Slub Wars

I have been stitching along on Marietta...la, la, la...




Do you see that big nasty one! Is that where I have to stitch over one?!?? #^*+!



See that one!?!




Arrrgh! Oh well, I guess that thy add some character.
Do you check you linen for these before you start stitching?



I am making pretty good progress. Not much left before I start the over 1 motifs.

Thanks as always for all your kind comments and stopping by to say hello.

Chris
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Myra-fied!

Hello Friends!
    I took a few minutes to stuff this pillow that Myra sewed up for me. I had stitched this Bent Creek kit probably 7 years ago. It was too big to finish as an ornament. Thanks Myra for saving it from the pile of stitching that is never finish finished! You can see more of Myra's wonderful work here. I LOVE it!!
    Rich and I spent a pretty quiet weekend at home. Sometimes you just need to lay low and recharge your batteries. Yesterday morning we did hit the trail early and got in about a 7 mile hike. It is amazing how different things look or what different things you see when you hike the same trail each week. We only came across a toad and some other hikers. It was pretty dry on the trail too.

Next weekend is National Trails Day. There are some guided hikes going on in Greensboro and if the weather is good Rich and I might drive up to take part in one of the hikes. It is easy to search for other events taking place this day on the Internet. There are guided nature hikes and other events. Check out what is going on in your own area.

  I ended up working for 4 hours yesterday at my 2nd job for someone that was sick. It was a nice quiet day. Rich and I went to see The Avengers after I worked. I am not a big action/comic book person so I only thought it was ok. I won't be going to see Batman or Spiderman, give me a good spy story. Jason Bourne where are you?
 
     Today was a quiet day. My thoughts have been with friends and family and our servicemen past and present. I am thankful to live in this country and for all the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom.

Peace

Chris

And Your Little Dog Too...

Marietta has a couple of pups on the bottom. Now I am thinking of the doves as the flying monkeys.



I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I was off yesterday. Rich and I headed up to Greensboro to run some errands. We started off having lunch at a newer restaurant in town called Cleopatra's. It is an Egyptian/middle eastern restaurant.



We started with some hummus, baba ghanoush and fewl. Excuse my spelling if it wrong.



We went on to a sampler grill plate. Everything was great and we will definitely be going back. We brought home leftovers, yum.

After that is was if to Costco, Target and Kohl's. It was good walking around working off our lunch. The temp went up to the low 90's. Too hot for baseball and our timing wasn't right to see a movie.
When I got home I made a couple of loaves of banana bread. They ripen so fast in this weather. I had also bought a lot of fruit on my trip to Aldi this week so we put together a big fruit salad.



Yum!
After that I tried to settle down to stitch. I could not find any type of rhythm. So I gave myself a sloppy pedicure.



It doesn't look too bad from a distance.
Today has been pretty low key, puttering around, vacuuming, more banana bread, a nap and stitching. I think I am still catching up from having been sick.
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend with some fun and joy!

Chris
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Sweet!

Hello Friends!
I Monday my post was looking forward to a great week and I have to say that I have not been disappointed.
Dinner and catching up with friends, buying some smaller size clothes, treats in the mail....I am a lucky girl.
This is what landed in my mailbox today.



Barbara over at The Wicked Stitcher passed this wonderful chart to me. Hop on over to her blog to see her wonderful finish.
Also last Saturday Myra left this same stitched piece at Spring Robin for framing when we went to Salisbury. So this design has been top of mind for me.
I did some stash diving and came up with a piece of 28ct Meadow Rue Lakeside Linen and all but 3 of the fibers. I think you will be seeing another WIP here soon.
I also won 5 free Zumba classes. What a great surprise.



This is the last peony of the season. I didn't get a good pic and now this bloom is fading.
I am going to go back to stash diving and floss fondling now. Binx is feeling very neglected :)
How are your long weekend plans going? I am still working on what kind of trouble we can find locally. The ACC baseball tournament is in Greensboro, I might be ready for another ball game. I will keep you posted.

Sweet Dreams!

Chris
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Random C*^%

How is your Tuesday going?



This is a pic of all the news vans outside the Greensboro courthouse waiting for the verdict in the John Edwards trial. At lunch time we try and walk around the block a couple of times and this has been one of our current sites.



I had to stop and load up on these. I need to break this habit.



Here's some color in the yard.

That's about it. I think we are going to go see Battleship and I am going to eat a lot of popcorn for dinner!

Cheers!

