April 1, 2009

I tell ya, it was just another day full of stitching for me! NOT! I don't know what's going on, but I just don't seem to have enough time in the day to stitch, especially on dialysis days.

Today was April Fool's Day. I almost forgot until I noticed an article online about ESPN playing a joke on NASCAR fans. They said right in the title that the article was a joke, but obviously some people are selective readers. Apparently ESPN reported that President Obama was going to make Chevy and Dodge pull their sponsorships of the NASCAR series and people started screamin' bloody murder. ESPN pulled the article from its website and apologized, saying they went too far. In my opinion, it's not their fault some people are too stupid to read an ENTIRE article before they start raising a fuss. I don't think it was funny, though, because it very well could come true if GM and Chrysler need that sponsorship cash for their "trimmed down" operations. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Oops, sorry. This isn't a sports blog, I know! Back to the stitching! I did almost a whole leaf on The Sweetheart Tree's Don't Bug Me. I found TST in the 2007 fall Online Needlework Show and fell in love with the look of their designs. I especially like the purple band samplers and the Teenie Kits. The problem is, I thoroughly dislike the feel of the fibers included in all their kits. They're stiff somehow, and they don't improve much after applying Thread Heaven thread conditioner. With my dry hands, running these fibers through my fingers is very unsatisfying. What's mystifying to me is the fact that they use DMC and Weeks threads for the most part. I'd really like to know what they're doing to them to take them from soft cotton to a stiff hunk of thread. Has anyone else noticed that?

I apologize for digressing again, but I think it's the feel of the fibers that is slowing me down on this project. I also think that it's the reason I have at least four more Teenie kits in my UFO pile. Since I've started them, I have to get them finished, but I really don't enjoy stitching with the threads like this. I'm seriously considering using my own DMC and buying the Weeks needed to complete these, it's that bad! Only problem is, I really can't justify spending money on the fibers when I have enough on hand to stitch the project. Am I just being too picky?

You may or may not have noticed, but I've added a new logo to the sidebar of my blog. It's for The Stitchers' Village. This is a new "global needle arts community" courtesy of Jo and Janie, owners of Dinky Dyes & The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio respectively. If you haven't visited, I highly reccommend. TSV is just getting off the ground, but there are monthly newsletters, contests, classes, and even a forum to chat with other stitchers from around the world.

As I was clicking on the different buildings to see what each contained, I was directed to Janie's Site The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio and saw the information for a fund-raiser she created for victims of the Austrailan bush fires. It's called Bushfire Kitty. For a donation of US $3.50, you, too, can recieve a .pdf of this cute fireman kitty. Please consider stopping by Janie's site and making a contribution. The kit to stitch Bushfire Kitty is available from any of the stores in TSV.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox and done typing for now. Have a great day tomorrow!

January 23, 2008

It's done! I put the last stitch into the "Survive & Thrive Scissor Slide" at 6:10pm. This is my second finish from The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio and for The Year of the Sampler.

I completed the back of the slide at dialysis this evening.

But I had a very rough night. At around 3am I woke up to use the bathroom and almost lost consciousness on my way back to bed. I knew I lost alot of fluid earlier in the evening but I felt fine when I went bed. I made it back into my room by touch, because my vision had gotten to the point where I was getting ready to black out, and flopped on the bed, putting my feet up to get the blood flowing into my head.

I felt better in a few minutes and went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water out of the fridge and immediately returned to bed. I took a few drinks and then fell back asleep. I felt okay when I woke back up this afternoon, but I was under my target weight when I arrived at dialysis. My pulse was soaring at 159 so it was very apparent I was dehydrated even though I didn't feel it.

I received extra fluids during my treatment and drank almost an entire half-gallon of lemonade tea but my blood pressure and pulse still weren't great. I'm going to take it easy this weekend and hopefully make some good progress on 'A Stitcher's Companion.'

