Goals, Goals, Goals....

I am still at it again tonight... this band still has a bit of a way to go :-) Geez, I promise I will photograph this outside in daylight someday so you can see the actual color of this gorgeous fabric (which looks like stone... browns and grays....). But it seems every time I take the photo it is about 11 PM and I lay it on my kitchen table, turn on the lights, on goes the flash... and voila! Another overexposed photo - LOL!
I will review my August goals today, and post my September goals -
August Goals
1. Finish Petal Fairy SAL with Karen K. - yes, Happy Dance!!
2. Continue to work on Mermaid Heaven SAL with Jenn and Amy - yes, almost finished the first page of the chart
3. Continue to work on Earth Angel SAL with Jenn - yes
4. Continue to work on Legends of the Dragons SAL with Nikki - yes
5. Restart Catherine Agnes SAL with Karen V.- no, I still have not gotten around to this, and hope I am not disappointing Karen by not getting on with it, because I know I am disappointing myself
6. Continue to work on Angel of Love - yes, managed to get one evening in
7. Finish Story Time - yes, Happy Dance!!
8. Continue to work on Miracle Butterfly SAL on NTBB - yes
9. Continue to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - no, none at all this month
10. Continue to work on 17th Century Irish Garden - yes, it is now my 'at work' project and is beginning to move along well
11. Continue to work on Celtic Band Sampler SAL with Dani and Katrina - yes, and lucky Dani and Katrina finished theirs this month :-)
12. Continue to work on Little Wings - no, sadly, did not fit this in at all this month...again
13. Start Resting Butterfly when Petal Fairy is finished - no, totally changed this goal... started stitching Convent's Herbal Garden instead
14. Start House Samplings at work when Story Time is finished - no, totally changed this goal too and decided to finish 17th Century Irish Garden at work first...
***I rejuvenated an old UFO this month, though - Lanarte's Girl with Cat
September Goals
1. Finish Celtic Band Sampler
2. Finish Miracle Butterfly
3. Start Celtic Winter SAL with blogging pals
4. Continue Mermaid Heaven SAL with Jenn
5. Continue Earth Angel SAL with Jenn
6. Continue to stitch on Convent's Herbal Garden
7. Continue Legends of the Dragons SAL with Nikki
8. Continue to work on 17th Century Irish Garden at work
9. Continue to stitch on Girl with Cat
10. Continue to stitch on Angel of Love
11. Maybe start Garden Spots Sampler with Jo, just have to check with her to decide on a start date
***I anticipate that with wanting to finish two projects this month, Houses of Hawk Run Hollow, Little Wings and restarting Catherine Agnes are not going to happen at all... :-(

Q. What do you use to hold your fabric while you stitch? A hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, something else, or do you stitch in hand? Have you always used just the one thing or have you tried one or more of the others? Which do you like best? Why?

A. A little bit of most of these.... I started out using a hoop when I was very young, but that actually kept me from stitching much... I did not like (and still don't) how it leaves such deep round creases in the stitching. I prefer a Q-Snap overall, but also recently started using scroll bars within the past year... for some projects they work well. I learned the hard way, though, that you cannot add beads and then turn the scroll. The beads go all askew. Ouch! And, sometimes, if the project is small enough, I will stitch in hand. But I do much prefer a firm tension on my fabric and therefore find Q-Snaps to be the best option for me... and with all the extenders you can buy now they work for just about all but the tiniest of projects. I know they make really small Q-Snaps, and I have one, but boy do I get hand cramps when I use that one.
Well.... I got in my Monthly Bits fibers today from Stitching Bits & Bobs... and if I am not mistaken, their value is less than what I paid, so this month didn't go too well at all... a small size skein of Gloriana silk in Bellagio, a skein of Needle Necessities floss in 116, a skein of the new Northern Lights silk in Iris Blue, and a skein of this new Divine Threads rayon floss (??) in #27.... I checked the envelope twice thinking I may have missed something in it... but no, this was it this month. I wonder what happened. SB&B is usually quite fair... oh well, will consider it a boo boo this time around.

