Wentzler Wednesday

Well, the routine is re-established ... Wentzler Wednesday is back in place ... even if I only managed an hour's stitching on Tracery Dragons. I am hoping to spend some more time on this piece on Thursday and Friday. My goal is to finish stitching page three of the chart [which comprises the bottom two inches of the chart] and to do the backstitching. That way I'll be able to get a sense as to how well this fabric is working with the design. The chart recommendation was for a very dark fabric but I dislike stitching on super dark fabrics. Anyway, here is a photo to prove that some small progress has been made!

As I said above, I did steal time from the Tracery Dragons to apply the cording to three ornaments in the Town Square SAL that I had assembled and to prep the boards for two more ornaments that I hope to "finish" finish by Friday: Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl and the first Lizzie Kate ornament I stitched in anticipation of the July 3-August 15 exchange round. I stitched a second Lizzie Kate ornament for this exchange as well, a very simple complimentary chart that I modified by stitching in appropriately colored Mill Hill beads and to which I added a few Mill Hill Glass Treasure hearts ... I have to cut and pad some boards for that ornament as well and then assemble it. I haven't decided yet which ornament I will use in the exchange. I'll be meeting with some stitching friends next week so I'll have them help me decide.

Twiddling My Thumbs On Tuesday

While I haven't abandoned my stitching entirely, I have certainly slowed down substantially. Half assembled ornaments litter my stitching table, cardboard forms are scattered about awaiting the addition of the stiff interfacing I use to pad and soften them. I keep forgetting to ask my husband to help in making twisted cord ... he is absolutely stalwart in holding his end firmly and steadily, though he does tend to make mildly sarcastic comments about the uses to which I put him. Even my camera has been idle. It's been nearly a week since I added a photo to the blog. As I sit here at the keyboard, tea tray beside me, I am working up the energy to go downstairs and put in an hour before work on ornament assembly. But somehow it seems easier to simply sip some delightful Assam and babble on.

When I get home from work, I am going to have to do a little exploratory surgery on my sewing machine. I suspect a broken needle fragment is stuck somewhere in the bobbin assembly and is causing my thread to break after stitching just a minute or two. And then I will devote the rest of the evening to finishing up the finishes.

I may even finish up this tote if I manage to get the sewing machine up and running again. The stitched piece in the center comes from last year's Halloween issue of JCS but I never really did understand how sheep were a Halloween motif. I think the design works better as the centerpiece of a knitting project bag. I am using a bunch of tweedy upholstery fabric samples to make the bag and I'll line it with muslin or some lovely printed flannel, perhaps putting a few pockets in the lining for knitting tools. I'll have to check my stash to see if I have a large enough piece of the flannel: a rich cream printed with a brown floral design. I think the whole project works well as a study in deep earth tones.

Weekend Progress Report: June 26, 2011

This is being posted on Monday since I was just too busy Sunday to get around to it.


BAP: I didn't do any stitching on this piece this week.

CJC: I finished stitching the Schoolhouse this week and have started the "finish" finishing on all three Town Square SAL pieces that I stitched this month [as ornaments for my Small Town America theme Christmas Tree] and I am almost finished with the stitching on Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl though I have yet to assemble it as a Halloween ornament. Photos will have to wait till the final finish.

HOE: I selected and stitched a Lizzie Kate ornament for the next round of the Christmas ornament exchange ... still have to assemble it. I haven't decided whether I'll finish it as a flat ornament, a pillow ornament or something a bit more sculptured. And then, I started a second Lizzie Kate ornament. Since both ornaments were complimentary charts, I have dressed them up a wee bit: adding a bit of back-stitched definition to the first to make the design pop a bit against the neutral fabric and stitching the second entirely in Mill House Petite antique seed beads. I haven't decided yet which I will use for the exchange. I'll be seeing some stitching friends in a few days, I'll ask their opinions.

2010 WIP: nothing this week ... I was too involved with my Town Square projects and my reading.

Sewing/Assembly Finishes: I haven't finished sewing te second tote using my stash of decorator upholstery fabric ... sewing machine issues. I broke a needle on the last one and I believe a piece is still stuck in the innards of the bobbin assembly. When I have a moment, I'll have to disembowel the machine and clean it up a bit. This tote is intended as a project bag for one of my younger sisters who knits. I'll arrange with my niece, who does the selecting, to be that sister's Secret Santa in the family Christmas gift exchange. Add a couple of skeins of quality wool and the right size knitting needles and I'll have a primo Christmas gift.

