My Friend is Having a Contest/Giveaway!

Hello Friends and Fellow Crafty People!

I have a dear friend who makes some really cute fleece blankets. She is also a cross stitcher. She is having a contest/giveaway on her blog, Golden Angel Works! So please check out her blog and find out what it's all about! :~)

Hope you're all having a great day!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Still Alive & Kickin ...

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know that I am still here ... alive & kickin! :) I haven't done much stitching since my last post ... maybe about an hours worth. So many things going on. My uncle passed away just a few days before Halloween. I wasn't able to travel in order to go to the services. That bothered me quite a bit. The only reason I wasn't able to go was bcuz my car still isn't working and if I would have gone, my husband would have needed my car in order to get the kids to and from our friend's house would have helped watch the kids while my husband was at work. My husband's car has a backseat but it's not attached and there are no seatbelts, so the kids can't ride in his car.

Anywho, so I have worked on the angel piece just a little bit. I got the grey done in the wings, but unfortunately that's about it. I think part of the problem lately is bcuz with my brother living with us, he puts tension in the air of our home and he freaks out if I'm just "sitting there". Even if I am actually doing something by means of needle & floss, he doesn't think that's "doing something". It makes me uncomfortable. I'm sure that is part of why my stitching bug has taken leave for the last few weeks. Has anyone else ever had a family member that makes you feel like that? I mean my brother is an artist and he has times when he just sits there and draws. But isn't that something productive just like my stitching is? Creative productivity, right?

My kids had a blast on Halloween. My 13 year old daughter dressed up as a pink & black gothic witch and my 3 year old son dressed up as a vampire. We were going to paint our son's face with vampire makeup and spray his hair with black hair spray. But by the time my husband got home from work that night, there were kids already starting to come to the door trick or treating and so our kids were totally ready to go when my husband walked thru the door at 6:30 lol. Our daughter however, we did manage to get the fake pink sparkly spiderweb lashes on and black lipstick. Her costume just wouldn't have been complete without it lol. Teenagers ... you know they have to have everything just right!

Here is a picture of the two of them after they were all done trick or treating ...



They had so much fun! Halloween is definitely one of our family's favorite celebrations.

So now it's time to start preparing for Christmas. SO SO SO much to get done. I have a cute little piece that I am going to stitch for my husband that says "My Hero". It's something I've always called him and when I saw the pattern I knew I had to make it. I have to make an apron for each of my kids. And a stocking for my son. My daughter already has one that I made for her a while ago with Christmas kitties. I also have an apron that I have to get finished by next Friday for someone that placed an order for one. That won't take much time tho. I also have to make a small hanging quilt for my grama that my mom was supposed to do but has never gotten around to it. She has so very much on her plate all the time, there was just no time for her to work on it. But before I can work on it, I am waiting for her to send me the pictures that are supposed to be part of the quilt. Pictures of all of my grama's grandkids and great-grandkids. We have this printable fabric for those. Then the center piece of the quilt is a piece that I designed and stitched with all of the grandkids & great-grandkids names & birth dates on it. I hope she likes it when it's finished! :)

So I'm sure some of you might be wondering what happened to the HAED Pale Rose SAL that I was doing. Well, the other person had decided that they wanted to wait until after the first of the year to work on it again, instead of the month on month off plan that we originally decided on. But then last night she decided that she just wasn't into the piece anymore and she isn't going to work on it anymore. So I will work on this piece again, probably after the first of the year, but it will be a solo job rather than the SAL. At this point, I'm thinking that RRs and SALs just don't work out very well for me, so I'm not even going to attempt to take part in any in the future. For the Pale Rose SAL, I had tried to convince my friend that we should do the QS version of the design as the SAL but she wanted to do the full sized version instead. Now she doesn't want to do it at all. But that's ok. I love working on it and am looking forward to getting back to it on my own after I get everything done needed for the holidays. I have been wanting to stitch a small design to put on holiday cards for this year, but I don't know that I will have time to do those. We shall see. It's not a very big design. It's just 34x32 stitches. But the thing is that I want to do at least 20 of them for at least friends and family. You know how some family members can be, if one gets it then they have to have it too lol. So that might be something that I work on after the new year, for next year. :) Again, we shall see.

Well I think I've rambled on for long enough. I hope you are all doing really great & aren't super overwhelmed with the holidays coming up!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Frog RR Piece FINISHED!!!

Hello Everyone!

I'm so happy to have another piece finished!!!

Remember this lil guy???



Well he's all done! I finished him last night!

Here he is ...



He is part of a series called Frog Occasions. The other three designs in the RR piece are all from the same series. However, Herbert here is a lil different than the others. I asked my husband several times if he thought that Herbert went with the other three, and he said he does. I hadn't realized how many times I had asked that same question of my husband until last night. He told me, "you've asked me that same question several times, and several times I've told you, yes he goes with them great!" LOL!!!

Here is the finished RR piece that will soon be on its way back to its owner!



What do you think? Does he go well with the others? Or does he seem like the oddball frog? I really hope that this RR piece's owner likes it when she receives it.

My husband and I were talking last night about RR pieces and about the big space between all four designs. It just seems like a lot of empty space to leave blank. My husband's idea is to get or cut a mat so they can all be in the same frame but the mat has four holes for each design. Those of you that have been in RRs ... what do you do with your finished RR pieces when you receive them? Do you frame them as is? Do you add a mat? Do you add some extra stitching to the whole piece to fill in the empty spaces? I am very interested in hearing your feedback on this.

So on to the next and final piece of this RR. The (unfortunately dreaded) angel.

Remember her?



Well this is what she will look like all finished, with the exception the pattern calls for some fuzzy specialty floss in the white of her top and the outer edge of gold. This is someone else's finished piece that I found online in order to find a picture of what this piece should mostly look like when finished.

Here are my 2 progress pictures of her so far ...





It doesn't look like there is much left to do but at the same time there is still much to do. All four specialty flosses/threads still plus regular stitching and some bead work. As pretty as this piece is, for some reason, I don't know why, I just don't enjoy working on it. This is one piece I will be very happy to be finished with.

Wow! Such a long post today! I hope you all are enjoying my blog. I certainly enjoy all those that visit and read my blog. And especially enjoy the kind and friendly comments that some of you leave! :~) Thanks to all of you! :~)

I hope you all are doing well and Happy Stitching!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wedding Piece FINISHED!!!

