A Late, Wet, Monday Update

I have driven 300 miles in 24 hours - a soccer game SW of Atlanta yesterday, which was a 0-0 score and which is causing my 16 yo to go to the doctor tomorrow to see if he has any serious damage to his knee (and what should have been at a minimum a yellow card for the other team, but was nothing - not even a free kick); and then back over to the other side of the city today to pick up my fair entries and then to work. I'm tired of driving, and refs suck. But at least I didn't have any issues getting my goods back from the fair this year - no damage, no lost pieces :)


This was a busy week, and other going to the fair Wednesday night, I'm not really sure what the heck I was so busy with. Tired and moving kinda slow is part of it, but not all of it... I am ready for the time change - I need my hour back, STAT. And thank god it is on November 1 this year - not a minute too soon.

On to the stitching....

Lots less this week than last :) First, my Ghosties & Ghoulies travel project - I got a few more words done, but lunches were erratic last week, and I didn't even bother taking anything to games this weekend, as I had too many managerial duties to attend to. Once I get the words on, the rest (tree & moon) ought to go quick. I have to modify the bats that are on it - they look like seagulls flying past the sunset, not bat-like at all, but I'll figure that out when I get there. Here's the current:

My main project for the week was Lady & Unicorn again, and fortunately, I didn't run into too many issues with the parked threads from 2 years ago; only one was the wrong color/wrong hole, which I didn't know until I cut off the thread after finishing the two stitches it went to and went to put that bag in the bag. But I didn't frog them because I couldn't find them :) I only worked on this 5, maybe 6 hours all week, but I have a critter almost done - a lamb? goat? - and a flag pole and a tree trunk :) There's lots of confetti in this area; when I get done about 15-20 more rows, I have some solid color areas to look forward to. Here's where I left off last night:

And on Friday & Saturday nights, I did two more sections of Boo! I am 1 word short of half-way - and still kinda disappointed in the stupid fabric :( Still looks good, but I see the tiny areas that are the purple I wanted in the selvage and it just bugs me - this would just explode off the deeper purple... Here it is:

Surprisingly, that's it for this week :) I think I overdid last week - what do you think? Though, losing an entire weekend to soccer games certainly didn't help me any this week. This week, back to MTM and the first side of buildings - maybe, if I am lucky, I can get this side done this week! I also need to put more time in on Jodie's RR, and on Lyne's sampler, if possible. Until next week, Happy Stitching, everyone!

2009 Fair Results - Better Than Last Year, but Still One Head Scratcher

I found yesterday that the results of the fair judging are online - must be a new thing, and I have no idea when they put it up - last week, when it was done? No idea. At any rate, of the 11 entries I had, I managed to place 6 of them, four in 1st Place, two in 2nd Place! We went last night - it was just DH & I, as Big Kid was supposed to go to practice (and didn't find a ride), and Little Kid came home from school with a headache, and wasn't up to it. Which was actually okay, as we didn't have to spend time trying to force him to ride rides he is scared of, by himself no less, or listen to him whine about walking and looking at things :) Though I did have to listen to DH whining about food the whole time we were looking at the exhibits - can't wait to help those arteries harden up a little more, I guess....

At any rate, my winners were as follows: Halloween Fairy won 1st in the Other-Than-Christmas Holiday Craft of Any Kind - a really cool Halloween wreath was there last year.

This was the very first display area when we walked in. Then the hunt was on to find the rest of my stuff :) It was set up a little nicer this year, in that they had like items together - not sure if they were by category or subject matter, or both. They also had the individual alcoves blocked off - they should have done this every year. I wonder if something hanging up last year got broken by a fair goer? Probably. It made taking pictures harder.

The next one I found was my purple iris photo - it won first place in its category!!! I was complimented on it by the woman behind me in line on entry day, so I had high hopes for it :) There were a couple of 1st Place ribbons in the category, so I assume the judge couldn't pick one over the other, and awarded more than one (they can do that).


