February heart ornament

Here's my heart ornament for the February stitch-along. The design is by Lorraine Koester of Redbird Designs. I bought this while visiting my MIL in San Antonio. I stitch it over one on a piece of scrap fabric with thread from my stash, definitely not the colors indicated on the pattern in most cases. Other than the greens, I've very satisfied with my substitutions. There's not enough contrast between the two greens. Since it's stitched over one, there's no way I'm going back to fix it. I'm hoping to "ornamentify" it tomorrow.

Good News - Part 2

This week, the Washington Nationals' pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. It's like baseball's version of groundhog day - in six weeks, spring will be upon us and baseball season will be in full stride. Yea!

Good News - Part 1

I found the floss box tonight. It was in my bedroom, on a bookshelf, IN PLAIN SIGHT! I must have looked at it a dozen times in the past week without ever seeing it. I'm very happy I've found it.

Thanks, Anna, for the good juju. Maybe I need to do a poll for you now.

First Card of 2008

I went to my friend's Stamp Camp last night, where we made several BoHo-themed cards. They are quite nice. This inspired me to actually make some Valentine's day cards this afternoon. Here's a picture.

In stitching news, I have been completely stymied. I'm about halfway done with my February BT SAL. The box where I keep all of my specialty flosses has gone missing. I have searched and searched and have no idea where it may have gone. I had one color that I needed in with another project, but the last few colors I need to finish the ornament are in the box. Argh!!!!!

Wish me luck in finding the box. I probably have about $100 worth of floss in there.

First finish of 2008

I'm a day late, but tonight I finished my ornament for the January Bride's Tree SAL. It will now go into my FUFO pile until I figure out how I want to "ornamentify" it. I'm pleased with how it came out.

You may remember that this was the kit that was missing its chart. While I was waiting for the chart to arrive, I started my February ornament. Hopefully I'll be on time, then, next month. We'll see.

If anyone would like the kit, leave me a comment by February 8. If more than one person would like it, I'll draw a name randomly. You'll have to provide fabric and black floss, but there's enough left of the other colors of floss to stitch the design again.

University Quiz

I find it a little odd that they equate being poor with being in the city and not being rural.

You're Boston College!

Deeply rooted in your stern religious upbringing, you likely grew up poor but humble. Since then, you've been able to move out of the city and into the suburbs, while managing to acquire a fair bit of funding along the way. Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps has given you more than a feeling, but all you want is to have your peace of mind. You always used to get Golden Eagle passes that enabled you to visit every National Park.

Take the University Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Motifs of Me

Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been making slow progress on my house ornament for the Bride' Tree SAL. Here's a photo taken about a week ago of the house before I started all the backstitching. I think that time-wise the amount of backstitching is going to equal to the amount of cross-stitching.

And now for the meme.

This is something I made up. Both Anna and Lee were working on Drawn Thread's Souvenir Sampler that allowed one to add personal touches of appropriate symbols. I thought, if I were to stitch a sampler about my life, what would I include? I started the list in November. It took me awhile to come up with a full list. Some letters were easy, others I had two or more options, and five had me stumped. J, L, Q, X, and Z took the longest, and I had to resort to dictionary browsing to find Q and Z words that I could use. Each motif had to be something I could represent in a very small space.

I don't know any of you well enough to tag you, so I'll just invite those of you who find this interesting to play along. Please leave me a comment if you do, so I will see your entries.

~~~~~

A - Apple (family)
B - Books (hobbies/jobs)
C - Cheerios (childhood)
D - Dutch wooden shoe (schools)
E - Electric lines and 18-wheeler (family)
F - Flags (residences)
G - Gray cats and goldfish (childhood)
H - Hollinger box (jobs)
I - I. logo (schools)
J - Jeep (family)
K - Knitting (family)
L - Lavender (residences)
M - Mountain cabin (family/childhood)
N - Naval anchor (family)
O - Olives (travel/hobbies)
P - Pioneer bonnet (schools)
Q - Quincunx (hobbies) [It was between this and Quatrefoil.]
R - Railroads (family)
S - S. logo (schools)
T - Teacup (family)
U - U. emblem (schools)
V - Virgo
W - curly W (residences/hobbies)
X - Xs (hobbies)
Y - Yellow flowers (because they make me smile, especially in spring)
Z - Zeroes (hobbies)