Hi Friends & Fellow Stitchers ~

YAY!!! I am finished with the wedding gift for my stepsister & her brand new husband!!! I was up until about 4am finishing it up ... and I am so excited about it that I have yet to fall asleep! I am going to be so wiped out today lol.

So I have taken a few photos of the piece. But I love how it came out & cannot wait to hear how my stepsister & her husband like it!

Here is a photo of it all finished ...



Then here is a close up photo of the piece all finished ...



On the names I used the medium colored pink floss (one strand) along with pastel rainbow sparkly blending filament. Here is a close up of the names ...



On the date, I used the medium blue colored floss along with the pastel rainbow sparkly blending filament for the numbers and then the medium pink & blending filament for stars separating the month, day & year. Here is a close up of the date ...



I don't know if I like the numbers that I used. I think the 7 & 9 look funny??? The letters for the names I LOVE!!! And I really like the layout for the names. What do you all think about it all?

I am very happy to have this piece finished. Now it's back to the frog and angel and then Henry. I also have another apron to make that was ordered. And after those things are all done, I have to get my butt busy with xmas gifts! An apron for my daughter, an apron & stocking for my son (my daughter already has a stocking that I made), a stocking for my husband and a stocking for my brother, some hand stitched cards, paint some plaster ornaments, put together beaded ornaments, and then maybe if I don't have other gifts/orders that I have to make & I possibly get all of that finished in time, maybe ... just maybe ... I'll have time to make my own stocking as well LOL!!!

I have a feeling of great accomplishment with this wedding piece being finished. Now on to more projects! :~) A crafters work is never EVER finished! LOL!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wedding Piece Update ...

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

Well I am happy & excited to say that I have completely finished all of the cross stitches on this design! All that's left is the back stitching of the words & names & date and then the long stitches of the stars & hearts! I love how pretty the hearts are and I can't wait to get started on the rest! This piece really has been so much fun.

So here are the finished border & hearts ...



I think the hearts really POP, don't you?

I'm really looking forward to your feedback on this one as I want it to be just perfect for my stepsister & her soon to be (in a matter of hours) hubby!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wedding Piece Update ...

Hello Stitching Friends!!!

I have another update! Together is moving right along! The blue heart is taking a little longer as I have to pay very close attention to the symbols as one of the blues is the ( symbol and another is the ) symbol and they are right next to each other so it's very easy to mix them up. But I'm done with both of those symbols now, so it's gotten easier. Just a couple more colors of the blue heart and then it's LOTS of back stitching to go and then Together will be all finished! :~) I know this won't be finished in time for the wedding, but I don't think my stepsister will mind at all. She is such a sweetheart and I know no matter when she gets it she will love it. I can't wait to hear how she likes it once she is does receive it & open it up.

So here is my most recent progress pic ...



I love how the hearts are coming together! I think they are so pretty.

Well back to stitching!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend & I'll post again really soon!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wedding Piece Progress ...

Hi Everyone!

I had a couple things that kept me from stitching for a few days. So unless I finish this piece tonight and then mail it overnight shipping tomorrow, I won't get this in in the mail in time for my stepsister to receive for her wedding day on Saturday. Although I don't think it's going to matter too much if they receive it early next week. I think it will be a nice surprise no matter what even if it a few days late.

So here is my progress from a few days ago ...



Since taking this picture, I have actually made a lot more progress. The pink heart is completely finished and I have made some great progress on the blue heart. I will post another update later on tonight after I do some more stitching today. I just love stitching this piece. The colors are so pretty and I love the way the colors inside the hearts work together.

Thanks to everyone for all of your support while stitching this piece. I really appreciate it. And thank you to those that have left me comments! I just love getting comments. It helps encourage me so very much! :~)

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wedding Piece Progress ...

Hi Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

I am making some progress on this wedding piece that I am working on. Although I haven't been able to stitch the past few days, this is where I stopped then. It is lots of fun to stitch! I am working on getting the pink heart done by tomorrow night. Once that is finished, I will post more progress. But here is where I am so far ...



So what do you think so far? It's really actually starting to look like something!!! :~) Only 9 days until the wedding day. But of course I have to have it in the mail a few days before that in order to get there in time for them to open it on their wedding day! YIKES!!! I had better get my butt busy! LOL!!!

I will post again soon! Hope you all are doing well and stitching like crazy!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A Little Bit More Progress on the Wedding Piece

Hi Everyone!!!

I have a lil bit more progress that I have made on the wedding piece for my stepsister & her soon to be hubby. The border is really simple & I'm just moving right along on it. It's been really fun to stitch so far. The wedding is on October 17th and since I won't be able to attend the wedding since it is in Texas, I want to have this done a week before so that there is plenty of time for mailing.

So here is my progress so far ...




It's not much so far, but the piece is only 120x120, so I shouldn't have any problems getting it done in time so long as nothing else gets in the way lol.

I'll post more real soon!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A Little Bit of Progress ...

Hi Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

Boy oh boy, I can't tell you how good it feels to be stitching again! I am so happy to be able to have time to stitch! I have missed it so very much. I do have a little bit of progress to report so far on the piece for a wedding gift for my stepsister & her soon to be husband. It's not a lot of progress, but I am definitely feeling good about how much I've gotten done in the last day. And with an October 17th deadline ... well really more like October 13th, to give time for mailing ... I am also feeling really good about getting it done in time.

So here is my progress thus far ...




I started in the bottom left corner of the design and am working my way around the border. I just love the colors in this pattern. They are so pretty.

Well more to report real soon! :~)

Happy Stitching Ya'll!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Yes I'm Still Alive & Around!

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

Yes, it is I, Margie! I am still around and still alive & kicking! I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted anything here on my blog! YIKES! But alas, September has certainly been a CRAZY & CHAOTIC month! On the 2nd, my mom arrived from Texas and then on the 3rd, my mom, my kids & I left for a long road trip to Northern Cali, to pick up my brother. We ended up having to stay a couple extra days than anticipated, but everything worked out and my brother is now living here with my family & I. I have been driving him around everything so he can look for a job. Plus he also does tattoos, so I have been driving him here & there to do those as well. It's been fun and I love that he is here. But I am also looking forward to things winding down and getting back to normal.

