GO BEARS!!!!

Yes, it does snow in Arizona! Here are some pictures I took this past weekend in Sedona. A few co-workers and I went up to visit a friend who moved there last year. Those of us from Phoenix don't see snow very often so we were totally excited to wake up to a beautiful snowfall on Saturday morning - huge wet flakes that covered the trees and looked just like Christmas Eve ought to. We spent a lovely weekend catching up, eating out, shopping and seeing the movie "Queen". I liked the movie - I've read a few books about the British royal family over the years. The movie certainly did not paint them in a good light as far as being in touch with the real world. I wonder what the Queen thinks of the movie??

Last week I took a knotwork class at my LNS. We could choose between 2 Christmas patterns from Teresa Layman. If you ever have a chance to see a trunk show of hers, go do it! The pictures just do not do them justice. They are like tiny hooked rugs. These finish up at 2" square! They are adorable. The designer had finished them in a couple of ways - some with Whimsi frames from Just Nan (shown in the photo here),

and some finished with a backing and cording like an ornament. It's pretty easy to do and very relaxing. No pattern that you need to watch closely, no counting, all you do is fill in the pattern with the right color of French or colonial knots. I've never like doing French knots but these are done with only one twist of thread around the needle and go quickly. These projects are very portable and inexpensive as well. The patterns can be a bit more because you get not only the instructions but a pre-printed piece of cotton with the pattern already on it. But once you have the pattern all you need is a small hoop and some cotton floss and you are set. We got to see the designer's brand-new patterns that have just come out and they were real winners as well. I had to add at least one to my wish list. :) Here is my meager progress so far.

Lastly, you might notice I've added the Chicago Bears logo to my blog after Sunday's win! DH was scaring the dogs he was shouting so much at the TV. Our Chicago Bears are on to Superbowl 41! We are former Chicagoans and couldn't be more excited about the Bears finally getting back to the big game after a long drought of 21 years. We will be flying the Bears flag at our house starting a few days before Superbowl Sunday!

Musings on the stitching obsession.......

I was catching up reading Melissa’s blog (http://www.gulfskye.blogspot.com/) today and I just kept thinking “That’s me! That’s me totally!” Sometimes I wish I could back to the days when I started cross-stitching – I liked stitching but I wasn’t obsessed like I am now. I think about stitching way too much! I don’t have much time to actually do it, but I’m always buying stash, recording stash inventory, planning projects, making lists of this and lists of that, organizing UFO’s, making up rotation sheets, reorganizing my stash, making wish lists, planning wall arrangements around projects I haven’t even started yet, etc. I send my UFO/WIP list back and forth between my home and work computers so I’m sure I have the latest one at both places. Like I should worry about my UFO’s when I’m at work! But I do. Sometimes if I have a slow day I’ll check the bulletin boards from work which I really shouldn’t do but I don’t want to miss anything of course. I print out my lists and put them in a page protector with all sorts of promises to myself about what I’m going to get done and when. I kit up projects and they sit in drawers for years. I have a stack of unframed finishes and things that need finishing work like ornaments. I stack up stitching magazines with promises of “someday”. I have probably close to 200 photos on my computer that I have saved from bulletin board posts – ideas of what I want to do or a picture of someone’s beautiful finish and notes on the linen & threads they used. It is crazy! Melissa is right when she says non-needleworkers cannot comprehend our obsession. I used to be obsessed with quilting but the stitching has taken over – I still quilt but not as much. I am envious of some of the online stitchers who seem to complete an unbelievable amount of projects. I try to tell myself they don’t have full-time jobs, have live-in maids and cooks and husbands who do the all the laundry! I’m kidding but I just can’t figure out how in the world they find the time to do it all. My life seems to get busier all the time and I’m not sure why – I don’t even have any children but somehow the days get filled up. My husband complains I don’t spend enough time with him. By the time I get home from work, make dinner and clean it up, give some attention to my dogs who wait all day for us to come home, it is late in the evening. . That’s when I get a little of “me” time and I frequently end up staying up late to stitch. This is a bad habit because the next morning it is all the harder to get up at 5:15 and go to work. Then when I’m at work, I’m thinking about stitching! I think that my obsession is fed a lot by being online – I don’t have any personal friends who really stitch other than an occasional Paula Vaughan or something like that. I have learned an incredible amount from stitching bulletin boards, websites, and blogs. But the more you see, the more you want to have for yourself! I know for sure that being online has increased my stash spending tremendously. My DH has always had a personal computer since I knew him in1989, but a few years after we married he said I should have my own and got me one. I thought it was a waste of money at the time. Now I can’t imagine life without my computer – I’d be disconnected from the International Stitching Organization! I might miss out on something! So technically can I blame DH for this problem I have?? :-)

