What I’m Working On…

I didn’t get a lot done last week.  So little that I had to, yet again, change my plans for a quilt to donate to the benefit for the little guy that was born early.  My “Jo Bucket” was running on empty and it was time to fill or for me to go crazy.  (More on that in tonight’s blog post)  Anyway, I decided to do some things around here that I needed and wanted to get done.  I can live in a little chaos for a bit but then comes a point that NO MORE.  I just can’t do it anymore and that’s where I was on Friday night…so I ditched sewing plans and made catch up plans instead.

All week I was busy with family and work.  Kayla was here for three days and two overnights with Jasper.

I surely appreciated the visit.

Rosie needed more attention this week after she had her “lady parts” surgery.  Nothing lots extra but some…

She’s doing awesome.  You’d never know now that she had a surgery.  She’s done great with no licking so doesn’t need the onsie anymore.

One night I sewed and I got this far…

I really thought I could get it finished and on a normal week I might have been able to, but this week was too much.

I auditioned borders.  I cut the outer border and the pieces are sewn together and ready to go.  I didn’t know what to do for the inner border though.  I had nothing in my stash but a package from blog reader, Beth, had solids in it and two of them matched really well.  (THANKS BETH!!)

Which do you like better??

I ended up going with……the aqua.  I thought it made the quilt a little more spring like.  This will get finished as time allows.  Now that I don’t have to hurry and get it done for such a fast deadline, it’s going to get slid to a back burner.  I’ll likely finish it up for the benefit for my nephew who lost much of his right hand.  For now I’m going to pull Jasper’s baby quilt and finish that.

Saturday night after I got things a little more organized I gave in and cross stitched.  Cross stitching is still a little hard for me with Rosie.  Some of the time, she’s okay.  Occasionally she is good.  Sometimes she just won’t let me stitch.  On top of that, she makes is REALLY hard to guess which mood she is going to be in.

I was getting to be on the home stretch of the the Snowy String by Lizzie Kate.  I had about two hours that I could stitch so it would be easy to finish…or so I thought.  Rosie was in a mood and wasn’t feeling like settling down so the first hour I struggled to get her to calm down.  The last hour she fell asleep next to me and I stitched away.  I finished it!!

Then went to take a picture and she woke up and was back in her crazy mood.  Here she was trying to take a bit at the hoop.  I keep reminding myself to be patient.

I did want to point out that I love this embroidery hoop for stitching long skinny designs like this one.  I only moved the hoop once.  I got it at Hobby Lobby.  Link HERE.  I have quite a few on these narrow designs so I think I’m going to get a second hoop the next time I go.

This is the original.  It’s Lizzie Kate’s Snowy String.

I didn’t use the called for colors.  I used the colors Priscilla used.   You can find her information HERE.  It was her idea to change the penguin into a snowman and add the letter “P”.  I did the same.

Mine needs some ironing, but it’s stitched!! YAHOO!!

Being this was finished I had no cross stitch projects going.  So on Sunday I kitted a couple projects up and ordered floss for a couple things too.  I tea/coffee dyed some fabric darker.  Tonight (I’m writing this Sunday night) before I go to bed I want to put an hour or so into a project so it’s started.  I like to have a started project if I am taking one with me when I travel or go to the doctor’s office.  That way, being a project is started,  I am sure to have everything I need in the kit.

I’m expecting doctor appointments so I do want to have something ready to grab.  On the doctor front, I called my doctor Friday and no decisions were made on where my case is going.  She is hopeful that we’ll know something this week.

The other things I got done on Sunday was my tax prep stuff before my appointment on Saturday.  I hate tax prep.  I hate bookwork.  ICK!  I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that for a job.  That’s how bad I hate it.  Anyway, I’ve been a little nervous ever since Kramer passed away.  I don’t know how that’s going to influence my taxes.  Then a couple weeks ago I got a call from my LONG term tax lady.  She isn’t doing taxes this year due to health difficulties.  UGH.  I loved going to her.  I’ve been going to her for 20 years!!  I know exactly what she wants and how she wants it.  Going to someone new is hard.  I did find someone and they were able to get me in rather quickly which I appreciate but it also made me have to scramble to get things in order.  But at least my part is done…at least as done as I can get them.  Fingers crossed that I did okay with them.  I’ll know Saturday afternoon if I did.

I did have another accomplishment this week.  I finished the sudoku in the newspaper!!  Karl and I have a race every Thursday to see if we can do it.  For the last two weeks we had both failed.  This week he wasn’t home and it was Kayla that raced me.  I actually finished it….

…and it was an advanced level!!  I’m not the best sudoku gal but I do enjoy trying.  I only do the one in the newspaper on Thursdays.  I keep telling Karl that if one of us can complete it, the other has to do dishes….so of course, the day I finish it, Karl isn’t home.  BLAH!!  I missed out on my chance to have him do the dishes.

That was my week.  Minus my mini meltdown on Friday night, I’m doing okay.  I really realized how important it is for me to “fill my Jo Bucket” or get some “me time”…but like I said earlier, I’ll tell you more about that in tonight’s post.