Knock, knock.....Who's there???

ME!!!!!

I know, I know...it's been since July that I have posted.  I cannot believe it...but you know what's even harder to believe than that?  I haven't stitched since then either until this past Sunday during the Emmy awards!  And it felt WONDERFUL!!! And what a way to bring it all back..with a finish..finally.  Suzannah is finished!  All four girls are done and we have had an amazing SAL every Sunday with these with Kati.  Now I know that she still has some to do to get to her finish, but in no time she will be done too.  We are going to carry on with our Sunday SAL's we are just working out the details as to what. 

So....here she is!  I am going to dig the rest of them out as well and take a pic, but I'm going to see if I can find some great frames for them too.  I know what I want...and I've send them long ago. I'm hoping to find them or something similiar and get them done.

Suzannah by Carriage House Samplings stitched on 32 count gold spinner/silkweaver

Then last night I sat down again and worked on our Monday SAL of the 6 Fatmen, and finished another Fat Man! woo hoo!  So must say after weeks of not stitching it was a successful two weeks. And got a really really good start on then next square too!

My ornaments have been sorely lacking, so I have to get a move on with those as well and set them up in the qsnaps and start working on them. I was planning on stitching the 12 days of christmas (Prairie Schooler's) one day a month, but I fell behind on that as well.  Plus I have yet to recieve my copy of JCS Xmas issue, so who knows what I want to work on out of that.  Soooo much to stitch not enough time!  But I will forge thru and get them done :)

Camping season is over!  Whew!  Although the weather is actually still nice enough to do some more, but you never know here when winter or a cold blast is going to sneak up on you, so we thought it best to put the campfire out for the season and start cleaning out and winterizing the trailer.  Sad...cause we had an amazing summer, travelling to BC for 3 weekends out of the summer, and then going to our favorite spot by the lake most of them time, and also even went up to the mountains for one weekend....lovely, lovely country we live in and explored.  With family some weekends...with friends others....and a few times even just me and the hubby! (I'm not going to lie...those are some of my favorite times camping..looking up at the night sky, unobstucted by buildings and street lights...just holding hands and listening to the crackling of the fire)  mmmm mmmm I love my hubby!

Did lots of reading while camping too....read the Hunger Games series.  Very good!!! 
Flipped thru magazines..tried new recipes...all on the grill.  Some were great!  Other's got thrown into the fireplace and we pulled out the wieners instead!  LOL  But hey..it was great!  I think we were home for 1 weekend and that was only because hubby had to work that weekend. 

I've missed hermitting, I haven't contributed anything to my TUSAL either...I have lots and lots to make for!

So my house...needless to say is a disaster! So what do I do instead of breaking out the Swiffer duster....and the Dyson vac....I stitch!  Now.... do I have my priorites straight...agree or disagree??  LOL

L M N O P...

...q r s ...t u v   yep come on...I know you're all singing it...it's ok...me too.  LOL

I had a great stitching day yesterday...and got lots done on Suzannah (our Sunday SAL with Kati)...she's got more letters and I think that it looks great!  Rounding the corner now on her I think...not too long now and she'll be finished.  Not sure how much time I'm going to have this coming Sunday with her though..we're going away for the weekend.  It's our 9th anniversday on Friday and hubby and I are going away for a little romance...we were going to go camping but the weather isn't co-operating, so I think we're going to go to a little mountain retreat with some hot springs and enjoy each other!  Sounds like a plan!
Plenty of time for camping later when the weather is warmer.

Working on the fatmen tonight...off to shower and have dinner and settle in with my jammies and my snowmen :)

Letters for Susie...

I didn't have an update last week because I didn't do any stitching at all last weekend.  I tried but I just didn't have any stitching mojo in me.  I did manage to get it back this weekend and worked on and finished 5 golden rings.  Which was a little blurring in the picture for some reason, so I will be retaking it.  I love working on these Prairie Schooler ornaments.  These are my first PS's but once they are all done, I know that they won't be my last.  Love them!!!

Then there's Suzannah....ahhh my poor mouthless girl...she has some solid ground to stand on now...and some letters as well.  I was debating on whether I should do the flower side or the letters, and Sharon...just for you...I did the letters!  LOL

Tonight with the Stanley Cup playoff on, and the Bachelorette..I should get some serious stitching time in on my 6 Fatmen! Although I'm so comfy in my chair right now it feels like I could just sit and veg all evening too! 

