Have you heard?

Yes, it's been awhile, that's all I'll say about that:)

What I really wanted to say though, is 'Have You Heard?' About the freebie? The Christmas sampler?

If you are into cross stitching and you haven't heard about this yet, then you must have been hiding under a rock!! :) I have seen it everywhere lately. But then again, I do visit many stitching blogs and Yahoo groups, and Facebook pages, and.... Yes, I may have a problem with a stitching addiction!! :)

Anyway, just in case you aren't quite as obsessed as I am THIS is what I'm talking about...



Paulette from Plum Street Samplers has designed a FREE Christmas Sampler for all to have!! There are even 2 options to stitch and another option for if you'd like to do it on black fabric. But it is also a mystery:) Each Sunday, starting today, for the next 9 weeks she is releasing a portion of the sampler on her blog. I already have my fabric and floss out and have started the first few stitches in it:)

I'm pretty excited, this is the first new start I've had in a while (not that I NEEDED a new start!!), and I'm eager to see how this turns out. Maybe you'll join along?

'Pin It' Blog Hop - It's My Turn!!!

 

I am having so much fun with these blog hops. Once again Madam Samm has come up with a fun theme for us to work with - PIN Cushions!!! Kristin over at Meadowbrook has been cheering us along - sending daily messages of encouragement!! It has been great fun to work with her for this blog-hop!!

 

The one thing that I really enjoy about these blog hops is seeing what others come up with. It gives me new ideas and stretches me as a crafter to try new things. The last blog hop was all about hexies and I really chickened out, however I found a small project that I didn't have time to get to for the last hop that was perfect for this one!!!

 

 

I love how this turned out, and that I finally got over my fear of hexies!!! The whole front, minus the middle sock monkey part, is made from hexies. The tan colored part is kind of hard to see, but those are hexes too. The middle piece is fussy-cut (something else I had never done) and then sewn on. And I LOVE the sock monkey fabric!! My daughter helped me to choose the fabric for this project and I think she got it spot-on:)

I didn't actually get it all sewn up though. You may be able to see the pins on the bottom of the back side of the fabric? WELL, I was putting the finishing touches on it tonight and couldn't find my batting. So I stuffed it with odds and ends, pinned it up and took pics. I have the walnut hulls I will use to weigh it down, but will have to wait until I can get into town and pick up some batting to sew up the last little bit.

Thanks for coming by and looking!!!

Here is a list of everyone else who is hopping today...

September 13
Quilting In South Carolina

Negligent Style

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Sew Many Yarns

News From Bear Hollow

Around The Homestead

Living with Purpose

Buzzing and Bumbling

Colorpoint Quilter

Scraps of Life

Daisy Days

Stitchduchess

Life @ RuffHaven

AnnieOak Designs

Grandmama's Stories
Suebee's World
Handmade by Mama

 

Photo session with cats, aka Sept. TUSAL

I think I've mentioned the poor lighting in my house before. It makes taking pictures of my projects while indoors pretty much useless. Sometime (umm, most of the time?) I don't get my projects done until it is already dark, the night they are due to be posted, so I don't have a choice but to take crappy pics.

Today I decided that I... 1. would actually participate in this month's TUSAL and... 2. take pics of my TUSAL project during the daylight hours!!! GO ME!!! Okay, so I took my jar of strings and other bits and pieces with me out to the front porch, decided that it wasn't TOO windy if I took the pics fast and kept my shoes on so I could run after the strays. However the front porch was covered in cats, and that always makes for a fun photo shoot!! :) Here were the results...

They were all walking up to me at this point.

This one is very proud of his tail end:)

This is 'Paws', he is the spoiled one who spends a good bit of his time indoors. He is the only one that gets to do that. Actually, he is currently sleeping on the computer desk next to me right now:)

 

Really I'm only showing you all the pictures with the cats to distract from the fact that even though I haven't shown pics of my TUSAL in a few months, I still don't have hardly anything to show off!! I've been being 'creative' in ways other than stitching here lately, though I have done a little sewing/stitching/crocheting too.

 

If you don't know what TUSAL means and you want to get in on it, go to Daffycat's blog to learn more and join in!! 

No longer in a drought :0)

In my last post I mentioned that my dd and I had been stuck at home for about a week a few weeks back due to flooding. We got more rain within a week than I think we have gotten in the past couple years all together. We had been in a pretty severe drought before this. The first day of rain brought 7 inches within about 4 hours and the ground was just too hard to absorb all the water!!!

 

This was just the beginning!!

 

These pictures don't show nearly how bad it ended up getting. Do you see the two power poles way in the distance? Yes, one of them leans over a bit:) That is the end of our driveway. It was completely underwater. And I ended up having to move the car once the water got past the bottom of the hub-caps.

While the water did get higher than we've ever seen it out here, flooding across our driveway isn't uncommon in years of normal rain as all the fields around us drain into our yard and then under the bridge across the road as it heads for the river, it just usually doesn't last very long. And this time we had water within a few feet from the front porch and it actually got into the metal shop building, but not so much to hurt anything.