Chris
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Hoping For A Great Week

Hello Friends,
I am hoping that Monday is treating you well. My day started off by seeing a rainbow on my way to work, so I am hoping for good things.
I did a few things around the house yesterday. I did finish this Pine Mountain kit up, just in time for June.



I am going to set it on my bed for the month with the other pillows. I have the July kit ready to go sometime next month. Those colors go better with by current bedding/quilt.
Keep your fingers crossed for the work situation. The company that has taken over provider services called to verify employment today. It seems like things are starting to move forward.
My boss gave me a gift certificate to Kohl's today. We have both been dieting. It was very kind of her. I will probably go shopping this weekend. I still want to lose more. It will be nice to have some in between pieces.
I am having dinner with a friend tonight. We haven't gotten together for 2 months so I am looking forward to that.
The cold is lingering. I don't have time for this. Rich and I were going to go out of town this weekend, but will probably stay home since this crud isn't cleared up.
So all in all a great start to the week. I need to get back to stitching on Marietta and her birds.

Have a great Monday!

Chris

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May TUSAL

Here's what my jar looks like as of now. That big black blob is from frogging out one of those scary doves. Hopefully I will add some more floss today.
It was quite lovely this morning. Cool with clear air so Rich and I went fora short hike.



This guy was crossing the trail.
Back home again, Rich found these babies by the side of the shed.



Can you see them? Baby Praying Mantises. It is great to have them around.
I did some cooking, read the paper, vacuumed an stitched. I lay down to see if I could take a little nap.



And these two decided it was a good idea to join me.

I hope that where ever you are you are having a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs!

Chris
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Perfect Day

Hello Dear Friends.
I hope that your Saturday has been as wonderful as mine.
I ended up asking my 2nd job to see if the could find some one to work for me last night and I was able to come home and park my butt in my stitching chair.
This morning I met Myra and we headed down the road to Salisbury, NC. Our destination was the Spring Robin Cross stitch store.



This is a wonderful little shop. They have a wonderful selection of frame moldings. They had A great selection of charts, DMC, WDW and GAST threads and fabric.
If you are driving down 85 north of Charlotte, NC you need to stop.
After shopping we went and had a very nice lunch at the Sidewalk Deli. We ha wonderful Greek salads with grilled chicken.
We then headed over to Granite Quarry to see the Old Stone House. Built in 1766 it is very early for this area and looks like it should be in PA and not NC.
I am sure that Myra will be posting more about her trip on her blog. Hop on over to gr8damesplace.blogspot.com/ to check it out.
Myra also brought back tho sweetie that she finished for me.



This is a Bent Creek kit that I had stitched up quite a few years ago. It was too big to make into an ornament. She did a wonderful job. Thank you Myra!
She also finished another small kit for me but I am going to stuff it before I share it.



This evening was the annual Relay for Life event in Asheboro, so Rich and I walked around. This is a mural in downtown Asheboro.



This is the park looking down toward the bandstand. They have all the remembrance/ support luminaries set out for tonight.



Here is the booth for my Zumba group. Phyllis, the owner is a colon cancer survivor. Here she is celebrating in front of her booth.



My dear friend that I wrote about in my last post found me in the crowd.



I think she looks great! It was so great to see her.
Bands will play on the bandstand until midnight and they will write the luminaries at 10pm. The weather is perfect, mid 70's with a breeze. A perfect day for this celebration.
I am back home resting now. No staying out late. I am still working on getting over the cold.
Thanks for hanging in with me in this long post. Have a great Saturday night!

Chris
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String Distraction

Hello Friends,
Thanks for all your kind comments on my flock and the cold that I am fighting.
I went back to work yesterday. I had plans to meet with a dear friend for dinner to celebrate her birthday. She has been through so much tho year, breast cancer and a hysterectomy. She is so strong. I am so lucky to have her as a friend.
I struggled through Zumba tonight and now I am parked in my chair playing with this...





I like this type of string project for trips so I bought a couple of these Pine Mountain kits on eBay. I don't have to do finishing I just have to stuff the pillow form in it. I don't have many seasonal items besides Xmas so I thought that these would be cute for some of those other seasons.




I also got this lovely chart. It is going in the ever growing to do stack.
Tomorrow is a long day,both jobs but on Saturday Myra and I are taking a road trip to the cross stitch store in Salisbury. Whoot!
I hope that everyone has had a great week and has a fabulous weekend ahead.

Keep stitching Friends!!!!

Chris
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What The Flock?

