Stitchin' Thyme

2014-02-26T11:49:00.001-05:00

I should start off with some good excuse as to why I have not posted in so long, but yet again, I have no excuse. Life has been busy, along with my full time job I am still working at The Rusty Bucket on Saturdays. If you are local or looking for a nice road trip you should come visit the shop. It is a wonderful primitive country store. I shouldn’t say I work there, I mostly shop there. A couple weeks ago I picked up this awesome crane shelf for our master bedroom.

Pam and Mack, the owners of The Rusty Bucket, are wonderfully generous people. They go on picking trips when they can to find unique items for the shop and on one of there trips they found this bundle of fabric homespuns all tied up with a bow. They had it waiting for me at the shop. Bright but pretty, right?

I have been making some things, not quite as much as I would like but enough to keep me happy. Here are some of the things I have made since January. As you can see I am loving the wool right now.

Anyone who knows me knows I have enough fabric to last me a lifetime. With this is a problem, how does one person use it all. I know I love to pick out quilts making piles of fabric and dreaming how good they would be together. I decided to start making easier quilts that go together quicker (that time thing) and ones you can really see the fabric. I picked out a fairly easy pattern and chose pink to work with. I am not a pink girl but I still enjoy pretty fabric no matter what color.

The pattern was written for a layer cake, thirty five ten inch blocks. I cut out two sets, thinking I would do two of the same. Well, I accidently cut them all wrong on the next step, so I had to go with a different quilt layout. I still have the second set of ten inch blocks and have not decided what pattern I will go with.

We enjoyed a couple little snow “storms” this year. I think everyone has in the United States this year. I made this little guy on my lunch break at work one day right outside my bosses window.

I have been stitching on this large pattern for a while using Presencia pearl cotton, I finally decided to finish it up. Now I am not happy with it. Some of the lighter colors do not show up in the picture very well and I am afraid they may have to be replaced. It looks much better in person but since I am not happy with it I have to change it I think.

We are having another Craft Fair at work, so I just started prepping for that. I am going to go a different route this time with what I make. So far I have these rice bags for heating up and freezing for all your pains. I need to think of a clever name for them, “boo-boo bags” or something.

My kids and I have a new addiction. The Walking Dead on AMC has become our favorite show. We did not start watching it until a couple weeks ago so we had to catch up on Netflix and Youtube. Now that we are caught up we just keep watching them over and over again. Of course our favorite man is Daryl, played by Norman Reedus, love him!

I even have dolls to prove it. No they will not come out of the package no matter how much my daughter begs.

I hope you are doing well and finding a little stitching time. Take care and I will post again soon!

~ Jennifer ~

Comfy and Cozy

2013-12-17T11:51:00.001-05:00

My daughter Alice turned 11 on this month and one of the things she asked for was this huge stuffed dog. Prancer was very cautious around him in the beginning but now seems to enjoy being comfy and cozy in his lap.

Alice has been getting creative with coke bottle lids. She wanted to make some snowmen but we were out of paint. That didn’t stop her though. I think her ornaments turned out great! she had to stop after being burned by the glue gun. I can relate.

I stitched up this large pillow last week. It is about the size of a regular pillow and is very soft. I could make snowman things all the time. I love those little chubby guys.

Alice and I were trying on clothes at Target and came across this sweater. I wish I would have purchased it but I was trying to be good. I sure hope Santa brings it to me!

I met a great guy and talented wood artist at the last craft show I attended, you will hear more about him because we are going to be collaborating on some new projects. I sent him a picture (the one on the left) of some candle holders I liked and a couple days later I got the picture on the right. Pretty cool, eh?

Speaking of comfy and cozy, I met this young lady while working at The Rusty Bucket this past Saturday. She is an Italian Greyhound rescue. Isn’t she precious. I thought she and Prancer would make great buddies.

I hope you are having a great week and finding a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

2013-12-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

We made it to December! Wow have we been having some goofy weather. It can’t decide if it is going to stay cold or warm. That is North Carolina for you. Two weeks exactly until Christmas, or so my husband told me this morning. I do not want to admit that because we still have presents to get. We will get them, I have no fear but talk about waiting until the last minute.

I made a few more items last week and took them to The Rusty Bucket last Saturday and I am taking a few more items this Saturday. I made this little wool candle mat, the pattern is by Penny Lane Prims. I bought a whole slew of her patterns. They are all so cute. I made a couple more wool Santas and some more wool ornaments also.

I stitched up another one of these because it was so adorable. I love it!

Our Christmas tree is on its last leg. We have had it for quite a many years so it is not surprising. The top part will not light anymore. I would add some lights to it but I am too lazy. We have plans to trash this one and next year we are going to start getting a real tree again. It has been so many years since we had a real tree. We will have to buy lights for it so I am thinking I will have to hit the sales after Christmas this year.

Alice and I have been making cookies, lots of cookies. This was our last batch. I am all cookied out already. I think I eat more than I frost.

I attempted to make salt dough ornaments and I was not very impressed with my skills. These four were the only ones to turn out from my first batch and they are a little sad. I still need to add some twine for hangars. I may try again but I am not in a big hurry to.

There is one person/animal who is ready for Christmas. Prancer is ready for Christmas! October was a year since he was sick. I was looking at his pictures at that time and they were so sad. He has come a long way and doubled his weight. at one time we were praying he would make it to 7 pounds and now he weighs about 12-13 pounds. That darn Parvo has nothing on him. He eats everything and I mean everything. We were blessed to have Prancer come into our lives and I think we will have many great years together.

I hope your week is going well and you are finding a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

Almost December!

2013-11-26T11:34:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it? I think I am ready for it, at least I hope I am. Have you bought or made all of the gifts you are giving this year?

I have been busy, working my 9-5 job, working at The Rusty Bucket most Saturdays and trying to find time for crafting in between family time and all that work. I have found a bit of time and I savor every minute of it.

I just had two craft shows at work. The hospital system I work for has them every year for employees to sell their crafts. I had so much fun and met a lot of co workers who share the need to be crafty.

