An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

I am warming up my stitching fingers on this simple cross stitch picture.  I bought it at a thrift store for 25 cents.  I will give it to my mom's neighbor, who actually has a custom-made mailbox shaped like an apple, that also says "a day" on the post!  This is my progress after two days:

Tomorrow is the first day of the Crazy January Challenge!  I'm so excited to start!

I'm Ready for the Crazy January Challenge 2011!

I finally chose the 15 kits I will start for the Crazy January Challenge 2011!  The list is on the right side of this page.  To see pictures of all the projects, just click on the Crazy January Challenge tab above.  I chose 7 big projects, a light switchplate, 6 Christmas ornaments, and a refrigerator magnet.

The plastic surgeon said I don't need daily dressing changes to my burned right arm and hand anymore.  My left arm is still in a cast, but I think I'm ready to start stitching!

TUSAL

I saw this TUSAL on Cindi's blog, who found it on Daffycat's blog.

The rules are simple...

1. Get a glass container and save your thread clippings or ORTs (Old Ratty Threads!) Some stitchers include fabric trimmings, thread bands or any other stitching cast-offs they gather.

2. On (or about) each New Moon take a picture of the ORTs in your jar and post it to your blog. Yes, you MUST have a blog to be included. Reasonably "late" posts will be accepted...posting several updates at once is cheating!

3. Yes, you can use your current ORT jar. This is no contest...the stitcher with the most ORTs doesn't automatically win!

4. You must post a picture each New Moon, even if there has been no "progress" to show.

5. Label your Totally Useless posts with "TUSAL" to make it easier for Daffycat to find your posts at the end.

 

2011 New Moon Dates:
January 4
February 3
March 4
April 3
May 3
June 1
July 1
July 30
August 29
September 27
October 26
November 25
December 24

 

Sign up on Daffycat's blog, just like I did!

Car accident!

I was in a car accident on December 1st.  My car was hit from behind and rolled several times and then caught on fire. Luckily I was able to undo the seat belt and someone ran up to the car and told me to unlock the door. Thank goodness the door wasn't jammed and opened easily. I got out and walked away from the car and laid on the grass. When I looked back at the car, it was full of fire with smoke going way up in the sky. There were several explosions too! My left arm was broken and dislocated. My right arm and fingers and forehead were burned. The ambulance took me to the hospital before these pics were taken. Click View Slideshow. LINK


I had surgery the next day to put a plate and screws on the broken left arm, and also got a skin graft from my right leg to right arm. I was in the hospital for two weeks. Now I am recovering at my parents' house. I can type with one finger, and hold a pen to write or fork to eat, but I can't do much else. I am waiting for new glasses too, since everything burned up in the car.

Unfortunately, I had my grandma's cross stitch project in the car with me and it burned to ashes too.  I think I will print this picture and frame it instead. I don't plan to start over again!

I mailed Christmas cards yesterday, so I'm happy about that. I sure wish I could be cross stitching right now! Maybe when the burns heal on my fingers, I can get started. I am just now catching up and reading everyone's blogs.


Merry Christmas!!

I finished Wedding Ride!

"Wedding Ride"

Designed by Joan A. Elliott

Imaginating

Started 10/28/2010, Finished 11/29/2010

Hurray!  This is my first finish of 2010!  I showed the bride & groom the gift when it was almost done.  Now I finished all the back-stitching.  They are both over-the-road cross-country truck drivers, so I thought this picture of them "riding" together was just perfect!  They are going back to work tomorrow, and will pick up the picture before getting back in their truck.  

Here is a picture of my friends from last year, but now they have a different truck.

Oh so close, but not quite!

It looks like I almost made it!  I put this in the frame and gave it to my friend and her new husband after the wedding, but then told her I needed just a couple more hours to finish the backstitching to outline the groom and gifts in front of the bike.  They are leaving town to go back on the road (cross-country truckers) on Monday, so I will give her the completed project then.  Whew!  That was so close, but I'm still happy.  

I spent about 3 days making these cookies for her wedding; one day for the cookies, one day for the white chocolate diamonds, and one day for decorating.  She added them to pretty gift bags with gold Hershey Kisses that had a sticker on the bottom with their names and wedding date, all wrapped up with a fancy ribbon and placed at everyone's place setting at the reception.

