, and she asked me to stitch her a little certain something...but it's TOP SECRET! Oh yeah! You didn't know I was that special, did you?!

Okay, neither did I! And really I'm not!

As you may or may not know, I'm a big fabric snob. I use the ittiest-bittiest piece of fabric possible to stitch things on! I hate wasting fabric.

So the certain lady sends me all the supplies and above is the picture of the piece of fabric she sent! That piece that is missing, is actually double what I stitched! I had to use extra to do the finishing.

Wonder if she meant for me to stitch it eight times?!

Quaker Turtles!!! warning tons of pictures

Luke had a friend come to play, and Andrew was golfing with daddy! Perfect day to make some turtles!

Ready, Get Set, Go.. well, maybe I better start with this:

a little bit before 1:00 I had all my pieces cut out, the bottom shell was laced onto the posterboard and the head was finished.

by 2:06 I was done with half, but it was the hardest half! I sewed all the little legs together, and attached all the legs, tail and head to the bottom shell but I still needed to attach the fabric lining. The poor thing looks ugly, doesn't she! (Hope Ellen doesn't see this!)


How about some lining?


How about a place to put some needles?


Wanna see the bottom shell? Yes I have boring initials! Nothing I can do about it!!!!

By 2:36 (not that I was looking at a clock!) I had put together the top shell, which was super easy since it only had stuffing in it.

It was around this time that my friend calls and ends up dropping her son off to play too. When she came to the door she wanted to see my turtle. So I showed her noncrafty self my nearly finished mommy turtle and she innocently says, "What do you do with it?" So I was explaining how it would hold my needles, and my wonderful son answered her question quite truthfully!

"SHE IS GOING TO PUT IT IN HER BASKET WITH HER OTHER 900 NEEDLEBOOKS!"
Hey, the truth hurts sometimes! ha

It took another 30 minutes to attach the buttons and make that stupid detached buttonhole stitch! I can NOT do that one pretty! I had forgotten to buy green buttons and look at the cute little ones I had in my stash!

Yeah for Mommy Turtle! That wasn't so bad!!

At 3:20 I decided to start the baby. And by 4:47 I was completely done with the baby, even made my cording. Even attached him to my gingher scissors!

Baby had a few issues though! Somehow I had managed to sew on the bottom shell crooked! For about five minutes I thought I could live with it!

I really thought I could live with it. But it was just awful! Wouldn't you agree!???

Fifteen minutes later, poor Baby looked like this!


Took a break, to take all the ten year old boys home! Well, one had to stay...he lives here!

At 6:40 I take my second attempt to make a baby! (oh shush!) Somehow I even managed to take the itty-bitty thing apart and not even cut any of my backstitches! That's a miracle in itself!

By 7:30 or so, baby looked much bettter! And I was much happier with it! Wouldn't you agree?

There are two other turtles that go with the set. One pincushion and one is a pocket. I thought there was no reason to stitch them. But these two are so darn cute.. I think I'm going to stitch the other two. They will be easy to put together now that I have the hang of it!

*edited to add one more picture*

Please don't tell Luke he's right! It might get ugly!!

DH just called and asked what I've been doing all day! I said, "Making baby turtles!" He said, "Huh?" I said, "DUH!"

He's gonna be here in 30 minutes, wonder if I can get all my laundry done in 30 minutes?! :)

Poor Baby Turtle

Poor baby turtle is having some issues! Momma turtle is waiting patiently.....

Quaker Turtles

Today is the day! We finished the pinewood derby race with my youngest. My oldest is doing a golf tournament with his Dad. (that should be interesting!) My youngest now has his friend over and I am going to attempt

THIS

I've finished the stitching on the biggest turtle, and on the itty-bitty turtle. The designer, Ellen, has told me starting with the biggest one is going to be the best bet. So that's on my agenda for today!

Dh and my oldest will be gone until around 8pm and surely my youngest and his friend can keep themselves occupied for a few hours!

It's 12:00 noon... stay tuned! ha

Look what I found!!