I also got in the fantasy charts I had posted - so I will ship out that two that were spoken for in the next day or two - so you two ladies can watch your mail for your choices soon :-) And, I got in the order with Tropical Dream and Waterfly (which included DD's new Evening Fairy freebie from Charlotte - which I am extremely excited to have received)... and I got in the silks from Victoria Clayton for Garden Spots Sampler... when it rains, it pours, I guess - pretty much everything I am waiting on came in at once :-) This is good, because I have spent the day being angry and sulking about the rising gas prices. (I see no need for the ridiculous hike and it is hurting many people I know... including me, as many of my patients are letting me know they cannot afford the gas to come to therapy as often any longer).... so how did I cheer myself up? Sigh... I got this really pretty fat quarter of opalescent belfast from SMF... their September Colour... called Midnight Sparkle, which Mindy describes as close to DMC 823 with sparkle... like a midnight sky. Cool!

Oh, and some very, very good news! Another LNS does not actually close after all!! I got a newsletter in the mail today from Enchanted Stitcher up in Somersworth, NH. They are re-opening at a new site, sharing space with a shop called The Poppy Seed...and will continue to do phone and internet orders! Woo Hoo! Nice to see the shop was saved!

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 6 :-)

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden at work, and Celtic Band Sampler...hmmm... three days in a row with this combination.... will tomorrow make four?? :-)

Oh goodness, what a nice thought... one more day to go and then four days off :-)

Making some headway now!!

I put another evening in on Celtic Band Sampler again tonight, and now I am well past the halfway point (yay!). I stitched the verse today... I am sure it is some kind of Celtic saying, but it seems so gloomy to me... "I will go as the wren in spring, with sorrow and sighing on silent wing" - the meaning is utterly lost on me. At my house, the wrens come happily in the spring, live in the cute little wren house my Mom gave me years ago, chirp away in the garden and gobble up seed from the feeders.... no sorrow or sighing... sad little verse. I want to thank everyone for their encouragement with getting along with this one :-) It has helped me a lot!
I received this neat Christmas issue of Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch & Beading from Katrina (the excited bride-to-be) today - we set up a trade, and I sent her the latest issue of Just Cross Stitch with the gorgeous Jeannette Douglas design in it. There are some really neat Christmas projects in this Jill Oxton magazine, and I want to thank Katrina so much for sending it to me!! I really want to try some of those beaded angels some day.

I also got in my Seven Seas lugana from Silkweaver today... very pretty, although slightly paler than I had expected, but well within acceptable limits. Gee, I hope they are OK down there. Silkweaver is located in Mississippi, right in Hurricane Katrina's path.... for those who may not be following the storm and its effects, it was really a very devastating hurricane... very sad, indeed.

It is new DVD Release Tuesday - Sahara (don't you just love Matthew McConaughey??) and Monster-In-Law (gotta see this one just because of its name - ha ha).

A few folks have commented and sent me emails about the poor ebay experience I just had. All the comments question what kind of feedback I plan to leave for that seller. I really hate to leave negative feedback. I don't plan to leave any at all. She left me positive feedback for my quick payment already, but I just can't bring myself to bash her publicly like that... guess I am a wimp.

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 6 - thanks to 8th and 9th inning heroics by several of the guys - Damon, Nixon, Ramirez... I am sure I missed someone.... good game despite Schilling's rough start. And what is with the Yankees scooping up every Red Sox who is let go? First they picked up Alan Embree (and saw first hand how he can ruin a game) and now today they signed Mark Bellhorn (strike out king of the MLB) - why do they do this? The answer is sooooooo easy - because they want to be us!!

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden and Celtic Band Sampler (hmmmm, sounds just like yesterday...)

Hurricane Katrina - hope everyone is OK!!

I hope that everyone living in the Gulf region - Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are faring well through this terrible Hurricane Katrina! My prayers are with you all!! I am relieved that Dawn has let us know that she and her family are all OK :-) I think Mississippi may have gotten it worse than they had expected.
I went back to work tonight on Celtic Band Sampler, despite a very strong desire to start Celtic Winter.... I have to finish the band sampler first :-) But, luckily, Dani is right so far... the sampler does move along more quickly now. I will probably stitch some more on it tonight too - the Red Sox game had an hour and 43 minute rain delay almost right after it started, so now it is going to run late. That, at least, will give me some extra stitching time!!