Then I found the photo I had of the soccer team lined up, waiting for their turns in a penalty kick tie breaker - it didn't place - but I'm not telling them until the season is over :)

Next was Christmas Corner; my set of 4 Dragon Dreams ornies won 2nd, just like the other set did last year - but at least this year, they were displayed much better! They lost out to a set of blown egg ornaments, one of which was really, really cool. My little Rosewood Manor ornie that got redone didn't place, but I didn't think it would, since I was too lazy to go back and try to fix that wonky seam where I closed up the opening after turning & stuffing.

Then I found the jewelry entries; my Autumn Cloisonne won 1st Place!! And the other two entries were almost identical pieces, which is really, really weird. They had to have been done by different people, as you can only enter once per category, and there's only 1 jewelry.

Next to the jewelry were my Autumn Mosaic Pillow, which won 1st place in the Miscellaneous Needlework category (they have nothing for cutwork of any kind), and Bouquet for Cheryl, which, like Fire Flower, got completely passed over.


You'll notice that these things are really just laying there, pretty much out in the open. There are signs everywhere to Please Do Not Touch, but you know, those aren't any more effective on adults than on kids :( As I was taking the picture, a woman walked over and picked up my pillow!!! Okay, she was showing the worked side to another lady in a wheelchair, but you know what? Don't touch the exhibits! If it had accidentally landed on the ground, I would have totally flipped out - for god's sake, we've had 20" of rain in the last couple of weeks, there is mud EVEYWHERE! I did mutter under my breath about not touching things, but I figured I'd better shut up, even though it was mine, dammit.

Now, the disappointment with Bouquet isn't the fact that it didn't place; the disappointment is in the fact that in it's category, only 1 ribbon was awarded. It went to a ginormous Monopoly Board that was done on 14ct aida - Bouquet was on 28ct something, so the two were in the same category. I saw the Monopoly Board when I took my entries in. The thing is just massive - at least 3' x 3'. The judging criteria is supposed to be 60% workmanship, and while the Monopoly Board really was pretty cool, there were a few very obvious boo boos in it, one of which should have been picked up easily enough by any non-stitcher who looked at it - in the outermost light blue-grey border, they either had a huge issue getting threads to lay right, or they changed dye-lots in their thread, so there was a section of 8-10 stitches in that border that looked totally wrong. The stitcher in me decided that on 14ct, they should have used 1 more strand of floss, especially on the black, and the two they did use weren't all laid very well consistently, making the coverage inconsistent. So, if this piece won on sheer size alone, okay - but why did Bouquet not merit a 2nd Place? I am not sure what other entries, if any, in this category there were; these two may have been it. But between the two, based on the actual criteria, mine was the clear-cut winner. And for the judge to decide to not award any other ribbons - that kind of smells like what we like to call home cookin' to me. Who do I have to buddy up with to get my damn samplers some recognition? Here's the Monopoly Board, which had to have a wall all it's own to hang on:


I then looked for my other two photos, The Woods & Dragonfly. Neither of them placed, either - I guess other folks don't dig dragonflies as much as I do - what's up with that?

And we thought we were done. The I remembered The Castle - see what happens when I throw something in last-minute? We looked and looked, and couldn't find it. From the online listing, I knew it had won 2nd place, but where did they put it? Finally, I walked over to the horticulture side, thinking a different perspective would help me spot it (in it's tiny 11 x 14, 2" frame). And there it was, on the back of one of the displays, all by itself, with a 6' table shoved up under it so you couldn't get close enough to see the metallic threads at all! I guess it didn't fit in with the way they were laying stuff out, so they just stuck it somewhere by itself :( At least the ribbon was showing, but if you didn't look at the horticulture side - and we rarely do - you would never have seen it - but that damn Monopoly Board gets a whole wall unto itself??? Again, I smell home cookin'.


