I got Pixie when she was less than 8 weeks old. I have a bell hanging on the door between the mud room and kitchen. When she was too tiny to know what we were doing, every time I took her out I would take her paw and ring that bell, and say "out". Since the time she was less than three months old, she has been ringing the bell to go out. I KNOW it is hard to believe, but it is the honest truth!!
I took the liberty of doing an embroidery piece that goes along with my current block for the day six. I drew it onto a piece of Press & Seal, placed it on my block, then embroidered it. I think it turned out to be pretty... What do you think?
I got a good bit done last night ... I finished my 'Hand Embroidery' second stitch for July.
I also finished - or stopped - on the day three for Sharon B's 100 Seams.
Then I played with food coloring to dye some lace for the first time. They turned out ok - but we'll see how they hold up.
I have done a little tatting in the last few days, too!
Tonight, Tuesday, I did Days 4 and 5 of the 100 Seam Treatments.
It's Monday, and I didn't feel like coming to work this morning, but I did to myself what I used to do when Jonathan felt poorly -- get up and shower, you'll feel better in a little while. So here I am, and indeed feeling a little better. Another encouraging thing is that I'll be on vacation next week - YES!! Not planning for any exciting trips, just time away from work with no alarm clock. The real plan is to clean house, and hopefully there will be a little time left over for stitching!
Yesterday I did work on the Tutti-Fruitti block for Judy. It is finished. I also made the Gypsy Bag block. That was a do over, too, but it looks much better now. It has my first printed 'ciggie' on it. The printer is nearly out of colored ink, so it is pale, but that's ok for this project. No more stash buying until those cartridges are replaced!!
I got all the needle cases that have come to the post office this Saturday morning. I hope everyone will be happy with their swap. I went to the post office that was handy, but it isn't open on Saturday mornings, wouldn't you know. Good thing I didn't wait any longer or it would have been closed, too.
I made the Tutti Fruiti block for Judy today - hoping those are tutti-fruiti colors! Now to embellish it.
I think I will join the Gypsy purse challenge. How many challenges do I need? I have enough now to keep me from cleaning house. I'm off work week after next, and I WILL devote at least a couple of days to cleaning!! But for now... off to stitch!
Jonathan isn't coming to visit this weekend, but will come next week. He has guests.
I finished my second CQ needle case for the Newbie swap last night - good thing - they will be swapped and packaged this evening to be mailed in the morning. I hope the last two are in my mail this evening. Everyone is anxious to see the photos, and they will be blown away at how pretty they all are! Excellent work for 'newbies.' I need to take a couple more of the last arrivals, but the yahoo picture slideshow is ready.
This is the third day of Sandie's 100 stitches in 100 days, and I finished the first last night. It should be 100 seam embellishments in 100 days. Mine isn't exactly like hers, but it's ok. I started on the second, but HAD to go to bed so I could get up for work. I'll catch up tonight. She does such beautiful work, but this is teaching me how to build on seam treatments.
I finally finished and mailed the CQ'd purse, but forgot to take finished pictures of it. I'll wait to see if I hear from Ellen, then ask her to send me a couple of pics if she will. I do have some pics of the piece as it was being embellished, but not near the end. What was I thinking?
Joined a new Silk Ribbon list the other day. It is hosted by Willa and Vickie - and lots of members already. Some great looking work in the photo sections so I hope to learn a lot from these experts.
The Hand Embroidery two-week stitch journal is cretan stitch this time. I've done about half my 4x6 aida. This is a picture of my blanket stitch piece. I did take the word 'buttonhole' off since we determined that they are different stitches.
Today I see that SharonB has started a 100 stitches in 100 days project. I would like to do it, too. Perhaps this one would be good for a larger piece of fabric to make a sampler from -- oh, that coral/red skirt that the shell buttons came from... UmmHu - that's it.
Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the Piedmont Tatters. I saw a couple of the girls I hung out with at the conference. Reit from the Netherlands is still here in the US, and she taught a Celtic design, but it wasn't clicking for me - the needle tatter, so I worked on making the beaded clippie. It's coming along, but slowly. The instructions I have are not working for me, so with some major improvisation ... well, see for yourself... 
not a great picture, but you get the idea.
From the guild meeting, I went to Jonathan's and from there we went to eat Chinese then to see X-Men The Final Stand. First time I'd seen Columbiania Mall - quite nice!! It was good to spend time with him.
When I got back home needed a little 'settle down' time, so I made a little purple trim... 
It's mid June, and there are tomatoes on the vine, and they need to be tied to the stakes. Everything else in the garden (cucumbers and zucchini) looks green and lush, but no fruits yet, yet a few blooms. The green beans never did come up. I have had a couple of peppers... The plum trees had only about 10 plums this year - frost killed most of the blooms. Last year my nectarine tree was LOADED, but nary a one this year. The fig bush seems to be doing very well, and with some recent rain maybe they will continue.
The Travel Quilt
I am working on making my first cotton CQ project – a quilt with a theme of travel. Because the blocks are so busy with prints, I will probably add some tone on tone blocks to break up the action. Here are a few of them:
Round robins are a great way to get exposure to other people's style, color choices, and embellishing techniques. These are a few of the blocks I've worked on in various RR's.
Stitcher's Pick
Sunny Gals
I'm a real home body, and maybe that's why I love crafts so much. I love to watch TV, and can do handwork while 'watching' most of the time. I love beautiful flowers in my yard, and here are a few examples.
This is a beautiful spider web to include on your next CQ...for good luck 
My neigh...bors
And then there's my sweet Pixie. She's a toy poodle, just over two years old.
This picture is a two-part medallion that will enclose a large sequin - only got this far in one of the classes, but I'll get around to finishing it one day.
originally uploaded by csogle.
It's about 65 
degrees out now, and it's June 13. It has been 
drizzly and cloudy all day.
I got a couple of shots of the full moon Sunday night and I'd like to include them if possible. Got them in - thanks Iris Susan!!
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