I want to show you some pictures of things I have been making. I love making Christmas items and wish I could do it all year round. There are just too many other cool things to make though. So here is a little sampling of what I have done.

Craft Show Images

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I am really not a fan of putting the images in an album like that but I figured since there were so many pictures it was the best way. I am leaving quite a few out only because there are just too many and I don’t want to bore you.

The family and I went to Myrtle Beach SC this past weekend and had a great time. We even got to go swimming. Yes swimming outside at the end of November!!!! We had a blast. Life is going great for us. The kids are doing awesome in school and at home, even though they could probably do a little more chores. Work is fantastic and I couldn’t ask for a better job, boss, co-workers. Prancer is still doing well, all though he is a quite spoiled little pup.

I hope you are doing well and enjoying life. Maybe next time it wont be so long in between posts. I have some great things happening I want to tell you about! Take care and don’t forget to find a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

Jo Morton Fabric De-Stash

2013-08-14T22:35:00.000-04:00

I have decided to quit yapping about de-stashing and just do it. I am starting with my Jo Morton fabrics.

The following are fat quarter bundles with 10 fat quarters. They are $15 plus shipping. If you are interested just note the number of the bundle.

Bundle 1Bundle 2

Bundle 3Bundle 4

Bundle 5Bundle 6

Bundle 7

I hope you are having a great week and finding a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

2013-08-05T11:38:00.001-04:00

I was so excited I was asked to do a punch needle project from a regular customer. I have not don’t a punch needle project in years. Let me just say I was not happy with the outcome. I will not, unfortunately be doing the project. It looked horrible and I promised myself I would not get tied up in something that I was not happy about again. I am sure I would get better but I did not want to use a project for someone else to practice. So no more punch needle for me, unless I find some time to practice.

We lost our three year old hamster Little Buddy Sunday. I was really the only one, well besides Prancer, who paid any attention to him any more. It was a sad weekend because I could tell on Saturday he wasn’t going to survive much longer. Poor little guy. Our pet cemetery is running out of spots, sad to say it is awfully crowded back there.

On to happier things! Stitching! I have been doing some. I finished up the witch from Crab-Apple Hill Designs. I believe I am going to make a hanging pocket with it. And I finished up a stitchery that I just thought was silly. I cannot remember the designer, it was in a pile of my already printed patterns, which is a pile about 2 feet high, and I grabbed it out without grabbing the information on it, now I can’t find it. If anyone knows please let me know. I have not decided what I am going to do with it yet. The last item I made was a large zippy bag for my daughters best friend. It was her birthday and Natalie insisted she have something hand made. I love my kids! Chocolate, itunes, pistachios, coffee cup and a hand made boxed zippy bag, who could ask for anything better.

I have a internet friend I met on Instagram name Paula. We did a little swap, well a big swap of her part so far. I am making her a little bag with fabric she provided so she sent me all of these goodies. She is so sweet! You can follow her over at Miss Paula in Stitches, you will not be disappointed.

My oldest daughter wanted to learn to play tennis and since her daddy played in school he has been going out and teaching her a few moves. It has turned into a family event and everyone is loving it, well everyone except the people who know how to play in the court next to us.

Prancer is getting big. I think he is full grown now. He is such a sweetie. He follows me EVERYWHERE!!!! I feel like I have a toddler in the room with me sometimes, but he has calmed down quite a bit since he was “fixed”.

Not much stitching going on right now. I have a couple projects started but nothing to show. Hopefully in a couple days I will have something new for you. Until then, don’t forget to find some stitching time and have a great week!

~ Jennifer ~

Hey All!

2013-07-29T21:07:00.001-04:00

I have been making goodies on the weekends and surprisingly enough to me I have been doing pretty good at getting stuff done. I have also been pretty good about starting a lot!!

Here are some things I have been working on or completed since I last posted. Can you tell I have been thinking about Halloween?

We also celebrated National Hotdog Day like the hotdog lovers that we are.

I have finished a few special order Christmas items. I am making another one of the Santas, he turned out pretty cute.

Then there was the special order t-shirt quilt, which I am very happy about finishing up. I did not have a lot of fun working with all those different fabrics. I have decided I will not be making another one of those unless it is for one of my children.

Stitching is getting harder and harder with my eyes. I got glasses but he said my eye sight wasn’t too bad and it may be eye moisture. But I have been using drops like he said and it doesn’t seem to be helping. I am wondering if my Meniere's has something to do with it. I have been drinking a lot of caffeine lately.

We had rain for about 5 weeks straight, every day, and the gardens got totally out of control with weeds. I had to strap on my boots and pull weeds all day Saturday. I still didn’t make a dent in it. A lot has died from too much water also. I love rain and it wouldn’t bother me to live somewhere that got a lot of rain if it wasn’t so hot. You cant walk out the door without getting bit up by mosquitos.

I also got some new patterns and books. This is just a sampling. Don’t tell my hubby. Shhh.

I am offering this wall hanging for sale. I hand stitched the applique and machine quilted it using a flannel as the batting to make it light weight. It measure 26x36. I am asking $75 plus shipping charges. Let me know if you are interested by emailing stitchanything@gmail.com.

I hope you had a great Monday and continue to have a great week. Don’t forget to find a little stitching time!!

~ Jennifer ~

Moving Forward

2013-07-08T12:22:00.000-04:00

So much has happened since my last post, I am not sure if I can fit it all in. One big change is I am no longer focusing on selling my crafts. If I make something and decide to sell it I will but I have closed my booth and will not be concentrating on selling, just crafting. I am so relieved and feel so happy about my decision. It has even gotten me more motivated in my studio., I don’t feel like I have to make things, I just make them. I have taken some items to The Rusty Bucket and most likely will continue to take any primitive or country items I make there, unless I decide to keep them!! I know I will not be able to control myself to over do Christmas items.