I have not gotten much chance to do a lot of stitching. But I have done a little. I have one project that is just a small piece for an RR of a frog playing a horn. It's very cute. I don't have a color picture of what it's supposed to look like so I'm posting a pic of what the pattern looks like so you can get an idea of it. There is no color key involved, so I'm not attempting to publicly post the pattern. The pattern shows happy birthday to be backstitched into it, but I am not doing that part of it. Just the frog and music notes that go with him.

So here is what he looks like ...




Isn't he cute?! All of the pieces in this RR piece are of frogs in this same series. I think it is coming out really adorable. I am stitching the last section in the piece and then it will be mailed back to its owner in New Zealand! I just know she is going to be so thrilled with it!!!

Another piece that I am starting tonight, is for my stepsister and her soon to be new husband. She announced her wedding date just a couple of weeks ago, and with everything going on, I just now found the pattern that I would like to stitch for them. I was actually kind of hoping to find one of those Dimensions Daydreams kits to do, which are very small and quick and easy to do. But no such luck. However, the piece I chose is not very big and I should be able to get it done in time to be mailed and received by their wedding day ... which is October 17th ... RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!! The piece isn't actually a wedding piece, as there isn't any indication about adding names or a date on it. However, I thought if I remove some of the stars in the design, then I can stitch their names & the date and it will look really nice! And I just love the phrases in the design!!!

Here is what the it will look like ... of course the names & date will be added as well.



Isn't it beautiful?!!! It's hard to read what it says on it with this small picture. So rather than trying to squint to read it, let me just add it here ...

Together we'll walk the trail of life,
Together we'll love, laugh and cry,
Together we'll embrace the Universe,
And together, in dreams, we'll fly!

Isn't that pretty? I think it is. And I just love the hearts in this design! So, like I said I'll be starting this piece tonight. I'm going to be stitching it on white 28 count evenweave over 2 threads. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Well, I'm off to do some stitching before my quiet time ends. My husband is at work. My kids are in bed asleep. And my brother is out with friends. YAY!

Happy Stitching Everyone!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

First Progress on HAED Pale Rose!

Hello Everyone!!!

I am so excited to be working on HAED's Pale Rose! August was quite busy, so I didn't get as much stitching time in as I would have liked to. I started Pale Rose on August 10th and worked on it off and on through out the month until last night. I probably was able to stitch about 12 or so days out of the 21. So it's not much progress, but I think it's still turning out good. I started the pattern on page 31, which is the bottom left corner. I have only been stitching one color so far which is DMC 3770. Most of this page is that color. So out of the 16 10x10 squares that I worked on, I have done nearly 1600 stitches of DMC 3770. Obviously it doesn't look like anything at all yet, and will be quite some time before it does start to look like anything. Since my friend and I decided to stitch our SAL one month on and one month off, I won't be posting any September progress on this design. The next post with this design will be October progress.

Here is what Pale Rose will look like when she is all finished ...



And here is my August progress ...



I am going to finish all of the 3770 stitches on this page and then I will go thru and do the rest of the colors on the page, then I will work my way thru the pages to the right until I reach the edge of of the pattern. After that I will move to the next row of pages and so on until it's all done.

So during September, I have a lot going on, but plan on finishing a couple of small pieces and then some more on Henry. Also I have some aprons that I have to make for orders that were placed.

Tomorrow my mom is flying in from Texas. I'm so excited!!! Then on Thursday, my mom and the kids and I are driving to Sacramento to pick up my brother, as he is moving in with my husband and the kids and I! I am really excited about it!!! My husband and son haven't met my brother yet, and my daughter hasn't seen him since she was 5. So we're all REALLY looking forward to him being here. We have to clean out and organize our garage bcuz we are going to build a couple walls in there so create his own bedroom. Then the other half of the garage is going to be my craft & business area. It's going to be so great. And we are going to be really busy LOL.

Well I'm off to run a couple errands and then do a little more around the house to get ready for my Mom to be here!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

FINISHED!!!

Hi there Friends and Fellow Stitchers!!!

Well tonight I have finished the EMS Geranium Faerie! I am very happy with how she came out and I am loving the sparkle! I have 3 photos to show you ... one is of the faerie taken on the scanner so you can see her close up, one is taken with my camera so that you can see the sparkle in the pink areas & in her wings, and one of the whole piece that shows all of the faeries together, minus the last section that the last person will stitch.

So here she is!







I am very happy to have this faerie finished. And I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out. I was worried that she wouldn't fit in with the other faeires on the piece. But I think she looks pretty good.

I have a little frog to do and finish up the angel that I have started and then this round robin is completely done! :~)

Tomorrow (actually today after looking at the time), I will be starting my SAL with HAED Pale Rose. We will be stitching one month on & one month off. We had planned to start on August 1st, however, after my mother in law passed away, we postponed the start date to August 10th. So we'll stitch the rest of August and then off in September, etc. I'm excited to start it, but I think it will be a slow start.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A Small Update on the Faerie ...

Hello Everyone ~

It has been a hard few days, but at the same time, it has been a good few days, as weird as that sounds. We have been spending so much more time with my husband's family and it has been really great. The brothers are acting like brothers again. Our kids have been playing with their cousins and having so much fun together. I can't recall a time in the past where we have all hung out together so much and felt a true sense of family. The sad part is that it took a death in the family for this to happen. I just hope it doesn't change back to the way it was.

On a brighter note, I finally was able to bring myself to do a little bit of stitching tonite. Yes, I know it is almost 4:30 in the morning. Neither my husband or I have been asleep yet. But I finished the eyes and wings on the faerie, so I thought I would post an update and then try to get at least a little bit of sleep. I think this faerie is turning out really cute. Again, it's not very easy to see the sparkle from the blending filament in the pink areas and now also in the wings. Once I am completely finished I will post a picture both from the scanner and also with my camera so you will hopefully be able to see the sparkle that I've added to it.

So here she is ...




I don't know if I will be able to do anymore stitching on her within the next day or so, but I will try. If not, then I will work on her more in a couple days and hopefully get all the back stitching finished & she will be done!

Thank you all so very much for your kind comments and condolences. We really appreciate them from the bottom of our hearts.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

No Stitching was done last night ...