Sometimes I think maybe I’ll get tired of stitching and move on, but so far it’s going on about 6 years of the obsession stage and it’s not lessening. I’m also like Melissa in that I am not good with decorating – just don’t have “the knack”. I have a friend who loves antiques and decorating – her house is like a mini-museum – everyone loves it. She has many of her walls filled top to bottom with things and it looks great. If I tried that, I know it would end up looking like a flea market. Not to mention that DH stresses over every nail hole in the wall! I tell him “what are walls for if you can’t hang things on them?” I admit that I will hang things when he’s out of town because if I decide it’s too high or low after putting a hole in the wall, he gets all upset. If I do it while he’s gone, I can patch up any errant holes myself and no one is the wiser . Then you have the problem of not having enough framed pieces to really do what you want on the walls – I don’t have a lot of wallspace in my home as it’s a very open plan, but some of the walls that do exist are big and you just can’t place one little picture on a big wall because it looks silly. So then you wait because you have plans to have this whole group of samplers, or Quakers, or whatever it is you like, done so you can hang them all up together. I also am trying to decide what to do about glass on my pieces- I have some older ones framed with glass. My LNS is discouraging of putting glass on needlework (even with spacers) so the last 4 or 5 things I had framed there I didn’t put glass on them. Now I have a mix of glass and no-glass. I have to pick one way or another. I am leaning towards museum glass –that would mean taking some existing framed pieces in and having them add the museum glass. I want a uniform look. I live in the desert southwest where it’s very dusty and we get lots of sunlight. I’ve read everyone’s side of the glass story and there are good points on both, I just can’t decide which way to go. Plus there’s the problem of seasonal stitching pieces and how to hang those so you don’t have to put extra holes in the walls just for a month at Christmas or Easter. Another one of my plans is to have a set of seasonal finished pieces for different times of the year that I could swap out – I’d try to do similarly-sized pieces and therefore making use of the same space & nailhole on the walls.

Well as you can see by reading this, I’m full of stitching plans and thoughts, if I could just somehow get them all done! I have not even addressed my quilting issues - I have 10 years of quilting stash in my stitching/sewing room. We won’t even go there…….not to mention the 11 kits to make Gail Wilson dolls (http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/) and a rughooking UFO. I just hope I live a long time and am healthy enough to make use of all this!

I'm still out here - Happy New Year everyone!

Well I cannot believe it’s been so long since I last blogged but life has been very busy. I was chasing my tail all of December between work and the holidays. I thought I would have all sorts of free time during my December vacation from work for 10 days but between hosting 2 holiday parties, getting together with relatives etc, it seemed to fly by. I had about one day really to myself to sit and stitch and relax a bit.

I thought I probably should post a couple of pictures as I have none of myself on my blog and it's nice to put a face with a name. So here's one of myself, husband Dave, and our 2 dogs Buster (the Sheltie) and Abby (who would only stay still if she was in her bed). Also I've attached a picture of my holiday table - I love setting the table a bit different each time and I did blue and some lime green this year. And of course another picture of the dogs in their Christmas collars - don't know why dog eyes so often look weird in photos but they do. Abby eye's always come out blue in photos but are really brown. She's a very funny dog we adopted last year from the animal rescue society.









The bad news is I did not get my Christmas stocking finished! I still have some backstitching to do and then the finishing work. I put it away on Dec 23rd and told myself to face reality and not be stressed about it. So I have gotten it back out now and plan to finish it up – DH says he’ll fill my stocking for Valentine’s Day instead!

So there hasn’t been much time for stitching in quite a while and work is keeping me pretty busy as well. DH and I have started a new diet plan this week. We are trying to learn to eat better as we both have poor eating habits and are overweight. The first 6 weeks have a very strict food plan and it takes time to prepare the food to bring to work the next day – no grabbing a Lean Cuisine as I run out of the house anymore. I hope it helps both of us as we really need to get on a better path for our health.

I started a new project by Brenda Keyes – “Plymouth Sampler”. Here’s the pattern and my little bit of progress so far (excuse the poor scan but it's late and there's not much to see anyway). I’m using Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue with NPI silks instead of the DMC called for.






I have had this kitted up for about a year ever since I saw the model at my LNS and fell in love with it. Not that I needed another WIP of course but I indulged myself for the new year. It’s my first major project done on 40-ct Lakeside Linen. So far it’s a bit tough – I use my big Daylight magnifier all the time anyway but even with the magnification I find it is so small – and even though I am using a petite needle it almost seems too big when stitching with it. I wear transition bifocals and although I love the look of 40-ct I think in the future I will do most of my work on 36-ct instead. I find it easier to stitch on – hate to admit I am getting old but my eyesight is just not what it used to be. I look at things I did years ago and sigh because I never needed any magnification back then. Those were the good ole days!!

Again this year I have stitching resolutions to finish up old UFO’s, decrease my number of WIP’s and reduce stash spending. I did cut down on spending last year but not enough. I am still acquiring at about 6 times the pace of stitching things! I recently picked up Lizzie Kate’s “Love Crazy” pattern. http://www.lizziekate.com/lizzie-127-lovecrazy-models.html
I really like the bright happy colors on it and it reminds me of the ‘Love’ stamp that used to be out. I won’t get it done for Valentine’s Day this year but it should be a fun and easy project.

