I'm famous!

I showed off my ladybug adaptation in a comment on the DMC site, and they reposted it. I'm famous! :)

Rose and Butterfly Quilt block 14

This block took a little longer because of vacation and my addiction to Laurell K. Hamilton (more on that later). The basket didn't have any backstitching in the chart, like the instructions and the other three baskets prove that it should. I asked Martina, and she said to just use the other baskets as a reference if I wanted to backstitch it. I wasn't quite happy with that answer (which is also what she said to do about the antenna for the third butterfly) -- I felt the chart should be corrected -- but I got it done. I did restitch the butterfly's antennae, and I like them better now.

Laurell K. Hamilton: I read her Merry Gentry series first, and there's sex all over the place. I then read her Anita Blake series, which began much more tame, though still violent. Then eventually this series began to be about sex all over the place, with multiple men. They say that what you write reveals more about yourself than about the characters. If so, then wow. The strange thing is that I can find many flaws in the books and really would like more story than sex, but I really want to know what happens to her characters. They're fascinating. I guess that's the proof of a good author. One more book from the library and then I have to wait on her to come out with new ones.

Cupcake critters

I made the spider pincushion recently from a DMC pattern. It was the first time I had used memory thread (basically thick thread with a copper wire inside). I like it! (Matt had to point out that this is not a spider but a harvestman since it doesn't have a separate head and abdomen.) Oh, and I'll be giving away a spider pincushion in October, along with some other goodies.

I adapted the pattern to make the ladybug pincushion for my mom's friend, who's crazy about ladybugs. I think the trickiest part is finding a ribbon or cording to go around the piece. The surface is uneven -- the top is taller than the bottom, so a ribbon with no stretch just kind of hangs there unattractively.

Vacation: We recently went to Galveston and stayed at a nice (but expensive) hotel on the beach for the weekend. We finally found a vacation Logan enjoyed! We went to the Rainforest Cafe. For those of you who have never been, the restaurant is jungle themed and has animatronic animals that go off at set times. The first time the monkeys started moving, Logan clapped his hands over his eyes and refused to remove them. I was very disappointed because I love this kind of thing and hoped he would too. He eventually watched the show and even enjoyed it. Outside, a volcano spit flames and smoke, which was awesome. The food's mediocre and overpriced, but you go there for the show, not the food. We also went to Moody Gardens and saw the aquarium, which Logan actually paid attention to (unlike Sea World the previous year when he was two and a half). We took a paddlewheel ride around the bay; that took too long to hold his attention. He really enjoyed the beach and playing in the sand with his toys, even though he had to wear a jacket because it was cold -- yes, Texas in May. Weird. He didn't want to go in the water, so I carried him and waded into the waves up to mid-thigh. He clung to me like a monkey so he could watch the waves. I wish we could have stayed longer.

My husband the engineer: Matt finished his last class and is now an electrical engineer. He starts his new job tomorrow. I am so proud of him. It's not easy going back to school. I can see why he couldn't manage working 60+ hours a week and going to school. School alone took all of his time. It's nice to have my husband back. Even doing housework together is fun.

Promotion for me: I'm getting a promotion at work and will be a supervisor again. I haven't been a supervisor for about eight years because I'm a full-time telecommuter. Work is going to try to get me an office in Austin, but it's still not the same city as the people I supervise. Challenging but not impossible!

Rose Quilt block 13

Not far now! I went back and added the antennae to the last butterfly I did. Martina said she had forgotten to give him any.

We're going on vacation this weekend to Galveston. I've been agonizing about what stitching to take with me. I don't want to take anything I can't wash, and I don't have anything like that ongoing right now. I don't really want to start anything new -- the desire isn't even there, which is weird. I'm on a mission to get my WIPs out of the way. But it's either start a new small or have nothing to stitch on (unthinkable). Decisions, decisions....

Gingerbread Stitching House fob

I've been working on Victoria Sampler's Gingerbread Stitching House for a while, but I decided to do the finishing on the fob, which I've had stitched for a while now. It's very tiny and very cute. But am I satisfied? Not quite. The instructions called for 2-ply mat board, which I didn't have, so I used 4-ply. That made it a little bulky, which makes the stitching around the edge a little stretched and not very nice looking. I did a second round of stitches around the edge, which helped some, but it still bugs me. I should have just left the mat board out. Even with 2-ply, I think it would have been too bulky. I'm not going to restitch it, so I'll have to make myself be satisfied with it. I really wish I didn't drive myself crazy like this. I try to remind myself of something a friend once told me: If you want perfect, a machine will give you perfect. Something being handmade means it's imperfect, and that's what makes it beautiful.

