Chapter 83, In which I become slightly snobby

Well, after spending hours and hours and hours (okay, over 30 in teh past two weeks) looking at patterns or Christmas Ornaments, I have decided I am a snob. i loke the patterns from the 1900's-1950's. I hate (with a passion) the stuff from teh 1970's and 1980's. so it is "old-fashioned" or me all the way. Not that I am all that surprised by this information/glimps into my personaility. I mean, I know I am drawn to the fashions and styles o the 1920's-1940's. so this added information does not truely rock my little world. I have also noticed, as I search, that I really wish I could aford real wool felt. maybe some day.

Chapter 82, In which the Nation votes

I voted today, which will (at least in my little mind) give me the right to bitch and complain for the next four years. I hate when poeple complain, and then you find out they did not vote. If you dont care enough to vote, then what do you care how things go?
I also spent today surfing the web looking for christmas ornament ideas. Hurricane Sandy kind of took out my basement, (flooded) and most of my christmas ornaments, so I am going to work on creating new ones. I have looked at felt, and yarn, and cross stitch. I think I would like to create ornaments that remind me of family and memeroies. I also spent some time today thinking about my crazy quilt project. still have not decided what I want to do. But I do know who I want to put on my quilt, if I do a family quilt. Anthony, Amanda, Nicholas, My Mom, Grandma, Dad, Bonnie, Bee, Marie, Al, Ruthie, Jocko, Paulina, Lester, Tina, Andy, Katrina, Joey, and Grandma Billie. Will have to spend some more time thinkin/planning.

Chapter 81, In which I return from a horrible year

It has been a very long, hard year. Between my foot surgery not healing as expected, the problems still ongoing, and then the death of Ruthie, (my cousin/little sister) it seems as if I have been in darkness for a long long time. 2012 seemed to be about surviving, not living. But now it is time to come back to the light. I have plenty of projects to work on, so it is time to let my creativity out, to begin to create and express myself again.  It was reading about the crazyquilt journal project challenge for 2013 that kindled the small flame that is relighting my soul. It is My goal is to post on my blog once a week, or t least 3 times a month, which is a lot of posting considering I have not posted in a year.
On the happy side, Ressie is still my baby (love that Pommie!) Anthony and I are celebrating our 7th anniversery on Monday, November 5th, and we will both be celbrating our birthdays this month, (anthony on the 14th, me on the 15th)
 God Bless

ok, I can now officially question my sanity. I bought three more patterns/kits to work on, and one actually counts at two, which brings the count of what I want to on up to 63 I believe. I really need to have my head examined. sighs. oh well. At least I know I will always have something to work on! (for like the next 10 years) the bright side is I only spent $25 on it, and if i take $5 off (cuz I am not counting shipping in my $60 for the year, lol) I still have $40 to last 11 months. sighs. I wonder if buying the fabric and threads to a pattern you have counts towards your spending? is going to be a very very long year.

