OMG! What a Time We have Had!

Our long standing pine and spruce trees have been no match for the strong March winds!

We had a huge spruce tree come down at the beginning of March! This tree was about 40 feet tall! Annoyingly, I had the tree cutters here just days earlier. I told them to trim anything that might fall near the house.

The tree in question really wasn't what anyone would have considered "near the house", but down it came!

I will never get over the tremendous jolt to the house! All things considered, we were lucky that this was a "glancing blow"! Still and all, it managed to take out a good portion of our deck, make a sizable hole in the roof, and destroy the back storm door, as well as several window screens!

Here is a photo of the tree diameter against a yard stick:

Something like this leaves quite a mess behind, that we are still cleaning up!

Our insurance paid for the tree removal, and some of the materials, but everything was pro-rated of course with a deductable, etc, etc. etc. It is a very good thing that Keith will be able to repair the deck himself because the the payments didn't come close to covering the labor!

Every time now, the wind blows, my eyes go upward. Unfortunately we have several more of these trees that are around the same age, and one of them is atleast 15 feet taller than the one that came down!!!

On the bright side, my Daffodils have finally come up, although it is still very cold here. We have had a lot of rainy, windy days! I am looking forward to some sun and warmth in the days to come!

I have been plodding along on Eleanor Parr. It is very slow going, with color changes every few stitches. Some of those color changes are hard to justify in my mind!

I have just started on page 9. Only about 17 more pages to go after this, and then the verse. I think I will have to stick with the original verse at this point, or I will never finish this up.

Here is the latest photo:

On that note, I will sign off.

Wishing you calm days and lots of creativity!

I sure hope spring is coming soon!

 It has been such a long cold winter here in New York! I have been reading all of your blogs and I am seeing lovely photos of flowers and buds. Not here! It seems like we have a new snow storm every 2 days! And I don't even live upstate in the snow belt! I would love to see a crocus popping up!

Well, my chickens have been laying a few more eggs lately, so maybe there is hope! They don't lay many during the winter.

I sneaked in a little Valentine's Day stitch in between Eleanor Parr.

Chablis Hearts - Country Garden Stitchery

I added our initials to the middle heart.

and, I think I found the perfect fabric in my stash for the backing!

Now, all I need is the time to finish it! Ha!

In between I have been plodding away on Eleanor Parr. I am now working on page 7. I think there are about 25 pages in all I am running out of steam on this one. I have been having second thoughts on substituting the verse with the bird poem. I do like the bird poem, but it would take a while to graph it out. I am anxious to getting this one finished. I don't know! Still trying to decide. This is a very slow stitch due to all the color changes every few stitches!

Here is where I am:

I have miles and miles to go!

Here's hoping spring will come soon!

Best wishes,

Erica

Happy New Year!

 I hope it's not too late in the year to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

The holidays seemed to come and go very quickly this year. We were distracted by the health of my 97 year old mother-in-law, who was suffering some issues. That always seems to bring up other family issues.

I miss the quiet time my husband and I shared over the years. No matter how hectic our jobs and family issues were, we managed to carve some time out just for us. That seems much harder to do now. I miss those days!

I didn't do as much holiday stitching as I usually do. I did manage to finish stitching Merry Little Christmas.

Merry Little Christmas - Willow Hill Samplings

 

I haven't quite decided how to finish it.

Then I stitched Bon Noel.

Bon Noel

My apologies to the designer, but I have had this for a while, and I don't remember where it came from. Another one that needs to be finished!

Then I knitted a pair of socks.  They are such a little luxury in this cold weather!

After that, I knitted up this cowl from some recycled cashmere yarn I had from a previous project. The free pattern is from Purl Soho.

It called for a long tail cast on, but I really don't have the patience for that. I used the crochet cast on method to give it a little extra ease, and it worked out just fine. It is a quick knit, and is a good way to use up that extra yarn.

Well, I have a lot of finishing to do in 2025. That was my resolution for 2024, but I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Hope springs eternal!

I hope all of you have a wonderful 2025, full of good health and happy surprises!

Eleanor Parr and some Holiday Stitching

Hello everybody! It has been a zoo here lately, with one disruptive thing after another happening! Somehow we are almost in December!

I finished page 4, and decided to stitch page 5 which brought me over to the right edge of the sampler. I have stitched a little bit of page 6 which brought me back to the left side.

Here is where I left off:

I was figuring to finish this sometime in 2025. Now I'm wondering if I may not finish until 2026!

I have taken a break to do some holiday stitching. The first thing I worked on was this Pumpkin design from MJ Hiney Designs.

This is how it turned out.

The kit contained the piece of dyed orange silk velvet, and some autumn-shaded beads to sew on, as well as a green silk ribbon for the leaf along with complete instructions! I supplied the twig! I actually finished it the day after Halloween, but it made it in time for my Thanksgiving table, along with the cross stitched Pilgrim gang that I stitched several years ago.