Hello Everyone ~

I should be posting an update on my progress on the EMS Geranium Faerie piece, but I was not able to stitch last night. At 8pm last night, my mother in law passed away. She had been having pain for many years due to a stroke, but there seemed to many more good days recently. We never expected this to happen. She was laying in her recliner, just watching tv, and then she just stopped breathing and was gone. We are going over to their house later on this morning. My youngest brother in law, who is in the Navy, is flying in this morning. My husband is being very strong. His eyes got watery but he never let the tears fall. I know he wants to be strong for the kids and I and the rest of his family. I just hope that he isn't holding anything in. I'm sure he will let it out when he is ready. But right now, he feels the need to be strong. That is his coping mechanism.





Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Almost Finished!

Hi Stitching Friends!

Well, I pulled another all niter, this time however, I only stitched for about half of that time. During my stitching time, I was able to get all of the green areas finished. All I have left is the eyes, wings and back stitching!!! YAY! I will be so glad to get this piece finished and move on the the next one. I am having fun watching this piece come to life!

I used the iridescent blending filament on all the pink areas, and have decided to use the silver blending filament when I do the wings. I think that will look pretty.

So here is what my cute lil faerie looks like now ...




How does she look so far? I am really liking how she is turning out.

Well, I'm off to get a few hours sleep. Later on this afternoon, my husband wants to go to Buffalo Wild Wings, as it is 10 cent boneless wings Thursday. But I expect to have another update by this time tomorrow at the very latest with the eyes and wings done. I will post an update after that and before I start the back stitching.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Another EMS Geranium Faerie Update ...

Hi Everybody!!!

Well, I have made my first attempt at using blending filament on all of the pink sections of this piece. It's hard to see the sparkle in it with this picture, but in person it looks really pretty. When I finish the whole piece I will take a picture with just my camera instead of using the scanner and hopefully you'll be able to see the sparkle in it. I think this faerie is turning out pretty cute! I am really excited to be nearly done with the X's. Just the green sections and the wings and then back stitching left!

So here is the EMS Geranium Faerie so far ...




I think I am going to use the silver blending filament for the wings just so it's different then the pink areas.

So that is enough stitching for now. After I get a few hours of sleep, then I will get right back to it! Another update will be coming soon!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

EMS Geranium Faerie Update ...

Hello Friends!

Well it's been a couple days, and I had some trying times while stitching the body of this cute little faerie, but at last here is an update!




Isn't she cute?! After I had gotten about halfway through stitching the body, I realized a mistake and had to take out almost all of what I had stitched for the body. But now her body is all stitched and it's on to the next section!!!

I am having so much fun stitching this piece. She is such a cute little faerie. I have decided also to add some sparkly Kreinik blending filament when I stitch the wings and the flower in her hair to give it an extra special touch. I think it will look really cute.

I'll have another update really soon!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Round Robin #1 Piece ...

Hi Everyone!

I am finally making progress on the first round robin that I became involved in. I am sad to say that I have been lagging for way too long on this round robin. The ladies in the group have been so wonderful and patient. And I am determined to get their pieces finished. I wanted to post what I've completed tonite. The theme on this piece is faeries. She chose the stitching area to only be 50x50 stitches and I found it very hard to find a piece that would work out. And finally the piece I chose I had to cut down quite a bit, but I think it will look alright. She is the EMS Fantasy Babies Geranium Faerie.

So here is a picture of what the entire pattern looks like.




Isn't she adorable?!!! Well in order to make her fit into the 50x50 requirement, I have had to cut off most of everything around the faerie, so that there is barely any flower in the top left corner and only a little bit of leaf in the bottom right. In fact, in order to not cut out any of the faerie, I am actually stitching 54x56. So I am hoping the lady whose piece this is doesn't mind that it's a tiny bit larger than what she asked.

I completed the hair tonite. And here is a picture of it.




You can see where the hair is just slightly above the marks. Again, I am hoping she won't mind.

I'll be posting another update again very soon, as I want to get this piece as well as the other 2 finished by the end of the month ... 8 days and counting! Wish me luck!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Starting an HAED SAL on August 1st!

Hello Fellow Stitching Friends!!!

I will be starting an SAL on August 1st with one of my best friends. We are both going to stitch the same pattern, and both of us are stitching this piece for our daughters bcuz the design fits them so well. It is from Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED). The pattern is called Pale Rose. The pattern is 400x530 stitches. Although all HAED patterns call for 25 count fabric stitched over one, I am going to be stitching on 18 count white aida. This will make the final piece 22 inches wide by 29 7/16 inches tall. There are 90 colors, as is pretty standard for most of their large designs. I have everything ready to go, except for one thing. I have decided to try gridding the aida this time. I have seen a few other people do it, and I think it will make it so much easier for keeping track of where I am on the piece when i stop & start, etc. Have any of you gridded your fabric before stitching a piece? Have you found it helpful?

Here is a picture of what the piece will look like all finished.




Isn't it beautiful?!!! I just love it! My daughter LOVES the color pink as much as I love the color purple. And her favorite flowers are pink roses. So this couldn't be more perfect for her.

This is a picture of my printed out pattern, as well as the entire pattern all enlarged for a working copy, and also all of the floss that I will need to complete this piece.





It's kind of hard to see the colors of the floss just right as I took the picture on my dining room table. I will take a better one with them sitting on top of the fabric and you will be able to see them better. The funny thing is that you would think there would be LOTS of different shades of pinks for this pattern. But really there are more orange/peach/coral type colors than there are pinks. Since I will be using 18 count instead of 25 count, the floss usage will be more than what the floss usage list says. So what I did was, if the list said I would need 4 skeins of a color, then I bought 6 skeins. If it said I would need 8 skeins, then I bought 12, and so on.

So what my friend and I decided to do, bcuz we both know we'll want a break from it once in a while and we will want to work on other things bcuz the holidays will be coming up, etc, we are going to do a one month on and one month off SAL. So we'll start in August, then we'll take September off, then we'll work on it in October and take November off, etc. And we'll keep doing that until we finish the piece! :~) What I thought I would do is at the end of each SAL stitching month, I will post my month long progress here on my blog so you can all see how I'm doing on it.

I am very excited to work on this. My daughter doesn't even know I'm going to stitch this for her. During the first couple of weeks of August it will be harder to hide it from her as she will still be home on summer vacation and I will probably only work on it after she goes to bed. But once she starts school, then I'll be able to work on it while she's at school too. I am going to be starting in the bottom left corner of the pattern. And my friend will be starting at the top left corner.

