Back from Oblivion!!!

Not that I have actually gone anywhere! Just life getting in the way!
Time, since the summer has been just a blur! Although I have been very busy, I don't really seem to have much to show for it. I have been spending a lot of time fixing up my old house. It seems everything needs to be re-painted. Also, I have been trying to finish a part of the attic so I can have a little craft studio. This has proven harder than I thought, not to mention colder than I thought! There is no heat up there, so for now the plans will have to be on hold until spring.

I really appreciate all your comments! I am always amazed that anyone out there would care about my little scribblings!

I still haven't gotten The Old Aviary framed yet. Soon, hopefully. Atleast I have the frame for it.

I was working on the William Morris design, Love is Enough, but I put it aside for a while to work on a few other projects. This is a deceptively intricate pattern and it really requires my full alert attention. It is nagging at me to finish it! This is where I was when I left off:

With so much going on, I picked up a fairly brainless project that I have been working on off and on now for over a year. I am happy to say that I have finally finished stitching the little Christmas lap quilt, 'Tis the Season. It's ok, but frankly, I am not sure this one was worth all the work. Maybe I will feel better about it when it is quilted. I hope so.

I had some trouble finding the backing fabric for this. Finally I found one the other day on ebay. Of course it will be a while before it is quilted and finished.
Oh well. There is always next year!

After I finished that, I still wasn't ready to go back to the William Morris design, so I picked up another Cross stitch quilt. I love these old kits, but unfortunately they do take forever! This one is called Country Garden.


It didn't come with the thread, so I picked my own. The colors I chose are not as bright as pictured. I wanted a more antique look, so I went for some muted tones. This is a a king-sized quilt, and is a huge design !
I started working on the center panel. The part between the borders hangs down at the bottom of the bed. I have really just started the center design. I guess I have about 2-1/2 feet before I get to the top. Then I have the 2 side panels to do!

This is what I have so far:

I did manage to stitch a few little ornaments, but I have not finished them yet,

Well, I guess that is it for the stitching for now.

Sorry for such a rambling post. I promise, I will not be gone so long this time!

The Old Aviary is Finished!

Hooray! This has been a long time coming! I started it back in March.

Here is part 4:

(click to enlarge)

I love all the critters in this! There are many birds of course, including an owl. There is also a rabbit, a squirrel, and a very odd little porcupine! The only thing I am not too crazy about is the flowers. They are all exactly the same style. I think if I had noticed that earlier, I would have changed them a bit. All in all though, I am pleased with it.

Here is the whole thing:

(click to enlarge)

I aplogize for the photo. This has been a miserable experience trying to get good pictures of this sampler. I promise that it looks better in person!

This is going to be a bear to frame, but I think I already have a frame for it, so I will give it a try. I will post a picture when it is completed.

For my next project, I chose Love is Enough, a Christmas present from my husband. I am a bit nervous about it though. I decided to stitch it on 36 count instead of the 28ct that came with the kit. I made a small start on it, and I am finding myself worrying if I have a big enough piece. That is such an awful feeling! Aghhhh! I am keeping my fingers crossed.Here is what I have so far:

Getting closer to the end . . .

The verse is finished now. It reads:

HE WHO LOVES AN OLD HOUSE

NEVER LOVES IN VAIN.

HOW CAN AN OLD HOUSE

USED TO SUN AND RAIN

TO LILAC AND LARKSPUR

AND AN ELM ABOVE

EVER FAIL TO ANSWER

THE HEART THAT GIVES IT

LOVE.

I have already signed my name, even though it seems funny to do that before I have finished the whole piece, but that is the spot it is supposed to go.

Then I moved on to the aviary part. I finished 3 trees and the gazebo. I only did one of the birds. There are many more birds and other animals in this part.

The rose bush was the most challenging. The roses are done with the ribbed spider web wheel stitch. Hopefully you can see the roses in this close-up shot.

(click to enlarge all pictures).

Bee update: The damaged hive is behaving as if they have a new queen! For a while there was just erratic flying about the hive, but now Keith reports that he sees the bees returning to the hive with pollen. Supposedly they won't forage if there is no queen.

Keith smoked them and peeked inside. The hive is very weak, few in numbers, but it does seem to be operating normally. Now, the big question is whether they can make enough honey to sustain them through the winter. The other hive that was damaged is also weak, but doing a little better. One of the problems is all the rain we have had this spring (over 10 inches in June alone)! The bees need lots of sunny days to make the honey. They have been few and far between this year!

Well, that's all 'til next time!

Old Aviary Part 3 is Finished!

Finally part 3 is finished!

What a pleasure it is to work in color!

I apologize in advance for the pictures I really think the reason I have been posting more, is the trouble I have getting good pictures of this sampler. Click on the pictures for better view.

Here is the completed part 3:

I have started part 4. This is what I have so far:
This is the whole sampler so far:

I am moving right along on part 4, but I am a little afraid that I will not have enough of one of the colors to finish. Oh, I hope it makes it. Otherwise it will be the third time I will have to go back to Vicki Clayton to request more. The thread package was supposed to be enough for the whole sampler, but something went wrong somewhere along the line. It is a little stressful worrying if you will have enough to finish.

Thank you to all of you who have left comments or emails. It is really nice to know there are so many nice people out there!

About the bees: All of the hives are a little weak due to all the rain. (I swear it rains every day here in NY)! The bees do not come out in the rain or on very cloudy days, so they have not been too successful making honey. We are watching closely the damaged hive. We still do not know if they were able to make a new queen. It will be another 10 or 12 days before we know for sure.

Even though I have not been posting regularly, I have been reading your blogs every day. They are positively inspiring!

Old Aviary Update and Thanks!

The first thing I want to do is to thank everyone who left a comment about the bees!I really appreciate it! I guess we were a bit shaken up by the senseless act of violence.

Keith was worried that whoever did it would return, and decided not to wait for the weekend to move the hive that was closest to the cemetery. We still don't know if it has a chance, but he wanted to give it every opportunity. He waited until dusk when the bees are quiet, and picked up the hive to move it away from the cemetery, and closer to the center of the property.

Well it wasn't exactly a smooth move! The hive started to come apart, and needless to say, the bees were not pleased! He did manage to transfer most of them, but a few remained at the old site. Poor things! They have been through so much! Even with all that uproar, Keith did not get stung!

Yesterday early in the morning, he returned to the old hive site and found a cluster of them all huddled onto a stick. He picked up the stick and moved it to the new hive site. The bees were very calm and clung to the stick while he was moving it.

Most of the bees have been transferred now, but there are still a few milling around the old site. Keith put the temporary white box (this is the box the bees come in when you buy them), near the site. It was raining last night, and most of the bees went in it, so he is hoping to transfer the rest of them tonight.

Who knows if we are doing this right! We are still amateurs at all of this. I guess time will tell.

On the weekend we are going to post NO TRESPASSING signs. I don't know if that will do any good or not, but atleast now they have to walk quite a bit onto our property now to get at the hives.

I will keep you updated.

Now for some stitching!

I ran out of the main neutral color silk for the whitework. I contacted Vikki Clayton. She has excellent customer service and sent more very quickly. She was surprised that I ran out and said that she had sold 35 conversion kits for the Old Aviary, and no one else complained. I really don't know what to say about this. I am using single thread, and I am really stingy about the way I stitch with it, using up every bit! As I told her, it really wasn't even close! I only made it halfway through part 2, and had a long way to go.

Oh well, I think maybe some of those people ordered it to kit up the project but haven't gotten as far as I did. Still, it bothered me. Makes you wonder if you are doing something wrong.

Here is a shot of a finished Part 2.

click to enlarge

I know this is whitework, and it is supposed to be light, but it does bug me that it doesn't show up a little better. I hope it will show up well enough when it is finished, and I haven't gone through all this for nothing!

Here is a shot of parts 1 and 2. I am sorry it doesn't show up a little better.

click to enlarge

This is my progress so far on part 3:

click to enlarge

Here is a closeup of the half-Rhodes, one of the specialty stitches used:

click to enlarge

I was considering tea-dyeing it when I am finished. My thinking was that the silk might soak up the dye more than the linen would, and hopefully make it stand out a bit more. Mmm, not sure about that just yet.

Well there you have it! That is what I have been working on!

My other news is that I have won the Rabbit Rondel drawing on Riona's blog, Oubliette! I am thrilled!

Update on the Bees

Some time ago we decided to give beekeeping a try.

We have always been environmentally minded, and are very aware of the plight of the bees in our area as well as the globe in general.

Our property is certifed by the National Wildlife Federation as a certified Wildlife Habitat. We have pledged to help the wildlife by providing a friendly place for them. We have many bird houses, feeders, etc. We also do not use chemicals on the lawn which are responsible for a lot of ecological problems.

I confess to being a little leery of handling the bees at first, but once they were set up, I saw how gentle they were, and how easy it was to manage them.

It is amazing how attached you can get to these gentle creatures!

Our property is 1.27 wooded acres, and we are bordered on one side by an old abandoned cemetery. There is plenty of room, and the bees are located deep in the woods, and are certainly not a problem to anyone.


Yesterday we discovered that someone trashed the hives!

We figure they came through the cemetery to get at them.

The hive that was the smallest, was completely trashed. They took rocks from the stone wall and threw them at the hives until they knocked them over!

The first hive was completely opened and exposed to the elements. We don't think the queen survived. They can make another queen if they have brood (eggs), but that was all exposed and surely died. (The hive must maintain a constant 98.6 degrees to sustain life, an interesting parallel to humans).

The next hive was only partially turned over, so we are hoping the queen survived. Only time will tell.

The third hive fared the best. That one has marks on it from where they threw the rocks, but is pretty much intact. We figure that the bees were swarming by the time they were approaching the third one.

On the weekend, Keith is going to move them to another location. He feels certain that whoever did this will return to try again.

As long as I live, I will never understand this behavior!
They are such gentle creatures that do not hurt anyone unless really provoked! It is actually hard to get stung! It is amazing how attached you can get to these creatures. I feel very bad for them

As Keith says, this is the price we pay for living in suburbia, where most people have no true connection to the land, no appreciation for nature or private property!
All they seem to care about is their chemically manufactured lawns and their property values!


It is not bad enough that the bees are facing colony collapse syndrome, no, they also have to put up with idiots who have to destroy what they do not understand!

Very upsetting!


Unfortunately we did not take pictures of the damage. Keith wanted to get the hives back together as quickly as possible, and did not stop to take pictures. It was a pretty ugly sight!


Here is a picture of the hives in the early Spring when they were first set up.
Here is one of the little guys on a blackberry bush.

I don't know if "karma" is a real thing or not, but if it is, I really hope the creeps who did this, get what is coming to them!

Old Aviary Update

I am still working on Part 2 of The Old Aviary.

It seems like the white work goes more slowly than the sections with color.

This is what I have so far:

Click to enlarge

It is very hard to see any detail on this.

The first few rows are cross stitch, followed by a row of smyrna stitches.

The next section was a nailbiter! That involved cutting seven horizontal threads and unweaving them to the ends. This area took quite a bit of time. Finally, the silk ribbon is woven through. The bow is a little big, but I am not going to cut it until I finish because it keeps coming un-done, and it will need to be tacked down with a stitch.

After that, there is a row of pin-stitch variation, followed by a row of triple cable stitch.

Next comes the diamond eyelet stitch, followed by a row of three-sided stitches over 4 threads.

Then there are two rows of faggot stitch over 2 threads.

Next a horizontal cable stitch over 2 threads between the 2 rows of faggoting.