It may not stay on the table for long. One of my cats, Freddy, has decided that it is the perfect ball to kick and chase around! Yikes!

I just love her designs! They are a little pricey, but the materials are just lovely! Several years ago I stitched one of her acorn kits.

Next, I started Merry Little Christmas from Willow Hill Samplings.

I am still working my way through this one. I haven't yet figured out how I will finish it. It is slow going because I decided to use some gold filament with with the red thread. It is very subtle, but I think it adds a little ornateness to it. I always forget how slow the stitching is with that filament though, You have to use such short lengths, and constantly untwist the thread!

For my fellow Americans, have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and for my other readers, have a very nice and happy November 28th!

Still working on Eleanor Parr!

 I actually finished up page 3 last week. I just haven't had a chance to post until now.

Here is a photo. It came out quite dark I'm afraid, but you get the idea.

That is one big bird! With the constant color changes, the birdie took up most of the time.

I just finished another big bird on page 4, but I still have lots of leaves and vines to finish, so I will be working on it for a while!

I am looking around to find some holiday stitching. I need a break from Eleanor.

I hope those suffering from the hurricane losses will get some help. I remember when we went through "Sandy". It seemed like the end of the world that night! I will never forget it, nor the 6 days without power that followed!

Back soon!

Erica

Update on Eleanor Parr

 Sunday night I finished up page 2, and took this photo.

It's a very slow stitch due to all the many color changes within a small area. I have started on page 3, but I will definitely be taking a break here somewhere, to do some seasonal and holiday stitching. I need something for a lift.

This has been a tough month with tooooo many medical appointments! I wonder if doctors have any idea how much stress is caused by waiting for results and other communications (or if they even care)!

Oh well. Happy stitching!

I have finished the first page of Eleanor Parr!

 I thought I would be here before now, but here she is:

Page one is finished! Only 24 more pages to go!

I do wish I had changed the colors in this sampler before I started it. The "Fantasia" like colors do not look at all like an historical sampler,(especially the Barbie pink)!

Oh well, too late to change it now! I will plod along. Perhaps I will feel better about it when it is finished.

On another aggravating issue . . . has anyone ever dealt with Constellation Energy? We are having an awful problem with them. They are a secondary energy seller. For the past year we have tried to get away from them. Last spring, Orange & Rockland Utitlities, my provider swore to us that a lock had been placed on our account, and it could not be changed without our permission. NOT TRUE! We are back with Constellation, and of course, the bill is higher. I cannot imagine what we can do that we have not done. The utility says they are "looking into it". AHHG! I have spent a great deal of time "on hold" lately! Be sure you check your utility bills every month. Apparently this is going on a lot.

Well that is my gripe for the day! Happy stitching everyone!

 

Eleanor Parr Sampler - My Next Project

I decided that it was time for a change in pace. It has been a while since I have stitched a historical sampler, and I thought Eleanor Parr would be an interesting one.

Here's a closer look:

Normally, I would not make any changes to a historical sampler. This is not a typical schoolgirl sampler, however, for many reasons, so I do not feel so bad about changing the verse. When I was reading up on the sampler, I came upon this story about Barbara Thomas in Inspirations magazine. She substituted the poem by Alice Cary. I think it was brilliant! I was initially attracted to this sampler because of the birds. I am a bird lover from way back, and this verse fits perfectly! You can read about Barbara's work here.

This is a photo of Barbara's work:

I'm sure it will be a bit tricky to fit the new verse in there, but I think it will be worth the trouble.

I spent the last two evenings working on this, and this is what I have so far:

I am stitching it on 36 ct lambswool linen, using DMC threads. Originally I planned to use Au ver a soie, and took a day to sort through my threads. I realized that I was missing quite a few colors, and it would be quite pricey to buy them, so I decided to use DMC.

The original samplers typically used silk, wool, or linen. In many cases, cotton was not available. Today however, the cotton threads rival the colors of silk, so again, I do not feel so bad in making another change.

This sampler is HUGE! I had forgotten how cumbersome it can be to work. It will take some maneuvering of the linen to make it manageable.

I will be back when I have some more progress.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Painted Flowers is finally finished!

 Hooray!

The stitching that is, is finished. It is something of an odd size, and I am still not sure how it should be finished, framed or made into a pillow. 

Here is the photo:

Painted Flowers - Shakespeare's Peddler
Stitched on 20ct black Aida using DMC threads

This was not an easy stitch for me on the black fabric. It took me much longer than it should have. I am glad to be moving on to my next project! 

Slow but steady progress

 Last night I officially passed the halfway point of Painted Flowers! 

Yay!

Here's the photo:

I am a little concerned with the amount of fabric remaining. I sure hope there is enough to finish!