I got in that piece of hand-dyed fabric from ebay today - the wild looking one that is pink and green. I don't like it. I knew it would be wild, and that is fine. But the dyeing is terrible. She only scanned in the "good part," and the rest has dark areas where the dye did not blend well. As well, the fabric is not serged and is heavily fraying. I recommend staying away from the seller.... yuck. Oh, and she charged me $3.50 to ship and she mailed it in a standard white letter envelope, folded up all tiny, for just over $1.00. Rip off. (I don't think it would be polite to give her ebay ID here, but if you email me I will tell you who she is so you can avoid making the same mistake I did)....

Oh, a little fun in the DVD dump bin at WalMart - Gung Ho and Naked Gun 33 1/3 - The Final Insult - old comedies... movie are so fun to stitch to (except, of course when the Red Sox, Patriots or Ryan Newman are on!) - LOL!

Well, top of the 7th and the Red Sox are winning 7-1 over the Devil Rays. Unfortunately, Johnny Damon just got hit on the hand by a pitch and left the field immediately for x-rays. That could be bad.... (Final score Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 6, and Johnny is day to day with a bruised hand...sigh)

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden and Celtic Band Sampler

Is it really Sunday already??

Wow, it is so hard to believe it is Sunday already.... I wanted to finish the wing on Miracle Butterfly today, but there is still a small bit left...
I was very ADHD-like today, very distracted, by the reports of approaching Hurricane Katrina, and, on a much more minor note, about the carbs I ate at the wedding yesterday..... kicking myself in the butt over that all day! I am very worried, seriously, about the storm approaching, and I left a comment for Dawn tonight, as she is in Mississippi, in the storm's path! My prayers to everyone in that area. This one could be big, and I hope the forecasters are wrong... stay safe!! (image of the storm path is from www.cnn.com)

Red Sox 11, Tigers 3... and much better pitching from the Red Sox today :-) I just hope this is a sign of making a more positive turn for them.

Well, it will be a short week for me. I took Friday off, and then we have Monday off as it is Labor Day here in the USA.... "the unofficial last weekend of summer," as they call it around here.

Oh, I ordered the Kreiniks and the Mill Hill beads for Woodland Fairy, as well as the charm pack for Gardener's Cottage (only 0.98, and I know I want to stitch this one someday) since Stitching Bits & Bobs is having another sale... and she sent notice today that one of my orders is shipping, but I can't figure out which one because I haven't been receiving invoices with the items listed from them any longer since they switched how they use PayPal on their site... so it will be a surprise :-) I hope it is the new Mirabilia :-)

Jo and I are going to be doing a SAL soon, and if you are interested, we would love to have you join us! We will be stitching Garden Spots Sampler by Samplers and Such, using Victoria Clayton's silk conversion....

Stitched on today: Miracle Butterfly

edited to add: Just before I went to bed tonight, I did pick up Miracle Butterfly again and I finished off her wing :-)

I worked on 17th Century Irish Garden for a while during the long car ride this morning, and then for a little bit when we got home (while I also watched Ryan Newman get intentionally crashed out of the race by Dale Jarrett!!).... so here is an update....as you know, I have been finding small bits of time here and there at work to stitch on this too...

Here's my August Fabric of the Month from Silkweaver that came in today's mail... a pretty green and lavender combination... and I received The Kiss kit already from the ebay seller, as well as the set of three Mirabilia charts from another ebay seller... two of which will be used to gift friends in the future, while I will be keeping Spring Queen...

As for the fantasy charts I showed in my blog a day or two ago, Blackwork Dragon and Esmeralda have been claimed.... I am keeping the Black Swan stocking and TW's Romeo & Juliet.... if you want any of the others, please shout out to me - thanks!

