Needleminder Exchange Reveal!

Hello Everyone, 

The lovely Ingrid over at Mii Stitch blog hosted a wonderful needleminder exchange. You needed to send 1 skein of floss, a small finished cross stitch piece and a needleminder. 

I received my package from Leonore at needle, pen & sword blog all the way in Germany. I was so exited to receive my package I almost snatched it out of the mail man's hand. I love it!

 The picture does not give the needle minder justice its gorgeous. Perfect. Its a little blue koi fish.  The stitched photo is simply beautiful. Its just what I needed to bring a smile on my face that day. Thank you so much Leonore. I loved the card as well. Thank you. 

Again my camera is crap and does not show the beautiful colors in this piece. I have never seen french knots before. So tiny. I just adore this. Just keep swimming is my motto. Love it. Thank you Leonore 

My little blue Koi fish. I simply love it. 

I sent a package to Debbie over at Fairy Bluebell's Craft Adventure. I saw she has also shared what I sent to her. Go over and check out her post. I will be posting an update next week as I will have something to share with you all. Happy Stitching or crafting to you all!!

That Darn Cat, cross stitch and life Update

Hello My Stitchy Friends,

   I want to say thank you for all the subscribers to my blog. Things have been very different and slightly difficult since Angelo was released from the nursing home. Nothing in the previous post seemed to happen. Angelo had his own plans. 😀 Long story short when we went to his childhood home and he was in the wheelchair. He did not want to stay. Rolled to the car and got in, on his own. So we went to our home. Once home he wheeled around the house. Next thing I know he up and walking. Next he took the long flight of stairs to our room. I was stunned. I had no idea he could do that. He moved about on his own. I was just watching he didn't fall or anything. So physically he up and moving. Right arm and leg still not 100% but he walking. Yayyyyyy! 

   Speech and communication is another story. We have great difficulty communicating. I have some tools to use like a dry erase board. Lots of gestures and such. He tries to speak but just comes out jumbled. Blah blah blah. Some words come sometimes. Like hello and lets go. But daily its a struggle. He gets frustrated with me cause I am his only caregiver. I try to understand what he wants but if I am wrong he starts flipping out. I just try my best to take him places I know he would like to go. Sometimes I am right and sometimes I am wrong. I just keep trying. He refused medicine since his release. I just slip it to him in his food. Must have the Xarelto for his heart. And 1 aspirin a day.

 He hates me going to work. I don't know if its a trust issue or what. It was like getting your kid to go to first day of kindergarten. He just was not having it. So I took a week off work. Then I let him know that I had to return to pay the bills. He agreed in so many ways. But everyday I go to work is hard. He has speech therapy 2x a week for the next 3 months. I hope we make progress. And the family sure has not helped with him at all. LOL. His daughter calls from out of town but pretty much all care and appointments are done by me. All that talk from the family and nobody stepped up. Shaking my head. Well it works so far so forget them. Its just so tiring for me sometimes but onward and upward. Its only been 3 months and I am happy with the progress so far. I know he struggles with not working and not being the provider he always was. Not much I can do but stand by his side. 

 On to stitching...

So close to a finish on Halloween Cat by Satsuma Street. 28ct jobelan. 

Horrible picture but we have a finish people. Yayyy! Elephant Sampler on Etsy. Update: Made for my best friend of 17 years. She did not seem happy to receive it so I will keep it for my own. I will not make anything for anyone else. Unless they ask me. So unappreciative. But she did not understand the work I put into it and the fabric is hand dyed (not cheap). She thought it was dirty. SMH. I love it. I will be watching some videos to help me finish it as a flat fold. (Vonna the twisted stitcher, lol)

Goodwill jackpot..17 Lizzie Kate Flip it Holidays and year with charm patterns. $2.00. I almost fell on the floor. Only missing December year with charm and Holiday Halloween flip it. So happy

So here is my start on the September year with charm. I hate the colors do not match the photo but these are only the DMC flosses. Next time I am picking my own colors. So different from what I was expecting. 

I have also picked the fabric and floss for the Share Faith by Erica Michaels. Starting this soon. 

I received my Just Cross stitch Halloween (not pictured) and the latest issue. A few I want to stitch in this one and the Halloween issue. 

And finally My twice a year hair trim. I usually wear my hair in its natural state. Afro, braids, bun and twists as pictured on the left. But when I get it trimmed my daughter straightens it first (right) then cuts it. So before (left) and after trim (right). 

That is all my friends. My next post will be the needleminder exchange hosted by Mii stitches blog. 

Happy Stitching!  

Update on Life and Cross Stitch Progress

   It has been a very emotional month since I last posted on this blog. I see I have some followers since I added the button. That took forever. Thank you all for following. 

   I want to say a big thank you to all that have been sending up prayers and support to me and Angelo. He was moved to the nursing home and the road to recovery begun. It was very trying. I can say that he his stronger physically and medically he is okay. Its the global aphasia that is the greatest challenge we are facing. He is in a wheelchair. With assistance he is able to move from bed to chair. And back. Still not walking but does have the movement of his right leg again.So that is a plus. The right hand is still not moving yet. 

