Come Check Out My New Blog

Hello everyone, just a reminder if you'd like to stay in touch with me, I'll be at my new blog here. Hope to see you all there.

Hillery

22 Threads

I'M LEAVING YOU.....SORT OF!!

Well, it's the New Year and I'm in need of some purging, and totally revamping my life. Well, baby steps anyway. I've decided I am going to scrap this blog and start fresh. Have any of you done this before? It's not that I really want to forget or get rid of my accomplishments over this past year of blogging, but I NEED A CHANGE. I'm even thinking of cutting my hair...off!!! This blog has been dedicated to my love of cross stitch, but I love many more things and that will be the focus of my NEW BLOG. I haven't been one to delve to deeply into my life, my family or my home, that will change too in the NEW BLOG.

Well, I'm not going to ramble on much more, so if you wish to join my on my new journey, please visit me HERE.

Signing off,
Hillery

What a Great Day

This is how my morning started....Pilsbury and a coffee. Yum. I usually don't go for sweets in the morning, but it was just so easy.
This afternoon, the postman brought me not one, not two, but three parcels. Can you just imagine my excitement!!!

First up, my purchase from Victorian Sampler Motto. 4 yummy autumn hand dyed cottons. 20 yards each!!! You have to try these.

Next,

My win from Jennifer from Confessions a Serial Starter. She purchased two of these charts and I won one!!! Lucky me!!! It is charted for one color of your choice, but Jennifer has found one with several colors that gives me some inspiration.

Thank you so much Jennifer, this is one that I will stitch. I love it, and the floss is to dye for. HEE HEE.

Then.....

I received my order from ABC Stitch. I won a $100 gift certificate from Natalie from A Stitch in Time. I am so excited, I am still waiting on a couple of threads and a chart, but this is just amazing. Thank you so much Natalie. I picked up this cute chart of birds that I decided to brighten up a bit. I will use this turquoise fabric and brighten up the threads for the birds. I just thought these little birds were so interesting. The threads are over-dyeds from Carries Creations. I hadn't tried her threads yet, and they were very economical.

Well, as you can see I had a wonderful afternoon, fondling my new stash, the only problem is I just don't have any time to put needle to thread until after this semester ends.

Soon, very soon....

Thanks for stopping by,

Hillery

FCJC~A Challenge!!!!

Well, I'm on board with Jayne and decided to join her little (or big) SAL for the new year...

Flipp'n Crazy January Challenge...

This seems a little more doable than that other Challenge out in blogland that asks you to pick 15 new projects and start them in January to try to finish for the year. I do that anyway with out it being a challenge.

Don't know if I'll finish 15 next year, but I am willing to give this one a try.

No stitching to show, far too busy to stitch. I will have to wait for the new year to pick up a needle again.

Happy Stitching,

Hillery

And The Winners Are!!!!

I'm sorry, I am a day late with the announcement... My daughter was playing with her Mrs. Potato Head, so we decided to include her in the draw. The original Thanksgiveaway was one prize for one old follower, and another prize for a new follower. During that time I reached my 100th follower mark and decided to pick another name from all the comments.


So, without further ado..... The first prize goes to......





................................





AVERY CLAIRE!!!!!............

The 100th follower prize goes to..........................




VALERIE of Shenandoah Sampler!!!!!!..................



And, the New Follower prize goes to.........................








..............................






SHARON of Seaside Stitches!!!!

Congratulations to the winners. I wish everyone could win. This was fun, I can't wait to have more giveaways.
Please, girls contact me with your snail mails, I'll try to ship as soon as possible. The Christmas season is the worst shipping time ever.

Thanks for playing, and
Happy Stitching,
Hillery

Just About Two More Days

to enter the THANKSGIVEAWAY!! Please post your comments before midnight, Wednesday on the Thanksgiveaway post.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday!!

I Won!!!

I won the First Runner Up Prize on Dixie Samplar Designs Blog!!! If this was the first runner up prize, I can't imagine what the Grand Prize winner won. This was just too generous. The small box was so heavy when I picked it up, and to my surprise there was a horde of amazing items inside. First of all I just have to thank Terri so much, I don't think I deserve even half of it. There are some great fabrics and some yummy threads, a pile of fantastic charts. I can see myself stitching most of them. A cute little handmade fall ornament or scissor fob. (It is already on my scissors), some Halloween goodies, Candy that is already in my tummy (never made it to the picture), and other little items.

Thanks to Terri again,

Please sign up for my Thanksgiveaway if you already haven't, it will be my turn soon to make someone's day.

