Hand: Sublime Stitching Up a Storm

When I promise embroidery goodness, I deliver!

I've been a busy little stitching bee since my last crafty post, mainly due to that pesky Christmas thing, and then to that mandatory down time called "healing."

The bunny above is from Sublime Stitching's Black Apple pattern, which I fell in love with. I wanted to make a little something for myself amidst all the gift stitching, and this is what I came up with.



This is a tea towel I stitched for a good girlfriend of mine. I was going for a sort of Edward Gorey-esque look with the colors and stripes.


Close-up on the little bee and banner.


This is a "Nacho Libre" towel I stitched up for another good friend. She loves that movie like crazy, and I thought the Sublime Stitching lucha libre masks in the "Craft Pad" would make a great gift for her.


Close up of Nacho. I tried to keep Nacho looking as true to the movie character as possible (even had to run out and buy the right shade of blue floss for the mask).


Aaaand, what "Nacho Libre" towel would be complete without toast! I designed this little bit myself, actually drew it freehand onto the towel with a pencil and stitched over it.


This, actually, is a towel I stitched about a year ago, a gift for a good friend. I forgot to take pics of it before I gave it, and she was nice enough to snap a few pictures of it for me recently.

The quote is from a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode, and the monkeys are from (I think my favorite) Sublime Stitching pattern. I did add the monkey pants myself, though.

There's still a few more finished projects I have to post, one being one of the works I'm most proud of ever. But this is a good start.

In real-life news, tomorrow I go back to work. I'm a bit nervous...it's been about a month since I've been back in the city, and I'm still moving a little slowly. It should be okay though, once I get into the swing of things. Rejoining the world and all that stuff. Today, we're going to look at a new car. Wish us luck!

Mind: Healing Up

It's been about a week and a half since the car crash, and Adam and I are doing a lot better. I'm walking without the cane, and today I was even able to get out of bed without its help. I'm still really sore in places, especially the ribs where the seatbelt was, but the bruising has all really come down.

However, I'm in that frustrating stage of healing where parts of my are feeling normal, and other parts of me are so not. I forget sometimes that I'm not healed 100%, and will go to do something like bend down or reach a bit to far, and my body reminds me that it's still not okay.

I have to say though, I've been so lucky in all this to have such wonderful people looking out for me, from my in-laws who nursed Adam and I in the days immediately following the crash to my parents and brother who came up to the Bay Area from SoCal to help us get settled back in at home.



These gorgeous roses were waiting for Adam and I when we got home after the crash on New Year's Eve, courtesy of my loving family. They're still blooming strong.

Also, there's been a few surprises. My Mama talked to our across-the-way neighbor the day before she left to go back home, and the very next night the sweet neighbor-lady showed up on our doorstep with a home cooked chicken curry dinner and this lovely narcissus plant:


I love watching it bloom day by day in our kitchen. It reminds me how I'm getting better day by day as well...slowly, but surely.

Mind: Alive, Kicking, and Thankful

This is normally when I would apologize for the lack of posting. Where the holidays and travel and work all got in the way, and I try to make up for lost time. But not this time, unfortunately. This time things are a little different.

You see...last Saturday, on 12/27/08, my husband and I were in a horrible car crash. We were on our way back home from visiting his family in Humboldt county, through the windy, two-lane mountain roads in the rain, when a car spun out in the oncoming lane and into ours. We had nowhere to go...we collided head-on with the side of his car.

Everyone miraculously survived. My husband and the other driver were able to walk away (though we found out later the other driver was much worse off than he let on), but I was trapped in the car. I'd been pushed off my seat and under the dashboard, with my knees up against my chest. They had to cut me out of the car, which was one of the longest and scariest hours of my life.

We got taken in an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where my husband's folks met us. Once again, miraculously, my husband and I had neither broken bones nor internal injuries. Just a lot of serious aches, pains, and nasty, nasty bruises. I'm still walking with a cane for balance.

Up until two days ago, we were staying with his folks as we healed up (who were just wonderful to us). They drove us back to the Bay Area on New Year's Eve, where my parents and brother has driven up from SoCal to be with us. We had one hell of a little party, my husband's family and mine, though husband and I were pretty much confined to chairs. I hate the reason it happened, but it was great to have all our parents together again. It's been the first time since we were married 6 years ago.

So, happy ending, in some respects. Like I mentioned, I'm still moving really slowly, still using a cane for balance, and still in a bit of pain. I'm seeing my doctor today to get checked out. A lot of the bruising is fading, though I still look like I was beat up by barbarians. Obviously, my writing skills have also taken a bit of a hit, but like walking, I'm hoping to be back in full steam with that all well soon.

So, kids, the moral of this story: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT. Seriously. It saved my life, and my husband's. I'm gonna be the poster child for seatbelts from now on.

I hope everyone out there had a lovely and safe holiday. I'll be slowly catching up on everyone's blog posts, and hopefully next time I'll have something crafty to share...my Xmas gift to my father.

If you're curious, this is what our car looked like after the crash (I chose to post it small so folks wouldn't have a big, ugly metal wreck staring at them in their readers):


This used to be our Ford Focus. The doors were cut off and thrown inside by the rescue workers. Same for the seats on top of the car. The rest...pure collision, baby. Like I said...

...a miracle.