I have run two 5k's in the past couple months. Signed up for them in hopes of forcing myself to get back in shape. It is not working as we'll as I had hoped. I did we'll on them, I beat my time from the one on September on the first one and the second one I did a tad bit slower but still did well on my opinion. My eldest daughter ran with me or I should say ahead of me. She did awesome. She just missed getting a medal for the first one and she received a medal for third place on the last one we did. I am so proud of her.

Alice drew up this squirrel a couple years ago and I had stitched it up. I used a new squirrel fabric on the back. She is quite pleased.

I did a little stitch a long where you chose Tim Burton sketches to stitch. I did two, I love Tim Burton!

Here are some other things I completed:

I took a couple paint classes and did these two paintings. The crab is my favorite. I gave it to my father in law for his birthday because he lives on Solomon’s Island in Maryland and they are know for their crabs there.

Then played around at home and painted these.

This one is of my internet pals dog Otis. He is so cute I felt the urge to paint him. That is the original picture beside him.

I had done a tester pattern offered by artist Heather Stillufsen of Rosehill Design Studio (check out her beautiful work by clicking on the purple) and made this darling little pillow.

I stitched up a pattern by Charlotte Lyons of House Wren Studio (click on her name to go to her Etsy shop). I was going through some old works in progress and came across a drunkards path quilt I was hand piecing. I was using fabric that matched the stitchery perfectly. So since the project was over 12 years old I stole the fabric from it. I still need to quilt it but it makes a cute size wall hanging or throw for a little one.

We went to a quilt shop in Durham about a month ago and Alice picked out a pattern from Wee Wonderfuls that she wanted me to make for her. So I did and she is a cutey. The legs came out larger than I would have like so I think the next one I will shrink the legs down a bit. She is wearing clothes from a 16-17” doll and they fit perfect. Alice was too anxious to play with her to let me finish her clothing. She is in a camper that Alice bought from Target, she is having a lot of fun with her.

Speaking of Alice, she learned how to cut the grass last weekend. Whoo-hoo! does that make me happy. We took turns cutting the grass and it made it so much easier on me. Now if her brother and sister will follow suit.

Right now I am working on a t-shirt quilt for a customer. I will not be doing anymore t-shirt quilts unless it is for my own kids. For something that should be so easy it sure is time consuming. I imagine if they were all the same size it wouldn’t be so bad. Hoping to be done with it by this weekend.

I hope you had a great Independence Day. We cooked out and celebrated and had fireworks with our neighbors. It was a lot of fun.

Well I think I have given you enough to take in right now. Take it easy and don’t forget to find some stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

Hello

2013-05-27T14:46:00.003-04:00

Wow , it has been a very long time since I have blogged. I feel just awful about it. So much has been going on, nothing exciting just normal life stuff. I started my new job and it is going fantastic, it is great only driving 4 miles to work. I work with a great group of people also. I do miss being off so much and being able to craft more but for now it works out great.

My son and I both ended up getting glasses. He is so happy he can see now. We did not realize how bad his eyes really were. Mine are mainly just for reading, stitching and when my eyes get tired, okay so pretty much for all the time.

I am still renting out the booth from The Meeting Corner in Fuquay-Varina, NC. It is going great but we have had some pretty slow months lately.

I have been working on many projects lately. My favorite right now is a wool quilt called “Animals” from a book by Yoko Saito called “Past & Present, My Quilting Life.” I got my copy from a local quilt shop called The Lone Star Mercantile in Fuquay-Varina. If you click on the picture it will take you to their contact page.

Here are the blocks I have completed:

I decided to clean my sewing machine myself. I just basically vacuumed out all the lint I could get to. It started off sewing very nicely and then the stitches went all crazy and now the thread constantly breaks. So basically my machine is out of commission. I have two cheap Singer machines I had gotten for the kids to play around with. I am going to give them a try, hopefully they will hold up until I get my main machine fixed.

I have many quilts awaiting their turn at being quilted. Two of them are hand embroidered coffee themed quilts. All the background colors are the same but for some reason, I think when I used the flash, the colors came out different. I was in the process of quilting one when my machine went bad.

Here are some other projects that I have finished up since last blogging:

Alice stitched up one of her favorite book characters by Mo Willems. The is Pigeon.

Prancer is getting big, he is now twelve pounds. He loves bananas and walking around Raven Rock State Park. But he still doesnt like riding in the car.

I gave blood for the first time. I use to always be anemic and could not give blood. It almost happend this time also but they tested me on the other hand and I checked fine. That really takes a lot out of you.

I will update again in a couple days. I typed this update several weeks ago and still have much more to tell you. Have a great week and enjoy some stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

It’s a New Year!

2013-01-07T23:36:00.001-05:00

A lot of changes going on around here. I am very excited about one in particular. Starting in another week and a half I will be working full time at a new hospital less than 4 miles from my house. I have never in my life worked so close to home. I cannot believe I will not have to drive an hour to get to work anymore and I will be working day work! No more night work for me! I may just turn into a regular person. I am very excited. The kids are not too excited but I think they will change their minds once they see I am not a zombie anymore.

My booth at The Meeting Corner did wonderfully the first 2 1/2 months and I am quite excited about continuing selling items there. I will be adding hand made candles and room sprays beginning in February. They are not made by myself but by a very talented artist. I will give more information on that when it gets closer.

My booth right now is looking a little empty and still has a few Christmas items left. I have not crafted in over two weeks because the entire house this time of year is always sick and we have been busy with so much other stuff. I am hoping to work on some items this week and maybe rearrange the booth also. Notice the little “anti-thief” sign. The owner put that up since we had a couple sticky finger incidents. I love that little sign. She is so creative! I am sure if someone is going to steal the sign wont make a difference but maybe it will make them think twice about it.

Here are some items I have taken in recently:

These two were hand appliqued blocks I had done but never finished the other blocks for the wall hanging. Why let them go to waste right.

These two were going to my booth but ended up selling before they made it.