   Just before logging in to write this post the social worker at the nursing home facility called and said the insurance company is pushing for a release for 8/3/17. I wish I could be happy about this but I am on the fence. See the problem is he is unable to communicate verbally or with the use of any type of visual aide. Still needs assistance with bathing and toileting. (Which everyday I assist him with.)But I am now the sole provider for the household. So I have to leave him in the care of someone while I am at work. Me and the family are working together to come up with a plan. Our home has a serious flight of stairs to get to the full bath and that is not going to work for him. So we are going to move him to his dad's home. I really wanted him to come home but I guess that is not in his best interest right now. I feel so alone without him. 

  Its like the most intelligent person I know just lost his mind. I look at him sometimes and wonder if he remembers the love we had. For a short while I thought he had forgotten me altogether. But the other day he reached out to me and tried to say baby, then gave me a kiss. I was so happy. He loved me like no other man I have ever known. From the moment we met he had me smiling everyday. And now I don't know if he will ever love like that again. He is very childlike so we may never be the same as we once were. I have to believe in time things will improve. I am going to speak with a counselor about the feelings I am having. So wish me luck on moving forward. I am scared I am losing him. The family has all kinds of input but he is my husband. I hope they do not try and take him from me. I am 4 feet 11 inches tall and they underestimate me. They better not try me. Or they will feel the fury in me. 

  

Okay, enough with the venting. 

    I received a prize for a drawing from minnie-allxxs.blogspot.com. She had 4 patterns to win and 7 entries. She surprised us all and gave everyone who entered a pattern. I plan to stitch this during the holidays.

.  I created a Instagram page to log my progress with my projects. Same name as the blog. I started my first Heaven and Earth Design. When I started watching FlossTube videos I knew I had to have a HAED. But not a massive one. Now they have small sizes. So I have a Storykeep design. I worked on it for a bit. Its still going to take a while to stitch. 

   I have not worked on the Elephant design. I just find it so boring to stitch with the one color. I must finish it soon though. It's for a friend. I wish I did not tell her I was stitching her something and then I could put it off longer. Alas, I am dedicating this week to finishing it

  
 And my love of course is the Halloween Cat. I had another visit from the dreaded frog. It was a small patch but it still put me off. And I found a small spot (ugggggh!) on the fabric. I hope it comes out when I wash it. I am going to focus on finishing the Elephant and Kitty so I can have some alone time with my HAED. LOL

                                 This is the pattern I was gifted from Minnie's blog.

                                                         
                                         This is my very first HAED. Fragile by Kirstin Mills.
                                              Stitching this on 18 ct Oatmeal Aida.
                                         I was using baggies. I switched to bobbins last night.
                                                             Which took forever.

This was my start on 18 ct after getting rid of the 25 ct magic guide

                                                 

                                                                Halloween Cat
                                                            28 ct Jobelan
                                                 The color of the fabric is Denim

Elephant Sampler

Stitched on 18 ct. hand dyed fabric from Garibaldi's Needle Works

Floss color 3051 DMC 

Well my Stitchy friends, until next time.

Update on life and Halloween Cat

  I started this blog for many reasons. Over the last few months I have been visiting several blogs as well as watching FlossTube. This community is very large. Many of us love stitching and other hobbies. I watched over the course of a year many bloggers and Flosstubers going through very difficult times. Cancer, death, debt and losing our valued homes. All with our crafts keeping us going. I have now experienced such a tragedy. My husband suffered a massive stroke on 6/11/17. It was the one of the most horrible things I have witnessed. I was terrified. He is alive but with severe disabilities. His stroke paralyzed his right side and his ability to speak or communicate. His health is improving but not mentally. I have reached out to church, friends and family members as well. To witness others in the community go through such hardships it gave me strength to know I can as well. Not many have visited my blog yet. So I am very lowkey in the blog world. But I draw strength from many of you and you have no idea that is the case. I find myself stitching at the hospital. I find myself reaching for my projects to keep my mind and body at peace. Stitching calms me. I just wanted to say thanks to you all for the strength in your truths. For giving others a glance into your world. If anybody happens to read this other than me. Please pray for me (LeShawn) and my Husband, Angelo. Thanks
  Now about that darn Cat. Man since the last update I have been working on two projects. Halloween Cat by Satsuma Street and a Elephant sampler from MKDesignArt etsy shop. I had made significant progress on the cat and then I received a visit from the dreaded frog. I had to basically rip out every thing and start over because of one line missed. Oh well. The Elephant Sampler is a gift for a friend. Its getting quite boring to stitch though with only 1 color. But I love the way it is coming out.
  Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stitching!

This was from April 7th 2017

I Did It! Yayyyyyy!

Satsuma Street

Halloween Cat

28ct Jobelan

Started 4/7/17

OH MY GOSH! I finally had the courage to attempt to stitch on something other then Aida. I bought this last year and was so intimidated by it I put it away. Today was a rough day. I needed something to take my mind off of everything. I decided to try the Jobelan today. I think I have watched all the floss tube videos made about how to stitch on linen or evenweave over the last 9 or so months. I thank all the ladies who I watched to get here. It feels very nice and this pattern is stitching up pretty quickly. I really did not think I could do it. You ladies and gentlemen taught me from the beginning on how to cross stitch. I am so exited. I gathered all the floss and found I am missing one color. UGGGGHH! Back to the store. But back to stitching this cat. Oh and I feel so much better now I am stitching. Well until next time...Happy Stitching!

The Beginning

I started cross stitching last June. I am addicted. I only have a few projects currently but a thousand in my head being charted. LOL. I had to create this blog so I can stop watching the action and participate. I will post picture when I learn how. This is my first time starting a blog. Be patient with me.