10 years?

 

It seems crazy that it's been so long, RIP Debbie. I still miss you.

My auntie has been in the emergency room almost exactly every four weeks for a year now.  I finally agreed to start hospice and it's a nightmare.  I can't believe I'm giving up on her but at this point I think the ER is going to kill her anyway.  I've just been lolling around crying for the last couple of months.  In some moments of sanity I stitch.

 This is Sunflower Field from Oh My Stitches on Etsy:

It will look like this:

I started this in memory of my dad - it reminds me of all our camping trips and has a kind of retro vibe, it's Bear Walk by Lee Fisher of StitchyFish for Just Cross Stitch magazine:

I got some more done on Birds of a Feather:

And I started this map of Ukrainian needlework.  I'm a volunteer docent at the House of Ukraine, a cultural museum, and they have a display of Ukrainian needlework, so when I saw this design it jumped out at me.  People who know what they're doing can tell you what region of Ukraine the needlework is by the design. It's from Wonderland Ukraine.

  

This is a better picture of the design:

Kuna has my vibe:

RIP dad

 My father passed away after a massive heart attack a couple of weeks ago.  He's been the world's worst heart patient for the last twelve years so it wasn't really a surprise, but at the same time I wasn't expecting the last time I spoke with him to be the actual last time we talked.  We went out the old Naval Training Center in San Diego, to pay our respects.  

He was the master of milkshakes, king of the road, and he was the one who gave me my love of gardening and all things Asian.  So much of my stitching has been related to his greatness as a dad - his sandwich making:

His patriotism:

 His Scots and Irish heritage:

Our camping trips and his blue metal coffee mug:

His wanderlust:

 

His milkshaking:

I was the light of his life in a way I never will be for anyone else. RIP.

 

Midsummer Mice!

 I hope everyone stayed cool for IHSW! I did almost no stitching but if I don't post now I may never post again, haha!

I've been working on the sky of Dinosaurs:

Also working on the sky of Pagoda:

Auntie's been in and out of the ER so I had the genius idea of starting all my Furry Tales mice by Lucie Heaton, since they're small and the mice are all the same color.  I've been gutting my magazine freebies and looting the threads of the things I'll never stitch, so the colors don't necessarily match the pattern.

Princess Mouse in honor of my sister the belle of every ball:

Gamer mouse also in honor of my sister, same girl, different mood:

COVID nurse mouse, it's entirely possible I'll make this into a card for Auntie's caregiver. Auntie was testing positive for 70 days with no symptoms at all (I thought we were done with COVID, sigh), then tested negative for a month and then ended up in the hospital with a plain old cold that got out of hand. Grrr:

This is Sewing Mouse in honor of me!

Cave Mouse, also in honor of me; same girl, different mood haha:

Hippie Mouse in honor of Auntie:

I got a little moused out at this point so this is Elmer the Elephant.  If you've never read the book it's about an elephant learning to love looking different, it's a very cute story.  

And this is supposed to end up as a coin purse - I think it's called a Tatreez style, JCS had an issue where they talked about this kind of stitching, and I think that's where this pattern came from:

Kuna says stay frosty!

Springy Finishes!

Two finishes since my last post..

Spring Bunny, a kit from World of Cross Stitch:

Welcome Spring, a kit from Cross Stitch Crazy:

I finished my first swan on Birds of a Feather and just realized these are dragons, haha!  I like dragons so it's fine but I can't believe I bought the pattern and got this far thinking these were swans. At least I can always count on me for a good laugh!

I started the grass on Spring Band Sampler by Tiny Modernist:

...and I got more of the outlining done on Aliens:

Auntie couldn't name me but she knew she knew me and kept saying how happy she was to see me so we'll call that a win.  

RIP Alexei Navalny

Brookings Institute

Stand with Ukraine

Canadian Broadcast Corporation

                                                        

A Beary Cute Finish!

I actually had two finishes this week - I feel terrific clearing out all these little kits! The first finish was Make it Sew, by Jessica Savage in the July 2020 CrossStitcher magazine.  It was part of a series, another one where I was supposed to use a sewing machine charm, but I used what I had which was a charm that says "procraftinator":

My next finish is Popcorn the Bear by Fiona Baker.  The duck is evidently named Souffle.  This was a kit from the World of Cross Stitching in 2023 but who knows which month because they didn't see fit to include it:

So far I'm right on track to have a finish even six days...yay me! I think I calculated 17 years to finish all my stash before I'm either dead or too gaga to stitch, so I just need to keep this up for another 16 years and 11 months, haha.

The only big piece I worked on was Rain Dance because I feel like I've been really bogged down with Big Bird on the left.  I got some of his beak done and more on the little symbols up top and for the first time in a while I feel like I can tell I touched it.  It's supposed to start pouring rain in an hour or so and not stop for four days, so maybe the Rain Dance worked?  We normally get about 10 inches of rain a year and we're supposed to get 4 inches today so fingers crossed we don't get flooded - I feel like we're the last people left in California who still have a dry house!

A Crafty Finish!

 This was designed by Faye Walsh (Little Dove Designs) for the July 2020 Issue of CrossStitcher magazine.  It's supposed to have a sewing machine charm but the glue gun was what I had, and I consider myself a bit of a gunslinger haha so that's what I went with:

I also got some some more of my swans done this week:

..and some more sky and wing on Dinosaurs:

Lions fans I offer my deepest condolences.   That was harder to watch than our loss last week, and that's saying something.  There's always next year!

Go Pack Go!

An Angelic Finish!

 Glory to God by Knotted Tree Needle Arts.  I switched the colors so the angel looks like my little sister and so it looked less antique-y:

I started Sew She Did, this will be my next finish due on the 24th:

I got some more wing on friend pteranodon:

 I really hate stitching this big diagonal bird and it's bogging me down, but I got a few more stitches on Rain Dance:

And finally started the companion piece, Band of Braves.  I've had the chart for years it just took me a while to remember what I stitched Rain Dance on and then order it. Note to self: It's Cyprium Crystal from Picture This Plus, in case Long Dog comes out with a third one in the series and I need to order it again.