November 24, 2008

As I was working on Friendship and saw how fast it was stitching up I realized that I may have another finish tomorrow! If I'd known I could stitch it in 2-3 days I would have started it long ago! When I saw it in a SAL it seemed people were taking weeks and weeks to complete it and everyone was complaining about the verse. I've always done my over-one stitching using the Continental stitch so that the thread doesn't go behind the fibers of the material. I think the verse was the easiest part for me to do.

All of the leaves and back-stitching are done, except for one last spool of thread. I chose to do the "ad-vanced" option of using padded satin stitches for my thread spools. I'm not sure why it's advanced when it's just a straight stitch, but whatever floats your boat. It's easier and faster than doing the x's for the thread on the spools, too. I wanted my spools to look like real spools of thread and this stitch certainly accomplishes that

Kasey woke me up at 10:00 this morning and then didn't come when I called her half an hour later. I was worried so I got dressed and put on my coat to go find her. As I was walking out of the carport and calling for her again she came running from the direction of my neighbor's house. Of course I was wide awake so there was no getting back to sleep at that point.

I am constantly thankful I discovered the online stitching community. No only has it provided me a lifeline to the outside world and some of the closest friends I've ever had, but also the generosity of other stitchers continues to amaze and humble me. I received an email on Friday from Marl B of Indiana. She said that she has a special interest in my posts because her son also lives in Annapolis. Marl wrote to tell me that she saw the Handblessings charts on my wish list and had them for me. The designer, Eileen Gurick, is in several guild chapters with Myrl and they are friends as well. She told me that she was driving through Annapolis on Sunday and would be leaving the charts with her son and gave me the information to pick them up from his work.

Since I couldn't get back to sleep anyway I decided to ride over to pick up the charts from John's work. I was flabbergasted when the bag was handed to me. Myrl had mentioned something about her son mumbling, as she watched him put the bag in his truck, about what color suit to wear Monday to match the purple stitching bag. Purple stitching bag?! Yep! Myrl found a set of clear thick plastic bags with purple nylon straps. There's everything from a little cosmetic case to an 18x18" tote! These will be great for keeping future WIPs clean as they all zip closed.

But that wasn't all! It wasn't just the charts I wanted! Myrl included the fabric and fibers to stitch them! There was the 18ct mono canvas, already on stretcher bars, for Autumn Whispers and the Lugana for Stitching Nut. As if that wasn't enough, Myrl was able to convince Eileen to sign the charts for me! That is SOOO cool! My first ever personalized charts!

Myrl, I cannot thank you enough for these wonderful gifts! Have a safe and happy trip to Ocean City and enjoy your time "Down the ocean."

After getting only a few hours of sleep I was exhausted around noon and decided to go back to bed. I was also feeling the effects of a sour stomach and was afraid I was coming down with a stomach bug. For me, sleeping is the best way to heal and my family says they can tell when I'm sick because it's the only time I stay in bed. Since I knew I was going to sleep through the afternoon I called my dialysis clinic to inform them I wouldn't be there today.

I slept until after 5:30 this afternoon but felt much better upon waking up. The feeling of my stomach revolting on me was gone so I went back to work on Friendship. I was hoping to have it complete but didn't quite get there before midnight.

I've shared pictures of Kasey several times recently so I had to be fair to my boy. Here is my stitching assistant, Mr. Chetter-bug, sitting on me so I can't get away from him. You'll notice he's also trying to hide the tv remote. I'm all the time having to pull it from under His Highness. His eyes really don't look that evil but his pupils are so large they always reflect when I take a picture of him. The red-eye remover doesn't recognize such a large area so it won't work for pictures of Chet.

Finally, I know you've been waiting to see what I come up with for today's freebies, so here you go:

Gran's Stitch Niche has some beautiful free designs but beware! They're BAP's!
http://stitchniche.50webs.com/patterns2.html

Erynne's blog is full of free charts. Make sure you stop by to take a look at her offerings.
http://be-stitched.blogspot.com/search/label/grille%20gratuit