4 years -- really?

Here is my progress on The Hart.  Got the man in, and the outline of the dog, among other things.

I like the man's togs.

I did get distracted this week from The Hart.  By this beauty.  (Photo from Tula Pink's website.)

Yup.  Couldn't resist.  Hex on the Beach comes as a kit with the hexies already pre-cut!  So yeah.  I got a bit distracted.

Got one row done!  So pretty!  I'm trying to concentrate on The Hart some more now.

The title of my post refers to the fact that I realized yesterday that today marks, to the day, the 4th anniversary of my blog.  Pretty bizarre.  It doesn't feel like I've been blogging that long.  But when I look back through my blog and see the kids, then I see it has been that long.  lol!  I've never done a giveaway, and I'm not sure about doing one yet.  But maybe next year on my 5th blogiversary I'll think about doing one.  :D   Anyway, thanks to all of you out there, fellow bloggers and otherwise, for joining me on my blogging journey.  It's been fun, and continues to be fun.

We finally got a sleeper couch for the sewing room/the girl child's room.  I love it, although it is a bit modern for my tastes.  It's one of those "click clack" couches, which opens up flat to sleep on.  Mia and I have made it all comfy.

I think it will take some doing to get Mia used to spending time in the sewing room though.  She's used to being with me where my stitching chair is in the bedroom.

Mia loves her new bed so much.  She spends almost all her sleeping time sleeping in it now.  But once in a while when she tries to get into the bed, she has a bit of a mishap.

Poor baby.  lol!

Of course, as soon as I say that she spends so much time in her bed, she does this instead.

Mia's current status -- on my lap.  lol!  Makes typing on my laptop interesting!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Mary Mccallester, Sweet Pea, and my Hart

If you subscribe to the Attic's newsletter, you might have spied a couple of pieces by Needlework Press which are going to be released at the Nashville market in March.  Yes, the big one is the model I was working on for so long.  It's Mary Mccallester.  (Keep in mind, my picture isn't great since it was taken before I sent it back to Vickie to be framed.)

Isn't she gorgeous?  I am so in love with her!  If you want to see Mary all pinned and wrinkle free, go to the link above and scroll till you find her.  Stitches used on Mary are cross stitch over one (verse and words) and two and rice stitch.

Needlework Press is also releasing a small piece, Sweet Pea. which I also stitched a long while ago.

It's sweet, isn't it?  :D

And no, I didn't stitch Mary Moteshed, the Attic's featured Sampler of the Month.  But I do love her!

Vickie, I hope you don't mind my showing the models off here.  (And no, I have no affiliation to the Attic.)

And now for the piece I'm currently stitching, The Hart.  It's coming along.  I'm finally stitching the fun parts.

I decided to stitch some of the grass to break it up since there is so much of it.

The lady reminds me of Queen Elizabeth II.  I think it's the nose.

I recently made a purchase of a nice bed for Mia -- and it's been a huge hit.  Mia sleeps in it almost exclusively, day and night.  She used to sleep right next to me at night, but now she prefers her bed.  It has a fleece lining, which she loves to knead.  And it has a surface under the lining which reflects her body heat back to her to keep her warm.

She even got right into it when it first arrived, despite it still being cold from outside!

Don't worry, I have since taken that tag off.  Mia is a happy cat!

From the beginning of the weekend, I was asking the Father Type if he had Monday off.  "I don't know....." was the constant answer.  I finally got him to check the calendar -- and yes, he has it off!!  So yay for three day weekends!

We finally bought a nice couch/bed for the sewing room/the girl child's former room.  It will be delivered on Wednesday.  I'm so excited!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!  Happy President's Day to those in the US.

Let it snow?

First, here is my progress on The Hart Lives.  I can't wait to be done with the border!!!

I am getting there.

It's also time for the TUSAL ORT report.  Here are my ORTs for the month.

My ORTs never look like much.  I always work the thread down to the last possible mm, so I rarely throw away anything longer than an inch, and usually it's more like a 1/4 inch.  lol!  You can see all the red from The Hart's border.

Of course everyone has heard about that winter storm named after a fish.  We were lucky and only got maybe a foot of snow.

I am so glad we have a snow blower!  And that I have a husband who is strong and can manipulate the thing.  lol!  I did all the shoveling necessary that the snowblower couldn't reach.  Good exercise.

The boy child was in Boston, of course, where they got 2 feet of snow.  He took a few pictures for me once the storm had passed.