Crazy January Challenge 2011

I saw a link to this Crazy January Challenge (Ristipistoni) on Lyssa's blog.  Minna came up with the idea to start a new cross stitch project every day for the first 15 days of January, then the challenge is to complete all 15 projects by the end of the year!  We will all have fun following everyone's progress.  I have lots of kits in my stash that have been waiting patiently to be looked at.  Now I will just have to choose which 15 I will start in January.  Some of them will be Christmas ornaments, so this will give me a great start for my tree next year!  What a fun idea!

Groom in front of bicycle

Now I'm stitching the groom riding in the front of the bicycle built for two.  Today is Saturday, and the wedding is next Friday!  It looks like I'm going to make it!

Wedding Ride half-way done!

Well, it's almost half-way done.  I have a few more blue stitches to make a ribbon trailing from the bride's veil.  Then I will start on the groom and the front of the bicycle.  The wedding date is Friday, 11/26, so I have 9 days to go.  The race is on!

 

Bride is finished!

I spent 5 hours just doing the back-stitching on the bride tonight!  Wow, that is tedious!  My daughter said it looks like she is in a wheelchair.  LOL.

The bride has a face!

Finally, the bride has a face!  I wish I could sit and stitch for hours at a time and hurry up and get this done!  I have so many other things to do before the wedding.  My friend asked me to bake wedding-ring shaped cookies, and I still have to buy shoes and think about hair and makeup (I'm the maid of honor).

 

First week's progress

I've been stitching 30 minutes to an hour, here and there, for a week, and almost have the bride finished.  I only have 20 days left before my friend's wedding, so I better pick up the pace!

Today's progress!

I had a few hours today with nothing to type for my job, so I stitched instead!  The bride now has a head!  I plan to back-stitch her after she is all done.

Some progress on Wedding Ride

I am happy with the progress I've made on Wedding Ride!  This is part of the bride's body on the bicycle.

 

Yeah! I finally started something new!

I started stitching "Wedding Ride" for my friend's wedding gift.  She's getting married in 28 days!  I'm so excited to show my progress on this blog until I get to a FINISH!  After organizing the floss and getting everything ready, I stitched for 2 hours tonight.

Almost getting started!

I received the chart for "Wedding Ride" in the mail.  Luckily, I have most of the DMC floss colors already.  Now I need to buy a piece of white Aida 14 count so I can get started!  Hopefully I'll pick it up tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

I bought this cross stitch pattern on eBay!

Wedding Ride cross stitch pattern.  

I have 1 month until my friend's wedding day.  I was looking for something unique and I found it!  I'll have to buy the floss as soon as the pattern gets here and get started on it.  I don't have much time to stitch at all, since I work 12-14 hours a day.  Maybe I'll get up an hour early and try to stitch for awhile before work.  Wish me luck!

My Cross Stitching Pay It Forward!

I was selected to be one of Cindi J's Pay it Forward participants, so now I'm posting one on my blog too!  Here is how it works:

• THREE of you can join my Pay It Forward.
• I will send you a handmade gift within the next 365 days.
• The three people selected must host a Pay It Forward on their own blog, and also send gifts to 3 other people!

Please come and join me and be one of my THREE because I would really love to make something special for you.  It doesn't have to be cross stitch that you make, just so long as it is made by you with LOVE.  So whatever you want to make for your PIF will be PERFECT!!

Please leave a comment below if you want to participate in my Pay It Forward!

Cross Stitch kits on eBay relisted

Today I relisted 12 cross stitch kits on eBay.  I sold 8 out of 20 items that I listed last week.

I'm going on vacation tomorrow for a week, and I hope to get some cross-stitching done! 

My Cross Stitch Stash on eBay!

I looked through my stash of cross stitch kits and decided to list some of them on eBay.  I have so much fun finding just the right template to match the item I'm selling!  I still have plenty of projects left to keep me busy for years!

My first cross stitch post!

I just joined a Cross-Stitch group on Yahoo Groups, so I could see other stitchers' projects and cheer them on to finish, and I hope this will give me the ummph to finish my own! I have a big stash of cross-stitch kits to start, but I want to complete my unfinished projects first.

Click the tabs above to see my Completed and Unfinished Projects!

I started this Grandchildren Tree about 10 years ago as a gift for my grandma.  It had just the right amount of spaces for the names of all her grandkids and great-grandkids, but since I started, there have been 2 more names to add!  I hope to finish it before her next birthday, when she'll be 98!