The next 2 rows are worked in half-diamond stitch over 10 threads.

After that, there is a row of woven stitch over 6 threads.

Next is a diamond eyelet stitch over 8 threads, followed by a diagonal satin stitch row, and a diamond smyrna cross stitch.
Then there was some decorative cross stitch that look like snowflakes, followed by the decorative boxes.

Unfortunately on the second one, I ran out of the #12 silk. This is a thick silk (like DMC perle).

I contacted Hand Dyed Fibers, and they are sending me some more. Hopefully I will get it early next week.

Phew! Believe me, there was a lot of frogging going on here!

This is an enormous project, but I am already looking forward to moving on to the next one! Hopefully it will be something a bit less intense!

It has finally stopped raining here after a whole week! I hope it has stopped anyway! My lawn looks like a jungle!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend out there!

Drawing at Blacksheep's Bit of the Web!

As some of you know, there are several of us out there who have been looking for the BH&G book with "Lo, How a Rose..." in it.
Great news! Edgar is going to have a drawing for his book!
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on his entry, http://blacksheepsite.blogspot.com/2009/04/pretty-good-weekend-and-lo-rose-drawing.html and link to it on your blog.

Good luck everyone!

If I weren't so tired, I would be doing a major Happy Dance!

HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!

The rug is finished!

Yes, much to the surprise of a certain individual who thought it would never happen, the rug is finally finished!

I put a major push on this, worked all weekend, and finally finished it up.

Here is row 57, the final row:

Next, the braid was cut off. (This part is very scary)!

Then, about 8 inches was un-braided. The braids were tapered, and re-braided as far as they could be. When you can't go any further, they have to be sewn to the rug. This was the part I am not too sure of. It doesn't seem strong enough. I just hope it doesn't come undone!

Here is the 'rattail' finished.

Then came the really hard work. The rug was very large, so all the furniture had to be moved!

I bought an organic rug pad to go under the rug. Not so sure this was necessary, or a good idea now. It was very hard to maneuver it into place, position the rug over it, and then cut around it. Of course it wound up a bit skewed under the rug.

Unfortunately the rug did not lie totally flat! Really an OMG moment - My worst fears!

Thank God for my steamer! It really worked wonders!

The rug lies mostly flat now, and hopefully over time one of the other ripples will work its way out. If not, I can live with it the way it is!

The final measurements wound up 95-1/2 inches (8 ft) wide by 11 ft-6 inches long. A good bit of it wound up under the couch but due to the long thin shape of the room, there was no avoiding that.

It was very hard to get pictures of this, but I tried to get some before the furniture was moved back. You can click to enlarge the pictures to get a better look at the colors (and the bumps before they were steamed away)

Gracie had to position herself right in the center to inspect it. This was before the rug pad was cut around it.


The problem with it was the weight of the rug. It is extremely heavy and maneuvering it, especially on top of the rug pad, is a really tough job.

Oh my aching back! Literally! I pulled some muscles moving the furniture that put me out of commission yesterday, but today I am a little less sore, and yes, I am very, very happy that it is finished! I will make another one for the dining room (much smaller), and I will make some small rugs for the traffic areas on this rug, but I will be taking a break for a while.

Keith helped with all the furniture moving. He thinks the rug is ok, just ok, not sure it was worth all the work.

What can I say?!?

Part One of The Old Aviary is Finished!

This took longer than it should have because of all the frogging. I decided that one of the silks from the Vicki Clayton package just wasn't right. The color description was for a "light beaver gray". The substitution color was a pale mint green. At first I tried to go with it, but by the time I got to the bottom, I decided that it just wasn't right. Soooo.... a lot of frogging. I removed all the pale mint green and replaced it with a grayish green silk in my Splendor collection. It was a little different in appearance but not enough to detract from it.


I finished up the large alphabet in the satin stitch.

At the end of the row there are some medallions that are done in a rice stitch, and one eyelet stitch at the end. The rice stitch is a lot of fun and displays very well.


The next was the dividing row, which was done in an elongated smyrna stitch (over six).

The last section is a twining vine with rose colored flowers. The vine and leaves are in cross stitch, and the flower in done in a Ribbed Spider Web Wheel (over 6). Oh my gosh! This stitch will drive you crazy! It is very hard to see the holes for this with 40 count!

Here is the final result:

(Click on all pictures to enlarge)

and . . . here is the reason for the extra "fiber" in the work:

I just had a peek at Part 2. It looks a lot harder than Part 1!

Rug Progress

This weekend was absolutely bitter cold with howling winds of 40 mph. We planted two little apple trees and nearly froze to death!

It was a good weekend to stay inside and work on the rug.

Several days ago I finished up row 55.

Row 55

I just now finished up row 56.

Row 56

I cannot believe there is only one more row to go! What was my life like before I was working on this rug? I can barely remember!

The last row is a whopper of a row though, and will take quite a bit of time! I have to make all of the wool rolls which includes dying some wool to match what I have.

Then there is the dreaded 'rat tail', the tapering off at the end. I just hope that goes well, and I hope that it will all lie flat! This is always a big worry because it is impossible to see all of this the way it is folded up.

I guess I will know soon enough!
Wish me luck!

Anyone live in Illinois? Watch out for your cats!

I belong to Alley Cat Allies, an organization that advocates for stray and feral cats.
There is currently a bill pending in the Illinois legislature that would drastically increase the number of cats captured and impounded in shelters. Many of these cats would be killed. This includes house cats who have just been let out of the house.
I find this really disturbing!
To read more and perhaps help if you are in Illinois, go to:
http://capwiz.com/alleycat/issues/alert/?alertid=13055536&PROCESS=Take+Action&external_id=10519.0

Braided Rug and The Old Aviary Updates

Hooray! Row 54 is finally finished. The colors on this one were a bit dull, but I was really scratching to come up with the wool.

The next row will be a bright row. I have lost the order of my bright rows here, but it is necessary toward the end of the rug. I will be putting the bright color in one row early because I do not want to end the rug with a bright color.

Three more rows to go!

The Old Aviary is proving to be very frustrating to photograph. Maybe there is some secret to doing this that I don't know of, but the pale colors make it very difficult.

Instead of taking the whole picture, I have included the right and the left sides. Hopefully it won't look so washed out.

(click to enlarge)

The first row of letters is a small uppercase alphabet. This is done in satin stitch over 4.

The next line is the pale green divider in a herringbone stitch.

The next line is the remainder of the letters and the start of the numbers. At the beginning and end of the numbers is a group of 5 eyelet stitches. There was a huge amount of frogging going on with this! I re-did it several times before I was satisfied with it. There are 31 points in each eyelet stitch. This is really tough to see on 40 count!

After this, there is a divider row done in the Ray stitch, in a pale orchid.

The next row is a large uppercase alphabet in the satin stitch.

I have just started the next dividing line which is all in cross stitch in a light taupe.

The tiny stitches on the 40 count are proving very challenging, but I am enjoying it. One thing that I have learned is that I cannot work on it for as long. Frequent breaks are necessary!

A Few More Lines on The Old Aviary

I have finished the next two lines here.

The first was the lower case alphabet done in cross stitch.

The next is the vine with the flowers.

The green vine is all in cross stitch. The flower petals are made up of 12 very tiny satin stitches (over 2) in a very pale orchid color. The center of the flower is done with a Smyrna stitch (over 2) in ivory.

The flowers are very pale and delicate and somewhat hard to see in the photograph.

(click to enlarge)

Tonight I will start on the upper case alphabet.

I am making very slow progress on the rug. I have finally gotten my hands on some more camel colored wool, so I am able to go forward. Still working on row 54. I will post a picture when I have completed the row.

Thanks for all your comments. I so look forward to reading them! I also love reading your blogs!

I am just loving The Old Aviary!

I finally got everything together and got going on this project. Although it called for Ivory linen, I picked Flax which I think looks more natural. It called for a large piece, 18" x 40".

It is very challenging to work on the 40 count linen, and it is certainly very slow going, but I think the results will be worth it. I hope so anyway!

For the silk, I decided to go with Hand Dyed Fibers from Victoria Clayton. She has made up a conversion package for The Old Aviary that was quite reasonable. I had never used HDF before, and was quite pleasantly surprised. The silk is truly a joy to work with!

This is what I have done so far:

(click for a better view)

The stitches are so tiny here that it is a bit hard to see in the photo, but the top row is actually 2 rows of cross stitch.

The next row is also hard to see. It is done in a very pale light peach in the herringbone stitch.

The next row was an absolute nail biter! The instructions were to find the center of the row, then CUT 2 horizontal threads, and un-weave the threads all the way to the ends of the rows. Then, the ends had to be re-woven into the edge of the fabric! Let me tell you, I was pretty nervous about cutting the linen, but I guess it turned out ok. Re-weaving the linen strands with 40 count linen was no easy task. It doesn't come out nicely. It tends to shred while you are pulling it out. When that was done, (which took forever), I worked my way across the row with a hemstitch over 4 threads.

The next section consists of two rows of sawtooth satin stitches. In the center is a group of 4 cross stitches and one smyrna stitch (over 2). This part is really easy to miss because there is nothing in the instructions about it. You would have to pick it up from the chart.

The next part is the small case alphabet which I have just started. This part is all cross stitch (What a relief)!

The directions tend to be a bit spacey, but otherwise I am thoroughly enjoying this piece!

A Finish, a Cake, and YIKES!!

I finished up Peace in the Country last Thursday, but didn't get around to taking a picture until today. Finally I have my first 2009 finish!

Sorry for the crooked picture, but here it is:

The detail on the angel's dress is what took most of the time. It is hard to see, but there is quite a bit of back-stitching on the sleeve to give it a golden look.

I will have to look around in my travels for a frame for this one. It is practically square. Hopefully I can find one at a yard sale this summer. If not I will have to break down and actually buy one!

Now for the cake!

This requires a bit of an explanation!

About a month ago, Keith came home and announced that he had ordered a bee hive as well as a colony of bees to go with it! Yes, BEES! To say that I was surprised would be an enormous understatement!

He had mentioned it once or twice before, but I had never given it another thought.

You see, we are not exactly "bee" people. We live in the NY suburbs, just about 25-30 miles from Manhattan. In fact, other than a tomato garden, we have no background in farming or animal husbandry of any sort, (well except for a very brief and unfortunate interlude with chickens who inhabited our property when we bought our house, but I digress)!

Some of the bees are being delivered in April, and we will be driving upstate in May to pick up the colony. Yes, I have been drafted into this duty! Yikes!

Anyway, Keith's birthday was on Saturday, and when I saw this cake, I knew I just had to make it for him. It is a lemon cake with a honey-lemon glaze, buttercream frosting, and a Royal icing drizzle. It was made from a special pan that was molded in the shape of the hive. Of course there were some major goofs, things that I would do differently next time, but all in all, I was rather pleased how it turned out. My baking projects have not always been met with such success (LOL)!

Oh boy! Bees! yikes!

Stay tuned. It should be an interesting summer!

I finally finished row 53!

This row seemed to take forever! I didn't have any rolls of wool already made up for this one, so it took quite a while. Then I had that miserable cold in the middle of it. (Thankfully, I am feeling much better now).

It was a real squeaker right to the end. I knew I would have enough of the camel and the glen plaid rolls to make it to the end, but I wasn't sure I would have enough of the rust colored herringbone roll. This was risky because I didn't have anything else in this tone. My closest match was a red herringbone, which actually wasn't a bad match, but it is always nice to be able to finish with the same color. I made it with 6 inches to spare!