I also picked up the last of the seasonal patterns I’ve been collecting for awhile from Rouge du Rhin. I love these hearts – one for each season but they run $20 apiece so to spread out the $80 I have been buying one every now and then. http://www.thefrenchneedle.com/coeur_printanier.htm

If there's anyone still out there reading my blog, do you know what happened to Blogroll? It used to work nicely but lately it's broken. I liked knowing who had updated their blog.

Forging ahead on my stocking

I know several online stitchers started new projects over the holiday weekend but I am persevering on my forlorn Christmas stocking that I started over 2 years ago! My husband's has been done for 2 years now but mine kept dragging on. I am determined to finish it in time for Christmas this year. I am getting close to the top where the cuff starts but then of course there is all the backstitching and the finishing work. Wish me luck! This is from the old Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine and was originally published in the mid-80's I believe. I always planned on stitching it someday for myself as it really fits me. I also quilt and sew, have my grandmother's Singer Featherweight machine and all so I just had to stitch it. Here is my progress so far - you can click on the photo for a larger image:



I'm having a wonderful 5-day weekend. I had Friday off work and am taking Monday off to go visit a friend in Sedona who retired last year there. We worked together for 10 years and I'm driving up with another friend from work to see her new retirement home and spend the day. It should be fun - Sedona is a beautiful place to spend some time. I have Fridays off for the rest of the year using up my last days of vacation time and I'm really looking forward to those 3-day weekends!

Thanksgiving finish

I just finished this piece by Homespun Elegance on Tuesday night and temporarily put it in the frame tonite so I could display it for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I will do a better stretching/mounting after November but this is good enough for now. (click on photo to see a larger version)



This was a fun and quick stitch that only took me a week (for me that is really good!) I found this lovely frame at my LNS when I bought the pattern last week. This is called "Delivering Plenty" and the great thing is that there are 5 or 6 other "delivering" patterns that I can stitch and swap in and out of the frame for other seasons and holidays. I like being able to swap pieces out and it saves on the framing costs especially for small seasonal pieces. I have to make this short tonite as I still have some chores to do getting ready for tomorrow's guests. I like to have my table all set up the night before and that is the last thing I want to do tonite. I prepared most of the dishes this afternoon and just have to bake everything while DH cooks the turkey out on the grill. Hope all of you enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving shared with family or friends! I'm especially thankful for all the wonderful designers and products that make stitching so enjoyable, and the online community of stitchers to share with. :-)

Secret Garden Box Finished!

Yeah! I finally got this done while DH was out of town this weekend. I had a bit of trouble with my box - I painted per the instructions (substituting blue for the red paint) but when I started to sand it down after the top coat of camel, it started turning green - the blue paint underneath with the yellow-ish camel on top made it green. I didn't like that too much so I decided to paint on another coat of blue and make my box a weathered blue look. I also changed the top a bit and mounted the needlework like a panel instead of stretching it over the lid of the box, then I added a cording around it. I had intended to make my cording out of the varigated Needle Necessities I used to stitch the piece, but Needle Necessities floss is pre-cut into lengths that prevent you making cording out of it. Luckily I had some perle cotton that worked out fine. Here are 3 views of the box - click on them to enlarge the photos.







Yesterday I visited my LNS to pick up the latest BBD Loose Feathers design. Of course I did some shopping while I was there, I couldn't help myself! My LNS had a trunk show from Homespun Elegance, one of my favorite designers. Lovely lovely things for sure. I did see a really cute Thanksgiving stitch and I bought it - it's called "Delivering Plenty". Thanksgiving is one holiday where there aren't all that many cross-stitch designs available. I really like this one and I'm going to stitch like crazy to see if I can get it done in time for the holiday. I picked up a gorgeous frame while shopping as well so I can stretch and frame it myself temporarily for the holiday. Here's a picture of the pattern:



My LNS also had a smaller trunk show for Erica Michaels Designs - they do a lot of punchneedle and miniature knotted patterns. Now up to this point, I have successfully avoided punchneedle and knotted designs - I can't really add any more hobbies to my life. But some of these pieces were out of this world! They had a little round autumn-themed 'rug' that was to die for. Then I saw this miniature knotted ornament and it was all over - I could scan the pattern but the picture on it just does not do the piece justice. It reminded me of petit point in the amount of detail that showed. The 4" round ornament has a sand castle, waves, and ocean with a turtle, mermaid, etc. I was smitten. It's called "Seaside Roundabout" by Erica Michaels. You can do the pattern either in punchneedle or the miniature knotted version which I want to do. I've never done this before so I may have to do some practicing. I know doing french knots was never my favorite so even though the pattern has you do colonial knots it's still going to be a challenge.

