The UFO Files

After 13 hours at a gymnastics competition yesterday my head is absolutely pounding today. I think it is a mix of the cold I am getting and the fact that these competitions filled with 90+ sniffling, sneezing and coughing little girls are a virtual "germ factory"! My Level 4 group took a beating. A well deserved one at that, since they were getting rather spoiled at always winning First Place. The top two girls were out sick and we were missing two others as well. I think it is good that they come off of their little ego trip for a while and get down to some serious work at trainings. Having to endure the marathon day and still plaster that pleasant little smile on my face was no easy feat. I played up the cold/illness thing to account for my lack of chatting and laughing. The coaches are usually a pretty tight-knit group of friends, but the boss has really pitted us against one another in a competition of our own for her good favor and enough work hours to support ourselves. It is rather late in the afternoon already and I still haven't managed to accomplish much at all today. I am just too tired. So instead of stitching, I broke out the numerous little bags filled with UFOs to give you a glimpse of things to come.

These first two(above) are Donna Vermillion Giampi designs....."Lemons, Limes & More" beautiful citrus fruits. This is going to be a pillow for my aunt who lives in Miami and has all of these trees in her garden. The second is "Angel Cats" that are made on clear 14 count plastic canvas. They are going to be made up as a wreath with miniature gold instruments and white and gold ribbon.

This guy is a seahorse, with the faint hints of a star fish in the background, that is going to be a pillow for my aunt and uncle that live at the New Jersey seaside. They host our family reunion (my dad's family) every August.

A lovely French sampler from a book of Barbara Ana's. She is such a good friend and also an amazing designer of cross-stitch patterns. She even has her own website and sells at the Creative Poppy website too.

Then there is Barrick Samplers "One Stag a Leaping" that I am making for my dad. I remember exactly when I started this. I had taken a bunch of kids from my old gym to a skating rink and sat on the sidelines stitching this while they skated......in 1999!

Cute little bird house designs that are going to be framed with vine wreaths, just like the picture in the magazine.

A freebie, from an Italian website, of planets. I just loved this hand-dyed fabric that I got from Barbara Ana. I have no idea if these are real planets or just an artistic interpretation. And lastly, a gymnastics photo from practice last Wednesday. This is the Level 5 girl, Brooke.