The wedding was fun :-) It was a little "hippie wedding" out in the field behind their house... Mike's former boss and his new wife.... we gave them a division of one of our Canadian Border Patrol daylilies (pictured) for their "Wedding Flower Bed." They are going to have a gorgeous garden based on what I saw coming in from their guests :-) I was glad to learn the bride's favorite color is purple, making my daylily choice quite appropriate for her. The weather was a perfect 80F and sunny for their special day :-) Mike took video, so I don't know if there will be any stills sent my way to post... but hopefully there will be :-)

Celtic Ladies SAL Update: Margaret in Maryland does now have a blog :-) She is: Margo's Musings - hope you will visit her. I see that nine of the 13 of us in the SAL have signed on to the Yahoo group. I sent email invites via Yahoo to anyone who's email address I had, and then heard from two of you that you never got the invite :-( I am so sorry, I am not trying to overlook anyone. I expected Yahoo to do its job and send you the invite.... There is a join button to click in my previous post.... would hate to have some of you missing from that, but that is up to each of you to decide to join in over there...

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden

Celtic Ladies SAL Participant List

Please email me or leave me a comment here if I do not have you on the list - I think I checked all the comments and my emails, but you never know.... I don't mean to leave anyone off! We are:

Carol in New Hampshire
Leslie in Virginia
Amanda in Maine
Karen in England
Jenn in Connecticut
Kathy in England
Lisa in New Zealand
Katrina in New Zealand
Becky in South Carolina
Gill in England
Karen in England
Bea in Italy
Margaret in Maryland

Who did I forget?? A million apologies to you, but holler and let me know!!

I put together a Yahoo Group for this SAL, since there are so many of us in the group... and so that Margaret can meet you all too :-) I emailed invites to all but Leslie, Amanda, Lisa, and Gill because I could not find your email addresses :-( Please click the button below to join us :-)


alt="Click here to join celticladiessal">
Click to join celticladiessal

I don't know why some of the HTML code shows up here... it looks correct in my edit screen... hopefully the button will work for you!
I love Fridays, because on Fridays I stitch on Convent's Herbal Garden... tonight was no exception. This is a very fun stitch, despite having to keep flipping through the chart pages to find where I am :-)

I was high bidder today for this collection of fantasy charts. I want the Romeo & Juliet one by Teresa Wentzler and the Black Swan Stocking. If you see any of these that you have been wanting, please let me know! I have most of them already and will be happy share them with those who want them! (The one you cannot make out at all is Three Gates by Dragon Fire Designs, and the one in the upper left corner is Esmeralda by Truswell Designs).

I've been wanting to stitch another sampler soon, and am feeling like the one I most want to start is Garden Spot Sampler by Samplers and Such. With autumn and then winter approaching, I thought that at least stitching flowers would keep my spirits up :-) So, I ordered the silk conversion pack from Hand Dyed Fibers (Victoria Clayton) today. Now to select a nice linen....
And he does it again! Ryan Newman won his third consecutive Busch Series race tonight! This time in Bristol, Tennessee.... however, still no Nextel Cup wins :-( Wonder how tomorrow night will be.... seems both Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick are whining about Ryan's restarts tonight... Harvick holds grudges... will he take them out on Ryan tomorrow? My guess... yep, probably. It is time for NASCAR to do something about Harvick's temper and bad attitude! Anyhow, woo hoo and congratulations to Ryan!! (Photo is from www.nascar.com).

Red Sox 9, Tigers 8... they won tonight, but they are really struggling right now... pitching is terrible, and both Ortiz and Ramirez are pretty much slumping in the hitting department.... hope that will change soon!

Stitched on today: Convent's Herbal Garden

It is Thursday...it is Celtic Band Sampler night! I was able to finish most of the big blackwork band... it still needs gold stitches in the flower centers, etc. I will get those done this weekend, if I am lucky.

Well, now I am not totally sure what I will use for the new Mirablia... I found out I was high bidder for a limited edition color of Sugar Maple Fabrics 32 ct opal lugana over on ebay.... Sunken Treasure.... photo looks blurry, but the color looks great!!