Well, at any rate, not a bad showing, I guess - since I had more entries to help soften the blow of disappointment this year, I can live with the results. Still just stumped on the BfC category... There were so few needlework pieces entered, I guess I'm lucky they even have them at all. In the Fair 09 album, I did manage to take a picture of every piece of needlework I saw, including a few of the quilts; I did not include the afghans and all of that because they were too many, not laid out for photography, and to be honest, I didn't look at many of them - there are only so many neon & primary color things I can look at before my retinas hurt. Lots of pictures of the tigers and elephant, as well as things from the midway. Next year's special photo category is Americana - maybe one of these will be my entry :) And when I get my stuff picked up Sunday or Monday, I'll have $28 I didn't have before (which MIGHT cover my gas getting over there and back) - I'm buying a chart or two. no idea what one(s), but that's what i'm doing :)

Where'd September Go? An Update

Wow, I can't believe we are 3 days from October - where has this month gone? I know I've been busy, but wow! I guess Labor Day and now the fair being a little later this year has kind of thrown stuff a bit out of whack. Speaking of the fair, we are supposed to go Wednesday, if the weather cooperates, so expect a fair update on Thursday sometime. Speaking of weather, we got another couple of inches of rain over the weekend, and then the sun came out Sunday. I've had a barometer headache for about 3 solid weeks now, part of it right behind my eyes! Drought or el nino - why is there no in-between? But I bet my new butterfly bush ought to really take off in the spring :)

Yes, not a picture of a butterfly, but of giant wasps I had never heard of until this year, Cicada Killers. These live in a tree 8' from where I park at work - the big one is about 3" long....

On to the stitching - there's a lot this week :) You have probably already seen my LD mini Foursome Reel finish. Really glad to have that done - need a break from the green on green, I think.
When I got that finished, I was ecstatic to have the rest of the week to do whatever - and I had already worked on Jodie's RR before I finished FR :) The first thing I picked up was 6 Bats, and did a few blocks (really, really, really hate WDW Mascara - man that is some thin & scraggly stuff - but it adds to the primitive look, and will be okay when I get it done; it just looks like hell up close), and did a good part of the orange borders, at least one pass, anyway:


I also did another block on LK Boo! This really is a fun project, and though I am still disappointed in the way my fabric turned out, once I am done, I think I'll be able to live with it :)

I worked on Jodie's Pecking Order 2 nights during the week, once before finishing FR, and then again over the weekend. I got one bird and the tray under him completed, and a start on the next bird. I took an overall pic and then just what I worked on:

This is a really neat project - it looks a lot more complicated than it is, though it might be the color chart making me think that :) I hope to get the next bird done and a bit before we switch again - I can't remember if there are one or two more behind me on this, so want to make sure I leave enough or not too much :)

Travel projects this week had a little addition - I found a Halloween Freebie a couple of weeks ago, I think through Vikki Clayton's board, and for whatever reason, I was compelled to kit it up. The site is Dark Side of the Moon - they have a few freebies :) Well, I got the 2nd cat done on Purrfect Summer Day:

And then that Ghosties & Ghoulies freebie really screamed at me, so I got it out on Thursday's lunch, I think, and started it:I worked on while waiting for Saturday's game to start, too - since I'm doing it over-1, I have to make sure I have decent light, and though it was overcast at the game, that was actually pretty good light, especially on my barometer head :)

And, lastly, since I finished my main sampler, I decided, instead of starting Anatolia, I should probably put some time in on Anagram's Samplar 4 Saisons, which has been a WIP for a while, and was in planning stages for a lot longer than that. I think I'll keep this in the rotation for a bit - don't know if it'll stay there until it's done, or just for a while - depends on how fast I move on it and how loud Anatolia screams at me, I guess. I am anxious to get to the other thread colors on Saisons, to see if my choices work as well as I hope they do. So far, it actually moves pretty good - the motifs are nicely sized. I do need to zig zag or fray check my fabric though, before I work on it again - I was constantly dragging ravels around with me when I had it out... Here's where it ended up last night:



Wow, I worked on a lot of stuff last week - but it doesn't really feel like it; I feel like I wasted some time doing other stuff that I could have spent stitching, though I'm not really sure where... Weird. Anyway, it was a good week, I like having weeks of variety like that as much as I like the weeks I really crank on one project like MTM :)

This week, I am back to the left side of Lady & Unicorn, and am really hoping I don't have a disaster waiting for me in those old parked threads. I'll be able to breathe a little easier once I move past that mess :) We'll see where I end up next week! Until then, Happy Stitching to everyone!

The Mini Foursome Reel is DONE!

Can't believe what a bear this thing started out as - but it's done! And good riddance - I am glad to be done with it!


And it will be good to take a break from the set. I am going to work on other stuff the rest of this week - 6 Bats the rest of tonight, then hopefully Samplar 4 Saisons off & on the rest of the week :)

From Drought to Deluge - a Soggy Monday Update

You know, we had that drought going on here for a few years; this time last year, Lake Lanier was almost completely empty. Well, it's all turned around now; we've had 7 days of rain, with at least 9 more in the forecast. The county I work in got around 5" of rain Saturday night alone - and it hasn't stopped yet. The danger now, of course, is flooding; we have schools closed all over metro Atlanta because of the flooding, and I heard a story about a woman who drowned in her car this morning. We haven't been on a soccer field in over a week now, and I don't see it happening this week, either. Though, oddly enough, I didn't have any trouble getting in to work this morning - we'll see if that holds for the rest of this week, with more inches called for today alone.... It seems so many things in life, at least mine, anyway, are either full on or full off - never a good happy medium. Why is that?



Saturday, I spent the afternoon driving through the rain to take my 11 entries to the N. Georgia Fair. Now I'm wondering if it will dry out any between now and October 4th to allow anyone to go and enjoy the fair? At any rate, I took 4 large pieces of needlework - The Castle, Bouquet for Cheryl, Autumn Mosaic Pillow, and Halloween Fairy. I took a set of 4 Dragon Dreams ornies, and a single Rosewood Manor ornie. I took the jewelry that I finally completed last Monday :) I also took 4 photos, Dragonfly, Iris, The Woods, and a shot of the boys lined up for a penalty kick shoot-out that I don't have uploaded anywhere, yet - because I told my team parents that I would load 150 pics for them all to see - and haven't had time to do it. hopefully in all of that mess, one of the judges will find something they like. I did see a ginormous Monopoly Board done - it was easily 3' x 3', if not bigger. Saw lots of plastic canvas - nothing against those who do plastic canvas, but wow, so glad none of that was in my house. If we manage to get over there, I will have camera in hand, and will be better at reporting back than last year, even if I am really disappointed again.

I did get some actual stitching in over the week, too, when I got all the fair stuff out of the way, helped by not having games or practice to go to :) I was working on Lyne's sampler Sunday night, and just kept at it Monday night when I finally sat down. The first dove now has a face :)

I also got a few more days' worth of lunch work in on A Purrfect Summer Day - one cat done, 1 started, another one waiting :


Isn't he cute? Those whiskers really make him!! Though I do have to admit that, before I got the knots in his eyes, the blank white eyes kind of creeped me out, kind of Omega Man-like... Now, will the pink of the watermelon drive me over the edge? Hopefully enough little black seeds sprinkled around to break it up! :)

My main piece of the week was Knotgarden, and due to various distractions, I only worked on it 3 nights, I think. But I did finally finish petal #4, got the bridges between the petals all done, and got the third egg-thing done! I even put a couple more beads on it (hoping they don't get in the way of the Qsnaps later):


Now, on to those neverending green corners, then a bazillion plants in pots and gates :) Hopefully not another year on this...

