Bits of My Own

TUSAL and Progress on ATS

2012-01-23T13:20:00.007-05:00

Hi everybody!

We had a nice snowy weekend. The 6+ inches kept us inside for the most part.

Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend.

Here is my TUSAL. I am off to a good start for 2012.

As you can see, mostly green from all that grass found here
I am slowly creeping along. I have finished all the animals, but I still have some plants and a large three left to stitch, and of course lots and lots of grass!

Thank you for all of your encouraging comments! I love reading them. I have received some comments and email that I was not able to return because it was not enabled. Please know that I appreciate the time you took to email me. I only wish I could acknowledge you personally.

I will keep plugging away at it! My goal is to finish it in January. I hope I can make it!

Still here in the grass with And They Sinned

2012-01-20T11:01:00.004-05:00

I take an occasional dip into the pond, but mostly my time has been spent in the grass!

I have a few more critters here to keep me company. There are still more animals and plants to stitch.
It is crawling along slowly.

I am sooooo ready for this one to be done!

btw ...I missed my blogiversary. It was last saturday. I find it so hard to believe that it has been 4 years since I started this blog! That's a lot of stitching!

Last post of 2011

2011-12-30T19:22:00.011-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I got some wonderful goodies!

My husband got me this bamboo floss chest from DMC!

The chest is surprisingly heavy, and just a bit hard to move, so I have it still sitting in the plastic until I can find a good place for it. Of course it is already jam-packed with my floss and many duplicates! I also got Country Life from the Scarlet Letter. This definitely goes on my 'to do" list!

Meanwhile of course, I am still stuck in the middle of the green sea!

Doesn't seem like I have made much progress from the last post. This green stripey fill-in just takes forever!

Here is the whole thing: When I finish filling in the last bit around the tree, I will be able to start the last page, and more green sea of course!

Considering that I have been working on ATS since July, I could have had a couple more 2011 finishes, but this will be a big one for 2012 when it is done.

This year went very quickly!

Here are my 2011 finishes :

I think my favorite was This is the Day from Hands to Work.

I don't typically make many resolutions, but here are a few:

to frame more of my finishes (I didn't get one thing framed this year)!

to finish my ornaments

to knit a sweater - (I haven't knitted anything in decades)!

to find a picture or icon of some sort to replace that ridiculous google "head" as my profile

and of course "to get into shape" LOL Yeah right!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T15:46:00.013-05:00

This year, Christmas is a little low key for us. A lot has happened this year, and frankly it has left us just exhausted.
We did however cut down our tree, Usually we go upstate, but this year, we went to Vernon, NJ to get it. Our small living room has very low ceilings, so sometimes it is a challenge to find the right shape tree. I like the tall skinny "Charlie Brown" trees, and Keith prefers a fuller tree. We wandered around until we finally found one.

Keith cut it down.
It is Christmas Eve, and there is still plenty of this to do:
More trips to the attic are needed. We still needs more ornaments on the tree. Here is how it looks so far:
The cats have the right idea! They don't let things stress them out.

Furrytail

Ollie

Merry Christmas everyone!

Some stitching and the LAST TUSAL of 2011!

2011-12-24T14:30:00.011-05:00

Very hard to believe that the last new moon of 2011 has arrived!

Here is my jar:

I will wait until late winter and then sprinkle it about outside on the bushes. I hope the birds will use it in their nests.

A lot of it is filled with threads from this:
Just impossible to get a good shot of this!

I am stuck in this sea of green right now. IT IS TAKING FOREVER!!! I do not like this stripey bit in the grass at all! I like the other parts where the green looks more natural. I thought about taking it out, but I didn't want to do all that frogging. Not sure how I like the way this looks though.

Here is a close-up:

I have one more finish, to show you. I stitched First Snow, a freebie from The Drawn Thread. I love this design, but I am a little disappointed that the snow did not show up so well on the fabric I chose. It is on a pale blue. I may stitch this again on a raw linen or a gray color for more contrast.
I do not know how I am going to finish this one just yet.

TUSAL and Some Ornaments

2011-11-26T11:41:00.014-05:00

Meant to post yesterday, but a Dell update software for my printer managed to crash my computer. My husband recovered it, but only after hours and hours of effort. I think the end may be near for this computer! (If you have a Dell AIO 962 printer, watch out for that update. It's a killer)!

Here is my November TUSAL along with the Thanksgiving gang.

Soon it will be time to replace my fall tablecloth with a more seasonal one, but I just refuse to decorate for Christmas before Dec 1st! I try to hold on to fall as long as I can!

I have been working on some ornaments from an oldie but goodie, Prairie Schooler (#10 Prairie Christmas) from 1985. I stitched the cat as designed:

Then I stitched it again to commemorate Max ,who we lost this year.
I always forget just how long it takes to finish these ornaments. I only finished one of them so far. Finishing is not my forte to be sure, but I think this one turned out ok!

We miss you Max!

These are terrible pictures today! Sorry about that. I don't seem to be able to take a good picture to save my life! They really look better in person than they do here.

My Thanksgiving Friends

2011-11-17T10:39:00.008-05:00

It occurred to me that I really don't have many Thanksgiving decorations. I usually rely upon natural decorations, pine cones, acorns, etc. I have always wanted to stitch something appropriate, but I was never able to get the timing right.

I decided to take a break from And They Sinned, to work on these little guys.

Thanksgiving Friends is a design by Need'l Love from 1989. The Pilgrim Dolls were first published in 1989 and they were so popular that it was reprinted with the Indians and turkey in 1991.

The pattern called for 7 count Klostern. I only had a small piece of this which wasn't big enough. I got the idea to use a piece of burlap, which I had on hand. Admittedly, burlap is not the easiest fabric to work, but I got used to it as I went along. I like the rustic look of it for these designs.

The finishing was a bit fiddly. Their size was different than the base size given, so I had to play with it a bit. Not my forte, but by trial and error, I got it to work. I sewed solid fabrics to the backs and the stands.

Here's how they turned out:

Furrytail had to check them out of course!

By the way, I wanted to give a shout out to Sharon at It's Daffycat . She will be hosting the 2012 TUSAL. Hop on over to check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

October TUSAL and an Update

2011-10-26T12:48:00.008-04:00

My favorite month of the year is all too quickly coming to an end.

Here is my TUSAL for October. Doesn't look too impressive, probably due to muted colors and single strand threads .

I have continued working on And They Sinned. I have been in a bit of a funk about everything. I wasn't sure I wanted to continue on this, but it actually seemed easier to keep going, rather than work on something new.

I ran out of GAST Cherry Bark, so I couldn't finish the fence. I have ordered it, and hopefully will receive it in a day or two. I think maroon is an odd color for a fence, but that is what the design calls for.

This is where I left off.

It is slowly creeping along. Here is the whole thing.
Not the best picture to be sure! These long ones are tough to photograph!

I want to thank everyone for your encouragement and suggestions. There is still no progress on the medical bill front. The insurance company has paid less than 10% of the bills. We are appealing this claim, but I do not have high hopes. They seem to do exactly what they please. I don't know what we will do.

