Allison loved the volleyball themed binder I made for her for Christmas.
My 14-year old granddaughter, Allison, is really enjoying volleyball. She learned to play when she was 12 with our senior citizen volleyball group. My husband and I play in a fun-bunch volleyball group three times a week and Allison was able to learn the basics of volleyball from the seniors (citizens, that is). She played this year as a high school freshman and when the freshman team didn't have a game, she was able to play with the junior varsity as a setter. She is now starting Club Volleyball and had her first practice last Sunday. This club travels around the local area and plays in tournaments.
It looks like I'll be spending a lot of time "stitching while watching" the practices and games in the next few months.
I made Allison a stitched square to go on a binder the first part of November and have finally finished the binder - what a pain! I had to sew, rip, sew, rip, but it is done. It will be a Christmas present for my beautiful, wonderful, talented Allison.
I made a small cover for a calendar as a gift for a teacher at the local elementary school where I volunteer each week. This is the first time I have done one of these and it turned out well.
I even gave the info on how to make this to another stitcher in one of my groups who wanted to cover a journal she is wanting to give as a gift for a family member.
Last night at the bowling alley, I was stitching this cute little doggie piece for World of Charity Stitching group, and one of the lady bowlers (April) said it looked just like her little beagle that had died this past week. Her husband came over and asked me who I was stitching that for and said she was having a really hard time with losing her "best friend", so I decided to give this piece to her husband as a gift for her to help with her loss. Hopefully, I can have this finished by next Friday, our last day to bowl before the holidays, so he can give it to her as a gift.
On Friday, 12/17, I took the framed doggie piece to the bowling alley and April's husband gave it to her. She came over and gave me a big hug, and said she was thrilled with it and would hang it in a special place in her home.
I will pick out another dog chart to stitch for the World of Charity animal quilt theme probably after the holidays.
I recently bought myself a cross stitch pattern design software, called PCStitch. I don't have a huge stash of patterns and charts, though I do have lots of older magazines and some pamphlets of charts, so I thought I'd try to design my own using free clipart from the web and pictures I can download.
So far, I have tried to design a "surfer dude", which I don't really like the looks of after doing some tweaking; however, I am in the process of designing another surf-type design, which has a red surfboard sticking up in the sand with a palm tree behind it. It looks okay in the design program and I will stitch it to see how it looks on the Aida cloth to see if I can donate it to Love Quilts for one of their open themes, which is "A Walk on the Beach."
Here's a picture of the clipart from which I am designing the piece. I will try to post a picture of the actual stitched piece at a later date.
I've started stitching the new Love Quilts square I signed up for a few weeks ago. It is a John Deere tractor, which will be incorporated into a quilt for Tyler, a sick little boy who loves machines. So far, no problems with stitching it, however, the pattern symbols are not very clear.
The tractor was finished yesterday, Dec. 4th, and is being soaked in Dawn detergent prior to getting it ready for mailing to Love Quilts, along with the Sea Turtle already completed.
Last Friday I began another Love Quilts square for Steven K., who loves all things about the underwater world. I have chosen a colorful sea turtle with lots of coral below, some seaweed and bubbles. This should be a nice square - lots of different, bright colors.
This gives me time to stitch for my other charity group, World of Charity Stitching. We are working on several themes at the present time: the EMS Flower of the Month, a transportation theme for a man's lap quilt, and teddy bear squares. These will be quilted and given to some lucky seniors at a nursing home and to a child at a domestic violence shelter in Pensacola, Florida where I live.
I'm almost finished with a small piece for World of Charity Stitching group; several squares have already been stitched from the EMS Flower of the Month freebie charts and one of the ladies who signed up was unable to complete her commitment, so I volunteered to do another one (June-Wild Roses) so all the squares could be turned in and made into a beautiful lap quilt by our quilter, Bonnie. She will then donate it to one of our charities, the nursing home, for one of the lovely residents.
