Oops...Forgot a couple of pix

 This is just  couple of pix that I talked about but forgot to attach the pix.  Here they are...

I also saw this pattern (hexies) that was in the American Quilter Magazine,.  I will make it sometime...forgot to post it also.

I'm doing pretty good ...

 on keeping up with some projects so ...

    For instance, I caught up on my blackwork, stitched up some Arbor leaves, and worked on the Candlewicking more.  I also picked out another project to work on soon-ish.  So that is this weeks progress in a nutshell.  Tomorrow is my monthly SCA meeting so I might be online much and I am hoping Dan will put together the weed wacker that I ordered and it came in.  So just let me post up some pictures, sorry no new ones of the kittens, but still progress pix.

   First up is my blackwork.  It is coming along nicely,  It won't be long (about another month) before I will start to work on the border.

   Here is my progress pix of my Candlewicking.  This is as of this morning so you get it hot off the press as the saying goes,

   What is nice about this is that I get to change to the darker color now and work on the roof of the house,

     I can't forget my update on the Words of Wisdom blocks.  This one is done but I won't start on the next one for a bit.  I think another dragon, Blackie, is calling to me to get her/him done first.

     Next up is the Arbor leaves,  These are two stacks of 3 (all the same color/fabric).  I will be working on another purple colored one next.

     I received my July American Quilter magazine the other day and I found this pattern in it.  I am thinking of making it sometime.  It will take me forever to do it so don't expect it anytime soon.  LOL

     That's about it for my updates.  It wouldn't be an update without tonight's kitten pix.  It is harder to get their  get a pix of them in this cooler weather.  Their energy isn't as zapped as it was earlier and they are practicing their pouncing.  So far just on each other's tails and on bugs.  Sometimes they get courageous and pounce from the porch step.

     I hope everybody has a great night/day.  

Update time!

    Yes it is that time again...it is update time.  What I have been working on?  Not much new since most of my current projects are UFOs.  I did start a new UFO, if I can call it that, called Arbor.  After many restarts, I have the blocks fused down and now I can start to stitch them.  The background fabric wasn't my first choice but quickly found out that I didn't have enough background fabric so I had to substitute with another fabric.  I think this will work.  Here is a pix of my blocks waiting to be stitched.  The yellow post it notes have the DMC floss number on them that I chose to stitch with.  These are seven inch blocks that are supposed to be cut back to six and a half.  I'll see how much shrinkage I'll have after stitching.

 As a reminder, there will be 4 columns of petals in total.  Each column will have 6 petals.  That will be three on each side of a so called stalk.  I'm not sure yet how wide that stalk will be.

     I have also started on another block for Words to Live By.  This one has four birds on it and three of the four are small birds.  I am doing French knot for the eyes on the two smallest one.  That has been stated.  Here is a pix of the blocks that I have done so far.

   My blackwork SAL might not get done this week.  I have two blocks waiting for me to do but Wednesday a new block comes out and I might find myself soon with three blocks needing to be done.  That is ok.  Just as long as I don't go to four blocks behind  

   I did mail out my block exchange block today so that is one thing to check off my list of to dos.  

   I haven't been doing my Fleur since my eyes have been bothering me a little bit.  Nothing serious.  I know it is just eye strain and working with black thread on black fabric wouldn't help.  

   I also haven't worked more on the Candlewicking since I have to pull a lot to get the strands of fabric through the fabric.  My fingers are stiff lately due to the weather so I'm not working on that project for a bit,  

   I actually went outside today to tackle a bit of the high grass/weeds by the house.   That is the side between the house and the wooden fence.  It didn't last long,  But I did manage to pull off some of the vines that love to grow on the fence and stick to it as well as cut (with a pair of scissors) around the water meter.  Tomorrow I might rake what I cut down and put it out by the curb since I'm expecting the city to come and haul that type of stuff soon  My neighbor has a lot for the recycle guy (lawn and tree waste) usually drives around on garbage day to get an idea of where he should stop and pick things up.

