June's SBQ

Here's this month's stitching blogger question from Lee at Lake Stitcher:

Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it.

And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:

Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it.

The first piece that came to mind was "Thank You for Serving" by the Sunflower Seed. I stitched this for my grandfather in the summer of 2008, right before I left on deployment. When I saw the design I thought of him and the other military men in my life (my other grandfather, step-grandfather, father and husband). I stitched it to remember the years that he spent in the army. I was able to drop it off at my LNS before I left and my mom picked it up when it was done. She gave it to him when she saw him at Christmas time. It is a design that I hope to stitch again for others in my family as they complete their service.

As for the second part of the question, I think part of my love of cross stitch comes from having a very analytical mind. This was inherited from both parents but especially my father.

Quilting and Stitching

Well, back to my regular scheduled programming ... at least somewhat. I've started to get into quilting as well as cross stitch. I has a chance to finish a project this week, which I was really excited about. I still need to finish the second bag but one has been completed. My first project was a Child's Activity Bag. I found the tutorial on Moda Bake Shop and it was created by Melissa Stramel of Lilac Lane.

The Front of the Bag

Fabric: Sandy Gervais' Nautical and Nice

Pattern: Child's Activity Bag

Designer: Melissa Stramel of Lilac Lane

The Back of the Bag

My local quilt shop, What's Your Stitch N Stuff, is celebrating is 20th Anniversary this week. So I stopped by to pick up some backing and batting so that I could complete the strip quilt top I had finished (the kit was purchased from there as well). I picked up some brown minkee for the back of the quilt. Here's the top with the backing and binding:

I know that I still need to iron the quilt top. I had started one night but realized that I really needed to do it on our full ironing board downstairs instead of the little ironing board I keep in the guest room for my quilt projects (great for blocks and small units, not so much for long strips). I really love the different fabrics in this quilt. I have a few more strip quilts to make ... it's one of my favorite kits that my LQS carries.

I also picked up a kit for a Christmas present for my sister (hopefully for this year) as well as another strip quilt that used Wine Country by Barb Tourtillotte.

I have been spending quite a bit of time stitching as well. I completed the center part of my stocking (well, except for a small part of her hand since I didn't have the color at the time and wanted to start working on the bottom).

I'm hoping to complete this in time to be able to send it out for finishing and still have it by Christmas. I've also been working on the Letter L that I showed to you previously. I've almost completed all of the stitching and will just have the beads left to do. My other project at the moment is a wedding sampler for my sister. It's been a lot of fun to work on with changing the colors to match those she picked for her wedding. My daughter's birth sampler has been framed ... I just need to take a picture of it to share as well as actually hang it on her wall. I hope it won't be too long before I can share some more projects with you ... both stitching and quilting. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! God Bless!

Quilt Festival 2010

Since I'm starting to explore quilting as well as my cross stitch, I wanted to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this year.





Unfortunately, I have yet to finish a quilt. I have a quilt top upstairs that needs to be pressed and quilted (it's a strip quilt kit that I picked up at my LQS eons ago) and a few other wip. I've started the cutting on little one's baby quilt so I'm hoping to finish that before her first birthday (I figure that's a good goal ... gives me about 8 more months ;)). Since I don't have one of my own to show off, I wanted to show case a quilt that my sister made for me as a wedding present.



If you look closely, you will see that there are pictures from our wedding included in the quilt. My sister completed it shortly after our first anniversary about three years ago. She had started to do picture quilts for special occasions. I think I also received the first one she made as a graduation present when I graduated from college. This quilt has a place of honor on our bedroom wall. My sister has inspired me to explore quilting as well. I love the special memory quilt and hope to return the favor soon to her.

Thank you for visiting. I hope that you enjoy looking at some of my other work in cross stitch. I have some plans for some projects that combine the two ... quilting and cross stitch but they are years in the making. God Bless!

