I have been happily stitching away on both my PhD project and my travel projects and thought I would post a few updates. 

I'm getting to the point that I getting antsy to finish the first page of pattern of the PhD project - though it still doesn't look like much considering it is just a wall.

I also have made some progress on the "Pray without Ceasing" travel project I've been working on at Stitch & Bitch.  

I'll probably finish the skin this week - thank God, there is only so much flesh tone stitching I can take and be able to start the shirt.  My goal is to be able to finish it up while at Baby Pastor School the week of the 23rd. 

Works in Progess

About a week before Christmas I finally started on my PhD project, granted I got all about 20 stitches in before Christmas.  However this pass two week, while my parents were visiting, most evenings we would spend some time sitting around the table working on our various stitching.  Well really my mom would fall asleep on the couch but my dad would work on his project and I got some stitching done on my PhD project. 

Someday it will look like this: 

But for now it looks like this:

I've only had one problem thus far.  The chart has what I'm dubbing normal colons, overweight colons and obese colons (really bold and super bold).  I didn't realize this and ended up stitching about 100-150 obese colons were the overweight ones should have been.  If the colors were close I would have let it be but the obese is a dark grey and the overweight ones are a light blue.  And of course I didn't notice this until I had already stitched about 10 other colors so I couldn't just stitch backwards.  Oh well.  Now I know to be careful with colons.  

Otherwise I'm loving how the stitching is working up.  The colors are beautiful and on 20 count fabric the stitches are nice and full with none of the fabric showing through. 

But since this project is so huge, it is only for home.  So the other week when I was headed to Stitch and Bitch I realize that I didn't have a project to bring with me.  So I went through my stash and found a project half done in my stash.  It is probably close to 10 years old and I don't remember working on it at all.  So this will be my travel project for the time being. 

Here it is before Stitch & Bitch last night. 

Sick, and still sick

Almost 3 weeks ago now I started coughing, at first nothing bad, just a minor cough every once in awhile.  But then it started to become more persistent and deeper, more in the chest.  And I spent pretty much the entire second week of Advent at home, in my pajamas, coughing with bronchitis.

While being sick during Advent as a pastor is never a good thing, I have been lucky that with bronchitis I was pretty much just coughing and tired but no sinus, nasal or stomach issues.  And my congregation has been wonderful in picking up some slack I've had or allowing other duties to not be pressing.

But being sick does have some advantages.  I've lost about 5 pounds and with all the coughing I've been doing my abs are probably the flattest they have ever been.   I was also able to finish my youngest niece's Christmas stocking in plenty of time to get it in the mail so she will have it on Christmas Eve.

I've also officially started my PhD project with the first 200 or so stitches done in one tiny corner of my canvas.

And now 3 weeks after those first few coughs and less than a week till Christmas, I'm still coughing, I'm still tired and my voice sounds horse.  Each day I'm feeling a bit better though I'm exhausted each evening.

Meanwhile I have a new appreciation for Advent waiting.  As we are awaiting the Christ child to be born and Christ to come again, I'm waiting to feel better.  And just like how Christ comes in our hearts, it is not a sudden thing, I know I will not wake up one day and instantly feel better, instead each day my faith grows stronger, each day Christ comes more into my heart and each day my bronchitis is getting a little better.

Bob is Gone...

...and I'm home alone.

Bob, my husband, left for France last Monday evening where he will be there off and on for 3 years while he works on his PhD.  Meanwhile I'm still in Connecticut, getting used to my new norm.

My lovely dogs seem to have gotten more obnoxious about waking me up in the morning when Bob is not here, so they have pushed me out of bed earlier this past week than I have gotten up in the past with Bob at home.  Which has given me a bit of a routine which makes the day go by quickly-ish.

I've also been busy with meetings, home visits and seeing friends this past week so when Sunday afternoon came and I was free for the rest of the day, I hid in the home office and needle-pointed and watched TV.

Before Bob left, I decided that I needed my own PhD project, and Edwin Longsden Long's painting Babylonian Marriage Market seemed like a great fit. The final product will be about 4 feet by 2 feet (aka HUGE!)

