Embroidery!

Good morning friends. I hope all is well with you.

I'm slowly but surely getting my groove back. Thanks in part to a little embroidery therapy.

I've been doing little bits of embroidery for the past two weeks. It feels so good to be doing this hand-work after so many years. I was a bit of an embroidery freak when I was 9 and 10 years old. I was the fastest and most dedicated cross-stitcher in the west and could whip up a Precious Moments wall hanging in a matter of hours. Ugh. The very thought of all that pastel prettiness. Yuck! My style has changed a lot since then but as soon as I picked up my tapestry needle, I felt like I was home again.

I'm starting out with some basic stitches... nothing too crazy here. I have this vision in my head for a quilt with embroidered blocks. Here is the start of my process.

I'm using a neutral linen as my base and created a template for the flower by enlarging the design from a craft punch I had lying around. The stitch is just a simple chain stitch. These blocks are 6.5" squares. 

The floss came from my beloved stash which quite literally was covered in dust. That's my lovely fourth-grade handwriting on the floss holders. As I was going through the box, I found a skein with the price tag still in tact. It was purchased at K-Mart for 17 cents, God knows when. I think the price of floss has doubled since then. Good thing I bought it when I did! :-) I guess my mom probably bought it. Thanks, mom!

My thought is to make up a bunch of these in different colors and add white sashing. I have something fun planned for the centers of the flowers and will share later. I think this project will take a lot of time but I love that I can sit in my jammies at the end of the day and mindlessly chain-stitch away. It's a nice break from all of my machine-sewing.

I thought I'd also share a couple of quick kid photos... moments that made me laugh in the last day or so.

Here's what I found when I woke up this morning...

Yes, that's a frying pan. My son very deliberately and purposefully arranged his cars and trains on it. 

And that's his sister in the corner of the shot. If Daniel only knew that Maddy was messing with his stuff. Oh boy! He'd go through the roof!

And this is what happens when I'm blogging...

I keep my recipe files in a drawer next to my desk and my daughter has really taken to pulling them out while mom is busy typing. Little stinker. 

I'm off to make a few more stitches while Daniel is at school and Maddy takes her morning nap. Then it's back to the daily grind of meal prep, dishes, toy pick-up, etc. Ah but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Happy Day to you all.

Funny, Funny Story

Good morning! Hope you're doing well. As I type, there is a gi-normous cup of coffee next to me. I'm really, really tired today. I've just come out of a crazy productive period and I think I've hit a wall. Does this happen to you? I go through these phases... sometimes days at a time... sometimes weeks at a time... when I'm hyper-inspired. My brain is just filled with ideas and I can't turn it off. When this happens to me, insomnia sets is. The night before last, I only slept for two hours. Ugh! I just have these wild spurts of energy and I have to create. I'll share a couple of projects with you next week.

In the meantime, I thought a sweet, funny story would be good for a Friday. Especially one like this when I just need to veg and not think too much about sewing, designing, or creating. I know you'll appreciate this one...

We bought a sweet little Fisher Price dollhouse for Maddy for Christmas. She likes it but her older brother simply adores it. We sort of knew that would happen. He's three and-a-half and "pretend play" is pretty big in his repertoire right now. So he plays with the little mom and dad and baby that came with the house and they have little conversations and sit down to meals, etc. etc.

The other night, hubby and I were enjoying a well-deserved glass of wine at the end of a long day and were sort of casually chatting, opening mail, etc. Daniel was playing with the house. We were half-listening to his interaction with the little people and here's what I overheard.

"Now the daddy and the baby are having dinner. But there's no mama here."

So my husband asked the logical question... "Where's the mama?"

And Daniel said "She had to go get some fabric."

(!!!!!!!)

He was so matter-of-fact about it and that was the last thing I was expecting him to say. I burst into hysterical laughter as I realized how far my addiction had gone.

Just goes to show the little ones are paying very close attention. So watch what you do, say, and stash (fabric joke).

Ha ha. Out of the mouths of babes.

I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

Another Scrappy Quilt in Progress

So I'm back from a fun trip away with three of my favorite friends.  A little wine, some good food and great conversation was just what this mama needed.  Thank you Cathy, Monisha and Jaimee!  I had such a fun time and can't wait for next year!

So - I'm back to the sewing table.  And I'm starting another scrappy tumbling blocks quilt... this time for Daniel.  Why wouldn't I start a new project when I have five babies to sew for, need to start sewing Christmas gifts and have about 15 other items on my to-do list.  There's no knowing when this one will be completed but I got the bug and just had to cut some fabric.  You know how that is... sometimes a little time with your rotary cutter can be so therapeutic.

Hope you're all having a great Monday!

Dancing With the Stars... My New Favorite Show?

It's been a tough couple of days in the McCarthy household. Both kids have been battling colds which means that mom has been tending to runny, red noses and late-night coughing spells. That also means that there has been a tragic lack of quilting/sewing so far this week. But I'm back in work mode and have a couple of fun things in the works that I hope to post about later this week.

Until then, I just have to share the most precious story about my three-year-old. My little boy is growing up so fast and is getting to be very independent. Most of the time, he's too busy (already??? sob, sob) for cuddles. Last night, however, he made his mama (and maybe his dada?) cry at the following...

We were watching "Dancing With the Stars." Not really paying much attention, but we had it on. I guess Daniel was paying very close attention as one of the couples danced the waltz. I was busy chatting with the hubby trying to catch up on his day when Daniel approached me, arms outstretched and said (in his cute, hoarse, sick voice) "You dance with me mama? We hold hands?" Needless to say, I dropped everything and got down on my knees, right arm out, left arm on his neck and we danced and swayed for... well it was only a few seconds before he was back at his trains and trucks. But those few seconds made my day. And I know the moment will stay with me for a long, long time.

What adorable things are your kids doing/saying this week?