My main distraction, after fair stuff, was finally getting my fabric for boo! Club. I was actually rather disappointed in the piece I got - it turned out to be lavender, instead of splotchy purple. I was REALLY not going for a pastel background, at all. But as long as it took me to get this one, I wasn't about to try to swap it for another, or try again with another color/brand altogether - I was ready to start it. Still not happy with it, but I got the first two blocks done, and it does look really good - just not what I had pictured in my head :( To late now:



And that's all I did last week :) This week, I hope to get that small Foursome Reel piece done, and if I get it done soon enough (since we won't be going to practice this week, I am positive, I should have time), I would like to get Samplar 4 Saisons out - may work on that for a couple of months before breaking out Anatolia and starting it, since I seem to have lots of things going at the moment. I also have Jodie's RR to work on - haven't put a stitch in it yet, so I need to do that, too. So, as usual, who knows what will actually see daylight this week - I doubt I will :( Until next week, stay dry and Happy Stitching!



Yes, I put up a spider pic - it's almost that time of year!!!!!!

Finishing - an Update

Well, once again, I have put myself under the gun (which is only slightly better than under the bus) - I have 5 1/2 more days to get my fair entries done! But after last week's efforts, and having today off work to work on the last few, I am almost there!

Last fall's first foray into cut-work, Autumn Mosaic, is now a pillow, also my first:


All but one ornament I've stitched are now ornaments (the last, I haven't happened upon that perfect fabric yet, so it's waiting). The Rosewood Manor one that I did, the red metallic & beads on black, I ended up doing twice;the first time, as two cardboard halves, covered with batting and fabric. It came out too big, didn't like the trim or the fabric (it was slightly too wine-colored, which by itself was fine, but was obvious next to the stitching - which it couldn't have been, but still, it bugged me), so when I found a piece of black satin at Hobby Lobby Friday, I got a piece, came home & ripped it apart and redid it as a pillow. Much better! Though I have to admit, where I stitched it together after turning it is a little wonky - that damn aida is still stiff, after all this :( If that continues to bother me, I may rip out an inch or so and restitch. I think I need to put a book on it for a couple of days and make it a little flatter....
All of the Dragon Dreams freebies are now ornies - of the 7, I'm only taking 4 (the categories are Set of 4 and Single, the RM being the single) - I think the Phoenix, Griffin, Pegasus & Unicorn.


I have to finish that jewelry that has been laid out since October of last year - that's my goal today - and then get The Castle in it's frame. I need to get the paper dust covers on the back of the two things I framed last week still, and get hangers on - I just got the glass cut Friday, and am taking one of those in to my boss tomorrow (he does stained glass) and have him grind off a corner that didn't get cut straight. My usual glass guy at Hobby Lobby doesn't appear to be there anymore :( The guy there now - not the sharpest pencil in the box, so I think it will be easier to ask my boss ot fix that corner (less than 1/8", less than an inch long) than to try to go get another one cut.I have to get photo frames, too, assuming my pictures turn out - and I can decide which ones. We have a game Saturday - if I get everything done and ready, since the game is 1/3 of the way to the fair, the Big Kid may just get shanghaied to go with me to enter them, saving me the drive by myself on Sunday, when I could be stitching :)

In actual stitching news, I did finish my travel project Iris! Still think the colors are kinda weird, but overall, it came out good! I had to fudge some of the backstitching - got off in a couple of spots and could never find where I went wrong, so with some creative long stitches, I made it work. It amazes me that with just some simple angles, the outline of a bearded iris is created. Now, aside from that weird navy blue, I'm pretty happy with this quick project :)
I started my next travel project, Debbie Draper's Purrfect Summer Day - but I haven't taken a picture of it yet, just because I don't want to take the time to dig it out of my bookbag at the moment. Should have one for next week's update, though :)

I also worked a bit on Lyne's wedding sampler, but not enough for a picture. May work on it some more today, if I get ahead :) I did NOT work on English Garden Sampler at all last week - after all this other stuff, it was just too much to even get out. I did work on 6 Bats, though, for a couple of hours:


This week, if I get stuff done, I hope to work on Knotgarden, maybe even finally get that last petal done... Maybe even get to a green corner! Who knows? It all depends on where I stand with all this other stuff :) And knowing me, I may work on something else entirely :) The fabric for Boo Club should hopefully be on it's way in the next day or two (since I ordered it almost a month ago), so if it gets here, you might see a new start, since 6 Bats is pretty quick... Or I could have a complete & utter breakdown if this jewelry doesn't go together the way I want it to today - it hasn't been laying here in planning mode for 10 months for nothing (well, mostly nothing). Okay, off to get busy - happy stitching this week to everyone!!

Never Forget

Please take a moment today to reflect on this day.

A Labored Day Update

Yes, the past week has been chock full of labors, many with not a damn thing to show for them. Both boys got through the Atlanta Cup tournament, but neither advanced to any of the finals :( I'm torn, because I wanted to see them go to the end, but then, I didn't lose a bunch of time to sports, and even got the weekly shopping out of the way pretty quick, and could actually enjoy my day off yesterday :) Up until we saw the snake on our dog walk:


I am almost done with Iris - I got a bit of progress in between games on Saturday, and hope to have it done with this week's lunches (so I can then start one of the DD Cats in the travel bag ). The middle one is now complete, and I have almost all of the Xs done on the 3rd one, just lotsa back stitching to do to finish it up. Here it is, almost there:



My main focus last week was MTM, though between getting ready for the soccer tournament and my managerial duties, and other stuff, I just didn't get as much time on it as I was hoping :( I didn't seem to sit down before 9 every night, and I have to go to bed at 10 - can't get too far in an hour. I did get some buildings completed on Part 6, worked to the middle one, but didn't get but a couple of stitches in it itself. If next month is less hectic, hopefully I can finish up that side :)




I also finished up another block on Nancy's RR, completing the General Store that Shawn started. I really loved working on this project! This is going to be so cool when it's done, and I can't wait to see what square Anita gets to do (assuming I manage to get over to the PO today). Here is the general Store, and then the overall as it is now, ready for Anita!




In other news, I have decided to give the fair another shot this year - so let the mad scramble to get stuff done begin!!! I have to have everything done & ready to take over before the 20th; I got two of my finished pieces stretched yesterday, and will finish them up as soon as I get glass cut for the frames (today on the way home, I hope), though as they are both on 28ct fabric, only one will be going to the fair - Bouquet for Cheryl.





Now, to finish at least 5 ornaments (there's a day), finish that necklace & earring set that are almost a year in the planning, pick some photos to enter - then actually print them out and get them framed! At least Halloween Fairy is already done :) I wish Foursome Reel would fit in a stock frame from Hobby Lobby, because that would be another class I could enter - it or Boink, actually, though I still want to get special matting cut for BoInk, if I can find someone local to do it :( So, with all that to do, who knows if English Garden Sampler will see any progress this week? Or anything else, for that matter! Fortunately, I only have to go to practice this week long enough to hand the coach a check, then I'm outta there (assuming the kid has a ride home...). Though I suppose those people I live with expect food to be cooked. Hmmm.... Anyway, for those of you that don't make impossible demands on yourselves, happy stitching this week!!!

Year 4 - An Update

It's been a long time coming, but I finally did it - I finally finished the top row of pages on Lady & unicorn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I passed my 3rd anniversary in June, and only had a smidge left to go in July, and still just a smidge to go this month - but I finally got through the smidge, and I now have 95 rows completed, (plus a good bit more here & there), for a minimum of 27, 030 stitches!!


