News to me

Cyberstitchers' freebies are now available in PDF format in case, like me, you don't have PCStitch on your computer. I don't know how long this has been possible, but it wasn't the last time I was on the site. I just printed some really cute Helga Mandl and Barbara Ana charts and saved some others, because, ya know, I might run out of stuff to stitch at some point this year, LOL. I'm pretty pleased.

One of the things I did not really appreciate before I undertook this freebie-focused year is that "free" does not necessarily translate to "easy" or "quick stitch". I had thought that, almost two months in, I would have a lot more designs stitched, but I'm on my third or fourth. But it's been a learning moment for me.

A year or so ago, someone on some British message board (at least I seem to remember it being British) had the audacity to criticize the freebie charts San-man Originals was doing, after seeing someone post a finish of theirs. They said they weren't really stitching. I don't know if it was a dig at Sandy's designing talent, or just freebie charts on a whole. I choose to think it was a dig at freebies in general, I guess the idea being that a designer wouldn't put the effort into a free chart that they do into a chart you pay for.

I can tell you, from my experience so far, that don't seem to be true.

I was impressed with the shading on Midnight.It was tricky. If that is what she is accomplishing on a free chart, the shading on a pay chart is the same as a Stoney Creek. Fa La La was an accomplishment, although if I'd stitched it the normal way, it probably wouldn't have taken so long. And I'm loving how beautiful my Debbie Draper design is coming together. I am using two shades of Variations, not just one, and this is a design that you could look at and see five good ways to do the design, all different, all unique, and know that, whatever way you do it, it will look amazing. That's not a cheapening of the talent, it's elevating the craft.

And I'm getting my eyes opened to a whole new world of designers, just by typing, "grilles gratuites." I'm seeing all new French designs that are AMAZING. The funny thing is, the designers don't seem to offer a lot of free charts, but the bloggers who do link to these designers' charts, and they're just gorgeous and SO different from anything we have available here in the US. I wish my French had not declined so badly, because I would love to be able to understand what they're talking about, and to be able to purchase them, instead of limiting my French purchases to Violarium and that one purchase from La Cigale Brodeuse in Canada--they don't even have the best of the French designers. A lot of the whimsical stuff get left "over there", it seems.

I have really started looking for freebies, and it's fun. There's just SO MUCH OUT THERE to look at. Even on the freebie finding websites with the dead links, there are still enough live links to make it worth a look.

Challenge yourself. Find three good freebies you've never seen before that you'd love to stitch. The more obscure, the better! I promise you, it's like finding gold!

Storm photos

I know, I know, you've seen about all the snow you care to see for the rest of your lives. But I promised pix, and pix you shall have

Out our front door. The pic is bad, but we couldn't get the door open because of how much snow there was. The only door that would open was the garage door, and it was more important to make sure the dogs could pee. We shoveled this Sunday. It took another go round this morning.


OUt into the backyard. That viney stuff is on top of the fence HTB put up so that his homeowners' insurance would be cool with the pitbulls. It's six feet high. Granted, we have a hill, but it ain't that steep. The whole bak yard is just depressingly full of snow.


The pile of snow after HTB shoveled out my car. The untouched snow is waist deep. The piled up snow is 8 feet tall and five feet wide. HTB is tired. And my car got stuck in a snowdrift because they only half plowed the street. There's nowhere to put the snow. The governor said streets would not be plowed to pavement. This sucks.


Icicles hanging down. We get one or two normally. These are like fringe the whole way around the house.


Looking up the street in the middle of the storm yesterday. HTB's racecar is one of the lumps. The Tahoe is another one. Over to the right is the park I walk in sometimes. Now it's a big pile of snow.

And the clean up commences

HTB says I can't shovel, because the drifts are taller than me. So he's outside, shoveling. He tried to do it with the assistance of the big boys, but when I went out to the garage, they were kennelled up. He says they kept getting in his shoveling space and he didn't want to hit them. Knowing them, I believe him--Shocka picks the place you need him least (In my case, he wanted in the Vibe) and makes it his goal to get to that place, and then looks at you with such love in those eyes. They appealed to me to let them out, but it really makes shoveling difficult, and this isn't shoveling you play around with.

I'm passing the day. I tried to stitch last night, but I was so tired and my neck hurt. I talked to my aunt last night. She thinks I am insane to want to enter things in the fair this year, due to the wedding, but HTB and I were talking it over and, really, other than my dress, the major decisions are made. What isn't made aren't hard decisions--mostly they're related to the music, and, for the most part, I have really good ideas of what I want. But, I mean, entry-wise, I have super-good stuff completed already, and what isn't done, I can get completed pretty quick. One piece needs a charm which I have to track down and order, one needs some beads replaced since I was clueless when I sewed them on how one attachs beads, and so they've fallen off. The things that I haven't started aren't terribly difficult pieces, they just need done. I didn't realize just how much HTB likes that I enter the fair til, when I told him, he said, "But you do that EVERY year. Why not this year?" ANd I AM the master at getting stuff done when it seems impossible to do so. So, if he helps me (and he always does), I know I'll have fair entries.

