Seriously.....

I can't get enough of his cuteness and his underbite. Love him.

That is all. Carry on.....

IHSW Recap

I had a wonderful weekend of stitching. So relaxing and just what I needed. I don't have before pictures but here are the projects I worked on:

I had a few stitches left to put in my March Cottage. So here is the finish on that ~

I'm really enjoying these cottages. I'm a little bummed that I am behind on them, but I will get caught up.

Next  I put the final stitches in my Lizzie*Kate Winter Alphabet. I worked on this a lot when my dad was in the hospital. It was an easy project to bring along. Each letter was like it's own little project. I really enjoyed it.

After that, I went back to work on my Lizzie*Kate 6 Fat Men. I'm really loving this and I'm so close to being done. I hope I can finish it this week. Here is my progress on that ~

So, there you have it ~ my Christmas in April. I need to finish this up so I can move on to some Spring designs.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by......

Kris

I'm still here.....

First off, I want to thank those of you that left comments about my dad. They were appreciated more than I can tell you. I'm happy to report that he is doing so much better. He was in the hospital for a little over three weeks. In the end they ended up putting in a pacemaker. Because his vital organs were basically shutting down the whole process took longer, which is why he was in the hospital so long. It took a good two weeks to get his organs on the road to recovery so that they could focus on the heart issue. Once that happened they were able to put the pacemaker in and a couple days after that sent him on his merry way. He and my mom stayed here in the cities for a couple of days with my sister, but then decided they really just wanted to be in their own home. My sister and I both felt that he would recover better in his own surroundings so we set up home health care for him and brought them home. I have been going up every weekend to help them out until he was strong enough to get back to driving, etc. Home Health Care released him last week saying that he was doing so well they didn't need to come anymore and he is back to driving and doing well. This is my first weekend at home since he went in the hospital in February. I plan to spend it stitching! Here is a photo (although blurry) of my dad a couple weeks ago. He is looking so healthy and we are so thankful!

Love him. <3

Well, I need to go over and sign up for IHSW for this weekend. I'm so ready for a weekend of relaxing and stitching. I have done quite a bit of stitching since my last post in February ~ I hope to get some photos taken this weekend and get another post up.

As always ~ thanks for stopping by.....

Kris

IHSW Update - or lack thereof.....

I want to apologize for not updatting after IHSW. I hate signing up for something and then not being able to follow through. I did stitch, but on Sunday night my dad became very ill and I had to leave to go to their home in Brainerd, MN which is 2 hours from mine in Minneapolis. He was medically transferred to Abbott Northwestern hospital back in Minneapolis yesterday, so my sister and I drove back home and brought my mom. He is very sick. He is in heart failure which is causing the failure of several other organs. We feel that he  is in the best possible place to be taken care of as Abbott has a wonderful Heart Hospital. They are working to get his heart pumping more blood so that hopefully his kidneys will "wake up" and get back to the business of living. So hard when one of your parents is sick. And so hard for my mom to come to grips with it all. They were high school sweethearts and have been married for over 50 years. She can't imagine a life without him. Neither can my sister and I.

Back to the hospital I go. Hoping to get there and hear that his kidneys are kicking butt.

February 1 ~ National Signing Day!

On February 1st I took the morning off of work to go out to my nephew's school. He is a senior this year and will be heading off to college in the fall. National Signing Day is the day that all the seniors that have been recruited to play sports (or cheerleading in college) sign on the dotted line committing to play for said college.

My nephew AJ was one of these seniors. He will be heading off to the University of New Hampshire in the fall to play Division 1 Soccer for them. Such an exciting day for him and our family. I am so incredibly proud of him. Here are a few photos from that morning....

AJ giving his speech before the signing.

The signing.

My sister, Kelly, AJ and my BIL Dave

AJ and his older sister Lexie. {older, yet shorter :) }

Being unable to have children of my own, these two kids {not so much kids anymore} have been and will continue to be the lights of my life. Love them.