January 22, 2009

I still haven't gotten back on my usual nocturnal schedule. Being at my mother's for a week and then getting sick right after I got home just threw me off. Because of that, I was up at 10:00 this morning and went out to run errands. Since I was in Severna Park anyway, I stopped by Partners In Care to say hello to Linda and drop off some books to the Boutique. They were taking up room and I knew I wouldn't read them a second time.

From the PIC office I went straight to Barnes & Noble for the afternoon stitching group. I was the only stitcher, with everyone else knitting, but I enjoyed the camaraderie. It was nice to sit and stitch with others around who enjoy similar pasttimes. Slowly everyone left except me and one other lady, another Linda. She was having some trouble with her knitting project and went to find a reference book to help her. I worked on "Love, Laugh, Survive & Thrive" from The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio and Dinky Dyes. This is the second time I've stitched it and it is coming right along. I was able to almost complete the entire front panel by 4:20pm.


That's when I looked at my phone and saw how late it was! I was planning on leaving at 4pm because I needed to get home to let Kasey out. Linda also had things she needed to do an didn't realize how late it had gotten. The time just seemed to fly by. Lucky for me, Uncle Wes was already home and he'd taken Kasey for a walk. I would have felt bad that she'd been in so long because she didn't have to go out before I left the house this morning.

This evening I continued to work on LLS&T, completing the front panel and doing the ribbon and heart on the back.

January 18, 2009

At 6:37 this evening, while watching the Playoff game, I put the last stitch into the Peacock Stitching Chair! This is my first finish of 2009, my Year of the Sampler. I decided to commemorate my YotS by personalizing the bottom panel of the Chair with my initials, the year, and YotS. I wanted to have "Year of the sampler" on it but the word sampler was too long for the area allowed.

I know I said I was going to work on my gameboard by Blue Ribbon Designs after completing the Chair but I gave in to temptation and started Enchanting Lair's 'A Stitcher's Companion.' There isn't much to show, as I have to backstitch the outlines of each page before doing the rest of the stitching, but this is how far I've gotten as of midnight. As BW says, it's full of purple-y-ness! I've chosen 28ct Purple Horizon Lugana by Zweigart as the fabric. I also changed out the colors because it calls for pink and maroon Dinky Dyes silks. Jo of Dinky Dyes helped me choose two purples that would go with my favorite varigated color, Yallingup. It's the same varigated that I've used in my DD quilt squares, the Peacock Chair, and several other pieces. To coordinate with it I'm using Wild Lavender and Kirribilli silks.

I forgot to show you the goodies that arrived yesterday! Jenn W sent me this patriotic chart and two 13x18" cuts of opalescent 28ct Jazlyn. The pinkish is 'Plumeria' and the purple is 'Luminary Lilac' from Dyeing4U. Thank you for the trade, Jenn!

January 17, 2009

I was able to continue working on the Peacock Stitching Chair after midnight. Five more stitches on this panel and it's complete. That leaves one to go! I haven't decided what will go on the last one. It's the bottom of the chair, but you can put a dedication or other personalization on it.

Today was a much busier day than I'd planned. I was going to sleep in and stitch the day away but events conspired against me. First, Ian and Breanna came by at 8:00am. I had to get out of bed to be hospitable. It would've been rude not to. Besides, I don't get to see them that often. We had a nice time sitting around and talking with Uncle Wes. Breanna was busy with her Nintendo DS, but it was funny hearing her talking to her games.

I didn't want to go out today because it was so cold outside, but Sue V was visiting Laura for the weekend and we arranged to meet at the Olive Tree restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, the rich cream sauce of my pasta didn't sit well on my stomach. I might have taken four or five bites before packing it in a to-go container. Luckily, though, I was drinking hot tea and that helped settle my stomach some.

Sue and Laura had to go check on the garage that was fixing Sue's car so we couldn't do any shopping together. I was going to head home but decided to go up to the Stitching Post while I was up in that direction anyway. I really must not have felt well because I walked out of the store within five minutes and didn't purchase anything. I just wasn't in the mood to buy things I really didn't need, and I didn't have a shopping list to tell me what exactly I *did* need.

