Tuesday, August 31, 2010

almost :-)

Just a bit of border to go and I'm finished with Hide N' Seek. And I should be able to do it on the way home from work. If I don't fall asleep that is. :-)


Monday, August 30, 2010

so much for finishing

I really was hoping to finish this puppy off by last night. But I never put a stitch in! On Friday I went to yoga class and once I got home just vegged. On Saturday I did complete a five mile run but I find that after such a long run that last thing I want to do is sit down and stitch. So I ran errands most of the day and then just vegged for the rest of the day. On Sunday I did an early morning yoga class and came home and vegged (see a pattern here?) for the rest of the day. Well most of it anyway, the agility pugs and I had a private agility lesson. That was fun. But it was hot and when I got home I just.... vegged. :-)


But I made great progress this morning on the way to work and hopefully I will really be finished in the next day or so. ;-)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I'm over half way finished with the little blocks. I haven't had much stitching time the last couple of days. Agility class on Tuesday and sleeping on the train has pretty much taken away my time from Hide N' Seek. But I'm still hoping to have this piece finished by Sunday evening. The only plans I have for Saturday are a 5 mile run and taking half of the pugs to get their nails trimmed. And yoga class on Sunday. :-) Other than that the weekend is all free.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

more blocks

Things are really moving along with Hide N' Seek. I'm actually thinking I could have it done be the weekend is over. :-) How about that! :-)


Monday, August 23, 2010

a new start

For a weekend change of pace, I stitched. :-) How about that for different? I didn't get as much done on Hide N' Seek as I was planning because I started Scott Lee, a design by the late Jean Hilton. I thought I would post a photo after each step. Of course I came up with this idea after I finished the first step so I don't have a true before photo. ;-)
All the pretty colors! When I was repacking the thread, I dropped one of the balls of DMC and didn't notice. But Georgie did. I found it the next day in one big tangled mess so I need to buy a new one. That darn Georgie. :-)

Step one completed.

Step two completed. I'll only be able to work on this at home - it's big - 13 x 20 and much to large to bring anywhere.

Have a great week!

Friday, August 20, 2010

yeah - it's friday!

I've started work on the twenty or so blocks that surround the center. These go quick and I'm hoping to get some in this weekend. I would also like to start quilting again - yesterday I received in the mail month 8 of the block of the month quilt and at last count I have only completed three so far. I hate being so far behind!

Have a great weekend. The pugs and I are planning on doing the same.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

center finished

I finished off the center portion of Hide N Seek. These colors are so fun! Next is the black and yellow border that I'm working on now and then 20 smaller blocks using the bright colors around that. The one small black border and I'm finished. I knew this was going to go quick. :-)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

bright!

These colors are popping! Just wait until I had the black contrast borders. They will fly off the canvas. :-)

Thanks for all your kind words yesterday regarding my 5k finish. :-) You all made my day.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Cherry Hearts finis

Cherry Hearts - design by Shepherd's Bush
32 count unknown linen by Silkweavers
Recommended silk threads

I finished up Cherry Hearts on Sunday. Yeah! It feels good to have a cross stitch finish. I have not had one since oh, maybe April -May? In any case it feels like forever. But as soon as I put the last stitch in to hold the ribbon in place I moved back to my charted canvas work. I'd like to be finished with the remaining three by the end of September. I have a couple of fall/Halloween projects (some ornaments and a BBD Halloween house from last year) that I want to do but would like these out of the way first.

And speaking of counted canvas, here is number four - Hide 'n Seek by Laura J. Perin. This is the odd ball of the group. It's similar in that it's a quilt design build around a variegated pearl cotton but the similarity stops there. This one is like a big scrap quilt and it's very, very bright! Have you ever seem me stitch with orange? And bright yellow? Wait until I get the pink in there! It's really fun already and will go very quickly.

I ran my first official 5k in eight years on Saturday! And my niece Dana ran with me (she is on the left). Or at least most of it. I slowed down at about 1.5 miles into the race and she wanted to set a PR so I told her to leave me in the dust. :-) I finished in 37 minutes with a 12 minute pace. Which was my goal for this race. I was surprised I made my goal - at race time it was already in the 80's with about 98% humidity. It was so hot!! I took a small walk break even. I can't wait for the next 5k - I'll shave a little more time off toward my goal of a 30 minute 5k.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

getting closer

I'm working on the last border on Cherry Heart! Yeah. :-) I've been lazy for the better part of two months now. I sure hope this ends soon because I've got a ton of stash I want to get to.

I'm planning on starting another LJP charted needlepoint as soon as Cherry Heart is complete. I went through the three I have left and I really hated one of the color combos that I picked out. It was so boring and flat. So I went online and picked out three more variegated #8 pearls as options. All three are shades of blues and greens and hopefully one will work. They would be replacing a kinda drab multi green skein that I picked out with mostly solid blues. It just doesn't look right to me.

Today I completed my Couch to 5k program. :-) I'm now can run a 5k from start to finish. Now I'm working on just getting more time on my legs. Then I'll start a 10k program in a couple of weeks. After that it's simple - just start running longer on Saturday's until I can run a half marathon (13.1 miles). But I have plenty of time for that - I don't plan on doing a half until next spring. Now if the extra 10 pounds was just go away as easy as it was to start running again. ;-)

Monday, August 09, 2010

not much done

I haven't made much progress with Cherry Heart. Last week I had several work commitments in the evening so no stitching there and over the weekend I never even glanced at it. It was an odd weekend, I felt super busy but really didn't do anything. :-) Ever have that sort of weekend?

I'm working on the borders now so what I have left should be quick. Then it's back to my Christmas gifts.

Have a great week! Hopefully it's cooler where you live. It's a humid oven here in Northern Illinois.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

heart is done

I finished up the heart last night and have started on the first of three borders. The colors are very soft and I'm really happy to took a small break from my needlepoint projects.


Monday, August 02, 2010

August already?

I spent the weekend doing really tough yard work. Digging and carrying and axing out tree stumps. I had no energy at night to even stitch. :-) But I'm still making good progress with Cherry Hearts. This will make a cute little pillow I'm thinking.

Have a great week!