A Few More Lines on The Old Aviary

I have finished the next two lines here.

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

The next is the vine with the flowers.

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

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

(click to enlarge)

Tonight I will start on the upper case alphabet.

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

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

I am just loving The Old Aviary!

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

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

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

This is what I have done so far:

(click for a better view)

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Finish, a Cake, and YIKES!!

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

Sorry for the crooked picture, but here it is:

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

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

Now for the cake!

This requires a bit of an explanation!

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

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

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

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

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

Oh boy! Bees! yikes!

Stay tuned. It should be an interesting summer!

I finally finished row 53!

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

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

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

4 more rows to go!

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

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

Barely breathing but here . . .

Ughh! Worst cold in 5 or 6 years!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still here in the grass . . .,

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

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

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

. . . and so it goes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What a Surprise!!!

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

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

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

Time for an update

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are some pictures of my progress:

Completed row 46, beginning row 47

Completed row 47, start of row 48

Completed row 48, start of row 49

Completed row 49, start of row 50

Completed row 50

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

Here is a background picture of the tiny dining room:

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

Quite the mess eh?!

One Year Today!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Snowy New Year's Eve in New York!

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

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

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

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

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

Here are my finishes from the past year.

In the Forest - La-D-Da

The Chase - Paragon

Illuminated House Blessing - Patricia Andrle

Christmas Chick - Valerie Pfeiffer

'Tis the Gift -La-D-Da

The Red Thread Snapper series - Bent Creek

Beach Roses - Just Nan

MacIntosh Poster - Charlotte's Web

Harvest Blooms - Hands to Work

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

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

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

Of course there are numerous others calling to me!

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

Let's hope it's a good one!

The Cat Who Came for Christmas!

Meet Hermie!

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

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

Well, what could we do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just no hurrying this rug!

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

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

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

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

Here are some pictures:

Row 42

Row 43:

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

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

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

Look what I won!

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


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

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

Thank you very much Teresa! I will enjoy it!

Long overdue post

Here are my latest photos of the rug.

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



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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Slowly I creep. . . , inch by inch!

Still here working on the rug!

Here is the start of row 38

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

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

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

I have made a small start on it.

Says it All!

Happy Days are Here Again!

(click)

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

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

HOPE IS BACK!