Medically, I guess I am making some progress because I am to start physical therapy next week. I am not looking forward to adding more expense to this situation, but I guess it represents some measure of progress.

The bees did very well all summer, and then suddenly one of the hives died in September. A couple of the others seem weak. Normally we have our largest honey harvest in the fall, but this year. we only got about 20 bottles. Keith wanted to leave the rest of the honey for the bees, to help them get through the winter. We now have only 4 hives. He is going to order 2 more in the spring. I hate to disappoint people who come looking for honey. We have regular customers now who have come to depend upon us. Unfortunately there are only 7 bottles left. (Sorry guys)!

Happy Halloween everyone!

A Troubling Time

2011-09-27T10:40:00.006-04:00

The bills have started coming in from my back surgery as I knew they would. I was certainly not prepared for what I got however! I decided to have the surgery when things got so bad that I could no longer drive (due to working the clutch), or walk more than a short distance without assistance of some kind. We were told that the neurosurgeon was "out of network", but there were no neurosurgeons that had surgical privileges in my area. All the referrals that I got from my insurance company did not pan out. The one they gave me for my county turned out to be in his eighties and was no longer practicing surgery. The pain was getting worse fast, so at the urging of my husband, I decided to go ahead with it.

Had I known the cost however, I think I would have tried to get by with a cane, crutches, whatever. We have been presented with crushing six figure bills! This is truly life changing. My husband and I are within a few years of retiring, and have no idea how we can recover from this.

With a keystroke these insurance companies can change your life forever. We were told that we might have been better off if we had no insurance. We are people who have always paid our bills, but this! I have no idea what we will do. We are truly reeling from all of this! Has anyone out there had any experience with this sort of thing? Could use some advice.

During all this I have been plodding along with And they Sinned. Normally I find stitching to help with the stresses of daily life, but somehow this piece seems to be all wrapped up with the bad feelings of everything that is going on. I think it is worse because it is so huge. I am struggling to stick with it because I am afraid that if I leave it, I won't go back to it. I also worry that if I finish it, I will remember all this trouble everytime I look at it.

Has anyone else ever had this happen with a stitching piece? Did you finish it?

I finished up the tree, and a very weird tree it is! There are three different kinds of fruit growing on it, as well as acorns dropping out of it for the squirrel! I finished the peacocks. I like them! Now I am working on the alphabet. I am hoping I make quick progress here, so I will be encouraged to finish it.

This is what I have so far:

Today is the new moon, so time for the TUSAL. Here is my ever-growing little jar.
I hope all of you out there have nothing but good thoughts to associate with your stitching!

It is wonderful to have the power on again!

2011-08-29T12:03:00.013-04:00

I'm BACK! from surgery, earthquake, hurricane, tornados, floods, etc!

August is my least favorite month! And that is during a regular year!

This August has been the worst I can ever remember!

First of all, I had to have back surgery on August 9th. The initial recovery was pretty gruesome, but I am doing better now. I am finally getting back to doing some stitching again. At first it was just too uncomfortable to sit in one place.

We were fairly lucky during the hurricane. We did lose power, and get water in our cellar, but no other major damage. It is hard to look at all the mess, and not be able to clean it up (I still am unable to bend)! We certainly fared much better than much of our hamlet. Parts had to be evacuated, and now they are inundated with water. This includes our post office. The streets are all still closed. I have no idea when we will get mail again! Travel was of course impossible with bridges and the NYS thruway closed. Thankfully outside of our hamlet things are getting back to normal.

That said, I actually have a little finish to show.

I finished the little Mill Hill ornament Diamond Holiday, from the Christmas Jewels series.

I finished the back very simply with some purple felt.
Normally I'm not much for beading, and I don't really like to stitch on the perforated paper, but this little ornament just appealed to me.

I think if I did it again though, I would substitute some 28ct linen for the paper, perhaps some blue or lavender would be nice.

I made a little progress on "And they sinned".
Please forgive the wrinkles. It is just too hard to hobble off to use my ironing board!

This is a very slow stitch! I have been in that blasted tree forever! I am working on the spotted snake that is crawling through it right now.

Lastly is my TUSAL. Here is, showing lots of color!
I hope all of you made out ok in the hurricane, and are recovering from that or whatever other crisis you are facing.

It's always something. Isn't it?

Another TUSAL and a finish!

2011-07-30T15:58:00.009-04:00

Two new moons in one month took me by surprise!
I have been stitching, and here is my TUSAL jar to prove it.

I did finish the Shelburne Sampler. Actually, it has been finished for some time. I gave it a quick tea bath, but it didn't seem to do too much for it. Seems a bit more yellow, not particularly the look I was going for, but here's how it came out.

My new start is "And They Sinned". I have had my eye on this one for a while.

I am stitching it on 40 count lambswool with the suggested GAST threads.

This is what I have so far:
Actually, I am finding stitching on this to be a bit boring. There are many large areas of fill, which can be tough on 40 count. I will keeps going on it though. Maybe I will like it a little more as it takes shape.

July TUSAL and close to a finish

2011-07-02T11:13:00.009-04:00

June came and went so very quickly

Here is my TUSAL, still full of flower thread from The Shelburne Sampler.

This sampler has taken way longer than I ever believed it would, but now, the end is finally in sight. I have to finish one little tree, stitch 4 crowns, finish the border, and do the initials.

Wow! Maybe the end isn't all that close after all!

Some projects just seem to take longer than others.

Here is where it stands now:

Sorry about the wrinkles!

Hope everyone has a great time this weekend. It won't be such a fun one for us. We will be travelling to go to a memorial service. Not looking forward to the holiday traffic, but what can you do?

Will post just as soon as I finish this one. Soon I hope!

June New Moon TUSAL

2011-06-01T11:10:00.011-04:00

Here is my June contribution to the TUSAL:

It is filling up nicely with a rainbow of colors!

I would like to thank all of you for your kind comments. I was not able to connect with some of you (no link), but please know how much I appreciate them!

I have been determined to work on whittling down my stash. The project I am working on now, is the Shelburne Sampler. I have had this kit in my stash for ages. It is stitched on what I think is 27 count linen, and, interestingly enough, Danish flower thread!

The picture included is very small, and not very good:

Nothing is known about the piece except that it was done in 1745, and was signed with the initials AWP.

The original hang in the Hat and Fragrance Unit of the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont.

Here is a black and white picture of the original:

The colors in this sampler are very limited, and in some cases a bit odd. There is a stag at the top, but it does not show up very well.. The antlers are stitched in white and don't show up against the linen. I can only guess that this is an attempt to reproduce the fading on the original.

It seems very light and bright. I may give it a tea bath when I am finished to age it a bit.

This is what I have so far:

Until next time, wishing you all nimble fingers!

A couple of finishes to show

2011-05-30T16:06:00.007-04:00

May has been a very difficult month!

Just two days after losing Max, we had to bring Furrytail (our Maine coon) down to NJ to have surgery for a gigantic (non cancerous) cyst (or collection of cysts) that had attached to his liver.

