I am so glad that October is basically over

As you know I planned the math conference for the beginning of the month.  What I didn't post is that my mother went in the hospital the day before.  She stayed in for 12 days then came home.  She has been convalescing until Friday morning when we had to rush her back to the hospital.  Well she has been in ICU for the weekend but is now being moved to a room.  Hopefully she will get to go home soon.  Keep us in your prayers for a fast and full recovery.

 On the stitching front.  I finished one of the Geometric Needlepoint patterns while my mom was in the hospital earlier this month.  I framed it for her and it hangs in her stitching room.  This weekend I finished a fleece blanket with owls on it.  You know the one - cut and tie knots.  I also finished crocheting 4 Halloween trick or treat skull bags for the 4 youngest - and still trick or treating - boys.  They are so cute.  I already have request from the 7 and 5 year old for a pumpkin and a Frankenstein for next year.

I've been working on several things but it has been slow going.  Hopefully I will be able to finish some stuff the month of November.  When things slow down, I will post pictures of the Halloween bags and  framed needlework for my mother.

Well I am exhausted.  Trying to keep myself awake until it is a decent time to go to bed.  I think I will go stitch for a while.

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

Yeah I survived

I survived the conference.  I planned and executed a regional mathematics conference for community college faculty by myself (for the most part).  It had a bumpy start (I forgot to print extra forms and someone who was helping me started the conference early.)  but it went smoothly after that. 

We had a wonderful presenter, Elayn Martin Gay - textbook author.  Her presentation was wonderful and useful on helping students to get organized to learn.  Then she show everyone how to make a latern with Kirigami.

Afterward, we had 3 breakout sessions with 3 presenters per session.  The continental breakfast by Spoondance Catering was great along with the pulled pork/ pulled chicken meal from Squealer's of Meridian.  If nothing else, the attendees were well fed.

I am happy that it is over. 

At the business meeting I was elected Mississippi Vice President and Chair of the Policies and Procedures committee.

Well got to go to work
Thanks for stopping by to read my ramblings.

Sharon

Hectic Week

Hey everyone,

I have been planning a conference.  I'm days away from the conference and think I'm about ready for the conference.  The group is math instructors from local community colleges.  We have a textbook author as our keynote speaker which is great.  I'm so ready for this to be done.  I hope that I will actually be able to visit with my friend and enjoy the conference.  Well, got to go prepare the goodie bags

Sharon

I finished a couple more projects yesterday and today.  I finished the 13th block in the Kick Back and Stitch - Geometric Series that I have been working on for a very long time.  I finished the "Frozen Lake."  While I was working on it Liz's daughter Michelle asked if she could have it.  Well since there are 16 of them I thought why not.  She is going off to the university in a few weeks and her birthday is at the end of the month.  So I finished it for her.  Then I had to decide how to frame it .  Well Friday, Liz and I were killing time before our movie "Charlie St. Cloud" (a three hankie movie) at Hobby Lobby and found these floating frames that were on sales.  So I bought one to try for Michelle's gift.  It worked wonderfully.  See.




 I like how it looked so much that I decided to frame my other ones the same way.  The only difference is that I was going to frame 4 at a time.  This solved my problem "What do I do with them when they are finished?"  I think I am going to frame them seasonally this year.

The other project that I finished was the Erica Michael's freebie for August.  I had the large flower and g-u-s-t finished Friday.  On Saturday, Michelle asked me to ride with her to Paul's Pastry in Picayune, MS to pick up her birthday cake.  I said yes.  So, I stitched on August while she drove (it was 1 hr one way).  I really like this one.



Now I am off to bed.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon

Finishes for Today

Last night I finished two of the patterns that I have been working on this month.  I finished the Quaker Owl and the July installment of Erica Michael's Rainbow Gallery Freebies for 2004.  I used DMC floss for the red and blue then used Rainbow Gallery Hi-light for the red, white, blue, and gold sparkles.  I hope to finish April through July as magnets this weekend.

