Last Finish of 2006

I guess this is my last finish of 2006! It's another one of the little ornies from the Dec. 2006 The Cross Stitcher magazine. It's also on vinyl weave and is 1.5 inches square. His belt buckle is gold metallic and the white fur on his coat is light effects thread. The border is a green metallic. Isn't he adorable!

Well, I'm seeing the new year in with a quiet night at home. I'm ready for 2007. It's got to be better than 2006. Guess I'll go and work on the Picnic Sweatshirt square. Happy New Year everyone!!

Past Finishes

Today I'm posting pictures of some of the things I've stitched in the past and have in my home. Most of the things I have stitched were given to others as gifts. This is a quilted/cross-stitched wall hanging I did in 1994. I did the cross-stitch and my mom made it into a small quilt for me. It is my favorite thing I have done that is hanging in my house.


The picture above hangs over my sink in the kitchen. In the small box in the middle it says,
"Vicki's Country Kitchen." I still like my country decorating, even if it isn't the style anymore! LOL I did it in 1993. It came from an old Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine.



This hangs over my roll-top desk in my den. I love farm themes and cows. Before my husband and I separated, we had a farm. We had a couple of horses, lots of cows, cats, and a dog. I really miss the farm. I'm not sure where this graph came from. I finished this in 1996. It says, "For I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. Phil. 4:11." This is one of my favorite verses from the Bible.


The welcome above hangs in my entry hall. It came from one of my old magazines, but again I don't know which one. I finished this in 1987, before my husband and I separated. I was really impressed when my framer made the mat so perfect!


The sampler above is one of the hardest things I've cross-stitched. I started it in 1991, right after I left my husband, and finished it in 1994. It is a reproduction of an antique sampler, The Agnes Eland Hick's Sampler. The original was stitched in 1858. A funny story about this sampler - (although it wasn't funny at the time!) my son and daughter would get jealous if I did other things that didn't involve them. They were 5-years-old and 3-years-old. My daughter (3) would hide the books I was reading, and my son (5) cut this sampler! Luckily he cut it in the border that didn't show when it was framed. I was so upset!


This cross-stitched piece is very precious to me. I didn't do it. My dad did! My mother had started cross-stitching back in 1979 when I started. Finally in the early 90s my dad expressed an interest in trying it. So my mom taught him. He was very good at it and did quite a few pieces. He did this in 1992. He also did it for my brother and sister and gave them to us that Christmas. Now that he is not with us anymore, this is very special!

I have other things that I will show at another time. I have noticed something while posting these pictures - I really like Welcomes! LOL I didn't realise I had so many hanging in my home!

I haven't done much stitching today. I've had a migraine headache. I have managed to go through some things in the garage (I'm trying to get it cleaned out!) The headache has been coming and going, so I've worked during the "going" parts. LOL Better go - my head's not hurting much now - maybe I can get some stitching in! Happy stitching!

Little Finish

This is my latest ornament. I'm still in a Christmas mood, I guess. This was in The Cross Stitcher magazine, Dec. 2006. They are tiny ornaments for a Christmas wreath that you cross-stitch. There are 8 of them. I'm going to do all of the ornies, but not the wreath. My tree is small, so these little ornies will look great on it. This is 1.5 inches square. It is stitched on 14 count vinyl weave. The border is gold metallic. It is backed with felt. Some of the other little ornies have the light effects thread in them. This is the first time I have used light effects. I also worked on the Picnic Sweatshirt. I'm about half finished with it. Too tired today to post the pictures of old work hanging in my house. Will do it later. Have a great day!

Pictures!

My pictures did not come out in the order that I wanted them to, but I'll just let it go. The picture above is my mom's totebag. I wish the picture was better, but I guess it will do. She is very happy with the bag. I am also very happy with the bag.

This is our Christmas tree with my homemade ornaments on it. These are ornaments I've made last year and this year. I have a BIG box of ornaments I have collected over the years, but since my son's death, I can't look at them. Maybe someday I'll be able to use them again.
The small glass balls are purple. They look black in this picture. DD picked them out - purple is her favorite color.


This is my darling daughter. She's seventeen and very pretty, if I do say so myself!

This is the piece I stitched for the new great-nephew we are expecting in January. I'm going to get a frame for it in the next few days. They decorated his nursery in a jungle theme. So this is a wild animal alphabet. I really enjoyed stitching this!

The bag above is my niece's bag. I am really pleased with the way it turned out. I am stitching this design again for a square for Hannah at Love Quilts. The theme for her quilt is flowers and bugs. I also plan to stitch it for myself to make into a pillow for summer.


And last but not least, the bag above is my sister's bag. I took this picture before I took off the stitched piece and cut it down some. It looked much better after I redid it.