My foray into paper arts

My friends and I had our card-making class tonite. It was a lot of fun - held at a "Recollections" store if you've ever been to one. It's a chain of stores and they sell scrapbooking and paper arts supplies. What a great place! My first time in the store and they have a huge classroom where you can take all sorts of classes. We paid $20 each and it was about a 2-hr class. You got all the supplies to make 5 autumnal cards. Very easy and a fun group outing. I felt like I was reliving my childhood again - cutting and pasting! I've always had the 'craft' bug ever since I can remember. As a child, I had a big bulletin board in my room that my dad had made with a nice wooden frame, and I decorated it every month in a seasonal or holiday theme. I made potholders, did woodburning, made puppets, sewed doll and troll clothes, learned to crochet from my mom and grandmother, knitted a little and embroidered dish towels, made popsicle houses, corn husk dolls and all sorts of odd little things. Does anyone remember making Christmas trees by folding Readers Digest magazines or making trees with toothpicks stuck into styrofoam balls? You stacked the balls all together in a tree shape and then used spray flocking and glitter to decorate. I remember using pink flocking spray to make pink Christmas trees. I'm showing my age but I can remember they used to do crafts on the Captain Kangeroo show and I was always asking my mom for some sort of supplies I needed to make something. So I guess it's not surprising I became addicted to stitching and quilting. :)Anyway, here's a picture of the cards I made tonite. I'll send them to some family members for Thanksgiving. Making cards is a lot of fun but the only trouble is most people keep them a few days and throw them away so I don't think I'd do it all the time.



I also picked up some scrapbook paper. I want to make a small scrapbook of all my quilting and stitching projects. I'd like the pages to have a coordinated look to them color-wise without too much 'frou frou'. Now just to find the time to do it!

Back again..........

Wow, can't believe it's November already. I haven't blogged in awhile. I had to spend some time out of town in October and things are just starting to get back to "normal". I am still working on the finishing for my Secret Garden box although the stitching part is done. Hope to post the completed box in a few days. Today while watching the Bears-Miami game I worked on finishing a Halloween paper banner I started a few weeks ago. I'm in a group of 9 quilters and we meet once a month. We don't always do quilting - some of the ladies are into paper arts so in October we all did Halloween banners. At least my banner came out good which I can't say for my Chicago Bears!! You can see on the mantle my Thanksgiving figures I bought this week on eBay - I think they're cute and plan to use them as part of my table decor for the holiday.



I only had a little to do finish mine up but now it is going into storage until next Halloween. It was fun - I got to play with all the tools etc but didn't have to buy them so that's always fun. This Tuesday we are meeting for November at a scrapbooking store. This could be dangerous! I have avoided scrapbooking because I can't handle another hobby! We are taking a class where you make cards so it should be fun. We like to do different things once in a while and since we all live in different areas of our metropolitan scene, we sometimes try to meet in the middle somewhere to cut down on all the driving.

I also made some quilted cards today. Somehow, I found a link to the Craft Apple blog on someone else's blog and that's how I found these. (if you want to see the instructions, view this wonderful blog and check the October archives - http://craftapple.wordpress.com/) I can't remember now whose blog I first saw them on, but I sure enjoyed making them. Since I'm a quilter, I have no shortage of fabric to use! I used pieces from the charm pack of Moda's "Chocolat" by Three Sisters. I made about 10 cards that will be fun to use.



I recently picked up 3 quilts I had quilted. Now I am working on putting on the bindings and will be posting those as I complete them. I am forcing myself to get back to working on my unfinished Christmas stocking. I started it like 2 years ago but haven't finished it yet. It's from the old Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine. I really should get this done so I can hang it up for Christmas this year. I think I'm about 70% done with the stitching,but here's what it will look like:

Finally! A Happy Dance!

(click to link to larger version)

I put the last stitches in Carriage House Sampling's "Wild Roses" tonite. This was my New Year's Day start this year. I had originally planned to have it done in June,well I missed that by a long shot but at least it didn't carry over until 2007. I really loved this project - at one point I got a water spot on my linen somehow and had to wash the piece. Because I used R&R linen I lost a bit of the color (it was 36-ct Abcedarian) but it still came out looking good. I like using NPI silks for just that reason - if you need to they can be washed and hold up great. This piece is very long - 26". It will go into the "framing" pile and probably won't get framed until after Christmas. The pattern is modified somewhat from the original - the model stitcher at my LNS did a modification of it and you could obtain her changes as long as you bought the original chart from the store. The letters down the sides read "Bless the Beasts and the Children" which I think is nice instead of just random letters. I'm already planning to hang this piece in my living room when framed - I have mottled yellow walls and brown leather furniture so I think it will fit in well.

This is about the most fun I've had all week finishing this! I've had a stressful 2 weeks at work and working overtime on some problems. In fact I was finishing this in-between monitoring my work email account tonite. Nothing like stitching to perk you up! Now I just have to resist starting a new project because I really need to finish my Christmas stocking that has been a WIP/UFO for 2 years!

Yeah - it's October!

I am so happy it is finally October. Not only is it my birthday month, but it's my favorite month in the year. I love all things autumnal and especially Halloween. Also, it's when summer finally ends here in the desert southwest. Soon we say goodby to temperatures in the triple digits and settle down to a beautiful winter!

I haven't had any time to update my blog in awhile. My DH and I had to take an emergency trip out of state because my father is very ill. He is 83 and been in poor health for a few years now, but it has been stressful. On top of that I've been extremely busy at work and it just seems I can't get caught up with anything lately. I did take my Secret Garden with me when I was out of town and got a little bit done while traveling. It is an easy stitch and hope to have it finished soon so I can make the little box that goes with it. Here are 2 pictures of it - one with the fabric I'll be using to line the box, and another photo closeup - not the greatest photo but the best I could do in a hurry today.