Yes, I know it will be yet another WIP, but since we are going to be doing the one month on & one month off, that will give me time to work on my other WIPs as well as make the items people order from my business. Plus my friend that I will be stitching with is not an extremely fast stitcher like the last lady I was doing an SAL with. That lady, btw, completed her entire piece a couple months ago. It took her 4 months to stitch the entire piece. Anyway, this is going to be great! :~)

Well, I'm off to finish up some small projects that I want to get done before the end of the month!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Thought I'd Post a Pic ...

I thought I would post a pic of what my RR piece looked like before it was mailed off to the last person. My friend (Henry's owner) sent me this picture so that I would at least know what it looked like. It might be hard to see, but some sparkly blending filament was added to each section (even mine) after it left me in order to give it a little something special.




Aren't they some adorable Lil Devils?!!! My piece was the one in the bottom left corner. My friend stitched the one with the scissors and also came up with the idea of adding the sparklies to it. And the Tatty Teddy lady stitched the one with the thimble. Now, I ask you, how can someone put so much effort into a piece just to convince another to throw it away? Shameful, isn't it?

Again Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

I am sad & upset ...

Yep that describes it. Sad and upset. I know some of you have seen my posts of the Round Robin pieces that I have stitched ... The Tatty Teddy with Hearts and the Autumn Snowman and also Henry the snowman. Well I am taking my time with Henry, bcuz the person who's piece that is completely ok with that while I get some other things done. HOWEVER, the other two ladies in the round robin, have both received their pieces back COMPLETED, but have apparently decided to not send me mine back. It is absolutely absurd! My friend who is getting Henry, had a falling out with the lady who had the Tatty Teddy theme. And the lady who got the Autumn Snowman has sided with Tatty Teddy lady and was supposed to send me my piece back, finished or not, but it has been almost 2 months and I have not only received my piece back, but both of them have removed me from their friends list on facebook and blocked me and will not respond to my emails when I ask about where my piece is. I have done absolutely NOTHING wrong to either of these ladies. Since all of this has happened I have found out that every round robin that Tatty Teddy lady has been in, she has made sure one person does not get their piece back. I wish I had known that before I agreed to join a round robin with her. It's just so upsetting to know that they can be so cruel and keep something from someone for absolutely no reason other than to be just plain mean. How does someone do that to another person?!!! Everyday when I check the mail, I still have hopes that I will open up my mailbox and my piece will be there. But the more time that goes by, the more those hopes fade. I hadn't done a round robin in several years bcuz the first time I was in one, I never received my piece back. There was one lady who kept everyone's pieces. But then I had become friends with these ladies on facebook, and they talked about a round robin and I thought sure why not. I never in a million years thought this would happen. But this one person had to ruin it all for everyone. First she decided to kick out one of the original four and replace her with Autumn Snowman lady. And from what I heard she also was wanting to kick me out too. My friend (Henry's owner) told me I should just back out. I said no I am going to stick to my commitment. I should have listened. But I also know everything happens for a reason and there was a reason that I needed to stay in the round robin. And I know now that the reason was so that my friend would get her piece back. Bcuz I'm sure that if I hadn't stayed in the RR, then she would have been the one to not get her piece back. At this point, although I would really like to get my piece back, I just want to know what has happened to it. There is another friend that still talks to Tatty Teddy lady, and she has tried to ask her if she knows anything about it. But she lies and says that I should contact the last lady who had it. Which is absolutely ridiculous bcuz we all know she knows exactly what happened to it.

Anyways, as you can see I chose not to name any names. I don't want the drama. I just needed to vent about this whole thing. I don't think it's right. And I am sad that I will never see my Lil Stitch Devils in person again.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Still Stitching Henry ...

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

I haven't posted any updates on Henry lately bcuz I'm trying to get the whole section of leaves and flowers finished on the bottom first, with the exception of the back stitching and beads. I'll be saving all of the back Stitching and beads until I've finished all of the X's first. I am getting close to finished with that area of the pattern so there will be a photo update real soon. I just wanted to keep you all posted on what's going on with this piece.

Things have been a little crazy lately. I've been having issues with sleeping the past couple of weeks. My nights have become days and days have become nights. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with the fact that I have had SO much on my mind lately. And no matter how hard I try to clear my mind when I go to bed, it just wants to go a million miles a minute and not quiet down so that I can sleep. I mean sheesh, shut up already! LOL. Also my husband is on graveyard shifts right now, and I always tend to stay up late when he's working all night. Thankfully tonite is the last night and then he is off work until Sunday. And then he will be on days. I'm really hoping that I will be able to get my sleep patterns back in check during that time. I feel really tired right now. I'm sure that if I went to bed right now that I would be able to sleep for hours. However, even if I could go to bed right now, that just wouldn't work bcuz then I would be up in the middle of the night and wide awake. Besides, I can't do that anyway. My kids won't be in bed for another hour or two. I am hoping by the time they go to bed that I will still be feeling as tired as I do right now so that I can go to bed then and fall right to sleep.

Last night while awake, I started organizing all of the many patterns that I have. I printed out the directories from my computer to list all of them. And so now I am writing out a master list. Afterwards, I plan on typing them up in a word doc. It's going to make it so much easier to have this master list.

Well that is all that I have right now. I am going to work some more on my pattern organization and then maybe get a little bit of stitching done before I get the kids ready for bed and then hopefully myself.

Have a great night Everyone and Happy Stitching!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

First Update on Henry ...

Hi Everyone!!!

Well it has been a busy weekend. I wish I could say that I spent the weekend stitching and relaxing. But alas, no such luck LOL. I spent the weekend mostly helping my kids clean their rooms completely clean and rearranging their rooms. It's amazing how just moving the furniture around can change the whole look of the room. So tonight after putting the kids to bed, I was finally able to sit and do some stitching. I couldn't believe it was after 10pm before my daughter finally went to bed. And my son, it was after 11pm. He is such a night owl!