I have been stitching some blocks that I will be making into two coffee quilts/throws. They are all done in DMC 801 and each done on a different neutral background. At first I was going to put them into one quilt but I decided two would be nicer. They will be going to my booth when they are finished (if they make it – I have several customers asking for first dibs). Here are the first six, I think I have twelve to fourteen all together. I have not pressed them yet so they are a little wrinkly.

The kids had gift cards they wanted to spend from Christmas so we took a trip out to the mall and since I got a new job we celebrated by eating at the Japanese restaurant. I have not had real sushi in so long, it was so wonderful!!! I could eat it everyday!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, I know we did. I worked my last Christmas Eve and New Years Eve nights I will ever work, very excited about that. I actually have not made a New Years Resolution for this year and I most likely wont. I don’t think I need to since our lives will be changing so much for the better anyway with this job change. I would love to hear what you are going to tackle this year! Please let me know!! I am off to stitch on a coffee quilt block.

Have a great week and don’t forget to find some stitching time!!!!

~ Jennifer ~

2013-01-05T10:56:00.005-05:00

Awesome giveaway!! Head over to Sweet Meadows Farm's blog to check it out!!! Go here!!

Alice the Designer

2012-12-18T07:28:00.001-05:00

My youngest daughter Alice is a gal who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to work me hard to get it. She likes to draw little critters for me to stitch or sew all the time. I promised her yesterday I would sew one up for her.

And then sewed it up three or four times until she was happy with it. There were lots of changes along the way. She says she loves it but I can see in her eyes it is in need if more changes. I went ahead and sewed together one of her drafts because I thought it was cute also.

My eldest daughter Natalie wanted me to make a Narwhal for her boyfriend ‘s Christmas present. I found a great little freebie pattern on Craftster.org by Angel Callie – here is the link. I made him one and made one for my booth. I love how they turned out. I will be making more because they are so fun.

Here is another creation by Alice. I made the horse and let her decorate her. It is the “Love Pony” she says for Valentines. She is already thinking ahead. I still need to attach everything for her, I think she came out fantastic.

I also took these items up to the booth on Saturday.

I finished stitching the flowers on the Snowman Sampler wall hanging and it is at my booth.

And I have these I stitched and need to make up into something the next couple days.

I am beat. I am supposed to be sleeping because I work tonight and I stayed up all night sewing and vomiting from a bad migraine. I couldn’t sleep so instead of laying around in pain I kept working which made me feel better but worse. Crazy, I know but I have needed to get things down and stop making excuses. I did go to the doctor yesterday and she put me back on Strattera for my A.D.D. I am so happy, I cannot wait for it to kick in. I have been putting that off for sometime and it has been getting real bad. I get it under control and get lax about it until my head is such a mess I don’t know what is up. I am sure I will be feeling better in a bit. I am really going to try to sleep now. I am turning off this computer and phone and cover my head with the blankets.

I hope you are having a wonderful week and finding a little stitching time.

~ Jennifer ~

Busy Times

2012-12-12T16:12:00.001-05:00

We are all so busy this time of year. Oh how I wish for childhood again when your only worries are those of thinking about the Christmas school vacation, the visiting family, the anticipation of waking up on Christmas morning and finding all the brightly wrapped presents under the tree. I do enjoy seeing all of these emotions in my children but these times also bring a little stress to us. I have managed to not get too stressed this year. I keep checking myself and making sure I don’t get to wrapped up in the craziness.

I have some new booth pictures. Actually, it is not the same as pictured since the Christmas quilt sold but it is the last pictures I took on Saturday. I will be taking a few new items in the morning..

Here are some of the items I took in last week.

I took three Christmas lap quilts in and they have all sold.

A friend of mine, Tammy, who lives in Colorado and I did a trade recently. She is owns a company called Avani, which she started when her daughter (one of my daughters best friends) had developed severe eczema and skin problems because of allergies. She knew I was having problems with rashes on my arms that wont go away. I went to the dermatologist and they did a biopsy and told me it was Granuloma Annulare and eczema. There is basically nothing you can do about it. They gave me a cream which does not help so I have been using the soap for several days. I am using the unscented of course because of my severe nasal allergies. I am loving it. I feel so squeaky clean, no soapy residue like regular soaps. I will try the body butter after another week. I don’t like to introduce too much newness at once. I traded Tammy this little horse I had made. The good news is I will also be carrying her soaps at my booth. I received the first box today so I will be taking them in tomorrow.

We celebrated Alice’s 10th birthday this past weekend!! Hard to believe my baby is 10. And I cannot post without a snapshot of little Prancer, he is becoming such a little handful!!

I hope you are having a terrific week and not getting too stressed out. Don’t forget to find a little stitching time, it always helps my mood!!

~ Jennifer ~

What’s that smell?

2012-11-26T22:50:00.001-05:00

We bought our home as a new build back in January of 2007, little by little we have been learning that our builder or at least his employees did not seem to have any attention to detail or care enough to fix their mistakes. Of course many of the things that have gone wrong have been on us since the builder files bankruptcy with each neighborhood he builds, how convenient for him. The newest thing has actually been going on for some time but we never realized what exactly it was until we just recently had a septic system issue.

We have this small pantry closet just off of the kitchen. I use it for unconventional fabrics, batting, folded up boxes, just junk stuff because we have enough cabinets in the kitchen to hold everything else. At one time I had stored a large bag of Alpaca roving a lady down the road had given me. I ended up taking it out because every now and then you could smell a musty smell when you opened the door, we thought the roving because it still needed another wash had been the source of the smell. The smell never went away but we always thought it was from maybe the items in the closet soaking up the Alpaca wool.

Our sink in the kitchen kept backing up so my husband kept plunging the sick, big mistake we have found. Then the septic backed up in to toilet in the half bath off the kitchen. We had the septic guys come out and they pumped the septic and were on their way. After they left we flushed the toilet downstairs and it all came up, the problem was worse then an over full septic tank. So the guy told us what we could do to fix the clog. My husband got to do the dirty work and it was dirty. We were able to remove the clog and thought once again our problem was solved. It was not solved.