I picked up a few things at my LNS a few days ago. I had some patterns that they had been keeping for me - the latest Loose Feathers design and I finally got my copy of Flea Market Souvenir from Blackbird Designs. Somehow they sold the first shipment out and I didn't get one. My 2006 JCS ornnament issue was in and I succumbed to buying Little House Needlework's "Watermelon" kit. I had seen pictures of it but when I saw the model,well, I just couldn't resist. The model at my LNS was done on 40-ct with a wide frame and it was SO cute! So I picked up some 40-ct Newcastle linen in Summer Khaki and hope to get started on that soon. Here's a photo from my little stash trip - try not to look at my messy cutting table - my sewing room is overflowing with projects lately.



I'm not a big ornament stitcher. I stitched several Prairie Schooler ones back about 15 years ago (has it been that long??). I'd like to stitch some more but they just aren't at the top of my list it seems. That said, I have started buying some of the annual JCS ornament issues and I did buy the 10-yr anniversary one in case I wanted to stitch some of them. Mostly I like sparkly, traditional glass-blown ornaments on my tree. They are getting harder to find though every year, and if you do find any, they are usually very high priced. I don't like the Ladko ornaments because they're too darn big - I think 8" ornaments look too big on a tree unless it's like a 25-foot one. Most houses don't have trees that big. I guess I should try to fit in some ornament stitching over the next year, now that I have improved my finishing skills a bit it's not so daunting to do the finishing.

I need to find more time to update my blog. My DH and I are heading out to take my father-in-law out to dinner in thanks for coming over and staying with our dogs while we had to rush out of town. At least I don't have to cook tonite! Then I have some work I need to do in preparation for work tomorrow - nothing quite like having to face work on a Sunday night. Ugh. I did however finish up a Shepherd's Bush RR today will mail it out tomorrow. At least that's one more thing off of my 'to do' list.

Retreat update

Well I'm back from my quilting retreat. Had a great time but it was tiring too. We stay at a rustic church camp and have to take all our bedding as well as our sewing machines and all the things that go with it. It's amazing that I had a whole carfull of things to take just for 3 days but you add up one sewing machine, cutting mats, rulers, all sorts of miscellanous notions, several projects, a chair cushion, small cooler (must have my Diet Coke), bedding, clothes, etc and it adds up fast. I took several projects to work on and got a lot done. I don't do much sleeping when I go there - for two reasons. One, I try to get as much sewing in as possible so I pretty much sew from 8:00 am to midnight with meal breaks, and two, the beds (if you can call them that) are lousy! I also stuck to my budget and I did not go in to town and visit the local quilt shops like I usually do when we go on these retreats. I actually came home with more money than when I left because I sold 2 things at our silent auction and the maker gets 60% of the proceeds. My finished table runner won Judges Choice in our silent auction, and I also made and sold some plaid towels with autumn appliques on them. The raffle quilt from my earlier entries made over $300 for our group in ticket sales.

I did one new project, a Halloween quilt pictured below (click on the pictures to see full-size). I really loved making it. The pictures don't do the fabrics justice - in fact I think all of the projects pictured here look better in person. I probably shouldn't take the photos at night but that's usually when I have time to blog. Other than the Halloween quilt which took all of one day and a little bit more to do, I worked on quilting UFO's some of which I have posted pictures here.






Two different Christmas wall hangings, a primitive stitchery that now needs a frame, some other embroidery work, and making quilt bindings for 3 quilts that are presently with a longarm quilter waiting their turn to be quilted. When I get them back then my binding will be all ready to sew on. All in all it was a very successful trip. A couple of my friends and I have decided though it may be our last camp. We've been going in the spring and fall for almost 10 years with this quilting guild, and as we've gotten older the beds are harder and we're getting to the point where we want to go a nice hotel with decent beds, maid service, etc! We want to get a small group together and book a retreat at a hotel where we can sew in a conference room for a couple of days. As you stitchers know, there's just something more fun about hanging with your friends for a few days and doing what you love. I find it inspires me with new energy to get back to working on those projects again. Also, nobody appreciates your work like other quilters or stitchers!

Now it's back to stitching for awhile after my quilting break the last few weeks. I have a Shepherd's Bush RR to work on (Queen Bee) and my Secret Garden by BBD. I can't wait to get started. I also need to catch up on my online boards I visit, when you are gone for a few days it's funny how you feel out of touch.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

I'm still at work but anxious to get out of here for my 3-day weekend! Hope to get some stitching done, spend time in the pool and with our dogs and generally take it easy. We are going to a birthday party for my husband and a friend on Saturday night, my DH's birthday was 2 weeks ago but just now celebrating it with our friends. It is hard to get 4 couples to agree on a date.