Fortunately everything went well, and he is back home with us! In fact, I have never seen a cat recover from surgery so quickly! He had a huge incision, from top to bottom! You would never know it to look at him now though!

Of course all of this was quite unexpected and quite expensive!

Now, it seems to be my turn to have health issues, mostly with my back. I am hoping to be able to avoid having surgery.

Good thing I had my stitching!

Margaret Ledden has actually been finished for a while now. I just haven't had a chance to post the photo.

Here she is:

I love the trees! They seem strangely art deco-ish to me.

Then, I turned my attention to an older kit that I had in my stash. This was a kit for a pin cushion doll. The kit included a half-doll, but when I looked at it, I was disappointed that it was rather modern-looking. I was really going for an antique look. So, off to ebay I went. I found the perfect little half doll. I love the coloring in the cheeks. The only problem was that it was considerably smaller than the one included in the kit. I scaled it down by stitching it on 32ct instead of the 25ct that was included, but it still came out a bit big.

The verse says

Pins and Needles
Needles and Pins
My Sewing Friends

It was an easy stitch, but gathering the fabric was quite a chore!

I also decided to make a little strawberry emery that was not included in the pattern. Luckily it turned out ok. I was fortunate to find a bit of wool left over from my rug that exactly matched the green floss.
I decided to give it to my mother-in-law for Mother's day.

TUSAL

2011-05-03T19:13:00.004-04:00

Thank God for stitching! If not for that I might not have any mind left!

It has been a great de-stressor for me.

I do have a finish as well as some other projects I have been working on, but I will have to post them later.

For now, here is my May TUSAL.

I would like to thank all of you who offered your kind comments about Max. I really do appreciate it!

Max

2011-05-02T13:22:00.005-04:00

We lost our little Max this weekend.

About 14 years ago a scrawny, young male cat with a gorgeous black coat, wandered into our yard.

My first reaction was to ignore him, thinking he would soon return to his home. Max however had no intention of leaving. We had an old shed at that time, and he hid from the cold November weather by curling up on an old rug that we had stored in there. During the day he came out and sat at our back door. He had no intention of leaving. Eventually we let him in, much to the protest of our other cats. At night we put him in the cellar for the sake of peace and quiet. Max got to know this routine very well, and one night he hid just before bedtime. He was not going into the cellar! With the same remarkable determination, he made his way over to the place of honor on the couch. Max was here to stay!

Though he was ill for sometime, he never complained. We gladly took care of him.
I have lost many cats over my lifetime, and each time I think my heart could never break like this again, not until the next time.

Animals teach us how to live and how to die. I am a better person for having known Max, but there is a hole in my heart that will never heal.

Here is a picture of Max in better days:

Max

1996 - 2011

TUSAL and Corrections to Margaret Ledden

2011-04-03T13:00:00.012-04:00

Wow! It's already April's new moon! This year is just zooming by!

Here is my TUSAL jar:

Now, if you compared this picture to last month's, you might think that I have really been making great progress. Unfortunately, that large yellow layer comes from frogging Margaret Ledden, and replacing the yellow with gray.

At first I really hated the gray compared to the yellow, but I am slowly getting used to it, though it is quite a bit drabber.

It certainly gives it an entirely different look.

I still have a ways to go before I catch up to where I left off. I have to do one more dividing band (between the H and the Q), and fill in the borders.

Hopefully this will go quickly so I can feel like I am accomplishing something again!

A Real Rookie Mistake!!

2011-03-31T10:50:00.007-04:00

I really thought I was making good progress, but in the back of my mind, I think something was bugging me! It turns out that the symbols for yellow and gray are soooo very similar! Yes. You guessed it! Everywhere I have stitched in yellow should have been gray! The letters, the dividing bands, and worst of all, the vines running along the borders! It turns out that the only place yellow is used in on the house!

I usually go a bit more by the picture, but in this case, the picture that is included, is so tiny it is practically useless!

If it were not a historic sampler I might be tempted to leave it the way it is, but I know that it would just bug me!

It isn't the re-stitching that I mind so much, but oooh that frogging!

UGH! UGH! UGH!

I just hate it when I do dumb things!

Happy St. Pats Everybody!

2011-03-17T11:26:00.009-04:00

and what better day to show this finish?

Nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein translates to "No hearth like your own hearth", or "Home Sweet Home".

Stitched from a freebie found at http://www.gryphonsmoon.com/.

I stitched it on 32ct Natural Irish linen with 4 skeins of DMC 935 (dark green). Hope to find a frame for it soon.

What I wanted to stitch next was Ann Grant because I love all the pinks in it! I just couldn't justify spending the $25 though when I have quite a few projects waiting for me in my stash. So, I picked The Margaret Ledden Sampler. This is one that I have had for ages! From The Scarlet Letter in 1986, I don't even think it is still in print.

This is what I have so far:

Do you ever have times when you are just too tired or wiped out to stitch, but still want to work on something?

When I am just too brain dead to work on anything complicated, I pull out one of my easy peasy little ones. I picked this one up at an estate sale.

Now, I do not have any children, so this might seem like a strange choice, but there is something very endearing about these old pieces. I think many of them deserve a second look. I have also found that they look very nice framed with a colorful mat, something I don't usually do with the traditional samplers.

Here's what I've got so far:

It is very, very weird stitching with 6 strands of floss!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March TUSAL

2011-03-04T14:07:00.008-05:00

Looks like Christmas!

I have all that red from Celebrate your Heart, and the green is from my current project Nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein.

Sorry for all the wrinkles!

The letters on this one are easy enough, but oh boy, you have to be careful with those interlocking knots!

Hopefully, this will be finished soon. I am thinking about my next project. I have a few ideas, but nothing is screaming at me just yet.

The days are starting to look much nicer, more daylight, but it is still mighty cold out there! We still have a lot of snow and ice that has not melted.

The bees have shown a few signs of life. They have done some hive cleaning (when they remove the dead bees), but they are still not active yet. There is suddenly a renewed interest in our honey, (probably because it is easier for people to navigate our driveway now LOL)! We have about two dozen bears left from the fall harvest now, but they will be gone soon. Just as soon as the weather is warm enough for the honey to flow, we will start harvesting the spring honey.

Celebrate your Heart is finished!

2011-02-23T14:10:00.007-05:00

YAY! ! !

Not without some problems though!

I kept running into a mistake I made early on. I kept thinking I had corrected for it. but nooooo! I kept running into it.
The heart shape is much like a circle and can be a nightmare if the ends don't meet!

It seems slightly askew to me, but I am very glad that it is done! I added my very teeny, tiny initials just under the Christmas tree, near the date.

I hope to get it framed shortly.

I didn't really know what to do for my next project.

I decided to stitch "Nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein". This is Gaelic and translates to"There's no hearth like your own hearth", or "Home Sweet Home".

This is a freebie that I found on http://gryphonsmoon.com/freebies/cross-stitch1.pdf .

