August Stitching: A Finish, Progress, A Start, & Plans

Hello Stitching & Crafting Friends & Followers! 

So here we are, already 5 days into September! Only 111 days until Christmas, and I'm sure that will fly by! 

So I am very happy to show you the finished piece of Coffee Motto that I made for my Grama and her new husband. Here it is before and after matting & framing ... 

You'll remember on my last post how I mentioned about one of the groups I am in on Facebook doing a different White Willow Stitching tribal pattern SAL each month. Last month (August) was the Tribal Cauldron. Since I was using the size 5 cotton perle black floss and had never used it before, even tho I am stitching it on 28 ct evenweave, it is proving to be quite the challenge to stitch with. But I am getting thru it very slowly. This is the only progress I've made on it so far ... 

The pattern that we are doing for the September WWS Tribal SAL is the Tribal Cat. Originally I hadn't planned on stitching this one, but once it was added to the SAL list, I thought why not. I still haven't decided what fabric or floss to use for it, so I'll keep thinking about it. This is what the Tribal Cat looks like ... 

Towards the end of August, I decided to start working on the Kincavel Krosses Rules for Life. My dear friend that passed away, Momma Anna, I showed this pattern to her after I bought it. All the many years we've known each other, she had never asked me to stitch her anything specific before. But as soon as she saw and read the Rules for Life design, she said to me, "I really like this one. Please stitch this one for me." I had never gotten to get it stitched for her before she passed. This of course saddens me. So I am stitching it. And I am going to give it to Momma Anna's daughter after it's finished. I am stitching it on 14 ct light oatmeal aida and using ThreadworX 10342 Earth Stones floss. I think the fabric & floss combination is looking really really good. I'm still doing the border of the design so I don't want to post an update photo yet, but here is what the design looks like, as well as the floss & fabric together right before I started it ... 

Also during all of this, I am also trying to completely revamp and reorganize my entire craft room. That in itself is quite a job & quite time consuming. But it's going to be so worth it once I have it finished. 

Well that's all I have for this time. I should be posting some update photos soon! Thank you, as always, for reading and following my blog! 

Happy Stitching & Crafting to One & All!

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

My Poor Neglected Blog

Hello Dear Friends! 

Oh my goodness, I feel terrible for not having updated my blog in so long! I have done some stitching, but not a lot. This has been a really rough year. Just a few weeks ago, we had another family loss. A very dear family friend, who my husband & I considered to be another mom to us and another grandma to our kids. Just like my father-in-law, it was completely sudden and unexpected. I am deeply saddened and have been an emotional wreck. I wanted to share a photo I have of both of them. 

So as for my stitching, recently my Grama, who is 80 (well 81 as of a few days ago) recently got married again! So I decided to stitch something for the two of them. I thought a traditional wedding piece was not fitting for a "later in life" marriage such as theirs. So instead I found a cute pattern that was designed by a friend on Facebook. I posted that I was going to stitch it and how I was going to add my Grama's and her new husband's names on the coffee cups, and the designer loved the idea and said she would make a few changes to the original for me. She added hearts and put their names on the cups and it looks perfect! I am stitching it on 14ct fiddlers light aida. So that is one of the pieces that I'm stitching at the moment. 

Here is design ... 

And here are my progress pics so far ... 

Also, I am in a Stitchalong (SAL) where each month we are all stitching a different White Willow Stitching Tribal pattern over the next year. This month's pattern is the Tribal Cauldron. I have only stitched a little bit so far as I'm really trying to get my Grama's gift finished first. I am stitching it on 28ct opalescent white evenweave. For the cauldron, I'm using a black cotton pearl to create the texture of a cast iron cauldron. I have never used cotton pearl floss before. So it's definitely been interesting to stitch with. For the potion bubbles, I am using Canon Waterlilies 153 Distant Hills, which is a 12 ply hand dyed silk. The Distant Hills color is a green/purple variegated floss, which I think will look perfect! 

Here is a picture of what the Tribal Cauldron design looks like. 

On the Cauldron, I don't really have enough progress completed in order to post a photo yet. But I will soon.

For the project for the Sandy Hook Elementary quilts, after designing all of the patterns, I stitched the one for the school, and then others stitched the individual patterns. The finished squares that I have seen pictures of, have turned out beautiful.

Here is a photo of the square that I designed and stitched for the school quilt ...



Well that is where I'm at for now. I'll be posting more again really soon!

Happy Stitching & Crafting Everyone!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

It's Been a Rough Few Months ...

Hello to all of my friends, family, blog followers & fellow crafters. 

It has been a rough few months. First as you may have read on my previous post from back at the end of January, one of our furbabies, Kira passed away. We all still miss her very much. A couple of weeks after she passed away, I got a tattoo of her pawprint. I thought I'd share with you all. 

Not long after that, my 16 yr old daughter, who is autistic, had a huge seizure. She had never had a seizure before and it scared the crap out of me!!! Once the seizure had subsided, she fell asleep right away. We called 911 and the ambulance came. They ran tests, including a CT scan and the only thing they found was that she was really anemic. Since then there have been appointments at her regular doctor, the neurologist, the hospital, etc. So far they haven't found anything as to why she had a seizure. The neurologist did say that kids with autism have a 30% chance of having seizures and they'll either have them when they are young and their bodies are growing or they'll have them when they are teenagers and their hormones are going crazy. She also said that they could just have the one isolated incident, or could have them until they stop growing or the hormones balance out. So not much for answers really so far. They did do an EEG which said that there is a chance that my daughter could have more seizures, but they now want to do an MRI to see if they can determine more. So now we're just waiting for my daughter's insurance to preauthorize the MRI. 

