Sweet Simple Samplings - The Smalls

To say this week has been a bit hectic in our household would be an understatement. First off all, after being vandalized while I was in Rockford, my Jeep was at the dealer being repaired/painted this week...this meant several days of a trashy rental car (seriously, with my moderate OCD, I had to Lysol it before driving it). We are also in the middle of starting a bunch of home improvements...so, we had meetings with our bank, an appraiser, and multiple contractors this week for new roofing, windows & doors, siding, and a new deck - it was almost overwhelming picking new colors, windows, doors, skylights, wood for the deck, light fixtures, and various other things. On top of that, we are doing some landscaping and building a small retaining wall in our back yard, so there was a bunch going on with that as well....and today I had a stump removal company come to give us an estimate for removing the awful hedges in the front of our house. That would all be enough...but on Wednesday, I had to take Simba (my Shih Tzu) to the vet for the day to have his teeth cleaned and his annual shots...he has had a small growth on his leg for quite some time, and at his last grooming it had been an issue, so we decided to have it removed, as well...he made it through everything okay, but he has five stitches in his leg (which he constantly wants to lick) - so he has an E-Collar (you know, the lampshade that goes around his neck)...which is a HUGE issue, as he cries, whines, and grunts the entire time it is on...so needless to say, I have had two sleepless nights. Add all that to my increasing pile of work and I feel like everything is out of control! I did find time to finish up the smalls for "Sweet Simple Samplings" (shown below)...and I am frantically model stitching on various other deadlines. I am hoping to release "Liberty Stitchery" and "Sweet Simple Samplings" towards the end of July (if all goes well) - I was hoping to have both pieces back from my framer today...but that didn't happen...maybe tomorrow...then the files will go to my local printer for production. I have so many new Blue Ribbon Designs projects I want to start...and so many ideas swirling around in my head...if I can just stay focused with all the construction starting soon. I think I will need my weekly sewing/quilting stress reliever tomorrow morning...

Wishing you a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend...take some time to enjoy family, food, and fireworks...