The Last Stitch!

I finally added the last stitch to Little Bit! I am elated! I am ecstatic! I started this 'little' project last year, but I set it aside in March and didn't pick it up again until this January and as you know, I have been a woman on a mission. Well I finally came up for air!

DH asked me how many hours I had invested in this little guy and I just gave him 'the look'. I haven't a clue and I don't want to know. Let's just call it 'umpteen'...x 10. So here he is in all his finished glory:

I'll bet y'all are tired of seeing him too. This is the biggest cross stitch project I've ever stitched. He's 16"x16" and it's solid stitching.
I may or may not have jumped up and broken into the Snoopy Dance. Cue Peanuts music. Next time I head to town he's coming along for the ride and  I'm going to have him framed. Actually next time will probably be tomorrow. Just need to wait for a phone call from Jesse at the Seed store. Then I'll be taking a bear to town and bringing back baby chicks. Yay!

I've been working on him for so long that I feel kind of lost tonight. However, breakfast is at 5 am so I would be wise to turn in early. Probably not a good idea to pull out the next project tonight.

March Christmas Train and Little Bit...again

 Well once more I'm coming in at the tail end of the month with my Christmas Through the Year project for the month. Wouldn't you know that the wind would blow on the last day when I decided to take pictures so today you get flying stockings:


I made 6 stockings for the Stockings for Soldiers project. I'll pick things up throughout the rest of the year to fill them. I made some of these last year and I really enjoyed filling them and sending them off.

Surely all of y'all have heard about Darlene and Cheryl's year -long Christmas gift making project by now, but just in case, you can pop in over here to learn more and you can join in at any time. Thank you both for keeping me accountable.

Tucking in my progress on Little Bit this month too. Here's where I was last month:




And 31 days later:



 Still stitching like a crazy woman and  hoping to put the last stitch in by the end of April.
 Then in May I can have it framed and add it to the Christmas box! I will be SOOOO glad to tuck this little fella away. I am getting tired of working on him and my quilting is suffering greatly.

Log Cabin Quilt in the Rain

Well, its about time. I can finally cross something off of that list I made at the beginning of the year!  This is my oldest UFO patiently awaiting its binding:

Its the second quilt I ever started back in 2008 and if you look closer (let's not and say you did), you can see that I had no idea how to sew a consistent 1/4" seam. Those strips are all over the place, but you know what? I love it anyway.

It measures 64x67 and in all actuality, it should be square, but those pesky 1/4" seams probably have something to do with that. Don't know what possessed me to choose a pattern that used 1.25" strips. You would think a quilt such as this would be a stash buster, but remember, this was only my second quilt so it turned out to be a stash builder. :) I seem to be on a roll when it comes to stash building.

 One day the strips began complaining that they were tired of being strips and it was past time they be sewn into a quilt. This actually started out as a different Log Cabin quilt with appliqued stars, but when I set the blocks out and added the stars, they just sat there looking grumpy.



 Finally I settled on this setting and happy contentment was reached.

The afternoon light really brought out the colors.

I just had Jackie quilt a stipple across it. I love stippling. It seems to make the quilt extra cuddly and I make most of my quilts to cuddle with. I stitched on the binding (my favorite part) when I was at my Mom's a couple of weeks ago and I planned on taking a picture or two on the way home through my beloved hill country. Wouldn't you know, it rained for 5 hours of the trip and by the time I drove out of the rain, I was no longer in the hill country. I was super excited about the rain though and I tried to coerce it to follow me home. Alas, my attempts went unheeded.

I grabbed this one and only shot when it wasn't absolutely pouring. I walked across the road, dodging raindrops and slogged through the bar ditch, to drape my quilt gingerly across the fence. I had to stop when I spied this spot. If you look close behind the quilt, there is a cross set amongst the rocks. I'm spending a lot of time on my knees lately and it made me think that although my quilting brings me, and hopefully others, much happiness, I should always keep my eyes on the cross.

Our daughter was home this weekend (yay!) and she broke it in so it is now officially a part of the family.

I'm jumping in on the fun over at Quilt Story for their  Fabulous Fabric Tuesday Party this week. Heather and Megan are uber talented and very gracious to let us all crash in on the party fun.

Missing Our Boy, New Friends, and More Pincushions

First off I want to thank all of you who took the time to comment on my previous post. I can not find the words to express how much your sweet words, kind comments, and precious prayers mean to me. I won't lie and tell you that tears were not involved. I printed out your comforting words and added them to the envelope that's headed his way tomorrow. Sent him a care package last week filled with a batch of his favorite cookies. Didn't feel like I could fit in as many as I wanted because of the way they suggest you package them. They say they will taste like they are fresh from the oven. I'm skeptical, but hopeful.

I have been reading this book called Love You More Than You Know, but it is slow going because the words are all blurry. :) . 

So, in my effort to stay busy, I've been cleaning my clean floors, washing my washed windows, raking the raked yard, and working on projects. :) I was in Texas for 5 days helping my Mom. I got the business and personal taxes all tended to and enjoyed catching up with her and some dear friends.

On my way through the hill country I was super excited to stop in and meet up with a precious blogging friend, Doniene , for the first time. Can I just say that I was so blessed and that I am thankful for my new found friend? We have so much in common and our visit wasn't nearly long enough. Honestly we just scratched the surface and then since then, we've come to know just how small of a world it really is. We met at the local quilt-wool-yarn shop that has everything you could ever want as well as things you never knew you needed. Then she treated me to a lovely dinner at the local Mexican Food place and I know that the food was amazing, but we were so busy chatting that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. Looking forward to our next visit!

Then I found out that I missed meeting another blogging friend by 1 day! She was at another Texas quilt shop the day after I was. I was so sad.

So, you're probably wondering if I'm going to show you anything or just keep chattering away. I'm still in pincushion mode. I made a few more chicken feeder ones. I made this one for Doniene:

And this one for me because I dearly miss the bluebonnets:


Then I made this one for fun:



I found the little cast iron kettle at the feed store when I bought all their chicken feeders.
I call it my Needle in a Haystack Pincushion. See the little hay bales on the fabric?


My family was not amused, but I thought it was brilliant. Ok, so not exactly brilliant, but cute nonetheless.
I'm joining in on the fun over at Sew Many Ways for her party this week. Hop over and prepare to be inspired.

I'll be back in a day or two because I actually have a finish to share with y'all!