I was just checking my home email account - in the past few weeks the amount of spam I have been getting has like tripled! It is really getting annoying. Because my DH has us all set up with a lot of security and spam filters, almost all of it goes into my junk file automatically, but I still take a quick scan down the list to make sure I don't miss a message from a friend or something. I just wish the powers that be could do something about it - one day I got like 147 spam emails! My DH says it because I visit lots of "kooky" bulletin boards and sites - but I can't give up my online stitching community! What is really sad is the people who are victims of this junk. Frequently my FIL who is 80 will call my DH and ask about this or that email he got telling him to do something. The older people are more trusting I guess - I don't open anything from anybody unless I recognize the person or the subject. Well that is my rant for today. :)

For those who work I hope you have Monday off and enjoy the long weekend! Celebrate your "labor day" with a labor of love like stitching!

Quilting & bed woes....

Well it's been awhile since I blogged - the last time I tried to leave a post it was so slow I gave it up and then I got very busy with work and too many other things to mention. I finished the fall raffle quilt for my quilt group - we have a retreat every fall and we auction off a quilt to make money. Our theme this time was "Falling Leaves" so I made this quilt out of many different leaf fabrics. It started out as a different pattern that wasn't working out too well so it evolved into a simple Flying Geese pattern. I had someone do the quilting on it and although you can 't see it up close it's really lovely with a pattern of maple leaves all over it in a varigated golden thread. Hopefully it makes a few hundred dollars for our quilt group. I also have been working on a table runner for our little silent auction which is pictured here - it's not finished quite yet, it still has to be quilted and the binding edge put on. I like this tablerunner pattern and I also cut out another one out of all apple-themed fabrics. My quilting goes in spurts it seems.





Tonite I got back to working on my Wild Roses sampler by CHS. I finished the last row of rose bushes - yeah!!! That's 21 rose bushes in total - after the first 4 or 5 you have the pattern memorized and don't need to refer very often to the pattern. After a while I just kind of did my own color choosing as I pleased. I still have the lower-case alphabet to stitch at the bottom and add my name and I'll be done!

We got a new mattress about a week ago and it's been a rough week for me. I have a bulging disc in my back and was having trouble with our old mattress which was causing me to have to sleep in the guest room at times where we had a newer mattress. I decided to get a Tempur-pedic hoping it would help my back pain. It felt fine in the store (of course) but the first few nights I felt like I was being tortured! It feels like you are sleeping on a brick. I guess it takes some time to break it in. I have a couple of friends who have them and love them. By midweek I was pretty depressed as these mattresses are very expensive. We can exchange it for something else after 30 days so I will see how it feels by then. After day 3 I put one of those foam egg-crate pads on it and that has helped. But I have had a lot of back and leg pain this week and having to take my pain pills. That makes me pretty grouchy. Hopefully I'll start to feel better soon, they say sometimes it takes awhile to get used to a new bed.

I got the special paper mache boxes I ordered from Hobby Lobby online. This is for the Blackbird Designs "Secret Garden". I had to buy a set of 3 in graduated sizes to get the correct one but they weren't too expensive and they were shipped very promptly. They're actually very sturdy and well-made. "Secret Garden" is my next stitching project. I'm using a piece of off-white Lugana and some Needle Necessities from my stash - yes it's true I am actually using some things I already have and didn't buy new. I had 3 or 4 skeins of this blue Needle Necessities to make something else then changed my mind so this is a good opportunity to use some of it up. I also bought all the supplies to antique the box that the stitching will be mounted on. Next week of course is Labor Day with a 3-day weekend for me and the following weekend I go to my quilting retreat. I can't wait - we always have a lot of fun on these weekends and it will be COOLER there. We get very excited if it rains as we live in the desert here in Phoenix. Rain is a big deal around here.



Here are a few pictures of things I plan to work on soon - I love this Reindeer quilt and I have a bunch of towels I want to do fusible applique on for gifts. These are all patterns from the Nancy Halvorson "Art to Heart" books which I really like.

Making Plans

Well I decided the other day that this weekend I would go through my stash and dig out things that need finishing work and also small quick projects I can do. I've had the Cricket Collection carrots stitched for like 2 years now and never finished them into ornaments. I also have some more of the Shepherds Bush 2003 monthlies to stretch and mount. I'm doing those myself as I can't afford to have them all done professionally. I plan to get one frame with turnbuttons on the back so I can change out the stitched piece each month. Rather pitiful that I only have like 5 of the months done so far! I also want to make my Blackbird Designs "Winter Delivery" into an ornament style hanger. I have a lot of other small things like some miniature pictures, a Trail Creek ornament, some small Bent Creek patterns and things of that nature. I think I just can't face my BAP's right now so need some finishes that don't take forever.

I organized a happy hour after work tomorrow for a good friend of mine that I have worked with for 10 years - she's retiring and moving to Texas. Over the past few years most of my work friends have scattered to the four winds due to people retiring, quitting, and getting reorganized into other areas of the company. We all started there together about 10 years ago when they did a major hiring to form a new division. I work for a large company that shall remain nameless, but we always seem to be in turmoil of one kind or another. The one thing that keeps you going at work is the cameraderie you share with your coworkers, so it's a shame when they take that away from you. Although I work in Information Technology I have advanced to the point where basically I feel like an email jockey. Not to mention the rest of my time is spent in online meetings with people all over the place. It's a strange way to make a living that's for sure. Our company is probably going to announce some layoffs this fall again, this will be the 4th or 5th time I've been through layoffs in the ten years I've worked there. After a while it doesn't even phase you anymore.