So I worked on Henry tonight. And he is coming along nicely. It is such a cute pattern. And I can't wait to see how he looks all finished. If you remember the picture that I posted of what he will look like all done a few days ago, I have decided to add a few things in order to make this piece extra special. I am the last person to stitch on this piece. So once I'm finished, I will mail it back to the owner of the piece. She is a wonderful friend and has been going through quite a lot lately. And I just want to show her how special she is and how much she means to me as my friend. Now, the pattern calls for french knots for the eye of the robin, the centers of all of the little red flowers, and a cluster in the center of the large white flowers. So what I thought I would do is rather than doing french knots, I am going to use beads. A black bead for the robin's eye, clear irridescent beads for the centers of the little red flowers (I will use white floss to attach them), and for the cluster in the middle of the large white flowers, I thought I would use some orange irridescent beads, since the color of floss for the french knots is DMC 947 which is a bright orange. What do you think of this idea? I was also thinking of adding a little bit of sparkle to the design by adding some sparkly blending filament to either the white of the snowman, or the blue background around the snowman. I am not sure which one would look better. Any suggestions would be really appreciated, if you have any. And I thank you in advance!

Oh ... well I guess I had better show you what I've done so far, huh? Got all wrapped up in telling you my ideas and almost forgot to post the picture! Boy it has been a long weekend! LOL!




So not very much so far, but at least you can see a picture already taking shape! I can't wait to finish this and send it off to the recipient! All of the other designs on this piece are so beautiful. I just hope my section does it justice.

Well again, please let me know what you think of my ideas for adding that little something extra, and which area you think I should add the sparkle to. Thank you again very much for your input! And especially thank you for reading my blog and all of your comments!

Have a wonderful day and Happy Stitching!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Wow! One Year Blogoversary Already!

Hi Fellow Stitching Friends!!!

Wow! I can't believe it has been one year today since I started my blog! When I first started my blog, I had no idea that I would make so many friends and have so many people that would be reading my blog. And I definitely had no idea I would be receiving awards on my blog! I have been having so much fun blogging. I didn't think I would be so into blogging. I mean I had tried Live Journal for a while. But I just never really got too into it. And then I came across Blogger. I thought "why not"! And I am so glad that I did! I have "met" so many wonderful people. You all make blogging worth absolutely worth while! I always look forward to reading all of your sweet & kind comments. They never fail to bring a smile to my face. I always look forward to each and every comment! Thank you all so very much for all of your encouragement and support on my blog!!!




So here's to many more blogoversaries in the future!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ I will be posting an update on "Henry" very soon!!!

I Received A Blog Award!

Hi there my friends and fellow stitchers!

I awoke today to a wonderful surprise! Dawn awarded me & my blog and AWARD!!! That was so very sweet of you, Dawn! Thank you very much! First, I think that Carolyn was absolutely right in awarding you this award. You are such a sweet and wonderful and supportive person. I thank you for everything you have done for me.




Here is the meaning of the award ...

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. "

The rules state that I am to pass this on to 8 other bloggers. Here are the bloggers I have chosen ...

1 ~ Mel
2 ~ CindyMae
3 ~ Mary L
4 ~ Chiloe
5 ~ Tammy
6 ~ Carla (CC)
7 ~ Shelleen
8 ~ Terry


All of you ladies are great and wonderful people. You support your fellow stitchers and also spread you love and kindness to several others in the world. You stand up for and support for causes that you believe in and are not afraid to do so. You are amazing ladies! Kudos to you all and thank you for all that you do!

I would like to thank all of those that leave comments on my blog. For the condolences left when my cousin passed, for the compliments on my stitching, for the well wishes, for the encouragement when my stitching bug evades me, for everything! I know that I have not personally responded to every comment, and for that I apologize. All of the comments are very appreciated and make my day and touch my heart. I always look forward to checking my blog for comments especially when I am having an off day or am not feeling in the best of spirits, and the comments you all leave, always brighten my day. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that.

Thank you again, Dawn, for awarding me with this special award. It means so very much.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Snowmen for All Seasons Autumn is FINISHED!!!

Hi Friends and Fellow Stitchers!!!

WOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This one is finished!!! Ok, so remember I had mentioned that I couldn't get the Stoney Creek carrot buttons that the pattern called for? Well so I bought ones that in my opinion would work nicely. HOWEVER! After I purchased 4 of these small carrot buttons, which I thought were the perfect size, I then decided to look at each of the patterns just to make sure that I had enough buttons. Well to my surprise, on the Winter piece, there are not only more than one snowman, but there are 3 smaller snowmen on the pattern. Which means I had to get 4 carrot buttons that were the next size up for the snowman that I just finished, as well as the other larger snowmen on the other patterns. So I did that this morning, got the larger carrots, and have now attached one to my snowman. I am not sure if it looks alright or not. To me it kind of looks like a Jimmy Durante nose if Jimmy Durante were a snowman LOL! But please let me know what you think. Maybe I'm just overly critical of my piece.

So here it is! All FINISHED!




So whatcha think? I really did enjoy stitching this piece. I just absolutely love it ... well except for the nose lol.

So on to my next and final piece in this round robin! It's another SNOWMAN! This one is called Snowman & Robin. However, the snowman has since been fondly named ... Henry.

So here is what Henry will look like when he's all finished!



So I have already started right in the middle of the pattern, working on Henry's scarf right now! I'll post a picture soon!

I want to thank all of you my wonderful friends and fellow stitchers for stopping by my blog and leaving your sweet comments! I just love reading all the comments that everyone posts on my blog. It always gives me the warm fuzzies and makes me feel so good and happy! Thank you again very much for your kind words!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

All That's Left is the Carrot Nose Button!

Hello Fellow Stitchers & Friends!!!

I am so happy to report that other than attaching the carrot nose button on this cute lil guy, I am finished with the Snowmen for All Seasons Autumn!!!

As soon as the stitching store opens I will be going to purchase the larger sized carrot buttons. And then I will come home and attach one to my piece and off in the mail he goes! YAY!!!

Here is what he looks like all finished without his nose ...




Not too bad, huh? Boy I'll tell you, I will be so glad when this round robin is finished. Which is right around the corner. I have one more piece to stitch and then it's done!

I'll scan and post another picture after I attach the carrot nose!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

So Excited! So Close to Being Finished!!!

Hi Everyone!!!

I am so excited! I am getting so very close to getting this piece finished! I have another update to show you of my progress. And after I uploaded this picture to my facebook album, I realized that I missed stitching the stem of the weather vain on the top of the barn! LOL! So I will have to go back & do that. But that's ok. Stuff happens. I was trying to hurry along and just missed it all together.

So here is my updated progress!




It's really starting to come alive and take shape! I will go tomorrow and get those other carrot buttons and then I'll attach one to my piece. And get that all mailed off! I hope the person that will receive this likes this pattern series. I just love it and can't wait to stitch the entire series for myself!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Some of the Back Stitching is Finished ...

