Earthdancer blues

When I was in college, I was the counted crosstitch queen. I would spend hours on end (between studies) doing nothing but crosstitch projects. Most of these projects were images from Precious Moments. I absolutely loved them and if you were someone in my life at the time, then somewhere among your things, you have one of my projects.

About 10 years ago, my sister gave me a beautiful project titled "Earthdancer". This is a gorgeous crosstitch piece and it took me about a year to get all the thread and beads together to make it. It had been a while since I stitched and I didn't know where the Houston shops were. I actually ended up getting all my stuff at a shop in Old Town Spring.

Well, over the years, I keep picking up this project and working on it. I am so discouraged now. I cannot do the beadwork. For some reason, I can't keep the count correct for the beads and they aren't coming out right, specifically the area on the chest and shoulders. I've ripped them out twice and it looks like 3rd time is coming. I even bought a magnifier glass to help me see the stitching better and it's still way off. I am using the exact count fabric that the project calls for; still the beads don't line up.

I'm hoping that I don't give it up alltogether but i certainly don't want to find myself 80 years old upon completion.

Who'da thought?

I stole this from Elizabeth I never would have thought, Purple. But I think I can see it.......I think.

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You're always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Lucy, I'm home!

Hey ya'll, I'm home.

I was a little ever so paranoid by my posting about Bush that while waiting for my flight at IAH, I kept looking around to see if I saw anybody looking even slightly like FBI people watching me.... Then I did it again when I got to DC. I didn't see anyone reading newspapers with their sunglasses on, so I guess I was ok. :)

I had a lovely time. I used to sight see whenever I visited my sister. Then, last February, I went to visit her and she took me to some little town where we found a chocolate shop. We sat down with hot chocolate and she looked me square in the face and asked me what I wanted to do. I told her, "I know this sounds crazy, but I want to stay at home and do home-body stuff". She was soooo excited. We found a needlework project and spent the remainder of my stay doing just that. Her husband was sent for food on occasion.

So, this time I knitted a scarf, made a necklace and started a scrapbook. We did manage to get out one day and visit an antique store. I kept thinking about Nora's lovely victorian ornaments and my sister has a really pretty tree, too and I wanted to buy some cute and feminine ornaments for my tree. I succeeded in finding a cute purse ornament and a somewhat matching shoe. I found a teapot ornamant and some pretty white bells with pink flowers.

So, now I am even more motivated to finish my quilt. I need to do some edge stitching on the sashes, then I'll get my batting and back fabric. I should have it all done by February. (Fingers crossed).

Sorry, still no digital camera....so no photos of anything. I'm working on it Guys, really, I am.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Ok, so I'm not going to let my Bush bash be the last post you see from me before the Holidays. Hey, I was crazy about that guy so I have every right to be equally disdainful of him.

I am going to be scarce over the next few days as I spend the holidays with my sister in D.C. So,

Nora, have a wonderful Christmas with your sons and John.
Krysten, I know you're ready for the holidays to be over with but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy every moment once the moment begins.
Elizabeth, I hope you, Chris and Athena have a wonderful Christmas.
And, finally, Cathy, you've been on my mind all day and I'll be thinking of you over the holidays. Take care of yourself and I hope you find some comfort in the warmth of the season.

Ok, all.......

Merry Christmas

Bush, are you getting it, yet? (Soap Box Alert)

So, you're asking us to understand and support your war in Iraq. You've asked us to set aside our disagreements with your policies and support your efforts in Iraq....in the name of Freedom.

No!

You are methodically taking away my rights over my body. You are taking away the rights of my sisters, my daughters, my grandaughters, my nieces and grand nieces to choose what is best for their bodies. You won't stop until you've won that battle.

I'm not helping you win your battle against the naysayers. You've betrayed me.

You have put your religious beliefs above your duty as a commander in chief and have allowed them to influence your decisions. You are standing in the way of stem cell research. You are catering to the Religious Right and handing them ungodly amounts of power.

Go take your pleas to the Religious Right. Get Pat Robertson and company to rally support for your war. You've bent over backward accomodating them, it's time they give back something to you. What? They're too busy imposing their own religious agendas on the rest of us to help you? Power is a pretty interesting phenominon, isn't it?

So, how about you put aside your own personal religious convictions and pave the way to allow for stem cell research. How about you start supporting women's rights over their own body? How about you prove to us whose hope for a future of personal freedom is slowly being dashed by the power of the hungry imposing Religious Right that you are on our side. Until then, you're on your own.

E-mail in a time capsule

I just came across this article titled a "Sending the future you e-mails"

In a nutshell, you can send yourself an e-mail to arrive in the future.
This is an interesting concept. The thing about this type of project is that you write the e-mail, send it, then forget about it. If it's something you keep remembering or going back to, it won't have the same impact. So, what happens if your e-mail changes? Hmmm, no e-mail I guess.

I think this is a pretty cool idea, nonetheless. www.futureme.org There are some publicly displayed e-mails if you want to read them. Go check it out.

Me....Cupid?

Ok, so I'm a little late posting this thing....all my other blog friends have posted theirs already.

You Are Cupid

A total romantic, you're always crushing on a new reindeer. Why You're Naughty: You've caused so much drama, all the reindeers aren't speaking to each other. Why You're Nice: You have a knack for playing matchmaker. You even hooked Rudolph up!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

More on "Fighting Back"

I was sharing with an online friend my thing about mailing the stuff back to the CC companies in the prepaid envelopes they send me. He said he does the same thing and that he has a jar of washers dedicated to doing just that. He includes the washers in order to make the envelopes heavier.

I'm heading to Home Depot. I have just the jar for it too!

Oh Happy Happy Joy Joy

My lovely colleagues gave me a DVD/CD player for my birthday. Up until now, I had to watch movies on my VCR. I'm so very excited.......

Fighting Back

Ok, so I don't know how the rest of you feel about this but there is something that really pisses me off. Credit card companies constantly sending me stuff trying to get me to sign up with their company. I get at least 2 or 3 a week. I can't throw them away because I worry about identity theft, so I have to shred them.

So, I've decided to take the junk inside the envelope that doesn't have my name and info on it and stuff it in the prepaid envelope they provide and mail it to them. Now they can pay someone to open "junk mail".

Besides, why let that pre-paid envelope go to waste?

Oh Where Oh Where has GFT gone, Oh Where Oh Where could she be.....?

Ok my friends. I'm sorry, I've dropped the ball on the blogging thing. But there's a very good reason for it.

I'll start from the beginning.

When I was a little girl, I had a very special quilt that I loved. The quilt was made by my Great Aunt Myrt in 1945 and it was of these cute figures named Sun Bonnet Sue and Overall Sam or Joe. The skirt of Sun Bonnet Sue matched the overalls of Sam. And each pair was different. She scattered them throughout the quilt so you would have to look for each match.

Anyway, in January of this year, I e-mailed my sister in D.C. and told her I wanted to make that quilt. She found the same pattern my aunt used back in '45. I have no idea how she found it. So, over the past year I have been making the squares for this quilt. 30 of them to be exact.

My sister decided she wanted to do one, too. So I asked her to send me pieces of fabric that she would be using in her quilt and I would incorporate them into my quilt. I actually dedicated a pair to her fabric.

Well, over the last few evenings, I have been sewing the squares together. I'm including a sash between squares so they appear to have a border. It is now time to get the batting and the back piece for the quilt.

I don't have a digital camera, I know, stone ages.....but I'll get one soon. And I'll take a photo and post it for all to admire. I am so damned excited about this quilt. As it took its form over the past few days, I fondly remembered the one I had as a child.

So, that is where I've been over the past few days.