Well, enough about work. Tomorrow is Friday and then the glorious weekend with more time to stitch! I'm heading to my LNS on Saturday morning to pick up the JCS anniversary ornament book that I had reserved, the village market freebies that came out (my LNS has them on a CD), and hopefully my BBD Flea Market Find pattern I've been waiting for. There are also a few odds and ends I need but trying to get out of there without a major bill this time. I'm very fortunate in that my LNS is Attic Needlework which is a fabulous shop!! I never seem to get out of there in less than 2 hours because there is so much to look at and dream of stitching.

Quaker Garden finished!

I finally finished this on Sunday night. I was one of the stragglers but glad I made it - thanks Karen for organizing this SAL! Here is my finished piece on Lakeside Linen's Vintage Pear with Gloriana Luminescence silk threads.

There's a moratorium on framing at my house for awhile since DH and I recently purchased some artwork for the house. Framing my Quaker Garden is going to have to wait a few months but that's okay, I'm glad to have finished something and now moving back to my Wild Roses by CHS.


We were chatting on one of the Legacy forums about what is on our wish lists. Here are a few of the top items I'm waiting to purchase - several of them are not new. I keep a running list and just keeping doing a lot more adding it seems that subtracting!

Midsummer Night Designs - Memorial Sampler (I want to stitch this in memory of our dog that died a couple of years ago. We read this poem when we scattered his ashes.)
Examplar Dames – True Wisdom
Ronnie Rowe – Williamsburg 1776 - If you've never seen her designs they look like ink drawings, they are gorgeous when worked on small counts
Shepherds Bush - America the Beautiful
Moira Blackburn - Keep Me sampler
Theron Traditions - Needles & Pins sampler. I love the verse on this one. :)

"Needles and Pins, Needles and Pins,
When a woman marries
Her troubles begin".

Round Robins and other updates

Thanks Jean for your comments - I'm glad to know I'm not the only one have to cut & paste pictures where I want them to be.

I've been pretty busy at work this week filling in for my boss who's on vacation. Not too much time for stitching. I did finish my part on a round robin I'm in with some online friends. This is "St. Peter's Fair" by Shepherds Bush and belongs to my friend Jane B in Maryland. Here is a picture of it so far.

It's really a lovely pattern, one that I did in a round robin a year or two ago and have framed in my hallway. I'm mailing this piece off tomorrow to the next person. I did get in some work on BBD Quaker Garden tonite- I am getting anxious to finish it now that I am getting close.

I saw the new Prairie Schooler patterns online and I love them all - more stash to add to the "must have" list, darn it! I especially like this year's annual Santa with the old treadle sewing machine. I have a quilting friend that has an antique treadle machine in her sewing room and she loves the primitive style. I'm thinking I'd really like to make one into an ornament-style hanging decoration for Christmas. Here's a link to the new designs if you haven't seen them yet and there's a new freebie on the site as well:
http://www.prairieschooler.com/latest.htm

I went out this weekend looking for the paper mache box to use for the BBD Secret Garden pattern - looked at Michaels, Joanns and Walmart and couldn't find it. Sigh, it's so frustrating. I got all the other supplies, I've decided to use materials from my stash and I'm going to stitch it in an overdyed blue. So I will have to keep looking for a box unfortunately. There just aren't that many craft stores around anymore, one of my favorite ones closed last year and we don't have Hobby Lobby in Arizona - sure wish we did. I go there when I visit my parents back in Illinois but it's a long way to go for a cardboard box! :)

Blogger annoyances

Maybe one of you has had these problems, or I must be operating under a spell or something! Every now and then parts of my post end up being in italics even though I have NOT selected it, nor can I see it tagged as italics when I look at the HTML code. I also get frustrated posting pictures - I can upload them and click on them to make them links (so you can view a larger version), but if you try to move them around to make room for text in between, the links get lost. What is happening?? In order to get around this I have to go into "Edit HTML" mode and cut and paste the code for the pictures to where I want it. Also, why is it when you upload a picture it automatically goes to the top of your post instead of where your cursor was for instance in the middle of your post? If anyone knows the answers to these mysteries I would sure appreciate it!

Back to being hot!

I haven’t updated my blog in awhile – I went away for 4 days to take some quilting lessons in Flagstaff this week. Had a great time – I stayed with a friend at her cabin which is just lovely, filled with antiques and COOL! I was able to sleep with the windows open and a cold breeze coming in! Since I’ve been back in Phoenix we have had temperatures up to 118 degrees, so we are all getting a bit cranky. I had a headache from the heat today so I haven’t done too much stitching. I’m still working on my Quaker Garden and on the last large motif so I hope to get done this week sometime.

