Butterfly Afghan

I want to share the story behind my stitching project "Butterfly Afghan".

Back in 2006, I saw the first ad for this upcoming series in the Stoney Creek Collections Magazine.  I knew I had to have it...  So I collected all the magazines that year, then for Christmas my mom gifted me the afghan.  I just stored it away but knew someday I would get to it. 

With the passing of my mom in November 2017.  It was such a shock, leaving a huge hole in my heart along with my life.  She was my best friend, I would talk to her every day.  During that first year, my sisters and I divided up her cross stitch projects and some of her charts.  It was around then that I restarted stitching on a more regular bases.

So at the end of 2018, I started thinking about what I was planning to stitch in 2019.  I came upon the afghan....  It may sound weird to some but I just felt the love of my mom when I held that afghan.  I kitted it up and actually started stitching on in Dec 23, 2018.

My goal was to finish it in 2019....  I was moving along on the blocks and loved stitching on it but then something happened and I didn't want to make it a goal anymore.  I just want to enjoy stitching it and think of my mom as I do.  (Not make it a race... just feel the love and enjoy.)  So I have taken it off the goal list.  If you knew me that in itself is a challenge for me because I am very goal driven.

I know when I have it finished I will be able to wrap myself in that afghan feeling her love and connection.  It will forever have a special meaning to me. I am always looking for signs from mom so I can feel her with me on this amazing journey we call life. 

Week Wrap Up

Okay so really this is a two week update.... time is really flying by.  I would love to say I have been doing amazing things, but truly I am just working and doing mom duties.

So getting the boys from track practice daily, taking my daughter for a prom dress fitting, and trying to pull off dinner for them. LOL Okay a couple times the kids had to pull off food on their own.

I have been getting some stitching done at work everyday.  I had this quick finish this week though it was a little stubborn... It was a free design from Brooke's Books Publishing here scroll past the alphabet then you should find it.

I also had a finish that has been in my stash for years.  It is a limited edition Lizzie Kate pattern.

I am looking forward to the month of March, I am participating in a stitching challenge that WIPocalypse is holding where we put in one stitch a day as a minimum so here is where I am starting at....

A couple other updates I want to share are I am addicted to these project bags that I have learned to make thanks to the help of a friend and YouTube. I have 10 of them now but here are my latest ones.

And lastly today I did some fully finishes I am giving you a sneak peek because I will be posting all my fully finishes this next weekend.  I have had this set stitched and sitting in a box since 2006-2007, but here is one.

I have build my confidence from seeing other finishes and watching The Real Housewives of Cross Stitch Priscilla & Chelsea on YouTube.  Lastly, just to leave you with a tease my sister and I are going to do some fabric dying next weekend to stay tuned.

People's Choice... Freebies

It is the first Saturday of the month and I am excited about the topic for the People's Choice this month.  This is a SAL held by Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching we get a theme then blog about it so this month is....

                             Freebies

I love to gather and save free patterns from my favorite designers but....  the problem is I do not stitch them often.  But Lizzie Kate is one of my favorite designers and here is where you can get Lizzie Kate freebies.

I can't wait to see the other blogs sharing about their freebies.  Please jump over to Jo's blog that I linked above and enjoy the other freebies.

Can't wait to see you next month.

February WIPocalypse 2019

Hello again.  Last Sunday of the month, so this is when we check in with the WIPocalypse. You can check out the others doing this SAL here.  Anyway, I feel like I had very short month.  We went on a small vacation well...with the pre time and all I didn't stitch for like 10 days.  This makes for a poor showing this month.  I did get a couple small finishes done but I am/have shared them on other blog updates.  So that leaves me to share that I only worked on Stitching Fairy this month for a total for 4 days this month and a total of 6 days for the project to far.

With this SAL we are given a question to answer if we would like (that is why I love this get to know each other part). So without further waiting here is the question.


What do you listen to while stitching?

I listen to/watch Flosstube right now. (This slows down my stitching as I stop to take notes on things I must have. LOL)   I also have a habit of watching Netflix.  I can also be caught listening to a Podcast.  I can sometimes be so random.  

As always I want to thank you for stopping by and hope you have a beautiful day.

February Smalls Finish SAL

Hello my friends... I am a couple days late but never the less here is my February Smalls Finish SAL.  This is fun little SAL (stitch a long) to have small projects finished for the end of the year.  I actually have a two finishes but I am saving one for my fully finishing update.  Anyway to see the others stitchers that participate in this SAL you can check them out here.

I am so happy to share my Stoney Creek Quote of the Month finish.

Thank you for stopping by and seeing this fun finish.

Outfit of the Day

I see this everywhere on social media and I get so tickled about it mainly because I am a factory worker so yeah I feel like I look the same always.  Lol  

Also, I work 3rd shift so my non work outfit is either lounge clothes or if I am at a period in my life that I am trying to be healthy (aka workout) then I am sporting a fun workout outfit.

Anyway I thought it would be fun to show you a couple pictures of my outfits of the day.


Enjoy and if you feel so inclined share away with your outfit of the day.

Week Wrap Up

Hello and welcome back.  So I have been doing a Monday blog on just hobby updates but sometimes my best plans of stitching on a weekend do not go as planned....   Ugh.  Now I am deciding to just do a recap of the week the best I can.  LOL



I have been back from vacation for a whole week and let me just say the struggle is real.  I did not want to cook this week at all it seems and that is really not a choice with 3 teenagers at home.  I guess the all inclusive resort we were at spoiled by butt alot.  Well we made it through and no one starved to death.