I've been going through a bit of a lousy adventure with Stitcher's Dream, and it did not end well at all. I ordered a piece of their hand dyed fabric back in early July. After I did not receive it 2-3 weeks later, I emailed her. She said her father in law had died. I waited longer, as she said she would get my fabric out. I got nothing. I emailed her three more times, no response. I could not file a PayPal complaint because 30 days had expired. Finally, she replied to me last night - very nasty.... denies getting my emails... denies everything, and surely no apologies. But I did get my money refunded to my PayPal account. I most certainly will never buy from her again.... thought I would warn others, as she deserves to have her bad behavior documented as well. I feel like she told me a bunch of lies, because she was not consistent in anything she said to me. What terrible business practice!

Anyhow, in brighter news, I received the two pieces of 40 ct R&R Daily Grind for the Jeannette Douglas project in Just Cross Stitch - one for me, and one for Becky :-) Along with the linen came the bunch of Dinky Dyes Silks for Taj Mahal and the new GAST Shaker Threads that I wanted for my stash.... and the Beware of Cat chart too.... and this is kinda neat (to me, at least!!)- I was high bidder for a bead pack for Titania, Queen of the Fairies over on ebay.... someone is putting these together to sell, what a good idea! It saves me from driving around to the local craft stores (especially with gasoline approaching $3 a gallon)... and the bead pack was very inexpensive (I don't think she made any money)...

My weekend has started early. I didn't schedule any clients for tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to a day off. I have to look around in my garden and select a perennial or a division of a perennial to dig up and pot up to give to the bride and groom on Saturday... they are doing a "Wedding Flower Bed," which is a perennial garden they are planting in front of their house with the plants they get at their wedding.... and I think that is a way cool idea! I just can't decide what to give them yet....

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden at work, and Celtic Band Sampler

A little backstitching goes a long way...

... at least that is what I kept telling myself as I worked on Legends of the Dragons tonight. I also did more of the knotwork with the Waterlilies, but even the smallest amount of backstitching of the knotwork really makes this project look like it is progressing more :-)


Q. What's the largest project you've ever done? What's the smallest?

A. Hmmm... without really knowing measurements, and off the top of my head.. I think my largest, at least in terms of length, was Drawn Thread's The Marriage of Minds.... I don't tend to stitch very small projects.... may well have been a freebie... probably a Lizzie Kate freebie? I don't recall the name, just that it had a witch's hat and I never used it for anything... now that is not much of an answer, I know!! Oh, Village Alphabet by Cross My Heart... I am quite sure that was larger than The Marriage of Minds! That must be my largest piece yet. Here it is - I stitched it in 1999. The Marriage of Minds was stitched in 2003, and I have not yet gotten it framed... but soon! I stitched it for our tenth anniversary... as it says, "ten tempestuous years".

I picked up the floss for Titania, Queen of the Fairies today (except for three that were out of stock... going to have to search my stash for those)... why did I get the floss for this one? I think I miss having a Mirabilia in my rotation, so I am busily getting a bunch kitted up right now! I suppose it is pretty obvious that I really want to start a Mirabilia.... soon... it feels so weird not having one in my rotation right now, but I cannot figure out where to fit one in for a little while...sigh.
I just treated myself to a new kit over on ebay - The Kiss by Maria Van Scharrenburg. I have been watching this for ages, and tonight my clicky finger got the best of me :-) I know exactly where I want to hang this one :-) I like her designs... not much backstitching, so I think it will stitch up fairly quickly (in relative terms, of course - as in being opposite of a Teresa Wentzler design LOL!)


I also picked up the September 2005 issue (#121) of Cross Stitch Collection (UK Magazine) today - I think the "Tree of Life" is fantastic! It is charted for Anchor, though... I will see if I can convert it to DMC....

Mike was a bit too busy yesterday to get my DVDs, as it was New Release DVD Tuesday, but he took care of them for me today - The Ring Two and A Lot Like Love - really looking forward to time to watch them this weekend.

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden at work, and Legends of the Dragons

More Celtic Band Sampler....

I decided to keep on with forward progress tonight, and since I would love to finish this soon (for two reasons - to be able to go and frame and enjoy it, and to clear a spot in my rotation), I worked away on the blackwork band of Celtic Band Sampler while watching the Red Sox game tonight... boy, my fabric is so overexposed in these photos lately... I will try to get a better picture of this fabric soon... I am starting to feel, at long last, like I am finally making some progress on this sampler - yay!!