The Quaker Owl was stitched on linen with Sampler Thread - Picnic Basket.  I want to finish it as a stand up - kind of like a stuffed animal.  I think it is beautiful.  I am very happy with it.  Now I plan on doing the Quaker Bat in Dracula's Cape on Silkweaver's Rock Quarry.





Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon

Quaker Owl

Last week I worked exclusively on my Quaker Owl.  As for the head of the owl, I have stitched that thing 3 times.  The first time I was completely finished with the right part of the head, the eye and ear on that side.  As I was finishing the beak I noticed that it wasn't centered on the circle that is the belly.  Soooo, I ripped it out and stitched it again starting at the beak.  Then when I was almost finished with the right side of the head I realized that it was one row up.  Soooo, I ripped it out and stitched it again.  Correctly this time.  Why did I rip it?  because it is a symmetrical pattern and the mistakes would be obvious.  So now I have only the lower left side of the face and the left wing to finish.  BUT,  I ran out of thread which was a specialty thread.  So, today I will go by Shakespeare's Peddler and pick up some of the floss.  I wanted to finish it this weekend and complete some other projects but that didn't work.  So I hope to finish everything this coming up weekend.

I'm in my last week of classes for summer school.  The Lord has blessed me greatly this summer with two summer classes at two different community colleges - one in June and one in July.  He has also blessed me this fall with two classes at each school - two on MW at one school and two on TR at the other, along with my tutoring job at Sylvan.  I feel very happy and blessed today.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings.  May your day be wonderful

Sharon

Going to the Movies

Did you know that I have never seen the back of a movie theater in all of my life?  Nope. Never. At least not until Tuesday night.  My friend/cousin Liz's daughter Michelle wanted to go to the midnight showing of "Eclipse".  We bought our tickets on Monday then got to the theater around 9:30 pm (the movie starts at 12:11 am).  The line was already wrapped around to the back.  We had to stand by the dumpster that is about the halfway mark for the building.  When we went to the midnight showing of Transformers 2 it was nothing like this.  Well, they started letting people in around 11.  When we got to the front we could see the end of the line which was near the front doors.  They only let people in on one side but not the other to avoid the end of the line turning around.

Anyway all 18 theaters had "Eclipse" running and every  theater was sold out.  It was an experience that I enjoyed.  Everyone was nice and polite going in and during the movie.  We were worried that the guy above us was going to heckle the movie the entire time but he quieted down when the movie started.  I had a good time.  The movie kept me interested which is hard at midnight (my usual bed time).


We got out of the theater around 2:30 am but sat in the parking lot until about 3.   The traffic was awful.  I didn't get home until 3:40 am.  Thank goodness that I didn't have to work the next morning.  BUT, I was up at 8:00 am. Oh well.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.


Sharon

Afghans and Quilts

My boss Brittany is having a baby girl!  Yippee I get to work with something pink.  Oh sorry.  I got a little excited.  I only ever get to work with boy colors for afghans.  So I decided to give her about 3 blankets.  One blanket will be fabric with rick-rack around the edges.  The second one will be fabric with crochet around the edge.  The third and final one I crocheted.  It is sooo soft.  I love it.  I bought the yarn reduced for quick sale at Hobby Lobby.  The pattern I used called for 4 balls but I only used two.  It is a big baby afghan.  Brittany loved it and has shown it to everyone.  I hope to get the other two to her before she leaves at the end of June.

After I crocheted her baby blanket, my sister Jennifer made rag quilts for her boys as well as Theron & Tucker.  They were so cute that I wanted one.  So when I found out that Hancock Fabric had moved and was having a grand opening I went and bought some fabric.  The making of the quilt was fairly simple.  That is once I fixed the bobbin on my mother's sewing machine.  (She had been fussing for months about it messing up.  It really does help to read the manual when you have a problem.  The bobbin was too loose but we fixed it.)  The hardest part of the whole thing was the cutting.  I had trouble with using the rotary cutter but finally figured it out.  Then I pinched a nerve in both of my thumbs using regular (and brand new) scissors instead of the scissor specifically designed for this type of quilt.  But,  it turned out beautiful.  My thumbs are still recovering (2 weeks later).