Woeful Wentzler Wednesday

For the first time since I started the practice of stitching on a TW BAP every Wednesday, I didn't take a single stitch ... pathetic, I know, but all I want to do is read light-hearted escapist little mysteries. Maybe it's the miserable stormy weather that is making me so lazy!

Stash Enhancement

I've been blogging about other topics so steadily that I neglected to share photos of recent purchases.

Last week, I received Enchanting Lair's Tea Time and HAED's Tangle Fairy in the mail. I ordered them because they looked like interesting "little" pieces. Well, Tea Time meets that description. But the Tangle Fairy has over 25 pages of chart ... not exactly what I expected. That'll teach me to judge a project by a website photo! I guess I have just figured out what my 2012 BAP will be. I think the faerie is adorable but this is my first HAED chart and I am simply stunned by the sheer volume of page after page of chart. But, hey, if I can tackle a Teresa Wentzler, HAED ought not to be a problem.

And the week before that, I received some luscious hand-dyed chenille trim from the folks at R & R. Beautiful colors but, unfortunately, not all the colors met expectations raised by website photos and descriptions ... I am assuming either my monitor or their photograph or both were not quite true to the actual colors. The cinnamon is more of a coral, the kelp is more of a chartreuse and the fudge is more purple than brown. Not to worry, I will use them in other projects. But that leaves me looking for more chenille. Sharon at Crescent Colors recently blogged about starting up her own soon-to-be-released line of over-dyed chenille. I'll have to check it out as soon as it becomes available. R & R is also adding more colors to its line. So there are many options. Then, of course, I could always dye my own. Get a load of these neat little boxes in which I am storing my chenille ... they originally housed teapots now in use in my kitchen ... the boxes were an unexpected bonus.

Weekend Progress Report: June 19, 2011

I have pretty much stalled in my stitching this past week, not accomplishing nearly as much as I normally do. I ashamed to admit that the reason for this is that our TV decided to give up the ghost. I never realized how much stitching I do while watching DVDs in the evening ... or how much DVD watching I do, for that matter. I have spent much more time reading this past week ... not a bad thing to be sure ... but not an activity particularly compatible with stitching. I won't have any time to shop for a new TV until next weekend ... I rather hope I can iron out the difference in expectations between my husband and I in that week ... I want to go with something smaller that we can set on a cart and roll into a closet when not in use [to make a bit more room in our rather small living room already over-powered by some too large furniture] ... he wants a flat screen "a little bit larger" than the conventional TV we have now. This is the man who always thinks BIG so I am a bit nervous about his definition of "a little bit larger." I'd even be willing to compromise on a permanently placed TV always provided it and its stand are no wider than the bit of wallspace between the dining room and hallway and the whole assembly doesn't extend too deeply nto the living room.

BAP: I worked on Tracery Dragons only on Wentzler Wednesday so have no further photos to show.

CJC: I finished the Town Square Church but have yet to assemble the Post Office and the Church as ornaments. I'll wait till both are made up to show photos.

HOE: I got started on my Lizzie Kate Christmas ornament for the next round of exchanges, choosing a complimentary chart that called for GAST floss, all of which I had in my stash, happily enough. Of course, the etiquette of exchanging requires that I not display any photos.

Sewing/Assembly Finishes: I got started on a knitting project bag designed around a chart from the 2010 JCS Halloween issue and some more of the upholstery fabric I have on hand. Most of the front is finished but I am having some problems with the tension on my machine causing the thread to keep breaking. So that project has stalled as well.

Not one of my better weeks.

Oh, that Chenille

On the June 10th post of her blog, Sharon of Crescent Colors showed some of the most delicious colors of hand-dyed chenille. I can't wait till these hit the stores, both brick and mortar and online. I love all the colors she displayed but I need the rose ... it'll make a perfect trim for one of my recent finishes, BBD A Bird in Hand. I look forward to seeing any new colors she adds. They'll be coordinated with her existing color line in over-dyed cottons. While I have a very deep stash of Sharon's Belle Soie silks [one of my absolute favorite fibers], I never really built up a large stock of her cottons ... probably because I already had a very large supply of both GAST and WDW cottons. But I can see that that will have to change. I stitch quite a few monochromatic designs and am just itching to start an Ink Circle piece I have in my stash ... it calls for GAST Blue Spruce but I think I'll check out a similar shade in Sharon's line and then order the cotton and the chenille at the same time.

