Back from Hiatus

I'm back from taking a blogging break. Since my last post, I have spent most of my time either creating something or researching on Ancestry.com. I received a 6-mo. gift membership (USA research only) and have been putting together the family tree for my (grown) children & granddaughter. I discovered that two of their lines go back to colonial America--Dutch and English settlers. pretty amazing! I feel this was money well spent as granddaughter has become intrigued by it all and now has info to use for certain school projects/essays.

So, that research has taken up many hours on the computer, and has made me bug-eyed at times. I have done some cross stitch. Now I'm almost done with this lovely floral sampler from "Reader's Digest Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs," borrowed from my local library.

I had my door paintballed by unknown assailants:

I waited until today to wash it off because it has been so cold--below 25 degrees. Today it is supposed to warm up to 42 degrees--a real heat wave!

I began this for my daughter for Valentine's day, but this is as far as I got:

It is the start of "Austrian I," by Bleu de Chine, from JCS Jan/Feb 2010.

I sewed a casserole carrier and machine quilted it with (my own) sunflower design.

This pattern only fits a small casserole or food container. The pattern is from Shannon Herbert. I plan to make some larger ones. I have them cut out, but need more of the heavy batting. It's so much better for carrying containers of food than plastic grocery bags!

I won't be joining any more cross stitch exchanges. Since my cancer has been declared gone (at least now), I just want to make things for family and close friends. I was so fortunate to receive the following box full of stitching goodies from stitching bloggers Jill and others (will add names later).

I have started on "Coeur d'Hiver,"  a freebie by Passione Ricamo, using a piece of blue linen from the box.

Last but not least, I went through my stash of fabrics and separated the cheap cottons from the better quality, brand-named cottons. I'm cutting out the cheap stuff into circles for yo yos and pie/casserole carriers. I have had some fabrics for over 10 years, and just had to be ruthless and sort it out. I'm not going to buy any more cheap cotton--only the best quality, because I want to make some quilts.

So far, I have completed about 120 yo yos to be assembled into a yo yo quilt top.

Thank you for reading this long post. I will be blogging regularly once more about my cross stitch.
Happy stitching!