I was on the hunt for a picture of a pilllow I made for my Grandma, YEARS ago! And I remembered my old webshots album! Look at the picture I found! I miss those boys!!

Look at us now! Yikes! I think I look better six years ago!

Man, I've been online a long time! :)

One Week, One Year

I can hardly believe it! In one week, it will be my one year blog anniversary. Really? I can't believe I lasted this long! I love reading other people's blogs, but have thought I should stop mine a million times! LOL But for now, I'm still here! :)

All day today is a big BBQ fundraiser at our church. I was supposed to make desserts. I went a little crazy! :) I made:

Chaco Bar cake: Luke found the recipe in his 3rd grade reading book and insisted I make it. I'll admit I did it a little grudgingly! But boy I'm glad I did! It's like a big yummy chunk of chocolate chip cookies!

Banana Split Cake: Doesn't really have cake in it at all. Graham cracker crust, layer of cream cheese and sugar, layer of pineapple chunks and banana slices, next layer cool whip and vanilla pudding mix, top with cool whip and pecans. YUM!

Brownies: I was just going to make them from the box. But on the back was a recipe that looked really yummy! Brownies on the bottom, a layer of icing and pecans, and the top layer is rice krispie cereal mixed with melted peanut butter and chocolate chips. YUM!

Cupcakes: I'm assuming some kids will be there! :) So made some simple cupcakes and put bright shiny colored sprinkles on them. Boy they look yummy!

Hope it all gets eaten! I sure don't want to bring it all home! Well, maybe I do! LOL

Still working on my quilt square! Hopefully on Saturday I'll have some time to stitch! We'll see!

I Need Some Privacy

I'm watching our pastor's daughter today. She (M) is three years old, and a lot of fun! Full of questions and exploring! I have spent very little time with her previously, but I told her dad whenever they needed me too, I'd love to watch her. Her mommy is having a few health issues, like M told me, "My mommy has a booboo on her boobie!"

So when M had to go potty I showed her to the bathroom. Seeing as she is only 3, and newly potty-trained I stayed in the bathroom in case she needed some help. I was standing there and M looks up and says, "Hey! I need some privacy!" So much for helping! LOL

So remember that square I was stitching yesterday and told you to guess what it was, but I forgot to upload it?! :) Here it is!

It's really gonna be cute, considering it's on 14 ct aida! Can't wait to show you what it is!

I fixed my zipper!

Yup, that's right! :) I fixed my zipper...well I mean I backstitched and gave the birdie little feet or tail feathers or whatever they are! :) What are those things anyway? It makes my poor birdie looks like he has two legs! I might have to take those off, after all that zipper trouble! What do you think?

And there was one part that had two A's, which I thought were flower buds! But nope, they were the stitcher's initials... DUH! So I changed those to AL for my two boys, and put MS for DH and myself. I'm really loving it! Now to find some matching fabric!

I love the little birdie, don't you?

I'm stitching a few quilt squares for different groups I'm part of. Gotta love 14 ct. white aida!! This is for a little boy named Charlie in NZ. He loves hot air balloons, so this pattern was perfect.

This square is for a little boy...can you tell what it is?! ha I'll leave you in suspense! (I'll have to add the picture later, it didn't upload! LOL)

Last but not least, Check out what's been hanging out on my scissors! Yup, it's cute, isn't it?!!

Front:

It was a little kit by Raise the Roof. I hope I can find some ribbon similar to what came with the kit! I'd love to make a few more of them!

Back:

I haven't forgotten my giveaway! Just haven't figured out what to giveaway!!

Why didn't you guys tell me?!

Hmm? I thought we were friends?! I was so proud of my finish last night, that I snapped a picture of it on my lap and proudly posted that I was done! And you guys said it was so nice!

So I look at it today and I realize I forgot to backstitch the little feet/feather things on the tail of the bird. I originally thought they were feet...but am not sure why they are coming out of the tail? Maybe my bird just needs some tail feathers to shake!

