Some of my Patriotic Freebies

http://bitsoffloss.blogspot.com/search/label/Patriotic

And take a moment to watch Endeavour land at LAX in 2012 and listen to the Fanfare. It's very moving. I get choked up watching this again after all these years.  My brother slightly tweaked it and played trumpet in the small musical ensemble. I love him so much! His musical endeavors (pun not necessarily intended) have entertained me, but more importantly have had great meaning in and have enriched my life. I need to tell him that. 

I also remember my dear Mother who passed on this day in 2011. I wish I had taken the opportunity to have told her over and over just how very much she meant to me.

New CEC Freebie

Sweet Tea and Fireflies

MD Anderson & Clinical Trial; Meet Up with 123er

Just returned from an appt at MD Anderson (top-rated cancer hospital) with one of the top 2 MDS doctors and researchers in the US. My sister was available at the last minute and drove her new car, for which I am very appreciative and very grateful. I went for a first visit to meet Dr. Garcia-Manero, get a 3rd perspective and discuss possible clinical trials. Absent a Stem Cell Transplant, Myleodysplastic Syndrome is not curable and a certain percentage of patients sooner or later develop Acute Myloid Leukemia. None-the-less I was disappointed. The trial he wants me to participate in is actually one of his, a Quality of Life issue to determine if a smaller dosage of the only 3 standard drugs (for the past 15 years there's not been a new one!) is just as effective as the more toxic higher dosages. The purpose being to help a patient become transfusion free.  It's a randomized study, they put your name into a computer and the computer assigns you which 1 of 3 options. One of the drugs, Decitibine, has more negative side effects (I'd already discussed these with my local doc and he's against it entirely) but both it and Vidaza lower your current counts for several months before you even see any difference. That scares me since at present it's only my red cells that are affected by the bone marrow cancer. My immunity would be compromised to a greater or lesser extent, for example, ALONG WITH my red blood cell counts which are low to start with. I would need to travel to Houston (this time it took us between 5-1/2 and 6 horus to drive) every 3 months for at least a year and incur the costs of lodging and perhaps car rental (my car is 17 years old) to get there on my own dime. I need more information, discussion, ask a LOT more questions, etc. I need to discuss this with both my local hematologist/oncologist and my Hem./Onc MDS specialist in Dallas before I decide anything. The truth is that I'm going to end up on one of them (at a higher dosage and therefore more toxic) in probably short order already, but my doc wanted to wait until something in my current counts changed significantly. Apparently the clinical trial would start as soon as I'm ready for it to. I DO NOT WANT TO GO ON CHEMO! I was already debating whether I would do it despite the ramifications of not doing so.

This trip I the had company of my sister. I expect anything in the future will be me, myself and I for as long as I can or by public transportation, which has it's own drawbacks and $$$. Oh, and I'd need to get yet another somewhat but thankfully short-lived painful Bone Marrow Biopsy every time I'm there. NOT PLEASANT!!! I had one Friday. I can't even take a bath until tomorrow, so church was a no go this morning. It'll be sore for a while. Not painful unless I push up against or bump that hip. At present I've got a big pressure bandage over the site on top of an illiac crest. At least this one wasn't as painful as the first 2.

And because my immunity will be compromised by the chemo, I'll need to move and sell my house.. I've known that since September. I don't want to move, but I REALLY REALLY need to. It's just so hard to contemplate because I've lived here for almost 33 years. I won't have any help doing so. Can't afford the considerable necessary repairs and I'll need the $$ to live on.

But the BEST part of my trip is that I got to meet up with Simcha, a cross-stitcher who also posts on the 123 Message Board!! She's an intelligent, fascinating woman and it was an absolute delight to meet her. If I go back to Houston, I hope to meet up again! Would you believe that we talked non-stop for 1-1/2 hours and only a couple of those were about cross-stitch and that was telling each other which fellow 123ers we'd been able to meet in the past. Best possible way to finish out an otherwise very rushed, very overwhelming day!