Hi Fellow Stitchers & Friends!!!

This update is actually from a couple of days ago. I am just now getting a chance to add it to my blog. I have more finished on the back stitching since this photo, but I haven't scanned that yet. I am so excited that I am getting so close to finishing this piece. It will be good to have it finished and get it in the mail to the next person. I wasn't able to do any stitching yesterday. Today, I plan on doing some stitching this afternoon. Tomorrow I have to go to the stitching store and pick up a different carrot button for the nose of this snowman. I bought buttons for all of the snowmen in the pattern series so that the other ladies don't have to worry about trying to find them. They are in Canada and it's harder for them to find items like that. Plus I thought it would be better if all of the carrot noses on the snowmen match. Anyway, I didn't realize until after I had purchased the buttons that the Winter pattern doesn't just have one big snowman. It actually has 2 big snowmen and 3 little ones. So I have to go back to the stitching store and get 5 slightly larger carrot buttons. I had planned on having everything done except for the carrot button being attached and then going to the stitching store today. But it is closed on Mondays. So I have to wait until tomorrow. They are not the carrot buttons that the pattern calls for however. This store only carries a few of the Stoney Creek buttons. And the stand up carrot ones are not included. So they would have to order them. So I'll use what they do have. I think they will still look really good.

Anyway, here is an update of my Autumn Snowman!




So there it is so far! The back stitching is going pretty quickly as it is simple and not anything like the Tatty Teddy back stitching. I am nearly done with the back stitching on the left side of the snowman right now, working on the barn. Then it will be the snowman back stitching and then the little bit for the heart on the letter O in LOVE and then my signature and it's FINISHED!!! So I'll post another update really soon!

Hugs to you all for all of your comments and support. I really appreciate every single one!!!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Nothing But Back Stitching Left!!!

Hi Everybody!

Yes, the plan was to be done with this piece by now. But after my last update post, my stitching bug just went right away. I tried to stitch a couple times, but just didn't have it in me. So I did no stitching until a couple days ago. But in that couple days, I finished all of the X stitches on the pattern and now have nothing left but all of the back stitching!!! There is A LOT of back stitching, but it's all easy back stitching. Nothing like the Tatty Teddy back stitching at all LOL. I am really happy to have my stitching bug back. I really have missed it since I like this piece so much. It's really coming together and is looking SO CUTE! I can't wait to finish the RR, so that I can stitch all of the patterns in this series for our home!

And with that here is my update of the Snowmen for All Seasons Autumn!




Now the person that will receive this RR doesn't know what they are. She joined the RR later than the rest of us, and so when she mailed her fabric out it was blank except for the 4 areas marked off. She told the rest of us that she wasn't picking a theme, but that we could pick anything. She also told one of the girls that she didn't want anything that was "cutesy" looking. That friend said she is worried that this pattern series is too cutesy. I think the patterns are very cute. So does that mean these actually ARE cutesy? Do you all think this pattern series is "cutesy"? Let me know what you think on this please.

Well, I'm off to work on back stitching!

Happy Stitching to you all!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A New Interesting Online Game ...

A friend of mine told me about this online game and so I decided to check it out! It's called Dragon's Cave. The purpose is to adopt a Dragon Egg and raise it until it hatches and then raise the Dragon! Sounds pretty interesting. So I have adopted my first egg! Please click on my Dragon Egg to check it out!



Just a cute Lil Dragon Egg that will one day be a big beautiful dragon! So we'll see how things go!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥


UPDATE ~~~ Yeah so this wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be LOL.

Another Update on the Snowman!

Hi Friends and Fellow Stitchers!

I finally picked up my stitching again the other nite thanks to some support and encouragement from Dawn. She IMd me and we had a really nice conversation. She helped make me feel better. And reminded me how therapeutic working on my cross stitching would be. And she was absolutely right! Thank you so much, Dawn, for being such a great friend!

So since then, I have been stitching a bit and I have an update on the cute autumn snowman! I have been having so much fun stitching this piece and watching it come together. So here is the progress so far ...



I think it's looking pretty cute. Of course even once I finish all of the cross stitching, there is LOTS of backstitching to do. But that will really bring it together. It's kind of hard to see on this picture, but the eyes of the snowman are 2 beads. And I had such a hard time finding a needle that I had that was skinny enough for the beads. I had to borrow a needle from one of the Mill Hill kits that I have. I had a bunch of needles before which included beading needles, but after moving a couple of times, they have disappeared. Oh well, I found a needle & got it done. I hope to get the rest of the cross stitching done within the next couple of days & then get the backstitching started by the weekend at the very latest, but hopefully by Friday. And of course I will post another update after I finish all of the X's! :)

Happy Stitching All!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Just Wanted to Let Ya'll Know ...

Hi Everyone!

I just thought I would let you know in case you were wondering, the HAED design Wicca that I started I am still planning on working on it ASAP. Right now however, I really do have to get these RR's finished that I am in. I don't want to hold up the show so to speak. I am really looking forward to getting back to Wicca though. And I can't wait until it is finished. I am hoping that once I am able to get back to it that I will be able to get it finished by the end of the year. But if that doesn't happen, my goal is to at least have it finished by the beginning of March, 2010. We have our county fair in April each year and I would really like to be able to enter it into next year's fair. My friend that is also working on Wicca is making AMAZING progress on it! She is almost nearly finished! And it looks absolutely beautiful!!! It is exactly 3 months since the day we started on it and I must show you her progress so far.




Isn't it beautiful!!! This is the latest update I have seen. She may even be farther than this. I just think she is doing such an awesome job on it.

So anyways, again just to let you know, I WILL be getting back to this very soon!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

I have an update ... and a sad loss to report ...