 

THE FRONT

 

THE BACK

My mother loves the back over the front.  I love both sides.  I can't wait to use it.

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

Erica Michaels' Rainbow Gallery Freebies 2004

 

I am working on stitching Erica Michaels' Freebies from 2004.  These are the ones I have completed so far.  I changed the threads in order to use DMC floss. I started off doing well and finishing the magnet but I have been slacking.  Maybe this weekend I can finish stitching July then make them all into magnets.

These are easy and fun to stitch.  I probably should have chosen a smaller thread count.  But it is easy to stitch.

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon Clark

April Activities

Well I haven't had internet for several weeks now. It has been torture, no emails, no blogging, no farming...I mean Facebook posting {; I have finished several things. I have pictures but not with me. I will post them tomorrow or Tuesday. The semester is drawing to a close. I have class on Monday and finals on Wednesday and Thursday. I hope to have a fun summer this year with not a lot of working like last year.

On to what I have finished. Crochet: two dishcloths and two glass-like containers. I have two afghans left from Christmas to crochet and a baby blanket for my boss Brittany. Needlepoint: I finished snow day. Cross-stitch: I finished the Lizzie Kate Flip It Blocks with Charms (12 patterns) and Bent Creek's Red Thread. I finished Erica Micheal's April Block.

I started stitching yesterday on the Quaker Halloweens - Owl and Erica Micheal's May block. I hope to stitch more for the next few weeks between classes.

I have also been spending a lot of time trying to de-stress due to being semi-retired (working part-time) with limited insurance. I hope and pray for a full-time or part-time with full benefits job for the fall. Keep me in your prayers for the job. I've started listening to relaxing music and walking early in the morning. I take my nephew Leif in the stroller on the walk and try to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells. It seems to be working some. I need to get a weekend away from everyone and everything and just relax but you know how that goes. The good thing is that I had this Saturday off and will have next Saturday off also. Yippee!!

Well got to go. I left my nephews in the other room playing on the Wii. They are 6 and 4 which means they need to be monitored.

Thanks for stopping by,

I will post again soon with pictures.

Sharon

March Activities

I will be honest, I have been playing games on Facebook most nights rather than stitch. But, today I completed 3 projects that I have in my UFO. The first is a project that my local EGA group worked on during a business meeting 4 or 5 years ago. All I had left to do was to put the fabric on the top, the divider in the middle, and the hinge. I decided that I didn't want the hinge or the divider in the middle. So I finished it today.

The second project is not quite as old but it is at least 3 years old. This project was titled "Mini Birdhouse Needle Box" from Charted Imagery/Needleboxes, etc. My sisters and I bought these at Hobby Lobby years ago. Jennifer finished her the same year she bought it. Bridget was working on hers when I was finishing mine. All I had to complete on it was the roof and the thimble box. I had the fabric for the thimble box but didn't for the roof (at the time). I found some fabric in my fabric box today that worked wonderfully for the roof. When I finished it, I gave it to my mother. She loves it and is going to put it in her sewing room.

The last project that I completed today was my Erica Michaels 2004 Freebie March. I have had the stitching finished since the end of February but only just made it into a magnet. Now I need to finish the April stitching and magnet before the end of this month.

Yesterday I worked mostly on my Miriabilia Rose of Sharon. I have just about finished her head and upper body. I had to go to Hobby Lobby to get some thread to finish her arms but haven't stitched on her since last night. She is coming along beautifully.

As for my Red Thread I have the words "stretch and tangle but never breaks" to finish and then add the buttons. I am ready to finish some more projects. I plan on working on my stitching more this next month. We will see.