I can't decide whether that last pic is of a snowman or someone's bike.  lolol!  The boy child has class again today -- classes were cancelled on Friday.

Mia has been doing her best to keep warm during all the cold and snow.

Yes, she is in this picture.  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.  I also hope everyone up in New England is warm and safe and has power.

Peekaboo!

Coffee high

First off a pic of my progress on The Hart Lives Where It Loves.  I included the chart as well so you can see how it will look when finished.

The red fill in is tedious, but mindless.

Most cats love their catnip.  Mia, she can take it or leave it.  She enjoys it once in a while, but it's not like a total high for her like with other cats.

What does give her that high is coffee.  And no, we never actually let her drink coffee.  Just the smell, the afterglow, is enough to send her into ecstasies.  

Any time a cup is left sitting around that has been used for coffee, Mia is there to enjoy.

The father type thinks she would be a Youtube sensation.  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Hooray!!

I'm finished with the model stitching!  Hooray!  I can't wait for the big reveal at market in March.  Hopefully I will be able to show it off to you then.

I was so happy to be done with that huge project -- I felt more relaxed even.   I immediately went off to start a project of my own choosing.  Didn't get too far since I had only one day, but here it is.

It's The Hart Lives Where It Loves by the Scarlet Letter.  I'm using 40ct Lambswool and the AVAS called for.  I'm loving it so far!

Mia seems to have settled in much better this time after her boy child left.  She is content to look out the windows at birds, and to find the warmest place possible to snuggle in for a nap.  For some reason, she finds this perch comfortable.

I really couldn't tell you why.  lol!

Snow, sleet and freezing stuff on tap for today.  A good day to stay inside and stitch!

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Red Wall

I'm still working on the model so no stitching to show.  I thought I'd finally show you my red wall.  It's actually very silly, cause I need to hang up my Jane Pattison Sampler on the red wall -- she is impatient to join the other red ladies and gentleman.  But of course, I haven't hung her up yet.  Oh well.  Here's the red wall without Jane Pattison.  It's actually two walls.

From left, we have Susan Rambo (from SANQ magazine), Frederick and Frederica by Carriage House Samplings, Sarah Woodham by Shakespeare's Peddler, and Ann Grant by Shakespeare's Peddler.

Here's another view of one wall.  (Don't ask me which is Fred and which is ika.  I can never remember.)

 
Jane Pattison will join Ann Grant on the other wall.

We had to take the boy child back to college this past weekend.  We are lucky to have my sister living so close to Boston -- we are constantly staying overnight with her and her family.  The cousins were happy to have some time together.

On the way up, we stopped at one of our favorite stops to eat and browse books.

The boy child was back at his apartment by late Sunday afternoon, and we were back home again by Sunday evening.  The boy child is eager to start the next semester.  So exciting!

Here is Mia luxuriating in her boy's sweatshirt before he left for college.

She's good at finding places to snuggle in -- like pillowcases.

Such a silly girl!

Caught the last set and a half of the Djokovic/Wawrinka match at the Australian Open Sunday morning on my iPad.  Such a great match!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

TUSAL

I'm doing a late TUSAL post.  In case you're wondering, TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch Along.  And it's fun and easy.  Feel free to join in -- details are here on Daffycat's blog.

I decided to do things differently this year.  I'm using an egg cup from my Nicholas Mosse collection to hold my ORTs for each month, and I'll empty them into my big ORT jar after each TUSAL post.

I like my egg cup.

Here's my emptied ORT jar alongside the ORTs from 2012.  I've been putting the ORTs for each year in a glass  ball ornament and writing the year on each.

Oh, and if you're wondering about that fabric pack behind my ORTs, here it is again.  It's a fabric kit from Temecula Quilt Company of Jo Morton fabrics to make these quilts.  I hope I actually make them.

If you're wondering why I'm not showing any stitching, there's a very good reason.  I'm finally back to model stitching.  It's a very large reproduction sampler that Needlework Press will be releasing at Nashville.  So I am doing my best to get it done in time.  Had a long wait for the rest of the chart but I'm finally happily stitching away.  Sorry, I can't show it off.  I will show it when it is released at market.  I bet you'll like it!  I love it!

My two babies have been happy together.

The boy child will be going back to college this coming weekend.  I'm dreading the empty nest again.  Poor Mia won't like it either.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  It's Australian Open time again!  Yay!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week.