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? Really well I hope. As for me, well I was doing really well. Until Thursday morning when I got a phone call. In Michigan, I have an aunt & uncle & 2 cousins. The cousins are both married. My cousin, Maria is 33 and my cousin, Dominic just turned 36 on March 28th. Well the phone call that I received was from my cousin Maria. I answered the phone very happy to receive her call & excited to talk to her. And then I heard tone in her voice. She was very upset and it was clear that she was crying. My first thoughts were that something had happened to my uncle as he has had heart issues in the past & surgeries for it. I asked her what was wrong & what happened. I never expected what she was about to say. My cousin Dominic had passed away very early Wednesday morning. I was shocked & stunned. And it took a few minutes for it to sink in. I tried to keep my cool while I listened to Maria explain everything, fighting back the hysterics, with tears still managing to escape my eyes and stream down my face. My husband sitting on the couch watching my face and listening very closely to what I was saying. Dominic went out with friends Tuesday nite and after a while he told his friends that he wasn't feeling well and asked for them to take him home. His friends could tell he wasn't feeling well. He was sweating very badly and just didn't look good. They wanted to take him to the hospital. But he told them that he just wanted to go home. So they followed his wishes. They helped him in the house & into his chair and covered him up with his blanket. And they left. The next morning, his wife (no one can stand this woman) discovered him face down on the floor and he has passed away. His blanket was soaking wet from all the sweating. But no one knows what happened. No one knows what he died from. Dominic & Maria are my favorite cousins and I am deeply saddened by this. I am going to miss him so much. He was way too young. We are all waiting for the autopsy results. But the services are Sunday and Monday. And unfortunately we do not have the funds for me to fly back to Michigan for the services. After I got off the phone with Maria, my husband immediately came over to me & wrapped his arms around me. And that is when I lost it. I was so glad that he was off work that day. So in the last 3 days I haven't slept very well. And I just don't have the energy to do anything. I haven't done any stitching or much of anything else. I miss my cousin. I keep thinking of times past. Of how much fun we had as kids and teens. Of the visit we had last summer. He was such a great guy. My uncle is taking this so very very hard. I worry about him too. Yesterday afternoon, an idea came into my head. I have a nice picture of my cousin that was taken last summer when we were there. So I decided that I would make a few copies of the picture, and design and stitch a memorial plaque. I will give one to my aunt and uncle and also one to my cousin Maria. And one for my brother and of course one to keep for us. I may not have the amitbion or energy to stitch right now, but my crazy creative brain just doesn't shut off. Not even in times like these. Is that nuts?!

Prior to this news, I had been working hard on the snowman pattern that I showed you all in my previous post. So I wanted to share with you all my updated progress. So here is my progress so far ...




I think it is coming along nicely. The pattern is 90x90 and I would have thought I would be able to get it finished a lot faster. But it seems to be a lot more stitching than I had anticipated. But then again, I did have to take out 2/3 of the orange & yellow stripes since I thought the snowman sat on top of them & not IN them. Then I messed up a bit on one of the snowman's black mittens & had to take out & fix that. I am hoping it doesn't take too much longer to get this stitched. I don't like to hold up the show on the RR's. After I get all of the stitching part done then there is all of the backstitching to be done. It's easy backstitching, but just A LOT of it. LOL. I can't wait to see it all finished. And then to get it into the mail. I am going to try to work on it a little bit tonite. Hopefully I will be able to. So what do you think so far?

I will post another update as soon as I can! I also have to stitch a couple of football helmets for a couple of my very best friends. She is a Cowboys fan and he is a Packers fan. I have some cute patterns of the helmets for those teams. They look to be pretty quick stitches, but we'll see. They are 60x76. I will post the pictures for those when I am able to get them stitched.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A Finish & WIP RR Piece

Hi Fellow Stitchers & Friends!!!

Well it has been a long time since I've posted anything. Part of the reason for that is stuff that I mentioned in my previous post, lack of sleep. I was having so many sleep issues that I just didn't have the energy when I was awake to do much of anything. Also I was discouraged bcuz of the SAL that I was/am doing with the HAED pattern. I have not worked on that since I posted my last progress update. I will get back to it. However right now it is much more important that I finish my RR pieces. I am involved in 2 different RR's. And I have to get them finished. I am feeling very terrible for holding up the process. But I am working hard & I know I will get everything caught up. I am so upset with myself, but I know I will get there. And I am thankful that in the one RR, the other ladies are so patient & understanding.

Anyway, let me show you the photos that I have for a piece that I have finished and also another that I am working on.

One lady selected the heart themed Tatty Teddies as her theme. And she is going to give the finished piece to her husband for their anniversary. It is so cute! And such a great idea. I'm sure her husband will love it. I do have to say that this is the first Tatty Teddy that I have ever stitched. And I had no idea how much backstitching was involved in it until I came to that point in the pattern. Normally backstitching doesn't bother me in the least. However the backstitching for Tatty Teddies is WOW! Such a pain in the backside! I love the finished piece, but I have to say that I don't think that I will be doing another one anytime soon unless I stitch it on evenweave over two threads. The piece that I did was Tatty Teddy Little Hearts. And to add an extra special touch, I did the backstitching of the hearts in red metallic floss. I think it looks pretty good! Here is the photo of it ...



It's a little hard in the photo to see the red metallic floss around the hearts, However I think it turned our really well.

The next piece in this same RR, is a pattern series called Snowmen for All Seasons. Since fall/autumn is my favorite season, that is the piece I selected. The entire pattern series is absolutely adorable & I am looking forward to stitching the entire series for my home also.

Here is a photo of the entire pattern series ...



The photo itself is not the best, but I hope you can see it well enough to know what it looks like. The finished RR piece will not be all straight in a row like this. The first two will be on the top & the third & fourth will be on the bottom when all of the pieces have been all stitched. Isn't this just TOO CUTE!!!

So as I said I am going to do the fall/autumn piece. I just love it! Here is a photo of that part of the pattern series ...



This is so cute! And the nose on each snowman is a cute tiny little carrot button. Here is a photo of what I have done so far ...



Now I was moving right along on this. However, if you look closely at what the finished pattern will look like, you will see that where the orange & yellow stripes are, they are not even all the way across. The snowman sits IN those stripes not on top of them. And when I first looked at the pattern I thought that the snowman sat on top of them. So it was not until after I scanned & uploaded the photos that I realized that I had screwed up on the stitching. So since scanning this photo yesterday, I have since had to take out most of the orange & yellow stripes & fix my mistakes. It is frustrating, however, I am of course upset with myself for not looking at both pages of the pattern before I stitched this section. I was trying to do the pattern in a hurry bcuz I want to get it finished & off in the mail to the next person. And now I am taking longer bcuz of it. Oh well, these things happen & such is life in the world of cross stitch! LOL.

So that is what & how I am doing at this time. I am looking forward to posting more updates!!!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