   I am saving up to get what I call a weed Wacker to take care of a lot of this stuff.  I might not get it this year but I will definitely have it next year.  This is one that doesn't have that twine that can get all jumbled up but instead runs off a battery.  The price is pretty good but on limited budgets, it will still take me a bit.  It is a matter of what do I want to do without if I get that.  I'll figure it out,

   That's about it for a quick update.  I hope everybody has a great week.  

    Thank you my friends!

There be dragons!

      Whew!  The red dragons are finally done.   could have done more but after 4-6 restarts, I am stopping here.  Yeah they know they gave me a fight.  Loo at those smirks on their faces,.  That's o.k.  

     That isn't my only finish this week.  I finished up my block for the August block exchange.  It will be mailed out to my partner sometime in the first full week of August.  I will have to trim it down a little bit but that is o.k.

     I was pretty excited to find a border pattern on Pinterest that I think would be pretty.  

     Well that is about all I have to share this time.  I am continuing working on Fleur blocks and Blackwork.  Perhaps the next post will have an update.  It's time to get back to stitching.

     Enjoy the rest of your week.  

YIPPEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Today was a great day.  This will be a short post but since a couple of people were asking how my doctor's appointment went, I'll post.

   First of all...I had the last appointment at the wound doctor's.  Yep that is right.  I don't have to see him again unless I get another wound, etc.  :)

 So this is the news for this post...

    1.  Dan didn't have any problems with his vehicle and picked me up to go to the doctor's.  Considering that he was on an 1/8 of a tank for gas, I was holding my breath.  While I was at the doctor's he filled up the tan  He even got a pack of sigs and a new lighter.  He had forgotten them at home.  He timed it well so that even though we went through some heavy rain, it let up by the tie we arrived at the doctor's.

   2.  The doctor's visit went very well  In fact, I don't have to go back unless my foot gets wore.  H and his nurse both reminded me to be careful of space heaters.  I told him I will.  I will have to get extra warm slippers and socks for the winter.  

    3.  Dan then took me out to eat and boy did we eat.  We both had leftovers.  I had fajita nachos. I've attached a pix of what I ate.  LOL.

   4.  I weighed in, with all my clothes on as well as my shoes on, and I am under 200 pounds again.  not much under, but under nonetheless.

   5.    I even managed to get some stitching done on my swap block.  It was a great day.  I hope everybody else had a great day also.

DMC all sorted out!

    Yes, you read that right.  I finally managed to catch up on refiling my DMC floss.  I will admit it...it took a bit but it is done for now.  I have a couple of potential cross stitch charts that I had earlier pulled floss for and I don't think I will get to them anytime soon.  A couple of them have been pulled for a couple of years and I still haven't started it.  Time to be realistic.  I can always pull the floss when I actually get to the chart again,  In the meantime I have it organized again.

     In the picture you can also see my colorful block that I will soon start stitching on.  It will be sent to my swap partner in August.  This one will take a little bit to finish so I am starting it now.  Tomorrow I will start matching up my colors and then I can start to stitch it.  I will first stitch on the hearts.  Instead of going through three layers for stitching, I will do the red on yellow heart first and then sew that onto the blue and THEN sew it on it to the background fabric.  I should be able to start stitching tomorrow.  I like to stitch on Sundays.  It reminds me of hen mom would sit us down with her and we would work on stitching.  It is a good way to relax...until you get knots in your fabric that is.

   I am still working on my usual blocks:  Fleur, dragons, Words of Wisdom, blackwork, etc.  I also am working on the small table runner.  That came to a halt when I noticed one of the blocks has a red line on it that looks like it would be the stem of the maple leaf block.  I need to figure out what I will use.  I had thought about  perhaps putting it in with embroidery but I'm not sure.  If I do some applique on it, it will be fatter than the drawn in line.  Of course I'm still searching for the backing fabric so I have some time.