The Big 100

Well would you look at that. 100 hundred followers. I guess I'll have to pull another name out of the hat for a third prize. Please comment on the previous post to sign up for the THANKSGIVEAWAY!!

I've been real busy with school these past couple of weeks, I've forgotten how stressful it can be. At least I will be all done this semester. I've been trying to crochet a few Christmas presents, but I haven't finished anything yet. I am getting real close though. I will post pick in the next couple of days. Cross stitch has been put on the back burner for now, but I did pick up another Prairie Schooler Bird last night and put a few stitches in. Not enough to share.

Here is a pic from Halloween. This was the best pic I could get that the girls were both in the shot. Big sister cannot sit still for a camera at all. She's just too busy. Oh, well


Have a great day,
Hillery

Thanksgiveaway!!! It's My Turn!!!

Hello, fellow bloggers. I have been blogging for almost a year now and have had a wonderful time getting to know you all, through your blogs. I have enjoyed the many comments that you all have left and have felt lucky to have found so many people who enjoy the craft as much as I do. I have had a very busy couple of years with my small children and have not had a lot of time to stitch as much as I would like, but I know as time goes on I will stitch more and more. I have been the lucky winner of a few giveaways and now it is my turn

I have thus decided that I will host my own THANKSGIVEAWAY, to thank you all for stopping by my little part of blogland. This giveaway will be a surprise and will contain some stitchy related things from my stash, as of course I will not be able to use all of it.

This will be a giveaway with 2 separate prizes. I will have a drawing for those who are already followers and a drawing for any new people who become followers after this post.

I am not only looking for new followers here, I just know that sometimes I happen on new blogs myself through giveaways, and I thought this might be fun.

Rules are:
You must comment on this post only, for a chance to win.
You may post on your blog if you wish, but it is not a requirement for this giveaway.
Please remind me if you are a current follower or a new follower, this will help me out a bit.
I will be drawing 2 winners on Thanksgiving Day!!! Remember to please include your e-mail address if it is not accessable in your blogger profile.

Again, thank you all for stopping by. I'm glad I could share a little bit of my crafts and life with you.

Been Hooking

I've put cross stitching on the back burner for a few days and crocheted up these little hats. I do love crochet, and it seems I reserve it for the warmer months. The white one is for baby sister, although it is a little big, and the blue one is for big sister, although it is a little small. Go figure. I'll get it right sometime. I have started a few more, and I am pulling out a few that I started last year that need embellishments. I would like to get a few pics of the girls in them to show everyone.

I have another training tomorrow that will last the whole day. It will be nice to sit down tomorrow night and relax with a needle or hook.

Have a great day,

Hillery

Sew Winter Progress

Just a quick update on I Stitch, Sew Winter. There is a spot smack dab in the middle of the piece, which I thought was just lint, but I think it is a pen mark. I will have to hope some stitching will cover it up, or else I will have to just put some stitches there. We'll see how that works out. I won't be stitching tonight, it will be studying time.
Hope everyone has had a wonderful fall day.

Happy Stitching,
Hillery

I Should Be Doing Homework

Here is my start on I Stitch's, Sew Winter. I was going to do this one over one, but the white got lost in the light blue. I think if the blue was a little darker, it might have shown up better. I just love Carol's little samplers. I will have to purchase more. I started thinking that i have no rhyme or reasoning to the type of stitching I chose. I just love everything. I can't seem to make up my mind on what kind I like. Nature, fantasy, holiday, sampler, quaker, primitive, cutesy, smalls... I might just have to narrow down and find my favorite and stick with it. Does anyone else have this problem, or do you have your own favorite genre of cross stitch and stick with it?

Here is an update on the fabric I bought on Ebay that smelled of smoke. It was very simple really. I just left them outside for a full day on a not so sunny day, and viola...the smell is gone. I was just that easy. I wasn't expecting that. All of these pieces are larger than 12"x12" and I got it all for only $12.00 plus $3.00 for shipping. It was a deal considering the smell.

Well, I'm off to have dinner with the family. I made Gumbo tonight. Yum.

Good Evening,

Hillery

Small Finish

I have a finish from Prairie Birds from Prairie Schooler. I have started on another one, but I used the wrong green, so I will be frogging a bit. Hopefully I'll have that one done soon. I have so many ornaments stitched up this year, but not one fully finished. I know I'll be scrambling come December. I would like to do all twelve of these for gifts this year, but that's stretching it.