Glass House

During the past few weeks I have been seeing a strange phenomenon. My blog, which at the best of times has gotten maybe 60-70 visitors a day, is currently averaging between 250-300 visitors a day. This is rather unnerving since there has been no corresponding increase in comments, which still averages a painfully modest 0-5 a day unless a giveaway is in progress. Not much of an increase in followers either, only five in the past few weeks. I have no idea what prompted this increase in readership, where the readers are coming from or what the new readers think. It's odd. I suspect that it is a passing thing ... and I keep waiting for things to drop back to normal. In the meantime, I feel like I am living in a glass house and I don't know my neighbors. I realize blogging is essentially exhibitionist in nature but the size of this new audience intimidates even an egotist like myself.

A Workable Wentzler Wednesday

The final verdict on this fabric choice isn't in yet and won't be till I finish the cross-stitching and back-stitching of Page 3 of the chart. Only then will I know if I made a really poor decision in using a mid-tone rather than a dark tone as recommended in the design specs. I do have some nice pieces of black linen and of a deep purple linen waiting in the wings if need be ... it's just that I dislike working on very dark linens. I know everyone recommends just throwing a white cloth over your lap when working with dark fabric ... but that doesn't work particularly well for those of us with a diagonal rather than horizontal lap.

But I am working on that problem ... this makes day five of my fresh start at exercising. I have been using the Sansalone 1 mile Walk Away the Abs tape every morning before going to work. I am determined to have a somewhat more accomodating lap by the time the grandkids visit in August. After all, how can we cuddle up for storytime if the kids keep sliding to the floor.

And, finally, I got around to getting my Photo Hunt "triangle" shot. I had hoped to get down to the marina and take a shot of all the sailboats with their triangular sails. But the weather has been so grim and overcast, alternating light showers with downpours, that that was not really an option. So, I took a quick shot of the view across the parking lot from my school building. The bell tower of our church is topped with a very elongated triangular steeple. The really odd thing about this bell tower is that for some reason known only to the local telephone company, it houses the main relay panel for the phones in my building. And since the bell tower is open to the elements, every time it rains heavily, my phones develop such heavy static that I might as well not answer them at all.

My Prairie Schooler Exchange Piece

This went out to Ellen in Singapore and I have gotten word that she received it safe and sound.

So for the photos.

First, on the left, the tout ensemble: I was lucky enough to be gifted with a bunch of ulphostery fabric sample swatches by my sister-in-law. They have proved to be perfect for all sorts of sewing finishes. Since I filled this little pin pillow with ground walnut shells, I wanted something substantial. And because I am always concerned that the walnut shells might still have traces of natural oils, I lined the whole thing with muslin. I'd hate to have the piece develop staining over time. The design I stitched is from Book #123: Country Seasons. I have stitched at least part of the design before, when I had to fill in the last block of my Autumn Round Robin after one of the stitchers was politely disinvited ... she had a nasty habit of keeping anything that fell into her hands.

But it was fun to revisit this chart and finish it in a new and different fashion. This is my first long pin pillow, and I am reasonably pleased with it. I finally found a good use for a little enameled metal acorn shank button that has been kicking around in my stash for a decade.

The last photo is of the whole exchange ... I threw in a few autumnal ceramic buttons for good measure.

This was my first experience with Hooked on Exchanging and I must admit I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I loved what I received, the lovely little lapel pins from Amy, and I look forward to other exchanges in the future. I am hoping to expand my internet stitching network horizons a bit. I know that the folks I have encountered so far have been wonderful. I have been following the voting on the designer to be spotlighted in the next exchange of Christmas ornaments. Lizzi Kate [not one of my favorites] is ahead of my own choice, Blackbird Designs. Just in case, I found myself a Lizzie Kate complimentary chart that I can use since I don't have any of L*K's charts in my stash and don't like her quite well enough to purchase one.

Weekend Progress Report: June 12, 2011

I was already to post this last night but my camera ran out of juice. Hence the Monday posting.

This past week has been one heck of a brutally hot week. It's been a strange Spring: wintry at the onset, followed by a monsoon and now a heat weave. Not your typical northeastern US weather. Reading and stitching in air-conditioned rooms has been the preferred recreation ... too hot to garden or cook and way too hot to do housework [but then any excuse will do when avoiding housework]. It's been the sort of week that you need to run the washer and the dishwasher around 5:30am and use a drying rack for the clothes to try and avoid afternoon brown-outs when air-conditioning really is a must. We usually don't have to do that till late July and early August.