   Then I have the Arbor table runner.   will get that cut out soonish.  I also, finally, got my Storm at Sea pulled out and organized so I know what I need to do.  I will start pulling out the fabric  that will go with the paper pieced blocks.  I have the paper pieced blocks separated by rows so I can work on one row at a tie.  I have six more rows to do.  After getting one row done, maybe after getting three rows done, I will add them to the first three rows I already pieced together.

    On a side note, I saw some picture of a couple of projects that I'm thinking of doing.  This first one I would do in a different colorway.  

      This second one is a bit crowded for me but it does give me an idea to use part of it.  Not sure yet.

   That's it for now.  I am getting into the mood to dig out the sewing machine again so perhaps the hand work will have to go on hold for a little bit,  Maybe sew the blocks for one row and then switch over to some stitching on another project before going back.  That way I won't get bored always sewing on the same thing.

     Oh...wait.   I have kitten pix to share with you.  Enjoy and have a great day.

   NOW I'm signing off on this post.  Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to me!

      It has been a quite day and I really don't have much to report.    It is in the mid 90s and just too hot to car to do anything,  LOL.  I did get a great package from my friend Susan and her family.  It had lots of goodies in it.  Her daughter put in some handmade stuff and she also put in lots of goodies.  This is a pix of some of it.

     I know it is hard to see, but next to the pattern is a cross stitch key.  Here is a close up of it.,

     It will help me get organized with my aida cloth.  Also in that picture, on either side of the cross stitch key,  is a pattern that Susan put in and a beautiful coaster.  Well that jeweled coaster is too pretty to use as a coaster but it works wonderful as something that I love to rub my hands over it.  It is like a worry tone.  I love the feel of it.  And yes, that is a plug Grogu next to it.  He is helping George watch over everything.

    In the front row, is some stationery as well as a couple of plastic boxes filled with needles.  It came at a good time since I had to recently throw out some old ones which are no longer sharp or are bent.  Susan knows me so well and knows I am constantly using notebooks and stationery so she put in some of that as well.  You might also see a pressing sheet in that front row as well.  She didn't know it, or at least I don't think she knew it, but my old pressing sheet was on its last legs.  Not pictured is a beautiful writing pen,  It is glittery and aqua in color and I have been using it almost nonstop.

     My birthday box wasn't the only package that I received.  I also received an envelop that had some beautiful fabric in it.

    Isn't that beautiful?  I can see so many possibilities!

      That is about it for this week's update.  I did some more work on the Candlewicking but it is slow progress so I will take another pix and share later.  The red dragons are fighting me and I haven't done any more work on it.  I will get back to it after they are in time out,.

     Until next time - happy stitching and remember to take time out to relax.  :)  

  

Ups and Downs!

    That's right.  My day started out with some ups and downs.  Around 2 a,m. I got up from bed and took half a step and tripped and fell.  Now don't worry, I'm ok,  Just a little banged up,   I tripped over a cord that I thought I had hidden and tucked away.  When I fell I hit my head but we all know how hard THAT is.  I just stayed on the floor until I got my bearings and by that time I realized that my side was all scraped up but no blood so just still today,  Oh yeah,  I hit my elbow on the opposite side and scraped a bit of my elbow and stuff.  Just all scrapes.  After fixing the offending cords, I made my way to the bathroom and took some Ibuprofen.  After that I went back to bed.  I slept well and slowly got up this morning.  Of course my body is letting me know that I am not as young as I used to be.  LOL.

     I did manage to get laundry done and was pleased to know that the dryer also cooperated this morning so the clothes all dried in regular time.  I also was productive enough to get my SCA paperwork finished and now it is just waiting for Dan to come over and sign off before I scan it and send it off.

     I also managed to take a few stitches on Geometrica.

     This is the 3rd start of trying to do it  My plan is to do the center and then work on the weekly stitches (the empty shapes in the picture).  Then I will do the border.   I realized that I haven't posted an update picture on my weekly Blackwork.  Here it is.