Well, my brand new Dell laptop arrived today :-) Mike spent the evening setting it up for me. Now I won't have to keep struggling with losing power in my laptop any longer (my old one has a problem with the pin where the adaptor plugs in - my brother now owns it and will get it fixed). I also had a nice lunch with my Mom today. She came by my office to drop off a belated birthday gift (a wonderful bird feeder that fits right into the window and the cats can see the birds while the birds can't see the cats - had one like it that a bear or deer tore down last year... this one will go in the spare bedroom window on the second floor so animals cannot tear it down)... it was a good afternoon :-)

I ordered this new Seven Seas 32 ct lugana from Silkweaver today... I plan to use this for the new Mirabilia chart, Mermaids of the Deep Blue... it almost looks like it was made for this design :-)

I am glad there is strong interest in the Celtic Ladies SAL - I will go through my emails this week and put a list together for everyone to know who is in the group.... I hope that Becky decides to stay with us...

Red Sox 5, Royals 2...

Stitched on today: Celtic Band Sampler

Celtic Ladies SAL - Updates on Ideas, Dates, Info...

The Celtic Winter SAL has officially been renamed The Celtic Ladies SAL :-) A couple of ladies are interested in joining, but want to do other Celtic Ladies... Celtic Summer being second most popular to Celtic Winter. Hey, why not? Also, nobody has offered any ideas on when to start in September.... so start whenever you please in September... or before... I think I will be starting about mid-month after Miracle Butterfly is done. This SAL (stitch-a-long) has no real structure. Stitch on whatever day you please, or many days a week. Stitch as little as you please...or can fit in. I know many of you are now into doing the exchanges, and that eats up your stitching time. But you are still welcome in this SAL if you would like.... the idea is for many of us to be doing the project (or any Celtic Lady project) and can chat about it and share WIP pics.... this is for fun, not for work :-) So.... who's in??
I couldn't really decide what to stitch on tonight.... so I picked up Miracle Butterfly again and stitched a bunch more on her other wing. But it felt strange to be working on her on a day other than Sunday. I am so used to peering over my Q-Snap at NASCAR!! Well, I figure I will be picking this up often for the next couple of weeks to get it done and open up the needed slot in my rotation :-) Now that she is showing more color on the left side, I am liking her even more.... But she is not as close to done as many of you are commenting in my blog... she has a border that is yet to be stitched too....

I got the floss today for Spring Ride, an upcoming SAL for next year.... but that is about the extent of today's stash excitement :-)

Stitched on today: Miracle Butterfly and 17th Century Irish Garden at work (finding time to make some decent progress on this one.... so I will get a new WIP pic up fairly soon - I am glad I decided to make this my 'at work' project instead of starting something new).

Time to set a start date for Celtic Winter SAL... are you in the group??

If so, please leave me a comment or email me as to when in September you would like to start the SAL... thanks!!! I guess it is time to start figuring that out now... Also, please let me know if you are still in the group too :-) I hope you are!!
I didn't stitch for very long today, but I did get a couple of hours in on
Miracle Butterfly, as it is Passione Ricamo SAL day.... and I want to get this one done soon to open up the slot for the Celtic Winter SAL in my rotation... I am happy to see her other wing is now getting filled in... but I am not enjoying working with the blending filament in her wings (got that part done tonight) - however, the black outline inside the border is done with black blending filament. I am wondering if I should torture myself and do it that way, or if I should just stitch that backstitch lining of the border with black floss.... I think I just talked myself into doing it that way :-)
I came across a new seller of hand dyed fabrics on ebay today - figured I would give this one a try - no idea what I will use it for, but wanted to check it out! This is a 28 ct fabric, only 13" x 11".... hmmmm... wonder how it looks in person....

Ryan Newman ran a good race, but remains 8th in points.... while Red Sox 5, Angels 1 - thanks to homers by Edgar Renteria and Manny Ramirez... and a cool bunt play by David Ortiz... first bunt hit of his career, I believe they said... funny to see him to it :-)

Oh, and I finished my bids on pretty new daylilies from my favorite ebay daylily seller... this one, Alpine Mist, is most adorable - it is a little mini daylily, and I am so excited to be adding it to my garden now!!!