We still had this horrible smell coming from the sink area. After posting on Facebook about it, Kathy Schmitd was nice enough to ask her husband, who is a plumber, about it and he said it was most likely the studor vent under the sink that needed replacing. He was right. After waiting for Friday payday, a long stinky, cold wait (we left the windows open downstairs). Our handy friend and neighbor was able to replace the piece in about 3 minutes. It took care of the smell from under the sink. Problem solved – right?

Wrong. My husband mentioned Saturday that when he opened the pantry door the smell was really bad, maybe some got trapped in there from when the sink was stinking. I opened the door before work last night and about fell out it was so bad. Just like from under the sink. How could that much be trapped in that little closet. Well, after I went to work last night my husband got a little curious and started poking around in the closet, he knew their was a plumbing pipe in the wall next to the closet. And guess what he found.

Yep, apparently the knucklehead who installed the closet shelves screwed into the plumbing pipe while hanging them. When we had the backup it pushed the screw out and soaked the drywall. My husband tore out the drywall that was wet and looked through to the floor and under the house and there was no more leakage. As soon as he covered the hole in the pipe the smell was gone. But I told my husband I am willing to bet that the other 3 shelf screws are probably screwed into the pipe also, they were just too high for the backup to reach. So we will be getting this fixed this coming payday. I feel like we are rebuilding this house sometimes.

We keep thinking we are going to be able to get the kids some Christmas presents when the next payday rolls around but something else happens. We now have a non-working dishwasher, non-working microwave oven, broken garage door and a busted pipe. We all need to go to the doctor or dentist for some reason or another. On the bright side, our “million dollar” puppy is healed, and our septic is clean and our sink is fixed, so I should be happy with all of that. I am frustrated but I am not down, at least not right at this second. We all have troubles and woes and they all will pass. I am trying to keep a happy heart but sometimes it is such a struggle. I will just try to keep laughing about it because if I get serious I might never laugh again!

On a lighter note, last year I traced out hundreds of holiday stitcheries so I always have something to stitch on. I think I am finally on the last 50 or so for Christmas. I should have written on the back of them who they were by but I did not so now I cannot remember what designer they are from. Sorry about that. I finished a couple last night and I know the first one is from Buttermilk Basin but I am not sure about the second.

I did want to mention the fabric in the Santa stitchery. It was part of a fat quarter bundle I had ordered years ago from a company called Cherrywood Fabrics. The fabric is all hand dyed and the most wonderful texture you can find. I had a difficult time ever using the fabric but little by little it gets used now. It is quite pricey but that was the days I used credit cards like a mad woman, now I would definitely get it if I had something special to do or if I wanted to use it in place of wool, it has a suede like feel to it. I actually have a wool project I am doing for someone and I am using some other pieces from the bundle in place of the background wool. It is going to be quite lovely.

Well, I need to get stitching! I hope you had a great day and found some stitching time!! And remember – do not plunge your clogged sinks if you have a studor vent on it, bad to do!!!

~ Jennifer ~

Catching Up!

2012-11-25T15:04:00.001-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving feast prepared by my culinary genius husband. I hope you were able to share a great meal or time with the ones you are thankful for.

Saturday was Small Business Saturday and I tried to get as much as I could at my booth at The Meeting Corner in downtown Fuquay-Varina. If you haven’t had a chance to make it there you really should try. Click on the picture below to go to the web site and see the other consignors and menus for the café. We went and had a cafe' con leache and brought home empanadas, Pastelon (sweet plantain lasagna), rice, beans, and salad and I almost forgot a flan.. So yummy.

Here are some of the items have done lately and taken to my booth. I hope to get some better pictures of it when I finish decorating it. It is still somewhat sparse.

My oldest daughter Natalie had her 14th birthday party and had friends over for a bon fire party. It was a lot of fun.

We received another box from my good friend in Japan and Gordon received replacement socks for his pig socks she sent him last year. He is so happy because he wore the toes off the pig socks but he still wore them every night. I tried to get him socks similar but he didn’t want them. He wanted them to be from April. Such a sweet boy.

Gordon was also in a play at school. He was a Jester in a play that was a twist on CSI and Fairy Tales. It was cute, the Cat and the Fiddle ended up doing the crime.

Little Prancer is still doing awesome. He has so much energy now, I can barely keep up.

I hope you are doing well and have been having a great weekend. Have a fantastic week and don’t forget to find a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

Prancer is Home!

2012-11-03T05:54:00.001-04:00

Prancer came home and has been improving every day. He is gaining weight and acting just like a 5 month old puppy should. Driving me batty and I love every minute of it. He does not want to be away from me, which drives everyone else crazy. He likes to spend a lot of time with Alice also. At night he sleeps in the bed, spoiled rotten I know, but when we first go to bed he always crawls over and lays on top of me and falls asleep. He is such a sweetie pie. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. The vet did not think he would make it but he did. She said she has never seen a pup as sick as him pull through, he is our little miracle pup!

The kids had a great Halloween. Did anyone else notice that full moon out there. It was beautiful. Natalie is not pictured because she did not dress up, she gave out candy this year.

My friend Donna got me these great trees to decorate my booth at The Meeting Corner with. Aren’t they super!! She also gave me a couple shelves. I cannot wait to get rolling on that adventure. They are still waiting for a couple more things to pass inspection before they open.

Here are some of the items I have been able to finish up since my last post. Getting ready for Christmas. I am still extremely far behind, but I am still trying to find the desire to create. I have been too stressed lately for anything. It seems it would be good for me to create but it just seems to make me feel more overwhelmed. Things will turn around soon I just know it.

I completed a sample also for Lone Star Mercantile, a local prim shop. Gosh it was a lot of stitching!! I got some store credit so I was able to get some fabric that I did not need, but it was nice getting some new stuff and I hit the clearance bin for some spring time brushed cottons. Luckily I do not crave buying fabric like I use to but when you are inside a wonderful shop it is hard to fight that temptation.