I had trouble deciding on the color thread for this. I finally decided to use a traditional green on natural Irish linen. I was tempted to use a color that was lighter than the fabric, and I am still second guessing myself on this, but this is what I have so far:
I enjoy stitching these letters. Years ago I did calligraphy, and I always enjoyed writing in the Uncial hand.

After the 1 over 1 on 40 count, this looks absolutely HUGE to me! I had to keep checking that it was indeed 32 count, and it is! If I did it again, I might do it on 36 ct though.

It is still very much winter here. Our latest storm on Monday, dumped another 6 inches or so on us. Our furnace is not working very well so we have to use our woodstove to supplement the heat. Somehow or other I managed to hurt my back. It is just killing me. I can't seem to get comfortable in any position! Carrying wood in does not help either! To make matters worse, today I managed to burn my hand. Nothing serious, just annoying! I am hoping it does not leave a scar.

Ah Winter! Can spring be far behind?

Hope not!

Finally some progress on Celebrate your Heart!

2011-02-18T14:51:00.003-05:00

I got bogged down on the three tulips on the left side of the heart. Some of the letters and motifs are spaced only one thread apart, so it is critical to be accurate. It wasn't until I finished all three flowers, that I realized that I was off. Frogging on this piece is bloody murder! The linen gets very distorted, and unfortunately that area is not as crisp as I would like

Since I got it straightened out, things have been moving along better, although I have to be very careful, and take it much more slowly than I usually stitch.

This is where I am:

The photo came out a little dark. The red is more of a cherry red than a wine.

I am working on the cherub (just left of the girl) now. After that I will finish her dress. I am not looking forward to the dress. That is where I first went wrong. The smaller motifs are much easier to stitch. The larger areas are harder on the eyes.

Thanks for all of your comments! I really appreciate them!

Margaret: Yes, I am doing a full cross stitch. Probably need my head examined! The directions said that it could be stitched with a half cross, but that it was designed for a full cross stitch.

Dani: Yes I do have the frame, which is the only reason I stitched it 1 over 1, because the frame is tiny. Personally I think the design would be better 1 over 2, either framed, or made into a little pillow.

Obviously, I did not finish this for Valentine's Day, but I am hoping to put it behind me as soon as possible. I am looking forward to giving my eyes a rest!

Celebrate your Heart!

2011-02-05T12:01:00.006-05:00

My next project is Celebrate Your Heart (Splendor XII) from The Heart's Content.

I am stitching this as designed (one stitch over one thread on 40ct linen), but I am thinking that I should have my head examined for doing this!
I ruined the first piece of linen when I tried to frog an entire row. You can remove perhaps one stitch from this, but an entire row is out of the question. I broke through one of the threads, so I had to cut another piece and start again.

After a very rocky start, it is finally coming along now. It is not what I would call enjoyable stitching however! I think it would have looked perfectly nice over 2 threads!

This is what I have so far:

There is an area on her dress that looks very muddy. There is supposed to be a skipped space, but it is very hard to see the detail. I think there is a mistake in there, but there is no way I am going to take it out again!

What I should have done is practiced before I started this! It really is quite different stitching. I can only do a little bit at a time. My eyes just refuse to focus after a while, even with reading glasses and a magnifier!
I have had this in my stash for ages. I figured that my eyes would never be any better than they are now, so I may as well try it.

Hopefully, I will have it done by Valentine's Day!

Feb. TUSAL (Totaly Useless Stitch A Long)

2011-02-03T10:15:00.005-05:00

Today is the new moon, so I am popping in with my TUSAL report!

Here we go:

Furry is overseeing, making sure everything is on the up and up!

This is the Day - 1st Finish of 2011

2011-02-02T12:39:00.010-05:00

Yay! Finally a finish! I thought it would happen in January, but it just wasn't to be. I was stuck filling in that box with the numbers forever!

I decided to order another skein of Conch after all, so now the bottom box matches the top.

Unfortunately this is a terrible picture, but here it is:

It looks a bit more gold in person than it does here. The picture is out of focus. I couldn't straighten it out no matter what I did!
I haven't found a frame yet. I may actually have to buy one for this one.

We are being crushed by all this snow and ice. I am worried about my porch roof. It is flat, and at the moment it is supporting a lot of weight with all this snow!

I didn't shovel yesterday, so now all the snow that fell yesterday is encrusted with a thick layer of ice. UGH! My muscles hurt already!

We always try to feed the birds in this sort of weather. Here is a picture that was taken last weekend before the recent snow. Just look at what showed up at the feeder!

You can't tell so much from the photo, but this thing is HUGE! I actually saw the shadow of his flapping wings, before I saw him. He was not interested in the birdseed. He was interested in the things eating the birdseed! When we went out later, we found the blood. He ate someone!

This is the Day is coming along.

2011-01-25T10:48:00.006-05:00

I am liking the colors a lot more now. The fabric looks more goldish in person than it does in the picture. Here, it looks more tan than gold.

I was stuck for the better part of a week in the box with the alphabet. I didn't like the tannish color, but now it looks a lot better against the richness of the other colors.

I managed to finish the background, but there will not be enough of Conch to finish the piece. I think I will use the DMC alternative rather than re-ordering. If anyone decides to do this design, plan on ordering (2) Conch.

I am working in the lower left. I have just finished the base of the beehive.

The vines on the side are the most time consuming, with the little viney offshoots that I always have to count, no matter how many I do!

It is still snowing here. I think it will be June before we see the ground again! Has been so cold, none of it has melted. Our heating system isn't working very well. Thank God, we have a woodstove to back it up. Hope our wood lasts. We have burned through quite a bit of the wood so far. My task for today is to try to find another source of firewood, (not an easy task this time of the year)!

Enjoy your day!

This is the Day Update and a Winner!

2011-01-15T08:50:00.007-05:00

I have made some progress on This is the Day.
Unfortunately the day before yesterday I noticed that I made a mistake very early on in the alphabet. It is off by 1 stitch. I know, not a big deal, but I must admit that it bugs me, when I was being so careful! Now the little box will be too close to the border. Anyway, I have come way to far to take it all out. I had to make an adjustment in the vine in the top left-hand corner. I was holding my breath, but I think it worked out. This is what I have so far:

I didn't think the sheep showed up against the linen well enough, so I outlined them with a slightly darker shade.

As you can see, I still have a lot to do. The background in the letters takes a long time (partially done pinkish area). Hopefully I will not find any more mistakes. Undoing or working around mistakes is always so time consuming!

On another note, I have a winner of my little blogiversary drawing! The winner is Carolyn who incidentally has a drawing of her own going on, so hop on over and check it out!

Congratulations Carolyn!

A Little Blogiversary Giveaway!

2011-01-08T11:28:00.007-05:00

My 3 year blogiversary will be on January 14th. In years past, I have completely missed this auspicious occasion! I thought it might be nice this year to mark the occasion.

We had another snowstorm yesterday. The snow looks so lovely, peaceful and serene outside my window. It reminded me of this pattern I have in my stash.

The pattern is Stitcher's Retreat by Jan Rannochio.

