First Finish of 2014!!!

Hello Friends!!! 

I am very happy to report my first finish of the year! See, it WILL be a year of finishes for me! 

Very early Wednesday morning, I finished the WWS Tribal Penguin! And I really think it came out great! All that I have left to do is iron and frame it, but first I must find the perfect frame. I think a white frame will make it really pop. It would be awesome if I could find a frame that looks like ice or ice cubes or something like that. But I haven't ever seen a frame like that, so I'm sure I will use a white frame. Then in April, I'll be entering my Penguin into the county fair! I'm super excited about it! 

Here is my finished Penguin! 

After a few hours of sleep, I started on a project that I have been wanting to do for a very long time and I decided that now is that time. I am stitching the Monopoly Game Board! I only worked on it this past Wednesday so far. So I haven't gotten very far yet. For the border of the game board, I decided to stitch it in DMC 550 purple to make it a little bit personalized, since purple is my favorite color. After I finish stitching the game board, I am going to build a table and put the stitched game board on top and then apply a thick poly coating on top so it will be my permanent Monopoly table. It's going to be awesome!

So here is what the Monopoly Game Board will look like ... 

And here is my start of my progress from this past Wednesday ... 

I am really excited about this project and can't wait to see it finished! 

That's all that I have for now. Happy Stitching and Crafting! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Progress on Sandy Hook Elementary School Square and Some Very Sad News

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers, Crafters and Bloggers! 

I hope this finds you all doing great and having an awesome weekend. This week for my family and I, has been a difficult one. On Tuesday, one of our furbabies, Kira, passed away. She was 12 years old, and a huge part of our family. We are all very upset. The hardest part was telling the kids after they got home from school. My son immediately got very upset. My daughter, who is autistic, took a little while to process what we had told them, and then was very very upset. They both drew pictures of and for Kira. Our other furbabie, Jack, who is only 2 yrs old, has although still energetic, has been sad too. He misses his friend. RIP dear Kira.

I have decided that I would like to stitch one of the pictures that we have of Kira. Here is an image capture of what I have come up with so far ... 

This is with the pattern being 250w X 340h, 90 colors, and stitched on 18ct aida. Please tell me what you all think. I know it's not the best of quality like some of the amazing cross stitch pattern designers. But it's what I came up with from using the PC Stitch software that I have and importing the photo. I just miss her so much and want to create some beautiful that our family will always have.

Even after creating the pattern of Kira, I have plenty of time to make any changes that may need to be done, because before I even start it, I need to first finish the squares for the Sandy Hook Elementary project and a couple of other small projects for family members.

Here is my updated progress photo of the Sandy Hook Elementary square ...



I think it is coming along nicely. I know there is A LOT of backstitching with the names, and even with all of that, I don't mind backstitching at all. I know a lot of people don't like backstitching. But I really don't mind it in the least. I just wish it would go a little faster lol.

That is all that I have for now.

Happy Stitching, Crafting and Blogging to One and All.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Sandy Hook Elementary School Quilt Square Progress

Hi there Friends, Fellow Stitchers, Crafters & Bloggers ~ 

So I did manage to squeeze in some stitching today. I made a little bit of progress on the Sandy Hook Elementary square for the school quilt. It is not much, but definitely a start. 

And here is the progress that I have made for my Wednesday stitching ... 

I think it is looking pretty good so far. Please let me know what you think. 

That is all I have for now. 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Wednesday Stitching

Hello Everyone! 

Well it is UFO Wednesday and although I haven't stitched on a Wednesday for a while due to the holidays, I AM STITCHING NOW! As you have read from the previous post, I have put all other projects on hold while I stitch squares for the Sandy Hook Elementary Special Project. I am starting with the square for the school quilt. Also, remember that you can see my UFO Wednesday posts on the tab at the top of my blog.

Here is what the pattern looks like that I put together ... 

I know this is a short post, but it is already afternoon, and I want to get to stitching! Thank you for stopping by & reading my blog!

Happy Stitching, Blogging, and Crafting to One and All!

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Election Day 2012 & Getting Ready for UFO Wednesday Stitching

Hello My Friends, Stitchers, Crafters & Bloggers! 

