WIWO - 8/31/2015

I did quite a bit of stitching this past week on two projects.  The first is the CT Ballerina that I'm doing for Quilts for Older Children and Adults.

Last Monday:

Today:

I set it aside on Thursday to start working on my project for the Americana SAL.  I'm working on an old UFO titled Let the Freedom Ring.
Before:

 Today:

In both cases the second picture has the truer colors.

First day of 2nd Grade

Today was the first day of school for Kyleigh and she's in second grade this year.  Every year I ask Janice to take a "1st Day of School" picture so here you go.

Kindergarten:

1st Grade:

 2nd Grade:

Happy Birthday, Janice!

Janice was born thirty-four years ago today. She was a fun, curious, very active baby and toddler.

Today she is a mother with a good job, a loving boyfriend and a child who's a lot like her.

Happy Birthday, Janice.  We love you very much and wish you many more happy birthdays to come.

A Day with Kyleigh

Kyleigh had both a dentist appointment and an appointment to get her hair cut this morning and she wanted me to go along.

She goes to a pediatric dentist who she really likes and got a good report--no cavities.  After the dentist, we went around the corner to a kids' haircut place where the kids get to watch movies or cartoons or play video games while getting their hair cut.  The girls also get their nails painted and a special hairdo when done.  Kyleigh had her hair done in an Elsa braid.

Front View:

 Side View:

Afterwards, we went to Soup Plantation for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby where Janice picked out her birthday present--she's decided to start playing with Fimo again.

WIWO - 8/24/2015

I didn't do much stitching this past week, but I did make some progress on the CT Ballerina I'm doing for Q4OC.

8/17/2015:

8/24/2015:

There's a lot of back stitching in this piece, but it really adds to the design.  I won't make my goal of finishing this in August, but I should manage to finish it early in September.

Jingles

Janice took the week off since Kyleigh's day care center is closed this week.  We all have Disneyland Annual Passes so we went to Disneyland.  We waited until 4:00 so that we could stay late enough to watch the parade and fireworks.  I also rented a wheelchair so that grandma wouldn't tire out before everyone was ready to leave.

It's the first time we went to Disneyland without spending any money (other than for the wheelchair).  Janice had made sack lunches so we didn't need to buy food.

We went on Peter Pan, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, Small World, Matterhorn, and Alice in Wonderland.  Kyleigh also went on the carousel and she and Devin went on the Rockets ride.

We also saw both parades and the fireworks, although we weren't in the best spot to see the castle during the fireworks.

The title of this post is Jingles because that is the name of the horse Kyleigh rode on the carousel.  She had seen a documentary about hidden Mickeys recently and knew there was one on that horse.  It's also the only one with a bell.

WIWO - 8/17/2015

This was a productive week as I had three finishes as well as a start.  First, the finishes:

You can find the details about these finishes in their individual Happy Dance posts.

 The start doesn't look like much yet, but there's only about an hour or two done on it (with some frogging involved).

It's Ballerina - Mindy from Cherished Teddies Sports & Occupations, Vol. 1.  This is what it should look like when it's finished.

And this is what it looks like now.

Joined another SAL

This time I joined the Americana SAL, also hosted by Kaye.  For this SAL you stitch on patriotic or Americana themed projects and report on your progress once a month.  The link is on my sidebar.

I have several UFOs that qualify as well as a few in my stash waiting to be stitched so I decided this would be a good SAL to join.  My first project is Let Freedom Ring, a very old kit from Sunset.  It was designed by Nancy Rossi from the Kooler Design Studio.

 

 This is where I am now, but it's been several years since I've worked on it.  I had pulled it out to stitch some this year though so this gives me a good excuse..  I've only stitched the top half of the project, but I hope to come close to a finish of this half by the end of August. 

Although the kit included 14-count white Aida, I switched it out for 28-count white Jobelan and I'm stitching it 2 over 2.

Happy Dance - Bell for Card

Started: 8/5/2015

Finished: 8/15/2015

World of Cross Stitching #144

This is stitched on 14-count white Aida with DMC floss.  I used the colors called for, but I eliminated the shading stitches so the bell, the leaves and the berries are stitched in one color instead of two.

This will go to WOCS to be made into a Christmas card for an elderly resident in a nursing home back east.