The rows now are so long that it takes enormous amounts of wool to make one round. Usually one fabric will not do it so I have to match similar colors and patterns.

4 more rows to go!

I am also getting antsy with Peace in the Country. I finished the angel's dress and gave her some feet. Now I have to finish back-stitching that area before I can more on. I also finished up a few of the stars to see what they would look like. This design was much larger, and far more detailed than I thought it would be! We still have quite a bit of snow here, but it is slowly melting. We have been promised sixty degrees this weekend, so no doubt it will all be gone soon!

It seems like it has been a long winter. I am ready for spring!

Barely breathing but here . . .

Ughh! Worst cold in 5 or 6 years!

I can't say I am actually recovering yet, but today it seems like today, it has stopped getting worse anyway. I guess that is something!

I haven't made much progress. You would think if you were sick you would have more time to stitch, but it didn't work out that way. I was too sick to even do that!

Before the cold I made a little progress on Peace in the Country. (click to enlarge).

(Sorry about the shadow. I can't seem to get rid of it).

I finally got out of the grass which is something anyway! I finished up the lady and added another sheep. Then I went back up to fill in on the hills that I hadn't finished.

After that I did the orchard. This part was murder! The trees were all backstitching with lots of counting for the different directions on the branches. The leaves were all lazy daisy stitches, and the apples were all French knots!

Then I worked a little on the border to give myself a good reference to start the angel.

I finished up the angel wing and did a tiny bit on the hair and dress.

I will be happy to finish this one up. It seems like I have been working on it for a very long time!

On the rug, I finally finished up row 52 today. This row took a lot longer than it should have due to the cold.

Still here in the grass . . .,

but atleast now I have a little man and three sheep to keep me company!

I also have half of the woman's dress done there. Soon I hope to be out of this grass! It is driving me crazy! There are very slight changes to the color with blended needle and half stitches that are very time consuming.

Still working on the rug. Very slowly ! Here is a picture of the end of row 51, beginning of row 52:

. . . and so it goes.

I am always thinking of the next project, more correctly the next 6 projects!

One that I have always wanted to do is The Old Aviary, which appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly.

This is an expensive project. The design is laid out over 4 issues of the magazine. There is a large piece of 40 count linen required, and all the silk threads! Pricey!

I decided to use part of my gift certificate from Petra to purchase the magazines. Down Sunshine Lane had three of them, and I got the remaining one on ebay.

I have a lot of odd silk threads in my stash and I wanted to use them if possible. The pattern calls for Soie d'Alger and Silk 'n Colors. The Soie d'Alger, I can match fairly easily, but I have not been able to find any conversion, anywhere, for the Silk 'n Colors.

I do not necessarily need an over-dyed silk. The single color silks are just fine with me.

Does anyone know of a match for Silk 'n Colors: Latte (9710), Old Lace (111), and Spring Blush (9711) ?

Of course if you have the colors, it is easy enough to make a substitution, but with just the description, it is tough.

I would love to hear from anyone else who is working on this. Of course, I am a ways off from starting this project, but it would be nice to have it kitted.

What a Surprise!!!

Just imagine my surprise when I read in Petra's blog that I was the winner of her birthday drawing!
Then the next day I got an email that my prize was a $50 gift certificate for Down Sunshine Lane!

Well, it is safe to say that I am over the moon about this!
Thank you sooo much Petra! I am just thrilled!

I have already spent over an hour pouring over DSL's website. Quite the fortunate dilemma I will have trying to decide what to pick!

Time for an update

February so far still has us in the grips of winter. This morning the temp was about 15F. Brrrr!

I know that doesn't sound cold to my Canadian friends, but we are used to it being about 10-15 degrees warmer here!

Here is a picture of my dwindling woodpile. My poor hedge in the background is completely eaten by the deer!

We started out the winter with what I thought was more than enough wood, but now, only halfway through the winter, we definitely will have to order more. Somehow the price keeps going up and up! I don't quite get that. It is quite high now. Last time I ordered, I couldn't find a cord for less than $200 (unstacked).

On the stitching front, I have made very slow progress on Peace in the Country. It is very slow-going with a lot of color changes and backstitching. I am really tired of working with greens! I will be glad when I can move on to the angel.
Now, on to the ever-growing rug!

I haven't worked on the rug for the last two days. I have had to scrounge for more wool. I searched all the local places with no success. I put out a call to my local freecycle. No luck! I finally decided to use some of the pieces in my stash that I previously decided not to use. I will have to find a way to make it work, (just like they did in the old days)!

Here are some pictures of my progress:

Completed row 46, beginning row 47

Completed row 47, start of row 48

Completed row 48, start of row 49

Completed row 49, start of row 50

Completed row 50

I know these are boring pictures and they don't give you an idea of the rug size, but the rug has gotten incredibly heavy. It is very hard to move around. The only way I can work on it is to have it folded over.

Here is a background picture of the tiny dining room:

You can't tell from the picture, but the other side of the rug falls down to the floor.

Quite the mess eh?!

One Year Today!

Hard to believe a whole year has passed, but today is my Blogiversary! One year ago today I made my first entry.

I am a little disappointed that I didn't make more entries, (and finish more projects).
A lot of the projects I took on were fairly large in scale. They are fun to work on, but unfortunately don't make for exciting blogging!

Well, a year later, and I am still working on the rug! The last row just took forever with the holiday distractions and all. Here is a picture of my last completed row 45.

By now I am about half finished with row 46. Groan! About 11-1/2 rows to go! Hopefully it will measure something like 8' x 12' when it is finished.

This this what I have finished so far on my Christmas quilt 'Tis the Season. I haven't been working on this too much. I think I will put it aside for a few months.

I have picked up Peace in the Country again, and have made a little bit of progress on this. This one turned out to be more detailed than I thought. The angel is yet to come. It is positively huge in relation to the town below!

It is quite cold here now, way below freezing with a lot of snow on the ground! This time last year it wasn't anywhere near this cold!

That's all for now. Hope we all have a great year!

A Snowy New Year's Eve in New York!

This was the picture outside my front door about an hour ago.

It is still coming down! The temperature is really dropping too! I will have sympathy with the many revellers down at Times Square tonight!

Times Square on New Year's Eve is one of those things that you have to do once in your life, but only once!
It is best done the way I did it, eighteen years old, full of energy and enthusiasm, and oblivious to the cold!

Now, thank you very much, I will stay warm by the fire!

Today is a natural day for reflection on the previous year, but also a time to look ahead.

Here are my finishes from the past year.

In the Forest - La-D-Da

The Chase - Paragon

Illuminated House Blessing - Patricia Andrle

Christmas Chick - Valerie Pfeiffer

'Tis the Gift -La-D-Da

The Red Thread Snapper series - Bent Creek

Beach Roses - Just Nan

MacIntosh Poster - Charlotte's Web

Harvest Blooms - Hands to Work

Not all of these are framed yet. I have to spend some time on that. I wish there could have been more of them, but then, that's what next year is about!

There are many designs that I want to work on next year, but I don't have a real plan just yet because I need to focus all my attention on finishing my braided rug.

I would love to do Patricia Andrle's Cardinal Sampler, as well as her Fine Feathers. I doubt that I will be able to do both. Also I have waiting for me in my stash, The Loara Standish Sampler. This is a major undertaking which I am finding quite daunting! It would probably take a year to do by itself!

Of course there are numerous others calling to me!

I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!

Let's hope it's a good one!

The Cat Who Came for Christmas!

Meet Hermie!

The last thing I needed, the very last thing I needed, was another cat!

Hermie had been casually visiting for the last 3 years, however during the last year I became aware that he was completely dependent on me for food. Also, it became apparent that he had no place to go. At one time he belonged to someone who was renting across the street, but apparently they thought he was disposable, and just left him when they moved. We noticed that he was no longer crossing the street, and just before Christmas we found him crouching under the tarp on our wood pile.

Well, what could we do?

Hermie as it turns out, is quite a character, and has made himself at home! (Why do they always have to sit on the top of the chair)!?!

Of course this has not gone unnoticed by the other cats who clearly do not appreciate this interloper! They were used to seeing him outside, but sleeping on the bed is another matter! There has been quite a lot of howling, growling, spitting, and the occasional fur flying! Hopefully soon they will all become used to him.

Christmas generally seemed to be much more stressful this year than it should have been, family matters, etc. Not sure how to fix that, but somehow we need to simplify our lives so we can appreciate the things that really matter.

On the stitching front I have not made a lot of progress. I am disappointed that 'Tis the Season, the lap quilt I have been working on, is taking so long to finish. I have only completed 4 of the 9 squares, and scarcely any of the border.
This will takes months more, and then there is the quilting! I am not one of those people who enjoys Christmas stitching after Christmas. Somehow I guess I will have to put it into some kind of rotation, though I have never been very good at that.

One very nice thing I got from my husband was Love Is Enough, from Millenia Designs in England. They do a beautiful job on their kits. This one is a William Morris design.
I am looking forward to working on this! I have to somehow find the time for it.

Of course my main project, THE RUG, is still unfinished, and I must concentrate on that first. I made a little progress on it. I will post a photo later. I still have a long way to go though!

Just no hurrying this rug!

During the last few days I have spent quite a bit of time working on the rug. I have the sore neck, shoulders, and arms as well as the rough hands to prove it! It now measures about 70" X 115"

I was disappointed when I realized that it would not be done by Thanksgiving, but now reality has set in and I realize that it will not be finished by Christmas either!

Bummer! It is just no fun having Christmas dinner on the coffee table!

I just finished row 43 today. It takes 2 to 3 days for each row, and that doesn't count the time to prepare the wool. I figure I will need 58 or 59 rows. Very best case senario with no interuptions (ha ha) it would take me about 2 months to finish it.

Here are some pictures:

Row 42

Row 43:

I just started row 44 today. This will be the last one in my medium shading. I am adding blue as my wild row.

On the stitching front I have been working on the little lap quilt 'Tis the Season. I have almost finished one of the squares. I know this one will never be finished by the holidays!

Oh well! Maybe by next Christmas I will be organized!

Look what I won!

Recently I visited Teresa's blog Sew Many Thoughts. I really admired her turkey dishcloth. As luck would have it she was having a give-away, and I won!


I think it is a terrific idea! I have some plain knitted dishcloths, but no turkeys! I love Thanksgiving, and it just seemed to be a perfect fit in my kitchen! I love the harvest color!

Here is a picture.
It really looks much too nice to use!

Thank you very much Teresa! I will enjoy it!

Long overdue post

Here are my latest photos of the rug.

This is the start of row 41.
At this point the rug measures aproximately 66.5" X 111.5".



Phew! This thing is hard to measure. I need to move it around to get a good measurement, and that is more easily said than done!

Since I took this picture I have made quite a bit of progress on this row, but I have had to temporarily stop working on it due to some sort of painful carpel tunnel or tennis elbow type thing. OUCH!!!

Hopefully I will be able to get back to it soon. The bad news is that I an running out of medium color wools. I need a lot of tans to complete this. I guess I will have to go back to scrounging the thrift shops again!


On the stitching front, I made a little more progress on Peace in the Country, but it is coming along very slowly. I am having trouble getting into it.

Also, I picked up another project. In the hopes of getting myself into a holiday mood, I have started working on a little holiday quilt.

'Tis the Season is one of those stamped quilts. It is easy to do when I am practically brain dead at night watching tv.

Here is a picture of my start. I have also made more progress on this one too, since. I will try to update with a new photo soon.
I may drop Peace in the Country for a while to work on this.

Slowly I creep. . . , inch by inch!