My kids missed a couple days of school this week due to weather.  They have to do something called elearning on days that are canceled and they just HATE it.  There is no such thing as a SNOW day around here any more.  These kids truly are missing out of the joy of snow days but it goes along with the change of times.



Then Friday night my husband had a few people over to play golf in the garage.  If I can find a picture I will post it here.  But basically he has a golf simulator that he can use that makes him feel like he is on a golf course.  They had so much fun!!!



Saturday and Sunday I was able to get some stitching in...  I worked on my Stitching Fairy was happy to start the wings. 

I had a finish with February "Year of Celebration" and then I did some fully finishes. (Saving those for later.)   I am so excited about that!!  I watch Priscilla & Chelsea-The Real Housewives of Cross Stitch on Flosstube and all I can say is they inspire me to do things myself.  It is amazing how you can get a boost of confidence from them.  



Oh I had a visitor in Sunday for a few hours.  My sister came over for most of the afternoon and we stitched!!!  I also was showing her flosstube.  We do not get to see each other often so it was a very nice visit. I wish I would have taken a picture :(



So that is that for my week....  Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you and chat with you next week.  Hugs and Kisses....

Traveling....

I got to thinking with my recent vacation.... where have I traveled to and where else do I want to travel to?  

I know that I have been blessed to have traveled outside of the USA but I also treasure my trips within this great country.  When it comes to outside the USA, I have only been to Mexico and just inside Canada.  So world traveler I am not....  Sometimes I dream about traveling the world but other times I am like "Why?" there are still so many places I want to go inside the USA.  At one time I thought it would be so cool to get to all 50 states.  I still think about doing that sometimes. 

Again, I realize how blessed I am for that.  I remember my childhood.... my parents took us kids on 2 vacations that I remember so many details about.  The first was to Cincinnati, Ohio.  I was 9 years old we went to the a Reds game (baseball), the zoo, and Kings Island (amusement park).  Then when I was 15 years old, we went to Florida for our Christmas vacation.  We went to Kennedy Space Center, Disney world, then rented a condo on the Gulf side to finish up that vacation.  I treasure those memories so much, I know my dad had to work very hard to pull off those vacations for us girls.

At one point with my job I would travel a different major city in the USA every year that was so much fun.  They would pay for everything for me, I looked forward to this trip every year.  Then once my daughter was born her and my parents would fly in to stay part of the week with me at that destination. So we would get to go out and explore. 

Its funny how my thoughts go from wanting to explore the world to just my little piece of the world.  Even now I have a list in my phone of places I want to take my kids to see knowing that we will see little pieces of this beautiful world.  But I would not be honest if I didn't also say that I look forward to my vacations where I stay home and just take a break from the everyday life schedule.

Some of my self reflections have came about because of me doing this blog thing.  When I read other blogs and how people just slow down and enjoy there weekend/weeks at home it makes me realize that even in this chapter of my life I have to slow down enough to take in the moments.  So that is where I am at.... taking in the moments but also dreaming big because that is just who I am.  

Where do you like to travel?  What are your favorite spots? I look forward to hearing what you have to say. 

Until next time....I hope you have a great weekend/week.                 Much Love!!!

Update Hobbies on Monday

So I skipped a week of updates since I was on vacation.  I didn't do any stitching during vacation but I have a couple finishes from the last week of January/ first week of February.

First finish is Stoney Creek Quote of the month.

Then I saw this next chart stitched and I had to have it!!!!  The Scarlett House 2019 complimentary Valentine Day pattern "Love".

These are all I have gotten done... but life is back to normal and I am back to the grind at work and stitching.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Winter Escape

My husband and I went on a small vacation that was needed in a very bad way.  So off to Cancun, Mexico we went.  We met up with a couple of his older brothers and their wives.  We stayed at the Riu Palace Costa Mujeres a new resort that opened in Nov 2018. 

 

When we arrived Jeff and I had to get down to the ocean.  I was so excited to feel the sand and ocean.  

This was an all-inclusive resort so plenty of food and drinks.  We even caught a Micheal Jackson show.  At the resort next to us we were able to use their water park so better believe I checked out a couple of the slides.  

We took a day to go on a day trip.... it included snorkeling in the ocean, swimming off of Isla Mujeres, and then being dropped off on the island for a few hours.  While on the island we rented a golf cart to explore.  Off we went to the far east of the island where we saw iguanas, a few shops, but also the most beautiful view.  

On our last full day there we hung out at the pool with the family mostly but we did take a last stroll down where the sand meets the ocean.  I also scored a massage for half off from a setup off the resort.  Yes I will take a massage while listening to the ocean.  

Travel day home was hard...it was a long day and then the change of temperature by 50* that was rough. 

People's Choice... Hearts

It is the first Saturday of the month and I am excited about the topic for the People's Choice this month.  This is a SAL held by Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching we get a theme then blog about it so this month is....

Hearts <3

Since I was a little girl I loved making hearts on my papers or letters we passed at school.  How can you not love hearts....they are a symbol of love.

My heart goes out first to my little family over here. 

Then my mother who has left this earth but I feel her with me always had such a big heart,

Outside of my family some of my stitching that I have hearts on them are as follows.  One of my biscornu finishes is a heart pattern.

Here a few other hearts I have around.  

 This next one is very special to me as my daughter stitched it for my birthday present one year with the help of my sister to finish it.

 And lastly this is a piece I stitched of many things that I love in my heart.....

 Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to next month for the People's Choice SAL.