After I confirmed it was a one-day only appt (usually they are 3 to 5 days!) I reluctantly left Oscar home alone. I'd intended to take him to the vet because he's not been acting Oscar-like lately. He ate and drank very little and has been very very clingy since I returned.  I'd have boarded him but his shots weren't up to date. I'd had to leave the cats home alone when I was in the hospital for 8 days last fall and with Henna having crossed the bridge recently, I'm sure he felt abandoned. Poor "little" guy.

I don't know that anyone is interested in this stuff. Definitely venting to some extent. I'll probably delete this post in a few days.

Blackbird Designs Freebie

"Now I Know My A B C's" 69w x 53h A simple, 7-stitch high, primitive styled alphabet with Caps, Lower Case and Numbers. Several designers use same or similar. Many ways to finish or use.

I may have posted this previously, but once again just in case not.  

!  HAPPY SPRING, EVERYONE !

 

Remember WebRing?

Can't believe that my old LMcDesigns WebRing site, created in December 2003, hasn't disappeared. Doubt all the links still work, but the fact that it's still accessible 13 years later is surprising. I probably moved most of the designs over here, but if you're interested in exploring something created more than a decade ago  

http://webspace.webring.com/people/fl/llmcm/index.html 

Even created my own buttons. :D It was a labor of love. I also created and ran three sites on Yahoo's old - sorry can't even remember the name but despite being a PITA, I had a family site, a business site, and a cross stitch site. Loved playing around within the limits of the design features and tweaking them into something really nice. As for my Attorney site, it predated most of the attorney websites by a few years. Ah, once upon a time I was still creative and had fun setting these up. Now I can't even remember the names of the online programs. :-{

  x x x x x

Seems my presence in cyber space is going to survive long past me. My MDS has been upgraded or staged one step higher at MLD, meaning that not only are my red blood cells affected, so are my platelets. There are only 3 standard drugs or combination of them which might slow down the progression but won't stop it. Only a successful bone marrow transplant will, and I am not eligible.. But I would ask that if you are so inclined, PLEASE sign up to donate bone marrow or stem cells for those with MDS or other blood diseases who are eligible. Matches are hard to find and the more people willing to donate increase the chances for others with MDS to find someone who will. You can read about stem cell and bone marrow donations at BE THE MATCH.  Thank you on behalf of the hundreds or thousands of MDS patients who have no other potential cure.

The Snowflower Diaries

The Snowflower Diaries

Going back through some old posts I ran across this site and took another look. All sorts of freebies including her 2016 Joyful World series of monthly charts featuring various animals large and small and birds such as flamingos and ducks with floral sides. Each design is 99w x 73h and can be assembled into one large work. Dimensions given after the January chart. Each month has been translated into 7 or more different languages, many I can't even guess at. :D Various other freebies also featured in the left column. Nice site. She also has an Esty shop with other designs.

New Freebie from the Cricket Collection

Pussy Willow Egg - http://www.cecricket.com/gift_design.html

 

New from CEC

Kitty Mitten:  http://www.cecricket.com/gift_design.html


 

Stitching Again at Last

It has been more than a year since I was able to see well enough to actually stitch, so these are my first two projects. These designs are Freebies from Cross Stitch & Needlework Magazine.

Stitched on 14-ct Charles Craft Light Blue; finished stitched size 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches

I substituted the lightest red and the light green.

Stitched on 14-ct Charles Craft Oatmeal Fiddlers Cloth; finished size 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches

Ditto re the lightest red..

I plan to make these into Thank You cards. I bought some heavy weight light yellow scrapbooking stock for that purpose. Now just to glue or use double-sided sticky tap to hold everything together.