Well got to go grade papers. Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon

February Completions

First let me just say that my brother Pete is AWESOME. He saved all my pictures that I deleted. Here is one of Leif and me. Isn't he adorable?Okay, on to the stitching. I haven't finished a whole lot but I did complete stitching the Erica Micheal's March Freebie from 2004. Now I need to make it into a magnet. I stitched it on 16 count Aida (trying to use it up) with DMC. I worked on my Red Thread border until I ran out of Dark Chocolate. I have about 1/6 of the top border to finish and the majority of the words. I will be working on it tonight. I have a day and a half to finish it this month.

I am working on finishing a couple of other projects while I work on the Rose of Sharon from Miriabillia. I want to finish them and get them out of my basket.

Well got to go. Leif is wanting my attention

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon

Pictures May be Saved

I talked to my brother Pete last night. He said he might be able to save the pictures on my memory card. Woohoo!! I am so happy. The majority of the pictures were from my nephew Leif's first birthday party. I am happy.

Beware! Genius at work?!?

I am so mad at myself right now. I was transferring my pictures from my camera to my laptop and lost over 70 pictures. Most of which were pictures of my nephew Leif's first birthday. Well it is not like the "Clarkarazzi" didn't take a bazillion pictures. But, I deleted all the pictures I took this month. With my mom's digital camera, you connect it to the computer with a wire then move the pictures to the computer then delete the pictures. With my camera, you take out the memory card and put it into the computer then move the pictures. Well I moved the pictures from one folder then deleted it. The problem is when I deleted that folder the computer deleted all the folders on the memory card. Darn it!!! I tried to undo and all it did was put the photos I moved back on the card. I'm waiting on my brother Pete to call me back to see if there is a way to restore the pictures.

On a lighter note, I completed a couple of things. The first one was the next installment in the Kick Back and Stitch Geometric Club. The name of it is Forest Glen. It didn't take long to finish it, but I didn't stitch much the last couple of weeks. I have 5 more to go but since it snowed I chose to start the Snow Day pattern next. (I skipped one pattern.) I will be glad to finish this club and start back on my Halloween Pudgy club. I have eight panels to stitch and have only stitched 1/2 of one. I hope to finish stitching and have it put together before Halloween this year.


The second thing I finished was a plastic canvas love bug. I finished it on the 13th right before Valentine's Day. I have two pattern books that are seasonal. The first one was given to me by my friend Lorrie. The patterns are suppose to be window hanging with suction cups on the front, but I put magnets on the back to hang them on the refrigerator. The second book is actually designed to be magnets. They are smaller and egg shaped. I had already completed the lovebug years ago. I designed the Mardi Gras egg based on the candy corn egg. But, as you can see my nephew Theron got a hold of it and made it pretty. Actually there were Mardi Gras coins glued to the egg where the garland is missing but he removed them to play with them. I have to fix it.

I have stitched the face and started the arms on the Rose of Sharon pattern. I ran out of "Dark Chocolate" before finishing the border on my Red Thread series. So I started stitching the words in Gentle Arts "Cranberry".

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

January Works

Well I didn't do what I wanted to do in January. That is, blog once a week but this month will be better. Today I will show the projects that I finished in January and my progress on the ones I'm working on at the moment.

First up is the Mirabillia Christmas Fairy. I worked on this project ever since the pattern came out. I stitched it on Silkweaver, Rock-A-Bye, 32-ct Opalescent Lugana. I stitched the shoes and the dress, then I gave up. It got to the point where I could not see the holes in the fabric. So I asked my sister Jennifer to finish it for me. She agreed to finish it. Once she started she had trouble with the fabric also. The thread would split and it was hard to see the holes. But, she finished it anyway. It turned out beautifully. I think I am going to frame it for next Christmas.


