Whew! Week #1 Is Done

Ahhhhhh, it's finally Friday. The first week with kiddos at school is done, and I'm pooped. I always feel very sorry for the first-graders. Many of them have never been to a full day of school until this week, and they're incredibly tired for the first few weeks. You can actually watch them droop during the afternoons. Poor sweet little kids. I can relate. Today a second-grader told me that I might be a little older than his dad. After I asked how old is dad is, he told me 28. Then I told him that my son is 28, so I'm old enough to be his grandma. His answer? "Huh-uh, I don't think so." I love this kid.

I don't have loads of time to spend here this evening, because I wanna go put my ass in my chair and stitch until I can't keep my eyes open. But I wanna let my stash giveaway girls know what's coming their way. Barb, the new stash queen (because I sent her something a few weeks ago), is the only brave soul to request the Paula Vaughan kit. You rock, Barb! I put three little slips of paper in the cute little Damariscotta dish for the L&L Angel. I swished and swirled them around and pulled out Jennifer, so the angel will be winging her way to Georgia. Thank you again to any of you who have requested my destashing treasures. As soon as I have more stashy stuff to pass on, you'll see it here.

I wish I had a picture for you, but my progress on Evil Serpent has been very slow this week. Maybe I'll have something to show after the weekend. Oh, the weekend. I love weekends. Hope you have a happy one. Make some fun.

Last Day of Freedom

Yep, I'm whining. It's the last day of summer vacation (sniff ... sob), which is my favorite time of year. I'm very happy to be employed, but I love, love time off. I appreciate every single minute of it. We all know those retired people who complain about being bored. I'll never be one of those people. Bored has always been a dirty word at my house. With all there is to see and do, how can anyone fail to entertain themselves?

As promised, I used an untechnological method to choose recipients for the UFOs and fabric. I got out my pretty little Damariscotta Pottery dish and put little slips of paper in it. Like this ...

Ellen will be receiving Home Sweet Home, Buttoned Hearts will be sent to Loraine (no blog?), and the fabrics will be sent to Pam. If you ladies will send me a snail mail address, I'll get those things out to you ASAP. Thanks to all of you who offered to give homes to my old projects and fabric. For those of you who are wondering, I'm thrilled to be giving stash items away rather than throwing them away. I hate waste! It is my extreme pleasure to keep the US Post Office busy carrying things from my house to yours. And isn't it nice just to get something you want with no strings attached? I love things like that. So enjoy.

I'd like to mail out two more packages. These projects aren't even UFOs ... they're ancient Shepherds Bush kits (just look at the packaging and charts). First is a selection of bread cloths that I'm giving away together. There's an angel cloth and a shepherd cloth.
I also have a cute little pillow kit. Sorry ... it's a picture of a picture, but you can get an idea of how it looks.

All of these items have fabric, cotton floss and chart. Again, you just have to let me know the item(s) you'd like to have. I'll give you until Friday to make your request. I think I'll try to get it all settled by Friday afternoon, because there's no telling what the weekend will bring.

How about a progress picture? Here's Block #1 of Shores of HRH all finished. That was fun!

I've worked a little on Evil Serpent and I've sat at my sewing machine for a little while, but that'll have to wait until next time. I'm off to play golf and enjoy the rest of the day.

Oh, by the way, the Harley trip to Steamboat Springs was great. We had wonderful weather and saw beautiful scenery. If you don't know about Steamboat, you oughta google the little ski town and see it before developers completely change it. Make some fun!

Good News!

There is good news for our family today! Mom had a scan on Monday showing that chemo is shrinking her tumors and lymph nodes. Isn't that the best news? Mom is a champion at having a positive attitude, and she's extremely encouraged by the new info. I'm pretty certain that she has a record number of prayers/chants/good thoughts from all over the world working for her, so thank you again to all of you who are helping. We could never express how grateful we are for your kindness. My only request is that you keep Mom (Estelle) on your list and continue to do whatever you're doing. Relief is a great feeling. I'm heading over to hang out and stitch for a while during her chemo today.

OK, on to regular stuff. Here's my TUSAL jar for the month, pictured with some friends. You'll notice that I've moved up to a quart-sized jar. I have a feeling that it's the stitchy trash, not orts, that made the move necessary. Do we care about that? Nah.

I've been a busy, busy organizer. Slow, but busy. After my closet got a makeover, I started working on my stash. I've sorted through all of my fabric, identified counts, and put everything into new Elfa drawers (gasp). I know! New drawers in my closet! The Container Store is a lovely place. Sorry ... I've ADD'd my way off the subject. There are now special places for kitted projects (way more than I thought) and WIPs (yes, I found more :O).

I had forgotten about many UFOs that I have absolutely no intention of finishing. You know how that is, right? My tastes and desires have changed in the decades since they were started. So, I hope I'm not veering off into the tacky side of blogland, but I don't know all of the rules. Would anyone like to finish the following UFOs?

First up is Window Sill Shells. My start is on 32-count white linen, two-over-two, and includes chart and start.
Next is a project that someone else started and gave to me, thinking I'd be thrilled to finish it. No, I'm not. It's on linen band and includes floss, beads, dowel for hanging, and instructions.

Last on today's list is a log cabin quilt square with specialty stitches. It could be framed or made into a pillow, and it's almost finished. Most of the diamond shapes on the right need to be unstitched and restitched, and that's the border to the project. Only the border has to be stitched. I think it's on 28-count natural linen, and it comes with floss, directions, chart and start.
If you're interested in any of these UFOs, just leave a comment about which one you'd like to have. If more than one person is interested, I'll draw names in a very unscientific way. If no one is interested, they'll go off into the UFO cosmos ... or something.

Since I haven't finished going through my cedar chest and files (I know ... I've been a hog and this is years overdue), there will be some more destashing to come. I've promised a friend first chance at kits and charts, but she'll want only a fraction of what's leaving the premises. So stay tuned for some stash giveaways.

When not reorganizing, I've been stitching away on my new starts, Shores and Mayflower Women. Next time I'll show you what I've been up to. Believe it or not, there are only three weeks left of summer vacation for me (oh no!), which makes me almost apoplectic. Ya'll know what a brat I am about time off. I've had Zack as a houseguest, because his person has been working nights (poor man ... it's done him in). He's been helping me get my miles walked and my errands done. Merlin (yes, the old man cat is still hanging in there) is not amused, but we've had only one confrontation all week.

'Til next time ... make some fun.