Embroidery Sew Along - Part ???

For the past 2 months I've been following along with other bloggers stitching and sewing from the book - Patchwork Loves Embroidery by Gail Pan. Martina at Sunshine Quilting hosted this sew-along and it was lots of fun. Not only are the patterns and ideas in this book beautiful and easy to follow along with (really, the instructions are really well thought out), the group of ladies in this sew-along were very inspirational with their talent and super encouraging as well. Thank you, Martina, so much for putting this together for us!!!

With that said, umm, I just couldn't keep up!! I did the stitching pretty well, but the sewing tripped me up every time. I guess it could have something to do with my LOVE of hand stitching and my not-quite hate of sewing:) I'm getting better at it and these projects really did help me learn some new sewing skills:)

So this is what I FINALLY got done....



Secrets and Dreams journal cover

I got a *bit* better at sewing on the binding on this one, but I still have wonky ends. The last end I sewed in was the best, so it looks like I still need to practice this part:)

The other problem I was having was drawing the wavy lines that was quilted on the front of this. I just couldn't get nice, even waves. So I went to the quilting store, to Hobby Lobby and to Walmart looking for a stencil to use, but I couldn't find one. I did find some blank stencil sheets though, and after printing some wavy line templates from the internet, I made my own:)

Here are the three projects that I completed...

And here is the stitching for the next project I want to do...

This sew-along is done, but Martina is planning on doing another sew-along including any pattern by Gail Pan in 2015, and I think I will join along with that as well. I have a couple more patterns in this book that I want still make:) Until then, I plan to keep going with the one above at a much slower pace. The stitching above is a panel for a bag and I'm hoping to have it done mid Nov. I'm planning on using the bag (that will have no zippers, buttons or Velcro) as my knitting bag. I'm super excited about getting it done:)

NewFo - Sept 2014

Hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches

 

Okay, yes I know it's October now:) This is being posted a day late because I really thought I couldget more done on it today. Didn't happen, but it was a nice thought:)

I started out on Monday morning scrambling around the house looking for a project to start. Let's not discuss that I waited until the day before the end of the month to even start looking for a project. It needed to be something I already had the material for since I can't make a quick trip into town (town is around 25 min away) and then get back and wash material, iron it, etc, etc, etc.

So after a mad dash around the house I came up with this pile of fabrics...

I had originally bought some of these fabrics to make a summer-time beach bag with. I knew these weren't the colors I would normally choose for myself, but I did like how bright and happy they are. But I never did end up making a bag with them. So I decided that these bright, happy fabrics would make a great cuddle blanket for a toddler:) My friend that does foster care has three little ones right now and I am thinking about trying to make each of them a little blanket for Christmas gifts.

This project started out so good too!! I got all the blocks (4 1/2 inches) cut up in one sitting and then a little later on Monday evening I started sewing them into rows. My plan was to do a simple patchwork style that is truly random in placement. I got all the blocks sewn up into rows in almost another setting.

I want to stop here and say that I must be getting more patient with sewing with a machine. A few months ago I don't think I could sit at the machine long enough to have gotten that much done (even though it really didn't take that long). That is pretty exciting to me!! The whole reason I started this NewFo challenge was to build my sewing skills - which are pretty basic - and to build my patience with machine sewing. :)

Okay, so now just to sew together the rows and I would have had the top all done - in ONE DAY!!! That would have been a major accomplishment for me!! But here is where things started to become a challenge. In trying to make the pattern random, I didn't pay any attention to what order I was sewing the blocks together, other than to make sure that the same fabric didn't touch. When I went to putting the rows in some kind of order so that the same fabrics didn't end up right on top of each other, I found that I had inadvertently put the brown fabric in the center of about half the blocks. Then I saw that I had the white fabric be either the 3rd from the beginning or the 3rd from the end on about half the blocks. The pink was on either one end or the other of over half the blocks. So I couldn't put the rows together to save my life!!!

