A month of ups and downs

Good morning, everyone! How has your February been? For a short month a lot has taken place here--some happy things and some sad. Throughout everything, though, my stitching is one of the few things that keeps me grounded and brings me peace. I know all of my fellow stitchers can relate! 

I have just one finish to share with you today, but, boy did it take longer to stitch than I expected. To be honest, I actually started this one in mid-December thinking I would finish it before the end of the year. Ha! I never even came close... Part of the problem was simply a lack of stitching time during the busy Christmas season. And part of why it took so long was figuring out the colors. Because I made some changes--a lot of them! Anyway, it's finally done and I love it! May I present, "Hometown Christmas," by Abby Rose Designs.

"Hometown Christmas" by Abby Rose Designs

Doesn't this remind you of a Prairie Schooler Design? I've always enjoyed stitching houses and these especially appealed to me because of the small town feeling this piece evokes. Having grown up in a tiny western New York village (with just one traffic light at the time--today there are two!), small town life has always been very special to me. I stitched this on a piece of 40 ct. Pearled Barley (by Lakeside Linens) that had been in my stash for years and I was so glad to finally find a use for it. 

I changed the house on the left from red to green.

A number of changes were made to the colors in this piece, but the main one was was to the house in the front left (The Needle Shop). It was charted to be another red house, but I thought the green would make for a more interesting color palette so I used DMC 730 and 731. I also changed the colors of the green border and the pine trees to WDW Moss and WDW Bullfrog, respectively. Another big change came after I had the entire chart stitched and that was to change the name on one of the buildings. Do you see the red structure? Well, that originally said "Town Hall," but the more I thought about it, it just didn't have any meaning for me. The other two buildings certainly did (candy and stitching--yes, indeed!), but I wanted to personalize this little town with my interests. I really wanted to make the red building say "Library," but to make it fit the space, I would have had to make the letters tiny, so I chose to use "Books" instead. Of course, I decided this after I had already stitched the words "Town Hall!" I thought about leaving them, but... I knew that each time I looked at it, I'd be wishing that building had something to do with books. After all, I was a librarian for nearly 30 years! So, I patiently ripped out the tiny stitches in the top of the building and restitched it after charting the word "Books." Love how it turned out! 

Every town needs a bookstore, so I changed what was supposed to be a Town Hall to a big red bookstore.

In an effort to put winter behind me, I'm now working on a spring piece... In fact, it's the sweet bunny delivering flowers chart ("Spring Delivery" by With Thy Needle and Thread) which I offered in my giveaway in my February 13th post. I'm not quite done with it so I haven't drawn a winner's name yet. Anyway, there is still time to enter if you want to. Just head back to my previous post, read the guidelines, and comment to be entered into the drawing for "Spring Delivery." Next time I'll have the winner's name for you--I promise! And I'll have my own finish of this charming design to share with you!

   

As I mentioned earlier, February has been a very up and down month here. In the space of just one week, we lost two very special people. A dear woman (whom I considered my aunt) passed at the age of 93 after battling dementia for a number of years. She was one of my mother's dearest friends and her family used to vacation with mine in Canada each summer when I was growing up. So many memories came flooding back when I learned of her death. I am truly relieved she is finally at peace and I will always remember her beautiful smile and giving spirit.  

And exactly one week later, my husband got a call that one of his best biking friends had suddenly passed while in a rehabilitation facility. I think we are both still in shock as this wasn't the outcome that anyone expected. He had been in a terrible bike accident back in late August and had been hospitalized, undergone a 14-hour surgery, and seemed to be recovering. But, I guess in the long run, the effort of coming back from a broken neck and a back broken in several places, was just too much. He was only 72 years old--a year older than us. This makes the third person we've known to die from biking accidents over the past 15 years or so. To say that I worry about my husband is an understatement. He bikes three days a week in good weather--it is his passion just like stitching is mine. So, what do I do? I can't stop him from cycling, so I simply tell him to "ride carefully" and say a little prayer each time he heads out for another ride.  You just never know when it's your time, do you?

On the happy side, I'm pleased to report that my husband's shoulder replacement recovery is going very well. His range of motion improves each week and, although the physical therapy leaves him in pain for a day or two, he sticks with it and is very conscientious about going to each session. He hopes to be recovered enough to resume his biking season in late May or early June assuming he stays on this same path of recovery.  

Another joyful day was spent celebrating my niece's soon-to-arrive baby girl with a lovely shower in Indiana this past weekend. It was a long drive (6 hours) out there in rather dicey weather (terrible winds going out/snow and icy roads on the way home), but she was so thrilled to have us there and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. Is there anything better than a new baby to help ease your worries? I can't wait to meet the newest member of our family in April!  

So, what do you have planned for March? I don't think I'll be doing any St. Patrick's Day stitching this year and plan to jump to one of my favorite themes--bunny stitching for Spring and Easter. My grandsons (and their parents, of course) are going to be visiting at the end of March--I can't wait! I miss them so much... Hopefully, the worst of winter is behind us. We escaped that massive storm that hit the East Coast over the weekend and the sun is supposed to shine brightly today after this fog dissipates. In a bit, I'm heading to the dentist for a crown in one of my molars--oh, joy! Not my favorite activity, but I'll reward myself for being brave with an afternoon of stitching. Hope you enjoy your day, my friends--thank you, as always for visiting and for your kind words! Bye for now...