But I haven't been able to start it just yet, first I must get some Christmas stitching done.  So this week I've been working on a smaller project for a swap partner on Ravelry which needs to go out in the mail by December 7 and then I'll try and get a Christmas stocking done for my youngest niece before Christmas actually comes.  But my fingers are itching to start my PhD project so hopefully I can finish up those stitches quickly.

God Moments of the Weekend

This weekend was crazy and therefore not able to blog about my God moments.  So here they are all at once.

Thursday I felt God when I had a some time to kill in the afternoon and spent it wandering around Barnes and Nobles and trying on clothes that I had no intention of buying at Target.  It was a great time of just resting and enjoying the day, taking some time for myself and while there was never one moment throughout the day when I was really touched by God, I knew I was loved by being able to just enjoy some time out by myself.

Friday, Bob and I took it easy during the day but we ended up working out together for a bit something we NEVER do mainly because we ended up in a minor fight about the correct form of a sit up. But God was with us as ended the workout laughing together.  At one point I noticed the wedding sampler that my dad made us that says "Live, Love Laugh Together" and that is exactly what we did.

Saturday I spent the majority of the day at a "Doing What Matter's" conference in Bridgeport, then came back prepared for Sunday and made bread.  I had to laugh when I tried to get the bread out of the pan because the bottom stuck and it looked like this:

It tastes wonderful just doesn't look like much.  Kinda works for God's presence, it doesn't always look like much but it is still wonderful to experience.

And last night God reminded me that sometimes we have to wait just a little longer for things to be accomplished.  I have been working on a needlepoint project for just shy of a year now (started March 11, 2010) and eagerly sat down to finish it up last night.  However I came up short.  I ran out of one color with about 20 stitches left to go.  Had this happened any other day of the week I probably would have been tempted to jump into my car, drive the 15 miles to the closest Michael's to buy some more floss and finish it up.  But at last it was Sunday and stores close early.  So instead I must have a bit more patience. But it looks pretty good otherwise:

Where have you seen God this weekend?

Christmas Craftiness - Gift Edition

Yesterday I posted some of the decorations around the church so today I thought I would post some of the gifts that I made for Christmas this year.  I'm only going to post the ones for kids since I know they won't see this post and ruin the surprise.

This past year I finished two needlepoint stockings.  One for my youngest niece:

And one for my oldest godson:

Last year I found online a tutorial to make a felted potato person (though a different name was used).  Due to copyright infringement, that post has been deleted but a few pictures are still out there and I was able to figure out how to make them.  I made three potato people, for my two youngest nephews and a friend's daughter.

My tutorial in a nutshell:

• Make a lump shape on a piece tan/brown felt, cut it out and sew pieces of Velcro in the appropriate places.  
• On a second lump shape of tan felt, make a pouch
• Take two rectangles (one twice as tall as the other) of the same color felt and attach a piece of Velcro to the center edge of each piece
• Sew three sides of the large rectangle to lump shape felt (you can fold in the sides to make a pleated pouch) with velcro facing out
• Sew the top of the smaller rectangle to the lump above the large rectangle where the Velcro meets.
• Put good sides of lump together, sew around edges leaving a two inch opening.  Flip right side out, stuff and close.
• Using scrapes of felt, cut hats, eyes, arms, mouths, noses and ears as you like.  
• Sew piece of Velcro to back of the back. 
• Sew any embellishments to front before sewing the front and back pieces together. (i.e. for the eyes, sew the pupils on the front white piece before sewing front white and back white piece together)
• Sew front and back pieces together by sewing around the edges with right sides out.  Leave a small opening to stuff, then sew shut.  
• One hint I will pass on is Velcro now makes a version of it's product were the hook and latches are on the same piece so everything attaches to everything else.  If you go with the traditional two piece Velcro, sew all the latches onto the lump and all the hooks onto the accessories.  

I also made two other large gifts for people and some ornaments.  I will post pictures after Christmas as to keep the surprise for any friends or relatives who might read this post.  

It is finished

No that is not in reference to the bible. Last night I put the final stitches in the Christmas stocking that I made for my youngest niece, Sophia. And here is is:


Here are some more detailed shots:











I've been making some progress with my chaos cross, I have one page (of 22) done and most of the second. I don't have a current picture, but here is one after I finished the first page.