     I also did some more work on Fleur blocks but since it is hard to see the black stitching, I will only post a pix now once the block is done.  Since it is black thread on black shapes, I only work on it in the mornings.

     I did a little more work on the Candlewicking.  I haven't moved the hoop yet but I did change the color.  It is had to see the lighter stitching but here is the update pix.

    I won't be working on it today since my hands are stiff from the fall etc.  I will probably do more stitching tomorrow.

     I did get my swap block from my partner and I love it!

     That's about it for now except for an update on my foot.  Does this picture tell the story?

     Yep.  You seeing it right.  Today is my first day of wearing an actual shoe over it.  It is still bandaged but just a little bit.  If I wasn't allergic to adhesives, I could put a regular bandage on it but since I am allergic I still have to wrap it up with gauze.  The doctor says it might be totally healed by the next time I go back and see him.  YAY!  So that means I go back to see the wound doctor on the 22nd and get the boobies squished at the Imaging Center on the 23rd.  A busy week!  I don't go back to my regular doctor until September 26th.  Another YAY!

    I think that is all for this post.  I am waiting for the mail to get here since I know that I have a package to be delivered.  Then later in the week or next week I have another package arriving. I'll, of course, share pix after they get her.

  Enjoy your day!

Happy July!!!!

   Do you believe it is July already?    Today is a decent day.  It is around 84F and no rain so that is a decent day in my books.  LOL.

   My house looks like a tornado went through it.  I got a bug that said to start to go through stash and containers to do a thorough cleaning.  I figure that I have one more day before that bug moves on.  It is too hot to do too much cleaning.  So, while I was pulling out everything from some totes, I ran across my things for July so I put them up.  

     Now I have to feed the cats and figure out what to fix for dinner.  I have half an hour before I will eat.  That will give me enough time before I have to test the blood sugar again.  I might have some chicken and some spinach (both leftovers).  I might make some mashed potatoes since I haven't had that in a bit.

    I did finish up my block for the exchange.  I will put it in the mail sometime this week.  I have to find where I put everything to mail which is now buried under what I pulled out. 

     That's about it for now.  I am wiped out.  :)  I hope everybody has safe holidays.  In the meantime, keep on stitching.

Hello from Hot Arkansas

      Wow!  I new that Arkansas was going to be hot but our heat index today is supposed to be around 110F.  The actual temperature is supposed to be around 98. So what does one do in those temps?  As little as possible.

     In my case, it will be, in no particular order...

   Working on redwork

   Taking Naps

   Planning on what to have to eat

   threading needles.

   Does that look like a funny list?  It is what I do most of the time but if I had just said I was doing the same thing I did every day, it would be a short post.  I did take some pictures so you get today updates.

  Let's start on redwork.  There is the red dragon block.  It is coming along ok but I can see that I will have to erase some of my lines and redraw them.  In the meantime I will work on what I can.

   

    The other redwork is my Words of Wisdom block.  I am making good progress on that.  It should not take too long to finish.

   This is my off week for my blackwork but since I can't remember if I posted this up before or not, I will post it now.  This was two weeks ago.  Tomorrow this week's pattern will be released so then I will do two weeks of blackwork.

     Next up is this month's UFO.  That will be something a bit different for me.  I have a UFO of Candlewicking .  I finally got back to it, or should I say I started it,  I'm not sure who gave it to me perhaps Susan?, but this is my year to work on it.  Here is my progress so far as well as the picture of what it is SUPPOSED to look like when it is finished.

      Let's see, what else do I have to report on?  Oh yes.  My block exchange.  I received my latest block and I like it.

     I just received my partner's name for July but am debating on what I will do.  She is heavy into helping Veterans and doing quilts for the vets.  I think that is great and awesome.  I was going to change up what I normally do for July but considering this, I might stick to the eagle.  That is my favorite patriotic quilt block.  