Please don't get too excited because the drawing is just for the pattern. I just read that apparently it came with 2 buttons to sew on between the words. I never had these. I bought the pattern by itself. As I said, no bid deal giveaway. It just reminded me of the scene outside my window.

I like what it says on the back:

A Stitcher's Retreat

"We stitchers often dream of a faraway place, filled with peace, tranquility and endless time to pursue our craft.

Although we may not be able to physically accomplish this dream, may our joy and love of needlework magically carry us to this "Stitcher's Retreat"."

If you think you would like this pattern, just leave me a comment on this post. Don't forget to leave a way to get in touch if you don't have a blog. If you have a blog, please feel free to post the giveaway. I will have the drawing on January 14th.

New Year! New Start! and my TUSAL

2011-01-04T12:39:00.008-05:00

My new start is This is the Day, by Tracy Riffle, from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

I love the deep, rich colors!

I am stitching it on 40 ct Zweigart in Sand, using the suggested overdyed cotton floss.

This is what I have so far:

Also I have my first installment of the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long (TUSAL), hosted by It's Daffycat.

Not much to show, however in my defense, I am stitching on 40ct, so it is only 1 strand over 2 stitches.

I have been reading with great interest about the Crazy January Challenge. I am amazed how many people are organized enough to do this!

This is definitely not for me! A few years ago, I resolved to finish what I start. This policy has held me in good stead! For the most part I have stuck to this with a few notable exceptions (large quilts and the Loara Standish sampler, which require a lot of concentration). I hear the UFOs nagging at me, and it just bugs me too much! In fact, I don't even decide what I am going to do next until I am very close to finishing the one I am working on. Then it is just whatever appeals to me at the moment. This keeps it fun and fresh for me.

I really admire people who are successful at this! Also it makes for great blog reading! I love to see all your pictures!

YAY! My last finish of 2010!!

2010-12-31T12:38:00.014-05:00

I finished 'Tis the Season yesterday, right under the wire for 2010.

I am really glad to have this done. It really took much longer than I thought it would!

I bound it with red. It pulls it together a bit more than just turning it under.

I think I will enjoy it more next year!

We are finally moving about easier now. Some of the snow will actually melt this weekend. This is how we looked after the blizzard:

I'm afraid I was not very prolific with my stitching this year. Not a very good showing at all!

Sorry for the terrible picture. In order of completion they were: Love is Enough, Blueberries, The Mary Clark Sampler, Wintertide, and 'Tis the Season.

Seems like most of my stitching time was spent working on Country Garden, and who knows when that will be finished!

The one I enjoyed the most was The Mary Clark Sampler.

Well, time for the ceremonial emptying of the stitching bits!

Here is my last TUSAL picture of the year.

Yes, definitely, most of my stitching (the pink) was on Country Garden.

What do you do with your bits?

I take mine outside and scatter them in my bushes for the birds. I always hope to see them in their spring nests. One year I did see a piece of red wool that I scattered after making my rug. I thought that was cool!

I will be back to post my new TUSAL picture on Jan. 4th. I have already decided on my next project, and hopefully there will be something to see, not just an empty jar!

I have so enjoyed reading your blogs, and all of your comments over the past year! They have meant so much to me!

To all of you:

A very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Hoping for one more finish in 2010!

2010-12-24T15:48:00.007-05:00

I am hoping to finish quilting 'Tis the Season by the end of the year. If I get really lucky, I may just finish it.

I have completed all the stitching and most of the quilting. All that is left is to quilt all 4 borders. and to bind it. I decided to put a red binding on it rather than just turning it back as the directions suggest.

In case you were wondering what the lump was:

Furry loves to crawl under things to sleep. By the time I found the camera, he had crawled under it, and was quite annoyed when I tried to re-position it!

I have tried to explain to him that there are many people who would take exception to a large Maine Coon cat sleeping on the dining room table, but like all cats, he has a mind of his own!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful Christmas!

Wintertide is finished but . . .

2010-12-21T17:09:00.007-05:00

I am not at all pleased with it!

I am not sure what went wrong, but there is a fatal error in there somewhere! I even frogged it, started over again, and I still got it wrong!

It somehow came out smaller than it should have. The threads are all very fat in a very small area. The holes do not show up at all. You have to look very closely to see that there are holes at all! It should be much crisper looking. Ughfh!

I think I may try this again next year maybe, but I will use different threads. I was not pleased with the Kreinik Serica.

Grrr! Frustrating!

It is supposed to look like this:

Not my best work to be sure! Oh well!

I am slowly getting ready for Christmas, although I am waaaaay behind! This year seemed to be much more hassled than last year!

Last week we went up to a tree farm in Ulster County to cut down our tree. I really love that part of Christmas! Also, the tree is always so fresh that I feel guilty putting it out by the road at the end of the holidays because the needles haven't even started falling yet!

I will walk by row after row of perfectly manicured trees to find my perfect oddly shaped, scraggly tree!

I love Charlie Brown trees!

Here is a picture of Keith cutting down our tree.

He always makes it look so easy!

Well, I am getting further and further behind as I sit here (still haven't finished trimming the tree)!

I am very disappointed with my ornaments this year. Next year will be better!

Slow progress

2010-12-07T10:59:00.008-05:00

I am still working on Wintertide here. I have stitched more complicated things than this, so it should not be a problem, but for some reason, I seemed to have trouble with this one. I found the silk Serica to be a little difficult to work with and wound up doing some frogging. Of course I ran out of the white and had to re-order. Kreinik products are not always easy to find. It took several days to get it, but I finally finished the blanket stitching around the outside.

This is what I have so far:

(click to enlarge)

I still have to finish all the flowers, do the leaves and vines, create the boxes, and do the cutting.

I have neglected to post a picture of my TUSAL! I know the end of the year is near when my jar starts to push out the top! Here it is:

Seems like most of it is pink from Country Garden.

Speaking of TUSAL, if you would like to join this little group, see Sharon's (It's Daffycat) blog http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2010/12/totally-useless-stitch-long.html.

Should be fun!

I know! It's been ages!

2010-11-24T10:26:00.011-05:00

Every time I thought about blogging, something seemed to get in the way.

I was hoping to post some more pictures of Loara Standish, but I have put that one aside for now. I really think there had to be something wrong with that girl! Anyone who would stitch like that must have had a twisted mind! I made a mistake, (or I thought I did, - then turned out, I really didn't make a mistake after I frogged everything), and took 2 full evenings frogging. The stitching pattern is very odd to make it reversible, so the frogging becomes really impossible because you cannot tell where the stitch is coming from. (Those of you who have tried reversible stitching will know what I am talking about). Anyway, I found the whole thing sooooo annoying, that I decided to put it aside for a while.

I have been making progress on my Country Garden quilt, but I do not have any pictures yet.

I had a busy summer and fall. This was our second year keeping bees, and we finally got some honey!

I made a sign. (Keith cut it out and I painted it and did the lettering).