I've also taken pictures of some of the stitching I have done that is hanging in my house. I'll show those later. I'm out of time now. Happy stitching!

After Christmas Crash

I actually got all my Christmas stitching done. I finished sewing my daughter's pillow (above) at 9:30 pm on Christmas Eve. This scanned picture isn't very good. Maybe I can post a better one later. The totebags turned out beautiful. I had to redo one on the day before we had our Christmas celebration at my mom's, because I left too much material around the cross-stitch and the piece covered the whole front of the bag and the actual stitching got lost. So I took the piece off and cut it down some and resewed it to the bag and fringed it again. It was worth doing because it looked perfect. Everyone really loved their bag. My mom keeps calling me every few hours to tell me that she is looking at her bag and how much she likes it. I was hoping to be able to post some pictures of them, but DD didn't take the film to get developed yesterday. Maybe I can post them later today. DD was really surprised when she saw her pillow. It turned out perfect. too. It has been years since I've sewed anything. And my mom usually sewed any pillows I had cross-stitched for. So I wasn't sure I could make the pillow, but once I got started, it all came back to me. Now I know what everyone is getting for Christmas next year - PILLOWS!! LOL

I cooked the big Christmas Dinner - turkey, dressing, macaroni pie, etc. It all turned out great. Then I crashed (hence, the title of this post). LOL DD was very happy with all she got. I got my yearly bedroom shoes (Katie's dad gives me bedroom shoes every year - go figure!) It's really a family joke now. LOL We played the game Katie got - Sorry Revenge. This is a family tradition. Every Christmas one or both of the kids would get a game and we would spend the afternoon playing games. Such a happy memory! We still do it. We have started many new traditions since my son died, because it's really hard to do some things the same way without him here to participate. But we still play the games. Some traditions are too precious to change! Although I really miss my son at this time of the year, I still love Christmas and we had a very good and happy Christmas. I know my son was with us in spirit. And we had Christmas at my mom's the day before Christmas Eve. We had a WONDERFUL time. Even though we all missed my dad, we knew that he always loved Christmas and we could feel his presence there. We laughed a lot and got very silly (we always do) and even cried a little, but it was truly a wonderful Christmas.

I started stitching a charity quilt square yesterday. I'm doing the Picnic Sweatshirt that I did for my niece's bag. There's a picture of it in an earlier post if you want to see it. I am also starting my Christmas gifts for next year. I am going to stitch them now so I won't be killing myself next Christmas trying to get them done. Of course, I say that every year and I still end up doing them at the last minute! LOL Better go and get started. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas like we did!! Happy stitching!

Wasting Time

I got this from Angelsan's blog.
1. [X] I have walked into a glass/screen door.
2. [x] I have tripped on my shoelace and fallen.
3. [X] I have choked on my own spit.
4. [ ] I’ve seen the Matrix a bunch of times and still don’t get it.
5. [ ] I type only with my pointer fingers.
6. [x] I have caught something on fire.
7. [ ] I’ve told a cop to buzz off and gotten screwed for it.
8. [x] I have attempted to sip out of a straw but it accidently went into my nose, rather than my mouth. (I thought I was the only one who had done this. I was in college and was trying so hard to impress a young man I had just met. LOL It still remains the most embarrassing moment of my life!)
9. [] I have thought of something funny that happened yesterday, and laughed out loud and people looked at me weird.
10. [X] I’ve caught myself drooling. (at night, because of my c-pap machine)
11. [ ] I’ve accidentally caused an explosion.
12. [ ] If someone says the word “fart”, I can’t help but laugh.
13. [ ] I’ve been into a “Do Not Enter” one way road plenty of times.
14. [x ] Sometimes I just…stop thinking, & zone out.
15. [ ] Is it POSSIBLE to lick your elbow?
16. [ ] I just tried to lick my elbow.
17. [ ] People often shake their heads and walk away from me.
18. [x] People often tell me to use my “inside voice”
19. [ ] Gum has fallen out of my mouth while talking.
20. [] I use my fingers to do simple math.
21. [ ] I’ve jumped off a moving bicycle.
22. [ ] I ate a bug for $5 or less.
23. [x] I’m taking this test when I should be doing something more important.
24. [ ] I repost chain letters because I’m scared of what they threaten will happen if I don’t.
25. [ ] I’ve removed my pants when I was with friends.
26. [ ] I’ve ran around naked when I was with friends.
27. [x] I’ve searched all over the place for something, and then realized it was in my hand the whole time. (This is due to old age!LOL)
28. [ ] I break a lot of things.
29. [ ] My friends know not to use big words on me.
30. [ ] I put my head to the side when I’m confused.
31. [X] Sometimes I start telling a story and suddenly forget what I’m talking about. (Again - old age!)
32. [x] I’ve fallen out of my chair before.
33. [ ] When I’m laying in bed, I sometimes stare at the ceiling and try to find pictures and words in the texture.
Tally up your number of x’s. MULTIPLY THAT NUMBER BY 3 TO GET YOUR PERCENTAGE. Repost this as “I am 36% stupid”.