I hope you have an awesome weekend and are able to find a little stitching time!

~ Jennifer ~

Prancer is Not Well

2012-10-22T23:41:00.001-04:00

Things are not good for us right now. Some of you are aware but I will share for those who do not know. As you know we adopted our little buddy Prancer last Saturday. He was such a good boy. Looking back we can see signs he was not healthy. Mucus in his feces, gross I know, and he tired very easily. We thought it was because he was puppy but he never played hard enough where he should have been that worn out.

On Monday night Prancer tried to run up our back steps outside and hit the screen door when he jumped. He bounced down the steps and landed wrong on his paw.

Tuesday morning I took him to the vet, I had a concern about a little rash on his ear where he was loosing fur also. He was given an antibiotic for the rash and a anti inflammatory for his leg, and he was put on puppy rest.

By Wednesday night is tummy was making all kinds of noise. He threw up once but was still eating and drinking.

Thursday I was concerned because he still seemed so uncomfortable so I took him back in and the vet put a splint on his leg and said if his appetite did not improve we would test him for other issues. Thursday night was a long night. I was up with him all night. He was having projectile vomit and by this time had not eaten for one day. He was still drinking water which was all he was throwing up. All I could do was make sure he was confortable and I made sure I did not give him any more medicine. I sent an email to the Vet at about 2 am to let them know he was still having issues.

By Friday morning I could not even get him to drink anything so we went back to the vet where she tested him for Parvovirus and other things. Even though the breeder vaccinated him the vet says sometimes it does not take or the vaccine may be bad and not work, this was the case for Prancer. He apparently was infected prior to us bringing him home and the medicines we were giving him kicked the Parvovirus in action. You can kind of say we are lucky he was injured and had him at the vet because we were able to catch it sooner. The vet says she does not recommend treatment when their white cell count is 2000 or lower, because their ability to fight infection is so low, his was 2004, normal is 6000-17000. She left it up to me whether to hospitalize him or treat him at home. She said if he responded to treatment he would have an 85% survival rate if treated with the IV at the vet and the percentage drastically dropped if treated at home. So of course I went with the hospital. I left him in their hands and I keep going back and forth about whether that was the right way to go.

We had Christmas money we had been saving up so we would use that for part of his vet bills which are over seven-hundred at this point. We sat the kids down and had a discussion about Prancer, his care, the money and how this affected birthdays that are coming up an Christmas presents.The kids were great. My youngest Alice said “Don’t worry about Christmas presents because we are saving a life and that is more important.” I was so impressed with that child, it warmed my heart.

When I went to check on Prancer this morning when I got off of work, the Vet told me he was quite cold because they did not have the heat on last night and the low was 43. Why was this not planned for? I did not like that, there are also other concerns we have regarding the Vet that may seem minor but are important to me and my husband, I wont get into those. The staff is awesome I should add, and many are just as concerned for Prancer as we are. They are just a wonderful group of ladies.

I would like to ask that if you will, pray for Prancer, he is being such a strong little fighter but he needs all the help he can get. We are going day by day at this point and I will not give up on this little guy, unless he shows sign of no improvement, I do not want him to suffer unnecessarily because of my stubbornness either.

The Meeting Corner Update

I wanted to share some updated pictures of my booth area at The Meeting Corner in downtown Fuquay Varina. These pictures are prior to painting, the walls and floor will be done.

Here are some other shots with some painting completed.

We were able to try some of Edna’s food from Edna’s Edibles. She is the co-owner of The Meeting Corner and will be offering her wonderful dishes in the café in the back portion of the shop. We had this Argentinian meal of Pastelon (Ripe Plantain Lasagna), Rice & Beans and salad. It was so good. I have never had Plantains and I really liked the sweetness in the lasagna amazing. I cannot wait to try more of her dishes.

Well that wraps it up for the night. I hope you are well and finding a little stitching time. Take care!

~ Jennifer ~

Our New Puppy is Home!

2012-10-15T22:36:00.001-04:00

We are so happy. We picked up our new puppy on Saturday and he is just the most precious boy. He has a very quiet demeanor and has not barked yet, I cannot imagine that we could have two dogs in our lives that don’t bark but we will see.. We have a lot of training to do but first we have to learn what we are doing and he needs a name. We had settled on Prancer because he prances in the yard just like a little deer. It seems everyone is not so satisfied on that name though and for some reason when I go to call him I say Princess instead of Prancer and that is just not right for the little guy. Every day he gets a little more use to us but he came from a wonderful home and he misses it I think. He has really become close to Alice, he follows her where ever she goes, they are going to be great pals. Here are some pictures of him.

I won a giveaway a couple weeks ago from Creative Breathing a week or so ago. Isn’t this the cutest little Boo Bird!!! She makes the most adorable little creatures. This little bird is a fantastic addition to our Halloween decorations.

I finished up some Scrooges for a couple orders. Do you remember when I did a couple last year. They are made from a pattern by My Primitive Saltbox.

While on my walk the other morning I snapped a picture of the cotton that is in full bloom in the fields around us. It is so pretty, makes you think of snow.

Well, I need to get stitching, I have lots to finish up this week. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and have a super week. Don’t forget to find some stitching time.

~ Jennifer ~

Slowly, slowly said the Sloth

2012-10-08T06:11:00.001-04:00

I remember reading that book to my kids. That is definitely how I have been moving lately. Not getting much done at all. But I do have a little news to share.

I started a new project for the Lone Star Mercantile. It is a wonderful stitchery by Jan Speed of Just Stitches called “Christmas Redwork.” It is stitched on Moda Toweling. You can get everything for the project at the shop and I believe they are kitting it up also.

I also completed my first 5K (3.1 miles) last weekend. I ran it with my neighbor and walking partner Sharon. She did great at keeping me motivated and we both came in at 35 minutes and 30 seconds. That is the fastest time I have done, really I have not been able to run the entire distance until that day. I stopped running at the end for two or three 10-20 second periods but I still made it. I was very happy with myself. I have really slacked on my walking and my body is showing the signs, I am hoping to get motivated once again, I miss the good feeling after my walks.