Happy Dance - Horse

Started: 7/21/2015

Finished: 8/14/2015

Alessandra Adelaide 

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida with DMC Variations 4135 (Terra Cotta).  

All stitchers submitting a square by the deadline will be placed in a drawing for a Q4OC 10th Anniversary tote bag and the submitted squares will go to Love Quilts Brazil.

Happy Dance - Santa Noel

Started: 8/6/2015

Finished: 8/10/2015

Mill Hill Charmed Santa Faces - Series II

I stitched this for the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 where the theme for August is Santa Claus / Mrs. Santa Claus. 

I used the perforated paper, floss and charm included in the kit.  The hanger was made using the Kumihimo technique with the three colors of floss from the band on Santa's hat.  It's the first time I've used this technique for a hanger, but it won't be the last.

The kit is dated 2002 and has probably been in my stash since for at least 10 years.  I guess it's about time it got stitched up.  I have a couple more of these in my stash so they'll probably come out to play sometime in the next couple of months.

WIWO - 8/10/2015

I felt like I had "Stitchers ADD" this week since I wasn't really able to stick with any one project after finishing the finger puppets.

First, I started a bell outlined in black as a card for WOCS, but only got part of the outline done when I temporarily lost interest.

I don't have a picture of what it's supposed it's supposed to look like because the only picture in the magazine is the chart and I didn't want to use that, but what you see is a leaf and part of the bell.

Next, I've joined the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 organized by Kaye and the theme for August is Santa Claus or Mrs. Santa.  I spent quite a bit of time looking through magazines and then decided to look through my stash instead.  I finally chose this one.  It's a very old kit that has been in my stash for years.

 I finished the face and beard and now just need to complete his hat and attach it to his face.

Finally, I wanted something to stitch at the Angels game and the bell still wasn't doing it for me, so I looked at the freebies that came with some of my UK magazines and decided on this little guy.

 It will be sent to Q4OC to be made into an ornament to be sold as a fundraiser.  The only progress I made was during the game, but I finished the black and started the white.

I hope to finish all three of these projects this week, but unfortunately, there are other things calling my name as well.

New Glasses

Kyleigh's frames were about ready to fall apart so, since she'd bought the Protection Plan, Janice decided to get her a new pair.  Kyleigh immediately found a pair of Elsa glasses that fortunately cost the same as her old ones. Since the frames were different, she also needed to get new lenses, which she needed anyway because the old ones were scratched.

This first picture I took to show Kyleigh why they had her put on the funny glasses. (Sorry it's crooked.)

Update on David
We went back to the doctor last week and he is on another cycle of antibiotics and is wearing a double compression stocking.  He seems to be doing much better now, but will have another checkup in September.

Friday Night

We went to another Angels game last night, this time to get the Garrett Richards bobblehead.  Kyleigh and Janice had fun under the heads before the game.  First, Kyleigh gave all Janice's change to the firemen with the boots collecting money for Muscular Dystrophy and then got to pretend to drive new Chevy Gulf (she also got a limited edition model.) Finally, she posted by the Mickey statue.

One of the ladies I used to work with was also at the game and she stopped by to say hi.  We went outside and caught up on what's been happening in the months since I left.  And when Janice came looking for me, Lily asked her to take a picture of us with her phone and kindly sent me a copy.

Janice and Kyleigh left the game in the bottom of the eighth inning because Kyleigh was getting tired.  On their way home, they passed our church and stopped to help paint the nursery.  (They're completely redoing the nursery this month and Janice, as the Nursery Coordinator, has been helping quite a bit.)  Kyleigh decided she wasn't tired anymore and got to help paint.

Happy Dance - Pirate Finger Puppets

Started: 7/22/2015

Finished: 8/5/2015

Cross Stitch Crazy #206

These were stitched on plastic canvas instead of the called for Aida.  I've purchased the felt and craft sticks to make them into hand held puppets, but haven't gotten a chance to do it yet.  

I plan to send them to WOCS when complete to go in one of the bags for kids that they distribute at Christmas time.

WIWO -8/3/2015

Since I was not home last week, I did very little stitching, but I did find a few moments to work on the pirate finger puppets.

That's the boy pirate that's only partially finished.  These are working  up quickly and I'm really enjoying stitching them.