In the end, I deconstructed a few of the rows and found a way to make it work, but it was almost midnight by then. So I decided that I would just work on it for a bit today and still have a whole top to show off. Well.... :) This morning was dd's day to volunteer at the zoo. She got out around noon and then wanted to look at Halloween costumes, so we did that and I had a little grocery shopping to do as well. We got home around 1:30 and I took a short nap while she worked on some school work. When I got up dd told me that the costume had a little problem, a couple of the ribbons hadn't gotten sewn in very well and came all the way out. So I fixed that and then had some house work to get done (before hubby came home:). Then it was dinner time, and well, I was just done for the day, so.. No finished top, but I do hope to have that to show off soon:)

I even know what this month's project is going to be, and it's only the FIRST DAY of the month!! :) I will be working on another cuddle blanket, this time in more muted colors for the baby of the family of kids my friend has.

FNSI - A Little Progress

For more info or to join in, visit Wendy at Sugarlane Quilts

 

Yesterday evening really got away from me, but I did find some quiet time this morning to get a bit of sewing done. Not a lot of progress this time, but a little is a little!!

Last month I spent much of my Friday night cutting all the gray and the white fabric up, but that work set me up to just get right into sewing this month, so 'Yea, Me'!!

I ended up with 6 more squares done all in the gray fabric...

 

And here are the three colors I have worked on so far....

Next time I need to decide on what fabric will come next or if I will just stick with the three blocks I have. I have a fabric that has the green, blue and gray in it, however it isn't as bold of a print as the others and I think it might get lost in the design. I'm thinking it'll make a good binding and backing for this quilt though, so it won't get wasted. I will need to do a little shopping and see if I can find anything else that I like:)

Embroidery SAL - Part 2

 

Clearly it is taking me longer than our 2 weeks between each project!! I'm not getting hung up on the embroidery part, but rather putting the project together. I'm really not great at sewing (stitching, yes, but I tend to need a bit more time with the machine!!), and it takes a while for me to the sewing part done. Hopefully with some more practice I will get better!!

 

Even though there are several things on this that I either changed, or did as it said, but really need some practice on to make it better (like sewing on the binding:), I am really happy with how it turned out.

 

I made the needlebook...

 

I made a couple changes since I didn't have all the materials that they called for. I didn't have cream colored ric-rac so I used some lace I had coffee stained for another project a while back. I also didn't have any batting so I used a piece of cheep white felt that I had, it worked perfect!! And I used some old buttons that I had cut off my grandmother's clothing years ago after she passed away. The goal was to make quilts for all her children (my mom and aunts and uncles) with the material from her clothing. I only ended up making 1 1/2 quilts before I stopped, but it was great for working through the sadness of losing her:)

 

Now I'm off to see what projects everyone else made. If you want to see too, visit Martina over at SunshineQuilting!! 



Embroidery SAL - Part 1

Well, this is a bit late, but it's better late than never:)  I really had a lot of fun with this project (except those darn satin stitches!!!). It's nice to switch gears and do something a little different every now and then.  

Here are pics of my project for part 1 of this SAL...

 

 The red fabric is what I used as a backing for it.

The only thing I wish I had done different is to make all the roses red instead of pink. I'm not much of a pink kind of girl:) But over-all I just love it!! And the instructions were very easy to follow, which is a big help.

If you want to join in too, just visit Martina over at Sunshinequilting and see what this is all about!!

Embroidery Sew Along

A couple weeks ago I joined in with Martina at Sunshine Quilting in this Embroidery Sew Along. The book Patchwork Loves Embroidery by Gail Pan has lots of pretty embroidery projects to work on and I think I've pick out about half of them that I'd like to do!! :0) It was hard to decide which one I wanted to do first, but since I have a few other projects that I am currently working on I decided to choose a pretty easy one.

I am going to start out with the Pretty Bluebird Pincushion. I have all my materials together...

 



 and now I just need to get stitching on it:) This should be a quick and fun project and I'm really looking forward to putting the first stitches into this. Wish me luck on getting it done, the due date on this one is Sept 1st:)

Friday Night Sew In

For this FNSI, I decided to work on a quilt I had started as a 'Block-a-Day' project his past spring. If I had kept up with actually making a block each day, it would have been done by the end of June or July (I can't remember when the end of the project was). However I didn't even come close to keeping up. The furthest I got was 5 of the green blocks:) So I decided to pull that back out and give it another go.

