Pincushion HD

I finished the pincushion that goes with my Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Tree Etui. I think I stuffed it a bit too much, but I'm happy with it. I just have the scissor case to stitch, and then I can start on the assembly of the tree. The page I linked to above has photos of the tree before assembly and a closeup of the roses.

The move: We've gotten the house in pretty good shape, and it's going on the market tonight. After the fires in Bastrop, the housing market has seen an upsurge, so now is the time for us to sell, even though we didn't fix everything we had planned to. We'd like to move to Austin to be closer to work. Mixed emotions about selling our first house together.

Roses from the Gingerbread Tree

I've been diligently stitching on my Gingerbread Tree Etui, a cyberclass from the Victoria Sampler. I love seeing Thea and watching her complete the stitches. Unfortunately I had to watch them after the live class since we went to the Hyatt on the first weekend and Sea World on the second weekend. Still, it's been a lot of fun, and I've finished stitching the four tree sides. Here you can see the roses on the four sides, each made with a different kind of stitch. I still need to bead the tree and stitch the scissor pocket before I can start assembling it. There's also a little pincushion I need to stitch.

I'm so looking forward to having this one sit next to my Gingerbread House. My chart for the church came in today too! They use a black linen for the roof, but I'm thinking of switching that to a dark brown.

Oh hey, and I think I finally found the magic button on my camera to make my closeups actually look clear!

Fall pin keep received from Sandra

I received this beautiful pin keep from Sandra. It's Fall Motif from Measure of a Year by Prairie Schooler, stitched on 28-count beige Jobelan. I love the way she finished it, with some of the cute backing fabric on the front too.

Gingerbread House HD

I finally finished putting together my Victoria Sampler Gingerbread House! See more pics of the house, biscornu, fob, and scissor case. I've had it stitched for a while, but I put off the finishing until I had completed Rose and Butterfly Quilt--I didn't have enough room to have both of them out at the same time. The finishing was very time consuming and had a lot of steps, but it wasn't that hard. The instructions were good, and there wasn't anything terribly tricky (much better than the Just Nan Trick-or-Treat box I put together). I'm very pleased with the results--so cute! I also redid the scissor fob that I wasn't happy with. I figured out what I had done wrong--I assumed the outline was over four threads like on the house--wrong. I also special-ordered some two-ply matboard, which made the piece thinner. Much better!

I finished this just in time to start working on the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Tree Etui. The class for that is tomorrow, and I've been scrambling to get some preparatory stitching done on it. I'm looking forward to it. We had a trial run this morning, and Thea Dueck is great. I'm also planning to get the Gingerbread Church, but I figure I'll order it after I finish the tree.

I had planned to take a photo of Rose and Butterfly Quilt by now, but I need to get the other two adults to help me. On the day I was about to do it, the wind really picked up. That was also the day the fires started.

Texas fires: In case you hadn't heard, much of Bastrop burned. We were very worried for a while, but we look safe now. I had all my finished cross stitch pieces boxed up and waiting to evacuate. Logan's daycare hasn't reopened, so we're having to work with him at home. Not easy, I can tell you!

Anniversary: Matt and I have been married for eight years today. Best decision ever!

Diet: At long last, I'm back on track. As much as I hate eating protein, I decided to go on the South Beach Diet. It has really worked. My appetite is down to nothing, and I stuck to the diet even through all the stress of the fires. I've tried South Beach before and had mixed success. I don't remember it cutting the hunger this much. It could be the combination of the diet and the Lap-Band, I guess. I've lost 53 pounds total now. Though I have a long way to go, I'm dreaming of skinny days!