I'm surprised that the percentage isn't higher! LOL Here I sit doing this when I should be finishing my mom's piece. I'm going to get started right now! LOL

Latest Finish

This is the piece for my niece's totebag. I did this in one week! Of course, I stitched almost all day each day! I really like it and plan to do one for myself to make into a pillow. I am also doing it for a charity square for Hannah G. at Love Quilts. It is Picnic Sweatshirt designed by Diane Arthurs from Imaginating, Inc. The scanned picture is darker than it really is. I just adore the ants and ladybugs! I love bright colors and, like I said before, folkartsy stuff. But after Christmas I'm going to try some Quaker things. I've been so inspired by what I've seen on other blogs.

We had our teacher-friends party last Saturday. We had a great time! Everyone really liked their ornaments. I randomly passed out the ornaments except the one for the snowman collector, but each person got one that really matched their personality. I couldn't believe it! I got lots of neat stuff - lotion, shower gel, Christmas magnet, ivy plant, photo cube, and lottery tickets! We had a ball scrapping them to see if we had won. Two women won - one $2.00 and one $3.00.
I didn't win anything. I'm not a lottery person, but I like getting them from other people!

I only have to finish the cross-stitch for my mom's tote and put all the pieces on the totebags and I'll finally be ready for Christmas. I can't believe I actually got them done. I only have a little bit to do on my mom's. I should be able to finish it tomorrow. I also need to make a pillow for my daughter. I'll post a picture of what I stitched for her later. I don't want her to see it 'til Christmas.

While I was stitching today, DD was also stitching. She's doing a Noah's ark. She is very good, especially since she's only stitched 4 things. The Noah's ark she's doing is a kit and it's pretty hard. Her best friend, Alex, was here, too. She wanted to learn to cross-stitch, too. So I taught her how today. She's doing a very simple reindeer ornament that I found on the net. It's very cute, and she is really a natural stitcher. She's doing a very good job. Well, better go to bed so I can get up early in the morning and get started on my stitching! Have a great day!

Finished Ornaments

I've finally finished the teacher-friends' ornaments. The one on the top is the last one I stitched. The other one is one I've already shown before, but I wanted to show how it looked finished. They all turned out so cute! I won't show all of them. Too many pictures. I put red felt on the backs of them so the stitching back wouldn't show. The party is tomorrow, so I got them finished just in time! It will be so much fun to see these friends again.

Yesterday I went shopping all day and got most of my gifts. I just haven't found something for the men yet. I always have trouble coming up with ideas for them.

DD quit her job yesterday. She didn't like her boss. Of course, she would quit before Christmas when she hasn't bought any presents for her friends, and she has spent all the money she has made on other stuff. Now she expects me to give her money for her friends' gifts. And money is very tight this year. She knew I was expecting her to use her own money to buy for her friends! Plus now I will have to give her money for gas for her car, also. Teenagers!

We had a very good time today. DD and I like to play board games. I had bought the game Life for my great-niece, but then decided to give her some Barbie clothes instead. SO we decided to keep the game since we've lost most of the parts to the Life game we had. I beat her twice (which I rarely do) and she won once. I really enjoy doing things with her.

Well, I'm going to go. I like to watch The Ghost Whisperer and it's on. Happy stitching!

More Ornaments

I have been very busy cross-stitching the ornaments. These are the latest 2 I have finished. I wasn't sure I would like these from the pictures on the packages, but I really do.

It's been a rough few days. I can't seem to get "well." First, I had that bad virus for several days. Then I took a cold that put me in bed for 2 days. My nose is still stuffy. Then yesterday, I had a migraine. I know why I had the migraine. I have obstructive sleep apnea. Because of the stuffed up nose, I couldn't use my c-pap machine. I have to breathe through my nose when I use it. If I don't use my machine, my oxygen level goes so low that I get a migraine. But I cross-stitched anyway, even with the migraine. I take Excedrin Migraine for my headaches. I have tried everything else, but because of my high blood pressure, I can't take the migraine medicines. Excedrin Migraine works pretty good for me. It stops most of the pain, but I still feel "addled." (can't think straight) Guess I'd better go and do some more stitching. I only have a couple of ornies left to do. I am also almost finished with the cross-stitch for my mom's and my niece's totebags. I'm going to buy something for my great-niece and make her a bag for Christmas next year. She'd probably rather have a toy anyway. Have a great day!

