Mostly Stitching News

The baby shower was a success. Margo received a lot of things...from diapers to clothing to crib bumper pad. I made both of these items for her. I had wanted to do the bib and had it done in January. I did the burp towel because the grandma-to-be had bought it to do herself and then realized she wouldn't be able to do the project so she asked me. I finished the towel the day before the shower. Margo was ia bit concerned on how to launder them so I told her.

I have decided when I finish my Isaiah project that I will be doing a yellow car. The more I have thought about it, the more I like the idea of putting several cars patterns together and making a quilt for Ethan, my grandson. I tried to upload the picture to show you, but it doesn't want to load onto here for some reason. I am also going to work on a small pattern of a poodle that I have that reminds me so very much of our dog, Petro. He passed away several years ago from a heart attack. To this day he is sorely missed by all. He passed away June 28, 2003 shortly after turning 10. We now have two dogs, two cats and a rabbit. They are very loved.

I have managed to work on Isaiah some the past week or so. We found our camera, but the pictures of the Isaiah project were too bright. Jack says that because there was too much light. I then went ahead and scanned it. Right after I scanned it, Jack thought to take a picture of Isaiah with the web cam, so that is the picture. You can see I have started working on the trees. The near tree is completely done. I am close to done with the second tree. There are a total of five trees, I think. Then I have the mountains behind the trees and the rest of the verse and of course the back stitching of the eagle. I really want to finish this soon. I am kicking myself for taking this long. Maybe it's bigger than I thought it would be? I know its dimensions are bigger than "Sassy", but "Sassy" took up every square and this one doesn't! I have been working on this for right around two months. The letters are kind of fuzzy on the web cam picture, but at least you can see the whole thing, for once! I went ahead and posted both pics because the picture does look sharper in the scanner photo.

Everyone is doing great here. I have some news, but I cannot share it quite yet. It is exciting for us though.

Have a great stitching week!

THAT DARN FROG BETTER GO AWAY!

I have been dealing with Mr. Frog for a bit over a week! It started with my Isaiah project. What happened is I had gone over one instead of two in some stitches of the feathers, but I had counted the proper width between the section of feathers. When I did the purple part of the mountains, I discovered my error and had to frog about 20 stitches and restitch them so everything aligned properly. Otherwise, I would have had one square of the material showing between the mountains and the cluster of feathers for about five stitches. I also realized that the top line of the verse that I have completed somehow got off a few stitches and so the beginning of the line wasn't as close to the eagle as it should have been. It didn't take that long to fix, so I didn't mention it.

I managed to finish the blue and white parts of the mountains on the right page and put a small start on the first tree of the left page. As far as I know the tree is right. I guess time will tell!

On Saturday I literally stitched and frogged and stitched and frogged and stitched and frogged, mostly frogged! I had decided that I would work on the burp towel that I was asked to do. I didn't think it would really take me that long to do. I started stitching early Saturday morning and everything was going smoothly. I had decided to do two dogs, one barking and the other sitting there, looking at the barking dog with a look of, "Okay, whatever." I stitched the lightest color of the barking dog with no issues. Then I started the lightest color of the sitting dog. When I got near the top of the head of this dog, I realized that I had started his head one line too low, so I had to frog all of his head. I redid the head in that color with no issues. I then started the lighter color on the rest of the sitting dog. I was nearing the end of that color on him, getting ready to stitch the back left leg. I realized that because of the angle the material takes, part of his leg and most of that paw could not be stitched. I was mortified! I frogged all of the lightest color of his body. On this dog, that was practically all of him! I can see the holes where the sitting dog was frogged. I am hoping when I hand wash this that it will not be visible.