I think I have starteritis because I also started Sew Winter from Carol from I Stitch. I couldn't resist this one. I really wanted to do some fall stitching, but I can't seem to get away from Christmas ones. It's okay though, I love all Holiday stitching.

Hopefully I'll get a little more stitching in tonight.

Happy Stitching,

Hillery

Help~I Need Some Tips

I just received a package in the mail. Linen I bought on Ebay. They were not new, I knew this, however, they smell like cigarette smoke. And I don't mean just a little like smoke, it smells like the postman blew smoke all over them 20 minutes ago. All I can say is YUCK!!!!

How can I get the smell out? Hand wash? Should I surge the edges first? Does anyone have any ideas about what type of soap to use? Any tips would be helpful. Most of the pieces are nice and they are quite large. I would hate to get rid of them. I don't want the hassle of sending them back to the seller. I didn't spend that much.

Thanks,
Hillery

Merry Skater Finished

She's done...all but the beads, as most of the other ornaments are. I loved this ornament too. She worked up so quickly and I thought the fabric was perfect. I used my Spinach and Bing Cherry Crescent Colors, from the previous ornaments, again in this chart. I'll keep using them for this series as long as I don't run out. I have started on Prairie Birds, Prairie Schooler Ornaments, too. I just can't help it. I love to start new projects.

Well, off to cook supper and to do a little homework. I hope everyone had a lovely Sunday.

Happy stitching,
Hillery

Merry Skater

Here is my start on Little House Needleworks Merry Skater. I am using an opalescent Lugana that I never thought I would use and I think it's perfect for this. She is coming along quickly, and I might get her done this weekend, if I'm not studying, which is what I really should be doing. This ornament will be going to my Niece, who is an extraordinary figure skater. I saw the companion piece in the JCS Ornament issue, I might just do him too for my other niece. Maybe I'll turn him into a girl...

I have also been working on Margaret Harris, but it's slow going. I will get a pic of that soon. I am also eyeing Prairie Birds Ornaments from Prairie Schooler. I might just have to start something else.

Off to give the kids a bath. I can't wait till they can bathe together, just to eliminate a step.

Have a great night,

Hillery

Blackbird Designs

So, Friday I was wishing for some Fall type stitching, and I did get a couple good suggestions. However, yesterday I received in the mail some charts that I won on Ebay that I totally forgot about. Don't you just love surprises. Well, I think that this will satisfy my stitching itch.

I have no idea when I will be able to start on any of these. It is homework day for me. Back to school for one week and the homework seems just a little bit too much for me. I'll definitely need to get into a good routine in order to get things done. It's all a little bit daunting since I haven't be to school full time in over 12 years. AGHHHH!! Wish me luck.

Have a great day,

Hillery

New Look, New Schedule

Well, I've changed the look of my blog today, although it has been Sunny and in the mid 90's all week. We're getting a break from all of that, from today on out. It's been raining all night and I'm sure we'll get a little wind and more rain from Earl. I just love the colors of Fall. It is my favorite season. I've been itching to do a little Harvest stitching. Something small that I might actually finish this year.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a cute little Fall Design that I could find and stitch?
I just got my new LHN ornie in the mail yesterday from 123 Stitch, Merry Skater. I will be doing this one for my Niece, she is a fantastic figure skater. I started a little on her last night, and plan on doing a bit more today if I get the chance to do any stitching.
I just registered for Fall classes at the college. I might actually graduate this winter, if not then, next spring. I have to finish a Practicum and it all depends on that. Needless to say, I am going to be very busy with 2 little girls, 1 on site class, 1 on-line class and 135 hours of field work to accomplish this semester. Don't know if there will be enough time for stitching. I'll work some in, I'm sure.

I'll try to post my small start on Merry Skater later.

Happy Stitching,
Hillery

Finished Organizing

Here are my boxes all organized, finally. Finished it during nap time. I did have 4 full boxes but added 1 and half with the threads that I wound up yesterday. I found many in a lot of UFO projects. I do have many duplicates, but I used the DMC checklist and found that I am missing 20 thread colors. Not that I need them for anything right now, but I might as well just go purchase them and have the whole set. I don't own many specialty threads. I would love to have them all, but who can really afford that. I will just purchase them, (Sparingly) as needed.

Well, off to supper and bathe the kids. Hopefully they will get to bed early, so I can have some stitching time.

Happy Stitching,

Hillery

Organizing Continues...

So far I have turned this...




into this.

Next, it is time to place these into boxes. Stay tuned.

Hillery