In spite of all the indoor stitching time, I don't seem to have a lot to show you. My new TW piece, Tracery Dragons, just eats up stitching time. There are far more quarter stitches than usual ... and Teresa Wentzler is no slouch when it comes to quarter stitches at the best of times. In this piece, the quarter stitches are offset to make skinny little diagonals. Talk about counting twice and stitching once! More like counting three and four times to make sure these wicked little fractionals are in exactly the right place. I can sense the frog waiting in the wings but so far he has not made even a cameo appearance, thank the Lord! The frequent color changes and all the blended needles seem like child's play compared to the fractionals. I foolishly thought that because this piece required only 46 shades of DMC and was a bit smaller than the usual TW chart, it would take only a month or so to stitch. Not likely!! I usually enjoy Wentzler's work since I have a split stitching personality: enjoying the process as much as the end result. But I fear this piece will not give much joy to the process stitcher within. Furthermore, at the moment the piece has all the aesthetic appeal of a three year old's first finger painting: random blobs of color with no discernible design concept. I have to keep looking at the model photo to remind myself of my reason for stitching the piece. Never had to do that before.

The other potential problem with Tracery Dragons is that, though the chart was designed to be used with a dark fabric, I am using a mid-tone fabric. The floss toss looked fine but that isn't always a clear indication of how the stitched piece will look. I want to believe it will be okay since I dislike stitching on very dark fabric. I'll have a pretty good idea once I have finished cross-stitching and back-stitching page three of the chart ...and since that only involves the bottom two inches of the piece, I won't have invested too much time in the project if I decide it doesn't look right. I have some black linen I could use instead if necessary. I hope it won't be necessary, though.

This past week [and the next few weeks as well] will feature a lot of immediate [nearly] gratification. I have finally arrived at the smalls section of my Crazy January Challenge list. The first small piece is Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl. I have a bit of a thing for owls: I collect owl figurines of all sorts, I have a lot of jewelry in which owls figure as the main subject, and I stitch owl charts frequently. I posted a photo of progress on the owl earlier this week and hope to finish the piece in the coming week.

In addition to my small owl, I snuck four of my Town Square SAL pieces onto the CJC list, killing two birds with one stone. Here is Knotted Tree's Post Office. I stitched it in the suggested colors but I am not all that thrilled with the main brickwork color, Bluecoat Red. It's too bright a pink for aged brick. After all, the date says 1809. I would have thought Old Red Paint might have been a better selection but I don't dislike it enough to frog the whole deal and start over. And, finally, I have started on DeeBee's Designs' Town Square Church.

As to that Town Square SAL. Six people signed up to participate and contribute to the SAL blog. But there has been no activity on the blog since Rita's post in February. I am hoping that by posting a succession of small finishes on the blog, I can re-generate some interest in the project. In fact, of the six contributors, only Rita and I seem to be doing any contributing. I guess everyone is busy with other stitching. A project like the Town Square really has to capture the imagination ... I am using my Town Square finishes for a themed Christmas Tree: Small Town, USA ... and hope to have a least 12 done by the time Christmas rolls around. I had though of doing a quilt but decided that would be too much work. The Christmas Tree seemed a much more workable plan.

I think the stitching goddess must be smiling down on me since she arranged that the "smalls" section of my Crazy January Challenge projects should hit the rotation at the same time as Tracery Dragons. At least, I'll have the immediate gratification of some quick, easy and visually appealling finishes to help me get past the initial ugly duckling stage of the BAP.

And I managed to squeeze in one sewing finish: a gift tote using a small free chart called Erin's Garden once available on a blog that, regrettably, no longer exists. And I am showing a photo of an earlier gift tote finish now being put to good use: filled with books and sundresses for my 2 year old grand-daughter's 2nd birthday. It will be mailed to the West Coast Monday morning, even given the fact that it's going to an island, priority mail should get it their well in time for her birthday next week.

And the Winner is ...