How I wish it were Friday...*sigh*

IHSW report/SAL updates

Two posts in one! :) 

After finishing Sergei on Friday, I didn't do any stitching at all on Saturday.  Thank you to everyone that gave me input on Pinterest.  I decided to take the plunge and now I'm happily pinning!  I found it a great place to keep my recipes that I find...and excitingly...like I see some of you do...it's a great place to "store" the stitching freebies our there!  I LOVE THAT!  Plus I will keep my various wishlists there as well.  It's a whole new world!  Anyway...enough about that!

Sunday was SAL day with Kati...Here's progress on Suzannah.  Not much, but it was something.  I'm hoping that next Sunday will give me more time with her.

Then on Monday I finished my second square on of Fatmen SAL.  Love him!  And finally...I have been eyeing this little birdhouse since the first time I saw this chart as a whole and now I got that one done too...it's so cute..it makes me smile.  I loved stitching it.

We're having thunderstorms tonight....which I love, so I'm going to sit and enjoy and pick up my 5 golden rings and stitch that up. 

Some ground to stand on

It's hard to tell by looking but I spent a better part of the afternoon and evening stitching the ground that Suzannah is standing on....and it's not even done!!  Hopefully next weekend.

Mother's day was nice, it was just me and my Mom this year...Hubby left to work out of town on Saturday, won't be home until the 27th!!  That's two weeks without him.  I'm hoping though that that's a bad estimate on someone's part and he'll be home sooner...or that he can come home for at least a day or so.  But I took mom for a nice breakfast and then spent the day just relaxing.  No housework or chores allowed. 

Look at the treasure that I found in the closet downstairs over the weekend!  I don't even know what I was looking for but when I found this I almost fell over! I remember stitching it, I even remember framing it, and I remember why I didn't hang it...I had to get some hanging wire for the back of it to hang it.  What I don't remember is putting it in the closet and forgetting about it for YEARS!  So it's still missing the wiring and it's got a weird stain on the frame that I can't get rid of yet....But then I haven't given it a serious try yet either...but I will fix that and find a wall to hang it on.  I LOVE this piece!

Suzannah, Sergei & a prize

Didn't get as much time to stitch yesterday or even last week for that matter.  Had lots of time to sit and stitch this weekend, but when I sat down to do so it was more of a vegetative state and playing in the computer.  It's so nice to have a new laptop where I don't even really have to get up to do anything anymore.  I have it on the table next to my stitching chair and that's pretty much what I did.  Surfed and shopped.  Bought some fabric...made wishlists at various online shops that I'm pretty sure I will going back to in the next little while and making good on all my wishes. Just didn't have much of a mojo. 

I did manage though to almost get the skirt done on Suzannah.  Still have the thinner lines to fill in and then that will be done and it will be on to other parts.  That skirt is a chore!  But it'll all good.

Sergei got some more work on him done too.  But again...not as much as I would have liked too.  I'll be working on him more this week...and hopefully be close to a finish by the next time I post.

I received my giveaway prize from Carol today in the mail. Canada Post and the US Postal Service worked well together because it didn't take long at all for me to get the package.  I snagged the picture off of Carol's site so that you can see what I got.  I know you're all jealous!  and those Raspberry Cremes!!!!!!  Don't even ask!!!  They are yummmmmyyyyyy and I don't think that they are going to last the night...let me tell you!  :)

Going to take a shower now, have a little dinner and then I'm settling in with my fatman!  :) 

Hermit Weekend & Suzannah

Had a good Friday and Saturday of stitching...Sunday I got to work a little bit on Suzannah, but certainly not as much as I would have like to, or wanted to. 

I worked on my usual IHSW project Prairie Schooler's 12 days of Christmas...this month it was 4 Calling Birds.  I love working on these pieces.

Prairie Schooler - 4 Calling Birds - 32 ct Lugana mushroom

Then I got to stitch at little on Sergei.....finished the flower anyway.  Hopefully this week I'll get a more significant amount done on him.  However, I've got some things I need to do this week that might deter me from doing so.  However Hubby is going to be working out of town starting on Friday and well into next week, so I'm thinking I'll have lots of time to stitch then.