I had to take a nap around 5pm because I didn't get alot of sleep the night before. I woke up at 8:00 and watched movies from my DVR. That sick-to-my-stomach-feeling came back so I went to sleep without even reading my book for a few minutes.

January 16, 2009

Okay, I admit it...I played hooky from dialysis today. I just wasn't in the mood to disrupt my quiet day. Instead, I spent my afternoon making a run to the Post Office to mail trades to Lisa and Josephine and then working on the Peacock Stitching Chair.

I finally completed the two arm panels and began working on the scissor case panel. Once that is done there are just two panels to go! The end is in sight!


These mother of pearl goodies arrived today as part of a trade I made with Debi. The hearts are thread rings designed to hold a skein of floss. The flower shapes are thread winders. I plan on using the mini thread winders as charms on future projects. They are going to look adorable with a half-yard of floss wrapped around them. The button-looking piece is a thread keep. It will hold a length of floss in each of the four oblong holes. I look forward to using this to keep extra floss contained as I'm working on future projects. Thank you, D! I was so excited to play with these.

January 15, 2009

My, was today weird, schedule-wise. I was up all night again so I went to the post office when it opened. I mailed trades to Jenn, Dee, and Debi. I went straight to bed upon my return home and slept until Kasey woke me up at 4:45 this afternoon. I guess I should thank her because I needed to get up and eat something before getting ready for tonight's ANG meeting up in Columbia, MD.

The Black-eyed Susans' meeting was basically a sit 'n stitch, which I really enjoy. We had show and tell where we went around the room so everyone could show recent finishes. I took Baby Kasey, Eight Pointed Stars, Ebb Tide, Autumn Whispers, and some planned projects for 2009. Everyone ooh'ed and aah'ed over Baby Kasey. They all said she looks so realistic, it's as if you can reach out to pet her. I passed around My Stitching Album, A Stitcher's Companion, and Blue Bayou so the ladies could see the colors I decided to go with.

I also learned about the process of learning Japanese embroidery. I like looking at it, but I don't think I'm interested in learning it from the masters! I'm not very fond of some of the motifs and don't think it would hold my interest. It sounds fascinating, though, as everyone who wants to get their certificate must attend a class in Georgia for a week with the family who runs the actual Japanese embroidery studio in Japan. The ten phases take years and years to complete, so you have to be very dedicated in order to actually get certified

I stitched on my Peacock Chair again tonight but still haven't finished those chair arms! To add insult to injury, I have to frog about two-thirds of the top row of x's on the left panel. I started the row from the right doing one stitch at a time. Since I was using a solid color and realized I was making very slow progress, I decided to do all the stitches going to the left and come back with the other leg of the X. The only problem, which I didn't notice until I was working on the right panel, is that it's quite obvious I changed something in the middle of the row. So those stitches are coming out and I'll complete the row by stitching complete X's.

I received half of my January order from Wasatch Needlecraft yesterday! Chapter 3 of My Stitching Album was released earlier this month so that went right into the MSA binder. This chapter is called Scotch Switch and features one of my favorite easy stitches, the Scotch stitch.

I can't wait to dive into these samplers! They're going to be gorgeous when they're all stitched and made into the album. I hope I'm up to the task! And the colors...so pretty!

Also in the package Karen sent was a pack of marking pins by My Big Toe and my fibers for Home of a Needleworker (Too!), Crescent Colours on left; Blue Bayou, center Kreiniks; Don't Cross Me When I'm Stitching, two GAST farthest left; A Stitcher's Companion, Dinky Dyes on bottom; and Patriotic Wishes I and II, remaining GAST on right. The marking pins were a free gift from Karen's January sale.

I want to thank Jo Mason for helping me choose the colors for A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair. I wanted to use Yallingup, the varigated I've used in my DD quilt squares, Peacock Stitching Chair, and Medley; but I was unsure of which two shades of purple to combine with it. I emailed Jo (Mrs Dinky Dyes herself) and she got right back to me with Kirribilli and Wild Lavender.

