BOY was Decermber FAST!

Chance's Wolf Pillow

Hello Everyone!

I pray you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a blessed New Year! :) I am so amazed how quickly this month has gone by! It seems like yesterday was Thanksgiving, when we had Sarah, Chance and friends from our old church here for dinner and tomorrow starts 2014! I also have my birthday tomorrow!

I have done a great deal of stitching this month. I finished the wolf. Rachel and I went to Hobby Lobby with the project and

Rose Bowl 3

looked at material. We both liked the forest green color material with the wolf, and a friend did the putting together for me, as my sewing machine has been on the fritz for awhile./ The back of the pillow is solid green and the front has the green on all sides. I would guess it is about 11 or 12 inches on all sides. I gave it to Chance as a Christmas present. He loves it! :)

I have also made a nice amount of progress on "Rose Bowl". I felt like I was making decent progress
 before Christmas, but one of my gifts (thanks, Mom and Dad) was an Ott light. It is a standing Ott light with an arm which has a clip to hold the pattern and an arm with a magnifying glass. The lamp can either be used as a floor lamp (the way I am using it) or a desk/table lamp. Actually, they sent my Christmas money, I went to Joanns and bought this, then had

Ott Lamp and Stitching Area

Jack wrap it and tag it to me from my parents. I feel I got it for a very good price. It was normally $269.00 before tax and I was able to purchase it for $104.38, including tax!! Most of the time when I stitch I sit with back against these pillows and legs out on the bed. There was a lamp attached to this table that I bought a couple of years ago, but taking the lamp part off, which we needed to replace the shade of anyway, and using the Ott light instead works great! Jack tells me this light doesn't bother him. Most of the time I am stitching, Jack is on the other side of the bed reading his fan fiction or doing something else on his computer.

I also purchased two HAED patterns. One rather big and the other will fit in an 8x10 frame. The bigger one is "The Lord's Supper" and the smaller is a "Blue Butterfly". One of my clients loves butterflies and I figured this would cheer her up! I also purchased a hard bound book of Christmas  cross stitch projects, everything from ornis to wall hangings. Not to mention I want to restart "Life's Little Tangles".  I definitely have my stitching plans ahead of me!

The client that I am planning on stitching the butterfly for gave me a cedar chest last week. She said she has no use for it and wanted to know if I could use it. I said of course! I was thinking of trying to organize my stitching supplies better with the use of this cedar chest.

Sarah finished her CNA classes with a week of working at a nursing home for her clinicals part and then the final in the classroom. She passed both with an A, which does not surprise me. Now she has to take her State Boards. The next test for that is February. She can work in the capacity of a CNA for 90 days without taking the State Boards

.Well, I need to be going...I want to spend some time with Jack and stitch! :)Happy New Year Everyone!

What a Week!

Hello, Everyone!

Things have been going pretty well for me since my update last week.

On Thanksgiving Day, Sarah and her boyfriend came over as well as some good friends from our old church. Jack cooked turkey and ham, made macaroni salad, mustard potato salad, mashed potatoes w/ sour cream instead of milk, pepper gravy and giblet gravy. I made homemade bread and pumpkin pies as well as chocolate pie, banana cream pie and a pistachio cool whip dessert. All the desserts were sugar free. Our friends brought over green bean casserole, butternut squash, German potato salad and sodas. We also served jellied cranberry sauce. All the food was delicious!

Jack and I watched the first NFL game. Green Bay and the Lions. We enjoyed the game. The Lions earned the win for sure! We always enjoy a good football game. I grew up watching all kinds of sports and Jack played football when he was in school. We ended up not watching the second game

I cleaned a client's home Friday morning. Saturday I spent the better part of the day on the computer, finally catching up on my e-mails and really facebooking for the first time in a long time. Church on Sunday was very good. Rachel and I went; Jack has had a bad cold and hasn't been able a to do to much as result.Rachel took care of the woman Sarah takes care of most of the week with her CNA duties before church and I took care of her Sunday evening so Rachel could go to church. Rachel is earning money to buy Christmas presents by doing this. I took Rachel to the mall Sunday afternoon and she bought whatever she is giving me for Christmas. Last week she bought what she is giving her friend. Rachel spent Friday night at a friend's hose and went to the movies. Once again, I cannot remember the name of the movie. That kind of thing escapes me. Aggravating!

Chance Wolf 2

I was able to stitch the day away on Monday! :) I made a big dent in the wolf project. I feel good about my progress! Here is the Wolf project at last post and then this post. The last time I stitched on the Wolf was before I went to the doctor this morning. I finished the wolf's face and neck. Using my red guide line thread, I started working on the rest of the wolf. I am currently finishing all of DMC color 640. Then I will complete the next color of the wolf until I have him done. Then I will move on to what is left of the branch and the back stitching. y plan was to give this to Chance for Christmas, but I am unsure how I will finish this. I started wondering if I had enough edge

Chance Wolf 3

to frame it a couple days ago. I wondered about turning it into a pillow. I have the stuffing, but my sewing machine bit the dust a few months ago. Maybe I can take it to the gal who does minor sewing repairs for me and see if she can help me turn it into a pillow. I may be able to find a frame, We'll have to wait and see.

I am excited about a couple of things stitching related. I have been looking for a magazine cross stitch related for quite awhile and have had no luck. A couple weeks ago I found one in the magazines at the grocery store, and only one! They had tons of quilting, crocheting/knitting, and scrap booking. This magazine is called, 'Cross Stitch and Needlework'. Inside the magazine was a coupon for 50% off a one year subscription. I snagged it and mailed it off! :)

The other thing I am excited about is that I went ahead and ordered a couple of HAED during their half off cyber sale! I put the check in the mail yesterday when I was going around town paying various bills. The smaller of the two is called, 'Blue  Morpho'. It is a beautiful butterfly. One of my clients, who has become a friend as well, loves butterflies. The second one is, 'The Last Supper'. I want to stitch that one too, but before I stitch either of them, I will restart, 'Life's Little Tangles'. My plan this time around with it is to put the red guide thread on the material used for the project. I have a feeling it will stitch much faster with that done first. I will put the guide thread ten stitches apart, the same way the pattern is gridded.

Rachel, her friend Bree, and went to Lowe's last night. Rachel and Bree picked out a beautiful tree. We put it in the stand last night and got it standing straight. We will probably decorate it later today.

The past few days it has been rather warm for December here. Today here it was in the mid 50's. Usually this time of year our highs are in the mid to lower 40's. Tomorrow though it is suppose to take a nose dive by the late afternoon and they are calling for snow tomorrow night.

Well, I must be going now. Take care everyone and happy stitching!