Here is where I started

Last night was a case of the 2 steps forward- 3 steps back when it came to sewing.  I had some of the blue fabric cut and got started on that, but then ran out of small white squares. So I cut out more big and small white squares and decided to go ahead and cut the grey squares as well. Then I realized that I did the points on the blue squares in the wrong order from how I did the green ones. I want them to match up, so I started over. Then I decided I was done for the night!! I did a bit more sewing this morning and I'm feeling much better now:)

Where I left off

I ended up with 5 green blocks and 5 blue blocks and enough grey and white squares to make lots and lots of blocks:) Next time I'll be ready to really get something done!!!

 

I did have fun with this and I'm planning on joining in on the next FNSI.

End of Week Plans

The last few weeks before school starts have gone by so fast!!! I am usually looking forward to summer coming to an end and getting to my favorite season of Autumn. This year, though, I'm trying to savor every last min of our summer break:)

We had actually planned to start back to school this week, on Monday. However a quick text from some friends saying that they were planning a trip to a pool on Monday quickly changed our plans. Yesterday we also helped out at a local soup kitchen which was nice. It was my first time and I was amazed at how organized they were. We are now going to try and fit one more trip to a pool we've never been to before we get started on school next Monday:)

I also have an exciting crafty weekend coming up!!! Friday is....

I haven't participated in this in several months and I'm really excited to get back to work on some quilting:)

Then, over the weekend is the...

I've not participated in this for a while either, so I should be nice and busy this weekend with lots of fun crafty project:) That is the perfect kind of weekend!!!

What do you have planned for your weekend? Hope you are able to fit in something that makes you smile:)
 

Sew Along Anyone?

You all know that I love to cross stitch. You've seen the many, many project that I have started and the few that I have actually finished:) You may even know that I really enjoy to crochet and that I have recently started learning to knit. Last year I even started learning to do other kinds of embroidery. I really find any kind of hand to fabric/thread/yarn very relaxing and enjoyable. But like many of you, I never seem to have as much free time to work on these things as I would like:) So challenges and stitch-alongs gives me a bit of an excuse to push me to spend a little more time doing what I love to do.

I was reading though my blog list and came across a (another!!) sew-along that I am going to give a try!! Martina from Sunshine Quilting found this book.....

and would like to do several of the projects in it and decided that a sew along would be a fun way to encourage herself and others to get the projects done. After looking through the sample pages, I decided to buy it as well and it is simply beautiful!! There are quite a few project in it that I would also like to make for myself or others for gifts. The projects are nice and simple but are all very pretty. So I have joined in the sew-along, and there is still time for you to join in too if you would like. Just head over to Sunshine Quilting and leave a comment before Aug 17th.

March 2014 NewFo Project

 

Another month came and went and another quilt got started!! I *think* I'm starting to enjoy quilting, maybe, just a little:) This challenge is hosted by Barbara over at Cat Patches and is a lot of fun. You are to just start a new quilt or quilt-like project each month and post about it on the last day of the month. No pressure to actually finish any of you projects!! Now that's my kind of challenge!!! :)

 



Well, I am just squeezing this one in. I had started on this project a week or so ago and posted about it HERE, but I was determined to get a bunch more done before today's post. That never happened:) However, today I had some time on my hands and once I got started (in between schooling, housework and making food!!) I just didn't want to stop. This isn't usual for me when it comes to sewing with the machine. I'm all for handwork, but put a sewing machine in front of me and I lose my cool pretty quickly.

Today went very smoothly. I already had the fabric cut that I was going to use, and I had a few of the 3.5 in blocks done. I finished up enough of the 3.5 in blocks to be able to put together the first 5 9.5 inch blocks (this is the block's finished size). And that went so well that I decided to start cutting up the next color:) Then it was after 9:00 pm and I decided that I needed to stop, clean up and finally get on this blog!!

So here is what I have done so far...

These are the first 5 9.5 inch blocks, obviously they are stacked on top of each other:) I'm so happy that these actually look like they should. This is the first time I've done anything like this, or really any block that wasn't just patchwork, so this is super exciting for me!!!

 

Here are my blocks with the other fabrics that I will use in this quilt. I'm thinking of putting a narrow white sashing in between each block to break it up a bit.