Last but not least I've got a very "little" update on Suzannah...didn't have lots of time to stitch on her yesterday as it was Jaxon's 1st birthday yesterday and we were busy with that...once it was home time, we were just happy to sit around and do nothing. The weather was amazing yesterday and even more so today, so we were out enjoying that yesterday...today had to work...but tonight we're throwing a couple of burgers on the bbq and eating out on the patio.  I LOVE SPRING and SUMMER!!

So tonight will work on FatMen on our Monday SAL.  Can't wait to stretch them out on the qsnaps and get stitching.

Suzannah and Sergei

Well I figured out what to do with the violet mist fabric that I couldn't use for my snowmen piece!  I am using it on Plum Street Samplers Sergei!!!  Oh yes I am and I love it!  I think he looks smashing on it.  There's an accompanying piece that I have that goes with it too, that will be my next project after Sergei.  YEAH!!  I think it worked out better this way. 

I did some work on Suzannah yesterday as well.  Got lots of stitching done, well what felt like lots of stitching anyway! Doesn't look too much like I did, but as I was talking with Kati last night we both agreed that the apron is very deceiving!  As of last night when we last chatted we both got it done...and I've started on the massive skirt as well. So next Sunday hopefully will prove to be just as fruitful.

With hockey playoffs in full swing, there is plenty of stitching to be done!  Weeeeeee!!!!!!!  I also signed up for this weekends International Hermits Stitching Weekend (IHSW)  You can check out all the information if you want to join us by clicking on to icon on my sidebar.

Tonight is 6 fatmen stitching night, so I'll be settling in with that after supper.

More Easter & Suzannah

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  Our house was filled with family, so it was a good day...but I must admit it was even better when everyone went home and hubby went into a turkey coma, and mom went to bed.  I got to sit and just let the silence take over...it was soooo nice. 

I got a couple of more Easter finishes done.  Both freebies.  The first being an abbreviated version of Tulip Time by Primative Betty's and can be found here.  Then the second is Easter Chick (Or what I call easter chick) by Aliolka that can be found here.

Tulip Time by Primative Betty's Stitched on 28 ct white jobelan

Easter Chick by Aliolka stitched on 28 count mint green lugana

I stitched a little in the morning and then again a little just before bed so I did manage to get some of Suzannah's apron done.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish up the apron next Sunday and start on her ridiculously large skirt. LOL

Some more hair and 2 happy jigs

This is just a quicky.  Hubby is on his way home and then we're heading out but I wanted to get my updates posted today.

I finished filling in the hair on Suzannah on Sunday and just barely got a few stitches in on her apron.  We were in and out all day on sunday and then had company, so there was only a couple of hours of stitching time after everyone left on Sunday night.  But she's moving along and I'm loving her still :)

Then have a couple of Easter finishes.  I feel like I could stitch my bunny bums, at least 3 more times with a pastel blue, green and yellow!  What do you think?  hmmmm it's a thought!  I love them.  It's a freebie by Alexandrina that I found on the net a couiple of years ago. I wanted to post a link to the site but it's not a site anymore.  So sorry :(

Bunny Bums by Alexandrina stitched on 28 ct White Jobelan

Second is another freebie by Aliolka she has tons of freebies, so you have to click around to find all that she has to offer :)

Heart Bluebird by Aliolka stitched on 28 ct While Jobelan

Two hands, a head and some hair

Finally she has a head!  Poor thing!  And isn't it a lovely face? LOL  I started stitching in the hair and got her curlie q's in.  Too cute.  Such a strange girl dear Suzannah is, but I love her and I love stitching her. :)

I got my first easter stitch in as well.  This is Easter bunny it's a freebie from 2011 from By the Bay Needlearts.  You can find the freebie here on her Feb 26, 2012 post.

Easter Bunny by By the Bay Needlearts - stitched on 28 ct Mint green Lugana

Have a couple of other Easter stitches I want to stitch up this week too, but not going to have too much time.  Have plans on both Tuesday and Thursday.  Tuesday we're going with the girls for dinner and a movie...going to see Hunger Games.  And then on Thursday we're going to a meeting to see if we get drawn for a seasonal campsite this year!  WOO HOO!  So perhaps Wednesday.