I just knew this would be a very popular giveaway ... I mean, everyone loves LHN, right? And LHN is so collectible! Though I am definitely not of the pack rat persausion, I do know that other stitchers salivate over these charts. I may be decluttering so that my heirs don't have to but I understand that I am not a "normal" stitcher. So, I was not particularly surprised by the larger than usual turnout. I am glad I finally hit on something people wanted. Keep your eyes on this space in future months. I intend to be absolutely ruthless in my de-cluttering of my stash. There are so very few charts in my collection that, once stitched, will ever be stitched again. And there are very few designers whose work I "collect": Teresa Wentzler, Homespun Elegance, Primitive Needle. Just about everyone else's designs, however much I enjoy the charts while stitching them, will ultimately be fodder for my giveaways.

But, without further ado, I'd like to announce the winner of LHN's Seasons of ... is number 9 and after eliminating double posts and those who didn't enter, that turns out to be Eva. Thanks to all who participated and check in again next month to see what will be on offer.

Wentzler Wednesday

Well, it's all about Tracery Dragons now. It really seems odd not to have the Autumn Faerie [finished 6/3, see that post] as my companion. She and I had been together so long. And my stitching bag is much lighter! Tracery Dragons requires only one bobbin case while the faerie required two to hold the complete fiber palette.

I am reasonably pleased with the progress on this piece this week. But I do have to admit some concern about a completion date. This little bit of stitching in the lower left corner took nearly five hours to complete. TW may have simplified her palette but everything else remains as elaborate as ever. If anything, there are far more quarter stitches than usual ... long strings of offset quarter stitches on the diagonal, requiring very careful counting and recounting. I am working from the bottom up which means starting on page three of the cross-stitching chart ... there's a second set of charts just for the back-stitching ... and have just passed the center point. At this rate, I'll be working on Tracery Dragons all year! There goes any hope of getting Liam's TW Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking done this year.

Weekend Progress Report: June 5, 2011

BAP: Finished the Autumn Faerie on Friday ... Happy dancing all the day long. Photo may be seen on the 6/3 post. Did a bit of work on the new TW BAP, Tracery Dragons, but did not make enough progress to be photo worthy.

CJC: Worked on Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl and Knotted Tree Designs Town Square Post Office.

I choose to work on these two projects for the remainder of the week because I needed small and simple after finishing work on the Autumn Faerie. The ironic thing is that I did more frogging on the little Town Square Post Office in one day than I did on the Autumn Faerie in two years. First, I miscounted the stitches in the center roofline as 26 instead of 25 and didn't catch on till I got to the foundation and saw that the symmetry was off by one stitch. Then a quick glance at the chart caused me to confuse the symbol for the interior of the upper windows with a similar one.

I am also going to start including some Photo Hunt pictures in my weekly wrap up posts, as I want to develop my "eye". Please don't expect any serious art. I have a digital point and shoot camera that I have taken to carrying about with me in my purse. I just want to get better at framing a shot, using available light and choosing my subjects ... and I thought this would be a good way to practice the necessary skills. For my first photo, I am going to ease into the process with an easy theme. The May 21st topic was Clutter. This is my desk and credenza. The theme for June 11 is Triangle. I have a few ideas for this theme. It remains to be seen whether I can translate my ideas into photographs.

June Giveaway

This time around, I'll be giving a away a set of LHN charts: the "Seasons of ..." series. This giveaway is charts only! But here are photos of my finishes. I bought the pillows meant to be used with these and they have been awaiting that final finish for years: just some hemming, some buttonholing, and sewing onbuttons. Oh well, maybe I'll actually get them done this weekend, since I pulled them out to photograph. It really shouldn't take all that long. And these pillows would look really great against my deep forest green sofa in the living room.

If you wish to enter your name for this giveaway, the following conditions will apply:

-- open to all stitchers

-- leave a comment below as to why you are interested in the giveaway

-- include an e-mail address in your post if clicking on your name will not lead me to an e-mail link

-- a winner will be selected on the 10th of the month and informed by e-mail

Good luck to all who enter.

This is what relief looks like ...

... 42 lavendar beads left in the beading dish after the project is complete.

I really do think the designers might want to post a reassuring note when they cut things this close. Something on the order of, "Don't panic, you really will have enough beads, in fact you will even have a very tiny amount left over. Trust me!"

So, finally, after two years, I am happy to present Teresa Wentzler's Autumn Faerie in all her beaded magnificence. It has been a long journey but well worth the time. I'll be taking her to the framer's shop before the month is out: I think I'll want a doublemat, picking up the greens and golds and a deep, intricately carved frame. This piece is strong enough to carry an elaborate frame without being diminished by it.