While I was gone I received my biscornu package in the mail from Pam in Quebec! It was so exciting – she stitched it in pink and it’s just lovely! Here is a picture of it – thank you so much Pam!! She also included some other special gifts, some hand-dyed floss that must be Canadian because I haven’t heard of it, and a journal and some pretty stationary. Isn’t it great getting stitching presents in the mail? I really want to make some more biscornus for myself. Also, since my exchange partner has already received the one I made, I will post a picture of it as well. It’s a Just Nan pattern called “Beach Roses”. I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out but I thought it looked pretty good for my first biscornu. I hope to make some more.

I took 2 quilting classes while I was gone – one was an applique class with Elly Sienkewicz, it was really fun getting to see her work in person as she’s so well known in the quilting world. She is a really nice lady and had lots of good tips for us about ink transfer and specialty applique. Unfortunately, the block I started in class I made a mistake on and accidentally cut off a piece of the applique so I trashed it. I only had about 2 hours of work in on it anyway so I decided to start over. I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes – at least I wasn’t near the end instead of the beginning! The other class I took was by John Flynn called Pickle Dish. This pattern is very similar to a double wedding ring quilt. It was hard – I spent the entire day and got ONE block done! I had decided I wasn’t going to make a whole quilt, that I would just learn his technique and make a pillow or something and I am really glad I made that decision! I still have to add 2 more arc sections on to this and then I plan to applique it to a background and make a little pillow out of it. I still would like to make a whole Pickle Dish quilt someday but when I have more time. It takes a lot of time and concentration to make this quilt accurately even with John’s innovative techniques.

Yesterday I decided to straighten out my linen closet. I ran across some old linens I have and thought it might be fun to post a couple of pictures. This is an apron my grandmother made me when I was 7. Not only do I love it because she made it (and pink of course my favorite color), but she was embroidering it during the Mercury 7 spaceship launch and she embroidered the capsule onto the apron, then she inked the date and details around it. Mercury 7 was the first manned orbit in space and John Glenn’s famous flight. It was a national event at the time. (Yes you can tell that if I was 7 in 1962 I’ve been around awhile!!)

The other picture here is a guest towel I made in 7th grade Home Economics class! We called it “huck toweling” at the time although now I see it referred to as Swedish Weaving. Let’s see, I figure this towel to be approximately 37 years old! It’s scary how quickly the time passes. I remember not liking taking the sewing classes very much – mostly because I already knew how to sew and I would get frustrated sitting and listening to the teacher go through everything a couple of times. My mom taught me to sew fairly young so by junior high school I could already sew dresses and skirts etc. Making an apron and the types of things we did in school were sort of boring. It shows how times have changed though – I don’t even know if schools teach Home Economics anymore and if they do, I’ll be they’re not making aprons!

Stitching Room & thinking back

I thought I'd post a link to pictures of my stitching/sewing room. I posted it on one of the Legacy forums some months ago but here it is again. It serves as my sometimes office as I telecommute one day a week, then it's my quilting, stitching, and stash room the rest of the time. I love having my own computer and printer near me thanks to my husband who sets everything up and is my own personal "Tech Support" guru. We both work in Information Technology and we have 4 computers at home - yes it's a bit ridiculous sometimes but we do use them all for various purposes. I have one corner in my room set up with the computer on one side and a sewing machine table on the other in a "U" shape - I have a chair on wheels so it works out very nice. This is where I do 90% of my stitching - I use my Daylight lamp most of the time because my eyesight isn't that great and I require magnification for anything 32-ct and higher. So I find it's just easier to stitch sitting at my sewing table where I have everything handy. My sewing machine lowers under the table on a little hydraulic lift and then you can just use the top as a flat surface which is nice to work on. The other cabinets I have in my room used to be in our den at our old house, when we moved to this house a few years ago the den came with some built-in cabinets. I inherited these and they work out great. The only thing is I'm running out of room because I have too much stuff! I'm sure many of you have the same problem. Here's a link to pictures:

http://www.marynowski.com/jeanne/stashroom.htm

I'm wondering if many of you have your first piece that you cross-stitched anymore? Lately I have been wishing I did. Back around 1981 I was working part-time in a Minnesota Fabrics store in Chicago. I don't think that chain of stores is even in business anymore, but back then the employees made the models in the store - the store provided the materials and after they had displayed it for a couple of months you could take it home and keep it. I volunteered to do a cross-stitch project - I had embroidered and done stamped cross-stitch as a child so

Quaker Garden - halfway done!

I reached the halfway point tonite, here's the latest progress. I hope to finish this up in the next 2 weeks which for me, will be pretty quick. I'm not generally a very fast stitcher, mostly because I have way too many stitching and quilting projects going on. It's hard for me to stay focused sometimes. Maybe I would be better off as a "one project at a time" person but so far I haven't been disciplined enough to do that. I'm debating about my next focus piece. I need to keep working on my French Alphabet Sampler but I am really itching to start something new. Here's just a few of the projects I have already kitted up in bags:

Milady's Needle - Strawberry Ruler
Blackbird Designs - With My Needle, Truly Thine, Springs Promise
Carriage House Samplings - Americana
With My Needle - Emblem of Love
Victoria Sampler - Winter Garden
Bent Creek - Winter & Spring Snapperlands
Bent Creek - Winter Row
Little House Needleworks - The Bookshelf
The Cricket Collection - Ghost Ship