And here are the blue pieces I cut out tonight. There is enough there for 6 9.5 inch blocks so long as I don't mess any of them up:)

 

I'm doing this project along with AuntMarti at 52 quilts. This is supposed to be a 'Block-a-Day' project, so I'm super behind as we should be on block 12 now, but that's okay, I didn't expect to keep up with that. She has a great tutorial on how to put these blocks together, which has made all the difference for me. I'm one that needs to see how something is done to be able to do it so I LOVE tutorials:)

 

I have two different projects that I want to start for next month's NewFo challenge. One of them was going to be this month's project, I even bought the fabric and got it washed and ironed. Then I found this Block-A-Day challenge, and I thought I would combine it with the NewFo challenge, as it is a perfect challenge for a newbie quilter like me. Not a problem, I thought, I can just do the other project in April:) WELL, then I bought a quilting magazine.... I need to not do that:) So I found another project that I am just in love with. And it has applique which is something that I want to give a try this year. I'm going to have to fight with myself to see which one gets to be April's project:)

 

Stay tuned to see which project wins out!! 

NewFO Quilt Challenge February 2014

Another month of New Quilting Projects!!! To join along, visit Barbara over at Cat Patches and learn what this is all about!!!

This month I decided to continue on with another small quilting project in the form of some potholders. The basic idea and instructions can be found HERE. I didn't follow this exactly, but did get the basics and the idea here, so I wanted to credit the original.

I found the cutest kitchen themed fabric in colors that I really like.

 

I also found this really cool batting to go in between the fabric layers. I have a homemade potholder that was given to me as a gift years and years ago. I love that it is homemade, but I can't use it much because the heat goes right through it. So I went looking for something that would work a little better and I found this....



 

It's the same thickness as regular batting, but it has a very thin foil layer in it that should help with the heat issue. It does have one drawback as the lady that cut my material repeated several times - it can't go into the microwave!! Apparently she had a customer that did just that and ruined her microwave. Well, I would have thought that would be a no-brainer, but it's just as well, we don't have a working microwave, and haven't for years, so it won't be a problem here. And just for curiosity sake - how many of you actually put your potholders in the microwave while you're cooking anyway? I've never heard of anyone doing that until now, so I was just wondering. :0)

 



Okay, back to the project... This was a very simple project that included cutting the fabric and batting a bit bigger than you intend the potholder to be, drawing sewing lines, quilting down the sewing lines and then cutting the fabric away at the outer edges. The original instructions said to mark lines 1 inch apart, but as I was trying to quilt them, the fabric kept bunching up, so I did mine 2 inches apart and it worked much better. You see that I got two of them quilted above.

 

And after a few failed attempts, this is where I stopped. I will cut the kitchen themed fabric into strips that will be sewn over the top of the potholder to make it cute:) and the brown will be used as the trim around the edges. I am pretty sure I already cut the kitchen themed fabric, I was just sure I had, and the fabric looks like it's been cut, but I can't find the pieces anywhere!!! I have plenty more fabric so it's not a problem, just a bit frustrating:)

 

I really need to take my machine in and have it looked at. I know there are a few problems and I'm pretty sure that is why I was having trouble with the fabric bunching up on me. Maybe I will get it in next month.

 

I already have an idea and most of the fabric for next month's project. It'll be a little bigger, but still manageable for me:) Happy sewing!!!



NewFO Challenge

I've been spending some time here lately looking into what kind of challenges and Sals I want to get involved in next year and decided that I would like to work on my quilting skills in the coming year. Now, don't get me wrong, there will still be lots and lots of stitching as well, but I have been following a few quilting blogs for the past several months and they have inspired me to learn more about quilting.

 
The 2014 NewFO Challenge is run by Barbara of Cat Patches. Barbara blogs quite regularly and is always showing off her beautiful quilting skills (and incredibly witty kitty cats:). It is always a joy to read at her blog!!  The goal of this challenge is to start a new quilted piece each month, create a blog post the last day of the month and link up to her 'party'!! What's great is that there is no pressure to actually finish the quilt in any particular time frame. And it doesn't have to be a full sized quilt either. Your project can be anything from a potholder or mug rug to a wall quilt or full sized quilt. That works great for me!!! :)

As part of this challenge we are to post some of the quilts we would like to start this year. Barbara has her whole year planned with pics of each of her planned quilts. I'm really a beginner quilter so most of mine will probably be fairly simple, patchwork and the like. But I want to stretch myself on a few of these as well. I would really like to incorporate some embroidery on at least one of them too:)

So here are a few quilts I'd like to start this year....