So I pull out my thread to add the six stitches and realize I didn't backstitch any of the tulips either! Duh... why didn't somebody tell me? It's like walking around with food in my teeth or my zipper undone! I thought we were friends?

If my computer wasn't being a pain, I'd show you the picture! No, not of food in my teeth, the picture of the really finished project! You'll have to come back tomorrow!

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway! :)

I Do Stitch!

Really, I do! :)

My friend sent me this pattern to stitch. It's called The Sparrow's Song by The Good Huswife. I used all the called for DMC, but picked a random piece of fabric. Not even sure what count it was, probably 32 I guess!

I love, love, love the little sparrow! And check out my perfect little french knot! Those things are rare and hard to find by my hand!

I went on a 4th grade field trip to Old Salem, NC. It is an old Moravian Village and very cool! My son's teacher gave them a challenge to find one grave in their graveyard. Didn't seem like too much of a challenge until I learned the name of the place: God's ACRE, was named that for a reason! My little group of six kids searched and searched and searched!

After my chaperone responsibilites were over, Luke and I went and visited the archives building. I thought it'd be a quick question, quick answer and if we were lucky we'd find the grave! Instead we met the MOST intriguing older gentlemen who spent TWENTY-FIVE minutes with Luke and his best friend. Telling them all kind of information about the man they were hunting for, lots of Moravian history, etc. And eventually told us the plot section, row and number of the man we were searching for!

Can you tell how excited they were?! :)

20,000---where did you go?

So for the past few months I've been keeping an eye on my counter. It was creeping closer and closer to 20,000. The other day I finally noticed I only had 9 more to go! So I made a little post about it. I left for five minutes, came back and it was at 20,020! I didn't even get to see it! And now it's even more! :)

So thanks for all my visitors. I'm going to get a little stitched something together in celebration of the big 20,000 that we all missed! LOL If you want a little something-something from me, leave a comment on this post.

I'd love to tell you what I'm stitching for you, but at this point..well it's gonna be a surprise for all of us! (me included, since I have no idea what I'm gonna stitch yet! LOL)

I'll draw a name next Friday. One week? That's probably way too long! LOL Oh well, that'll give me time to make something! :)

9 More= 20,000 visitors

WHAT?! I've been watching my blog counter! Waiting for it to get to the 20,000 mark! Now it seems like I only need 9 more visitors. Hmm.. I think I'm going to do a giveaway when that happens. Gotta go find something to give away! :)

Stash for Sale

There comes a time in life, where you just realize you have more stash than you will EVER stitch! Sad, isn't it? Doesn't help to read a book like The Hole in our Gospel! Great book, if you want to read something serious!

Anyway, I made a little blog called Sara's Simple Stitching Stash Sale. Creative, wouldn't you say?! Most of the lists are by designers, so make sure you check all the pages of posts. I have another page of random patterns to post, but gotta feed my kids first! :) Hopefully I'll have that page up later tonight.

If you are interested in something, just leave a comment or send me an email. I'll get it either way. We'll figure out shipping when you're done shopping! :)

Thanks for checking it out!

You're in the Right Place

Just trying to make a few changes! I'll find one I like and stick to it, I promise! LOL I moved my heading picture to my profile picture, but now I'm not sure what to put up there in the heading! This sure isn't very exciting, is it?!!

Visitors from Hungary!??!

Really?! How did somebody from Hungary find my blog? Now my blog counter said there were three of you! :) I'd love to have you leave a comment so I can go check out your blog too!

Thanks for all the responses for stitching on my heart RR! I'll be getting in touch with you guys soon! I think I have more than I need! Yeah! :)

Are You My Friend?

Over a year ago, I thought I joined another Round Robin. The grand idea was to do this pattern. Before too much time had past, I somehow ended up heading up the RR, instead of just being a part of it! :) Still not sure how that one happened!