I'll continue to work on the chaos cross at home but because it is so large I will only work on it there. For Stitch and Bitch and other travel, I started the next stocking, this one for my godson.

Almost an Ending and a New Begining

Over the past 6 years or so I have needle-pointed Christmas stockings for myself, Bob, a few friends and now my nieces. Since October I have been working on a stocking for my youngest niece, Sophia. Her older sisters received their stockings for Christmas this past year and while I first thought that I could finish Sophia's up by this Christmas, I soon realized that hers would have to wait until next year - which is okay, she will be turning three this spring. All told, I believer this is the ninth Christmas stocking that I have made.

The last few weeks I have been working away on Sophia's stocking (getting near the end always makes me work a little harder). While at baby pastor school, I stopped working on the pattern itself (takes more concentration) and started the background while listening to the key note addresses. About three weeks ago at Stitch and Bitch I finished the pattern, a week later the background and all that remained was the back-stitching (outlining). Well last week I fell short. About two yards short. That is how much thread I still need to complete the back-stitching on the toe part of the stocking.


I still need to do some back-stitching around the snowman, the bushes and the lower left hand window. After that is complete I will do some couching with a thick gold thread for the reins for the reindeer. Unfortunately the closest craft store to me that I know carries embroidery floss is about 10 miles away and it is out of the color that I need. So I have to wait to get to another store so I can finish the stocking.

But in the meantime I have started another project. I haven't started the next Christmas stocking which will be for my godson. Instead I started this:
I was a math major in college so I really like how the fractal/chaos pattern is formed into a cross. But this is a HUGE project with the final size being around 28.5 x 21.5 inches. Fortunately it is on black fabric so I don't have to do the background, unfortunately it is on black fabric which is hard to see and therefore stitch with. It also includes A LOT of colors, 75 to be exact.
I did start it this past Thursday and this is how far I have gotten on it thus far:
The ruler is to give you an idea of size - it is 6 inches long.

Crafting fairies

My house, well the dining and living rooms more specifically, looks like it has been taken over by the craft fairies. I've been working away making gifts for Christmas presents for some friends and family. Unfortunately some of the recipients of these gifts read this blog so I won't post pictures but since Friday I have:

Sewn together two Christmas stockings that I needlepointed earlier this year.

Made 9 cute little felt ornaments.

Traced/drew a picture of someone in a well know cartoon setting. This is a similar picture that I made last year of Bob with Peter and Stewie from Family Guy.

Made a whole lot of yarn into pompoms for a tacky yet cool wreath.

Made a felt jungle play mat.

Cut out felt (not sewn yet) for a car/roadway play mat.

Still up:

Make Bob's gift - not even going to hint about what it is.

Make another personalize cartoon picture.

Sew some skirts.

And if I have time, and only if I have time make an Advent calendar

It's Been Awhile

I think Labor Day threw my schedule off, and on top of that I had a cold all week, so I didn't end up posting my sermon from last week. Oh well. I will post today's sermon shortly.

Today was Rally Sunday. We had a bagel breakfast in the community room. There was pots for the kids and whoever else wanted to decorate and fill with soil. During the sermon I talked about jade plants growing from a single leaf and each person got a jade leaf for the pot that they decorated. Overall it was a good low key Rally Day.

In other updates: The house looking more and more like a house everyday. All the rooms and trim have been painted. Only a few doors and two closets still need paint. Bob and I put together the kitchen cabinets for 3 hours yesterday and today I went back and finished the remaining cabinets. This week the agenda includes: The hardwood floors will be redone on Monday. Carpet will be installed upstairs on Tuesday. Cabinets will be installed in the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom should be finished up. Hopefully almost everything will be done by the end of the week.

I'm also nearing closer to the completion of my needlepoint project. I've been working on this picture of Glacier National Park All I have left is about half the mountain and the sky. So hopefully within a few weeks it will be ready to frame and hang up in our new home.

This week I'm gearing up to go to Mass on Tuesday to have a welcome to the synod meeting at the synod office, my family, one of my best friends and godson are flying in on Friday. And Sunday is my ordination.