Winter Wonderland

Merry Merry Snowmen by Bunny Hill Designs

 

 

Hope Valley Quilt found at Diary of a Quilter blog

 

This last one I would do in other colors but I like the look of it overall. There are a few more quilts I found that I couldn't link up to and give proper credit to the owners/designers, so I'll just wait until I've started them and link up another way. I do like some of the modern quilts and would like to do one hexie quilt as well. Hmm, lots to think about and plan over!! Really getting excited about this challenge:)

 

EDIT: OOPS!! I forgot to add that if you want to join and win a prize as well, go over to Barb's blog right NOW!!! and join in. At midnight tonight (12-21-13) the contest will end:)

Still here!!!

Well it has been a busy autumn so far this year!!! Lots of activities and paperwork on my part dealing with the beginning of the 4-H year and working on getting our Secret Sister's group up and running for the year. It's a lot of fun once the planning and organizing part are done, but it does make for a busy and a bit stressful beginning of the year. But dd loves both of these groups and does help to make them run smoothly.

On top of that, my dd has her other activities. She is in her second year of working the nursery during our local MOPS meetings. They have had up to 17 crying babies in the room at one time!! Thankfully that is only twice a month:) She also has Youth group 2 times a month. And she found her favorite activity now too. I finally call our local zoo and she is volunteering 2 mornings a week with them.
What is nice about it from my point of view (besides that she is doing something she really enjoys) is that it gives me 2-3 days a week to go to the gym (we live about 30 min outside of town, so unless we are already in town, I don't go to the gym) and almost all her activities are in the morning/daytime now. That means we are home when hubby is home!!!

I haven't just been running around like crazy though!! I've gotten a bit of stitching and crocheting done as well. I finally got my dd's crocheted blanket done....

You can't see it very well, but this (cotton) yarn has sparkles woven through it as well. I started it almost 2 years ago and had promised it as a birthday gift that year, but, well, she just got it last week!!! Actually everyone in my family knows that I procrastinate lots and lots, so this was expected. I have a cross stitch I started for her about 8 months ago that she may never see again:)

I have been working on the Mary II Sampler from Plum Street Samplers, and I'm currently trying to get caught up on it. Should be about there in a day or two. I also have another cross stitch finish just within reach, maybe by the end of this week I'll have a picture to show on that one:)

I've started seeing a few challenges and SALs for the New Year start popping up here and there. It seems weird that we are really that close to the end of this year!!! It always seems to go by faster and faster each year:)

Well, back to some stitching for me!! Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

HO HO HO!!!

Oh, how excited I am to show off what I've been working on this past month. First a HUGE thanks goes out to Madam Samm of Sew We Quilt and Carol (she was our Christmas 'Carol') of Just Let Me Quilt for working with us and coming up with these wonderful and fun blog hops!!!

My project was another Pinterest find. This pattern is free for the taking (or the making) and can be found at Red-Brolly. The designer is Bronwyn Hayes. It is such a cute and simple design, and easy to put together too!! Also, take a look around this site because there are SOO many free designs and they are OH SO CUTE!! :)

I chose to take on a learning project for me this time. First I wanted to do something with embroidery as I am just learning to do this. I have to say that I really am enjoying my embroidery projects. It is so nice to pick up some needlework and not have to have the chart nearby.

Then I wanted to make sure I learned a few new stitches. This project had the running stitch that I had been using, but also had straight stitches, satin stitches, blanket stitch and herringbone stitch. I'm pretty sure I didn't do the satin stitch correctly. I couldn't get it to look right without outlining it first, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm also pretty sure I didn't get the corners right with the herringbone stitch, but again, for my first time with it, I'm happy:)

This project took me a bit more time than I figured on so I just finished sewing on the patches tonight. My intent was to make this into a wall hanging for the holidays, and I had just enough time to finish it up, but then realized that I left the backing fabric in the bedroom and my hubby had already gone to bed:( Oh, well!! I made sure to fold it over so that it would look just like it will once it's made into a wall hanging so you could see what it will look like all finished up.

Please visit all of today's HO HO HO bloggers...

August 7

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

From This to That

I Like To Quilt Blog

Leah @ L3designs

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much?

