Happy First Day of Fall

It's hard to believe this is what we were doing 4 years ago today. 

Can you believe how tiny they were?

Two Starts and a Search

With the craziness of August over, I've found some time to be stitching again. I've made two starts, about which I'm very excited. The first is the start of an anniversary present for DH. Our 20th comes in early December.

The second is a pumpkin. You know how I love to stitch fall-themed items, especially pumpkins!

Finally, I saw this on Edgar's blog. Isn't his stitching and the finishing lovely? Do any of you know whose design this is? Searching on "Be Ye Thankful" hasn't turned up the chart. And yes, I did ask Edgar already.

Happy Fall and happy stitching!

Fall Cards

Look! I've been making some cards.The first was inspired by some colors I saw on Coni's blog, Spinster Stitching. These are meant to be birthday cards for my nieces, the oldest of whom turns 13 this November!

Papers and punches are Stampin' Up. Ribbon and eyes found at A.C.Moore.

The second was inspired by a layout on Clean and Simple. I love these fall, manly colors. Once I pulled the papers, this really was a simple card to make.

 Papers, stamps, and punches are Stampin' Up, except the star paper in the lower left.

I'm having trouble making a Halloween card I like this year. I want to use the owl punch again, but the colors and design are just not working for me somehow. Since my craft time is so very limited right now, I may throw in the towel and move on to Thanksgiving.

San Diego

We spent our second big summer vacation in southern California. DH and I lived in San Diego in the mid-1990s, and we really love San Diego. The girls loved it too, especially since we celebrated their 4th birthdays there.

L., cousin C., and A. bubble rolling in Long Beach. 

C.'s dad helped construct this; you can just see him behind A.'s bubble.

At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They also went to the Zoo, 

on a different day while I attended a professional conference.

Birthday Princess A.

Birthday Princess L. (looking like the Paper Bag princess!)

Cake! (They goofed on L.'s name.)

Candle time 

J., L., A., and C. at SeaWorld. 

They went there 4 times during the week! The girls loved SW.

L. dancing with J., a friend from DC, whose dad also was in San Diego

 to attend the same professional conference.

A. dancing by herself.

C., L., and A. watching the whales. (I have dozens of whale photos.)

Catching up on some SBQs

Here I am proposing all these questions (and I do enjoy your answers), but I forget to answer myself. So here goes:

January - What's the oldest pattern in my stash? I have a Girl Scout surface embroidery pattern that was my mother's when she was still a Girl Scout. It's probably from the '60s. I can't decide if I want to keep it, sell it, or see if GSA would like it as a donation.

February - Are you ready to break up with any pattern/project in your stash? In the past year, I've been trying to week out patterns I'm not going to stitch. The ones that I'm having the hardest time breaking up with are ones where I've started the project. The one I most need to release is a dupli-stitch sweater bought from JCS in the early 1990s. It's so country and 1980s and so not me any more, but it's 3/4 of the way done and one of my first BAPs, and so it's still in the closet. My mother would probably wear it if I got it to the point of being done enough.

March - Round Robins and Exchanges - nope, haven't done these. I did put in an inquiry about Fair and Square earlier this year, but haven't heard anything.

April - was there an SBQ? I think I missed it.


May - Favorite floral piece? I'm not into stitching large floral pieces. I love to see them, but they're not the types of pieces that I enjoy stitching. Hmm, maybe that's why Spring is underrepresented in my stitching. My favorites include a spring breadcloth I did for a friend of mine, probably in 1995. It was a small corner motif with daffodils. I also did a wedding sampler for my cousin that has a background of variegated trees.


June - Do you stitch patriotic pieces? I love the color combination red, white, and blue, and I've stitched a few patriotic pieces. I'm surprised I haven't stitched more.


July - "I don't have the patience for that!" - I hate when people dismiss cross-stitch, especially with the patience bit. And I never know what to say. For the most part, I think they have it backwards - cross stitch helps me be more patient. I find it soothing and calming. It is an oasis from the go-go-go part of the rest of my life. It also gives me a guilt-free excuse for sitting down and perhaps watching some TV. Some people run; some woodwork; others garden. I stitch.

Whew! Now I'm caught up, until Monday!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

We spent last week avoiding the heat of DC by visiting the Bahamas. It was my first time to the Caribbean, and it was wonderful.

We had our own private beach.

The girls and their grandfather built a sandcastle.

The view from the back of the house.

A marvelous sunset.

It was a very, very relaxing vacation. I even managed to work on some stitching from my Wipocalypse list. This birth sampler I started from scratch while there.

This replaces the sheep PIF piece I had planned. I had the red star and blue waves on this one done before we left. There are white stars on either arm of the red star that don't show up well. Here's a link to the PDF of the pattern.

We followed our tradition of watching A Capitol Fourth on PBS. And we managed not to have to go to Urgent Care at all this trip, although we had a close call when A. decided to bite the end off of a glow stick. (Fortunately, they are non-toxic, but still taste awful.)

Last Day of School

It doesn't seem like it was so long ago that it was the first day of school for my girls.

Then it was Christmas.

And the Spring Concert.

 

Finally, the last day of school. 

 

Where did the time go?