Talk about purple-y-ness! I did a floss toss to make sure these colors will work with my Purple Horizon fabric and WOW! If you don't like purple you're certainly not going to care for my version of A Stitcher's Companion. I'm so excited to get started on this project!

January 12-13, 2009

Because of the placement of my needles at dialysis I was unable to do any stitching on my Peacock Chair. But after dialysis was a different story! I went to Border's Books after leaving the clinic and joined a group of ladies who sit in the coffee shop and stitch the night away. The meeting officially starts at 7pm, but two of us were there shortly after 6pm. A few, including me, brought something for dinner and most of us enjoyed a drink from the barristas.

I didn't get alot of stitching done at the meeting, with all the talking going on, but I had a very nice time. Unfortunately Carol BC, who told me about the meeting, couldn't be there because of continuing problems with her mom's nursing home, but I hope to see her soon. If things work out, we'll be meeting Sue V and Laura P at a Baltimore-area Starbuck's this weekend. *fingers crossed*

I was unable to get to sleep on Monday night so I played Spider Solitaire until almost 3:00am. At 6:00 I gave up on sleeping and got back up. I was afraid to stitch after going without sleep for almost 24 hours so I didn't pick it up.

After a too-short nap I decided to get to work on my Sale/Trade Blog, adding more than 50 new items. Please stop by and have a look! I have also placed a wishlist in the sidebar to make trades easier.

January 9-11, 2009

Are you sitting down??

I stitched Friday!

Well, sorta, anyway. I fray-checked the Waterlily Jobelan I purchased for The Peacock Stitching Chair by The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio and started basting in the panel outlines shortly after midnight. I had to stop at 4:30 to go to bed because my eyes wouldn't stay open but I continued at dialysis, basting in the center lines for each individual panel.

I didn't stitch anything after I was done with the basting because I forgot to take a QSnap to dialysis with me. I started on the sampler on the back panel shortly after midnight Saturday. My first X of 2009 went in at 12:14am! I was determined to finish this panel before midnight Sunday and I did! One down, ten to go! Luckily the remaining panels have less stitching on them.

Taking advantage of my stitching mojo while it lasts, I continued stitching after midnight Sunday. I was able to finish the front of the scissors fob and the ouline of the fob's back before surrendering to sleep. It was only 1:30am when I went to sleep but I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I must have been making up for all the sleep I missed while I was sick because I didn't get out of bed until 4:00pm this afternoon!

At least I stitched again, though! I was able to finish the back of the fob with the year and complete three more panels. So far I've completed the cross stitching on the chair back, the front and back of the scissors fob, the drawer front, and the two chair sides. I just barely started the first of the chair arms before taking a break to update my blog, which I've sorely neglected this week.

Just a note: I know I said that I'd continue with the freebie links, but I'm holding off until I'm back to myself. Keep a lookout for their return! In case you're a new reader of Crossed Purposes, there are at least two freebie/tutorial/reference links on each daily update post from November 23-December 22. I've tried to highlight some of the lesser-known designers and tutorial sites because there are some excellent ones out there!

December 26-28, 2008

I woke up on Friday just in time to get to dialysis. I talked to the clinic a few times that morning, making sure they had all the lab- and paperwork they needed. The last call I received was to let me know they would have room for me at 2:00pm rather than the 3:30 slot I'd been given previously. Thank goodness, because I didn't want to be ending my treatment at 6:45! I wanted to get back home.

Dad had to play music with Detour at the Cancun Cantina all the way down by BWI Airport. Mom and I stayed home and enjoyed a quiet night...or so we thought! We were downstairs watching Mom's new DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life" when Sarah called. Caleb fell going up the stairs at their house and put his tooth through the skin under his lip. She called the help line at AAMC and asked one of the nurses what she should do. She was instructed to try to stop the bleeding, but if it didn't stop in five minutes, to take him to the ER. So about 15 minutes later the phone rang again and she told Mom she was on her way to drop Anna off to us.