Just Quilt It

Meadowbrook

Peanut’s Patchwork

Around the Homestead

Feathered Nest Studio

In The Boon Docks

MO Broker, My Creative Side

Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop has started!!!

 

Yeah!!! The Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop has begun!!! Go over to Sew We Quilt  or to Just Let Me Quilt each day to see the list of very creative ladies participating in this hop. Today isn't my day to show off what I've been working on (my projects are just almost done!!!), my day will be next Wednesday. But it is first day of the blog hop and I thought I would show you a sneak peek at what I am working on:)

 

 

Wool felt all cut up and ready to put together. The great thing about this project is that it will be used as my first present all ready for Christmas time:)

 

And this one is turning out SOOO cute!!! This will be my first embroidery project that I will have completely finished. It will also be my first applique project:)

 

Both of these will have links as to the websites I found the free patterns on, so you can make them yourselves if you like!!!

Creative Juices are Flowing!!!



It's been a while!! I am tired of saying that things have been busy and that hopefully my little world will slow down, so I'm not going to say it!! :) I have had some alone time this week as dd went off to camp for the first time. She is less than a half hour away and I had to pick her up the first two evenings to take her to swim team so it's not been that bad for me, yet;) Last night I dropped her off from swim team and if all goes well, I won't see her again until Friday night:( I am always surprised at how I can want some alone time while she's here, but once she's gone I want her back!! She is having lots of fun though and we were pleasantly surprised at how many girls from her homeschool group and her 4-H group that are there and all in the same dorm. They take up about a third of the dorm room. She knew a couple would be there, including her best friend, but it is really nice to have so many girls that she knows all together.

 

Okay, on to my creative juices!! I don't know about you, but I get so excited to find new (to me) magazines to give me ideas. And for the last couple months I've really been taking a detour from wanting to just cross stitch. Don't get me wrong, I still love cross stitch and won't be giving it up (I have WAY too many projects to be giving it up!!!), but I have found several other crafts that have caught my attention lately. Quilting, embroidery, crochet, sewing and other paper and fabric crafts have been creeping into my rotation basket:)

 

 

I even made it into Hobby Lobby for some fabric this week. These fabrics will be all cut up and made into a bag soon. The colors are very bright and loud, which isn't my usual 'cup-of-tea', but I think this will make a very happy, summery bag!!

 



I have lots of crafty thoughts going on right now that's made it hard to focus on anything long enough to get something done. Adding to that, I lost a project bag last week that had my bird embroidery and a spring ornie in it (the ornie was just almost done!!) and more important, to me anyway, was a pair of scissors that were gifted to me:( I know I lost it in the Y's parking lot, but I've asked several times, and the staff hasn't seen it come into them. So, yesterday I spent some time re-kitting both projects and re-tracing the bird embroidery. Tomorrow I'll go to my (not so local) LNS and get the floss that I need for them, and *maybe* and extra project or two. Just what I need!! :)

Now I'll get off here and try and get something done to show off to you all soon!!!

June Goals

Our Summer schedule is finally starting to come together, so I thought I would come up with a few crafty goals for the month. I figured I'd better do this before I let the month get away from me!! That is SOOO easy to do during the summer:)

Top 5 goals for June...

1. I would like to get this quilt top all put together. I'd really like to start the quilting on it too, but I don't think that'll happen:)

 

2. I would like to completely finish this toddler blanket. It will go to a friend that takes care of respite and foster children. I'll leave it up to her whether she keeps it or gives it away.

 

3. I want to get this made into a needle book. There will be a second girl involved in the project as well;) For those who asked for a link to this pattern, I am still looking for it. Like I said before, I printed this off years and years ago and I am having trouble finding the original. I wish I wrote these down then like I do now to make sure I could give credit where it is due. I will continue to search for the designer of this chart.

 

4. I want to get this stitched up and made into a bag. I am actually about half done with the stitching on this, but I don't want to spoil it by showing it off yet. My stitching on it is getting better, you can really see where I started from where I am now, but I am going to leave it that way so I can see my progress.

 

5. I want to have a couple of ornies made up this month too as I've really fallen behind on that. I have one just almost done and another picked out to work on. No pics for this.

 

I think I have a nice variety of projects I want to work on. Some crocheting, quilting, sewing and stitching. I may also have to throw in my dd's horse cross stitch into the rotation as she has been getting after me about that!!