We interrupt this regularly scheduled Thanksgiving day for a happy dance.......

I couldn't wait to post.  Just put the last stitches in.  Thank you to Margriet at The Essamplaire for being so generous and sending me the last lesson early.  Ta dah!  The Richmond Sampler in all her glory!

Sorry for the terrible pictures.  It's night-time, what can I say?

I stitched her on 40ct fabric that Margriet substituted for me (the kit comes with 35ct fabric) and the called for AVAS from the kit.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We now return you to our regularly scheduled activities......

Thanksgiving is coming!

And I've been cleaning and straightening like a mad woman as a result.  Hopefully the house is looking almost perfect -- or as perfect as it will get for now.  I'll be doing shopping and other things to get even more ready.  The girl child is bringing home a couple of friends for Thanksgiving so it should be fun.

I've gotten as much done on the Richmond Sampler as I can at this point.  This is where I added more to the piece.

 

It's all the over one stuff that I didn't have instructions for.  There's still some over one in the border on all four sides, plus the over one berries for the bottom border plants,  and the over one dog and the two over one horsemen in the foreground.  I can't wait to be done with this one - it's so pretty!

Those over one berries on the vine are hard to see but they're finally there!  Love the flowers in the pot and the bird in the cage!

I decided to be naughty and start another sampler while I'm waiting to finish the Richmond Sampler.  It's Guarding Eden by Examplars from the Heart.  I've only been working on the border so far so I'll just show a picture from the designer's blog of the model.

Yup, another A&E for the A&E wall!  :D  I love this design!

Finally, here are a couple of pics of Mia being cute.

She loves to roll on the floor right in front of you.  Not sure why!

Have a great week, everyone!  For those in the US, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!   And thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi!

Ho hum......

I've come to the end.  The end of what I can stitch on the Richmond Sampler that is.  Well, I could stitch a bit more, but I'd prefer to wait till I know what I'm supposed to stitch in those places (the areas with over one stitching).  Sigh.  I so want to finish this -- it's rather frustrating!  Here it is as is.

It's such a pretty piece!  Hopefully the next lesson will come out today.  And it will have some of the over one parts!!  I hope!!

In the meantime, I did finish Hallow Eden.

Hallow Eden by Plum Street Samplers

40ct River Willow by Lakeside Linens

Crescent Colors fibers as called for

with one DMC (for avocado)

I did use one DMC as stated -- my LNS didn't have Avocado in and I wasn't willing to wait to get it.  I think the DMC (there was a conversion for DMC on the chart) looks fine.

So now I'm in a ho hum mood.  I want to work on Richmond but can't.  Don't feel like picking up anything else.  Want to start something new, but I feel guilty doing it.  Sigh..............  I should just buckle down and start the cleaning of the house I need to do.  (The girl child is bringing home friends for Thanksgiving.)

In other news, the boy child was busy having fun last week doing the last pit rehearsals for the high school musical.  The show was this past weekend, and he had a ball doing it.  I think he likes this music gig thing.  :D  One fairly normal week for a change this week.

During all the craziness of the boy child's schedule last week, poor Mia decided to eat some string and suffered the consequences.  The poor boy child witnessed Mia trying to throw up the string, along with all of her food -- at 1AM at night.  There was a trip to the emergency vet in the wee hours of the morning to make sure the little kitten was ok.  And luckily she was, albeit scarily skinny after her ordeal.  She recovered nicely in the next days though and she's back to her normal, spunky, dashing-around-the-house-like-a-crazy-kitten-and-bouncing-off-the-walls self.  lol!

Here are a couple of pics of the boy child with Mia that the girl child took with her iPhone while she was home on break a couple of weeks ago.  Why can she get such good pics and I can't? 

Aren't they cute?  The boy child loves to walk around with Mia perched on his shoulder like a parrot.  And Mia seems to enjoy it as well!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  It's so much fun being a part of this community, visiting and chatting!  Have a great week, everyone! 

And now for something - a bit - different

OK, so it's not what Monty Python said.  Close enough.  :D

First off, the sameness.  Here's more of the Richmond Sampler.  I've been wandering through her, doing the parts I can do at this point.

I must say, she's looking fine!

Added a few berries to the bottom border.

And worked more on the interior.  (Close up, those dogs look like llamas to me.)

And now for the different part.  On Saturday, I wandered down to my LNS to pick up Jane Atkinson.  I also picked up some stash, of course.  :D  Anyway, when I got home, some picture hanging and reshuffling took place.  Here is Jane.