Anna sat quietly for a few minutes, but then she wanted Mom to read her a book. Mom told her that we've watched lots of movies with her and it was Anna's turn to watch a movie with us. Luckily we were about 20 minutes from the end, so she didn't get too demanding. After the movie we went upstairs for drinks and snacks. I grabbed the veggie platter and dip and we all sat down to munch. Anna was more interested in feeding Kasey the cherry tomatoes than eating them herself after I made the mistake of telling her Kasey liked veggies too. We put the tray away after Anna dropped a carrot on the floor deliberately. I'd just told her that Kasey had had enough veggies, so Mom scolded her for dropping it.

Sarah called to let us know that Caleb was getting one stitch. She picked Anna back up a little after midnight. I couldn't believe Anna was still going strong! We could tell she was tired, but there was no way she was going to sleep! Sarah said that Caleb fell asleep in the car less than a block from the hospital.

I actually stitched while watching the movie! Hard to believe, huh?! I decided to work on Love Laugh Survive & Thrive, the Cat's Whiskers kit Amy sent me in the Chatty Stitching Exchangers' Advent Exchange. Yes, I know: It's PINK! But as I told Debi, it's for breast cancer awareness, so I can deal with it. Otherwise, I'd have changed the color, for sure!
Ta Da!!! Finish #48!! Love Laugh Survive & Thrive by The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio. I put the last stitch in at 3:19am Saturday morning, just as Dad was getting home. Mom went to bed shortly after Anna and Sarah left, but I wasn't about to waste Stitching Mojo! This kit includes the ribbon and bead to finish it into a scissors slide, so I'm going to attempt to follow the directions.

I slept until after noon on Saturday, finally! I wanted to go to the JoAnn's Superstore in Christiana, DE, to buy some finishing supplies for My Stitching Album by Jeannette Douglas as well as LLS&T. Mom asked me to take Kasey with me so that she could vacuum the main floor while we were gone. Kasey is afraid of the noise vacuums make so no one did it earlier for fear of upsetting her.

I hit the jackpot, almost, at JoAnn's! I even found the buckram that the MSA finishing instructions call for! Another lady in the MSA group bought hers off eBay, so I thought I was going to have to jump through hoops myself to find it. What a relief! I was also able to find the fabric for the backs of the pages and the pockets, a 2-pack of Fray Check, Stitch Witchery, a Styrofoam block for Autumn Whispers, and fusible backing for the LLS&T scissors slide. All for under $26! Ian gave me $50 to buy stash! He's such a good brother! lol

Mom and Dad left for anther gig at the Cancun Cantina Saturday evening, so I had the house to myself with the two dogs. I went down to the basement and watched the first four Love Comes Softly movies while stitching! I decided to start 'Stitches Stars and Stripes, A Sampler for Vicki' by Blue Ribbon Designs. It's their patriotic game board. This is my progress as of Midnight Saturday.

Mom and Dad arrived home a little after 4am and we talked for a few minutes before I went to bed. I had just finished one of my movies and didn't want to stitch any more for fear of making a mistake, especially since I was yawning so much.

I had dialysis again on Sunday but didn't do any stitching. Everyone was watching football games and I'm a Cowboys fan, so had to watch the game since I was in a room of Eagles fans. I only saw the first hour of the game, but it was pitiful. Now I guess I'll be rooting for the Manning brothers. It would be awesome to see them head-to-head in the Super Bowl!

When I got home from dialysis Mom told me that her neighbors were going to be coming over shortly. Ms. Sheila helped Mom with the quilt for Ben. Sheila and her husband Ed came over and we all sat in the living room to chat. Mom gave them their gifts and then we went downstairs because they wanted to see the pellet stove. Kasey was in heaven because Ed and Sheila are dog people and spent the entire time petting her.