Stitched on today: Miracle Butterfly

Before I started working on my regular Saturday project, I put a little time in on the next band of Celtic Band Sampler. I will be doing that as time permits now as I want to get this one done in time to fit Medieval Town Mandala into my rotation when the online class begins on October 1st...
And, then I moved on to Mermaid Heaven, my usual Saturday project... I had hopes of finishing this page, but ran out of steam tonight... I will have to finish her hair another time (we are going to a wedding next Saturday in western Massachusetts.... so I probably will just work on a small car project instead of Mermaid Heaven next Saturday....)...

Ryan Newman wins the Domino's Pizza 250 in Michigan!!

Well, it is not a Nextel Cup Race, but Ryan Newman won the Busch Series race for the second week in a row today - and this time I watched it :-) Woo hoo!!! I can only hope tomorrow will go as well... unlike last week.... :-( (both photos are from www.nascar.com)

And, just as I was beginning to wonder about it yesterday, the bead pack I ordered for Taj Mahal arrived today :-)
And, I just found out I was high bidder on ebay for this really pretty Jelly Bean 28 ct fat quarter by Silkweaver on ebay.... cool!

Mike and I went to WalMart today to run some errands, and I picked up some fun classics in the DVD "dump bin": Cocoon and Boomerang :-)

Stitched on today: Celtic Band Sampler and Mermaid Heaven

Yay, it is the weekend!!

I think I got quite a bit done on this one tonight :-) It is really moving along nicely!!
Before I started working on my scheduled project tonight, I first took a few minutes to finish the "W" and add in the little burgundy motifs that I could not get to last night... and I feel better now. My OCD drives me crazy when something is not quite finished!!

I am very excited about this - I pre-ordered the new Mirabilia design, Mermaids of the Deep Blue, today! I love this one - I think several of my recent fabric purchases will work well with this - I love that it has two mermaids instead of one this time!! It is due out next Friday. I also ordered a pair of scissors and a sheath to keep in my "at work" project pack. Then I went over to ebay and was able to scoop up almost all of the Dinky Dyes silks I need for Taj Mahal... Hmmmm... wonder where the bead pack is for that... should have been here by now... (Taj Mahal is by Chatelaine, pictured below...) I also picked up the DMC floss for Woodland Fairy today, since it is only 7/$1.00 at AC Moore right now...

(and, I picked up the 40 ct. Daily Grind by R&R for you, Becky - you are a true friend, and thanks for ordering the silks for us to do this wonderful Jeannette Douglas design together!!

Mike and I went out to dinner at Cactus Jack's tonight, and then off to Best Buy - since Mike had tried two or three of the specialty Mexican drinks, he was feeling good.... he got us a new HD video camera... and got me two DVD sets...3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 1 (which I have already started watching, and am laughing my head off), and Herbie The Love Bug Collection (all four movies!!)

Oh, and a little something pretty in the garden today.... Tall Phlox: Mt. Fuji

Red Sox 4, Angels 3 - until 1:45 AM!! Good thing I can sleep in tomorrow...

Stitched on today: Celtic Band Sampler and Convent's Herbal Garden

I stayed up until 1 AM working on this sampler, yet I still did not manage to finish the "W" at the end of the band :-) Nor did I get the little burgundy accents stitched between the letters.... this took longer than expected, but it's pretty good progress :-)
I had some rare extra stitching time today. I got out of work early and my husband is busy setting up his new computer. There are no big chores to do, so I worked on Girl with Cat for two or three hours. Yay, I got the face done!!! Those who know me, know that I am totally compulsive about getting the faces done as soon as I can! There are still some blank areas in her hair, and although that bugs me, it will have to wait for now, as tonight is actually Celtic Band Sampler night. I went with a close up scan of her face tonight, as I think you can see that better than if I took a photo of the whole piece... it is primarily stitched with one strand of floss and has a watercolor effect that is stunning, but is hard to appreciate in photos!!


Q. How often do you wash your fabric for each project? Do you wait until the very end until to wash it or do you wash it more than once?

