Busy Blogging Weekend

One more update to my blog this weekend...my Sunday project is Monopoly, so here's what I got done today. Got the back stitching on the Chance space, and all of Vermont done....and also the the outlining on Connecticut. THEN I'll hit the corner! How exciting is THAT????

Angel of Cross Stitch

Well, not a TON of progress, but at least I did get some stitches in ... I got the teddy bear started, and a little bit more of the red and green colors on the left hand side and next to the teddy bear. It's kind of slow going, but it's not like I didn't know it was going to be slow when I started it! My next big benchmark will be when I finish the page I'm working on. I'm guessing that's a ways away though.

I met Cristin from my So Cal Stitchers group yesterday - she happened to be "in the neighborhood" visiting her grandmother, so we met up for lunch a little bit of stitching time at the mall. It was a pleasure to sit and stitch with someone. I was working on some perforated paper Christmas ornaments (these particular ornaments are a great "take-a-long project" because they are symmetrical - once you get one quarter done, it repeats itself three more times so you can stitch without looking at the pattern.

I also posted an update below this one about Anthony - along with a picture. He's doing remarkably well, kids are just SO resilient it's amazing!

Thanks for looking!!

Here he is...our brave little boy!!! It's probably not the BEST picture of him technically, but it is the one that makes me smile the most! The horse that's under his arm was a gift I sent him...there's velcro under the horses mid-section that allows it to open up and be a small pillow. I just thought it was the cutest thing EVER!!!

He's doing really well. They have changed their opinion, and think the cancer was actually stage 1, not stage 3, which is a good thing. Strangely enough, after all was said and done, they actually think that he was born with only one kidney, and that the tumor (which the type of tumor he has does begin to form in utero) took the place of his second kidney. So, that means that he might not have as much trouble functioning with just the remaining kidney because that's probably all he had all along!

He's in a regular room at the hospital (no longer ICU) and able to walk (well, according to his mother, more likely RUN) to the playroom when it's time to play, etc. But he will still need ongoing chemo and stuff for probably another six months.

I'm very happy though...my niece, her husband, and the four kids are moving down here to southern California in August. It will be WONDERFUL to have them nearby. I am their oldest daughter's godmother, and I haven't been able to get up to Stockton nearly as often as I would like to! So now they'll be here! (Well, not right here, but a lot closer than they were). So we'll get to see them for birthdays and holidays and stuff, which will be awesome.

Oh well, this is supposed to be Kathy's STITCHING blog, but I just had to update all the folks who have prayed and kept Anthony in their thoughts!!!

Monopoly (and Anthony, of course)

Well, I got Oriental done, and most of Chance...still need to outline the question mark and actually stitch the word "Chance". That will happen next Sunday! LOL I actually stitched on this for a while at the mall on Sunday. It was SO hot this weekend (and our air conditioning isn't working) that we actually went and flopped in some comfy chairs at the mall. So I worked Saturday on some Christmas ornaments (perforated paper) and then on Sunday I dragged Monopoly along! It worked out fine, a little less convenient than at home (because at home I sit with a tv tray in front of me for my "stuff") but workable.

And of course, we're still all holding our breath for my great nephew Anthony. They were supposed to get the biopsy results today or tomrrow, which will let us know how much kidney function he will still have. They did the surgery Thursday afternoon and they removed one of his kidneys, the tumor, and the part of the other kidney that had been affected by the tumor. He can survive with only part of one kidney, but it remains to be seen how functional the remaining portion of a kidney will be. The surgeons said the tumor was 7 pounds 4 ounces....in a 3 year old boy!!!! Poor kid, today is his third birthday, and he's spending it in the hospital!

My niece and her husband are SO unbelievably strong. They're holding it all together, which is tough. He's the youngest of four kids...the kids are all about two years apart, so they have a 5 year old, a 7 year old, and a 9 year old. And my niece hasn't been home in over a week, since home is about 2 1/2 hours from the hospital. Obviously, she has to stay with Anthony. This morning I mailed off two boxes...one for the hospital (stuff for Anthony, plus a couple hand held toys for his visitors - Monopoly and a cool thing called 20 Questions), and one for the kids left at home. I figured their world has been turned upside down too, and they deserve a break!

It will be a long haul, but we are certainly keeping positive thoughts. So, please keep Anthony in your prayers!!! Thanks!!!

Small Finish

Well, I finished 5:00 Somewhere (number 1, still have a second one to do). I left the charms off. The charms I bought, which I thought were small enough, were just too big. And I didn't really like the way they looked, so I think I'm just going to do without them. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the letters are beads with backstitching.

Our latest progress report on Anthony (my nephew) is that he's having surgery (again - poor baby!) tomorrow morning. They think the cancer is "Stage 3" because they've found some in his lymph nodes. So, rather than waiting and trying to shrink it with chemo, they want to try to get as much of it as possible as soon as possible. As scary as "cancer" and "Stage 3" sound, I did poke around on the internet, and even Stage 3 has something like a 90% survival rate. So, even though there is that scary 10%, and any surgery is scary, it isn't nearly as horrible as it could be. One of the gals on one of my stitching boards (Dr. Steph) told me that if a kid has to be diagnosed with cancer, this is one of the better ones, if that makes sense, so .... we're keeping positive thoughts!!!!

Now it's late, and time to get ready for bed.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for all the prayers!