People are getting to know that we are here, and we have been selling several bottles a week. We have put a lot into it, money and time. Keith figured out that if we sold the honey for what it cost us, we would have to charge about $67 a bottle! LOL! We are selling the bears for $6 each. Gradually as we sell them, that cost goes down. If we have a good year next year, we will break even.

No one gets rich selling honey! It does give you a good feeling though. It has been a very positive experience, and people do seem to appreciate it. We have one customer who has been here 4 times, and says we have the best honey she has ever tasted! That makes you feel good!

One thing I tried was the honor system which I am happy to say has worked very well. We have a little table that we put out when we are not there.

I spent last weekend bottling up the honey from the 4th hive, the last harvest of the season.
This is what I got. My little army of bears!The bees need what is left so they can make it through the winter. We will not be harvesting again until next spring.

Now, back to stitching . . .

For my holiday stitching, I decided on Patricia Andrle's Wintertide.

This is a handanger ornament. It is a freebie, and is available here.

I am stitching it as designed on 28 ct white linen, using silk threads, although I think this one could be done very nicely with Perle cotton as well.

I have just started it, but you can see the Kloster blocks here done with the silk serica.

Well that's it for now. I promise it will not be so long til next time!

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Does anyone know of a Irish reproduction sampler?

2010-06-23T15:35:00.005-04:00

My ancestors all hail from Ireland, and I thought it would be fun to stitch an historical Irish sampler.
I have been looking, but so far with no luck. All I seem to find are shamrocks, leprechauns, and the like.
The Scarlet Letter has some from Scotland, but I have not seen one from Ireland.
If anyone knows of one, I would really appreciate it if you would drop me a line.

A Finish and a VERY Nervous New Start!

2010-06-10T12:04:00.019-04:00

I finished up The Mary Clark Sampler last week, but have only now gotten around to posting the picture.

I stitched it on 40 count linen using silk threads.

This was a fun sampler to stitch, and I am pleased with the way it turned out. I am looking forward to finding the right frame for it.

The May edition of my Totally useless stitch-along shows the colors from the Mary Clark Sampler, as well as a bit more pink from my Country Garden quilt.

Now, for the new start.

I have finally decided to bite the bullet. This has been in my stash for years, but has intimidated me every time I look at it!

This is one big, scary box!

Yup, the beast itself!

I have finally decided to take on The Loara Standish Sampler!

Just a bit of history:

This is a reproduction of America's oldest known sampler (circa 1640). It has been preserved in Pilgrim Hall, America's oldest museum since 1844. Loara was the daughter of Capt. Myles Standish and his wife Barbara , of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. The stitches are all very intricate, and the whole thing is reversible! The original was stitched on a fine linen (50 threads by 66 threads, and measures 7-1/4 X 23-1/2", using silk floss.

The kit came with 35 count hand-dyed linen and silk floss. There are instructions for stitching a non-reversible version, but I have chosen to make it reversible.

I decided that the only way I was going to get through this, was to treat it just like any other sampler, modifying it as I see fit.

I am changing the linen to 40 count, but perhaps the biggest change I am making is with the silk thread. The instructions call for using 2 strands of silk thread over 3 threads. I tried this and did not like the effect. Some of the stitches require the thread to pass through a single hole, many times. It comes out very thick and chunky. I decided to use 1 strand over 3 threads. I am hoping that increasing the linen to 40ct will make up for the density. This is not entirely without issues however, because some of the colors were intended to be blended together using two colors on the needle. The shades are very close however. I will have to make the decision which color to use when I come to it.

There was a huge amount of prep work for this piece. I dyed the linen in a mixture of tea and coffee, rinsed, dried and ironed it. This closed the holes even more.

It took an hour to read through the huge instruction packet, and I am still not sure I have gotten it straight! Then I had to make a stitching line down the left side of the linen, stitching over every three threads, to mark where the bands begin.

Finally I was ready to start. The first band was to be stitched in the famous Standish stitch.

This is not as easy as it looks! Your brain gets very used to stitching over 2 threads, and it is very hard to get used to stitching over 3! The 40ct makes it even tougher. Also,you have to constantly check the back to make sure it truly is reversible. It requires that one stitch be done twice in the same spot, and this is very easy to overlook. There were 67 of these stitches in Band 1.

This is how it came out:

(click to see detail)

Phew! This is going to be a tough one!

Mary Clark Update

2010-05-26T13:35:00.004-04:00

Just a quick blog update on Mary Clark. Here she is so far:

This has been a fun stitch with all the flora and fauna in glorious colors! Love the navy blue deer!

I should finish it up in the next few days. It has taken a little longer than I thought. There have been a few nights that I was just to tired to stitch on 40 count linen.
Things have been very busy here with the house and of course the bees, but that is another posting!
Soon!

Bountiful Blueberries is finished!

2010-05-10T11:50:00.007-04:00

This was indeed a quick stitch. It measures about 2" X 2-5/8" on 32ct. It was completed in less than 3 evenings. I needed a quick little one after all of my big projects!

I outlined the blueberries, sewed on all the beads and the charm, and Voila!

Click to enlarge

Now of course, I have to find a frame for it.

Lately I have been spending my time working on my family tree. I put in a good deal of work back in the 80's, but I have found a little bit more with the help of the internet. I still need some major breaks though to trace my ancestors across the ocean.

I have a Mary Clark in my family, and I thought it would be fun to do the Mary Clark Sampler. Of course my relative is no relation to the Mary Clark who originally stitched this, but I really like the sampler anyway, so it seemed destined to be my next project.

I am stitching it on 40ct linen that I coffee-stained. I decided to use silk thread on this one.

This is what I have so far:

Hope my eyes hold out on that 40ct! It's slow going!

Finally a finish!

2010-05-07T15:59:00.014-04:00

Tuesday evening I finished Love is Enough. This one seemed to take forever.

Although I liked the way it turned out, I didn't really enjoy working on this one. It was a very finicky, fidgety piece, with a lot of teeny tiny back stitching with constant change in direction.

Rather tough on the old eyeballs!

Now I have to find the right frame for it.

After this, I decided to work on a quick little one. I have had Bountiful Blueberries from Sweetheart Tree, in my stash for ages. This one is only 43 X 34 stitches, and works up very quickly.

The first evening I finished up most of the cross stitching. Then last night I finished up the rest of the cross stitching and did all the back stitching for the tendrils. By the way, I think the designer has probably never seen blueberries growing in nature. There are no tendrils or vine. They grow on a bush! That said, I like the design.

This is what I have so far:

Tonight I will do the outlining on the berries, and attach the beads and the little charm in the center.

I totally missed the March edition of the Totally Useless Stitch Along. Here is the March-April edition. Atleast there are a few more colors in there. Before it was totally pink from my quilt.

The Bee Drop

2010-04-09T09:44:00.003-04:00

Early this morning (about 2 AM), Keith met the bee truck at the Palisades mall.

It was pouring rain!

Everyone was tired and just wanted to get their bees and go home.

Unfortunately Keith didn't get a chance to meet any of the bee people, so we still don't know who these people are!