Such a Successful IHSW weekend!

I had such a great stitching weekend and still had time to visit with friends, and go grocery shopping and get everything that had to be done...done! 

First and foremost I FINISHED Hummingbird!  OH MY!  It is soooo beautiful in person! No scan or picture that I took to try to capture it did it justice.  So you'll have to take my word for it.  I'm sure that Laura will be pleased.  If not then I'm taking it back and hanging it in my house! That was Friday night. You might wonder why I have signed it Lulu 2010.  Well that was because Laura was Lulu's breeder, and Lulu was born in 2010.  So I wanted her to always remember Lulu :))

Hummingbird & Fuschia by Dimensions Stitched on 32 ct Lugana Solo by Silkweavers

Then on Saturday, I stitched up PS's Three French Hens.  So I'm on track with that too.

3 French Hens by Prairie Schooler  - Stitched on 28 Ct Mushroom Lugana

Sunday was SAL Sunday with Kati.  I worked some more on Suzannah.  Her proportions are bothering me...but I'm plugging along and it will come together. I love stitching her....I really wanted to give her a head but I didn't get that far this week.  But it looks like I'll get there next weekend.

So that is my IHSW report!

Poor Suzannah

I had much bigger plans for her this last Sunday, but they didn't come to be.   I got a call from the clinic and the evening girl wasn't able to come in for reception, and all the other receptionists have such BUSY social lives...that the only person that seemed to have been available was the office manager...gee...and who was that...ME!  ARGH!  So I had got a little bit of stitching done in the afternoon and that was it.  Worked until 11:30 Sunday night, with a double whammy of daylight savings time and having to wake up the following morning at 5:30 to go to work again....hmmmmm....do I seem a little bitter???  LOL Next weekend I'm hoping for more...perhaps she'll even have a head.  Here's hoping!

I was going to post a progress of hummingbird, but it's so perfectly set in the q-snaps that I don't want to take it out. I'm hoping for a lovely night of stitching tonight.  Hockey night for hubby means stitching night for Barbi! :)

I've signed up for this month's International Hermit and Stitching Weekend, click on the tag on my sidebar and join us! :)

Oh Suzannah!

How I love thee!  Yep it was SAL Sunday this past Sunday, which meant that the first stitches of life have gone into Suzannah, our 4th and final girl in the series.  Of all the girls she's the most awkward looking.  those arms are just a little too bizarre, and her skirt is out of control. But she is going to be a fun stitch nevertheless.  Stitched once again on the same fabric as the others. 32 ct lugana Goldspinner.

I had a good day of stitching on Sunday, Hubby left for ice fishing in the morning and all my housework had been done the day before.  So my plans on Sunday were quite simple...stitch..bake (Cupcakes with peanut butter icing...SCRUMPTIOUS!) and make my meatloaf with whipped potatoes...also yummy!  So that was it.  Watched my guilty pleasure...Real Housewives of Beverly Hills...please do not judge...it's good mindless tv to stitch by. LOL  It was a great day.

So now I am back to working on hummingbird again.  I'm hoping to finish this in the next couple of weeks. Whew...do I have big goals or what?  But I'm going to try anyway.  For those of you that would like me to stitch another one for you...HA HA HA! My mom will be lucky if she gets hers!  LOL I think it's going to be my summer camping project...while the boy fishes..the girl will stitch. :)

I still haven't decided on what colour fabric to stitch fatmen.  I'm leaning toward a blue though.  But don't take my word for it..I still haven't tossed the floss.

Meet Mary Margaret!

Yeah!  She's finished, and she's wonderful!  And I love her!  And she was actually finished last week Sunday, but hubby had left the camera up at his friend's place and I couldn't take a picture of her.  I tried with my phone, but I don't have one of those fancy phones and the pic was horrible, so I just waited patiently.  But YEAH!  She's finished!

Mary Margaret by Carriage House Samplings - stitched on 32 count lugana Goldspinner

Kati and I have talked about when to start Suzannah, the fourth and final girl in the series and we decided that we will start her on the first Sunday of March.  So that we both, (Well me mainly) have time to stitch on some other things on Sundays.  So I'm going to take the time to make Hummingbird and Fuschia my focus piece for the rest of February, accept for this weekend, when I'll be stitching the Second Day of Christmas by PS for the IFHW! (this weekend ladies, if you want to join us.  You can click the button on my sidebar to sign up.