Rose and Butterfly Quilt block 12

Here's the latest installment. I don't know why my pictures always come out blurry. Matt tells me to read the manual, but....

Books: I made my last purge of books. So far I've gotten rid of 480 books. I'm rather proud of myself for letting go of possessions, but it does hurt. I'll get over it. I kept my favorite authors -- still too many boxes of books in storage.

Have you heard that libraries will be able to loan books on the Kindle? I'm excited about this, but I know our backwater library won't implement this for a long time, if ever. Maybe when we move to Austin it will be better.

Rose and Butterfly Quilt block 11

Here's another update. I'm cruising along now that I've hit my stride with the piece. I hope I can keep it up!

And on to the good news! Matt got a job! The offer wasn't spectacular, but it's pretty good, and he really likes the place. He thinks he'll enjoy being their quality engineer. We're going to be moving to Austin as soon as we can sell the house. Of course that means we need to work on the house first. Ugh. I'll keep my current job, but I can't be a supervisor or get a promotion if I'm not in the office (I telecommute). Bummer. I need to figure out what I want to do with my career now.

Matt has a competition in Albuquerque next week, and then he has two killer weeks of school and finals left. It will be nice to see my husband again someday soon. Imagine me married to an engineer. I've joked that the engineer is the natural enemy of the technical writer. We do tend to think of things a little differently, but we also have complementing strengths. He's a good writer, but he's not artsy like I am (finally something he's not good at). And me...while my brain has to be able to organize information logically, etc., in order to be a technical writer, science and math have not been my strong points for a long time (yes, I used to be good at math a long, long time ago). Let's just say we make the perfect team. I know I couldn't imagine a better partner.

(Might be nice if he cross stitched with me...but at least he gets it.)

Framed pieces

My two Jill Rensel masterpieces are in the house! And they are huge! I'll try to take some photos when I have them on the wall to show scale.

Rose and Butterfly Quilt block 10

Here's the latest installment of my monster Chatelaine. The initials were a little tricky to figure out because you need to center the letters, not their little swirls. Martina had charted the M (because it's her initial, of course), but I had to figure out where to put the B. An added irritation was that I goofed on the placement of an eyelet at the bottom, which threw off the letter placement. That's right, I had to rip out over-one stitching--always a pain in the backside. But hey, it's done, and I like it!

My framed pieces from Jill Rensel should be coming in any day now....

Diet: I've been working on getting my Lap-Band to the right fullness. Unfortunately, during this last round I got overfilled. Ouch. I could hardly eat anything, and I woke up many, many times at night choking on acid reflux. Yesterday the doctor removed some of the fill, and it's such a relief. I'm also getting better restriction, so we'll see if this works.

Framed pieces from Jill Rensel

Jill sent me some photos of the pieces she's framed for me. They should ship out Monday. I am so excited!

The first piece is my biggie, The Awakening by Heaven and Earth Designs. Click to get a bigger pic so you can see Jill's amazing painting on the mats. She's a true artist.

The second piece is Castle Sampler by Teresa Wentzler. This is the piece I stitched on before and after Logan was born. I actually took it to the hospital but didn't get to stitch on it (drat). I remember stealing a few minutes here and there while recovering in bed. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Jill has certainly done the pieces justice, and I can't wait to see them in person. If they're this gorgeous in photos, they'll be even better in person!

Easter cushion

I made my little Chatelaine freebie into a cushion, the first one I've made of this type. You can see more pics of the sides and back. I'm pretty pleased with it, though it took longer than I thought it would. I was a little tired of stitching quite so many pink flowers! You can't see the sparklies in the fabric well, but I definitely like the effect here.

My floss finally came in, so I can work on my Halloween pieces again. No photos of those because I'm planning them for a giveaway in October. Muahaha!

Jill Rensel has a blog!

For those that don't know, Jill Rensel is an amazing framer. She's currently working on two pieces of mine. I recently found out the URL for her blog where she posts pics of pieces she's done. So beautiful.

Rose and Butterfly Quilt block 9

Here's the latest block. I figure that I can finish a block every two weeks if I stick to it. That's the plan anyway. My threads for my other small projects have shipped at long last, and I'm looking forward to working on them too.