Chapter 80, In which I go into shock

my list has grown again. it really does scare/shock me just how much i have without even realizing it. I mean honestly, how many kits/patterns does one person need? not counting the thread i bought just cuz it was pretty, and not really intended for any kit or pattern? ok, so here goes my looong list. be prepared. 1.Sophie's Afternoon 2.Token of my love 3.Cats in house frame 4.Cats in a wreath 5.Quaker Diamonds 6.Quaker Spring Diamonds 7.Claret Bell Pull 8.Hail Mary (would like to do 3, one for me, and one each for Nicholas and Amanda) 9.Our Lady 10.Victorian Houses Row 1 11.Victorian Houses Row 2 12.Queen of Stitches 13.Emma Rose (Brooke's Girl) 14.Quaker For My Mother 15.Free Birds (Prim Bird Sampler) 16.Year of the Wiener Quilt 17.Family Memories CQ project 18.Santa's Parade Nursery Rhyme Quilt 19.Nativity Redwork Stocking 20.Reindeer Embroidery Quilt/Dishtowels 21.Doodle and Whimsey Self Designed Embroidery Quilt 22.Family Members Album Quilt 23.Ladies CQ (9 blocks) 24.A Place We Call Home Sampler 25.Ladybugs and Bumblebees Sampler 26.Prairie Sampler (Under the Prairie Moon) 27.Heart Samler 28.The Nativity in ABC's 29.Our Wedding Day Sampler 30.All Because (Two People Fell in Love) 31.Rosewood Manor Sampler 32.Simple Peacock (free chart) 33.Shepherd's Sampler Stocking 34.French County Christmas Alphabet 35.Chick Squares (from the 70's) 36.Peace on Earth (free chart) 37.The Peacock (free chart) 38.Celtic Cross (Free Chart) 39.ABC's with birds (Free Chart) 40.Dutch Heart with Ship (free Chart) 41.2010 ABC with Peacock (free chart) 42.Because of You (free Chart) 43.Heavenly Holidays Angel (rose) 44.heavenly Holidays Angel (star) 45.Clothspin Angel (Morning Glory) 46.Clothespin Angel Kit Christmas Teddy 47.Beyond Cross Stitch Rosebud 48.Winter Holiday Prince Ornament 49.Tiny Treasures Diamond Santa Ornament 50.Winter Holidays Sugar Plum Fairy Ornament 51.Cloth Doll #1 52.Family Tree Embridery Wall Hanging (Self Designed) 53.Cloth Doll #2 54.Cloth Doll #3 55.Monthly Fairies (self Desinged) 56.Star Quilt (Aunt martha) 57.To Church I Love To Go 58.1995 Prairie Fairy What is really sad is that I have so many other kits (from when Michales was clearing them out) and free charts. Fabric for a good 10 or more quilts, plus 3 or 4 BOM quilt kits. It just amazes me what I have stashed and stock piled. ok, so maybe I am looking at 10 or more years. the bright side is that with money being tight, i know i have plenty of supplies to keep my going for a long, long time.

Chapter 79, An Intervention is Called for!

Do you ever surprise yourself? I sat last night and gathered all my kits and projects (wips and planned)and then I went into shock. I seperated, and tried shifting them around, but there was just no getting around it, someone in this house has a problem with the amount of stitchy stuff they have. (we will not mention that this person could not truly gather all their stuff cuz some of it is beingheld hostage by the sewing room) There were over 60 kits/wips/planned, (and remember this does not count what is being held hostage) this does not count the flosses i bought just cuz they were so pretty, or all the old cross stitch mags I have collected through freecycle and yard sales, nor does it count the countless free projects printed off the internet. After a good stiff drink (which I will admit made the pile seem so much smaller, maybe that is the secret, if we all drank just a little more, our stashes would become much less intimidating)I chose 20 to keep track of. Wow. Feeling as if i could tackle other areas, i began to try to gather all my yarn and knitting wips/planned. Ok, again realized i had way way to much. (we will not mention the 4 tubs of yarn in teh basement, or the two in the diningroom, three in the sewingroom, and not sure howmany in the attic)After this shock to my system, i decided not to even begin to tackle the quilt fabric for all the planned quilts, or the crazy quilt supplies, (although I am planning to get back into all my crafting/creating in the new year) From what i can figure, if i can complete a full size cross stitch sampler, knit a whole sweater, or complete a full sized quilt 9 times a week, I might use up all my stash at some point in the next 20 years, but this is based on the primis that at no time in the next 20 years will i buy any new supplies/kits/patterns. You know, perseverance seemd a lot easier when I was clueless.

Chapter 78, The long, long, loooong list of wips

Okay, I have a confession to make. I have way to many wips, and way to many wants and patterns. So I have set myself some goals. Some are only for the year, others will take a lot longer. I decided to get on the "word for 2012" bandwagon. after a lot of thought i have chosen "Perseverance" as my word. I think it fits in so many ways. I need to complete, use up, and make do, all things that make me think of the 1920's and 1930's and the great depression. The only way women made it through those tough times was to persevere. I admire the women who managed to keep their families fed and take care of their children during that time. they made do with what they had, and they worked hard to make ends meet. they had to be creative with what they had, and create their own beauty and things to make them smile. So that is my goal for 2012. To persevere. as for my long list of wips and wants, just the stitching came out to over 20. there is no way I will be able to complete 20 stitching projects, plus the knitting, crochet and quilty things I want to do. So although I will list them, I am hoping to get through 6 or 7 this year. I have also decided that other than the quilt show I am going to in February, I will cut way down on my spending of craft supplies. My goal is to spend no more than $60 this year. I have enough yarn, fabric and floss to keep my busy for a very long time. I also have a ton of books on embroidery, quilting, and cross stitch. So here is to persevering in 2012.