I haven't done any stitching today and didn't do any yesterday either. I finally got over to my mom's yesterday. Although I took some stitching with me, I never got a chance to do any. Mom and I had a lot of catching up to do. Also my mom's sister, Frances, came over to visit. I hadn't seen her in a long time. We had a very nice visit. I stayed over there pretty late, and got up today with a cold. I have been sniffly and achy all day, so I have stayed in bed all day.
My family is trying to figure out what we are going to do about Christmas. We have always gone to my mom and dad's on Christmas Day for our family dinner and gift exchange. But last year, my dad went into the hospital the day after Christmas Day and died 2 weeks later. My mom and dad were SO close. I' m not sure she can handle having Christmas at her house. I'm having trouble because of the loss of my son and my dad. However, we're afraid that if we don't get together, someone else in our family may pass away and we'll regret not getting together. After losing a son at such a young age and so unexpectedly, you realize that you can lose anyone at anytime.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Here are the last 3 ornies I have stitched. I am furiously stitching and I substituted the last 2 days. Middle school kids are really getting "excited" about Christmas. But I'm a strict teacher, so I haven't had too many problems. However, I have come home each day exhausted! Too tired to stitch much. As usual, I have set unattainable goals for myself. I'll probably have to give my niece and great-niece their bags next year. I'll keep plugging away though. Got to go and stitch some. I have to go see my mom today. I haven't been to see her in ages. She's really good at putting me through a guilt trip! LOL Have a great day and happy stitching!

Lots of Pictures

Today I'm going to show some ornaments I stitched earlier this fall and what I am working on today. The following is the front of the kits I got at the "everything's a dollar" store. These are the kits I am doing for my teacher-friends. Since I give them an ornament every year, I try to come up with a different style of ornament every year. I thought these were cute and a different way of finishing ornies. This is the ornie that I am working on today. To be such inexpensive (fancy way of saying "cheap") kits, these patterns are pretty complicated. This
little pattern had 13 colors and lots of backstitching.

The ornie below was the first teacher-friend ornament kit that I stitched. It is for my friend that collects snowmen. She decorates her condo with them every winter. She has them everywhere. When I go to her place, I really get in the holiday spirit. She gives the Christmas parties every year. It's a brunch. She is a marvelous cook. We have the best time - eating, talking, laughing, reminiscing, etc. We worked together over 20 years and shared many life experiences with each other. We are like a very close family. They were there when I got married, had my babies, had illnesses, had surgeries, lost my son, lost my father, etc. It's not often you work with people who become such close friends. I truly thank God for each and every one of them.

I am so excited, because I FINALLY figured out how to post pictures and journal between each of them!!! I have been trying for days to figure it out. I would go to other sites who use the same blogger I do and they were doing it. So I was determined to find out how to do it myself! I really made a mess of my post yesterday, but, hopefully, that won't happen again. Well, back to my pictures. The following is a little snowman angel. He came from Folk Art Sampler Collection by Dianna Marcum put out by Designs by Gloria and Pat. This booklet is filled with minis for Christmas as well as Halloween, needlework, school, and fall. I have stitched a lot from it. (I am partial to folk art.) I will probably give this to my sister, the angel collector. Not only do I give each teacher-friend an ornament each year, I also give each member of my family one,too. (even the children)

The snowman below is also from the booklet. I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep him. I think he is SO cute!

The penguin below is another mini from Folk Art Sampler Collection. Another teacher-friend collects penguins. So I stitched him for her.

The angel below was a freebie I got off the internet. I don't remember where she came from though. I think she is so cute. I will probably give her to my great-niece, who is 9-years-old.

She is my sister's granddaughter. It's so hard for me to believe that my sister is a grandmother. She is 5 years younger than me! She got an early start on her family. She had her first child when she was 18. I got a late start on my family. I didn't get married until I was 32, and I was 33 when my first child was born. He was born 5 days before our first anniversary. So - my sister is a grandmother and I am the mother of a teenager! Life can be so weird! My brother is about to become a grandfather. He is also younger than me by 2 years. His grandchild is going to be a boy. He is due in January (maybe he'll be born on my birthday, the 16th). I have stitched something for him, but it's too big for the scanner. I'll have to take a picture of it after I get it framed.

Messed Up

Well, I have really messed this up. I had posted some things and then changed my mind. Now I can't get the spaces off. Oh, well. Shouldn't have tried this so weak.

Back to the "Land of the Living"

I have been SICK for the last 2 days! I had some terrible kind of virus. I feel much better today - just a little weak.
I've decided to do the rest of the ornaments for my teacher-friends before I work on any other Christmas stitching, because the party is 2 weeks from today.
Angelsan wanted to know how I am going to attach the cross-stitched piece to the totebags. On the first bag, I used an iron-on double-sided adhesive to attach it to the front of the bag. Then using my sewing machine, I stitched around it right next to the border. I will show a picture as soon as I get one. Obviously the bag is too big to put on my scanner. LOL