Now, when I was really trying to figure up how much time I really have into it, since it's in rotation, I figure the last 2 1/2 years (I officially began the timed rotation with The Castle on Jan 1, 2007), I have only worked on this about 11 weeks a year, and in those 11 weeks/year, and who's to say how many actual hours in those weeks? I have the hours recorded, but they are rough guesstimates at best (don't take into account time spent staring blankly at chart or TV), and I didn't take the time to add them up. At any rate, let's say that in the time since I started this, I have worked on it for about 34 weeks - about 8 1/2 months equivalent to working on only this. There, now I don't feel so bad for this thing dragging out this long! And consider, the first page took me over a year, because I was hell bent on getting parking to work. When I gave that up somewhere on page 2, I got quite a bit quicker :) And my enjoyment went up immeasurably, too, which is pretty much the goal here, right?

So, here's hoping that in another 3 years, I have considerably more to show for it than just another row of pages; maybe I'll have 2 rows of pages done!!! I do know that once I get to the unicorn, he ought to go pretty quick - he covers the better part of a page, and his main part is only 3-4 colors, once I get past the "outline" of him :) I am NOT confident enough to go order the other one I really want. Yet. Here's a closer-up picture of the area I worked this week:

You'd think an orange tree would be pretty straight-forward, wouldn't you? Not so this one....

To reward myself for making this long-sought goal, once I scrolled L&U up some more (finding 4 old needles in the process) and put her away, I decided to do a few more blocks on my canvas piece, Kaleidoscope. I really ought to try to work this in more often so I can finish it up - it's only about 10 hours from done. I need to kit up Starry Nights soon, because that will be my next canvas piece :) Anyway, here's Kaleidoscope as of now - I did the two lower left most blocks, taking me to half done, then did the on on the upper half.



Once I got to that stopping point, I picked up Nancy's RR again; I want to try to get the General Store block as close to done as I can get it before I have to mail it on next Tuesday :) Normally, I would ship it this Friday, but because Monday's a holiday, I want that extra day to get as far as I can, maybe get the beads (some, if not all) on it. Anyway, I am getting to almost having all the crosses done - just lots of white and the tree to go, and one more pillar, then time to bead. But since this is MTM week, we'll see if I can squeeze it in:

I will also try to remember to get an overall pic before I mail it on to Anita :) I love this project!

Lastly, my update on my travel/lunch project, Iris. I got the solid iris on the left done finally, and I think the middle one is just about ready for the last backstitching. The third one, on the right, is going to be tricky to get to, as it is 80% backstitching only, and I don't know if I have sufficient counting skills to get to the crosses without doing the bs first - but I hate to do crosses over bs where they come into contact.... I have a tournament this weekend, with some wait time between Saturday's games - if the weather stays cool (80s) like it has been, I may be able to finish it off, if I have any brain power left :) We'll see how far I get on lunch this week - now that the stupid cold is almost gone (just the odd sniffle left), I should be more productive :) Here it is right now:


As I said earlier, this is MTM week, and tournament weekend with a holiday Monday. being a team manager now, I lose some time to getting tourney stuff together and doing the check-in Friday, but hopefully I can still crank through some buildings on Part 6 :) I did some extra cleaning this weekend, so hopefully the place won't get too trashed while we are all out all weekend - DH & Little Kid at one place all weekend, me and the Big Kid at another. I am also still considering entering the same fair as last year; if I do, then I need to get some time to, umm, finish some things, like a certain piece of jewelry that's been laying on the table since ummm, October, and some ornaments, and oh yeah, if I can get some $$$ to get glass for those frames I bought in June, I need to get a couple of things framed :) And pick a few pictures to also get 1) printed out (really, you can print photos out???) and 2) frame also. I want to go to the fair again, just don't know if I can stand the strain of getting it all together in the next 2 weeks.... Anyway, check back next week to see how many buildings MTM has, and if I manage to finish the General Store on Nancy's RR :) Happy Stitching everyone!

You Know It's Time to Run the Dishwasher When...

...even the cat can't find a clean plate:
Maybe DH will learn to close cabinet doors after this...? Nah, doubt it.
If I run, you suppose Beanie will empty it? Well, not having thumbs does make that problematic....