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.

Where I've Been

On Jan 7, my husband and I welcomed the newest addition to our family. She has already brought such joy to our lives ... though the only stitching that I have really done since she arrived is putting her name on her birth sampler (I still need to finish the backstitch and the rest of the personalization).

Caitlyn Emily

Hopefully I will be getting some more time to stitch soon. God Bless!

Happy New Year

Hope everyone has had a wonderful 2009 and here's to 2010. I did have one more finish for 09 ... I finished the first ornament "Fa La La" for the LHN SAL. I received "Pear Tree" this week so that will probably be my next start. I've put a few more stitches in my stocking as well. I've had a fairly productive year ... but I do believe that I still have quite a few projects to finish finish. I don't have that many WIPs at the moment (I think two) and have some projects that I do want to start next year for birthdays and such. We'll see how it goes with the little one around.

Here's was my second to last finish for the year ... an ornament for an exchange. I hope you enjoy.

"Snow Cottage"

Designer: Cross Wise Designs

Fabric: Unknown linen from ornament pack

Thread: DMC White and Krienik pearl

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Go Navy!

We interrupt our regular scheduled programing to say

Go Navy! Beat Army!

Today I will be watching the game with friends from work. Nothing like one of the best rivalries in college football :). I know they are a long way from being national contenders (there have been years where the Army-Navy game was between the #1 and #2 teams in the nation ... but that was way before the BCS and all that jazz) but it is full of great pageantry and often a really great game. I'll go back to regularly scheduled stitching soon ... I have some ornaments and progress to share. Have a great day!

Christmas stitching

Well, I have been able to get some good stitching time in, so I've been focusing mostly on some Christmas stitching (since it's that time of year). First up is a piece that I wanted to finish for the Advent season ... I've picked up some coordinating fabric and just need to complete it in a finished form (maybe I'll work on that today).

Design: "Lights of Advent"

Designer: Erica Michaels (from JCS Ornaments 06)

Fabric: Unknown ornament cut from DSL

Threads: Recommended DMC

I've also been working on LHN's "Fa-La-La", the first ornament in their monthly ornament series. I don't have a progress picture but will post once I finish it. I decided to stitch it over 1 ... which has been an interesting experience. On Tuesday I finally pulled out the fabric and pattern to start my Christmas stocking. Here's what I had at the end of Friday night:

And this is all the work that I did on Saturday, while watching football and a Christmas movie (and doing other chores around the house):
I am really enjoying this piece. This one is Joan Elliot's Christmas Angel Stocking from the Aug 06 issue of the Cross Stitcher. Hopefully she won't take me as long as the first one (she shouldn't if I don't put her aside for months on end).

I'm enjoying the weather today much more than the rain we had yesterday (it was a little too warm for it to turn to snow here). Today is blue sky with white clouds, a bit chilly but not too bad. I think I might wrap presents today and maybe do some baking to send to family and friends that are deployed for the holiday season. I'm going to do a bit more stitching as well. Have a wonderful day!