Some finishing

I should have a few photos to share of sewing finishes. But ... my posts do seem to be full of "buts" lately ... the sewing machine needle broke as I was working on a tote finish this morning before work. No problem, right? I have plenty of machine needles on hand! Always buy at least five cards of them at a time. So, I get a needle and open the little tool case that holds all my sewing machine sized screw-drivers, both flat and phillips head. Okay, you guessed it, I suspect my darling husband has been poaching again. I have offered to buy him his own set of wee small screwdrivers for his tiny repairs [pens, watches, keychains, eyeglasses and the like] but no, he says, why bother, he says, and sure, he'll remember to return my tools to their proper storage place, he says! Well, I believed him! I should probably be the proud owner of several bridges in my hometown of Brooklyn with that level of gullibility. Tomorrow morning I will buy three sets of tiny screwdrivers: one for him, one for me and one to hide in a place not to be mentioned [he does occasionally read this blog] so that the next time I need to replace a needle, I will not have to make a trip to the hardware store to do so.

Ah, the joys of marriage: what's his is his, what's mine is ours.

Wentzler Wednesday Wailings

This was supposed to be a Woohoo Wentzler Wednesday. The Autumn Faerie was supposed to be complete in all her beaded glory.

I am just shy of being three quarters done with the beading, mostly done with the third leg of the border and just the fourth to go. BUT, and this is a huge BUT, there is some doubt about whether there will be enough of the lavendar beads. The chart called for only one package but as I reached the halfway point and rounded the corner to the third leg of the border, I began to worry. The beads left in my ceramic beading dish looked pretty sparse to me. Granted these truly tiny petite seed beads are deceptive ... there are always more of them then you think in any given space ... but I was worried enough to set my Ott light on the floor, get down on hands and knees and finger comb the carpet for any stray beads that might have fallen to the floor. For the record, carpet combing recovered seven lavender beads and two black beads, one white bead and one ice blue bead from previous projects. I guess the older beads were too enmeshed to be picked up by the vacuum. Anyway, I am holding my breath as I continue to bead today, hoping for a Woohoo moment rather than an Aaaaargh moment. Any wailing you all here from the general vicinity of the western shores of the Hudson today will indicate that I ran out of beads and had to wait till a reorder comes in to finish this long-suffering faerie.

It remains to be seen whether the next Wentzler Wednesday post will boast a photo of a finished Autumn Faerie or just a sad tale of more beads on order. Whatever the case, the next post will include a new project, Tracery Dragons.

It was a toss-up between Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons or her Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking for the next Wentzler BAP. The dragon won out for several reasons. First, there weren't as many colors to pull to kit it up: only 46. For a Teresa Wentzler piece, that is a shockingly limited palette. She usually requires 75-100, filling two bobbin cases this size. Secondly, after spending nearly two years on The Autumn Faerie, intended as a gift for my daughter Angela, I wanted to stitch something for myself. The Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking will be for my grandson, Liam. Thirdly, Tracery Dragons is one of my Crazy January Challenge pieces, so it takes priority over something that is simply in the 2011 binder, waiting its turn to come up in the rotation. I am still hopeful that I will be able to get to Liam's stocking this year, though ... I finally seem to have found my momentum when it comes to BAPs. And it doesn't hurt that I have joined a fantasy group blog ... seeing photos of the other members' work keeps me inspired and motivated. Who knows, I may even finish Liam's stocking and have time to start one for my granddaughter, Piper. Though not a Teresa Wentzler design, it will still be a companion piece to Liam's: it's a Woodland Maiden in medieval costume. Since the stocking I made for my son, their father, was a Woodland Santa ... well, you can see there is a definite theme in place. I'll eventually have to come up with something equally woodsy for my daughter-in-law, to complete the grouping. Maybe just a woodsy, wintry landscape ... she is an environmental educator for the state parks system, so something with animals and trees would be suitable ... maybe a family of deer. But I am getting way ahead of myself. For now, I will simply concentrate on my dragons! One can only hope the dragons won't take as long to stitch as the faerie. Nothing to show just yet but I promise a photo next Wednesday.

Just the odd thought: At this rate, I am going to run out of alliterative "W" words before a year of Wentzler Wednesdays is out ... of course, I can always go back to one of my weird childhood pasttimes: reading the dictionary ... I was a very geeky kid, long before the term geeky came into being. I can just see myself making a list of suitable words and playing with combinations ... so I guess I am still a pretty geeky adult, some unkind folk might even say a pretty geeky senior citizen. Some things never really change.