The second finish was the Christmas Present Afghan for my brother-in-law Tim. I crocheted the March afghan from Leisure Arts "Birthstone Afghans by Carole Prior. The name of the afghan is Aquamarine. I started this in December after working on Dad's afghan. Dad's afghan had 8 rows that repeated. This one only had one row. You would think that I could have finished it before Christmas not a month later. I crocheted using Red Heart Soft Navy Blue that was in the super size (16 oz.). I am going to wash it (since I dog loved to rub against it), then give it to Tim today when I get off work.



The third and final finish are the Erica Michaels 2004 freebies for Rainbow Gallery. We as I posted earlier, I had finished cross-stitching them earlier in the month, but made them into magnets on Sunday. On Sunday, Jennifer showed me how to make them into magnets. She finished the February while I finished the January. I think that they turned out beautiful.


As for my active project, I have 4: Kick Back & Stitch's Forest Glen - needlepoint, BC's Walking in a Winter Snapperland, Miriabillia's Rose of Sharon and the border on BC's The Red Thread.

The first project is KB&S' Forest Glen. When we got together and stitched in January, I finished the squares/borders. Then Saturday while I was at Liz's watching Human Target, I stitched 1-1/2 of the 4 boxes. My goal is to finish it today. This pattern was part of a needlepoint club I joined a few years back. The club contained 18 patterns of which I have stitched 12 and am working on the 13th. When I finish this set then I plan on working on the other club that I joined at the same time. Then I have several needlepoint projects that I bought back in 2006 when I moved back home. There isn't a needlepoint store in the area.

The next project is BC's Winter Snapperland. I've decided that I will do the border with each square (even though there are only four). I don't want to have this pattern end up like my red thread project (all but the border done). I'm stitching it on Silkweaver's Winter Skye, 32-ct Opalescent Lugana with DMC floss. I have some colors that I need to buy to finish the project.



The third project is Mirabillia's Rose of Sharon. I'm stitching this on linen fabric that I bought about 15 years ago. When my nephew Patrick was born, I bought some linen to stitch the Precious Moments Noah's Ark for his birth gift. The plan was to make it a wall hanging. Well the project has been stitched but not made into a wall hanging. Do you think that a 15-year-old boy would want a Precious Moments Noah's Ark hanging on his wall? Well maybe he can use it for his baby when he get grown, a job, and a wife. Anyway, this fabric was leftover from the project. I have had the Rose of Sharon pattern since at least 1992 when I moved to Lafayette and bought it at Stitch n Frame. The girls I stitch with decided that each one of us will work on a major project that we have wanted to work on for a long time. So I picked this one. I have stitched from the shoulder down in the middle area of the dress. This is going to be a lot of work. When I finish this one I think I do the one with the American Flag. I bought it for next to nothing at Michael's and it included everything.


Finally, I am working on the border of BC's Red Thread. I'm stitching the border with Gentle Art's Dark Chocolate but I will run out before I get to the words. So, I've decided to stitch the words in a red different from the "Red Thread" in the pattern. I hope to finish this project this month.

Well, I think I have blogged about everything I'm stitching on this month. I plan on blogging every week instead of every couple of weeks like last month. Thank you so much for stopping by and looking at my work. I appreciate it very much.

Have a great day

Sharon

Projects completed this week

I finished the Erica Michaels 2004 February at Jennifer's last weekend. I haven't stitched on any projects since then. I have been crocheting on Tim's afghan. I only have a few more rows to go then around it twice.

Christmas Ornaments Completed - Last year

Jennifer & Mari's Trees










Bridget & Pete's Trees






Mine & Mama's Trees

Every year the ladies in my family make homemade ornaments and exchange them (in addition to presents). This year I gave Christmas trees. I got a pattern from Lily for the Christmas tree. I crocheted the smaller tree. Instead of plain buttons, I used seasonal buttons to make it look like a decoration. I think they turned out really cute. The girls (and my brother Pete) really enjoyed them. Note: since Pete isn't married I also give him an ornament for his tree.