I have more great news and it is pertaining to this handsome fellow. A blue eyed, long-legged Deer Chihuahua.

We are so very excited because he will be coming home to join our family this coming weekend. He is 5 months old and such a looker. It is going to be different having a male dog since we had girls for so long. It will take some getting use to I imagine. He is also not potty trained yet so I have a feeling that will be interesting. We are all so excited, it is going to be a long week waiting for him. He is going to be my little walking motivator!!

The weather is getting so lovely here. Starting to really feel like fall. We have the house all decorated for Halloween and the kids are ready for candy!!

I hope that you had a lovely weekend and have a great Monday!

And of course, don’t forget to find some stitching time!!

~ Jennifer ~

A New Beginning

2012-09-24T01:01:00.001-04:00

I have exciting news, beginning mid October I will be part of a great new shop opening in downtown Fuquay Varina. It is called The Meeting Corner. I was invited by co-owner Jaquelina (Volver by J. Verzino) who is an ultra talented artist. She has teamed up with her friend Edna who is from what I hear, a fabulous chef, to open the new shop offering fine handcrafts, antiques and yummy food. I am dying to try some of Edna’s Cuban/Puerto Rican delicacies. I believe there are seven artists involved at this point, including myself, they will have different areas inside the shop. Jaquelina will have her studio in the shop also and there will be a classroom. The café will be at the rear of the store and offer breakfast and lunch and catering in the evening. I am beside myself with excitement. This is going to be a brand new start for me and my hand made items. I intend on changing things up just a bit, but not too much. I am looking forward to being creative once again and not being limited to a certain style. If you use Facebook please check out The Meeting Corner where you can see pictures of the progress of the shop and more information.

I wanted to show you a pair of stockings I had done for a special order a few months back. They were so pretty. I used a pattern by Kathy Schmitz.

The cotton is almost ready to picking here. It looks so pretty. Alice and I collected a few cotton bolls while walking the other day. If you are interested in learning a little about cotton check out this link.

We started our Fall/Halloween decorating yesterday. We still need to get pumpkins, mums and a hay bale or two but we have the porch and inside all lit up. Here are just a couple pictures to share.

I forgot to show you a picture we took at the beach. Yes, I finally went on the family vacation to the beach. For those who do not know I do not like the beach, never have. I do not find enjoyment in laying out in the sun sweating, getting sandy and all that mess. Plus, normally I am working so I cannot go. We have not had a family picture done in, well we never have since having all three children. The kids and I did about seven years ago but never a picture with all of us in it. We are not formal people so this picture fits us just fine and everyone is smiling. By the way, I actually had a lot of fun playing in the water with the kids. I also enjoyed being able to take my walks on the beach early morning and watch the dolphins play. I will be making this trip every year.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and also found a little stitching time. Have a great Monday!

~ Jennifer ~

Lone Star Mercantile

2012-09-19T16:50:00.002-04:00

I said I wasn't going to do it but I could not resist the urge today. I pass the quilt shop Lone Star Mercantile all the time now that they moved to Fuquay Varina from the fairgrounds in Raleigh. I have so much fabric and patterns and everything else that I did not want to be tempted by all the pretties. But today I could not resist. Boy that was a mistake, well bad for my bank account anyway.

The shop is gorgeous. I should have asked to take pictures to show you but I was too much in awe to think of it. The employees are wonderful, a lot of them I know from when I worked with them at the quilt shop in Apex.

I joined the WOW club which, if you are not familiar is, here I copied it from their site "10% discount on everything you purchase (excluding Johnston Benchworks furniture and antiques), 20% discount for your birthday! Discount pricing on kits and projects. Special projects and fun surprises available only to club members throughout the year! Free piece of wool or fabric each month to add to your stash!."

I purchased a few items, a little kit, 2 fat quarters and 3 sale fat quarters. Don't they look yummy?!?!

I will have to limit my visits to once a month I think though because there are just too many lovely things to get. I was so impressed.

For those who are not local, check out their blog and selling blog. Just click on the link below the pictures.

Lone Star Mercantile Blog

Selling Blog

I am going to play with my new goodies. I hope you are having a great week and finding a little stitching time.

~ Jennifer ~

Our Little Louise

2012-09-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

I know it has been forever since I have blogged. I can honestly say this has been the longest break ever. There was a lot of stressful situations going on. I had a couple injuries from walking/running. I am healed pretty much so I am back to it.

We had a terrible thing happen early this Sunday morning. Saturday evening, Louise, our 15 year chihuahua was snuggling with me and I went to pick her up to take her outside and she would not move, she was just had a blank stare on her face. After about an hour or so she began howling every now and then and having seizures. We had decided to take her to the emergency vet many times but it seems every time we did we thought she was passing. I stayed up with her and a little after five Sunday morning she passed. As you remember we lost her sister Thelma, a year and a half ago to an owl in the back yard. They are together now but it has been very difficult for us. I cannot function really. Every sound I hear in the house I think it's her, every time I go to do something I think I need to get Louise (she liked to be with me at all times and she could not climb stairs so I carried her mostly). I have had a real difficult time being in the house by myself. I spend most of the time looking on the computer for rescue Chihuahuas keeping my mind off of her, I go for walks, and even go to my husbands work and bother him. Luckily, I can just sit in his office and straighten things up for him.

I had been sewing a lot, selling on a wholesale site. I still have many orders I need to complete. I promised myself this week to mourn the loss of Louise and then I have to get busy. Louise had so many favorite cuddle spots in my studio it is hard to be and there.

I will get busy and start posting some things to show you what I have been working on. Thanks for standing by me during these crazy times. It seems I also need to have a giveaway since I missed my blogaversary, so keep posted.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to find a little stitching time!

~Jennifer ~

Where does the time go?