Still here working on the rug!

Here is the start of row 38

Row 39 is the start of the light group of rows.
I have just started row 40. . .
Phew! Still have a loooong way to go!

In the meantime, I have started a new stitching project. I have had Peace in the Country in my stash for ages. It is actually a kit from Sunset, but I decided to swop out the aida that it came with it, with a piece of 32ct Dove Gray linen.

I actually haven't been enjoying it too much so far. It is one of those designs that seems like it was designed by a computer. I am working on the the hills in the background. There are many half stitches and many, many color changes. Hopefully I will like it better when I move on to another section.

I have made a small start on it.

Says it All!

Happy Days are Here Again!

(click)

This song came out during the depression. FDR heard it and decided to play it during his campaigns to cheer people up. It became associated with the Democratic party. Although it doesn't seem to be played as much now, it is still heard in bars and other gathering places on election night! I will always associate it with my Dad who loved the song for its sunny outlook!

There are a lot of similarities to the depression now. It seemed like a good one to hear again!

HOPE IS BACK!

Fall Finish, the Rug, and a Beautiful Weekend!

Hooray! I finished up Harvest Blooms!

This one just makes me smile!

I thought I was doing well when I finished up the border with just enough rum raisin to complete it, until that is, I realized that I had another star to do.

I used blended DMC colors of purple and dark brown to do the star. I was very pleased how close it came to the rum raisin. It has a very nice effect.

I departed from the original design and added a star to the upper left and moved my initials to the bottom. I included the date on the lower right.

I am happy with this one! At some point I think I will make it into a pillow, but that will have to wait for now.

Also, I completed row 36 on the rug. I am still working on the "dark" section. I have just started row 37 here. This is my "wild" color row. I chose a faded red. It is hard to capture the colors. They look a little washed out here.

The Northeast, where I live has many problems, traffic, urban sprawl, etc., but during this time of the year it is simply glorious! The air is crisp. The sun is bright, and the colors are just spectacular!

This weekend we drove up to Rhinebeck, NY, about 80 miles north of here. We discovered when we got there that there was a Wool and Sheep festival going on at the fairgrounds. I was disappointed we had not gotten there earlier. By the time we got there, the crowds were enormous. Oh well, maybe next year! We did however go home with apples and a wonderful apple pie!

The trees were a couple of days past peak color, but still beautiful! This one was in front of a beautiful old house in Rhinebeck

Harvest Blooms and the Ever-expanding Rug!

I would like to thanks everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment or send me an email. I really appreciate it!

I am making steady progress on Harvest Blooms. I finished the border with not much to spare! I really worked to conserve the floss. The design calls for 1 strand on 36 count I believe. I am using 2 strands on 32 count. If you ever do this design, make sure you order more floss.

At first I thought the colors were a little odd, but now I am really enjoying their richness. I love how they all blend together. Rum raisin is such a good choice for the border. The brownish purple-ish color is unexpected, and perfect for autumn!

I should be finishing it up in the next few days, but I will be making a few changes. I do not want to put my initials at the top, so I will add another star to the upper left, and fit my initials in along the bottom somewhere.

Here is a picture of my progress so far. Furry is such a help! What would cross stitching be without cat hair!

I am also making very slow progress on the rug. I finished off row 35. The next three rows will be dark. I have just started row 36 here.

Harvest Blooms and the Rug

Still making slow progress on Harvest Blooms.



There is a great deal of detail with a lot of color changes to slow things down, but I think the end results will be worth it!

I like the design. I was wondering about making it into a pillow. That will not happen any time soon though because I am determined to finish up The RUG.

I just completed the 34th row on my braided rug. I am using light, medium, and dark color combinations, with the common color tan running throughout. Then, every third row, I throw in a "wild" color. I just finished up with the green as my wild color. I have just made the color change at the shoulder here. The 35th row will be the last medium color combination before I move on to the dark group.

I have miles to go on this yet!

Harvest Blooms and Braided Rug Updates

It seems that there is quite a bit more to Harvest Blooms than I first thought. There is quite a lot of detail.


I am a little disappointed in the coverage of Black Crow (Sampler Threads). I used it for the boot. It seemed a little sparse even with 2 strands. It was a bit tedious just stitching in black for ages and ages!

Now I am finishing up the flowers and bittersweet. They are fun. I like how they are turning out. The border will take some time though.

Otherwise, I have started working on my rug again. Progress on that just creeps along inch by inch. The slow part is in the preparation of the rolls. It measures about 4 feet 5 inches wide by 8 feet long. I wanted it to be about 8 by 12, but somehow it has not grown uniformly and I will have to adjust my expectations!

It was hard to get a picture of this, but this will give you an idea.



As you can see, it has completely taken over my dining room. I have it on the table and I can only work on half of it at a time. Then I have to re-position it to work on the ends and the other half.

It is getting heavy too!

MacIntosh Poster Finish, a new start, and quilts!

I'm back!

This has been such a busy time for me, so full of distractions!

I have finally finished the MacIntosh Poster. I don't know why but this one seemed to take a long time. Lots of partial stitches and backstitching.

I will be looking for a simple black frame for it.

I need to go back and work on my braided rug, but I will also be starting Harvest Blooms by Hands to Work.

I am planning to stitch it on 32 count Light Sand, using Sampler Threads. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to use one strand on 36 count, but the piece I had wasn't quite big enough, and I am determined to use the fabric I have in my stash if possible. With the 32 count, now I will will have to use two strands.

I had a really good weekend. I went to a flea market on Sunday and found some wonderful quilts! I love vintage quilts, and when they are a bargain, I cannot resist them!

The first one is "Trip around the World". It is very worn and well used, but it was clean with very few tears. I guess some would consider it a cutter, but I couldn't bear to cut it up! I just love the colors!

The next one was a modified nine patch with a lot of triangles. This featured a lot of the indigos that I love!

Last, but not least was a cranberry Basket quilt top.

This top was made many years ago, and then put away. It is in excellent condition, with no wear or stains! I will be looking some period fabric for the backing. I am looking forward to quilting and finishing this one!

Thoughts on 9/11

You can feel it in the air.

Today is no ordinary day.

I live about 25 miles northwest of ground zero. I will never forget where I was at the time.
I had turned on CNBC to check out the market when they started reporting about an accident that had happened downtown. It was reported that there was a plane crash. Since this was so close to Wall Street, everyone was right there. The details coming out were very sketchy.

Within minutes, they got the live shot set up and switched over. I stood there and I watched in horror to see the second plane fly into the South Tower as it happened.

My husband crosses the Tappan Zee Bridge every day to go to work. He called to say that he saw the smoke from the bridge. I informed him that the second tower had fallen.

That weekend, we crossed the bridge. It was impossible to look away. Down the Hudson you could still see all the smoke, but impossibly, the towers were just GONE! The brain just doesn't compute this, and tries to fill in what is missing.

Now we have the speeches and memorials. Starting with Bush, all the politicians have managed to make themselves a part of this, some even forging a career on it. They will all either show up today, or make a speech.

The day does not belong to them! It belongs to the family and friends of all those wonderful "ordinary" people who decided to get up in the morning and go to work!

To all of the secretaries, traders, lawyers, custodians, firemen, policemen, pilots and passengers on the planes, we will always remember you!

...And to all the politicians - JUST GO HOME!

Just one New Yorker's opinion!

Blog Award and MacIntosh Poster Update!

Many thanks to Holly who gave me this award! She has great blog that I always enjoy reading!

Thank you so much! It is greatly appreciated! It is amazing anyone would read my scribblings!

I am now at the point where I read so many blogs every day, that it is very hard for me to nominate a few to receive an award, and many have already received this one. I will have to pass for the moment on the nominating.

I am finding that my eyes do get fatigued easily, but I have done some stitching on the MacIntosh Poster. The lettering has been tougher than I thought because there are so many partial stitches. Also there is a lot of freehand stitching on the curves that does have to be very accurate. It has slowed me down.

Here is what I have so far:

Also, I thought you would like to see a picture of two of my stitching "helpers". These guys sit behind me on top of the couch so they can watch everything I do.

Both of these guys were shelter cats. Ollie, the orange tabby, became very sick right after we adopted him. He got a virus similar to the Parvo virus in dogs. It took quite a bit of medical care, including a transfusion, but he survived! The vets were amazed.

Gracie, my little gray tabby was hit by a car. Another miracle! She survived broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a cracked skull. She did lose one eye, but so far, it hasn't even slowed her down! No chipmunk is safe with her around!

Laser Eye Surgery Update

It was exactly one week ago that I had Lasik surgery.
I went back to the doctor within 24 hours for a check. He said everything looked good.

I am still experiencing some fluctuations in my vision, which is to be expected, but for the most part, I think the healing is coming along very well.
I will go back in three weeks for another check-up.

Of course, I haven't accomplished a lot of stitching during this time.

Foolishly, I tried to go back to stitching a little too early. My eyes were too "jumpy" to count, and I paid for it with a lot of frogging the following evening!

I have managed to get a little done on the Glasgow Poster. I will post a picture later.

Glasgow Poster

After finishing one project, I always try to make the next one something completely different.

Without any doubt, my favorite design period is the Arts and Crafts era (the last few years of the 19th century and the first few years of the 20th century). This movement was taking place in Britain and America simultaneously.

The Royal School of Needlework was founded in 1872 to train young gentlewomen in the art of embroidery and to raise the standard of design. I have a great book, simply titled An Embroidery Book, written by Anne Knox Arthur of The Glasgow School of Art, in 1931.

This is a wonderful book, written by a a remarkable woman. There are thirteen chapters on different methods of embroidery, as well as a wonderful forward by Ann Macbeth. I would heartily recommend this book if you can get your hands on it. It is an inspiration!

Poster, from Charlotte's Web Needlework, is based on a design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

I have had this in my stash for some time now.

I have made a small start on this. You can just barely see the outline of her hand, and part of her dress.

It was Bound to Happen Eventually. . . .

After years of collecting frames, I finally found the perfect frame in my attic!

I framed up Beach Roses today.

I like this frame because it reminds me of bleached beach wood that I used to collect.

Click to enlarge

Unfortunately you can't see the pearls in this picture unless it is enlarged.

Beach Roses is Finished!

This was a fairly quick stitch. I finished the stitching part Thurdsay evening, and spent Friday and Saturday evenings sewing on the 20 pearls and the starfish charm.

I like the way it came out.


I think I might even have a frame in my attic that will suit it. I will post it as soon as it is framed.

Laser Eye Surgery Update

On Friday I went back to the laser surgery place and underwent several hours of tests and measurements.
I have researched it as well as I can, and have decided to go ahead with it.

I have been thinking about it for years. When I first looked into it, laser surgery was not available for farsightedness, but now it has been available for several years. My thinking is, "if not now, when"?

This is not being done without a certain amount of trepidation however!

I have been assured that it a very safe procedure.

Still ... hmm! Just hope all goes well. After reading that consent form, I all but changed my mind!

Would love to hear from anyone who has been through this.

Thank You's and Beach Roses

First of all, I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to comment on my Red Thread design and draft dodger tutorial! I appreciate it more than you know!

I have picked up Just Nan's Beach Roses that has been sitting in my stash for quite a while.

This design just cries out to be done during the summer, preferably while sitting with an ocean view, but sometimes that just can't be arranged.

I figured there was just about enough summer left to finish this design.

It is tiny, just 3-1/2" square, but very detailed.

Unfortunately there has been a lot of frogging going on here!