Anyway! :) We had 18 people stitching in our RR, and that means there are about eight hearts left to stitch. There are more hearts to stitch, but only eight left that have space for a name! :) Our group included ladies from the Netherlands, Canada, NC, CA, LA, AZ, IL and IN.

My piece is stitchedon 32 ct...might even be 28 ct. and basically instead of using the called for threads, I just let ladies pick their favorite colors to stitch with. If you are a relatively quick stitcher, it should just take a few hours to stitch it.

So, my question is this:

Is anybody dying to add a heart to my sampler?! :) I of course course finish it myself, but it seems like a lot more fun to have friends stitch on it! If you are interested, will you just leave me a comment? If there are enough who want to stitch on it, I'll just get in contact with you guys and you can mail around to each other. I'll provide the pattern and you can pick your own color.

I'll try to post a picture of my real project later. But alas, dinner calls! :)

Thanks in advance!

PA down, Honduras to go

Thanks for all the nice thoughts for my Grandpa. He's still in the hospital and will be for the near future, at least! My mom will be there this coming full week, to help out. Made leaving easier, knowing somebody else was going to take my place.

Tomorrow we leave the house at 4:30am to head to Honduras for three days. That means I need to get up at 3:30, so I can get ready to go!

See ya whenever we get back.

Back to Pa

My grandma called. They had to take Grandpa to the hospital late last night. He's not breathing very well. Draining his other lung today. Giving him oxygen. Trying to get the extra fluid out of his lungs/legs/body/life! Will be there three days.

So I'm going. I have a great DH that will drop his life to make sure I can make it happen. I have to come home on Sunday, so I can fly to Honduras on Monday with DH. I'm hoping the hospital counts today as the first day, that way hopefully, he can go home some time on Saturday. Then I can get them settled in before I leave on Sunday.

See ya...

Ain't Got Nothing

Nope, not a single thing...

Ain't got a thing to tell you! :)

Haven't done much stitching. Haven't taken any pictures. Yup, basically I got nothin!

I could tell you about when Luke told me the night before that he needed a KILT for school the next day.

I could tell you that I spent an entire day making a kilt.

Or I could even tell you about the major breakdown he had when he refused to "wear a skirt in front of the entire fourth grade!"

I could tell you about how he dropped a can of soda that exploded all over the living room!

Maybe you'd be interested in knowing that the teacher in charge of the play delayed it til "further notice".

Probably not that interesting to know that the kilt is now in the trash can!

See, I've got nothin'!

I have lots of projects kitted up, but nothin is callin my name!

Somebody send me some stitching mojo!

Are you interested in knowing that we have a youth event this Fri-Sun?

Or maybe that DH and I will be in Honduras Mon-Wed setting up everything for this summer.

You know what, keep your stitching mojo... send it to me a week from tomorrow! I might get to stitch them!

Our Trip to Pa

For the past two years or so, each time I go to PA to see my grandparents, I'm just sure it's going to be the last time I see them. And then amazingly, they are always still there the next time I can visit! At the grand ages of 91, it is really amazing what great shape they are in! I love to spend time with them, love to hear the old stories...even the 4th and 5th times I hear them!

We took a few pictures Sunday after church and I think they turned out great! Apparently, I was the only one who didn't get the "wear orange and grey" memo!

The boys love their great-grandparents, and it makes me so happy that they have been such a big part of their lives also!

We were sitting on the couch, going through some really old pictures with my Grandma. I love hearing all the stories that the pictures remind her off! She let me sneak one out of the bunch... it's about 25 years old! One of the newer ones in this particular album! It's me, my mom and my grandma.

Whenever I start to upload my pictures, I always find fun ones like these! :)

People didn't believe us when I told them he got a haircut! But check out this picture I found! :) See we cut a lot! And this time around, there were no tears!

School starts back for the boys tomorrow! Maybe I'll be able to stitch a little bit!