A. To be honest... sometimes, not at all! I only wash if the project requires it. That really isn't all that often for me.... I don't generally stitch in hand, so that eliminates a lot of stains. I take my projects off the Q-Snap or scroll bars every night when I am done.... also keeps them clean. But if they need a little bath, I generally do it just at the end, unless a mark is particularly bothersome to me... then I will get right to it!!

I got a new magazine today, World of Cross Stitching - it is finally out in the US, now that the next issue was just released in the UK.... boy, do they run late here. I just had to have it - there is a DMC Flower Fairies kit with it, and you know how I adore those (but confession time... I haven't stitched one yet!!), and I totally adore the poppy field picture in this one too!!

Stitched on today: Girl with Cat, 17th Century Irish Garden at work, and Celtic Band Sampler

Props to Karen V.!!

It is Wednesday... that, of course, means it is Legends of the Dragons night. I finally took it off the Q-Snap and am working on it in hand (unless I am doing the over one stitching)... I find that since this is on a fat eighth and is a horizontal piece, holding the Q-Snap is too darn awkward... and uncomfortable... and my comfort level and enthusiasm had been waning... felt better stitching in hand, although that is never my preference... but this piece is moving along well, and I really love it, and I love stitching the SAL with Nikki too!
While thumbing through Cross Stitch Gold, Issue 32 (the latest for me, although the most latest came out in the UK yesterday), I came across something that made me smile... and is quite noteable! Our friend, Karen, is credited for stitching the model for Laura Tillson's Blue Topaz in the issue! Well done, Karen! This is the little blurb in the magazine where Karen's name appears :-)
These two daylily photos are not from my garden... I just was high bidder for them on ebay from my favorite daylily seller - I like to give her a little business every year, I don't want her to stop selling! I am thrilled to have gotten Cherry Candy and Prairie Blossoms.... knocking two off of my garden wishlist!!
I got in the Forget Me Knots Grove lugana from Sugar Maple Fabrics today, and I ordered the 40 ct Daily Grind linen for the Jeannette Douglas design in the new Just Cross Stitch today... as well as the rest of the new Gentle Art Simply Shaker threads that were recently released.... However, this bloom of Dainty Eyes is from my garden today... daylily season is truly winding down now... and it was a treat to find this new bloom today :-)

Stitched on today: Legends of the Dragons and 17th Century Irish Garden at work... oh, and then I snuck in about an hour on Girl with Cat before I went to bed :-)

***Oh Juul, if you are reading this, you asked about my Sebastian chart from HAED.... I ordered the regular sized print with the background :-) It looks very readable with regular size print :-) I didn't get the email copy, I got the paper copy via the mail, and it took about 10 days for it to arrive here.

Tonight was Earth Angel night.... I did a bit more of the white in her wings, and even did a little near her body to begin to work on the inner shape of the wings... then bopped over to do some more of the greenery so I would not be lulled away by the white - which really has not been as bad as I had envisoned it would be :-) I will put up some closeup scans next time - she is so much prettier than she looks in these large wip photos.

The October 2005 issue of Just Cross Stitch arrived today - and finally! One of my favorite designers is being showcased!! Jeannette Douglas! Look at this wonderful Autumn Stitches project that is in this issue. I adore it! Of course, it calls for pricey silks that are a bit tough to find around - Gloriana Silks, NPI Silks, Soie D'Alger, Bijoux Metallic Thread and the By Jupiter! charm... but I am determined to do this someday...soon! If anyone else plans to stitch this, would you be interested in sharing fibers??

I got in the large Silkweaver solo I bought last week, and it is gorgeous! And, I had forgotten, but last night I was high bidder for Beware of Cat on ebay. I generally stitch a Halloween design every October... maybe I will do this one this year... if I can even fit a Halloween design in this year...

New DVD Release Tuesday! Double the fun this week! Mike got Sin City and I got The Wedding Date :-)

Red Sox 10, Tigers 7...

Stitched on today: 17th Century Irish Garden at the office, and Earth Angel

Oh, some sad news for avid stitchers who love hand dyed fabrics - if you get their Solos update, you saw this - but their primary dyeing lady fell very ill yesterday and had surgery today. Sure hope she will be OK!!!!!!