May Stitching Bloggers Question

Lee at Lake Stitcher has started up a monthly SBQ. Here's this months:

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I would say that I am a Project stitcher if I had to pick one to describe myself. Part of the reason that I enjoy stitching is that there will be a finish project at the end. There is something tangible that results from the work I put in. In other parts of my life, the work does not always have the tangible results. I am satisfied in what I do, but some of it can be very repetative both at work and at home (ie standing watches or doing laundry). I love the repetiveness of taking thread to fabric ... it is very relaxing after a long day. However, for the most part, it's not just about the stitching to me. It is about the project. Many of my stitchings have been gifts for others, with deadlines and such. Others are projects for myself that have a purpose. I enjoy being able to have a finished project and start a new one. I try not to have too many projects that I'm working on at one time ... though I do enjoy have a few different ones to work on so that there is some variety. So what about you? If you take the time to answer this SBQ, please go and leave a comment on Lee's blog. God Bless!

The Promised Pictures

WARNING ... PICTURE HEAVY POST AHEAD :)

Here's the finished birth sampler for my daughter ... I guess it's time to take a trip to my LNS to have it framed :).

Anchor's Classic Pooh Birth Sampler

Threads/fabric included in kit

Close up of personalization

Close up of top of sampler.

Here was my last finish of 2009 which I realized I never shared for the LHN ornament SAL:

LHN's Fa La La

Threads: Recommended DMC

Fabric: Random scrap piece (stitched over 1)

Next up, the current progress on my stocking. I haven't worked on it for probably a month now so it's time to start again. Hoping to finish it before Christmas, with time to possibly have someone else finish it.

And the last WIP is Nora Corbett's "L" ... a gift for my SIL (I don't think she checks my blog).

Until next time ... happy stitching and God Bless!

Happy Dance :)

I finished little one's birth sampler tonight at our ladies' UFO fellowship that my church holds once a month. I will post pictures tomorrow of it and my WIP (I'd rather get pictures using natural lighting). However, I'm really excited so I had to share :)

First Finish of 2010

This post is hard to start. Yesterday I had my first finish of the year. It was a special piece in memory of a special little girl named Layla Grace. I stitched a quilt block for a quilt that I heard about at the Isaiah 43:1 Project, a site that I found just recently. Candace of Cotton Candie Fabric came up with the idea to make some quilts for her family. Layla Grace is a little girl who lost her battle with cancer last week. You can read more about her and her family here. I decided to make a block with some fabric that I had picked up just last weekend when I was at my local quilt shop, What's Your Stitch N Stuff. I picked it up because I realized I didn't have any spring or Easter fabric in my stash. I think it was perfect for the quilt block. I found a floral alphabet to use to stitch the word "Hope" on the block. Hope for a cure and hope for healing for this family.

Design: From 101 Alphabets by Dale Burdett

Fabric: 28 ct Luguna Fairy Dust

Threads: DMC

Mom - if you're reading this and you haven't gotten a box of tissues yet, you might want to.

Part of the reason I wanted to make this quilt square is that Layla's story really touched my heart. I'm no stranger to pediatric cancer. My little girl is named after a friend that I lost to cancer. That is how my husband and I chose her middle name. I'd known Emily my entire life ... her family lived next door to ours when I was born. Her birthday was just two days before my own (she was a year older). Our families vacationed together often. Both families had two girls ... Emily had an older sister and I a younger sister. My sister was the odd one out in the four of us since the three of us had birthdays in July and hers was in December. My family moved around quite a bit when I was younger. We kept in touch with Emily's family though and when we moved back to the area we got together a lot. Emily's family even lived with us for a few months after their house was damaged in a hurricane. We moved away again and then ended up living near each other again when my father left active duty (in a different state than we were born in). It was soon after we moved that Emily was diagnosed with cancer (I think she was 11 at the time). She fought a hard battle. I remember when she lost her hair to chemo her sophomore year in high school, her sister shaved her head as well so that she would have to go to school bald alone. Unfortunately she lost her battle with cancer later that year. It was very hard to lose a friend that I had known my entire life at the tender age of 14. Whenever I hear about pediatric cancer, I think of her. Her memory was one of the main reasons I wanted to help make this quilt(s) for Layla Grace's family. I hope that it will help to bring healing to the open wounds that they have. There will always be scars ... I know that. Please pray for all children who are affected by cancer and their families.