Random Happenings and Family Life

10 Things I Want to Accomplish in 2018

Here we are again, that weird part in the middle of January. As always, this part of the year gets me thinking about what I want to do with my stitching projects and with this website throughout the year…

I was reviewing my list of things I wanted to accomplish in 2017 and, well, it was honestly just a really crap year for me and due to health issues. I didn’t accomplish much of anything in any area of my life and there was very little stitching. These are all still very much things that I want to do. So, I’m just taking this lovely list of things from last year, scratching off 2017 and filling in 2018.

10 stitching things that I want to do in 2018

Stitch more often. Daily as much as possible. This is a thing that I used to do always do without fail, then life happened, work and kids, health issues and everything in between. I’m looking to reclaim that little bit of consistency again because it brings me sanity and recharges my mental batteries. [Read more…]

Retta’s Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Several years ago when everyone in my house could still eat peanuts and I was baking more frequently, there were many batches of peanut butter cookies being made. This is also the recipe I shared way back in the first Stitching the Night Away holiday recipe exchange, before we retired the old forums and moved to Facebook.

[Read more…]

Making a Pocket Pillow from an Old Shirt

I had the sewing machine out on the dining room table to make some repairs to a few old shirts. One of them wasn’t going to survive so I set it off to the side thinking I’d use the fabric when I needed to adjust tension or run a test stitch. Then I remembered the throw pillow with the busted seam and figured I’d play around with a quick project idea…

… and this is what happened. A super easy to make pillow with a pocket for a notepad and a pen. [Read more…]

Saying Goodbye to Hancock Fabrics

When they announced stores were closing on April 1st I hoped that it was an awful April Fool’s Day joke, but it wasn’t. They started liquidating everything.

They were the nicest fabric store in my area (and within walking distance of my home) so I was really bummed out. Even more so because my son works there. Today is the last day for our store, I’m not sure if it’s the same everywhere. I stopped in yesterday and there was almost nothing left; mostly the print sewing patterns, spools of thread, and a few bolts of fabric. Even a lot of the display stands were already marked as sold. [Read more…]

Stitches and Steps – Staying Active with a Sitting Hobby

While I often talk about the therapeutic benefits of our hobby, doing any kind of stitching or needlework or sewing means we spend a lot of time sitting. And if you’re like me and have a job that also has you doing a lot of sitting, you might be feeling a little sedentary and struggling to get fitness worked into your day.

You likely can’t give up your job, bills need paid and you have to eat after all, and you certainly don’t want to give up your stitching. I know I personally find myself wondering how I can get more activity into my days without giving up sleep or slacking on the other things that need to get done.

Honestly, I struggle with this a lot. I do a lot of sitting. For work I’m a transcriptionist and I also manage a handful of websites. That equals sitting. I set reminders on my computer to get up and take a break, step away, move around and stop looking at a screen for 10 or 15 minutes. (Note: eye health, equally important here, if not more important.)

When it comes to hobbies and relaxing, trying to wash away the stress, the top three things I enjoy all involve more sitting; stitching, reading, movies. Okay, I confess sometimes reading involves laying on a pile of pillows in bed, but that’s not exactly better than sitting. Exercise in most traditional is not fun or interesting for me. I have a stack of auto immune disorders so I opt for low impact activities when it comes to exercise, like yoga and walking.

My current secret weapon in the battle against sitting is my Fitbit. At first I thought I was being reasonably active, all things considered. But seeing the actual number of steps taken in a day made me realize I was doing way more sitting than I ever realized. Despite my efforts to take breaks and get up from my desk throughout the day, I wasn’t moving much at all on a lot of days and that had to change.

Here’s my current 28 day Fitbit report:

Here’s my profile if you’re a Fitbit user and want to be friends over there.
I also set up a Stitches & Steps community group over there so we can work on these goals together.

Not the best example of high activity, but definitely improving a little at a time. The green bars are the days that I met my goal, which is currently set to 7,000 steps per day. I’m working my way up to hopefully have 10,000+ steps per day during the summer.

This post is part of the May blog hop. Join us [here] and share your tips on staying active with a sitting hobby.

Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching Bloggers Blog Hop:

Sometimes Just Looking at My Stitching Makes Me Feel Better

I just haven’t been stitching as much as I would like. Literally just a few stitches at a time, if any at all.

I’m dealing with major all over inflammation for the millionth time and it just makes everything feel so much harder and more exhausting than it actually is. My scissors might as well weigh a hundred pounds. Add to that the need to do things like work and going buy groceries, and it isn’t leaving much energy left for stitching at the end of it all.

So I’m stitching a row here, a row there, and leaving my stitching set up in my stand next to me even if I’m not working on it.

But in all of this dealing with inflammation and autoimmune disorders stacked on top of one another, I’ve found that sometimes I feel better just getting my supplies out and setting up as if I were going to be stitching all day and all night can make me feel better, even if I don’t place a single solitary stitch on the fabric. And at this point, anything that makes me feel even a tiny bit better is a win.

Share your un-stitching experiences in the comment section below. What do you do when life throws you a curve ball and you can’t stitch even though you really want to?

Halfway Point on My Token of Love, and something extra to share

I may not get to stitch every morning, but I’m still making good progress.

(you can compare to my last update) I’m, halfway on this project now and I have to say there is something very satisfying about highlighting all the symbols on a single page of working copy, a nice little milestone in the accomplishment process.

I also wanted to share this cool art project that my son Noah did with my fellow owl-loving friends here…

Yes, that is indeed an owl drawn up of the word OWL over and over again at different strengths and sizes. I can barely draw a straight line most of the time, so I’m very glad my boys inherited their artistic abilities from their father.

Thanks for stopping by to check out the creativity happening in my corner of the world. I’d love to see what you’re working on too, leave a comment below and point me toward your latest project update 😉

Happy Stitching!

Cats With Thumbs Can Cross Stitch

They can also steal your milk. But hello, they can cross stitch. Keep an eye on the needleworking cat in this Cravendale Milk commercial…

Happy Stitching!

Lots of Cheer Your Way ~ Happy Holidays

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

I usually don’t do holiday cards, but I had a really great coupon code and a gift credit for Shutterfly, so 50 of these were really affordable, and I figured photo cards are less likely to end up in the trash bin.

Sentimental (cross) Stitches

My Mom was an avid cross stitcher. She was always working on a pattern and I would always get her a new kit for her birthday.

I guess I’m writing this post to tell you how special a cross stitch project is when you’ve lost a loved one. My Mom passed away in August of 2008 .. I can’t believe it’s almost been 5 years. Her illness was a shock as my Dad was in hospice at the time. She passed away four months after my Dad. This was the hardest time in my life.

So … dividing my parents belongings between the siblings, I immediately put this pillow into my “pile” …. I had given her this kit and think it is so adorable! I will cherish it forever.

I have a few other projects and each of my siblings got a few as well. We will forever remember our Mom sitting and enjoying cross stitching.

I think a cross stitch sewn by a Mom, Grandma, Sister … any relative …. is so special .. more special than something store bought, a book, a painting, etc… They sat and stitched and created and now you can look at it and think of them stitching every cross, backstitch and french knot. Cherish it as I do and always will.

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