And the First Picture Resides in the Place of Honor!

And, in my dining area on my buffet sits the Proud Grandma's First Picture of Preston in its Place of Honor!! OMG, one more time, I'm SO excited and thrilled and entranced and WWHHHHEEEEEEEEE!!! Be exploring! Be observant! And I'll be back!!

May I Present My Grandson's First Picture...!!!!

Oh my goodness, I'm SO proud...here is the First Picture of my new grandson, Preston Alan Birbeck!!!

Katie, my Treasure, sent me a letter which I received yesterday. Enclosed was her first sonogram! There's the white wavy I guess amniotic fluid on your left, and Preston is right in the middle, with his head on top (instead of upside down as they so often do...!!!) and part of his arm, and see his little spine so nicely delineated right down the middle??!! I'm excited and entranced and just beside myself!! Although, just for the record I still think I'm too damn young to be a grandma (of course, when IS it ever the "right age"?!!)...

So my Treasure is having a Little Treasure, ok, gotta say it one more time, I'm THRILLED!!!

Now I have to finish the multi-colored crocheted baby blanket I had started, then I have to do a baby quilt in blues, and a little hat and pair of booties. HMMMMM, there will be a LOT of pix in the next few weeks...I'm DETERMINED to get this stuff done before Preston joins us in this world. I only just last month finished the Beatrix Potter baby quilt that I had started for Katie 18 years ago...(*GRIN*)!!

Be excited! Be thrilled with your life -- there's ALWAYS something to bring you joy!! And, I WILL be back!

And Then Again...! (OR -- Oh Noooo, More UFOs!)

Figures. I go public with two little UFOs, something (out of the MANY!) that won't discourage me or defeat me, and guess what. I'm defeated. I can't find the cards for the Thank You, and I can't find the correct red thread for the rose. (*rolls her little eyes*). BUT, that's because I'm still getting my workroom together and unpacking boxes. When Sainted Child was living with me (you'll know her from previous posts as "The Teen With the Jeans" or "What Aspect of Sewing Fills You With Dread"!!), all my stuff got boxed and put in my bedroom. There WAS enough space to walk between the boxes and the closet...ok, CREEP through that space (*grin*). Those of you with the Returning Child Who Moves Out and Comes Back syndrome will appreciate the issue!



SO, rallying, I found YET another UFO. OK, I've found like LOTS and LOTS!!. But this one, although more time-consuming because less finished, still stands a good chance of being done during the time limit our group (stitchinfingers -- click or see badge on sidebar) has set ourselves. It's one of the "Beyond Crossstitch" series of Victoria Sampler, called 'Azaleas'. I've done two others by VS, I'll have to find them and post pix because I enjoyed doing them. They work up quickly, are quite pretty, and can be finished in a variety of ways. NAYY!






Be brave! Be fearless! And I'll be back!!

You Never What You'll Find...

Poking around through people's comments on the September TIF Challenge, it's such fun seeing others' blogs and their interpretations, so beautifully rendered, of each month's challenge. Along the way, I found this "Brain Scan" quiz, which was a lot of fun to take! Here's my read-out:

Sarah, you possess an interesting balance of hemispheric and sensory
characteristics, with a slight right-brain dominance and a slight preference for
visual processing.
Since neither of these is completely centered, you lack
the indecision and second-guessing associated with other patterns. You have a
distinct preference for creativity and intuition with seemingly sufficient
verbal skills to be able to translate in any meaningful way to yourself and
others.
You tend to see things in "wholes" without surrendering the ability
to attend to details. You can give them sufficient notice to be able to utitlize
and incorporate them as part of an overall pattern.
In the same way, while you are active and process information simultaneously, you demonstrate a capacity for sequencing as well as reflection which allows for some "inner
dialogue."
All in all, you are likely to be quite content with yourself and
your style although at times it will not necessarily be appreciated by others.
You have sufficient confidence to not second-guess yourself, but rather to use
your critical faculties in a way that enhances, rather than limits, your
creativity.
You can learn in either mode although far more efficiently
within the visual mode. It is likely that in listening to conversations or
lecture materials you simultaneously translate into pictures which enhance and
elaborate on the meaning.
It is most likely that you will gravitate towards those endeavors which are predominantly visual but include some logic or structuring. You may either work particularly hard at cultivating your auditory skills or risk "missing out" on being able to efficiently process what you
learn. Your own intuitive skills will at times interfere with your capacity to
listen to others, which is something else you may need to take into account.

For more fun seeing everyone's submissions, click here and
enjoy!

Stitching Sisters Work

As I've mentioned before, I'm a member of a group of women around the world who are participating in an international sampler round robin as well as sharing in our common love of needlework of all types. Our group blog is at http://sistersstitching.blogspot.com. Our individual blogs are listed there separately in the left sidebar.

The next sampler has come my way from Australia and shown above is the before-I-get-to-it picture. This one belongs to Christine. The scan does not do justice to the beauty of everyone's work so far, but my camera batteries crapped out on me and running to the store is a pain in the *** now that I can't drive. So, we scan.

I encourage you to visit our blog and see the individual blogs. The needlework is stellar, and we all thoroughly enjoy ourselves!

Be visiting! Be enjoying! And I'll be back!

UFOs

There is a surge lately of endeavors to deal with UFOs. Sharon B. frequently posts about her UFO projects, as do many others. See my sidebar for an assortment of busy blogs to visit.

In the meantime, over on stitchin' fingers I joined the UFOs Uncovered group. On my left sidebar at my Stitchin' Fingers page, click on the icon for the UFOs group and see what we're up to. These two items are what I chose first. I picked randomly rather than by age of piece because if I'm not as interested as I could be, the object won't get finished. Hence the UFOs!!

With One Voice - Final

My piece for "With One Voice" has been finished and sent. The leaves are 3D, the birds are that eyelet pulled-thread stitch about which I blogged a few posts ago. The piece is in honor of and in memory of Thomas Merton, Brother Louis, and will be given with grateful thanks to The Thomas Merton Center. A full explanation of my choice of subject is on my other blog.