First of all, the chart is tiny and a little hard to read. (Would it have killed them to print it on a full page instead of a half page)? Also, there is just enough variation in the wave border, and just slight variations in the color to make it difficult! One little mis -stich and it is hard to find where you have gone wrong.

All that said, I love the design, and I am looking forward to finishing it up.

I am stitching it on 28 count Lambswool, using DMC.

Here is my progress so far:

The Red Thread as a Draft Dodger!

I decided to finish off The Red Thread as a Draft Dodger.

Of course it didn't go exactly as planned, but here it is!

(Click to enlarge)

Ready, willing and able to stand up against any drafts that try to come in under my porch door!

If I had made one from scratch, I might have a different fabric for the backing, but I didn't want to cut the linen, leaving my options open for framing it later if I liked.

I also have a picture of it sitting on my mantle.

The project was not without it's problems! It evolved and took on a life of it's own after a while.

I am still getting used it it like this. Of course, if I decide I don't like it this way, I can always take it apart and frame it.

I put together a little tutorial on making a draft dodger below.

Tutorial: How to Make a Draft Dodger or Shelf Sitter

I made my draft dodger out of a design that I had cross stitched on linen, but you could make one out of any piece of fabric.

1) Start with your design or piece of fabric that is long enough to cover the door opening ( plus a few inches).

2) The edges have already been zig-zag stitched, but if you would like to make a ruffled edge, turn under the edges on the ends and stitch. (If you do not want the tied enclosure, you can sew up the end and then later hand stitch the other end when it is completed).

3) Right sides together, pin the long edges together and sew a 1/4 inch seam.

4) Turn it right side out. You now have a sleeve. Just press it very lightly (no hard creases).

5) Next, I cut 3 pieces of floss (18 single strands) about 24" long. I used DMC 221 because it matched The Red Thread in my design. (You could use any cording you wanted. You just have to make sure you can weave it through the linen without ripping it). About an inch from the end of the design, starting in the front, center of the design, I wove the floss all around it.


6) Then I threaded some wooden beads onto the end of the floss and tied a knot. I wrapped the floss around the sleeve a couple of times and pulled it up tightly

7) The stuffing was next. For a shelf sitter, you can use a light fiber fill, but for a draft dodger you need something a bit heavier. After quite a bit of experimentation, I decided to use Feline Pine, which is compressed pine pellets. This can be found in specialty pet food stores. Do not confuse this with regular cat litter, which did not work well at all. The pellets are much larger, and it is completely dustless. Of course you can also use dried beans or rice.

Although you could put the filling in directly, I decided to enclose it in pantyhose. This is a little tricky because the pantyhose will just keep stretching, so the best thing to do is to put the leg into the opening and start filling it a little at a time. As you fill it, the weight will drag it down to the bottom of the sleeve. This works much better than trying to stuff it in.

When it is filled. tie off the top of the pantyhose leg in a knot.

8) I finished the other end off in the same way, added the beads, and pulled it up tight.

Here is the finished result!

(Click to enlarge all images)

The Red Thread is Connected!

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

This is Connected, the twelfth and final design in The Red Thread. I finished this up on Friday. The two little snowmen (snow people) are now connected!

I took a picture but it seems a little washed out. It is over a yard long, and my photography skills are not the greatest! Here is how the whole thing looks:

(Click to enlarge)

I am still working out how to finish it. As soon as I do, I will post a picture.

I Won an Award!

Oh my gosh!
Riona nominated me for this award! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it although I don't know what I have done to deserve it. Lately I do not feel especially creative!

The rules for receiving this award are:

1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Nominating 7 blogs that inspire me is tough because I get inspiration from so many of you out there!
In no particular order, I would like to nominate:

Nicola - Tales from My Needle
Jayne - Ginnie's Cross Stitch
Helen - Stitchery Nook (I know you have won this before Helen, but you deserve it again)!
Diane - Suburban Stitcher
Stephanie - In Stitches
Lee - Lake Stitcher
Kathy - Purple Wildcat

...and to all the rest of you! You all give me inspiration!

Thankfully, Thankful is Done!

This is the eleventh design in The Red Thread series.

The next and last design is Connected.

I am close to finishing, but the next one will take some time because I have to go back and sew on all the little snaps and stars on the border.

I am still thinking about various ways to finish this design. Not sure if I want to frame it or not. I was thinking about the possibility of making a draft dodger out of it. Hmmm! We'll see.

The Wreath is Finished!

This was a fun, quick stitch! I really enjoyed all the colors.
I am stitching it using DMC, but for this one, I used blended threads for a more subtle effect.

Now that the end is in sight, I have decided to go for it and finish this up before I start any new projects.

Two more little boxes to go, plus the lettering and the border of course.

The next little design is Thankful.

County Fair is Finished!

This one was not one of my favorites, but I think it will blend well into the whole design.

This is how it looks so far:

Not the best picture, but it is getting harder to take such wide shots.

There are 3 more little boxes left.
The next one in the series is Wreath.

Sampler Consortium

I saw this post and thought it looked interesting. I figured I would pass it along.

"The Sampler Consortium is a newly formed, international organization of scholars, historians, curators, educators, genealogists, textile conservators, collectors, dealers, and needlework experts interested in the study of historic samplers and other girlhood embroideries".

If you join before July 31, 2008, the membership is free.

'Tis the Gift is Finished!

I finished it up last night.

It was stitched on 32 count lambswool using Sampler Threads Sable, Grape Leaf, Antique Rose, Grecian Gold, and Clover (instead of Parchment).

I stitched the little gold bits of pollen as French knots. It is hard to tell in the photo, but I think it gives it a dimensional aspect.

I will have to search for a frame. I will try the attic first of course. It is a small piece so it might be easier to find something suitable.

Now I will go back to The Red Thread. The next (9th) square is County Fair.

I have four more squares to go to finish it, but I am losing patience working on it one month at a time. I may just work all the way through it to complete it.

Laser Surgery for Farsightedness

I have been struggling with glasses now for well over a decade, but now things are really getting serious because it is interfering with my stitching!

I have to use high magnification reading glasses as well as my magnifier just to see, and then it is still difficult at night.

Yesterday I decided to look into the laser surgery option. I don't know whether it would be LASIK, LASEK, PKR, or what. He did rule out CK, saying the farsightedness was too pronounced.

It turns out that I am a candidate, but I gather the procedure is more complicated than the one for nearsightedness, and the results although very promising are not quite as certain.
I am convinced of the doctor's qualifications, however this still seems daunting!

Has anyone out there had any experience with laser surgery for vision correction?

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Imagine my surprise to find out I have been nominated for this award by Helen from Stitchery Nook!

Thank you so much Helen!
I understand that now it is my turn to nominate 5 others whose work inspires me.

This is a tough one because I read many blogs every day on many different subjects, but here goes:

Rowyn at Stitching under the Southern Cross

Laurel at An Artist's Journey

Desi at Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff

Chris et al at Strange Maine

Carol et al at Gallery of Samplers

There are so many more!

Yucky Weather and some Progress

We have been putting up with this heat wave for about a week now!

With mid 90's and high humidity, Autumn cannot arrive too soon for me!

In spite of the weather, we tried to get out for a little bit on Saturday.

We went to Pomptom Lakes, NJ where they were having their annual town-wide yard sale.
Not too much success. I did pick up some cheap frames (of course none of them are the sizes that I currently need)! I also found an interesting antique mirror.

We must have gone to about 50 sales. Most of them were junky, but you never know when you will find something good. By the time we worked our way to the older section where most of the antiques were, the weather had done us in!

The heat was so oppressive that every movement was an effort!

Oh well! Hopefully next weekend will be better.

I did make more progress on 'Tis the Gift.

One of the things I changed was the pollen. (I think that is what the little gold specks are). Instead of individual cross stitches, I am making them French knots. It is slower because of that, but I think it gives it a dimensional effect.

Hopefully I will finish it up in a few days.

Quite a Find!

I meant to post this last week, but never got around to it.

The Saturday before last we went out wandering, looking for yard sales and other good stuff. As it turned out there was nothing really interesting near us, so we widened the circle a bit.

Somehow we wound up in the little village of Lafayette, NJ. There was a little merchants village there.

One of the shops was Village Antiques and Collectibles.

This is what I found there.

It turns out that it was a special edition kit by DMC.

It is hard to tell from the picture (fingerprints and smudges included), but it is a 4" deep cabinet.

The most amazing thing about it is the elaborate chimes! I thought it would just strike the hour, but it also has a different chime for the half hour, and yet a different chime for the quarter hour!

The case has a few scratches that need to be touched up, but other than that it is in excellent condition.

I do not know when it came out, but it was signed in 1963.

Very cool!

BLOGGER PROBLEMS!

Blogger is constantly trying to change my font size and constantly double spacing for me!

This is very annoying and very time consuming trying to fix.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

The Best Thing about July!

Blueberries! Glorious Blueberries!

I do not like hot weather, and am therefore not a summer person!

The one thing I do love about July however is the bounty that my blueberries bushes produce.

I look forward to it all year long!

It is truly one of life's wonderful little pleasures to pick fresh blueberries for your cereal every morning!

The challenge is to get to them before the birds!

This year I think the birds are winning!

I was looking through my stash the other day and found this little design, Bountiful Blueberries by Sweetheart Tree.

It is very small, only 43 X 34 stitches. It came with a tiny heart-shaped charm, but the blue beads were missing, so I ordered them.

Now, I am thinking that I might experiment with French Knots instead of the beads. Not ready to start this project just yet, but I thought it would be an appropriate celebration for blueberry season!

Stitching Progress

I have finished stitching the Christmas Chick!

Now for the hard part, finishing him as an ornament!

I have determined that he needs to be finshed as a rectangle. Originally I wanted to turn him into a circle or an oval but that will not work. His little hat throws the dimensions off too much.

Hopefully I can get that done soon. I like to finish an ornament and then put it away until the holidays so it seems fresh.

My next project, (besides my braided rug) will be 'Tis the Gift from La-D-Da.

It is a small design and should stitch up quickly.

I am stitching it on 32 count Lambswool, using Sampler Threads.

I am a little concerned about the Sable (brown). Most of the color is a nice mellow brown, but at the end it goes to a blackish color. I really don't think this looks too good in the border and in the letters. It is just too much of a change in color.

This is the problem I have with the hand-dyed threads. I think they need to be more subtle in the color changes. I was considering ripping it out, but I guess I will let it go and see how it looks.

I have made a small start.

Crummy Weather!

The weather for the long holiday weekend was absolutely dreary!
I heard some fireworks going off Friday night, so I guess they managed to get some in between the showers. All the daytime activities were cancelled however. There were no yard sales, antique fairs, etc.

It turned into one of those "I don't know. What do you want to do?" weekends that no one enjoys!
I did get quite a lot of stitching done in the evenings however.

I finished up Ocean Voyage on The Red Thread. I think that is the oddest looking seagull I have ever seen!
The count was off by a bit. I know there is a mistake in there somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

The next in the series is County Fair.

With that finished, I wanted to sneak in a Christmas ornament before I started anything else.

Earlier, I fell in love with Valerie Pfeiffer's Christmas Chick when I saw it on Helen's blog.

I have made some good progress on it, but there are quite a few partial stitches and outlining that will take some time. It will be several more evenings until it is finished.

I am stitching it on 27 ct Danish linen, using DMC.

I am not sure yet how I will finish it. I have some red velveteen for the backing, and some velveteen piping for the edge, but I am still trying to decide on the shape.

Illuminated House Blessing is Finished!

I had a lot of trouble with the lower border. I made a counting mistake early on, on the left side. I did finally find it, but correcting it would have meant taking out several rows and undoing the left border, so I decided to work with it.

