Note: If you're here for the stitching/stashing, scroll down. For sarcasm, continue reading...

Yes, you know, school. That is a four six letter word in my house right now. The kids are thrilled, especially with Bryce finding out we'd allowed him to skip a grade and go to high school. I am unthrilled, and the "S" word is forbidden in my house. Apparently my distaste for the season has not halted the progress nor made the powers that be rethink their start dates, so I have been living in my car (no A/C) for the past week, driving little tweens to and fro. To pass the time I have been composing sarcastic letters in my mind:

Dear Tall, Skinny Blonde Lady with Frizzy Hair, While I applaud your desire to walk your tiny, skinny, blonde, frizzy haired bundle of delight who has just started kindergarten into the school, your freaking minivan does NOT belong parked in the drop-off only lane. In my experience, the parking lot is where you generally put your car if you are going to exit it. Perhaps the other 5 parents trapped behind your van as Timmy dropped his backpack 82.5 times and then ran back to your van for something he forgot had more patience or recent lobotomies. I can assure you, it took great restraint not to slash your tires while waiting for you to return to your vehicle. The only reason I did not was because I too would have to leave my vehicle parked and unoccupied. I learned when I was quite small, the world does not revolve around me, and I would like to respectfully point out, it does not revolve around you either. The best lesson you could teach tiny, frizzy Timmy is to respect others and treat them the way you would like to be treated. Sincerely, the Lady Behind your Minivan with the Smoke Shooting Out of Her Ears Screaming "A$$HAT!" at You This Morning

(ok, no I didn't scream anything at her, but only because I'm well-behaved and polite in the real world if not in my mind)

Ahemmm...moving on! I went to All in Stitches and showed off my fabric to Terry (owner) who has promptly ordered all my colors in as many counts as I can provide and offered to let me use her cutting table to cut fabric! While there I picked up an order:


I love love love love the LHN Strawberry House! I also got a star button for my SB Tiny Flag which still needs only 10 stitches to be completed.

Then when cleaning the living room I foun some of the stash I ordered in June (ish?) and never shared, the Charland emeries look so pretty and delicate. I should rename my blog: Tracy who stashes but never stitches.


I have bought one of the floss tag tools because Karen V. and I are having a personal exchange this month and I need to experiment with some floss tagging. I am having the hardest time deciding what to stitch for her, she and I have similar taste and there are too many things to choose from. I also signed up for the Halloween Fair & Square exchange, so excited!

Labels: kids, new stash, school

I'm home! Feels so good to not have to be planning out the next trip or stress over details. I will admit now, I tote projects around every day, not a stitch was made, not during the classes they taught the boys at camp, nor the 4 hour car rides as we cruised Flagstaff, Williams, Sedona, and Phoenix, nor the quiet (rainy) evenings camping, NADA. I did manage to get a few stitches in last night though.

My 3 year blogiversary and 30-something birthday passed while I was camping. I hope you will indulge me as I whine about my birthday-no one remembered it except my DH's aunt who called and sang to me on my voicemail (what a hoot!) and my in-laws who sent me a gift and card (they are the BEST in-laws one could ask for). At first I thought they were going to surprise me but since we're almost 2 weeks past my birthday (and I've been home for 8 days!) I no longer think that's plausible. I will admit to being bummed out, I don't need gifts but it would be nice to be remembered on my special day (especially by my DH and kids, who also did not celebrate Mother's Day).

CONTEST: Anyway, to celebrate, I will be giving away two mystery gifts to anyone who comments from now till next Tuesday. I will have a drawing Wednesday morning and announce the winners then.