Speaking of Hummingbirds....here's the progress that I've made on it...not much, but I'm thinking I'm going to have a few good hours on it this weekend.  Have some plans for Saturday night but it's also a long weekend here this coming weekend. So even if we have plans there's an extra day to stitch!  WOO HOO!

Closing in on a finish

Well we didn't make it to the mountains on the weekend.  But we have made definitely plans for this coming weekend, so I'm happy about that! I can hardly wait.  We'll be going up for the day on Saturday and then hubby is going ice fishing on Sunday....so I'm thinking that I will have a full day of stitching on Sunday and perhaps even a finish on MM this weekend!  Kati had her happy dance with Mary Margaret this past weekend.  WOO HOO!!!!  So I'm feeling not too far behind.  I'm thinking short-ribs in the slow cooker and then that's it...stitchy day Sunday.

Here's what a managed to accomplish on MM on Sunday...it's pretty much just finishing up the racoon, doing the ground and the border...so if I'm focused and I have hours and hours to work on it she'll be done and then on to Suzanne!  All exciting!

Better late than never??

I know I'm late with posting these.  EEK!  But with work and home and cleaning it just got away from me again.  I realized today that it's Thursday and it's practically time to work on MM again on Sunday.  We are sort of planning a mini trip to the mountains on Sunday, but that's all going to depend on other factors, so we'll see what happens, and whether I even get a chance to work on her this weekend. 

Here she is in her glory!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE working on her!

I got a new TUSAL glass.  I found this glass in a box of other glasses that we had downstairs.  Odds and ends one, and this is the only one that we have like this, so I'm guessing that's why it ended up in a box...so I have brought it back to life as my new Ort "jar"

Overdue Mary Margaret update

I've stitched on MM for two Sundays now and this is the first time that I have been able to sit down and actually take some time to write.  She's coming along nicely and I think that a finish is on the horizon, not this month but definitely in February!  I know that Kati is going to be finished before I am, but I'll get there too.

The time just gets away from me, I wanted to started to H & F this past couple of weeks, but I hadn't gotten that far.  Tonight though I have the first few stitches in it, and it's going to be gorgeous...I HOPE!  Considering I'm stitching this for someone else.  There always seems to be a little more pressure on you when you are stitching it for someone else, for it to be perfect.  It will be what it will be.  :)

We are starting to purge some our of stuff/crap.  We have decided to go room by room and gut everything out of the closets and dressers and just get rid of stuff. So it's a chore and for me an inner struggle cause I want to keep everything, but I know that it's ridiculous to do so.  So we're plugging along on that as well. eeekkkk!!!!!

I have signed up again for IHSW for this coming weekend and although I've got some plans for Saturday I'm hoping to get some good stitching in around that.

Mary Margaret's progress

I haven't posted an update on Mary Margaret in a very long time, she's the Sunday SAL I have with Kati.  Not as much progress as I would like, Kati is cruising on this one....but she's still coming along.  I love stitching her! 

I am going to start the Hummingbird & Fushcia that I'm stitching for Laura.  But I had to change out the fabric and the floss.  I just didn't like the feel of any of the stuff that came with the kit.  But now I'm happy with everything and I'm going to start :)

Here's a pic of Lulu that I took while I was taking a pic of MM....she doesn't look impressed that I was paying more attention to the fabric than to her!  LOL

Living in rubble!

I was going to scan my progress on Mary Margaret tonight so that you can see how little I actually got done yesterday, but my scanner is under a pile of fabric and trimmings right now, so I think that it's best to leave that alone at the moment.  It's very strategically piled but in such a fashion that if I move even one stitch of it it will all cascade to the floor.  So I'm thinking better of it.

Then I went to take a picture of it so that I can post it, and just as my camera turned on it turned right back off again saying "low battery" so I can't do that either. 

Oh well, it's not meant to be.  I would say that I will post it tomorrow, but I'm going out with the girls tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be home.   But eventually Mary Margaret will get posted.

Promise. :)