Shortly after the incident with my daughter, my father in law passed away suddenly. He was a wonderful man and so kind to everyone who crossed his path. Everyone that knew him loved him. He always had a smile on his face, a hug to give and a joke to tell. He had 5 sons, all of whom were his favorite. He called me "mija" from the first time I met him and welcomed me into the family with open arms. One time, he thanked me for making his son so happy. He was my dad just as much as he was my husband's. My first dad passed away when I was 15 yrs old. My second dad passed away just 13 days before my daughter's first birthday. And now my 3rd dad passed away just 4 days before my son's seventh birthday. Yes, it has been a very rough few months. There certainly have been more downs than ups for us so far this year. And since things happen in threes, I'm hoping we have reached our three and it's nothing but good happenings the rest of the year. 

One good that has happened this year, my daughter received a letter for being on the principal's honor roll at school! My mom and grama bought her the letterman jacket & she now has a beautiful letterman jacket with her honors letter on it. She also lettered in varsity golf and should be receiving her letter for that soon so that it can be added to her jacket. We are all so very proud of her. 

So with all that has been going on I have gotten very little stitching done these past few months. But when I have stitched, it has been the square for the Shady Hook Elementary quilt. I still have a lot of squares that I need to complete for the families quilts. Here is where I am at the moment for the S.H.E. square ... 

So now that things seem to be calming down for the moment, I am going to be busy stitching to get these squares done. Once they are done, I can get back to my WIPs & UFOs. 

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 ♥

A Very Special Project

Hello Friends, Stitchers & Bloggers ~ 

I know it has been a while since I have posted. With getting ready for the holidays and then the holidays, I didn't get much time for stitching. Then on December 14th, a terrible, terrible tragedy happened. I'm sure all of you know about it. In the small town of Newtown, CT, a man went into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took the lives of twenty kids in two first grade classrooms, as well as women who worked at the school. Then, when he heard the sirens of police and emergency response teams, he took his own life. This was after he had killed his own mother in their home. One of the little girls in one of the classrooms, survived, because she laid on the ground pretending to be dead. Then afterwards, she ran to her parents and said "I'm ok, but all of my friends are dead." This is a devastating tragedy. As a mom of two kids, one in first grade, I cannot even begin to imagine what the families of these beautiful kids and women are going through. And it is my hope that I never have to. I, like many others, wanted to do something for the families and the school. Some fellow stitchers on Facebook came up with the idea of stitching squares that would be made into quilts. I signed up. There will be a quilt for each of the families, one for the little girl who survived, one for the school, and there will also be one that will be given to the brother of the man that caused this terrible tragedy, bcuz he also lost his mom. There will also be squares that will be made into pillows for the brothers and sisters of the kids, and other squares that will be made into something for the first responders and also the janitor of the school. I signed up to stitch squares for each of the family quilts, a square for the little girl's quilt, and for the school quilt. For the little girl that survived, I selected a pattern by Vee and Co Cross Stitch Designs, who gave her patterns out for free for this very special project. The pattern is snowman in a snowglobe that is holding a heart that says "You Melt My Heart". For the squares for the families, I wanted to do something more personal. So I put together patterns that have each person's name, birth flower and birthdate. And for the square for the school, I put together a pattern that has a heart bouquet in the middle, I made all but one of the hearts green and white, which are the school colors. There are hearts in each corner that are green and white. It says "Forever in Our Hearts" and has the names of all the kids and women that were lost in this tragedy. I just finished the patterns a few days ago and have started to stitch them. 

I wanted to share with you all what the patterns look like. And I will also post pictures of the finished squares as I get them done. I do hope that everyone affected by this tragedy does like what we are making. 

Here are what the patterns looks like ...

So this is what I will be working on over the next few months. I know that I have other projects that I need to work on and get finished, but I feel that this is more important.

If you would like to see the other squares that my fellow stitchers are working on for this very special project, you can find the Facebook group here.

I want to thank you all for reading my blog and supporting me and my art craft all of these years.

Happy Stitching, Crafting & Blogging.

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 ♥

Surprise Gift FINALLY Delivered!

Hello Stitchers, Bloggers & Crafters!

I am very happy to report that I was finally able to hand deliver the football helmets birth announcement piece to my friends! I was getting worried at first bcuz the frame that I had thought would be perfect was WAY to big. So it was a mad dash off to store after store to find the perfect frame and at long last, hiding in a corner, I found it! I was so relieved. Then it was home to get the piece framed and wrapped and then off to the baby's first birthday party! 

Here is how it turned out ... 

Here are my friends and Baby Audrey! 

And they loved it ... even with the Chicago Bears 'C' on it (lol).

I am both happy and relieved that they liked it so much. I wanted to create for them something very unique and special that they could always treasure. They are awesome people & I love them!

Well, that's all I have this time!

Happy Stitching, Blogging & Crafting!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