I hope that this finds you all doing well and enjoying the day and season! So today is Election Day here in the United States. Have you all voted? My husband and I will be heading to the polls right after our son finishes his homework. I honestly feel, that when it comes to politics, it's up to us to choose the lesser of two evils and vote for that person. I just hope whoever ends up in office, we can all just hope that they bring back this great nation to where we're all more economically sound. Time will tell. 

Alright! Now on to a much more fun topic. STITCHING! So, as you know from my last post, and the new tab at the top of my blog, I am part of a Wednesday UFO group on Facebook. With last Wednesday being Halloween (I hope you all had a very fun Halloween!), and my husband working that night, I did not get any stitching done. I thought maybe I could have a makeup day in the days following Halloween, but that didn't happen either. I did get a couple of stitches in, but really only about 20 minutes worth. So tomorrow is a new Wednesday Stitching Day! I'm looking forward to it, as I would really like to make some good progress on Transformation by Tilton Crafts. She is such a beautiful piece and with only working on the bottom left corner page so far, it doesn't look like anything yet. I can't wait till I can really see the design come to life as I stitch her.

Oh and I am really happy to report that Tilton Crafts will be creating patterns of my brother's, Brandon Salamone, artwork!!! Shelley really loves his drawing called, Drop Dead Gorgeous. So I'll be writing him and asking him to draw up some pieces that go along with that theme. Also, don't forget, you can find patterns of some of his artwork on the White Willow Stitching website, as well. I don't know if Jamie from WWS is going to be creating any more patterns of my brother's artwork or not. But for now, there are some beautiful patterns available. And soon you'll be able to buy my brother's GORGEOUS artwork in pattern form on Tilton Crafts!!!

Well, my son is done with his homework, so we are off to the polls! 

Happy Stitching, Crafting & Blogging and don't forget to ... 

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

What I've Been Up to ...

Hello My Friends! 

So what have I been working on this past month. Well I must admit, stitching has been a challenge the last month and a half. I have been working on this ATC that should have been quick and easy. But when I selected the pattern, I didn't realize the TONS of french knots it had. Now normally, they don't bother me too much, HOWEVER, stitching french knots on 18 count aida, that are placed in the CENTER of the square instead of at the corner of the squares and that has been a big challenge. It is really hard to poke the needle from the bottom up into the fabric and then go back down thru the same hole. And like I said, there are a bunch of them. I also have a couple of coasters to mail out soon. 

Another project that I have started is a pattern called Transformation by Tilton Crafts. Shelley, the owner and designer of the pattern, asked if I would do this pattern as a model stitch for her. It's a beautiful pattern that Shelley did an awesome job on. The artist is Victoria Frances. So I have started working on this pattern. I just love it. 

Here is what it looks like ... 

Isn't she gorgeous?! I just love this pattern. The pattern is 300 x 435, so it's a larger pattern. I am starting in the bottom left corner.

So I made a decision. As some of you know, I have some projects that I have started and not finished. One of them, I was never really into. Another I liked the pattern, but was not super excited about. So I'll probably either never finish it, or it will be a long while before I ever go back to it. So I am putting them, not only on a back burner, but up in the back corner of a shelf, so to speak. Those two are Pale Rose and Hold on to Hope. Both were supposed to be stitch a longs with someone else and those stitch a longs never really happened. So I'd rather concentrate on projects that I really want to do. And I definitely have other WIPs and UFOs that I absolutely love and really want to get finished.

Speaking of WIPs and UFOs ... a friend of mine on Facebook has created a new group called Wednesday UFO Cross Stitchers. The object of the group is that every Wednesday we will all work on a current or unfinished project and we will all support and motivate each other so that we can get our projects finished. I think this is a great idea and I am really excited about it! To have a set day to work on these projects may be just what I need to get some good finishes under my belt and actually complete some of my goals that I list for myself each year. So if any of you are like me and need that extra motivation and want to share some fun and progress, and if you are Facebook, just click on the link above to request to be part of the group. There are a lot of very nice people in the group! I've added a tab at the top of my blog where I will post my Wednesday progress.

And with that (today is Wednesday!), I am off to get some stitching done!

Happy Stitching, Crafting & Blogging to you all!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