I am very ready to finish this one!

Hope all of you are enjoying your summer! Looks to be a long hot one!

Still here plugging away!

This is such a slow stitch! I would estimate that I am a little more than 3/8's of the way through this design.

This is where I am:

I am currently working on the flower in the upper left corner.

As you can see from the leaflet, I have miles to go!

I never dreamed this stitch would take me so long! There are a lot of color changes, every few stitches, plus the difficulty of stitching on black. I will keep plugging away at it for now. I may take a break to do some finishing though.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Seems quite hot even in these early days.

Hope to show some more progress next time.

I'm making very, very slow progress!

I think I have frogged as much as I have stitched on this project!

This has to be the slowest I have ever stitched.

I had been waiting to have more progress before I posted, but I realized that it had been a long while since my last post, so here it is:

progress on Painted Flowers, using DMC on 20ct Black Aida

Painfully slow going! I have been looking forward to starting my next project, but I'm afraid if I don't finish this one now, it won't ever get done.

This is one of those stitches that needs to be done vertically rather than horizontally. There is a lot of counting, and a lot of color changes with similar colors!

It is a very pretty design, but if you ever decide to stitch it, I strongly suggest that unless you have very good eyesight, to stitch it on a larger count fabric. 20ct aida or 40ct black linen is just too tough for me, anyway. 14 count aida or 28ct linen would be better, even though the design would be bigger.

Hope to be back soon with more progress!

BIG Framing News!

 Deep Peace is finally framed!

And it only took me twelve years to do it!

I couldn't believe it when I looked at the date on this one. It was 2012!

This was definitely the hardest thing I have ever framed. The weird size made it impossible to find a frame! I wanted it to be gold, to pick up the gold in the pattern. I know I could have brought it to a professional framer, but it wasn't in the budget, and frankly, I just didn't like any of the modern frames. 

I finally found what I thought was the perfect frame at an estate sale. When I got it home however, it turned out to be way too big. I decided to use it anyway, and get a mat. That in itself was hard to figure out because the mat had to be uneven in the top from the sides. Finally, I decided on the color and style, and prayed I got the measurements right!

Yes! Hurray! The size worked out perfectly! By the way, a big shout out to Matboards & More for their great communication.

The frame was not perfect, and most certainly, the framer was not perfect, but at long last, here is Deep Peace:

Deep Peace - Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches Lauren Sauer 1998

If you would like to read more about Deep Peace, click on the link on the right-hand side of the page. It took up a lot of 2012. It was my first time working with real gold, and it was not without its challenges!

I am so glad to have this finally framed!

Now, for some much less dramatic news, I also got the Gaelic Alphabet Sampler framed. This was a much easier task in comparison. I was a little disappointed with the frame. It turned out, it was made of paper, rather than the wood, as advertised on Amazon, but it worked out ok.

The Gaelic Alphabet Sampler

Well, that's all I've got for now. Be back soon!

Seraphina is Stitched!

 Yay!

I still have to turn her into an ornament. She came out a little on the large size for an ornament. I may turn her into a little pillow.

I love her little upturned nose!

It turns out there are two versions of this little pattern. One is slightly smaller than the other. I think this is what confused me initially with the fabric size.

I think I will probably stitch the smaller version also. One of the differences is in her skates. In one version they are much smaller

I made a little progress on Painted Flowers, though I am finding it very difficult to stitch on the 20 ct black aida. I am skipping over some areas that called for some DMC colors I don't have. I really thought I had all the DMC by now, but there are some new colors out there, and this chart calls for 3 of them.

This is what I have so far:

Not very much, I'm afraid.

Well, I do have some big framing news, but I will save that for a separate post.

Hope all of you are having a very pleasant, peaceful Sunday!

I'll Start with the Good News. . .

I stitched Easter Basket, and finished it without any issues! This was from the Easter Parade chart from Blackbird Designs. I stitched the rabbit some years ago.

Here is how it came out:

Easter Basket by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on 36 ct linen using GAST threads

Of course I still need to find a frame for it. I think if I stitched it again, I might change the colors a bit.

Well, after that, my thinking was that I would fit in a little Christmas ornament before I started a larger project. That is where my troubles began!

I chose Seraphina. This is an oldie that I have had in my stash for a while. The actual chart I had was for a Christmas card.

I have thought about this one for some time. I decided to swop out the aida for 32 ct linen, and the color of her coat from green to red.

Somehow I stupidly miscalculated the size of the linen needed. I didn't realize it until I had half of it stitched! I don't know what I was thinking! Then I realized that the white on her muff and eventually her hat, really didn't show up against the white linen. So I decided to stitch the fuzzy parts with Wisper (Rainbow Gallery). This isn't the easiest to use. You have to keep the lengths short because it frays a lot. I finished the muff, but it doesn't look the way I thought it would. It seems rather worn, rather than the fluffy look I was going for. I don't know whether to frog it or not. Maybe I should just quit, and start again on another color linen. Maybe the third time is the charm! LOL! 