I have no idea why, but I was yawning the whole time they were over! I was so ready for bed! I had to stay up for a little while; Mom made me eat something, but I just wanted to go up to my room! I tried to finish off LLS&T into the scissors slide but gave up after I stuck the third pin into one of my fingers; I'd had enough! I also discovered that I bought the wrong stuff, darnit! Skirtex is a board-like backing and I bought thick fusible backing. It won't hurt anything, but I think I need the Skirtex because pinning the stuff I have is hazardous to my fingers!

I did more stitching today, while I was watching movies last night and a little after putting away LLS&T. I'm very happy with my progress and am hoping this heralds an end to the slump. That remains to be seen, however!

December 20, 2008

Today I tried to stitch while watching movies. I put in a couple stitches while watching the end of The Polar Express but that was it. Today's total stitch count: 5 x's. I forgot to include the tent stitches I did on the PPB when I was adding up my total stitches for the month. I counted 78 tent stitches (1/2 x-stitch), so my total is 109 at this point. It's still pathetic, just not as abjectly pathetic as I thought.







This is Day 20 in the Advent Exchange. Today's gift is Jeremiah Junction's Quilt Squares 3, 30 More! This is another chart (or one very similar) that at one point was on my wish list. I love the mini quilt squares! I'm adding these to my collection.

Here's another site I almost forgot about. DMC has patterns for all their different lines of floss:
http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/1z010000ky/en_US/Free-Cross-Stitch-Designs.html

Especially for my friend Kathy, here is a free Hardanger design:
http://www.roland-designs.com/freecharts.htm

December 18, 2008

I had another horrible night of sleep last night, but I was able to get up and go to the stitching group that meets at the local Barnes & Noble store. I arrived an hour late and yet there were still ladies there! I was the only stitcher; everyone else was knitting. I admired one of the scarves I saw, as well as some of the work being done. I might have to find out from Carol if she can make the handwarmers I saw!
Are you ready for this? I stitched again! I put four whole stitches in Live Laugh Survive & Thrive at the meeting. Over an hour...four stitches...I suck!

Here's this month's total stitches:
16 eyelets
6 Rhodes squares (4 were over-two, meaning tiny)
4 cross stitches

How pathetic is that? I'm thankful I can stitch, but this is just... *Primal Scream* Frustrating!

This is how much I want to stitch:
I arrive at the meeting, sit down and introduce myself. Get out my kit and sewing bag. Listen to the conversation for a while. Put the fabric in QSnaps. Decide to cut off the extra length, so take the fabby out of the snaps. Cut slowly not crossing threads, so it stays square. Listen to more conversation and join in here and there. Put the fabby back in the QSnaps. Opps, take it out to measure the center, mark with marking pin. Put the fabby back in the snaps. Read the directions. Sit and listen to conversation while taking the fabby out of the snaps to mark the center of the left side with another marking pin. Now put in four stitches, s-l-o-w-l-y. Time to go!

Can you get any better at procrastinating? The thing that frustrates me is that my mind keeps telling me "stitch, stitch, stitch." Maybe when that voice is silenced and isn't nagging me I'll actually get back to it! LoL!

While chatting about my slump, Frishawn had this to say:

"well...at least we mere stitching mortals can get a few stitches in while the goddess is down for the count."

I laughed my head off!! Thank you, Frishawn. You made my day! Goddess I am NOT, but thank you for the compliment!

Yet again, my search for knitting needle tip-protectors (for the tips of my embroidery scissors) came up fruitless. I went to the Yarn Garden and purchased stretcher bars for my Purple Passion Butterfly. The QSnap just wasn't working. Unfortunately both sets of my stretcher bars are 9" and PPB is 8". I was amazed YG had them, although I almost missed them because of all the clutter in the store. They REALLY need a bigger space so they can spread out. ADA compliant, they are NOT! No way can a person in a wheelchair get around in there!