For my next project I've gone back to a kit I bought and barely started stitching 20 years ago: Jannlynn's Woodland Creatures Christmas Ornaments, no longer available. The thread has long since disappeared but the DMC colors are listed - which I have ooodles of. However, I find I just can't stitch on the included 18-ct navy Aida. I used to have a very strong glasses prescription which causes considerable magnification, but no longer. Suddenly everything is so much smaller and so far I haven't been able to adjust when it comes to fabric court.  Turned out I had a (probably equally old) packet of 14-Count Charles Craft navy.  It'd look great, but I can't  even see the 310, 433, 898, 3371 etc. on the fabric, making trying to stitch those colors basically impossible. Though my eyes are working much better now than in the past 2 years, they still aren't healed completely. I'm still dealing with severe dry eye caused by some of the eye drops, and resultant cornea issues that often cause everything to look blurry and/or haze, even IF I can get them in focus. I've got some of the lighter areas of the raccoon's belly stitched, but I'll either have to scrap it entirely or start over on a lighter color fabric. The light blue is too light (actually much lighter than it appears above) so I'll have to experiment. Actually, I don't know why I'm even stitching these as ornaments since I haven't decorated for Christmas in say the past 20 years either. But I do like cute creatures. I still have some Linda Powell creatures I stitched 25 or 30 years ago. :D

Newest (and past) Permin Freebies

December 2015 - Santa with Goose  (cute)
November 2015 - Candles with Poinsettia (nice)

Most are small, simple and quick-stitch designs that will fit a 2" or 3" frame (depends on your fabric count and shape of the design). Perfect for a greeting card insert or glue-on and  quick Christmas ornies, etc. Also some button covers and at least one placemat or corner design for something. Nice mostly quick stitch designs when you want to set aside that BAP or do a quick project. The chart sheet includes any special stitching or instructions along with the shape of the appropriate small frame.

Best yet: Explore freebies back to May 2011 by changing the year and month at the end of the url.  July 2012 would be 2012_07 for example. HOWEVER, not all months are still available (I only spot checked primarily for December).. While May 2011 was still there, the next one was November. I found at lesast one duplicate. But if this sort of design/stitching interests you, it might be worth a bit of exploration. Without a photo on the chart sheet, sometimes it's a little hard to tell what the design is. My favorite has been the 2015_01  Deer in Forest scene. Wished I had used evenweave.

Note I'm thinking and talking about cross-stitching again! I'm waiting on my new glasses to come in but I'm so used to reading blur that while these Walmart readers are definitely not perfect, they are better than nothing,- even if I sometimes have to wear a second pair on top of the first to read - and stitch?

Update:  I've gone through and d/l all the freebies I back to the partial 2011. IF I still have the motivation, I MAY lst them by month, but only IF THERE IS SIGNIFICANT INTEREST.. A LOT of flowers, only a few of which I've indicate the colors when I saved.

Very Sad News

Kathy Morrisey of Stitch Niche in Arlington, TX passed away Saturday evening. I've not heard anything about the future of the shop. So very sad and such a loss for the North Texas stitching community..

Freebies

Now that I can almost see well enough to get back on the computer: here are a couple of Freebie opportunities:

Twelve Days of Christmas - a Mystery Sampler from Plum Street Samplers

Halloween Witch & Pumpkin from Gazette 94

 

New My Big Toe Freebie on Wichelt

Amazing Grace - ornament sized design by My Big Toe available at Wichelt.com  Click on FREE GRAPH. Check out the other Wichelt freebies while there!

Cat freebie, Update and some DFW winter pics

Tom Pudding Designs - A House is Not a Home without a Cat

Update: I removed the posts about my fall and black eye. Some remnants of black eye and small bump remain. I've been really skittish about falling again, so with all the wintry weather the past 10 days, I'm staying home and in general being extremely careful when I'm up and about! I was really thankful when I was told to "Linda, stay home," when I was literally ready to walk out the front door on the 28th to help with the Cowtown Marathon. Instead I sat at the computer from about 6am to 2:30pm logging (taking notes) on the amateur radio traffic. Except for the Half Marathon that they ran a day late, the rest of the 2-day event was cancelled. After all the runners left the corrals, it got pretty boring. Should have used the time to stitch between radio transmissions!