My Other Life

Well, besides stitching I do have another life! :)

DH does a lot of work with youth in the state of NC. His main job is to get them involved in missions in NC, in the states and a few times overseas. We do that all of June and July. But during April and May he does all kind of planning trips, to set up all the different activities we have the youth do. We're talking over 1,500 youth this summer. So it's no small job! Trust me! :)

This week is spring break for our boys. So when DH asked me to go with him to the NC mountains for a few days, I said sure! Thankfully my wonderful inlaws live on the way, and we dropped the kids off with them! :) So they got the grandkids and we got a break! :)

Not sure we didn't get much of a break. We had 4-5 meetings, plus DH led a conference last night which lasted pretty late. Today we drove back to pick up kids which happened to be in the same town where DH had another planning meeting!

Anybody tired yet?! Don't be.... we head to Pennsylvania tomorrow! My grandpa turns 91 on Sunday, my grandma will be 92 in June. They are both in excellent health and still drive and have a schedule about as busy as mine! But recently grandpa hasn't been doing too great. He's having trouble with his breathing and his lungs filling with fluid.

SO.... we're driving up to spend a few more days with them. I think, each time we go, that it will be the last time I see one or both of them. And so far, they've proven me wrong! Thank God, right?! Here I am mid 30's now (SCARY) and have yet to really experience my grandparents passing away. It's gonna be rough, I already know.

I have been doing a little stitching. Faye shared some proof! I stitched a little something on the way to the mountains yesterday...it'll go in the mail tomorrow. I finished the pinpillow that was due April 1st for Becky's exchange. And I finished a heart themed quilt square that was also due April 1st. And I sent Faye her gift and also sent another blog reader a little something.

By the way, I noticed I have 50 followers! That's pretty cool...I need to do a contest sometime to up my numbers, I guess! :) No time this week, maybe next week!!

SO, there ya have it! I don't have a single picture, except for what Faye took, so you'll just have to believe me!

Happy Easter every one!

Paradise!!!

The other weekend, I managed to squeeze in tons of stitching! :) Started around 6:3opm on Friday, I stitched until almost 2am. I was so tired, I was falling asleep with my needle in the fabric, between stitches!

Saturday, up bright and early....back to my same seat! I stitched until 6:30pm. I did eat lunch, supper was a can of soda and some candy. I'm so healthy, I can't help it!

Saturday, my project of choice was Flower Power!! I spent the entire day in a pile of daisies! that's right, backstitching---ALL DAY---!! That part definitely wasn't Paradise!

I even managed to squeeze in a few more hours on Sunday, and I even got to move out of the daisies! I'd tell you what patch I went to next, but I know nothing about flowers! I still have most of the pink flowers left to backstitch!

I still have this much more waiting for some of my BS abilities: (oh come on, that's funny!)

Won't have another chance at Paradise, until I head to Sue Hillis' Memorial Day stitch-in! This will be my third trip... and we have a blast! My chauffeur is already making our plans!

And then life will get crazy! Our spring schedule is nearly as crazy as our summer schedule! But I just found out in July, I'm going to get to meet some of my Candian friends, during our trip up there with 60 teenagers! :) Might even get to hit an LNS, can't wait!

This week I've been just working on little things! I stitched something ugly the other day, and Faye made is so pretty! So I stitched Faye something ugly too, but she's gonna have to do the pretty part again!

A new stitching friend did me a great favor, so I stitched her a little something. It's not ugly at all, but I'm going to have to do the pretty part myself.

And I'm finishing up a charity square for a little girl's quilt. Oh and I have a pincushion due to be mailed the end of this month. It's stitched, just need to put it together.

So now you're up to date on my stitching life! Who cares about my other life, right?

Almost finished!!

Seems like finishes around here take a few different steps! Unless I sent it to Faye! :)

I did my very first flatfolds the other day. They didn't turn out too badly! I still need to add the trim to both of them. Actually, I might only add trim to the snowman, I might leave the LHN as it is. What do you think?

I finished a few little pillows. I stitched these in time for Valentine's Day, but, well, you know! At least I'll have them for next year, right?