Diet: Good news on that front. I figured out that my 25-year class reunion would be in 2012, and in order to be thin for it, I'm going to have to hustle. I seem to work well with a deadline, so it's really motivated me. I've begun walking on the treadmill again (20 minutes a day at the moment). I've also stuck to the diet fairly well. Eight pounds lost in the first week, so I'm finally encouraged. Your comments also helped; they were very touching. I know I'm not the only one daunted by weight loss. Thanks for the support. :-)

Easter 2011 Freebie HD

This is the Easter 2011 Freebie from Chatelaine. You can find the pattern on Martina's blog. I stitched in on 32-count opalescent. I rarely use glittery fabric, but it works for this piece. I'm going to make it into a little cushion, and I'll show some pics when it's finished. I got frustrated when my other little pieces were all missing floss, so I started something new, which I'm trying to avoid (I have a lot of WIPs right now). I'm still working on Rose Quilt (also a Chatelaine) when I have time to myself.

Since my floss order still hasn't shipped after three weeks, I canceled the order and will get it from someone else. After I canceled the order, the place said they were waiting for the floss to come in. Why couldn't they tell me that right after they received the order or when I emailed them a week ago? Some things I can wait on, but some things I really don't want to. Give me the option. I guess they were afraid to lose the order, but now they've lost a customer.

I'll order from a place in Austin, the Needle Works. I haven't been there, but they ship stuff really fast. They have a lot of canvas and needlepoint on their website. I really love some of the pieces. I don't need a new hobby, and the stuff is very expensive, but I'm really drawn to it. Sigh.

Rose and Butterfly Quilt update

It's hard to believe I haven't worked on this one since 2008. I think the huge size of the piece is what makes it so tiresome to work on. I found some plastic hair clips that might help. Make sure you click on this one to get a bigger image.

So of the three pieces I'm actively working on -- this one, VS's Gingerbread House, and a Halloween piece -- I'm missing one color of floss for each. I can still do some other stitching on the pieces while I wait, at least.

I bought fabric today for a table cloth for my little white table. I'll work on it after my mom gets back from her vacation next week. I'm getting rid of the plant stand, and I'm planning the table cloth and some fabric wall hangings using some frames I already had. I'll post a pic when it's all done.

Thanks for the compliments on the table. It's the one we had in the kitchen of our old house growing up. The thing is a good bit older than me. If it's as old as the other antiques, it would be around 80 years old. (It's got an extra leaf we keep in the garage.) My mom repainted it a while back. It could use a good scrub. I'm leaning toward staying with two chairs so that the tablecloth shows up better and doesn't make the space feel too cramped.

A year later...

So this spring break marks one year since I had Lap-Band surgery. Sigh. This is going to be a very depressing post. Feel free to skip it. Really, I'm warning you now.

So...I lost about 40 pounds very quickly after I had surgery. I've gained a little back but have kept most of it off. Even that isn't much to celebrate because that's what I gained after I decided to get the Lap-Band. Basically I stopped fighting myself from eating because I thought the Lap-Band would be the answer. It isn't.

It's great that I'm not gaining weight, but I didn't spend all that money (20 percent of the bill is still a lot) and go through all that pain just to not gain weight. It's still a diet, which I've failed at my whole life. The Lap-Band does curb some of the hunger but not enough. I can still eat an entire meal from a restaurant. I think the gastric sleeve would have been better for me (where they basically remove most of your stomach), but the insurance wouldn't pay for it. Had I known how badly this would fail, I might have seriously considered paying $10,000 (and then given up the idea because we don't have any money).

I can still get the band tightened some more. I may try that again. It's the carb craving that's getting me. I really wish I hadn't gone off the diet for our trip during the summer. That has resurrected my addiction to carbs, and I can't seem to kick the habit on my own.

I can also try exercise. It's pretty hard on my body, but I can do some walking. With Matt's job situation, it's just hard to work up the enthusiasm to get going. He keeps getting rejected, and as we know, depression certainly doesn't help the diet situation. Food is our comfort and what we keep falling back on.

At this point I'm just tired. Tired of fighting the hunger. Tired of thinking someday maybe this will be the thing that does it for me. I'm going to be fat for the rest of my life, but I don't want to be. No matter what successes and loves I have in my life, my weight will always be the failure that counts the most and that defines me.

See, told you, depressing.

