Can I get a little cheese...

To go with my whine??  I'm only kind of kidding.  Actually I'm thankful it's only been in the 80s this weekend.  90s would have been almost intolerable.

This weekend was the 12U baseball tournament for the baseball league my oldest son plays in.  We started off Friday at 5.  It meant I had to leave work early to get him to the tournament site to warm up.  They lost their first game which meant they played an additional game at 8:30pm.  They won that game.  But, that shot our evening since we didn't get home until after 11pm.  Saturday morning, we had another game at 11:30am which meant we had to leave by 9:30 am and drive an hour so he could warm up with his team.  They won that game too and played again at 4:30pm.  We stopped at the store on the way home for some pizza and gatorade for the game today.  We had another game this morning.  If they had won, there was the possibility of 5 games today.  Those would have been some drop dead tired boys if that had worked out for them.  Peasonally, I'm glad it's done for another year.  I have sunburn to deal with.

This is my boy playing first base.

I did get some stitching done this weekend.  Especially during the break they had between games.  I've been working on 5 Little Pumpkins by The Cat's Whiskers again.  Here's where it was when I pulled it back out last week.

Band 3 on 6/24/15

Band 4 on 6/26/15

This one involved a little fudging.  I didn't have the Kreinik the chart called for or even a close approximation.  I think it called for 5510-Persimmon.  I used PB14 instead which is a bronze.  I think it works very nicely with the black silk and the purple rhodes stitch.  It kind of looks like antique pumpkin color.

Band 5 on 6/27/15

Band 6 on 6/28/15

and here's an overall pic since I had to move my qsnaps.

I also made some progress downstairs this week.

Digit (my feline helper) is checking out my work.  I had to pick up some more lumber to get beyond this point and I took care of that today.  I'm hoping to pick this back up later tonight or tomorrow.

Page 1 - Her Private Garden

Late last night, I finished page one of Her Private Garden.  I thought about starting page 2 but decided to rotate to another WIP.

I was going through my WIPs Sunday when I knew a page finish was in my future.

Since I don't have a Chatelaine WIP right now, I pulled out 5 Little Pumpkins.  One of my goals this year is to finish this.

I hadn't really looked at these pictures together.  I think my fabric definitely tones down the orange in the original version.

Almost!!

I'm so close to a page finish!  I just ran out of time this weekend.  Between baseball games an hour away and putting some time into getting my basement rearranged there just isn't enough time in the day.  Here's where Her Private Garden is 

I got everything moved out of what was my space for my sewing machine, my stash, etc.  Yesterday, I got the floor cleaned and swept so I could paint.  Here are before and afters

There was an added bonus that sealing the floor took care of some of the mustiness in there.  After ball practice tonight, I'm going to do some more measuring and see what I have for supplies to build some storage before I go buy what I don't have.

Halfway...

Thanks for your comments on last week's post.  I really appreciate it.  At least it doesn't feel like I'm sitting in the corner talking to myself, lol!

Since we didn't have any baseball happening this weekend, we hung around the house.  I didn't get as much done in the basement as I would have liked but I'm usually overly optimistic.  I did get two dressers moved.  When I was sweeping the floor, I decided it was the perfect time to paint it since I already had the space cleared.  That way I only have to move stuff once when I put it back on the painted floor.  I need to check baseball schedules for tomorrow, but if there's no ball tomorrow, we may be loading the car tonight with stuff for donation and make a trip on our way out of town.  

My Mom also stopped by since she'd picked up beef for us.  We got that unloaded and put away and admired quilts she'd made for me and the boys.  Still gotta take some pictures of those.  And, she brought me a Kitchen Aid mixer that she said she'd gotten a really good deal on.  I have wished for one for years but they're generally out of my price range.  My old mixer will definitely be in the donate pile!

On  the stitching front, I've made it about half way down page one.  There are some larger blocks of single colors to come so I'm hoping they stitch up faster.

Winging it.

So I've got cheese blog titles.

Thank you to those who commented on my last post.  I still don't know what I'm going to do with the kits, but I'm probably going to write down websites and the email I'm using for wish lists on those websites.  Maybe if I ask him to give them to his mom, I'll get a GC or something.  I know what to do with that!  Lady Stitch-a-lot, my DH barely manages to notice what I'm stitching much less where I purchased the chart.  He's just not interested.  I generally show him finishes, but again, not a lot of interest.

I did start Her Private Garden last Monday.  By Thursday, my progress looked like a big brown blob.

The shadow at the very bottom of the stitched area was frogged.  It seams that I have a problem counting.  I had miscounted at some point and was about 10 stitches too far.  So I frogged probably 100 or more stitches Wednesday night and Thursday, I still hadn't managed to restitch them.

Yesterday, my oldest son's baseball team was participating in a baseball tournament that had originally been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.  Friday night, it rained.  Again.  I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but I'm considering building a boat in the back yard.

Anyway, the field was too wet Saturday.  Since our A/C is on the fritz and it got hot in the house, the boys and I decided to hang out downstairs where it is kinda cool.  I got a wild hair to clean out some of the stuff that was moved back after the tornado 10 years ago and not touched since.  More will be "mysteriously" disappearing when my husband and the boys go to Oklahoma for a week to see his parents.

Here's what it looked like after everything was moved and the floor was cleaned.

Then I painted the floor to seal it.  

This week, I'm planning on moving my sewing table/craft/cross stitch stuff out here so when the boys are playing their games, I can still spend some time with them.  I have a table that will be set up in there too so they can play board games, put together puzzles or just work on homework too.  I want to get more storage into the space where all that is currently sitting.  One thing my house seriously lacks is storage.

Yesterday, we were at the ball fields for about 8 hours.  Thankfully, there was shade and I moved around with it.  I still ended up on the pink side but I avoided the lovely new sun burns that I saw a number of people sporting.

I even did a bit of stitching between games!  This picture was taken in the morning before I really had a chance to do anything so it's pretty much through Saturday night.

There are so many unexpected colors in there.  I'm trusting the charting and hoping they all end up working out and playing nice in the end.

Progress is being made!!

Before I show you guys my progress on Coat of Arms, I want to ask a question but I probably need to give you a little background first.

My husband and I have been married for 17 years and we've been together 19 years.  In that time, my in-laws have seen me do a lot of stitching.  They're in Oklahoma so that's saying something.  In fact, before we were married, my DH and I went to California on vacation with them and my FIL called me the sewing lady.  

So, earlier this year, there were items at a sporting goods store that were in stock.  I bought a bunch for us and went back and bought a bunch for my MIL.  She reimbursed me and I thought that was the end of it.  When my DH went for a visit in April, he came home with a couple of Dimensions charts that his mom had purchased for me to say thank you.  Now, I don't have anything against Dimensions but they just aren't my thing.  But I was polite and thanked her for her thoughtfulness.  Now, what do I do with these kits.  This isn't the first time she's gone into Hobby Lobby and bought me Dimensions kits because that's where she goes when she's trying to buy me a gift.  

My question is two parts.  1.  Do I just come out and tell my MIL I do not stitch kits??  Do I give my DH HAED, Tilton, Paine Free Crafts websites and the user name I use and they can either purchase from my wish lists or buy gift certificates?  How do you all handle people who really don't understand your obsession and what is available out there?  2.  What the heck do I do with these kits that will just collect dust??

Since there were no ball games Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I actually found lots of stitching time.

5/30 - page 13

5/31-page 14

and very late last night, 

5/31 page 15

Right now, my q-snaps are empty, but I've had HAED's Her Private Garden

I've got all the floss on bobbins and fabric ready to go.  I just have to start.