Later, about 9 AM, when it stopped raining, Keith transferred the bees into the waiting hives. This is the worst part! The bees are dumped out into the box, but the remaining bees have to be removed by banging on the bottom of the box. Needless to say, this does not please the bees!

Luckily, I think Keith only got one sting! The part I hated was that they clung to his shirt, and he brought several of them into the house!

Yikes!

All in all, it went pretty well, and it seems like they are starting to calm down now. We will have to wait and see how they take to the new hives.

Today is my birthday . . .

2010-03-27T13:18:00.008-04:00

and oh, what a large and terrible number it is!!!

Ugh! Do not know how I got here! I couldn't possibly be this old!

Ok, don't think about it! Just don't think about it! Just keep going!

That's it! Denial, denial, denial!

Not much going on around here today. It is very, very cold here today, and windy too. Looks nice out, but way to cold to be out for any length of time.

I have gone back to working on Love is Enough. It is a difficult stitch, and frustrating with back stitching at odd angles, and color changes every 2 or 3 stitches. It is quite a slow-go. I will be glad when it is finally finished.

Here is a picture of what I have so far:

The colors in the photo came out a little off. The blues and the greens are ok, but the pinks came out too coral looking. What is hard to see, is that there are actually three shades of green, three shades of blue, and three shades of pink. The pink colors are too subtle,
and unless you look really closely, it looks like one color. That is a bit of a disappointment.

Oh well that's all I have for today.

Guess I have to go back to face my grim reality!

A Bit about the Bees . . .

2010-03-23T13:31:00.006-04:00

Good news!

The two remaining hives survived the winter!

Last week, the weather was unusually warm so Keith opened the hives up to take a peek. He has been fretting about these bees all winter!

Both hives are very healthy, and very active!

Keith took a video of the bees returning with some pollen, but after trying for 2 days to get it to load onto my blog, I have given up!

As is tradition to name the hives, Keith named his after his mom Martha, and her two sisters, Connie and Ethel.

Unfortunately Ethel died off very suddenly last fall.

Martha was the hive that was attacked by the neighborhood kids last summer. Keith really babied this one, constantly feeding it, and fussing with it. I guess it paid off because she is thriving now!

Last year due to the rotten weather we had, we didn't get any honey. I am looking forward to getting that first jar this year!

To replace the lost hive, Keith ordered 2 new sets of bees. Now here is the weird part -
He has made arrangements to pick up the bees at the Palisades Mall, which is very close by our house. The guy is driving a truck up from Georgia. On his way to Connecticut, he is stopping at the mall. There have been many people who wanted to get these bees, but he has announced that he is sold out for the mall run!

Who are these people?

I don't know anyone else who has bees! Apparently there are quite a few of them around here! Very strange! They are all going to rendez-vous at the mall about midnight or so on April 9th!
Should be interesting!

Country Garden part 3 is completed!

2010-03-23T11:09:00.004-04:00

I meant to post this last week when I finished it, but here it is:

I know. It looks just like the last panel!

This is the outer panel on the left side, so now I have the center panel and the left side of the quilt finished. Of course I still have to stitch them together and stitch the motifs where they are joined.
3 panels finished, 2 to go!

I was very anxious to finish up this last panel because I have decided to take a little break from Country Garden, It has gotten pretty monotonous, and I need a change.

It has been bothering me that I left Love is Enough unfinished, so I think I will try to finish that one up. The reason I left it, is that it is pretty difficult and takes a lot of concentration.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the kitties! Willie is recovering nicely from his operation, although we are still having problems adjusting his insulin dose.

Max has been holding his own, and has not had another attack, seizure? whatever, but he is still not gaining any weight. The vet wants to see a little weight gain when he goes back next week. He remains very weak. I don't know why, but no one seems to be able to diagnose what is wrong with him. This all started over 6 years ago, although clearly he has gotten much worse lately.

I will post again with a picture of Love is Enough shortly.

Happy Spring everyone!

Febuary was not a good month!

2010-03-01T18:18:00.006-05:00

It is bad enough to have one sick pet, but two is just unbelievable!

First our 15 year old Willie became blocked. those of you who have male cats may be aware of this condition. Some cats are just prone to it. To complicate matters, Willie is also diabetic. Anyway, he became blocked so we took him to our local animal emergency hospital. They inserted a catheter and successfully unblocked him.

We took him home only to have him reblock about 12 hours later!

Back to the hospital! This time they kept him for several days.

Our regular vet was not available and we were receiving varying updates from several doctors.

The last night he was there the doctor seemed optimistic that he was doing ok. The next morning another doctor called saying that they had to remove the catheter and they weren't sure if he would unblock or not. She felt that he needed to have surgery (PERINEAL URETHROSTOMY "pu" - basically, the penis is removed and a new urinary opening is made - your basic sex change operation - poor Willie!). Unfortunately their surgeon was on vacation and she didn't have any othe on call. She asked me what I wanted to do.

I found it unbelievable that an animal hospital would not have a surgeon on standby. That is afterall, why I brought him there because of their facilities.

Well, to complicate things further, this was also the day of the giant blizzard! I had to go get him and transport him with the catheter inserted, to an animal hospital in New Jersey!

Thank God for 4-wheel drive! We could hardly see the road in front of us on the Thruway!

They took Willie in right away and did the surgery. He was back home the next day.

He is still recovering, but he is coming along well.

Well, while this was happening, my cat Max, had some sort of attack. He lost the use of his hind legs. I saw him favoring one of his back legs. The next thing I knew he fell head over heels all the way down a flight of stairs. He could not get up on his own.

Back to the hospital!

After blood tests and x-rays, they still don't know what is wrong with him. Yes, he has the very beginnings of what is probably kidney disease, but they say his numbers are not very bad, and that had nothing to do with it.

We now have to take him back to see a specialist for more tests. He has made a little improvement. He is now able to get around a little better, but he is still weak.

We are just reeling from the astronomical costs associated with all of this, and we are not through yet!

My nerves are shot!

Anyway, I don't have a lot of stitching to show here. I am still working on the 3rd of the 5 panels of the Country Garden quilt.

My only picture is the Febuary edition of my Totally Useless Stitch-along (TUSAL). Still only 2 shades of pink in there. I am longing to see some other colors! This is one of these projects that seems to take forever!

What a Bust!

2010-02-06T09:33:00.002-05:00

Not even a single flurry!

After all the hype, media coverage, storm of the century, etc.

Nothing! Nada!

Of course, everyone canceled all their plans! Oh well!
Atleaast we don't have to shovel out today.

I do like snow!

Some progress on Country Garden

2010-02-05T11:50:00.003-05:00

I finished one of the side panels on Country Garden. There is a center panel, and then each side has 2 side panels. This is the smaller of the two on the left side.
This is really hard to photograph! It doesn't look like much here, but this is a really long piece.
Oh well! Two down. Three more to go! Ugh! Then of course it has to be made into a quilt, and quilted! That is another lifetime!

I am looking for a little project to take a break from this, but so far I haven't put anything together.