This strategy was going ok until I reached the lower right-hand corner, when it all caught up to me. I had to improvise, which meant a good bit of frogging until I got it to work!

I signed it, washed, and dried it. Now I just have to find a frame for it.



I was going to start a new project, but the timing isn't right. I have to go back to The Red Thread again. Another little box is due! August is Ocean Voyage. It is a small design and should work up quickly.

Illuminated House Blessing Coming Along

It's been a little hectic around here lately with 2 sick cats, and today, a broken water heater, but I have managed to make some progress.

I can never seem to get a good picture of this one. It seems too flooded with light. The colors are a bit bolder than they appear.

Hopefully I can finish this up soon, although I know the bottom border will take a while! I am not sure how I will finish this one, whether I willl use a mat or not to frame it.

I am already thinking about the next project. There is an autumnal design I would like to do. Somehow I can never manage to time seasonal things right! I do need to make some Christmas ornaments. Perhaps I can sneak a little one in before going on to the next project.

And. . . oh yes! There is always the rug that is calling me to finish it!

Just not enough hours in the day!

Weekend Yard Sales

This time last year we were making several trips to out of state flea markets. With the price of gas so high, we can long longer do this. In spite of this we still manage to put on quite a few miles going to local estate and yard sales.

Until this weekend I haven't really hadn't found any real treasures.

On Saturday, I found this wonderful little crib quilt at a local antique sale.

(Gracie must of course approve anything that comes into the house)!

I love the cranberry reds. The prints are actually all different, but so carefully selected that they match perfectly! It also has indigo prints, black mourning prints, beautiful old browns, and lovely shirting prints! The backing is a white and brown shirting print.

It dates from the 1890's to 1910's. What is really remarkable is that even the binding was made from one of the cranberry prints, and it is intact, in excellent condition! That almost never happens!

I also picked up two other quilts with lots of indigo and mourning cloth prints, but they are definitely "fixer-uppers". The real prize was the crib quilt!

The only bad part of the day was when I fell on a pile of plastic bags that someone left out. Kaboom! I went down hard! Landed on my wrist. Luckily nothing is broken but oh boy does it ache! Oh well, the quilt was worth it!

At another garage sale I found this little Victorian angel pin cushion.

And, at another sale, I picked up an antique tea cosy. There is a different cross stitch design on each side.
I love the little red squirrels!




All in all, not a bad week-end! I am so pleased! Normally all I ever see at these sales are those dreadful bright colored plastic toys that everyone is trying to get rid of!

Back to Illuminated House Blessing ...

I took a quick picture of my progress yesterday. I have made a bit more progress since, but it is a slow go with all the back-stitching!

The verse is:

St Francis and
St Benedicht
Bless This House
from wicked wight.
Keep it from all evil
Spiretes, Fairies, wezles,
Bats, and, Ferrytes.

Oh my! I sure don't want those things about! I have enough trouble with the cats!
I guess I better finish it up soon!

Time for a Picnic!

I finished Picnic, the seventh design in The Red Thread.

I'm not sure that I like the snap on the flower, but I am completing it as designed.

Here is a picture of the whole thing so far.

Next is "Ocean Voyage".

Framing The Chase Sampler

(Click to enlarge)

The Chase is finally framed!

Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

I was beginning to think it would never happen!

I had no luck finding a framing shop, so I decided to take on the job myself!

This is no small job in itself, but it was met with frustration all along the way!

First, I had a lot of trouble finding a frame. After months of searching estate sales and thrift stores, I finally found a plain wooden frame. You wouldn't think this would be hard, but it seems like all the frames being made today are either metal, plastic, or laminated with some kind of plastic. I wanted a simple wooden frame.

Finally I found an 18" X 24" frame at an estate sale. The frame itself was unremarkable, probably from the late 60's or early 70's. It was the closest in size that I could find, but it was still too big for the sampler. With some persuasion, I got my husband to cut it down for me. He was hesitant to do it, but it turned out very well. The older frames, unlike the laminated ones of today, cut very easily. Other than a dark stain, it had no finish on it, so I rubbed it with Danish Finishing oil to give it a nice sheen.

I had already washed the sampler by adding hot water to Orvus soap, making a lot of suds. I let the temperature cool to luke warm, and then squeezed the suds through the sampler. It was dirtier than I thought with 38 years of dust on it! I rinsed it several times and laid it flat to dry. Before it was completely dry, I ironed it between two pieces of cloth to remove most of the wrinkles. The rest of them came out during the stretching.

I decided to use acid-free foam board. It is really not that much more expensive than regular foam board, and truly does make a difference in conservation.

First I cut the board about a eighth of an inch smaller than the frame opening in the back.

I centered the sampler over the board using pins in the corners and on the sides, moving them as necessary until the sampler was centered.

Next, I transferred the pins into the sides of foam, so the sampler could be turned over.

Using cotton thread, I started lacing from the center, working my way out to the edges. I spaced the lacing about 1/4 inch apart. This is fairly tight lacing, and I probably could easily have spaced it about 1/2" apart with good results, but I really didn't want it to move around. The design itself was not stamped evenly on the linen, so I was dealing with unevenness in the design, as well as the linen. I alternated the direction of the lacing so it would not become skewed in one direction.

This was a very long, tedious process. I was constantly re-threading the needle. If I cut the thread too long, it invariably become tangled!

Slowly, I worked my way to the corners. I just folded the material over, easing the bulk as best I could, and whip-stitched them closed.

Finally, I got it all laced and the corners stitched down.

When I turned it over it looked reasonably even.

Next, I cleaned both sides of the glass with warm water.
I laid the frame out on the table and placed the glass it it.

Because the sampler should not touch the glass. I needed to make spacers from the acid-free foam board. This actually turned out to be one of the hardest parts. I experimented with various shapes and finally decided that a right-angle shape worked best. I wedged these little pieces of foam-board into the corners.

Then, I took the opportunity to remove any remaining cat hairs off the sampler! LOL! It is really best if you can have the cats out of the room while you are doing this! Ha! Good luck with that! Those of you who have cats know what I mean! I have 6 of them!

Finally I placed the stretched sampler into the frame and covered it with another piece of acid-free foam board for the backing.

Next, I covered the back of the frame with brown paper to keep the dust out.

After the adhesive dried, I attached the eyes and wire for hanging.

The only thing left to do now is record the information about the sampler on a piece of paper and attach it to the back of the frame.

That's it! Finis!

Illuminated House Blessing -1st Line

I have finished the first line of Illuminated House Blessing.

When I was considering this design originally, I wanted to change the colors a bit (less green and lavender, more vivid shades). The reason I didn't was because the colors are so intricately woven together! It is hard to see from the picture, but the shades make it seem three dimensional.

Even as I am stitching it, I don't know what it will look like until I have finished the section. Then it looks different again when it is back-stitched! Even the blue scrolls at the top of the first line take on a lot of depth with the two shades of blue.

I was wondering what this design would look like in silk, or with the hand-dyed cotton floss. Actually, the colors chosen, create a similar effect.

I will be leaving this for a while. I need to stitch another box on The Red Thread to keep up.

Also, I have made a lot of progress on framing The Chase. I will post the pictures just as soon as I get them out of the camera

Illuminated House Blessing Coming Along

I finished the large initial on Illuminated House Blessing.

The top of the S is some sort of long-neck bird, and the bottom has a little green-faced guy sticking out his tongue!

Hard to see here, but I have used blending filament around the initial. I wish it was a little brighter.

Then, the entire thing was outlined using a back-stitch.

Next I will be moving to the right, finishing up the first line, and some scrolls that are over the first line.

This looks as if it will be a bit less complex, so maybe I can make some quick progress.

Illuminated House Blessing Progress

Here is what I have done so far on Illuminated House Blessing.

Helen is right about this one! It is deceptive! It looks simple but the amount of detail is incredible, with a lot of backstitching.

I started in the center and worked my way up to the top.

In the upper left-hand corner, there is some sort of ferocious little beastie!

... and in the right-hand corner, there are some inter-twined serpents!

I need to finish backstitching the serpent area, and then I guess I will go on to the illuminated initial.

This is not going to be a quick stitch!

Illuminated House Blessing

I have a new start to report!
I have decided on Illuminated House Blessing by Patricia Andrle.
I love her designs. I have several of them waiting to do in my stash!

I made a small start on it.I am using DMC with some Kreinik blending filament on Antique White Permin/Wichelt.

Before I started it I was trying to think of a way to change some of the colors.

There are a lot of pastels, light greens, and lavenders. I would have prefered to see some more vivid colors, blues, and a touch of red. I couldn't work out how to introduce those colors without changing everything, so I left the colors as they were designed.

I have actually gotten a bit further along since I took the picture. I think this will be a slow stitch because there is just a ton of back stitching! Almost every area needs to be back stitched.

Braided Rug Update

Well, the rug is coming along, slowly, but coming! (I get lots of help from Furrytail)!

I really need to have it finished by the fall.

I have just completed the 32nd row. I still haven't figured out exactly how many rows there will be. There is a lot of variation in the wool strips, making it hard to get an accurate measurement until I get a little closer to the end.

It needs to be about 7-1/2 feet by 12 feet, a really odd size. I will need to figure out the total number of rows before too long because I want to end it with a dark border.

I wanted a traditional look, but with contemporary colors. I chose camel for the predominant color which runs all the way through it.

I have the rows grouped together as light, medium and dark. I started out with 2 rows to a group, but have made the change to 3 rows now.

Also, every third row, or at least once within the color group, I add a bright color. I have light blue, red, green, teal, yellow and light green so far. I was very nervous about this at first. It is truly a leap of faith when you are adding these bright colors because it looks somewhat shocking at the time. When the following row is added however, it all seems to blend well.

The rug no longer fits on the dining room table. It hangs over the edges a little. I have placed old tablecloths underneath it to make it easier to slide it around. I don't know how much longer I will be able to do that. At some point the weight of it will pull it off the table as I am working on the other side. Then, I guess I will have to put it on the floor to work on it. I am not looking forward to that!

Furrytail has claimed it as his!

Road Trip - The Red Thread

In spite of the high price of gas, the "Road Trip" has been completed!

I cannot believe I have 6 of these little boxes now! Time is just flying by this year!

I sewed on just a few of the little snaps and buttons on the border to see what they would look like. I'm not sure they improve the design or not.

I like the snaps in the various designs. It is perfect in "Road Trip" to designate a round-about or exit, but I'm not sure about them in the border.

I'd like to get ahead on this one because I would like to use it as a holiday decoration. To do that, it would have to be framed. At the rate I am going, I will finish the last box by December!

The next one is "Picnic".

In the Forest is Finished!

Hop Hop Hop!

I finally finished this one!

In the Forest is a design by La-D-Da. I stitched the rabbits on 35 count R & R Reproductions "Blackbird", using all DMC threads.

The only substitution I made was Ecru for White in the rabbit tails. It just seemed more natural looking than the bright white.

Another one that is going to be difficult to frame! I spent the weekend looking at yard sales for a frame, but no luck.

It is really quite amazing! In spite of collecting frames for the last 25 years, I never seem to be able to find the right frame in my attic!

I have also been working on the 6th box of The Red Thread. Hopefully I will have that done soon.

I am trying to decide my next project, that is besides the elephant in the dining room, my braided rug project!

Happy Birthday Sampler

Lately I have just been overwhelmed by all sorts of annoying distractions and nonsense, so my stitching progress has been slow.

I did however, manage to get a picture of "Happy Birthday" framed.