What do you think?

I have stitched some very large, complicated projects that didn't cause me anywhere near the frustration that this little one has!

Okay, concurrently while I was stitching Seraphina, I was also trying to frame a large project that I finished years ago. Finally decided on a frame, even though it was really too big for it. That meant getting a mat. OMG that took me hours to select, and I only pray that I got the dimensions right! I bought it online, and it was expensive!

This is my year of finishing, and stitching from stash, but I did cave into temptation on one chart I have had my eye on.

This came in the mail today.

It is Painted Flowers from Shakespeare's Peddler. I procrastinated as long as I did because it calls for 40 count black linen. For some reason this is not available anywhere! Also, I don't think my poor eyes could handle it! I have ordered some 20ct black aida. I hope this will have a similar enough look to the linen, but I am worried about it. The other choice would be to try to find 20ct black linen, and stitch one over one. I didn't know if the linen would hold up to that.

I will pop back in a few days to let you know my progress.

It's Time for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt !

This little bunny hop hunt is organized by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching . Frankly, I don't know how she manages it all! It would be way too complicated for me!

The idea is to post a letter that will be a clue to the phrase we are all hunting for. My contribution is:

                                     i  (little i)

Then, you can visit the next blog  - https://lifeoutsidethewashingbasket.blogspot.com/ for the next clue.

If you visit Jo's blog, you will find a list of all the participants.

For me, the selection was easy. Since this is my year for finishing things, I picked The Mini Bunny Egg, that I actually stitched back in 2017. It seems like I stitched it just yesterday! I decided it was time for it to get out of the finishing box.

I added some trim to it, and backed it with pink felt. Here it is finished:

Mini Bunny Egg- Waxing Moon Designs
40 ct hand dyed raspberry linen with white DMC floss

Originally, I didn't think the white stitches showed up enough on the raspberry linen, but the trim actually helped it "pop" a bit. 

It looks a little crooked on the back, but here is :

HAPPY SPRING EVERYBODY!

Some finishes to show!

 Yay!  Welcome in Bloom is finished and framed!

I sanded and spray painted the frame in a satin navy color. Of course the paint ran and I had to re-sand it, and re-paint it. I don't know when that has not happened. I think it came out ok  in the end though.

Welcome in Bloom

and, . . .  The Gaelic Sampler is finished. This one took longer than it should have because, even though I lined up the letters with the first line, it came out way over to one side. I had to redo the whole second line of the verse! Ugh! I just love frogging one over one stitching!

I think I have a frame for this one, but I have to look for it.

Here it is:

The Gaelic Sampler
"My Sweet Home"

Will be back shortly for the Easter hop, but I just wanted to post these while they were on my mind.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I can't think of St Patrick's Day without thinking of my dad. He was Irish to the core, and believed in celebrating it! Not with bar hopping and carousing, but with family, friends, and good food!

This was a freebie design that I stitched way back in 2011.

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/, although I do not think it is still available there.

I stitched it on 32ct Natural Irish linen with 4 skeins of DMC 935 (dark green). 

I don't put much stock in New Year's resolutions, but this year I wanted to do some serious finishing! Originally I thought I might frame this, but now I am thinking maybe it would be better as a pillow. Let's hope this is the year I can get this one finished!

Right now, I am working on this little stitch from an old magazine.

The Gaelic Alphabet Sampler

It called for 18 count Floba, and DMC perle, but I decided on32ct natural linen and variegated threads. I am using "Swamp Water" for the brown, and I am a little concerned that I won't have enough. I will have to order another I think.

This is what I have so far:

The verse is done one over one, so that may prove to be a challenge for my eyes. It translates to "My Sweet Home", another variation on the theme! I think I see a trend here! 

Happy St. Pat's everybody! As my dad believed, life is too short, the little days in life need to be celebrated!

Welcome in Bloom is Finished!

Hurray! It was a long distracting week or so, but I finally finished off the back-stitching. I decided to frame it. Originally I was going to frame it the same way it appeared in the magazine. I liked the way it looked with the blue mat. That turned out to be easier said than done!

It would have been an unusual size for both the mat and the frame. Also, it would have grown quite large. I am looking to put this in a small guest room where there isn't a lot of wall space.

I decided to buy an inexpensive frame on Amazon, and then paint it navy blue. I haven't gotten the frame yet. I hope it turns out ok. Remains to be seen I guess. I always forget what a pain in the neck framing is!

I will post the photo when I get it framed, but for now, here it is:

I started working on a new little design, but I don't have that much to show yet.

Will be back in a few days with some photos.