Wow, what a busy few weeks I’ve had! I moved over the Labor Day weekend, so the couple of weeks prior to that were spent preparing & packing. Unfortunately, I also hurt my back in the process of the move, so I’ve been out of commission most of the time since the move. I’m just now finally starting to feel semi-normal again.

I actually got my first “real” mail at my new address today. It was my Autumn exchange package from Joan for our Friends Stitching Through the Seasons exchange group. Thus far, every other piece of mail I’ve gotten has been a bill or junk mail, so I was happy to see something fun for a change. :lol

Joan spoiled me rotten the round! She stitched a beautiful little Halloween sampler which she then finished into a box top. Inside the box, she tucked in an adorable pair of witch scissors. She also sent me an adorable little Halloween tin and a plastic handle tote filled with lots of Halloween goodies, including an adorable needle minder from Kelmscott Designs. I’ve been eyeing this little guy since it first came out a couple of years ago, so I was thrilled to see it in there.

Here are some photos (click to biggify):

Thank you so much for such a wonderful exchange Joan!!

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I want to pose a question to those of you who blog and are also active on social media sites. Do you find you blog less often now? I have definitely noticed that about myself. I know that many of my regular readers (based on those who frequently comment) are also friends with me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. I tend to post photos and quick updates of what’s going on in my life in those places. Accordingly, I don’t feel as much “pressure” (for the lack of a better word) to update my blog as often. I’m just wondering if others have found the same to be true. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

In stitching news, amazingly enough, I actually have been doing a little bit. I stitched a summer pinkeep for Kim as part of a seasonal exchange. After that was away in the mail, I’ve been working a bit on “Snow Garden” from Blackbird Designs as well as another secret project. Here are some pictures of the exchange:

The pinkeep design was taking from the “Friends for All Seasons” chart by Lizzie Kate. I also included the “Small Sampler 1” chart from Ewe & Eye & Friends, a couple of skeins of Dragon Floss from Polstitches, a couple of skeins of Soy Luster floss (one solid & one shadow) from The Pure Palette, and a pack of strawberry blank notecards.

Here are some close-up shots of the pinkeep by itself:

My Dovos were for demo purposes only and weren’t part of the exchange. Sorry Kim!

This was my first attempt at doing a scissor pocket on the back. I thought it turned out ok, but I definitely learned some things that I will do differently next time. For example, I didn’t leave a bit of slack in the pocket when I assembled it. As I was sewing, the pocket kept getting tighter and tighter to the point that it pulls slightly downward. If I had given it a little leeway at the beginning, I think it would have come out much nicer in the end.

Here are my before & after progress pics on Snow Garden:

Previous Progress

Current Progress

I know it’s not much progress, but at least it is noticeable. I try very hard not to compare myself to the speedy needles of some of my other stitching friends whose speed is simply astounding! I just seem to be in a bit of a stitching slump this year, and I’m not sure why. Normally by the mid-point of the year, I would have at least 10-15 finishes, but this year I only have three. The sad part is that I know my time available for stitching is about to get drastically reduced, too.

That leads me directly into my last bit of news. I’ve officially gone back to college to finish my degree. I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year back when I was 21 years old. I said I was just going to take a couple of quarters off, but somehow that mushroomed into taking 25 years off. One of my biggest regrets in life has always been not finishing my degree, so now I’m going to remedy that. In fact, my plan is to finish my Bachelors as quickly as possible and then go immediately into a Masters program.

I have chosen an online competency-based program through Western Governor’s University. It’s basically an independent study program where each student goes at their own pace. They will also allow students with extensive real world experience to test out of some classes. I decided this particular model sounded perfect for me, so let’s hope that it is! I guess I’ll find out soon enough given that I start classes today.

One of the best parts is that since the university if fully accredited, they qualify for tuition reimbursement through my employer. w00t! By the time I get my reimbursement checks each year, I should hopefully only spend around $1000-$1200 out of pocket annually. That means no student loans!

I suppose that’s the last of my news & updates for now. I will try my best to update as often as possible, but please understand that I’m likely just uber busy between work and school should I disappear for extended periods of time. If you want to keep track of me more frequently, I would recommend Facebook.

Until next time …

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I was a very happy stitcher yesterday when I opened my mailbox and found a pretty pink package from Joan. We are both participating in a Friends Stitching Through the Seasons exchange group and she has my name for the year. Since Spring was our first exchange, we have all been very eagerly awaiting our first mailing date to see who had our name.

Here is what I received:

Joan definitely spoiled me with a beautiful tuffet (Hearts & Roses by Dinky Dyes Designs) and lots of stitching goodies. Joan’s stitching on the tuffet is perfection! She did such a beautiful job on all of those Rhodes hearts! It doesn’t really show up in the photo, but in addition to each of the four hearts on the top & bottom of the tuffet, there are also five alternating Rhodes hearts on each side, too! Since this was a Spring exchange, she stitched it using DMC Variations 4060, 4180, and 4190 because she felt they looked like “spring” colors and I couldn’t agree more.

As for the stitching goodies, she sent some really fun flower shaped buttons, a hank of Crescent Color’s Belle Soie silk in their new color Boysenbeauty (I *LOVE* Belle Soie silks!), a beautiful Blackbird Designs chart from my wish list, and a pack of size 28 needles. As if all that weren’t enough, she also sent me a gorgeous project bag that she made herself!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful goodies, Joan! Oh, and to answer your question in the card, yes, the tuffet will fit beautifully in my collection of smalls.

I dropped off my outgoing exchange package at the Post Office before going to work. I sent it via Priority Mail, so it should arrive at its new home in a couple of days, hopefully. Once it has been received by my exchange partner, I’ll post pics of what I sent.

In closing, as an Irish lass, it would be remiss of me not to wish you all a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Go out and enjoy the one day of the year that you all get to pretend to be one of us.

Until next time … Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

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