I actually finished this last year. I did it for my mother-in-law who celebrated her eightieth birthday last July.

The design is by Blackbird Designs. I used Sampler Threads from the Gentle Arts and stitched it on 32 ct hand-dyed linen.

Originally, I did not plan to frame it because my mother-in-law has said many times that she did not have any more wall space to hang anything.

I decided to turn it into a scroll to be presented and untied.

I searched for quite a while until I found a piece of calico that exactly matched the color of the thistles. I finished it with the calico folded over the front to show the color, and made ties that wrapped it in a bow. I only wish I had a picture of that. I thought I had taken one, but I cannot seem to find it.

Anyway, when I gave it to her, she decided she would rather have it in a frame.

Here is a picture of it framed.

I like the way it turned out! I think the frame is just right for it!

Some New Stash!

I picked up some new goodies!



The new edition of the DMC Threads Color Card is out!

I haven't picked one up in a few years, so I figured it was about time. The new one is larger. It includes all the new colors as well as the color variations floss, and the new satin floss (formerly rayon floss). One thing that disappointed me, was that the new card does not include samples of the actual floss like my old card. I was thinking of selling the old card, but now I think I will hold on to it.

My other goodie is "Matter's Choice" from Carriage House Samplings. It is not the best picture here. This one has been on my list for some time. I love the monochromatic designs.


Aside from that, I am making very slow progress in coming to grips with the problem of framing The Chase. What a pain! Ah but that is a subject to be blogged a bit later!

Progress on "In the Forest"

The rabbits are getting bigger!

Here is an update:

I just realized that I forgot the stitch on the girl rabbit's nose! At least, I think she's a girl! I think the one with the cape is a guy and the one with the heart is the girl.

What do you think?

It's coming along slowly. I had to take out parts of it which cost me some time. I am finding that there is quite a bit of eye strain on this one. The linen is very dark, and the thread is very irregular on this fabric. With a thread count this small (35 ct), it really helps if the threads are more uniform. It makes it easier to count.

I would guess that I am a little more than a third finished.

The Maypole is finished on The Red Thread

I finished this last week, but I misplaced my memory card for my camera so I couldn't take any pictures. Boy is that annoying! Those slippery little things can get away from you so easily!

Here is the 5th month, The Maypole. The picture came out a bit dark and out of focus, but here it is!



It is hard to see, but the little white dots from the butterfly are French knots.

Here is a picture of the whole thing so far:

I am still not sure about these colors. I think I would have chosen different ones, but I am going to wait and see how it looks when it is finished.

Working on My Braided Rug Again

I have finally gotten back to where I was on the rug!

Last October, I pulled out four rows, four large rows! I had used a lighterweight wool for one of the strands. Sometimes you can get away with it, but not this time. It was twisting on both sides of the rug. At first I thought it would work itself out, but it bothered me so much I just decided to pull it out. This is a major project in itself in a rug this size. Unlacing it is not the problem. It is the un-braiding that is awful! I replaced the wool strip, rebraided and laced and here I am back, ready to start again!

I have just ended the 28th row here and I am about to make a color change.

Furrytail, my Maine Coon, is supervising.

He says he doesn't care that it is a dining room table. If it has a rug on it, he is going to sit on it!

In The Forest by La-D-Da

Now that I am caught up on The Red Thread, I wanted to start another design. I picked In The Forest by La-D-Da.

I don't know why but this one just tickles me! He reminds me of "Harvey", one of my favorite movies, (and rabbits)!

I am not doing the one on the cover. In my opinion, they put the wrong one on the cover.

The better design is on the back with both rabbits in the same picture.

I think this one is much better with the rabbits together.

This is my progress so far...

He looks like a kangaroo here!

The linen is 35 count Blackbird from R & R Reproductions.

I decided on DMC. I had considered using silk from Hand Dyed Fibers. They have a package put together for this design, but the colors seemed too dark for the dark fabric I am using. Also, I think this type of folky design is better suited to the cotton.

It has been a little hard though. I am using two strands of DMC. The holes are very small in 35 count. I have done a lot of work on 35-36 count linen, but this is the first time I have used the dark color with this fine a count. I have noticed it is a bit fatiguing, and my progress is much slower.

Progress

I have mades some progress on The Red Thread.

I finished up March's "Go Fly a Kite", and April's "smell the Flowers"! Now I am caught up!

I am not entirely pleased with the way the flowers came out. I am using DMC and the purple flower was not purple enough. It came out an orchid color that did not provide enough contrast to the pink flower.

That being said, it is certainly a variation you would find in nature, so I opted to leave it as it was. For some reason this little design gave me some trouble, a lot of re-counting and pulling!

Earth Hour

Last night during Earth Hour, we dutifully turned out our lights hoping it might get the attention of the "powers that be". One hopes they are paying attenion, but who knows.?!?
Maybe they are too busy sipping brandy in their penthouses to look out the window and notice the darkness!

We have an old Jotul #6 woodstove that can be opened up and used as a fireplace. We hardly ever use it that way because it is more efficient to close it up. (It is still quite cold here in NY). Last night however, was a perfect night to open it up!

My husband took this video. It was quite a pleasant way to spend an hour.



The only down side was that I was not able to get any stitching done! I thought about all those stitchers in the olden days, working by the fireside. I guess they had better eyes than I do. Unfortunately I need my magnifying light!

February's Love is Done on The Red Thread

I managed to finish up February last night.

I made a little start on March's "Go Fly a Kite".

Hopefully I will be caught up soon!



Hmmm! Still not entirely sold on these colors. I guess time will tell!

China Killing Thousands of Cats!

I do not wish to bring down everyone's Happy Easter, but I have been so very disturbed since I heard about this a few days ago, that I have to speak out!

Apparently, in preparation for the Olympics, the Chinese govenment has ordered the round-up of thousand of cats.

Working under the misguided premise that these cats bring disease, they have been sending them to death camps, even convincing owners to turn in their own pets!

The Chinese govenment does not have a very good record with human rights, let alone animal rights, but this is horrible even by Chinese standards!

www.alleycats.org has a petition on their website to oppose the trapping and killing of Beijing's cats. Please sign it so we can bring awareness to this atrocity.

For those of you who have blogs, it would be great if you could put a link to their website.
http://www.alleycats.org/china/index.html

The Red Thread from Bent Creek

The Red Thread
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.
-An Ancient Chinese Belief-

Bent Creek, known for its little designs that can be put together in a theme, has come up with a design based on the Red Thread.

There is a little design for each month that can also be stitched separately for an ornament, and there is a separate chart for the border. The idea is that the red thread flows through the whole design, tying each one to the other.

It will look like this when it is completed.



Generally, I do not like to stitch "cutsie" things, nor do I like charts that are spread out over a year, but this one caught my eye.

I am stitching it on 32 count Light Mocha. I decided to use DMC instead of the hand dyed threads. I think the DMC looks just fine, and I have the all the colors on hand, which is a plus.

After working on The Chase Sampler for five months, I needed a little change of pace, something lighter!

This is what I have done so far.



As soon as I get caught up with the third month, I will probably start on another little design. I haven't quite decided which one I will do just yet.

Hooray! "The Chase" Sampler is Finished!

Last night I finally finished the verse on "The Chase"!

My first 2008 finish!

I am not entirely happy with the lettering on the verse but there are only so many times you can pull it out without damaging the linen.

I did the entire verse in backstitch. Toward the end, I started having second thoughts about the backstitch. I thought that maybe I should have tried it in a cross stitch, but I think I made the right decision. The little spacers were done in a cross stitch.

There are issues with stamped linen. I stitched in the original verse, however this was not the intent of the kit maker. It was meant to be left blank, or to have you stitch in your own name. The design is stamped on the linen, generally with the grain, however the count is very dense. I noticed that the two stamped lines for the verse were not exactly straight. This made it difficult to square up the letters.

Also, I am not entirely certain of the numeral on Mary's birthday. My best guess is that it is January 9, but it is hard to be completely certain.

I signed it by the urn.




All that is left to do now is to gently wash it, mount it, and frame it.

I will have to go to the framers for the frame because of the unusual size. It is about 17" x 25".

I have been collecting frames for years, and yet somehow I never find the right one in my attic!

Here is the finished sampler. Not the greatest picture. I will take another one when it is framed.

The "Chase" Sampler - The Original!

I finally found a photo of the original"Chase" Sampler.

Click on photo to enlarge.

I think the Paragon kit is remarkably like the original!

I enlarged, and lightened the signature and verse section to try to see the spelling of the name.

The name appears on the first and third line. The first line is very faded and hard to see in this photo. On the third line, I can make out "Mary Starker" (near the center). It looks to me that it ends with an "r", which would agree with the Paragon kit.

That is how I am going to stitch it!

Issues with "The Chase"

Up to now, I had been trying to fit the information, verse and biographical information on the two lines.

I found out that it was divided up into three lines. The area above the two stitched lines is to be used as a line.

Well, this meant ripping out part of the line I had already stitched.

While doing the research, I encountered another problem.

The biographical information given on the kit clearly lists the girl's name as "Mary Starker". When I tried to research this, I also found references to "Mary Starkey".

Which one is it?

Joanne Harvey of The Examplarery released a new reproduction of this sampler in December of 2006. In that version she shows the name as "Mary Starkey".

I have tried unsuccessfully to find information or a picture of the original.

I would really like to be as accurate as I possibly can, however I would also really like to finish it!

I am wondering if perhap the stitching on the original was hard to read. Could the "r" have looked like a "y"?

If anyone has any information about this, please let me know.

Free DMC Cross Stitch Starter Kits!

I was surfing about on a freebie (www.shop4freebies.com) website when I came upon this offer.

DMC will send you 4 mini kits when you sign up to be a DMC Mentor! http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/19060000mb/en_US/index.html

The DMC Cross-Stitch Mentoring Program is designed to share your love and passion for cross-stitch with a friend, family member, scout troop, class or anyone you think would enjoy cross stitching as much as you do.
Worth a look!

Also, I found a really neat site for naming a star after a loved one, pet, parent, teacher, etc. The best thing about it,it that it is completely FREE to register the star! www.FreeNameaStar.com
For a very reasonable fee, you can get a fancier certificate for presentation.
This is a great idea for a gift, or just a pat-on-the-back for someone!

Hooray! "The Chase" Backround Finally Finished!

Last night I finally finished the background!

This step took longer than anything else. The long outline stitch can be very tedious. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have worked the background a little at a time. I thought of doing this but I was afraid the discontinuity would show up in the stitches. Now I don't think this would have been a problem. There is enough variation in the stitches done in one sitting anyway.

Of course, by the time you get to the end, you have mastered the sitch. I found that in many cases it was easier to turn the work sideways and work on it that way rather than working it vertically.

Next I have to do the signature line and the verse.


I have used some straight pins to measure out the eight, quarter and halfway points along the line to try to get an idea of the spacing.

It will have to be done in a straight stitch. There is no room for a cross stitch.

There are no guidelines given for this at all. I will have to play around with it a bit. It will be a tight fit to get everything on the lines.

I need to do a little more research on the Colonial alphabets.

I was thinking of doing the verse and the signature line in a medium pink. I think pink would have appealed to an eleven year old girl.

Do You Feel Lucky?

Win "Where There is Life"

The design is by Little House Needleworks, Crescent Colour, and distributed by Elegant Stitch.

This is a complete kit, including the chart from LHN, full skeins of CC and Zweigart 28 count flax linen, all pictured. You can find more about this kit here.