Hello Friends,
I was having having one of those can't see the trees for the forest moments last night. It had to do with all the birds on this sampler. Do you ever have moments like that? You are stitching along and it's like wow, look at the birds or strawberries or whatever are in this sampler.



I started one of the baskets on the bottom. The fruit have the little dimples in them. The fruit baskets with those dimples( I don't know the name for that end of the fruit? Where the stem was? Or the bottom?) are also in a lot of the Deerfield Samplers.



Here's another bird.



And another. There are some more too. I love it!

Thanks for all the good wishes for the cold. I went to the Dr. This morning got a shot of Kenalog and Rxs for an antibiotic and prednisone. Yuck! But I hope to be feeling better soon. I am going to go take a nap.

Happy Tuesday!

Chris
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Monday, Monday

Good Morning!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Sunday spent with family and the one's you love.
Rich and I spent Saturday afternoon with my Mom. We celebrated her birthday and Mother's Day. Her garden is really beautiful really beautiful right now and it is wonderful to visit.



These peonies are from my garden. The blooms are so heavy I decided to cut them and bring them inside before we got rain yesterday.



I spent some more time with Marietta over the weekend. Those are some scary looking doves. They are found on a lot of Deerfield samplers.
Yesterday I woke up all stuffed up and it is not any better today.
I was scheduled off today anyway, so I am going to lay low.
Hopefully I can focus enough to do some stitching.

Hugs!

Chris
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Stuffed....Not Me, But Some Stitching

Good Morning!
Yesterday after work I had something to eat with some friends from work and then we Zumba'd. The teacher told me I was graceful!??? Lol. I am a sweaty mess at the end of class so it made me laugh.
When I got home I worked on finishing and stayed up past my bed time.



First I stuffed the snowman that Myra sewed up for me.



Here's the lovely fabric on the back.



Thanks Myra! You rock!
Then I did the finishing on this one for the Christmas All Year Long SAL.



This is #112 Holiday Sprinkles by Hob-Nobb Designs. It is stitched on mystery linen and I used limited edition GAST threads.



Here's the back.
I am hoping to stitch some on Marietta tonight. I may stash dive and look for next month's ornament.
Have a wonderful Thursday Friends!

Chris
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Weekly Update

The little guy is doing great.



He kind of looks like a kitten here.

I am so fortunate that he is in a safe place until he is old enough to be released.


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Finishing???

Ok, I know that my friends know that my finishing repertoire is very limited. I can outline stitched pieces and whip them together and stuff them or mount the stitching and backing fabric on Bristol board and put them together and attach trim or cording around the outside.
So, since I am limited I love to find the perfect backing fabric or add some bling to the back of the piece that I am going to stuff.
Here is what I did for the back of my gingerbread ornament.



What tricks do you do to give your finishes that extra pop?

Happy Tuesday!

Chris

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Small Extravagances

Hello Friends.
Rich and I got a late start on Sunday. So we packed our lunch for our hike.



I found these the other day at the super market so they were part of our lunch.



They went perfect with our sandwiches. I think that they were $3.29 for 4 of these containers. A little on the expensive side.
It has been over a month since we last hiked. Everything is fully leafed out now and it looked so different compared to last time. The area where the forest fire was seems to be doing fine. All the trees are leafed out and in good shape.
I am working to finish up my ornament and hopefully will post a finish soon.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Chris
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Finishing Fabulousness

My friend Myra(Gr8dame's Place blog) had offered to do some finishing for me and I finally decided to take her up on it.
The pieces that I asked her to work on we're bigger than ornament size. I don't sew so she had offered to make them into pillows and then I could stuff and trim them. Myra went way beyond that...



Here is that Bent Creek kit I stitched in March. She put it on this wire hanger and backed it with lovely sunflower fabric.



Here is a Bent Creek snowman. She edged it with ricrac and even supplied me a sharp needle so that I can sew it closed after I stuff it. Thanks Myra! This will be that much easier for me!



Then she mounted this on a box.



How fabulous is this! She even painted the hardware since the black looked better with it. Is it perfect or what!
Thanks dear friend for putting so much into these for me.
This morning was a busy one. Zumba, grocery shopping and lunch with Myra. By the time I got home I was beat. Binx, Beau and I took a little catnap.
I did make progress on my ornament.



Pretty cute. Now I have to stitch the back and put it together. I am hoping to finish it in the next couple of days. Then I can stash dive to look for my June pick, it is Stitcher's Choice. Hopefully I will have no trouble finding something.
Well that's it for today. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend!

Sweet Dreams!

Chris
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