I decided to keep the barking dog and put something different to which he was paying attention. Jack's suggestion was a butterfly. We looked at my patterns and I could not find a small enough butterfly. We then discussed putting a ball. The only ball I could find, close to the size that would work, was a soccer ball. I also found a pattern that had three bunnies. I wondered, "what if I just put one of these little guys?" I discovered that would work.! :-) If you look at the burp cloth cloth, you can see a blue dot. That is where the center of the bunny will be. The bunny I am looking at putting is 16W/9H. He is the one on the right in this group of bunnies. I was wondering, should I try to make a small butterfly too? Would that make the burp towel too busy? Any and all suggestions are welcome!! :)

Mr. Frog had better be GONE!!

Have a Stitchy Wonderful week, everyone!

My Stitching and Week

Rachel's appointment last week in Champaign went well. She now has an appointment with the doctor who is to put in the prism tomorrow. I don't think the prism will be placed tomorrow, but I do hope it is soon since she has been suffering from major headaches lately and the doctor has concluded that her headaches are caused by her vision problems. I don't really know about that since her headaches just started last week and her vision has been a problem forever. Her prescription is only 7 months old.

Sarah's attitude became bad for a couple of days about a week after she stopped taking her meds. It is back to the way we like now. I will have to tell you the story of how we got her back to the way she needs to be, her chemical balance back to normal, another time. She is here and I don't want her to know what is happening.

Today was a bit scary for me. It started out fine...taking the kids to school and then going to the YMCA and the grocery store...then on the way home from the store, my right front tire blew out. I did have the cell phone, fortunately! I called Jack immediately because:

• I wanted to let him know what happened to the car

• I wanted to tell him I was off the road and safe

• I wanted to ask him what I should do...who do I call (?).... I am not good in situations like this....Jack told me to call a friend's son first and if he was unavailable to call Roadside Service. Craig's cell was turned off or out of service. I then called Roadside Service.

I called them and told them where I was and what happened. They said they would have help to me shortly to switch out the tire. I called Jack back to tell him what they said. I also prayed. The tow truck arrived about 10 minutes after I prayed. It took him a bit to get the jack under the car because the dirt I was on was soft and the Jack was sinking. The driver finally put a piece of wood underneath the jack and was then able to raise the car so he could take the old tire off and put the spare tire on.

Well, I still haven't actually finished Isaiah 40:31, but I do feel like I am getting close now! I finished the three purple colors in the mountains on the right page and have started on the blue of those same mountains. Then all I have left to do on the right page is the white of the mountains and the rest of the verse. On the left page there are a few mountains, but the left page is mostly trees. The part of the verse on the left page is complete. Maybe I will be done in another week or two? I also need to back stitch most of the eagle.

I am getting frustrated with my scanner! I couldn't get the entire project in, once again. The location of the verse is the only thing you cannot see, but it is still maddening! Also, because my scanner is on a shelf above my head it is hard to get it perfectly straight with this material. It lays perfectly straight when I have it out of the q-snap. But getting it to lay straight on a surface above your head, well.....GRRR!

I need to take a break from the Isaiah project to do the burp towel for my friend's grand daughter to be born next month. The baby shower is March 13. I really don't think it will take me more than a day to do the towel, I am just so focused on Isaiah, it is hard to think of doing a different project right now. I will probably take the break to do the burp towel when I have the mountain part on the right page done. Doing the burp towel will give me a quick finish under my belt for 2010. I think the project I am debating myself on what project to do after Isaiah and the burp towel are complete. I have a pattern of a Apricot Poodle that looks so much like our Petro who passed away almost 8 years ago. I also have downloaded a pattern of a yellow car for my grand son. Both are relatively small projects. I believe the next big project I am going to do is of Yosemite's Half Dome. I downloaded it a few weeks ago. It reminds me of home because I grew up just a bit more than an hour's drive from there. I will probably end up having at least one WIP while I am doing Yosemite's Half Dome. I need to figure out what size material would be best to work it on. Be prepared, stitching friends, when I get ready to do it, I will be posting asking for your opinions!

I hope everyone has a great week.

Happy Crafting!