Kitchen decor question

We're in the process of decluttering, packing some items, and staging the house so that we can sell the house in May. Here's a design question I have for you guys. Should I get rid of the plant stand (used to be a wine cart) or not? It's pretty rickety, and I wouldn't feel too bad about getting rid of it. What else does this part of the kitchen need? A table cloth? Pictures on the wall (and where exactly)? I can add a third chair if I get rid of the plant stand.

Maggie the Messmaker HD

This piece has been the biggest nightmare piece I have ever faced. No Teresa Wentzler piece, no hardanger, no HAED has given me as many problems as this piece. It's a beautiful piece, don't get me wrong. But I had nothing but problems from the minute I started. With a TW, I can just go without reading the directions. I sort of tried it with this piece and didn't notice the different strands and half/full stitches. So I had to rip a lot when I didn't pay close enough attention to the chart. So, for the final time, let me enumerate the things I didn't like about the design of this piece:

• Lots of half stitches. Sometimes I forgot which one I was supposed to stitch and did it the wrong way. Ripit!
• Differing numbers of strands. Sometimes two strands, sometimes three, sometimes a blend. Again, I had to rip.
• Colored chart. Same symbols, different colors -- that can get confusing, especially when you highlight the chart and have to restitch something. (I had to highlight because there was so much detail in the piece.)
• Huge chart. The thing is in shreds now with all the folding.
• Complicated backstitching. Given the complexity of the piece, it's hard to avoid, but the backstitching was a pain.
• Poor cording instructions. I didn't even realize I was supposed to make cording until I glanced at the stitch instructions. I know how to stitch -- I didn't need instructions. Well, apparently I was supposed to intuit that I was supposed to be couching cording, not strands of thread (the diagram gave a thread count, 1, 2, or 3 strands). Again with the ripping.
• Knots! Yes, I had to use knots with the cording. Icky patooey.
• Aida and non-DMC floss. The standard thing we hate about Dimensions kits. I didn't sub.
• Full stitches, not quarter stitches. As we know, this makes for a sloppy-looking piece. As complex as this piece was, I'm pretty glad it didn't use fractionals, to tell you the truth!

I think the key here is that you have to pay attention to every little thing you do with this chart. I stitch to relax, so that's sometimes difficult. But it's done, and I'm not going to buy another Dimensions kit. They probably aren't all this bad, but I'm not taking that chance. Of course, I still have Magnificent Wizard in my WIP pile. I think I'll save that one for later, even though I had wanted to finish it for Matt's graduation in May. I just don't think I can take it right now. So, on to my Victoria Sampler gingerbread house. I can enjoy my stitching again!

Backstitching on Maggie the Messmaker complete

The backstitching was almost as bad as I thought it would be. Toward the end I was really gritting my teeth and getting it done. And no, I'm still not finished. Now I have to do quite a bit of couching. But I'm getting closer to a finish!

Family update: Matt had sinus surgery about a week ago. (Go figure, both of us needed it. Should I schedule Logan's now?) The doctor had to do more work than he had on me, and I was pretty bad. It took longer for Matt to recover, but he's doing fine now. His nose is still sensitive, but it's all healing up well. Logan's got an ear infection, a hacking cough, and a stomach bug he picked up from daycare. Poor little guy. And with all this, I'm trying to clean and fix up the house for when we try to sell it in May. Matt hasn't gotten any job nibbles yet. We're thinking it's because he's almost 40. It's very disheartening and has me worried for the future. I have a good job, but with the state's economy, I'm wondering how long even that will last. Depressing.

Fun stitching day!

I had a fun day today! I met Melissa, Amanda, and Michelle at Ginger's for an impromptu day of stitching and chatting. I always enjoy these opportunities to talk to other stitchers so much. They speak my language!

I brought my Victoria Sampler gingerbread house to work on, and Amanda mentioned that Thea had another piece to go with it, a Christmas tree that she was teaching in a cyberclass. For $200. Ouch. I hemmed and hawed and did it. It's something I really want, even though I don't have the money with Matt being unemployed. But I'll try to be good in other areas to make up for it. I'm going to cancel my subscription to City of Heroes, which I don't play anymore (I love the game, but I've run out of things to do).

No work on the backstitching of Maggie yet. Soon!

Books: Amazon has a bunch of free books for the Kindle, which I discovered with Carol's help. I found a lot that I think I will like. That should help the pocketbook some. (To find them, check Amazon Popular Classics and Promos, and then sort by price. Be careful because not all are free.)