TO ENTER, all you have to do is stop by, http://stitchpink.blogspot.com/2008/02/win-where-there-is-life.html and leave a comment!

This is a great way to bring attention to such a good cause!

Good luck!

Moving right along on "The Chase"

Well, I have finally finished all the flora and fauna at the bottom of the sampler. There was a ton of detail on the animals. Then they all had to be outlined, so it took some time.

The berries were interesting to work. The berry itself was worked in a darning stitch. First I made several long vertical stitches. Then the thread was actually woven under and over the long stitches to create the effect. Then the berries were outlined with the outline stitch.

Now I am working on filling in the landscape. It is all done in a long outline stitch.

This part surprised me. I thought it would go faster (no going back and forth to the pattern). The long outline stitch is a little tricky on this fabric. If it were done on 28 or 32 count, even 36 or 40 count linen, the holes would be easier to find. This is the older kind of Belgian linen that is very dense. It is often necessary to puncture the fabric to get the needle through.

We are all used to working horizontally, but the long-outline stitch is worked vertically.

You have to be careful, especially in the long runs along the border, to keep the lines relatively straight. There is a tendency for them to "lean".

This part is going very slowly, but atleast I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Next, I will have to figure out how to proceed with the verse and the signature.

By now, I am just itching to finish this!

I still haven't decided what my next project will be.

I do have to work on my braided rug again, so I am looking for something light to work on in-between.

Hooray!

I have finally gotten a copy of Village-by-the-Sea"!

YEA!!!

I have been after this one for ages!

Many thanks to Sue, a wonderful seller on ebay!

Sue has the inventory of a closed needlework shop. She sells under the ebay name of stitchnut. She has both current and vintage designs, kits, fabric, fiber and books!

You never know what she will be listing next! On top of that she offers great service with reasonable shipping rates!

If you are looking for a particular item you should check her listing. She may just have what you are looking for! http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZstitchnut

Here are some more goodies I got from Sue!

Newbury, Newburyport, "The Chase" Sampler Variations

I have wanted to do this sampler for a very long time, so before I decided which one I wanted, I did as much research as I could.

I was never able to find a picture of the actual sampler. Although it was stitched in New England, the original is in the Williamsburg collection.

The one I picked was the Paragon kit version ("The Chase"), that appeared in America Home Magazine in 1970. At first it almost seemed like cheating because the design is stamped on the linen. I had become used to doing counted cross stitch, but I came to appreciate the detail that went into reproducing it.

Another kit was the Elsa Williams version. I didn't choose this one because it was all cross stitch, and I wanted the sampler to have the stitches that were in the original. The different stitches give it a wonderful 3-dimensional effect.

Another pattern is "The Newburyport Sampler", from the Samplar Workes 1995. (See picture below). This one also has many of the fancier stitches.

I had it next to my desk and kept staring at it. There was something about it that bothered me, but I couldn't figure out what it was!

Then it hit me! The sampler is too perfect! It was made for modern eyes. It is perfectly symetrical on both sides with the pictural design falling neatly between the borders.

It is a beautiful sampler, and lovely to look at, but it does not look to me as if it were done by an 11 year-old, no matter how good she was!

Then I did more research and found pictures of actual samplers from Newbury(port) around that time. They most ressembled the Paragon kit. I am not a historian, but I do enjoy working on a piece that is closer to the original. To me the Paragon sampler looks like it "grew" as the design grew. The borders seem to expand because the pictural design didn't quite fit between the borders, and had to be adjusted!

I find that kind of imperfection comforting!

Progress on "The Chase"

A bit more progress to report, but it is still very slow-going.

I finished the borders on both sides, and I have finally finished the urn! That urn took forever! Each section is done with a satin stitched and then outlined. Some of the areas are quite tight to work in.

The next step was to do the antlers on the deer which was all done in outline stitch. A lot of ins and outs!

Then, on to body of the deer, with a French knot for the eye. Right now I am working on the largest part of the body which calls for a "long outline" stitch. I was having a hard time to get this to look neat, and wound up taking it out several times. I still don't seem to have the rhythm of it down!

By the time you get to the end of a section, you have really mastered the stitch and you wish you had done it better in the first part! I guess that's how the school girls who first worked on samplers, must have felt also!

Originally I wasn't going to put in any verse. There isn't any place marked for this. It is just mentioned on the front of the kit. I spent a lot of time trying to find a picture of the original online without any success. I did however find a later sampler circa 1815, also from Newburyport. It was very similar to this one. It appears that the verse was originally just above where the two blank lines appear. I think in this design, the area where the verse went was filled in with some lines of designs (green squiggle type lines).

According to the description, the original verse was "Goodness and Mercy Ever follow [t]hose who shape there [sic] Conduct by Gods Holy Laws".

I did some playing around with the lettering. It would be really tough to fit this in just the two lines provided. It will definitely not fit in cross stitch. It would have to be done in a straight stitch I think. This will take a bit of experimenting as there are no guidelines given.

Great, just when I was looking forward to finishing this one up, now it will take even longer! I think it might be time well spent if it works though, otherwise, I will just take it out and leave it blank. I think if I didn't try, it would bother me every time I passed it in the hallway!

Look what the mailman brought!

The Elsa Williams Crewel Mirror Kit!




Yet another addition to my stash!

I will have to live to be very old to make a serious dent in that pile, but I couldn't resist this one!
I love these old kits! I can remember seeing them in magazines years ago.

I don't know when I will get to this one though. There are quite a few projects ahead of it!

Progress on "The Chase"

Just a bit of progress to report on "The Chase".

I finished the tree and moved on to the second floral spray.

I have so far finished the bird and three of the flowers, as well as part of the stem.

This part is very slow-going because of all the outlining.

I did enjoy doing the French knots in the center of the flower. I used to hate them because I had so much trouble with them, but now they seem very easy to do.

Foiled Again!

I have been trying to get ahold of the cross stitch pattern Village by the Sea for what seems like ages now!

I was hoping it would be my next project. Ebay can either be a blessing or a curse! This is the third time I have been outbid on this pattern. It does not come up very often, and it stings to lose out on it!

I even placed a $8 phone call to the Columbus Museum of Art. I spoke to the manager of the Gift Shop. He said that there was a Stuck exhibition several years ago, but he had no recollection of these patterns and did not think they were sold by the museum. Strange!?!

I was planning to stitch it with Needlepoint Silks (navy) on sand colored linen. I am looking for something traditional that I could hang in my dining room.

There were parts of the design that I was thinking of changing. Maybe I should just go ahead and design my own pattern!

Oh course that would probably take forever!

If anyone knows where I might get this pattern, please let me know.

The Chase Sampler

The sampler I am currently working is "The Chase Sampler".

It was an older sampler, packaged by Paragon. I thought it might be relaxing while I was also working on my rug, to work on a pattern that had been stamped onto the linen.

This pattern is based on one that is at Williamsburg, but was originally from New England.

I completely underestimated how complex this pattern was!

The first section was mostly cross stitch and went along smoothly enough. The second section however was all the fancy stitches which I have really enjoyed, but it has taken much longer than I thought it would!

I had hoped to finish it in 2007, but no way that was going to happen!

I have made good, steady progress on it though. I have finished the first urn and floral scene. That urn took forever. It was all done in a satin stitch and outlined in the outline stitch.

The next bit was the foliage, leaves and fruit on the tree. That took quite a while. Again this was all satin stitch, outlined with the outline stitch. Outlining the leaves in a contrasting color really gives the leaves a dimensional look.

Now, I am working on the trunk of the tree. The stitch used is a long outline stitch, to produce the textured look of bark. Then, the trunk will be outlined. This is pretty slow-going.

Originally the sampler had a very pious inscription on the two lines. So far I have left them blank. I haven't found anything suitable to put in. I think it looks alright blank. I was planning to sign my initials next to one of the urns.

It is just about now in a project when I start to get antsy to finish it! I am forcing myself to finish all projects before I start the next (well atleast the stitching part. All bets are off when it comes to framing, etc.). It doesn't stop me from trying to decide what my next project will be though!

2007 Christmas Ornament

Normally I make at least one Christmas ornament every year, if not more than one. This year was so busy I only had time to make one.

I chose The 2000 Snowman Ornament "Rejoice" from Homespun Elegance.

I used 32 count Wichelt Twilight Blue for the linen. I didn't sew on the little snowflake charm because somehow it looked out of place. I'm not really big on charms anyway.

I was not really pleased with the finishing however. I finished it with the jute trim, according to the instructions, but I just don't care for the way it looks. One of these days when I have time, I will redo it.

My Braided Rug

Before I got involved with painting my living room and dining room late last fall, my main project was my braided rug. I have always liked braided rugs, but never thought the shape of my living room was right for one. It is very long and narrow, about 11' by 18. With various entry ways placed in inconvenient places, it is not an easy space to position a rug.

After looking endlessly online and through catalogs, I decided that if I wanted one to fit the room, I would have to make one! Also, I really disliked the fact that it was practically impossible to find a rug made of natural fibers at a reasonable price. I had been collecting wool for years, and some time ago I had even made an effort to make a rectangular braided rug, by just lacing the strips randomly together. I was never quite sure why, but it just never looked right. I decided it lacked definition. It needed a predominant color to pull it together, but also, I decided that there was something inherent about the oval shape that made it very agreeable.

The beginnings of a new rug soon started taking shape on my dining room table!

It didn't take me long before I realized that this is going to be a very, very long project! One of the hardest things was to figure out how much I needed for each row. It is no big deal in the beginning because the rows are all short, but I can see that towards the end of the rugs the last few rows are going to be a challenge to get enough in each color.

It is also very physical. I found that it hurt my wrist quite a bit in the beginning. I had to keep stopping. Also, it seem the only way I can do a good job on the braiding is to do it standing up, so it does get tiring.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the very beginnings of the rug, but here are a few that I took in October. The colors are a bit washed out in them. It is a little bit brighter than these pictures would have you believe. Furrytail (my Maine Coon), and Ollie (Orange tabby) take turns supervising the work! It is really getting too big to work on the 2 tables I have put together.

When these pictures were taken, it measured about 88 inches long, by 42 inches wide. Something went wrong in the beginning. There is supposed to be a difference of 48 inches from the length and the width., and actually I would have preferred about 50". I have not gotten it up to 46".

The colors are totally different from the picture in my head. I am sort of making it up as I go along. I will have to start planning a bit more closely as I get nearer to the end though. It is becoming difficult just getting enough wool for one round. Quite the challenge!

I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I might finish it by the holidays! HA HA! Maybe the holidays NEXT year!!!

Well after I took the pictures, I had had a major setback for my rug. I was using a thinner piece of wool because I needed the color. I had my doubts about it, but kept going anyway. It was so thin that it was folding over in the braid. I was able to control it somewhat on the side I was working on, but when I looked on the other side I knew I had to take it out. The other side was wrinkled, folded in almost every fold. Since the rug is supposed to be reversible, I didn't think it would look very nice! I wound up undoing 3 rows! 3 BIG rows! Could have done without that! I decided to stop working on it while I concentrated on the painting.

This is going to be quite a challenge to grow it to be 13' x 8'!

New Year! New Beginnings!

Well I am about to foray into the brave new world of blogging! I have been meaning to for a while as a way to keep myself motivated to finish all my projects.

I also hope to hone my photography skills by hopefully submitting photos with every posting.

I usually have atleast one, if not more projects going on at the same time. It has turned out, by no desire of my own, that fixing up my old house has become a life-long work-in-progress. This takes up a lot of time, but I do manage occasionally to fit in some more "fun" projects!