There is a big storm coming that will affect most of the east coast. Weirdly enough, it seems that we are too far north to be affected by it too much though. That's a switch! We may get about an inch or so, but that's it.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

A Very Cold Day in January!

2010-01-30T16:40:00.012-05:00

Brrrr!

It was only 8 degrees here this morning, and it hasn't really warmed up much since!

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of January! It has been a very fast month.

I have gotten quite a bit of stitching done on Country Garden, though the project is so large that it doesn't seem like I have accomplished very much.

I managed to finish the center panel.

(click to enlarge)

It is really hard to photograph it with any detail. This is the biggest panel, but unfortunately there are 5 panels altogether in this King-sized quilt. At times it does get very monotonous working on this. I have started on one of the side panels, and I am a little over half way done.

I would like to work on another project, but I have never been much good at establishing a rotation. I may have to re-visit that, because this one is going to take a very long time!

Also, I have joined the Totally Useless SAL!

Here is January's contribution:

I would love to add some other colors to this jar!

Besides this, I have been spending my time painting my house. I am finally just about finished with my bedroom. That has taken over a month.

Before I go, I just wanted to show you one of my estate sale finds. For years I have been looking for a Slipper chair for my bedroom. I got this for $25!

It is covered with a very ugly green paisley vinyl or plastic fabric, really yucky, but the chair itself is in perfect condition. Actually I am not sure if this is a slipper chair. I am not sure if slipper chairs have to be armless or not. I do like it though. I love the heart-shaped back on it. I figure it is from the 50s. Eventually I will re-cover it, but for the time-being it will have to remain ugly!

Santa was good to me !

2009-12-31T16:06:00.007-05:00

Look what I got!

DMC floss in every solid color they make! I think there are something like 454 different colors!

WOW! If that doesn't inspire you to stitch, nothing will! This is just like getting the Crayola box with all 64 colors when you were a kid! (Does anyone remember that)?

and. . .

DMC linen threads.

I will have to look for a special design to use these! I like the way the linen looks on natural things like trees, grass, etc.

and . . .

My red tea kettle!

I specifically asked for this one. I love how cheerful it looks on the stove!

Quite a haul!

Thanks all of you for all your kind words on my ornaments. I still haven't gotten them finished, but hopefully soon!

Ruchi, I think it is wonderful that you are teaching your daughter to stitch! That is such a nice thing to pass down to the next generation. She is young, and even if she does not continue with it now, she will probably come back to it someday when she is older. She will always remember that you taught her. I learned from my grandmother when I was about her age. I will never forget it. It is one of my most cherished memories.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

Hope it's a good one for all of us!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T12:47:00.013-05:00

Just wanted to show you this year's ornaments. I never manage to stitch all the ornaments in my head, but atleast I got a few done. Unfortunately I have not finished them yet. If I have a few minutes of peace tonight, I may be able to finish a couple anyway.

As a cat lover, I couldn't resist the Britty Christmas Kitty. I made up 2 of these. One was stitched one over one thread. The other was one over two threads.

I was thinking of using the small one as a Christmas present tie-on. It is only about 1-1/2 inches square.

I am a little torn about this though. I cringe at the thought of someone just tossing it out with the Christmas clutter, After all, not everyone appreciates the time and effort spent on these little thingies!

I got this pattern from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 10th Anniversary Collection,

Boy did I have a hard time getting ahold of this one! The people who have it, don't want to let it go, and when you can manage to find it, it is very expensive!

The reason I wanted this book though was for my favorite, Holiday Sled from Ursula Michaels Designs. I love this one! Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to finish it this year. I have in mind a special backing for it that I cannot seem to find right now! I have been re-organizing my attic, and it is somewhere up there in all the clutter.

Last but not least is the cutie Christmas Cat in the Window, from The City Stitcher. I got this from Just Cross Stitch 1989 issue.

I stitched this one one over one, so it is really tiny.

Hopefully I can finish up atleast some of these.

On another note, I have had some questions about the bees.

Unfortunately one of the hives is completely dead, and we suspect that a second one is dead also. The first one has no sign of bees, and no activity. The second one had a small number of bees, but we suspect that they were robber bees from another hive trying to rob the honey.

After all the rain over the summer, the vandalism and the early cold weather, it looks like we went into the winter with one viable hive. Keith did his best to feed them sugar water all fall, and we did not harvest the honey this year, leaving it for them to get through the winter. Hopefully they will come through the winter. Nothing is certain at this point. I guess it depends on the severity of the winter and the hardiness of the bees. We are hoping for the best.

I want to wish you all the very best of the holidays. Hope you experience a maximum of warmth and good cheer, and a minimum of stress and conflict!

Back from Oblivion!!!

2009-12-23T09:57:00.010-05:00

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!

2009-07-24T13:58:00.012-04:00

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 . . .

2009-07-01T09:19:00.007-04:00

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!

2009-06-26T14:46:00.008-04:00

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!

2009-06-11T11:49:00.007-04:00

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

2009-06-09T11:28:00.006-04:00

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

2009-05-08T16:42:00.005-04:00

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!

2009-04-27T11:35:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-04-21T10:28:00.015-04:00

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!

2009-04-13T16:38:00.009-04:00

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

2009-04-13T15:16:00.005-04:00

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!

2009-04-03T09:14:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-27T10:55:00.009-04:00

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

2009-03-19T15:36:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-03-17T13:01:00.008-04:00

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!!

2009-03-16T16:07:00.009-04:00

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!

2009-03-06T11:18:00.004-05:00

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 . . .

2009-02-25T14:43:00.005-05:00

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 . . .,

2009-02-11T11:49:00.009-05:00

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!!!

2009-02-05T19:33:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-04T10:19:00.012-05:00

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!

2009-01-14T15:38:00.010-05:00

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!

2008-12-31T14:24:00.015-05:00

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!

2008-12-31T11:39:00.006-05:00

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!

2008-11-28T14:49:00.006-05:00

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!

2008-11-23T16:01:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-18T12:32:00.007-05:00

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!

2008-11-06T12:58:00.011-05:00

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!

2008-11-05T12:29:00.008-05:00

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!

2008-10-20T13:30:00.006-04:00

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!

2008-10-15T14:14:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-07T10:20:00.006-04:00

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

2008-10-01T15:12:00.009-04:00

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!

2008-09-22T14:04:00.014-04:00

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

2008-09-11T08:29:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-09-02T10:02:00.011-04:00

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

2008-08-28T10:08:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-20T10:42:00.004-04:00

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. . . .

2008-08-18T13:46:00.008-04:00

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!

2008-08-17T14:38:00.007-04:00

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

2008-08-17T10:42:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-14T11:27:00.006-04:00

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!

2008-08-12T17:53:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-12T16:30:00.015-04:00

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!

2008-08-10T10:36:00.007-04:00

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!

2008-08-06T14:19:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-08-05T12:32:00.005-04:00

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!

2008-07-31T09:35:00.005-04:00

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!

2008-07-29T16:50:00.005-04:00

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

2008-07-25T19:26:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-07-24T15:23:00.006-04:00

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.