Then I had been seeing the pillows with matching fabric on the front, so thought I'd try a few of those. My favorite one is the turkey. Just happened to have the fabric, and it matched the dyed threads perfectly! I took these pictures before I stuffed them, just need to add some ribbons and buttons or something!

And remember I started this the other day? It will be finished in the shape of a heart, if I can figure out how to do it! LOL

And then I've been wanting to join in Sylvi's SAL. She releases one each month, and so far I'm three months behind. I'm hoping to get caught up and then just stitch each one as she releases them. We'll see! I'm going to stitch them all in one long line, stitched over one on 25 ct.

Course I always have Flower Power in the wings, and right now I need to finish up a pincushion for an exchange and stitch a quilt square.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Finishing Fairy Came!!!

Remember a few days ago when I was whining about my U.G.L.Y little pattern that I had stitched. I had wanted to stitch it for months and months and then was so disappointed when it turned out UGLY!

My new real life stitching friend, Faye, was sure she could make it pretty! Mmm, Hmm... sure I thought! I sent it to her on Friday.

TODAY I have a package crammed into my box (grrr...mailman!) and I was shocked to see it was from Faye, already!

I was thinking maybe she'd put a little fabric on the back and maybe a hangar.. but NO! You should see this little thing in person! All the little details are so cute! Check out the scissors hanging from the little ribbon, with the little button!

She even made the back a little fancier! Why don't I think of stuff like that?

I told Faye she better watch out, or I was going to send her my whole pile of stuff I need finishing! She is WAY more creative than I am!

She doesn't live too far away... hmm!! Wonder if she'd notice a huge pile of things that need finishing, added to her own pile?

Thanks again Faye! I just love to pieces!

Send the Finishing Fairy...QUICK!

A few months ago, I had a huge pile of finished cross-stitch that needed something done to it. Slowly, but surely I about worked through all of it!

The other day, I got to thinking about my pile of little finished cross-stitch. And knew I had to do something about it!

At one point I had picked out the backing fabric! That's a start, right?

But already there was this other growing pile of ones I hadn't even picked a fabric for yet!

All together now: "SENT THE FINISHING FAIRY!"

Have you seen that commercial where the man is in bed waiting for the Good Credit Fairy and his wife finally helps him realize there isn't one!

I figured the Finishing Fairy wouldn't ever come, and thankfully DH is out of town today and tomorrow. SO... I skipped the gym, skipped the grocery store, and put on my Tutu! That is what Fairy's wear, right?

So far, I have three itty-bitty little Valentine pillows put together. Four medium size pillows and two flat folds! These were my very first flat folds, and the medium size pillows were made differently than I usually make them!

They are all stuffed, (Luke said it looked gross!) just need to close them up and add some trim or beads or something, we'll see!

I did clean the bathrooms today! All 2 1/2 of them, thank you very much!!

Stupid Flatfolds

That's all I'm saying for now! :) Okay, maybe they aren't STUPID, maybe I'm the STUPID one who can NOT cut four pieces of cardboard exactly even, no matter how many rulers I use!!!

Pictures soon... if I don't throw them away first!

UGLY????

Faye, who I've gotten to know in real life, swears she can make this thing look pretty! :) I finished stitching it tonight and actually the greenery makes it look a little better. Though I still think it hovers pretty close to the U.G.L.Y. category! :)

Ooh, and I added the eyes, which I like. Not too sure about that mouth though! Who has a french knot for a mouth? Are they supposed to be singing? I need to iron it, before I can add the beads.



And check out Willy! :) He's sitting there by his little penguin buddy! Aren't they cuties?



And of course, I had to start something else new! This is by Blackbird Designs, I think. It's called Sweet Heart, it's supposed to finished in the shape of a heart. The fabric is about the right shade, but not exactly what the pattern called for. I started on another green, but realized it was 28ct, so put that up. And this is really too small of a count, I'm pretty sure it's only 40 ct., but I think I'll like it better on this fabric.

Now where does the Finishing Fairy live, so she can come finish all these little projects into something wonderful?