IHSW Recap

What a fabulous weekend. I love when I have nothing else going on and I can just do what I want. Such as stitching! So, here is what I worked on:

My February Cottage - Finished!



Monthly Cottage - February
Country Cottage Needleworks
32 Count Lambswool Linen & called for Threads


After that I moved on to Elizabeth Hancock. Ahh, Elizabeth and I have had a rough go of it. In my last post I talked about my issued with the WDW Straw Linen. The piece that I got was so dark that for a little bit I actually thought I had the wrong color. I stitched on that piece a little while longer, but it was really bugging me. I just didn't think the beautiful colors were showing up well enough, so I headed up to my stash to see what else I had that was big enough. I ended up starting over on 35 Count R & R Sheep Straw Linen. I'm MUCH happier now. All this putzing around though cost me most of Sunday so I didn't get as far as I would have liked, but I'm liking the way it looks. Here is picture of my progress on that:

The Elizabeth Hancock Sampler ~ Little House Needleworks
35 Count R & R Sheep Straw Linen
Called for Belle Soie threads

So, that's all folks! I have my very first IHSW under my belt!  It was back to work today. Ugh - tough to do after such a nice weekend! I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Stitch on....

IHSW!

So, I'm going to be a hermit this weekend. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. This is my first time joining in on it and honestly, I don't plan to leave the house all weekend! It's been freezing cold here in the MN for a lot of this week. All the more reason to hibernate.

I'm sure you're wondering what I'm going to be working on. Or maybe you aren't! Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

My February Cottage - here is where it stands last night. {I apologize for the craptastic picture, I didn't feel like getting my camera out}

I think I will work on this first and hopefully finish it. I believe that the March chart is on its way to me next week so I'd like to get this finished. I have a frame that I can pop them in and out of so I want to get that set up too.

Then I joined Vonna's SAL for Elizabeth Hancock. I have a small start on this, however, I'm struggling with the fabric color. I am using the called for WDW Straw linen, however, I'm using 35 count rather than 30. But I keep wondering if it is too dark? I would hate for the beautiful Belle Soie threads to not show up well. Hmmm. Anyone have any thoughts? I've barely started so it wouldn't be horrible to start over on a different fabric. Here it is - again - not a great picture.

Then, last but not least, is my fun Lizzie*Kate 6 Fat Men. This is such a fun stitch and right up my snowmen addiction alley! Here is my progress so far on this:

And now Blogger is making me center everything I type. I find this to be annoying. Sigh. Oh well,

I'm off to hunker down with my February cottage. I hope everyone has wonderful weekends.

Happy Stitching!

Remembering....

Remembering this furry friend today. Hard to believe that it has been two years today since she made her way to the Rainbow Bridge. My hope is that she is chasing balls, playing with friends and resting in the sunshine. I miss you Roxy. Everyday.

~ Roxy ~
June 14, 2003 - January 15, 2010

Two Framed Finishes

A week or so before Christmas I was able to pick up two framed pieces from Stitchville USA . If you live in the Minneapolis area and you have never been to this store - you must go. Go now. It is a fabulous store with wonderful people working there that are always ready and willing to help with anything you need. They also do a fabulous job framing!

So - here is my Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler all framed:

Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler
With Thy Needle & Thread
Called for Fabric & Fiber
Called for Frame - Valley Primitives

It was such a fun project to stitch and the frame that was made for this, well, I just can't put in to words how beautiful it is. The pictures don't do it justice. Here is a closer picture of the frame. The color of the frame is just wonderful with the colors of the stitching.

I also picked up my Gameboard Sampler:

Gameboard Sampler
The Drawn Thread
Called for Fabric and Threads
Frame is a bluish weathered frame ordered through Stitchville

Here is a closer look at the frame. I really like it:

So, that's it for now. I have a couple more posts coming with some finishes and what I'm working on now. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year and all the best to all of you in 2012!!

So, I guess starting a blog at the busiest time of year was not one of my better ideas. I have sorely neglected it. I'm hoping to change all that in the coming year. I'll be back soon with an update.