Monopoly (and personal) Update

Well, I did make some progress on my Monopoly board...three more properties (well, two properties and the dreaded INCOME TAX) done!! I put a bit more time in on it this week because I finished up my flatfold stitching on Thursday, and I didn't want to pull out what would have been my normal rotation project for just Friday and Saturday. So, instead I stitched on my Monopoly project Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week. Next week I'll go back to my "normal" rotation, which means Christmas this week.

On a more personal note...I got a call from my Mom (which I shared on most of the stitching boards I'm on) about my great-nephew Anthony. He is my niece Stacey's youngest child (she has four). He has had some odd health issues off and on, and was just diagnosed with "Wilm's Tumor" - as I understand it, it's a tumor in the kidney, and it begins to form in utero when the cells that "grow into" kidneys don't split off correctly. I spoke with my sister (Anthony's grandmother) this evening, and they are going to wait until Tuesday to do the surgery because the hospital wants to do a better CT scan. That surgery is to do two things. First they are going to insert a port for the chemotherapy and other medications, and secondly they are going to at least biopsy the tumor. IF it turns out that the tumor is easily removable, they will remove it tomorrow. If not, they will most likely wait and take one entire kidney out the next day. If both kidneys are involved, they will have to remove both, which would mean dialysis. The biggest concern they have is the possibility of it having spread to his lungs. He was having some difficulty breathing, but there is a possibility that it's because the tumor is pressing on his lungs, not that the cancer is in his lungs. The surgeon didn't think it had spread to the lungs, the radiologist wasn't as sure. If it has spread to his lungs, the prognosis is not good at all.

So...please continue to pray. This niece has two sons and two daughters, and her oldest daughter was our miracle baby - she was very premature, and only weighed 2 lbs. 2 oz. at birth. She is now a happy, healthy 10 year old girl....so there is a family history of medical miracles!!!

Flatfold Class Project

I finished my project for my flatfold class. I'm happy with the way it turned out, it was nice to stitch something quick and simple (no confetti stitches, only five colors total).

This is a Lizzie Kate "Snippet" pattern. I actually bought two of them figuring I liked it, and might want to stitch it for myself, but also figuring the pattern itself would make a good exchange item. In fact, I used it last week for our So Cal get together. So, Gail, if it looks familiar, that's why.

I did make one color change with the flower centers. There are two different burgundy colors in the pattern (one surrounding the heart and one of the flowers, the other is the lettering). The pattern called for stitching the flower centers with the same burgundy as the lettering, but it wasn't enough of a difference from the burgundy flower to show. So, instead, I did each flower's center in the same color as the other flower, if that makes any sense.

Monopoly Board Progress - 6/8/06

I got another square and a half done on my Monopoly board yesterday. So as long as we just roll snake eyes we can play!!! LOL

Cross Stitchers Gather - LOOK OUT!!!

The So Cal Stitchers Group got together for a LOVELY brunch gathering at the Corner Bakery in Anaheim Hills, and then we meandered across the parking lot to Velona where we shopped for stash!!! It's so nice now to have faces and voices to put with the names when we see folks post.

From left to right, we have Gail, Kathy, Peggy, Mayte', Cristin, and Cyndi. (Sorry Mayte', I know that's not the 100% correct way to do the accent above your name, but I don't know how to do it right! LOL).

We did a little stash exchange, which was nice. I got some lovely flosses in my favorite colors - purples and blues - so Mayte' couldn't have done better if she had shopped specifically for me!!! All it all, it was a fun get together, and I'm sure we will plan another one soon! Hope those of you who couldn't make this one can make the next one.

Monopoly Board is Started!!

Well, I started on the Monopoly board SAL yesterday. I'm working on it just on Sundays because I didn't want to give up a whole week of my rotation. I'm not normally a "back-stitch as you go" kind of gal, but I'm doing it on this project because there is quite a bit of it (all the property titles, etc) and I want to break up both the border stitching and the back stitching, if that makes any sense. I'm happy with it so far, although the lettering on the "Go" square is a bit shaky for me....I've checked it a couple of times, and it's "right" but I'm not 100% happy with how it looks....

And no, inflation has not struck Monopoly - it should be $200.00, but since I can't do French Knots, I'm going to go back with a tiny black bead for the decimal place.

And it's not the lighting that's making it look green - I'm stitching it on a light seafoam green fabric to be similar to the background color on the real board.

Well, here is my progress on "Walking to Town". I have finished all of the regular stitching, except for one small part (if you look REALLY hard you can probably see it, it's in the bottom right corner area, right below the second row of the fence) where I ran out of the floss. It's been a little frustrating, it's the third time I've run out of floss. I don't THINK I'm wasteful when I stitch, and I keep barely running out, but still!!! And Dimensions has been good about sending me more, so I can't complain too much. Now it's on to back stitching and beading. It calls for French knots for snowflakes, but I can't do them...so rather than aggravating myself, I'm going with beads.

And I completed another week on Angel of Cross Stitch. It's coming along pretty well. Now it will be a few weeks before I pick it up again. Today starts my one day a week SAL (well, I'm stitching one day a week, don't know what anyone else is doing) on the Monopoly board. I got my fabric Thursday. I think it's about as close to perfect color wise as I was going to find. It's a light seafoam green aida. I think it should be a fun stitch!

Oh well, that's it for me - hope everyone has a great week!!!