    I have some quilting projects (new) in mind but I haven't pulled fabric or anything for them.  That is mostly because I need my sewing machine out to do them and I just don't have the energy to pull it out and set it up.  When I do I will hare with you.  Besides some patterns off the internet I am also inspired by the flooring in a restaurant.

   

    Dan took me out to a Chinese restaurant after one of my doctor's appointment and I saw this pattern on the floor.  Being the good friend that he is, he waited for me to snap a picture of it.

   I also had to stop and take a picture of their Koi pond.  It is so lovely to watch.

     That isn't the only place he has recently taken me.  He took me to a steak place  (Colton's) and OMG!  The food was terrific.  

     I also liked the picture of the map that was hanging in their entryway.  

     In fact we liked it so much he took me again after my doctor's appointment on Monday.  This time we didn't have as good service and the Monday cook didn't know, evidently, what it meant when somebody ordered Medium steak.  I had to send it back and ate the mushrooms and green beans while waiting.  In the end it was ok.  I took home leftovers and this morning I had steak tostadas for breakfast.

     I was totally happy to see that my sugar levels were still good after eating out.  I still have some of the steak left which I might have tonight or tomorrow...I'm not sure yet.  That was the success of cooking this week but the failure was when I forgot I had carrots cooking on my stove and I have to now have to throw out my favorite 2 qt. pot.  Sigh.

   That is about it for my updates this time.  I hope everybody stays cool and has a great day.

Happy Monday?

 

     That's right.  It is another Monday.  What will it be like?  What happens when our Monday's become good  and not the stereotypical Monday?  Will we have to start calling it by another name?  See what happens when I get more than 4 hours of sleep at a time?  My brain kicks in earlier than normal and activates my mouth and fingers before I realize what I am thinking and tying.  LOL.  Either way I hop you have a good day.  What are on your plans, besides working?

     I think that I will be working on redwork today.  I only have 2 needles threaded so first thing will be to thread around 9 more.  The advantage of doing the redwork is that I have two projects currently calling for the red DMC floss.  I can double up on how many needles I thread at once and use it for both projects.  The first project I'm working on is the next Words of Wisdom block.  It is Thankful.  Here is my progress pix of it so far.

      I think that the redwork makes it come to life.  :)  After that I have my baby dragon block to do.  After the redwork, comes blackwork.  The blackwork is actually continuing on with my Fleur blocks.  That is slow progress but at least I can say it is progress.  A stitch at a time will get it done eventually.  Don't hold your breath on a date for finishing it.  

     When I need a break from that, I will start to look for a pattern for my July block exchange.  I'm not sure how much longer they will do the exchanges.  It seems each month we have fewer and fewer people signing up for it.  Since it is the July block, I want to do something with a patriotic theme to it.  Of course I have my usual eagle I can do but I might change it up this time and do something else.  I have time to start to look.  That's about it on my plans for crafting this week.

     I am still trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat with diabetes.  It has been interesting to see how bad some things are for you.  Then there is the whole how much can you have and still eat without feeling deprived etc.  Yesterday Shalom took me out to eat after our SCA meeting and I was happy to see that my sugar levels weren't too bad this morning.  It is a fine balancing act sometimes to try and figure out how much of sodium is too much and how much sugar can I have or fat etc.  I am trying NOT to buy specialty foods.  They are out of my budget.  My lunches are usually my big salad meal.  It seems to work nice with summer.  Not sure if I will want the same in winter months but for now it is good.  Pantry gave me two bags of apples this month.  It will take forever to use them up.  I might make some applesauce but then I'll have to figure out how much I can have without spiking my sugar.  My old recipe would spike it for sure.  I cut one up the other day and had it with my oatmeal.  The sugar free syrup was good over it all tasted good.  I can see that I'm going to be using the sugar free syrup more and more on various things.  

     That is about it in my neck of the woods for now.  I hope you have a wonderful day and remember to take time to enjoy life.  Love ya all.