Sorry, had to use the flash.  It's dismal and rainy out today.  Here's a closeup of the frame.  Hard to tell the colors with the flash.

Don, my framer, picked out the frame once  again.  He's got such an eye!

And thanks to the father type for helping me move my A&E wall.  Isn't it glorious?

From top left, it's Jane Atkinson (Scarlet Letter), Charlotte Clayton (Northwest Sampler Guild), Sarah Esh (CHS?), Paradise Lost (Plum Street Samplers), Know Ye (La D Da), Margaret Pence (Good Huswife), Fruit of the Spirit (Plum Street Samplers).  And there's a bit more room for a couple more.  :D

While at my LNS, I picked up Paulette's (Plum Street Samplers) Hallow Eden.  I also picked up some 28ct fabric for it, figuring I would do the piece over one.  But when I got home I discovered that yes, I had some 40ct in my stash too.  So I decided to use the 40ct fabric (River Willow) with the called for Crescent Colors fibers (except for one DMC).  Here's my start -- I couldn't resist, I need a quick piece for a change!

 

Here's what the piece will look like.  Paulette, I hope you don't mind that I grabbed this pic from your blog!

Isn't it wonderful!  I love the frame too!  I might be naughty and not do my ATS today.  :D

In other news, the girl child came home last week, but only for a few days.  She got reacquainted with Mia.

Well, you get the idea.  

The boy child had his Area All State concert last week as well.  Pictures weren't allowed in the auditiorium and we had seats that wouldn't have been good for pics anyway.  But here he is outside the theater after the concert.

(Should have cropped out the lady with the yellow coat.  :D   )   It was a rousing success.  Now for the All State concert next month!  

Oh, and the best part is that the boy child really liked this year's conductor.  AND, he likes one of the pieces they played enough that he wants to get it for his iTouch!  Now that's news!  lol!  Up to now, it's been total aloofness from classical music.  Maybe there's hope yet.  :D

A final picture or two of Mia for those who requested it.  She's growing like a weed, but she's still nice and kitten-sized.

I think we're settling in with each other quite nicely.

Have a great week, everyone!  Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi!

(Pretend there's another pic of Mia here.  Blogger wouldn't let me add it.)

A Chill in the Air

There's a definite chill in the air today -- there was a freeze warning last night and it will be in the 40's for a high today.  So I finally called it time to close off the back room (which is really a 3 season room heat-wise) -- the cold weather is officially here!

Here are my progress pictures for this week.  And They Sinned is still in cloud formation stage.

And the Richmond Sampler (Anne Maria Clarke) is in a sort of holding stage.  I've finished all the class was assigned to do so far.

I've been cheating and stitching parts that I can stitch without consequence.  I want so much to just keep going, but there are parts that need explication and those are for the next two class assignments.  :(

I love this blue vase and couldn't wait to put it in. 

In other news, the girl child is home, but only for a few days.  She wants to spend part of her midterm break at school catching up on work.  So we only have her till sometime Wednesday.  The girl has lost weight -- time for the mother to start worrying!  She assures me there's nothing to worry about, which I believe.  But I still worry of course!

The boy child has a busy couple of weeks coming up.  He has his Area All State concert Thursday night which means long rehearsals Wednesday and Thursday before the concert.  Then he has to rehearse for the pit orchestra for the hs musical which is on the 12th and 13th.  So no rest for the weary for him for a while!

We are still waiting for word about my FIL.  He's doing well considering -- still tired, but resting and doing little things that won't tire him out.  

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I really love visiting with you all -- the friends I've made online are precious to me!  Have a great week, everyone!

Waiting.....

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes for my FIL.  Right now it's a waiting game.  He will be having triple bypass surgery, but it won't happen for 3 to 5 weeks.  So it's a matter of waiting.  Hard to do.

I have nothing new to show except for the same old same old.  Here is my progress on the Richmond Sampler.  I cheated and finished the house even though this month's assignment only called for the roof and left chimney.

I tried doing the over one parts in the little cage in actual over one.  I managed it with the berries but decided to just go with tent stitch over one after that.  I don't understand how people manage to fit over one on 40ct!  I can only do letters.  lol!

Here's my progress on And They Sinned.  It's going to be cloud city for a while with this one.

Ah well, a good audiobook and I'm all set for fill in stuff.