2012-06-16T17:57:00.001-04:00

It has been exactly a month since I blogged. I believe my promise then was that I was going to be changing it around a bit and keeping up with it better. As you can see that did not happen, but I do have a good excuse. I had been working a lot and also spending a lot of time trying to work on me.

A lot of this:

I am averaging about 6-10 miles a day of walking a day. I have become quite obsessed with it. My blister ridden feet will attest to that. But I can’t stop, I can’t get enough. Once I get past the initial 30 minutes I have to really force myself to stop. I love it. I need better shoes and socks which I will be in time.

I am also trying to be better about this:

Not doing too great but, I am getting better. I had my blood work done and I was extremely low on Potassium, Vitamin D and surprisingly enough sodium. I have Meniere’s so I cut back on my sodium because it helps with my Vertigo, but I guess I cut back a little too much. My Potassium was very, very low. I was having a lot of leg cramps and muscle pain which magically went away after I started taking my supplements. So I have put myself on the right track and I am seeing amazing results. I have so much more energy and just feel really good.

I did not do much sewing. The last thing I did was the dolphin I showed you last time. I cannot believe I have not done anything else but I have not. No stitching or anything, until a couple days ago. I made this bag for my 12 year old Niece. I did not realize she liked the handmade things but she told my daughter she loves all the things I make so I decided I needed to make her something special. She wants a dolphin, which is why the last dolphin is purple because that is her favorite color. She will be getting the dolphin inside this bag when my daughter sees her this week.

Aren’t my models gorgeous!!! And yes the cutie on the left has purple hair.

I forgot to mention, we have been doing a lot of this also!!

Well, I am off to get some chores done, and wrap some Father’s Day goodies!!!

Have a great weekend and a Happy Father’s Day celebration. Don’t forget to find some stitching time.

~ Jennifer ~

I am Free!!!

2012-05-16T17:30:00.001-04:00

I have finally done it. I have left Facebook for good, now I am dealing with the constant social networking withdrawals. But, now maybe I can get things done! As you can see I am doing a little changing on my blog. I have a lot of work left to do on it so please be patient with me. I hope I don’t mess it up too bad, I have not decided on a final layout so please excuse me if it changes a bit the next week.

I have been busy here doing a lot of celebrating. My birthday was last Saturday and we had a nice day. I had to work Friday night but that was okay when I got home Saturday morning we had a great day together and I tried to go to bed a little early. My goal was to go out and get an outfit for my birthday but I am sad to say I have gained so much of the weight I had lost back since last year he clothes were not fitting to my liking, so no outfit. We went to a little art festival downtown and the kids had fun making leather key chains. They were having fun until the lady there told them they had to stop banging so it wouldn’t interrupt the music (that was a little odd I thought). We didn’t let it bother us and moved on with the festivities, by the way, the music was very nice.

When we got home we had my annual “Piggy” birthday cake (my husband is so good to me – I get one every year).

I opened my presents which included a Ipod Nano, I am finally moving into the “digital” music age. It is a great little device, radio, pedometer, holds a ton of music and pictures, and more. So much fancy stuff I will never figure it all out.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and I was treated with this huge omelet! You notice my husband made it into some type of critter, it was difficult to eat it without feeling guilty. But I managed.

It is not a celebration with my husband going to town on the food. He made so much yummy goodness. You can see why I am gaining weight.

I had to show you this cute little fellow, he was hanging out on my front steps yesterday and even let me sit beside him. We have so many lizards here. I have to constantly clean the garage out of not mouse poop but lizard poop, it is crazy, but I guess they will keep the bugs at bay.

I have decided for the family vacation this year I am making beach bags with a stuffed toy for each kid. For the first one I decided to make a dolphin, the pattern is from Melly & Me. I made several years ago when it was in the Australian Homespun magazine.

Here it is with the ones that belong to my girls. I think they are the cutest little things.

I got a new pig t-shirt. I am starting to amass a huge collection of them. I love this one, they are like cannibal pigs.

I have been cleaning out a lot of my collectibles since getting my booth and right now I am working on my snowman collection. I have so many snowmen. I have listed this set on eBay just because it is the complete set, so if you are a snowman collector or know someone who is, this is available for two more days here.

That is it for now, I have to run, I have a child and some sidewalk chalk calling my name! I hope you are having a great week and finding a little stitching time!!

~ Jennifer ~

Something a little different

2012-05-07T10:14:00.001-04:00

I decided to change gears and work on something a little different. I am starting with some stitcheries for little boys and little girls. I finished one of the little boy ones and I love it. I haven’t decided exactly what I am going to make with it but it is not going to be a pillow I can tell you that much.

This design is from an Australian Homespun magazine. I had thought I was going to use a certain fabric with it but now I am not so sure because both fabrics look great with both stitcheries.

Here is the stitchery laying on top of each fabric. What do you think? I think I like the lighter one with this one.

Next up is this cute little stitchery that I have not quite finished. I am not happy with the color of the critter. I have changed it two times already, pulled out all the stitches and everything and I am still not happy. What do you think of his fur?

And same question with him. Which fabric do you like? I like the darker one with this little guy I think.

I actually wish I had enough of the darker one to use on both but I only have half a yard. If I used it on both, it would have to be just a border around it or something. Then again they will both most likely have more fabrics around them so I may be stressing for nothing. Here is a close up of both focal fabrics.

I also completed an order , the gal is working on a project and doesn’t embroider so she sent me the words to embroider.

I am very excited to say my booth is doing great. I was really happy with my sales in April. Thank you to everyone who has visited. If you are local and have not been you are missing out on some wonderful vendors. You should stop by if you get a chance, KnB’s Marketplace. They also have a great little coffee bar and sell K-cups at an awesome price.

I have been working at my job a little extra lately and have not been able to get as much made as I want. They have hired someone to fill the empty slot so maybe in a month or so that will slow down and I can get busy with the fun stuff. Speaking of work, I just got off this morning and better get some sleep before the kids get home.

I hope you have an awesome Monday and are able to find a little stitching time today!!

~ Jennifer ~