So I asked about the tip protectors and they didn't have them, just the plastic thing I bought last time that I really don't like. I went to Michaels and saw them, but they're packaged and I wasn't sure what size to get. I need to try them on my embroidery scissors before I buy them. Once they're opened, I can't return them if they don't work.

I also went to West Annapolis to the quilt shop there as the lady at YG suggested. They looked at me like I was crazy and said they don't even sell embroidery scissors, but the ladies were very nice. I guess they were thinking "why would she come here looking for those?"

And folks, I can NOT go back there! The purple-y-ness kept jumping out at me! I WANT! I WANT! Purple quilts hanging all around! I was in heaven! I want those fabbies! They would finish my stitching beautifully!

You may even hear of me taking a quilting class in the future sometime. I need to get better with my sewing skills, and quilting would teach me how to make fabric borders around my stitching for wall hangings and even ornaments. As I was talking to Debi tonight it hit me: the perfect finish for my Dinky Dyes quilt squares! Making them into a quilt and hanging it! It's the only way I'll have enough room to display them all at once. I'm sure I can find a fabric that uses my colors and will look good around the stitched pieces.

After arriving home from the quilt shop I decided I wanted something for dinner that would provide leftovers for a couple days. So I took the corned beef brisket from the fridge and set it to boil on the stove. I called Mom and got her Orange Sauce recipe and drained a large can of sweet potatoes. I added a can of mandarin oranges to the colander. I prepared the orange sauce and poured it over the sweet potatoes and orange sections in the baking dish. I even steamed peas and pearl onions to have along with the Bob Evans mashed potatoes I had in the fridge.

Ohhhh! Did I eat too much! I was more stuffed tonight than I was at Thanks-giving dinner. I just looooove corned beef brisket, though! How easy can something be? Buy a seasoned brisket, freeze it til you're ready to use it. Thaw it in the fridge. Boil with pickling spice (included) for a couple hours (about 1 hr per pound) til fork tender. Voila!

Make your sides and you have a very filling dinner for the family! Just beware: approximately 1/3 the weight is fat. Make sure you get enough. Uncle Wes and I can almost eat an entire 2lb brisket in one meal.

I sat and read email while chatting with Debi and Frishawn this evening until I decided to soak in the bathtub. Aahh! I felt soo much better when I got out! An hour and a half with just me, the hot water, and my book...Heaven.

Once again Amy has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the CSE Advent Exchange. Today's package included both the Winter Quilt chart from Imaginating and Love's Unending Legacy DVD, the fifth in the Love Comes Softly series. I'm just flabbergasted by your generosity, Lady! Thank you!!

I think this chart was on my wishlist at some point. I remember seeing it and saying to myself that the colors are perfect for me.

I also adore mini quilt squares and would like to find a quilt with enough simple squares to make one of the 15-sided biscornus. If you need it translated, look for the Google Translator (Russian? to English) link in previous posts, but I thought she did an excellent job with the pictures. If you know how to make a biscornu, the method is the same. You just need more panels and you connect five of themfor the top and bottom.

These tutorials are on Cameo Roze's site. She shows you how to make bellpulls, tote bags, easels, needlerolls, and several different types of ornament finishes. I think you can get lost in all her pages, so I definitely wanted to point these out to you:
http://www.cameoroze.com/completions/index.htm

I thought this one was great! Talk about easy and fun: make a t-shirt into a tote bag!
http://www.joann.com/static/project/0807/P229646.pdf

Here are some cute tags from Moonlight Inspirations:
http://www.moonlightinspirations.com/free-cross-stitch-patterns.htm

Is there a bird lover in your family? If so, check out X-Stitch Birds' freebies:
http://www.xstitchbirds.com/Free%20Charts.htm

Here's another site of bird freebies. If you like, you can join her Yahoo group to find out when new free charts are added:
http://www.birdcrossstitch.com/

Did you like Ebb Tide? Would you enjoy stitching a similar design by Northern Pine Designs? Look here:
http://www.northernpinedesigns.com/freedesign.html