Volleyball Anyone?

The past week has been pretty hectic so although I've dropped by to see my blogging friends I haven't had a chance to write myself. Even though we had a busy schedule DH & I also managed to do some real fun things during that time. More about that at the end of today's blog as I want to update you on the stitching front first.

When I completed 'Sea View' last month for Love Quilts I realized that with the deadline for these quilt squares two months away I had plenty of time to make another one. This time I signed up to stitch a sports square is for Makade T., a little boy who was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma (malignant liver tumor) just around his second birthday (he will turn 3 this November). He's been through operations and chemo-therapy and his mom writes that he's a real trouper. Makade favorite sport is American football but I couldn't find a suitable pattern so went for another great sport. The pattern is a freebie provided by http://www.cyberstitchers.com/ and was actually picked by DH.

Although I've spent most of my free time stitching on Makade's square I did manage to make some progress on the Rose Manadala Garden and am still loving every minute of it. Hopefully I can finish the other gates this weekend. Then it's on to the the Algerian eyelets which I've practiced several times with the DMC Jewel Effects and should be no problem.

Just to make sure I didn't forget the GFG quilt again for weeks on end, I completed another flower this past week. If only I could keep that up - one flower a week. That way I'd be making some real progress.

Now for the other fun things which have kept us busy. The first outing was a tour of the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay with a professional group DH is a member of. To start off we were taken to an education room where we learned all about the founding and building of the reef (in conjunction with Vancouver, Canada) as well as the types of fish/mammals and how they are transported and taken care of in holding tanks until they adjust to their new surroundings. It was very, very interesting and the love for his work just shone on the instructor’s face. After that the actual tour of this amazing reef took place. A wonderful experience. Then last Thursday we had another real treat when we attended the Cirque de Soleil show “KA” at the MGM Grand. All the décor is spectacular and the cast members are super agile and acrobatic. A good story, good music and great action. All in all, a wonderful production.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.

Two Garden Updates

Here's a quick update on the Rose Garden. One more corner to plant with shrubbery and then the fence can be back-stitched. This afternoon I picked up some antique pink Jewel Effects DMC for the rose bushes and gold & crystal Glass Seed Beads which will be added to the fountain and outer garden areas. I must admit I'm a little leary of working with both products as I never have before, so please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thanks to all of you for dropping by my site and then making such lovely comments. It makes a special project even more special.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on my other garden for a while. Here's a newly completed flower for Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt. I'm now looking forward to completing at least one of each color soon so that I can figure out what color green will look best as a path. Since there will be so many green hexagons to make it's probably a good idea to start on them as soon as possible.

Tracy, my thriller was just a little TOO thrilling and after about 140 pages I decided to call it quits. Just a bit too much for me I guess. Now I wonder how I ever got through the others.

I'm off to make a cup of coffee for DH & myself (we're still Dutch enough to drink coffee every evening around 8:00 p.m.). There's also some cheese-cake and cherries left from yesterday to have with it - YUM.

A spell has been cast

For some time now I've been drooling over the beautiful Mandala Gardens some of you are making. Last week I discovered that Martina Weber offers a number of freebies http://chatelaine-design.de/newweb/ and I figured this was my chance to try my hand at it.

The 'Tiny Rose Mandala Garden' has cast a spell on me. Even when I'm not working on it I have it close by so I can take a peek now and then. Do you see the fountain in the centre? The symmetry of the entire piece is so lovely and it's so much fun to do. I LOVE IT!!! It's being stitched on 28 ct evenweave that I've had lying around for ages. The finished pattern will measure 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" and up till now every stitch has been an absolute joy.

Sea View

It's hard to believe that a week has gone by since I last sat down to write. I hope all the Canadians had a great Canada Day and all the Americans a good 4th of July. Our 4th was very quiet. Our neighbors had been over on Sunday for a BBQ since he's a fire captain and was on duty at the fireworks display on Independence Day. DH & I took in a matinee of "The Devil Wears Prada" and we both thought it was terrific. Now I've heard that the language in the book is quite bad but in the movie it isn't at all. I love Meryl Streep as an actress and this was truly a very different role for her but one she was excellent in.

Yeeeeeees Lili I planned my Frederick stitching time well - managed to find enough BBQ prep-work to do so that I only had time to stitch one rat. SHAME ON ME!!!! You can imagine how I'm looking forward to December 26 so that I can see your progress on Maggie.(lol)

This afternoon I finished Sea View which is my square for the Love Quilt for Erica F. This was really fun to do and I hope it fits in well with the squares the others are making.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow evening I hope to visit you all and see what you've been doing this past week.

Framed!!

Thanks to my DH the anniverary sampler for my S & BIL as well as the birthday card for same BIL are ready to be sent. Thanks R, without you they would still be lying around waiting to be framed!!! As you can read on the sampler - I'm rather late. This is due to the fact I discovered the pattern after the fact. Didn't forget them on their day, this is just something extra. The BIL's birthday isn't until next month, so at least I'm on time for that. Now all I need to do is buy buttons for the two biscornus, sew them on and get them in the mail and at least my completed stitching projects will be truly complete.

Worked on 'Sea View' last night and it's progressing nicely. I'm adding & adjusting as I go along. Hope to get a few hours stitching in on 'Frederick' this afternoon even though we're having BBQ company coming in around 5:00 p.m. and I still have a few things to make. It's high time to have some progress to show Maria & Kucki.