I hope they do major work on the roads today. Even if we don't go into work, I want to get out and about. I've been inside for 36 hours and there are things I want to get done. I told HTB last night that, I don't care if we just go to McDonald's, I want to get out of this house for Valentine's Day. I want to eat food that neither of us prepared, I want to eat off dishes we don't own. I want to see a movie on a screen larger than our TV. I want to go to a craft store. I'm such a cheap date, aren't I? LOL.

I hope everyone is having a great day! Spring is here in 1 month and 10 days.

This is getting really old really fast

They are forecasting 10 to 20 more inches of snow. I'm working today, but I'm very disquieted. I went to the store last night to get my mother some supplies she needed and to take the twins some dog food, since Mom is running low on their food. All the fresh food in our Safeway was gone, even bananas, which was the one thing I dearly wanted. I got two of the last packs of eggs they had, which I feel a bit bad about, but my mother needed eggs and, when my mom asks for something, I try to get it for her.

I will say, on the main roads, the road crews did a much better job clearing them than they did with the Christmas snow. They're mostly dry. The side roads are iffy. I had to park the car in the middle of Mom's street and put the flashers on, and then run in and out of the house as quick as possible. I thought if it got bad, I'd stay with her, but that's not happening, since there is literally no place on her street to put my car. So I'll stumble home tonight.

The supplies for my ring pillow came in the mail over the weekend. I've decided to go with GAST Morning Glory for the color. It's not an exact match, but close enough that no one will notice, and, if they do, hopefully they will have the good graces to not say anything. I'd like to get started on that soon. I think it will be gorgeous though, Morning Glory on ivory.

Snow bound

Hopefully, I can post some of the pictures I took really soon, but I thought it was more important to post photos of what I've been working on during our epic snowstorm. Maryland is a beautiful place to live 11 months out of the year; February gets a little rough. Between 11:30 Friday and 4PM yesterday, we got the most snowfall ever in this area. 21 to 26 inches in our yard, up to 32 inches elsewhere. There have been 3 storms this week, they're calling for another on Tuesday, maybe one this weekend. One of the agents I was working with was complaining they've had three snow storms since Christmas where she is. I told her we had three storms in a week, and I did the Plunge in one of them. That kind of quieted her down. Fortunately, the sun is shining, my car is almost dug out--the dogs were helping me and I had to shoo Shocka out of it, and yell at both of them for eating snow--and we have a truck that will get us out if we need to go anywhere, and Spring is here in 6 weeks.

OK, to let you know that I have been stitching, I have photos.

Fa La La, by Plum Pudding Needlearts, off their website. I think he's very cute, and a pretty finish. I am glad I managed to accomplish reversing my stitching like I did. It was an effort, and not sure how much I'll be doing that in the future. Me old brain just don't like being messed with anymore. DF made coffee this morning, so I'll be dyeing the backing fabric with it.



And my efforts on Sheepish Designs' Betsy. I think I am making awesome progress on this. It's a fun stitch, and not giving me a lot of hassle. Though I do have to say, I won't be really happy til I have the two sides of the tree joined from top to bottom. When I start and come together like that, it always makes me a bit antsy. I'm using DMC on 28 count buttermilk Jobelan, which is a really pretty fabric and nice to work on. The chart is OOP, but I did see that Em-li's had it listed on her site. Worth a shot if you like the chart, and a lot cheaper than E-bay.




Going to run for now. Not much happens when we're snowbound. We're planning on taking it easy with some chili tonight and watching the Superbowl. I'm torn. I wish the Saints would win, but I also like Hank Baskett of the Colts, so it's hard to choose. I guess I'll just enjoy the ads.

It's starting to snow . . .

It's been snowing for the last 3 hours. We are supposed to get 2 feet before the end of the storm tomorrow. HTB went out today. I'm worried about him out there, but, at least from the roads here, it doesn't look so bad. Not yet. Fingers crossed he'll make it home at a decent time.

I ran out at lunch for the essentials--ya know, soda for HTB and some chips for the chili I plan to make this evening. Other than that, I have no plans for the next three days. My boss at the theatre told me not to come in tomorrow, so I finally have some stitching time.

I will try to post photos tonight, at least so you can see I'm still stitching. I finished my pretty little Fa La La the night before last. I'll have to set aside some time to finish it (along with about 10 other ornaments), but I'm glad it's done. I've been working on Betsy since yesterday. I'd like to get that at least half finished by the end of the weekend.

But I just got the last one for Christmas . . .

http://kathybarrick.blogspot.com/

Autumn at Hawks Run Hollow is being released at the Nashville Show. CHS is putting photos up on her blog. I have to have it.

Yes, I know . . .

I don't have much done on Shores.

Yes, I know . . .

all I have on Villages is the floss in the bag.

Yes, I know . . .

I just got Christmas for Christmas.

Yes, I know . . .

It took 2 years, a week and an hour to finish Houses. I only know that because I know I started it on Halloween 2004 and finished it on my 30th birthday in 2006.

And I know I have a bazillion other things to do. Summer Ball, my Britter Critter quilt, starting a family, working, sleeping.

But I want this. The pumpkins were a thrill. The black cat was a thumbs up. Even the turkey was a fun point.

The horses sealed the deal for me.

Maybe I could spend 2011 in Hawks Run Hollow. Spend enough time there, I bet they'd let me be mayor . . .