Unfortunately, my hubby was at work when this all started. I called him to come home as I was pretty sure the road was under water (it was). By the time he got home, the road was partially washed out. It took him about an hour to find a way to drive the last mile to the house. All the roads to the house are dirt and 3 of the 4 ways in had roads that were washed out. So he took his little car and 4-wheeled it down the only road that was super muddy, but not under water. He ended up having to park in the road at the end of our driveway and walk up to the house as the water was knee high and flowing too fast across the driveway.

All would have been fine after that, but my hubby decided later that day to go ahead and get the car up  the house. The water had decended some, but not enough!! He sucked up a bunch of water into the air intake and shelled the engine. So guess what he got to do this past weekend? He 'got' to put another engine in the car!! :)

All-in-all, we needed the rain, and while the flooding can cause some headaches, it is nice to have the wildlife back that comes with the rain. I don't remember the last time the grass/weeds and trees were still green in August/September. We even saw fish swimming 'up-stream' across our driveway!! The bullfrogs could have deafened you, and I wish I could get a picture of the tiny toads that are EVERYWHERE!! Some of them no more than a half inch or so long. They must of come from the river as well.  My hubby said he didn't understand why anyone would live in town when you can have all this fun!!! (he can be a bit sarcastic sometimes!! LOL)

A Friendly Visit

I finally had a chance to visit a friend a couple weeks ago. It was so nice. We used to live not even 5 minutes from each other when our kids were smaller. We used the same curriculum for them and often ended up at each others' houses by the end of the week or day, whichever was most needed:0)

She is my best friend, but over time we have (literally) moved away from each other and our lives and responsibilities have change and we find ourselves going longer and longer with out having a chance to see one another or even talk. We only live an hour away from each other now, but I'm usually only able to make time once every few months to go see her - she has 3 kids still at home plus 2 she is fostering and I live in a 700sq ft home, so coming to me is a bit harder!!

A couple weeks ago we had planned to start school, but the weather the week before had been so wet (as in flooding) that my dd hadn't been able to play outside much and we ended up stranded at home for the whole week. We did start school that next week, but instead of starting on Monday, we waited until Thursday. We went to a movie, shopping and out to lunch one day, had a day at home to finish up planning for school, and...

FINALLY had a visit at my friend's house:0)

It is amazing how we can go so long without seeing each other, but as soon as we're together, it's as if we had never been apart. We just pick up the conversation and the time flies by. She is a wonderful friend and an incredibly giving person. I have to admit that when she went into respite/foster care, I was jealous. I wanted to do that too (for various reasons, it isn't possible right now) and as she talked about it and planned for it I was struggling with trying to find my place to help.

In the end I did decide what I could do that might bring a little comfort to the little ones that go in and out of the program she works with. I could make blankets. It's a small thing to do, but something that I do have time for in my life right now, so that's what I'm doing.

I wanted to have the 2 blankets done that I had been working on before I went to visit her, but I wasn't quiet done with the second one. Thankfully I had time to work on it while I was at her house, so I was able to give them both to her that day.

The second blanket that I finished, a girly one:)

Both the 1st and 2nd blanket. One for a boy, one for a girl.

She's not sure yet who will receive these. I told her to do whatever seemed right to her. I had also hoped to get more of these done this year, but I have another in the works, and am hoping to do at least one more before the end of the year:0) It makes me happy to know that even though I can't do something big to help out, like being a foster parent, I can do something small like this.

Queen Of Hexies (Not I!!!)

 

Another wonderful blog hop idea from the BLOG HOP QUEEN herself... Madam Samm. This hop has been hosted by Debby, who has done a wonderful job of encouraging us and keeping us all organized!! Thanks ladies for all the work you do!!

 

Okay, on to my project. I have to make a confession here. I chickened out big time with this. I had a big project in mind for this. I even went out and bought all the materials that I would need for it. Then I waited and waited. The hexies scared the 'hex' out of me:) In the mean-time I found a cute little 'cheater' project that I wanted to try out.

 

Found inspiration for this project at THIS blog.

 I really liked this idea, but when I went to check it out on the owners blog, I couldn't read anything on that blog:) I'm not even sure what language that is. So while it looks like the original was made with fabric and sewn on, I really cheated and used felt and glued it on. You can't see it, but the white has glitter in it and it is so cute!!! I did sew up the ornie and added the ribbon.

 

Way too late in the game (like this past weekend) I found another little hexie project that I figured I could give a try. I knew I wouldn't get this one finished in time (actually it'll work for the next blog hop, so I'll be showing off the finished project soon), but I did want to show that I figured out how to make the hexes and that I actually enjoyed doing it. Now to start sewing them together!!! We'll see how that goes:)

 

Thanks for taking a look:)

 

Here is the line-up for the rest of today's bloggers...

 

We Shall Sew  

  

Life@RuffHaven

Pieced Brain  

   

Den Syende Himmel 

   

Creatin’ in the Sticks 

   

Meadowbrook 

   

Sandra Kaye Designs  

   

Let’s Patch it Up 

   

Sew Many Yarns  

  

Around the Homestead 

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much

 

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