This would be the stash I bought myself in honor of my birthday with last year's gift certificate at All in Stitches (which has moved into a great new shop right by my house). I am lucky that here in Tucson we have 3 great LNS': The Busy Needle (Northwest side), All in Stitches (Eastside), and The West (Northeast side). I never get to the Busy Needle anymore because it take so long, a good hour with traffic, and my old clunker can barely putt around let alone handle that kind of drive in this heat. I miss seeing everyone there though, very friendly and great stuff (they're the ones that introduced me to Diane Williams way back when, and also where I finally met Sharon Crescent of Crescent Colours in person). They have always been very supportive of my designing! The West is a non-profit needlework/gift shop with proceeds going to battered women and other great causes. They have a good selection of stitching and fibers and also great staff. They hosted my first trunk show and showed me the ropes in that arena and were very good to me. All in Stitches is much newer--I applaud their bravery as so many shops are closing for her to open one. I know Terry (the owner) much better than the other shops as she's close to me and also because we've spent lots of fun time together at the Nashville market. She always has designers I've never heard of and keeps everything well stocked.



Some of my ebay stash were some JCS mags, this one I just LOVE. The Peace ornie really calls to me, I know it's simple but that's part of the beauty of it. Then as a bonus, I found this ornament (below) by Prairie Schooler which is really classic PS:



Now I need to get stitching as I have tons of projects and no time and I'm not getting anywhere fast enough!!!!!

My kids spend a lot of time at my work because the youngest are in a summer camp program that is held at my work in the mornings. My other son takes the bus to my work from summer school to keep him out of trouble. I generally only work till 1:30pm so they hang in the nursery or youth room or playground (perks of working at a large church!). Yesterday I worked much longer than usual and Chase got bored of playing by himself so he built a clubhouse:

Labels: birthday, contest, kids, lns, new stash

I am having a minor panic attack due to the fact that I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Will I ever learn??? On the bright side, some of my time has been spent in various places on the web spending money on stash :) This is new stash from several weeks ago, I have gotten quite a bit more in the last week or two. My latest obsession has been to collect various Diane Williams works before she became LHN:










I also have picked up a few(ok, 15) old magazines--loved this chart! I am a sucker for samplers and dutch, must be my heritage:











Then we have my WIP from Memorial Day family camp (formerly known as the weekend in snowed in June), Pine Tree Hill from LHN in a JSC magazine. I wanted something campy and cabin-y, especially with the snowy weather. I changed the red house to a brown cabin (exactly how many red houses can I stitch????), have no idea yet if this is a good or a bad thing. You know how sometimes your stitches just don't look right? You can let the needle hang to untwist the thread, you can use a new couple of strands, you can separate them and put them back together, you can comb the floss with your needle in hopes of making them look better (it was camp, no laying tool, ok?), you can railroad, you can...ok, you get the idea. Well that's how this cabin was going. In between helping Seri start a heart kit (I KNEW I bought these aida kits for a reason, to grab as we go out the door camping, that's it!) I was helping with the plaster fossil station at camp (yes, even when we PAY for camp, I still end up teaching). I didn't get much done, and it didn't look that great. I had to put it aside for Fair & Square and so it shall sit for now. I DO like the fabric though, the cloudy blue and white is something everyone uses for sky but I felt it looked like a stormy winter day, and it mirrored the weather up at camp (lovely blue sky with snow clouds). Sometimes I stitch just to capture the memories (as Edgar's blog reminded me).

Speaking of Fair & Square, being sick put me way behind. With all the other things I need to do (organize cub scouts and get ready for the big family pie eating contest, presentation at work, clean house and pack to go on vacation and to keep my DH from leaving me) I am FREEEEEAAAKKKKED out! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Labels: fair and square, LHN Pine Tree Hill, Live kit, new stash, WIP

Just a little of the new stash I've been ebaying for. I like the threads a lot, can't wait to use them! They come in 20 yard hanks and are very reasonably priced from the Victorian Motto (??) ebay shop . I got a grab bag and Nancy kindly takes requests for your color preferences. She did also include a free red, yum!

I had my basket loaded at Vicki Clayton's HDF for some choices to do the Sarah Tobias pin cushion in the colors I envision, but I guess I left them too long and the basket timed out. Have you seen she is doing linen now? I just don't think that's fair, I want some!

No progress last night on Live, I am simply too tired these days. Spent too much time trying to get a DVD to play to entertain me while I stitch.

Labels: new stash