Our recent weather: For those under several FEET of snow, please don't laugh derisively. I truly don't know how you handle it. We normally get only an inch maybe 2 all winter, if any.

February 27th - up the street

February 27th -  My driveway - 2 inches of snow topped with 1/4 inch of ice

March 5th - Looking across the street - 1/4" sleet topped with 2.8" of lovely snow.

March 5th - Straight out the back door. Those are houses on the higher ground across the creek.

I

Heart Sachets and Love Birds

Heart Sachets  From Cross Stitch Collection  (I love the padded hanger!)
Love Birds Heart  From Janie Hubble Designs

Finished Halloween Biscornu Freebie

I just discovered a Korean website that has posted several photos of my Halloween Biscornu design along with the chart, but thankfully giving me credit and a link back.  I've never seen it stitched and it's REALLY CUTE (giving self pat on back!)  You can visit the page here.  I translated the page, but I never did see a "contact" link so I could ask permission to use a couple of the photos. If you find one, please let me know! Also, if anyone is interested, I can change the year to 2015. :D

Pre-Christmas Freebies Still posted

From Cross Stitcher Magazine and Cross Stitch Collection, the free charts (that were posted "only for 24 hours") can still be reached through the following links: 

1. Day 1 (December 12th) : From Cross Stitch collection:  Christmas Carol - a Victorian Village with carolers!  104H x 192w - must d/l by 2 P.M. December 15th (not sure which time zone so don't wait!) From Cross Stitcher Magazine: Reindeer Cushion - all of Santa's reindeer including Rudolf by Kate Mawdsley; individual designs suitable for smaller projects - d/l by the 15th
2. Day 4 (December 15th) -  Seasons Tweetings - 4 card/ornie designs and 3 gift tags
3. Day 9 (December 20th) - lovely dove ornament charts to download 
4. Day 12 (December 23rd) - download two floral Thank You cards to stitch 

A New Freebie Every Friday

Happiness is Cross Stitching - New in 2015 - Monthly Cross Stitch Mini-Cats, other Mini-Cat and cross stitch freebies, gift tags and other items to print. Check out this interesting site.

Pam Kellogg Flowers and Insects Freebie

Tea Towel Borders
For Charles Craft White 14-count Aida Banded Huck Towels, 15”x25”

More Prairie Schooler Stitching

Where There Are Bees

Prairie Schooler Bk 194

Fabric: 16ct White Aida

Size: 2-7/8" x 2-15/16"

Floss: DMC as charted - 2 strands

Stitching Competed: April 2014

(The scanned and digitized colors are MUCH brighter than the rather subdued

pallet this chart and Rabbit Run both call for)

 Prairie Schooler MiniCard Pack E

Fabric: 16ct White Aida
Sizes: 2" x 2-1/2" and 1-3/4" x 2-3/4"

Floss: DMC 3371 and a brighter orange than charted

Stitching Completed March 2014

Actually, Halloween stitching is something I don't particularly care f or, so these are for my Daughter.  Last year she added a new tree to her 12+ decorated Christmas Tree ensemble: It's Orange, which she decorated with hot pink and black ornaments. I figure she can add these Halloween Ornies to the black ones for Halloween, which she loves to decorate for as well. Not my style but it suits her. :D  In addition to a traditional Christmas Tree, she has a Shoe Tree, a Santa Clause Tree, a tree with red ornies, a tree with mostly blue ornies, her largest tree is in white with white, clear, crystal or silver ornaments. etc.  After a couple of decades she removed all the 1" or 1-1/2: cross stitched ornies I made for her dorm room a couple of decards ago. She's replaced them with little snowmen. Must admit that after she left home, I don't specifically decorate for Christmas, which is why she has all the clear and crystal like ornies. :D