In other news, things are gearing up for the boy child with all his musical activities.  He had his first Area All State rehearsal this past week (all All State students have to do the Area All State concert in November as well as the All State concert in December).  Plus he had his first rehearsal for pit duties for the high school musical.  The next few weeks will be Area All State and pit duties added to his usual mix of tons of activities so there will be no rest for the weary! 

The girl child should be home this Friday or Saturday.  She doesn't believe in communicating with us much, so I don't know exactly when she'll be coming home for her midterm break.  But she'll be home for a week next week.

Finally, I tried to catch a non-blurry picture of the boy child and Mia, but it was pretty impossible.  This was the best I could do.

The two of them only stay still when they're sleeping.  lol!

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi as always.  Have a great week!

Might be boring for a while......

Nothing to show here but more progress pics.  Here is ATS.

The dreaded cloud is next.  lol!

And here is the Richmond Sampler.  It was a relief to get the next monthly assignment and have something to stitch besides the border and verse.

I'm still working on that tree -- thus the hole on the right side of it.

In other news, I wanted to ask for your good thoughts and prayers for my FIL.  He had a mild heart attack last Wednesday evening and has been in the hospital for tests and such since.  We're waiting for more news at this point -- waiting is the hardest part.  A triple bypass might be in his future.  :(

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I always enjoy our visits.

progress -- still growing...

More progress -- that's about all I have to show for this week.  Progress on ATS from last Monday.

And progress on the Richmond (or Anne Maria Clarke) Sampler.

That's the whole thing.  Here are some closer pics.

Hope that wasn't too boring.  :D  

I'm all done with the over one letters!  Yay!  And something that surprised me:  I thought it was much easier somehow to stitch the over one letters on this 40ct Wichelt fabric than on the 40ct Zweigart based fabrics I'm used to.  I suppose it may also be the stronger readers I'm using, but I don't think so.

Finally, progress on Mia's growing.  lol!  Here she is taking a little snooze with her boy child.

She's really growing!  Still a kitten though.  That's for sure!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi!  I always enjoy visiting!  Have a great week!

And they sinned in Richmond (not really)

Last week, I started a Monday SAL with Kwilty Kim of Threadheads Unite and Mark Lipinski's ATS SAL group.  I decided to stick to just Mondays, although that may bleed a bit into Sundays depending on my mood and the state of my Richmond Sampler.  Here is what I accomplished last Monday on ATS.

I've wanted to stitch this piece forever, so I figured this was my opportunity to get going.  Of course, there have been other SALs as well -- not sure why I picked this time to start, but there you go!  I'm using the called for GAST fibers and 40ct Pearled Barley.

The Richmond Sampler has been going as well.  The straight/zig zag border is all finished -- queen stitches and all -- but I won't bother showing you all of its glory.  I'll just show the interesting parts.

(Got the last picture right before the Mia came attacking. ) I'm enjoying this piece, although I am getting tired of the baskets and flowers.  I could attack the over one verse, of course.  I guess I should do that.  Ugh.

Mia is growing all the time.  I still remember when she couldn't look out the front door.  Now she can and does most every time the boy child heads off to the bus stop.  Here's what she looks like in action.  You can see the boy child's hand in the first picture, although it's hard to tell.

She was looking out the door at the boy child again this morning.  Looking at these pictures, I think she's grown a tad more since last week!

Mia has been getting into lots of trouble the past couple of days.  All of a sudden she's been getting into places she's never explored before.  Yesterday she dumped a glass of water all over my bed.  She later dumped the empty glass on the floor again.  Amazingly the glass wasn't broken.  I need to find my reusable water bottles and start using them. 

This morning she kept insisting on climbing into the lampshade of the livingroom lamp -- a lamp that cannot be replaced and is very breakable.  Argh!!!  I took her out of it three times.  The third time I gave up and shut her up in the back part of the house for a while, where her litter box and food are.  (It's lucky that our house has a door between parts of the house like that!)  She eventually started meowing to come to where we were, then I heard a crash.  Sigh. 

When I went to investigate, I found that Mia had managed to overturn the laundry basket on herself.  She's done this once before.  The last time she did it, she was so small she couldn't move the basket or get out from under it.  This time she was walking around, pushing the laundry basket (still overturned) with her nose so that she could walk around.  Silly kitten!  I think she liked doing it until she discovered she couldn't get to her food from inside the basket.  lol!  I took the basket away then.  We've been at a truce ever since.  I think she knew she'd been in trouble and should be good.  Such a mischief maker!

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!  I so enjoy our visits!  Have a great week!